Discord Space

"Twilight? As in Princess, Twilight Sparkle?" Plasma was shocked to hear the changeling speak, given her silence until that moment. It was indeed feminine, and sounded like any other changeling. Only very, very upset. "You mean that, the one who killed a quarter of my kindred in one move... is running this station?" Four faint clicks as she got to her hooves echoed through the silent room.

Each step from there made no sound at all. Pure stealth, even when she had to be furious. Level-headedness like that was incredible to Applejack. "It seems that way. I figured she did the right thing and just exiled herself forever." She turned to find herself nose to nose with the changeling. Her green eyes matched the lines in her RIG. Deadly and precise. The sort of green that ponies associated with extreme danger.

No sign of emotion crossed those green eyes as she spoke. "I was sent here to investigate the medical deck. I saw evidence of experiments, on not just ponies and changelings, griffons and dragons too. I didn't think any of you could be that heartless, except for her." The stare became a brief snarl. "Do you really hate her, as much as I do? As much as any changeling does? Not just for what she did on Equestria, but here too?"

The question burned deep into her mind. Changelings fed on love; hate was practically poison to them. "We were friends, before Discord showed up." For changelings to actually hate a pony, it didn't seem possible. "She changed, refused to speak to me anymore. And when the war broke out..." Twilight had done something to allow Discord's necromorphs to start wreaking havoc on a station full of innocent ponies. Princesses weren't supposed to do that.

Well well, this is interesting. Applejack is turning on a former friend of hers. Over what? A few thousand ponies is nothing compared to the destruction wrought upon the changelings. Surely, the degree of hate would be marginal in comparison. Plasma watched the two sets of green eyes continue to stare back at each other from a safe distance. Most of their conversation didn't make sense to her, but she gathered enough to treat the situation very carefully.

Oh right, you're insane. You don't have clear judgement, you can be as angry as you like. You can go on a murderous rampage without a second thought. Why don't you Applejack? I want to see just how much chaos you can wreak. "Cope Shade." The changeling backed away from Applejack to nod her head in greeting. "I don't care if I kill her, or somepony else does. I just want to tell my kindred that she is dead."

"That sounds fair to me. And I promise you, only one of us is going to get off the station. Princess my hoof, she's been warped by Discord, and it's time to put her out of her misery." Another transmission drew Applejack back to the screen. The cruiser that the CEC survivors had taken back down to Equestria. Already it was clear that something was terribly wrong.

"-sealed her in the aft compartment. We lost five ponies already, can't hold out much... Celestia! Seal the doors-" It cut short at that point. Tracking cameras took over, displaying the shuttle in re-entry. A few tense seconds passed. The camera zoomed in as a bright flare up from the shuttle caused it to disintegrate completely. Fifty ponies, her co-workers, and friends. Gone, because of Twilight.

It stung her heart deeply, for a time she couldn't determine if it was out of grief, or plain disappointment. Shade had returned to the shuttle by then to tend to the shrinking wound. She was making no secret about how little she cared about the ship's demise. "Am I to be given a weapon? Or are you just going to tell me to kill necromorphs with stealth alone, when you really mean that I'm not trustworthy."

Plasma passed a cutter over from her holster. "I prefer the flamethrower anyway." Applejack had no complaints about her initiative. Giving a weapon over to a member of a race, who for all intents and purposes, hated ponies with a vengeance. I told you so Applejack. You're really losing touch with reality now. No sane pony would just do something like that, even in your situation.

"I think we're done here." Applejack made her way back towards the shuttle with Plasma. A map opened up from her RIG to display the station. "If we go down to the far end of Manehattan Towers, we can push through the barracks and open up a dock in the government ring from the nearest computer access. The tram should still be intact; we head back and take the shuttle right past the line of fire."

One of the vents smashed outward towards their left. One of the small necromorphs crawled through the walls on their right. Another vent smashed, followed by the distinct sound of four bloody hooves landing on the floor. They would have had to cross through the vacuum in order to reach them. All that time, Applejack had counted on them needing to breathe for safety. Now, not even the shuttle was completely safe.

"Sounds good, can we get moving before I start searching desperately for flame fuel?" A slasher came uncomfortably close to impaling Applejack before she jumped into the pilot's seat. Plasma was about to relax when the back doors slammed shut on half of a twitcher. It moved for a few moments, before quivering into motionless. "I guess it was too badly damaged from being crushed in half. At least there isn't a carpet to get bloodstains on."

