Containment Is Magic

D-9341 “Follower”

LTF Facility 1a, [REDACTED], Equestria

1 ½ weeks after Incident 001

“In more recent news, Celestia has just announced that peace talks with the Griffon Kingdom have come to a successful close, with the acting president promising to take his military forces off of high alert. War has successfully been averted once again thanks to the diplomatic skills of our beloved princess. More details will be provided as the story develops,” announced the news-pony over the radio as the unicorn duo walked through the silent halls.

For Follower and Warden Sue, the exploration had been somewhat boring so far. No LTF subjects had been encountered after the attack of the cyan pegasus, and every tunnel seemed to lead to more tunnels. To pass the time, Follower had tuned his radio to pick up an outside news station, and they listened to various bits of news.

Warden laughed before shaking her head and exclaiming, “President Wilford is smart to take his forces off of high alert. Everypony knows that our military would crush them in a few days anyway.”

Follower opened the door at the other end of the tunnel that they were travelling through. He chuckled to himself, walking into the small office at the other end of the door, and turned his head to face the Warden. “I wouldn’t underestimate them; after all, they do have one of the largest populations in the world.”

Warden rolled her eyes and pushed Follower roughly, then walked over to the door at the other end of the office and opened it.

The door revealed a small room with a monitor and had a small desk in the corner. There was also a small corridor that led to another closed door. Warden Sue looked up at the monitor and couldn’t help but let out a surprised yelp. The monitor had a camera feed linking to another room, which was illuminated in a red light. In the center of the room sat a yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane, who had her face in her hooves, and appeared to be crying. Her coat and most of the floor was covered in dried blood, which added to the chilling atmosphere.

Follower walked next to the shocked Warden and looked up at the monitor, frowning slightly. “What’s wrong, Warden? Recognize her?”

Warden Sue nodded her head. “That’s LTF-096.”

Follower gave the Warden a funny look and sat down next to her, waiting patiently a few moments for an explanation. “What’s so special about this one?” he finally asked, his voice flat.

The Warden was silent for a few moments, then trotted over to the small desk, picking up a document. “Her real name is Fluttershy, and she’s a Euclid-class subject under my jurisdiction. Nothing really special about her except for the fact that you should avoid looking at her face.” She placed the document back down.

Follower snorted and sauntered over to the closed door. “What’ll happen if you look at her face? Will she appear behind you and rip your head off or something?” he asked, his voice filled with mock fear. The warden sped past him before pushing Follower back. “She’ll track you down, and kill you. Nopony escapes her wrath alive.” She pressed the button on the side of the door.

The door opened with a woosh and led into the bloody room showed on the monitor. The two unicorns were extra careful to avoid looking at the sobbing mare’s face as they carefully walked around her. A few moments later, the unicorns opened the opposite door and rushed out of the room.

Warden sighed deeply, closed the door behind her, and walked over to the other door leading out of the room. Follower opened his mouth to say something witty, when suddenly a mysterious voice wafted through the monitor.

“Please......please don’t leave me. It’s incredibly lonely here!” Both unicorns looked up at the monitor, and noticed that the yellow pegasus was slowly getting to her hooves and turning to face the camera. Both unicorns panicked and quickly turned away from the monitor before opening the door. They could hear Fluttershy wailing for them to come back as they sprinted out of the room, but they still ran on. They reached the other end of the tunnel, and quickly opened the door.

Another small office greeted the unicorns, and they both let out sighs of relief. “Phew, that was close!” exclaimed Follower as he collapsed onto his hindquarters.

Warden Sue nodded before leaning against the wall, waiting for her heart rate to slow down. The two unicorns were silent for a few moments, then Follower got back on his hooves. “Well, I guess-” he began, before the sound of the door on the opposite side of the room opening interrupted him.

Both unicorns snapped to face the newly opened door. They watched in surprise as a light blue mare tumbled into the room, tripping over her own hooves, smashing face-first into the floor. There was silence for a few moments before the blue mare groaned and slowly got back up. A few seconds passed before the blue mare caught sight of the two unicorns.

The room was dead silent for a few more moments. Follower finally decided to say something. “Um..... hi?”