“Just sit over there, please. I got to finish this bomb,” says Thunderlane.

Normally “please” is a nice word to hear, but in this case Fluttershy hears something less than nice. Malice, perhaps?

Though, Thunderlane did have his tooth broken in a scuffle, so he is definitely grouchy about that, and the whole situation has been so far beyond what any of them were prepared for that the stress is getting to all of them. But still, he didn't have to sound so mean. And neither did Rarity when she told Fluttershy there was no time for small talk.

Like a tick gnawing at her brain, Fluttershy wonders if they are mad at her.

Why would they be?

She got Rainbow Dash back. She almost died to save their leader, and she almost died getting the trolley back up, which was a stupid easy fix and they didn't even use it! Now here she is, being treated like a leper for reasons she doesn't even know.

There wasn't even a thank you!

What the hell is wrong with these ungrateful ponies?

Fluttershy quickly pushes the bad thoughts back and exhales quietly, knowing full well that the situation has made tensions high. So, with the short and much needed breathing to ease her tension, Fluttershy goes towards the crates Thunderlane pointed at and lays down with her hoofs under her head and her ears drooped. Laying down brings a new sense of peace to her. Her heavy limbs feel like they have disintegrated like sand in the water, her pain goes from throbbing to numb, and her eye shuts immediately, putting her in a cool darkness.

“WAKE UP!” screams a voice.

Fluttershy shrieks and jumps up, hoof smacking against whatever is in front of her.

Though that whatever turns into a whoever.

And that whoever turns out to be Rainbow Dash, who is now laying on the floor, holding her jaw while Thunderlane sits in the back with a small satisfied smile on his face, and is loaded with ammo. He is also standing next to their bomb, which is now on the roller cart and consisting of five bundles of gem batteries and red cylinders all held together by straps, cords, wires, and chains.

“Aw~” groans Rainbow Dash, back arched and hoof still massaging her face. “Aw, what the hell? I thought we were friends.”

“S-Sorry,” stammers Fluttershy.

“Aw... Damn, you hit hard!”

“I told you it was a bad idea,” says Thunderlane. “You should have gently shaken her shoulder and whispered lovingly into her ear.”

Rainbow Dash points at him with a scowl. “Don't start. I'm not in the mood.”

Thunderlane snickers, but Rarity quietly watches the scene from the back, far from everyone, while she uses her telekinesis to put her hoof-computer back in order; she has also filled her inventory with ammo and is now wearing the tool belt, but the belt has a light blue glow to it. Then it is back to Fluttershy. She still feels sore when she gets up, so she digs into her medical pouch to inject herself with a dose of adrenaline, thus giving herself a little boost so her legs don't feel like they will snap.

“Anyway, now that Ms. Slacker is awake we can finally get to the communications relay,” says Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy glares at Rainbow Dash, but keeps herself quiet, and Rainbow Dash turns and points at Thunderlane.

“You sure that your bomb will kill whatever is blocking the way?” asks Rainbow Dash.

“If this baby doesn't kill it I'll be very surprised,” says Thunderlane. “We are looking at a dozen liquid fuel cylinders plus five dozen gem batteries. Liquid fuel is very flammable and when a gem battery explodes-”

“Cool. Rarity?”

Thunderlane huffs irritably, and Rarity looks up from her computer pad.

“Are you sure we can get a signal out when you reach the relay?” asks Rainbow Dash.

Rarity nods. “The relay will have a compatible port to send out emergency signals and remove the scrambler program.”

“Good. Fluttershy, you're point.”

Fluttershy's eye widens, and the group stares at her, completely silent.

“Look, you're basically an expert at killing these things by now,” explains Rainbow Dash after a couple of seconds of silence. “And I need Rarity safe to do her thing and Thunderlane for the bomb.”

Fluttershy's eye darts between each of the ponies in front of her before she sighs, stands up and checks her gear. She is low on medical supplies (again), and her batteries for the cutter will need to be restocked soon, she is out of shotgun slugs, and she still has some rifle ammo left, but it too will need restocking very soon. So she gets what she can from their ammo stash, which is enough to refill everything but her battery stash since Thunderlane used all of the gem batteries for his bomb. Once that is said and done, she goes to the door, takes a deep breath, then opens it.

The door screeches and bangs as it slides open, and its noise echoes in the hallway, bringing Fluttershy to cringe as she looks down both sides of their area. All she sees are flickering lights and bits of stray trash, but so far no Necromorphs. There is also a camera with a little red light right outside the room that she just now noticed.

She keeps her eye on the camera for a few seconds before a tap on her flank snaps her out of the trance.

