Twilight woke up with tears in her eye and a sharp pain in her head. Twilight pressed two hooves to her temples in and began to rub. After a minute the headache went away, allowing Twilight to think about the dream she had just had.

“I have a family.” Twilight said to herself, “I have a husband and three foals.”

Twilight thought for a moment about the new information. Why did she forget her family? She wouldn’t have done so easily, so that could only mean that whatever had happened to get Twilight locked up in Sleipnir.

Twilight climbed out of her bed and went out into the medical hall. There she found Dr. Layne lounging on a bench, reading what appeared to be a magazine.

“Good morning.” Twilight said as she passed the pegasus.

Dr. Layne grunted to show that had heard her.

“Have you seen Dread?” Twilight asked.

“I imagine that Dread is out delivering breakfast to the prisoners.” Dr. Layne answered, not taking his eyes off his magazine.

“Do you know when he’ll be back?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea.” Dr. Layne looked up from the magazine to glare at Twilight.

Taking a hint, Twilight left the doctor to read while she checked on Pinkamena.

The pink mare was still unconscious when Twilight entered her room, though her flesh was starting to return to normal.

“How are you feeling?” Twilight asked.

Pinkamena remained motionless. Twilight hadn’t expected her to actually respond, but she asked anyway on the off chance that she might.

Twilight sighed, “Well when you wake up, I’ll ask if Dread can get you cupcake or something.”

Twilight got up to wander around the hospital, eager to exercise her legs... As she was leaving, Twilight thought that she saw Pinkamena stir out of the corner of her eye.

Twilight left the hospital room and began wondering around the areas of the hospital that she hadn’t been in yet. For the most part it was uninteresting; the Sleipnir hospital area being no different than a normal hospital, but it was still a blessing to be able to walk around. Eventually Twilight came upon a door that was marked with a symbol that she had never seen before.

The symbol was a standard black on yellow danger sign that could be found in any legitimate laboratory. The symbol itself resembled a strand of DNA that had its base pairs bent so that they resembled little thunderbolts. The sides of the symbol had been drawn with little triangular spikes, giving it a similar appearance to a wooden ladder that had both warped and splintered.

For a moment, Twilight considered opening the door to find out what was so dangerous that it warranted its own danger sign. Twilight’s better judgment stopped her from doing so. If she was going to find out what was symbol meant it would probably be better to just ask Dread.

Twilight turned away from the door and began walking back towards the area that the rest of the hospital’s occupants lived. By the time she got back Dread had returned from feeding the inmates, and with him were four small packets. Twilight’s heart sunk when she saw the packets; she would have gladly returned to her cell if it meant that she didn’t have to eat another bite of what Sleipnir considered ‘food’.

“Good morning, Miss Sparkle.” Dread greeted, “Did you sleep well last night?”

“Yes.” Twilight said without taking her eyes off the small packages that Dread had brought with him.

“That is good to hear, Miss Sparkle. I have breakfast here for you and Dr. Layne.” Dread said, gesturing with a metal hoof to the packages.

Twilight gulped, “Thank you Dread, but I’m not very hungry right now.”

“Miss Sparkle, I understand your apprehension to eat… whatever it is that the Administrator is making me feed the prisoners, but you need to eat. I’m afraid that there’s no telling when the Administrator is going to decide to look into hospital, but when he does we will need to abandon the area as quickly as possible. When that happens we will be unable to scavenge for food in the facility. Better to eat now and starve later than to face whatever demise the Administrator would subject us to when he discovers us hiding in the hospital.”

Twilight thought for a moment. If Dread was right, then it was only a matter of time before the Administrator decided to force them into another part of the facility, and Twilight would need energy to run. She didn’t like it, but eating the so called food was likely a wiser decision than starving herself.

“Alright,” Twilight said, “let me see what’s on the menu.”

Upon opening the packet, Twilight was greeted by the overwhelming stench of spoiled milk that had been mixed with vinegar.

“Sweet merciful plot!” Dr. Layne, shouted while covering his nose, “What the buck is that crap?”

“Breakfast.” Dread answerd.

Resisting the urge to vomit, Twilight looked at what she was about to put into her mouth. It was a small lump of dark grey, powdery material. Wedged inside of the lump were smaller lumps of a greenish yellow, gooey material that glistened like the trails that slugs leave behind whenever they move. Sprinkled on the lump of nameless material, were small flakes that looked like they had been taken off of a pony’s sunburn.

Twilight looked pleadingly at Dread and asked, “Do I really have to eat this?”

“I am sorry, Miss Sparkle,” Dread answered, “but I am afraid that there are no other options.”

Reluctantly, Twilight took a bite out of the lump. Whatever the food was made out of, it crumbled in Twilight’s mouth like sand. The crumbs mixed with Twilight’s saliva, filling her mouth with a sour taste that made her eyes water. The flakes that were sprinkled on the loaf added a spicy taste to the food that clashed sharply with the sourness of the crumbs. When Twilight swallowed she gagged slightly, sending the food back into her mouth. Twilight swallowed a second time, this time keeping the mouthful down.