Several necromorphs caught fire as the shuttle turned around to leave, bringing the engines into the face of the horde. A few loud knocks on the hull left all three occupants in a tense state. None of the barbs penetrated, and the remaining necromorphs didn't try to cross the atmospheric forcefield. It wasn't until they were far from the spire that a union of sighs released.

"That was too close. You okay back there?" Save for the carcass, they looked fine. Those who can keep their head in a crisis survive. But can you Applejack? You've been doing quite well up until now. You could have easily dealt with those necromorphs and not risk a getaway like that. But you panicked, ran for your life. Plasma was ill prepared that time. What about next time? "Next time, we'll have a good supply of weapons."

The shuttle's video receiver began to flash. Who would be trying to contact them at that moment? There was an exchange of glances before Applejack opened it. "Twilight. You've got two seconds to explain yourself before I close this down for good." She hadn't changed since the end of the war. A laser blast had gone through her left eye, unfortunately missing her brain in the process. That had been covered by a mere purple strip of cloth since.

"Applejack, you don't know what you're doing. That weapon, I did not build it. We found it, buried deep below Canterlot. I had no idea what it did, or how it worked. But it wasn't alone. Discord wants you near the other artifact we found, the one we're trying to recreate here, to understand how the weapon works. He's messing with your head." Applejack hesitated on cutting her off just briefly. She knew Discord had an influence on her mind.

Oh, am I now? Remember Applejack, you were there. You may not have fought, but you saw that Twilight knew exactly what she was doing. All this pish-posh about 'finding' the weapon is just to throw you off. Another hurdle in the game if you will. Take my advice, and ignore the one who doesn't control the game. Her hoof pressed down on the panel. Twilight looked like she was about to protest when the signal terminated.

"Horseapples, I saw her use it. I never heard about any excavation under Canterlot." Her decision seemed to please Shade greatly. For once, the changeling was smiling instead of staring directly ahead in a trance like state. Plasma wasn't so easily convinced, but chose not to say anything. Applejack knew how to handle the situation better than anypony else they had found so far, despite her increasingly strange behaviour.

The shuttle settled down in a larger dock that connected to the tram station, just like she had described before. Shade was first out to scout the area in front of them. At last, a helmet made of the same material as her suit slid out from under her suit in a very fluid move. What the changelings lacked in defence, they made up for in sleek and smooth mechanics. Applejack wasn't sure if she felt sick over admiring it or not.

"It's clear in our vicinity, but I hear a lot of commotion in the direction we are headed. I would say they are holding onto the final quarter of the barracks. I would sneak past through the vents, but they have undoubtedly been sealed by now. And I would prefer not to run into any more necromorphs, or get mistaken for one again." Applejack winced just briefly. That last part had been deliberate; at least Shade was waiting for her opinion.

She pulled the station map up again, zooming in on the barracks deck before them. Vents would ironically be the fastest way to get around the main staging areas. "Let's get some weapons better suited to cutting off limbs first. Security will probably try to take us prisoner on Twilight's orders too; I'd say that hiding would be the best option." A restricted zone around the middle of the deck caught her attention. The testing lab for the advanced RIG perhaps?

Still drooling over a suit that may or may not even exist? Please Applejack, for everypony's sake. Try and get your priorities straight. Shade shook her shoulder violently. "Applejack, I can hear them in the vents, we need to move now!" An odd-looking necromorph entered the small pool of light. Weird, disfigured beams of light poured from the eye sockets, accompanying a ringing in her ears.

"Applebloom? But, what are you doing here sis? Why aren't you back home at Sweet Apple Acres? It's not safe here." A slasher ran by, ignoring both Applebloom and herself. All the while, her red haired sister continued to approach slowly. "They always watch you... Applebloom, what does that mean? Who is always watching us?" Her left hoof reached out as she drew closer. Just a little more, and she could touch her sister…

Plasma's hoof connected with her jaw firmly. Applebloom vanished from her view, replaced by a rather furious Shade. "Snap out of it! I've seen changelings go mad this way. We need you alive! Now get moving!" Plasma used her magic to give Applejack a much needed kick start on the sprint out of Manehattan Towers. Enjoy your last hour of sanity. Soon, you'll join me in my realm of Chaos. Twilight is waiting for you.