“We clear?” asks Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy nods and moves towards the large chamber while Rainbow Dash steps out to keep the back end of the hallway covered. Thunderlane rolls the cart out a few seconds later, followed closely by Rarity, and once they are a few paces down the hallway Rainbow Dash trails them.

The cart squeaks, hops and swerves a little as Thunderlane pushes it, which adds to Fluttershy's anxiety like bricks in a wheelbarrow. They might as well be banging pots and pans from how loud each of the cart's squeaks and clatters are. Her breathing is heavy and her eye shifts to every spot as she leads the group down the hallway.

When they are halfway down the hall a faint giggle and light scuffing floats out of the vents, and Fluttershy stops and looks at the vent, lungs shriveled and cutter aimed up. This brings the group to stop and listen. The shifting in the vents returns, and while everyone tenses Fluttershy trails the noise with her eye until she sees a vent grate on the floor up ahead. She stays locked in place, eye snapping between the open vent and the door up ahead with shaky breaths and a quivering hoof.

“Eyes up. Something's in the vents,” whispers Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy gulps and keeps her energy cutter trained on the vent opening, and she motions the group to stay close to the wall. Once they are pressed as close as they can be, she walks forward, cringing as Thunderlane's cart makes a ruckus. When they are by the open vent Fluttershy peers into the darkness and is greeted by a wide grin, and pair of blue eyes with strands of gray mane hanging in front of it.

Fluttershy screams and backpedals into Thunderlane's cart, shooting wildly into the vent. Sparks and bits of hot metal fall down and muffled cackles float out of the vent with the banging of hoofs scampering through the vents, bringing Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Thunderlane to shoot into the ceiling as well. The lights above explode, showering the group with glass, sparks and wires, and the hallway flickers and dims as the explosive pops of gunfire bounce off the walls. By the time they are done shooting, the floor is littered with spent casings and jagged dots mark the ceiling.

“What the hell was that!?” says Thunderlane.

“That was Honey Creme,” says Fluttershy as she shakily reloads. “She tried cutting me up with a power saw a few hours ago and she almost jumped at me again.”

Thunderlane grimaces and Rainbow Dash sweeps the hallway behind them, putting emphasis on the vents.

“Great. Now we got a psychopath following us,” says Rainbow Dash.

“I think we scared her off for now,” says Fluttershy.

“That's good, but we really have to keep moving,” says Rarity.

“Right, of course, we definitely gotta keep moving. So pick up the pace, Fluttershy,” says Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy fights to keep her annoyed sigh down as she moves forward, glumly thinking about how she has gotten the short end of the stick a lot on this mission. None of the other ponies are remotely close to beat up like she is and she hasn't even had a chance to look for Zephyr yet! She has just been running, running, losing an eye, running some more, losing flight, almost dying a bunch of times, rescuing their commander, and now this. Just thinking about how much time she is wasting gets her teeth grinding and weighs down her breathing.

She just wants to find Zephyr. Is that too much to ask for!?

Squish~

Fluttershy stops and looks down while lifting her hoof up, grimacing when she sees a piece of torn red colored flesh in its puddle of blood, with some teeth around it as well as more blood splattered on the wall. She looks up from the chunk of meat and realizes that she is where Rarity rescued her, and just looking at the door frame brings an sharp and hot pain on her back.

Then there is the Necromorph in the chamber.

The circle of eyes that the blob-like Necromorph has are all moving in different directions, and its groans and hisses vibrate the room as its tentacles snake around the floor or dig into the vents. The puke yellow bags and its black veins throb with every breath, but it does not seem to notice them.

“Thunderlane, if that bomb doesn't kill that thing I'm going to be pissed,” says Rainbow Dash.

“You and me both,” says Thunderlane.

Rainbow Dash goes to Fluttershy's side, and the medic has yet to take her eyes off of the monster and is also wishing she had something better than the shredded armor she has now. Maybe Rainbow Dash's armor? It seems to be doing well.

“Flutters, guard Rarity,” orders Rainbow Dash. “Me and Thunderlane are going to blow that thing apart.”

Another groan and hiss shakes their bones, and Fluttershy nods and looks at Rarity, also wishing she had a battle saddle for her energy cutter so she is not hopping around on three hoofs all the time.

“Hey.” Rainbow Dash taps Fluttershy's shoulder to bring her attention back to her. “If it looks like we need help, don't hesitate to help us. I really want to live.”

“We all do,” says Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash grins, pats her shoulder, and then waves at Thunderlane.

“Let's go, Thunderlane. You got a bomb to deliver,” says Rainbow Dash.