Twilight took another bite, this time biting of one of smaller lumps that dotted the food. Contrary to all appearance, the smaller lumps actually tasted better than the rest of the loaf. The smaller lump was slimy, almost like gelatin in texture, and its flavor reminded Twilight of the punch that the Pinkie of her world would serve at her parties, though the lumps were had a more sour taste to them.

“How does it taste?” Dread asked.

“Almost as good as it smells.” Twilight answered.

After a few minutes, both Twilight and Dr. Layne had finished their breakfast. Dr. Layne noted that the loaf was not as bad once you got used to the flavor, though Twilight disagreed.

A minute after Twilight finished her breakfast, the alicorn remembered the strange danger sign that she had seen asked Dread what it meant. It was Dr. Layne who answered however;

“Oh, that door? A few weeks before the Administrator showed up, Sleipnir was looking into the prospect of mutating the genetics of ponies to improve the efficiency of hospitals. That room you saw contains experimental equipment to manipulate DNA and RNA without damaging the pony being treated.”

“Okay, how would manipulating a pony’s genetics help a hospital? And why did you need to put a danger sign on the door if it was just that?” Twilight asked.

“Well to answer your first question, the researchers involved with the project believed that if they could tweak a pony’s genetics just right they could improve the body’s natural healing abilities to recover lost limbs and fight off infections more effectively. They never managed to get their theory to work however, all their attempts failed.”

Dr. Layne continued, “As for the danger sign, the equipment was unpredictable and dangerous if used incorrectly. There’s a file somewhere that documents the effects, but for the most part the results of careless tinkering with the equipment resulted in… unpleasant consequences.”

“How could a device that’s designed to alter a pony’s genes? Did the equipment radiation or something?” Twilight asked.

“No… Not exactly.” Dr. Layne paused for a moment, “Actually, I suppose you could say that it did. You see the device used a type of electromagnetic radiation to break down the subject’s DNA structure so that the doctors involved could rewrite it. As far as I know, there was no lingering radiation once the device was deactivated. To be on the safe side however, I would advise you to not enter that room.”

“Okay, is there anything else that I should about the device?”

“If there is, I couldn’t tell you. I never worked on the project and was only told low level information about it. And as I said before, they had only just started working on the project.”

“Why would they conduct dangerous experiments in the vicinity of patients? I mean if they knew how unstable the device was…”

Dr. Layne interrupted, “I assume that they didn’t know how dangerous the experiments would be when they first started. From what I understand Sleipnir didn’t have an available lab to conduct the experiments, so they made a temporary one in one of the lesser used hospital rooms. I am certain that they were planning an expansion to the facility where they would put the genetics division.”

“So what stopped them?”

It was Dread who answered, “All of Sleipnir’s former activities were put to a stop when the Administrator arrived. That includes the genetic experiments and any expansions to the facility. I'm sure you can imagine why.”

“How exactly did the Administrator come into power anyway?” Twilight asked.

Dread and Dr. Layne stood silently, the latter suddenly developing an interest in his left hoof. Twilight wondered if she had poked a fresh scab with her question.

“Have you been to see Miss Pie yet?” Dread asked after a minute.

Twilight answered, “Yes, I went to see her right after I woke up.”

“How was she?”

“She’s still unconscious, but it looked like she was getting better.”

“Good.” Dread said, “Would you care to accompany me while I feed her and Miss Shy?”

Twilight agreed and the two set off to the hospital rooms. They stopped by Pinkamena’s room first. Once inside, Dread took one of the loaves and crushed it into crumbs it with one of his three fingered claws. Dread then took one of the water packets out of the cabinet and sprinkled the crumbs onto it.

“What are you doing?” Twilight asked.

“I am mixing the food with a water packet so that it will be easier to feed to Miss Pie.” Dread answered.

“Shouldn’t you open the packet first?”

Dread made a crackling noise with his voice box before speaking, “No Miss Sparkle, if I were to open the packet all the water would spill out.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Twilight said, “but why are you pouring the crumbs onto the packet? Why not pour the water into a glass and then mix the food?”

“Well, the reason why I am not using a glass is that I don’t want to waste my time looking for a glass. Mixing the food directly into the packet is more convenient.”

“Okay, how do you mix the food through the packet into the water?”

“Water packets are designed to function similarly to a cell membrane. Certain materials are capable of passing through while others aren’t. In a couple of seconds, the crumbs will seep through the packet and mix with the water.”

Twilight could already see some of the crumbs beginning to enter the water packet. As the crumbs mixed with the water, the liquid became a dark purple in color. Once the first packet was completely opaque from the crumbs, Dread took any remaining crumbs and repeated the process with a second packet.

Once the second packet was complete, Dread walked to Pinkamena’s side and placed one of them in her mouth. Dread then moved her jaw so that her teeth punctured a hole in the packet.

“I don’t want to pour too much of the liquid into her mouth at once.” Dread said as he watched the purple liquid slowly drain from the packed, “Feeding her liquid nutrients is safer than feeding her standard food, but there is still of a risk that some of the liquid will enter her lungs. I need to be careful.”

“I figured as much. You didn’t have to tell me all that.” Twilight said, realizing a little too late that she might’ve come across as rude.

“Force of habit, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said without looking away from the slowly draining water packet, “I repeat that speech whenever I am feeding a patient in this manner. It helps me focus on feeding the patient. It doesn’t help that this form of liquid feeding is awkward and very easy to mess up.”

“Then why don’t you a different method of feeding her?” Twilight asked.

“I would gladly if another method were available to me. Unfortunately I don’t have the right materials to use any other method” Dread continued to pour water into Pinkamena’ mouth, “As it stands, we are very lucky that the food the Administrator serves the inmates is very soluble, otherwise I would have to manually force chunks of solid materials down my patient’s throats.”

“Is that why the meals are so disgusting?” Twilight asked.

“No, I am fairly certain that the solubility is byproduct. Still, it's best that we are thankful for small blessings."

When Dread had finished feeding Pinkamena, he and Twilight went to Fluttershy’s room to repeat the process. The mare was still unconscious and it appeared that one of the patches of skin that Dread had sewn on to her was starting to come undone, causing blood to start leaking where the seams had loosened.

Dread opened up a drawer and pulled out a sewing needle, a spool of fishing line, and a container of what Twilight assumed to be alcohol. Dread took the needle and submerged it into the alcohol. After pulling out, he pushed the line through the needle’s eye and knotted it.

Dread then walked over to Fluttershy’s side and inserted the needle into the part of her flesh that was becoming loose. Slowly Dread worked the needle in and out of Fluttershy, taking care not to accidentally damage her even further. After what felt like five minutes, Dread cut the line and tied both ends.

After cleaning the needle and putting it and the alcohol back into the drawer, Dread said, “That’s the fourth time that’s happened in the last three weeks. I’m starting to think that I need to find a stronger material to hold Miss Shy together.”

“Did you just put a used needle back into the drawer?” Twilight asked, completely ignoring what Dread said.

“ Yes. Why do you ask?”

“That’s unsanitary!” Twilight protested, “You’re not supposed to reuse a medical needle! Who knows what kind of infections you may have given Fluttershy! What were you thinking?”

Dread did not answer.

“Well?”

“I was thinking that I was lucky enough to have the one needle in the first place, Miss Sparkle.” Dread answered, “I am well aware that conditions here are less than satisfactory. I do not have access to a steady supply of needles to perform surgery with, nor do I have the right material to stitch up wounds properly or keep a patient sedated while I am operating. I am sorry Miss Sparkle, but I must sacrifice sanitation for practicality.”

“Right,” Twilight said, feeling slightly embarrassed of her outburst, “I guess I momentarily forgot what our situation is. I’m sorry.”

“You have no reason to be sorry, Miss Sparkle.” Dread said, “Your reaction was perfectly understandable. Were we not desperately low on supplies I would’ve acted the same.”

“So when do you think she’ll wake up?” Twilight asked after a few minutes of silence, “Fluttershy, I mean.”

“Not for a long time, Miss Sparkle.” Dread answered, his voice box quivering as if to emulate a sad tone.

Dread had finished feeding Fluttershy and was now inspecting her body for any more loose skin. Fortunately, Dread’s stitching had held for the most part. There were a few areas were the stitches had become undone slightly, but these were easily fixed.

When he was done with the inspection, Dread asked “Miss Sparkle, could you please get me a diaper out of the cabinet on the left?”

“Okay, why?” Twilight asked.

“I need to change Miss Shy.”

Dread revealed that he had to put Fluttershy in a diaper so that she didn’t ruin the sheets every other day. Twilight wasn’t sure how she had missed something like that, or even how she had failed to realize the fact that Fluttershy would need a diaper. Being unconscious did not stop the body from functioning after all, and Dread would’ve either had to put Fluttershy in a diaper, or sit her on a toilet.

For a brief second, Twilight wondered why she couldn’t remember the last time she had used the toilet.

Dread removed Fluttershy’s used diaper and disposed of it in nearby waste basket. He then took a small, damp cloth and began to clean the areas where Fluttershy’s bodily wastes had dried or stained. After that, Dread began applying some sort of powder.

Twilight had changed diapers before, she would have to when she baby sat her neighbor’s children or volunteered at the local retirement home, but there was something about watching Dread change Fluttershy that made her stomach churn. Perhaps it was because she known a version of Fluttershy, perhaps it was because it was because it was a robot that doing the changing; or perhaps it was because Fluttershy’s mismatched skin disgusted Twilight. Whatever the reason, Twilight had to look away from Fluttershy while Dread changed her, if only to keep her breakfast down.

“Well I will need to clean her sometime in the next two days,” Dread said a moment later, “but for now I think that Miss Shy is set. Is there anything you would like to do to pass the time, Miss Sparkle?”

Twilight answered without turning, “I’m not sure. Can I take a look at those books again?”

“Of course, so long as you promise not to find another experiment log.”

Author's Notes:

Small announcement: I'm going to change the story's rating from Teen to Mature sometime before the next update. I want a little more freedom to describe certain parts of future chapters without having to water myself down to what I consider Teen level. Just so you are aware, future chapters will contain graphic descriptions of rape, death, and other non child friendly content.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.