Thunderlane pushes the cart forward, and Fluttershy risks looking away from the two to focus down the hallway, but out of the corner of her eye she sees Rarity slumped against the wall. Her eyes are wide and focused on the wall in front of her, but they are unfocused and her nostrils are flaring with every heavy breath she takes while her hoof twitches.

Fluttershy turns her full attention to Rarity and steps forward, but before she can reach her a rush of air and something slimy hits her back, knocking her to the floor. Metal bends and snaps, and crackling sparks fly as gunfire clashes with the Necromorph's deafening scream.

Fluttershy scrambles upright and grabs her energy cutter, turning just in time to see one of the large tentacles sliding out of the bent doorway. She looks into the chamber and sees Rainbow Dash yelling a war cry before launching herself in the air, shooting at the yellow bags and eyes while Thunderlane shoves the bomb-cart towards one of the tentacles. The bags and a couple of eyes pop, showering the floor with yellow puss, clear fluid and dirty red blood, and Thunderlane vaults over a tentacle swiping at him while Rainbow Dash swoops over and under another one.

Fluttershy cringes and looks over her shoulder to make sure the area is still clear and Rarity is still standing before looking back the chamber. The two pegasi are swooping around the tentacles, and the large appendages are swinging wildly, denting and breaking the platings on the walls as well as the light fixtures above; but one of the tentacles has grabbed Thunderlane's bomb and is bringing it towards its mouth.

The massive jaw opens up with drool dripping from its large teeth, and Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash both zip inside, with Thunderlane holding a make shift detonator with a red “Easy” button on it.

The dark pegasus looks over his shoulder, and when the Necromorph shoves the cart in its mouth Thunderlane pushes the button. Immediately after there are numerous pops and crackles, and thick electric sparks of various colors burst through its hide like jagged needles as large seas of fire burn through the creature's mouth, rupturing its veins and yellow bags, popping its eyes and tearing apart its cheeks. It roars in agony, shaking the chamber as its flesh sizzles and pops, spraying the room with jets of dark red blood and filling the chamber with foul smelling smoke. Broken teeth pop out of its mouth as the batteries explode and the popped canisters ricochet inside its mouth, leading to chunks of its burning flesh falling off, splashing below in a bloody mess.

It flails its tentacles around, smashing the walls and forcing the group to retreat further into the hallway. The rapid and hard thuds shake the chamber and hallway, leading to the lights overhead to flicker and the metal boards to snap or bend, exposing wires, pipes and the ship's skeleton. The pipes rupture from the tentacles slamming into it, spraying the liquid with water, liquid fuel and other chemicals, and a screeching alarm stabs at the ponies' ears, followed by the damaged door flashing and flickering red. The door tries to shut as the flood of chemicals spread towards them, but it stops a quarter of the way before it sparks and snaps back in place. The sparks falling on the mix of fuel, gas and water lead to an oily carpet of flames and red tinted smoke that engulfs the whole room and rushes towards them, despite foam being sprayed all over the flame.

“Everypony back!” yells Rainbow Dash.

The group retreats further down the hall, and Rarity summons a pale blue translucent wall made of crystals that blocks the fire, bathing the group in a fix of orange, blue, red and dark gray. The smoke and fire rolls against the shield cracking it, and Rarity grits her teeth, growling as another burst of magic covers her horn and creates another shield layer.

The first layer shatters and flickers away, and the group steps back, stumbling when a PO-BOOM! rattles the hallway. The lights shut off, putting them with pitch black darkness on their backs and the glow of fire and magic to their fronts. Then, much to Fluttershy's surprise and worry, her hoofs are lifted off of the ground, like a piece of trash floating inside a tub of water. And while the others swear and yell, Fluttershy quietly grunts and paddles her hoofs, trying to get back to the floor, but it is to no avail, and she squeaks when her back taps against the ceiling.

The alarm is still screeching, but it is considerably weaker now, and the fire rapidly dwindles as globs of foam from the ruptured pipes and canisters eat it up. Though, after a minute or two passes Rarity's shield dissolves, leaving her panting and shaking while thick smoke flows into their area.

“The bomb worked too well, Thunderlane,” says Rainbow Dash, flicking her light on while twirling and grunting as she positions herself to look down the back end of the hallway.

“That should not have happened,” says Thunderlane, now upside down. “That thing in there must have busted a lot of pipes in order for this to happen.”

“An artificial gravity node was also destroyed. We'll be floating like this for a while,” says Rarity, her mouth hanging open and hoof pressed against her chest. She swallows hard and swipes her hoof aimlessly into the air, trying to grab anything while her eyes lose focus. “Do you think they have a gift shop nearby?”

Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes and air-swims ahead. “Now is not the time for gift shops.”

“I'm just curious...” says Rarity. “I need to get Sweetie Belle and my parents something... anything...”

Fluttershy scrunches her what's left of her brows, but the other two pegasi do not appear to see what she is seeing since they are air-swimming towards the chamber door with Rainbow Dash in the lead.

“W-w-w-w-AR-nnnnnnn-ING: H-l DAmagE - S-C-TIon-nn E-F-01. Hull at 20-3-222-1-1% eFF-cee. EVAC-tion highly ZIDE,” says a voice fuzzing in and out.

“We'll have to find another way to the bridge,” says Thunderlane. “This area can pop open any minute.”

“Well, as long as we have Rarity we should be able to find another route easily,” says Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy turns the rest of her body to Rarity and scans her with her Medical Assessment Device. The thin green lines move up and down and side to side on her, and when it is finished it displays Rarity's current condition.

SUBJECT: RARITY BELLE

VITALS: UNHEALTHY

>>>Heart Rate: 160 b/m

>>>Bruised Bones: Scapula, L. Humerus, L. Radius, L. Femur, L. Tibia

>>>Damaged Bone: Caudal Vertebrae, Sacral Vertebrae

>>>Damaged Muscles: L. Coccygeus Muscle, Tail Depressor, L. Superficial Gluteal Muscle, L. Semitendinosous Muscle, L. Bicepts Femoris Muscle, L. Deltoideus Muscle, L. Triceps Muscle

MEDICAL FOAM APPLIED

FURTHER MEDICAL CARE NEEDED. REST ADVISED.

VENTRICULAR FIBRILLATION IMMINENT.

Fluttershy uses the wall to push herself towards Rarity, and she puts her hoof on her shoulder and looks into her eye. However, Rarity's eyes do not meet hers; instead they move side to side and the unicorn's hoof hooks on to Fluttershy's shoulder.

“Sweetie Belle likes music. She wants to be a musician,” says Rarity breathlessly. “Musicians travel and spread happiness. But she can't travel. Not with-with these things out here! They'll kill her!”

>>>Heart Rate: 165 b/m

“Rarity, relax,” says Fluttershy gently. “Your heart rate is getting high.”

“I want to go home,” whimpers Rarity. “I can't be here!”

>>>Heart Rate: 170 b/m

“It's going to be okay,” says Fluttershy. “You'll make it home, I promise.”

“NO! NONE OF THIS OKAY!” screams Rarity, tears flowing down her cheeks and floating up between her and Fluttershy. “H-HOW COULD WE HAVE MISSED SOMETHING LIKE THIS!?”

>>>Heart Rate: 175 b/m

“THEY HAD TO HAVE KNOWN THESE THINGS WERE ON ONYX! YOU CAN'T HIDE MONSTERS LIKE THESE!”

>>>Heart Rate: 180 b/m

Fluttershy pulls Rarity into her and gently shushes her, rubbing the back of her head and shoulder while she cries into her shoulder. Rarity's sobs float into the void with the blackened foam and rubble, and Fluttershy keeps her hold tight on Rarity as the two float in a circle. As much as Fluttershy wants to close her eye and focus just on calming Rarity down, she is too afraid to do so. She knows the moment she closes her eye out in the open is the moment that a Necromorph, or Honey Creme, or the Pyro will get them, but she cannot leave Rarity either.

>>>Heart Rate: 175 b/m

As the two drift, Fluttershy notices Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane looking at them, both quiet while Rarity has not stopped whimpering and sniffling. Fluttershy looks at them, and Rainbow Dash quickly turns away and pushes herself down the hallway, but Thunderlane stays close.

>>>Heart Rate: 170 b/m

Fluttershy's neck is wet from Rarity's tears, and tears of her own are flowing down her face and floating up. Rarity's grip on her becomes tighter, too, bringing her to wince from the pressure on the many cuts, bruises and sprains on her body, but she is not complaining. Rarity needs her, and so does the rest of the team and Zephyr. She will make sure they all get off this ship and go home, one way or the other.

Then comes a radio's crackle on everyone's equipment.

“Hello? Can anypony hear me?” asks a familiar voice on everyone's radio.

Fluttershy's ears perk, as does Rarity's, and Rainbow Dash floats back in, using the doorway to launch herself towards the group, eyes wide and wings open.

“Tell me I'm not the only one who heard that!” says Rainbow Dash.

“Testing. Testing. One-two-three. Testing. Anypony responding will be greatly appreciated,” says Applejack.

Fluttershy and Rarity pull away, and the group crowds around Rainbow Dash as best as they can when she pulls up a holographic display of Applejack. The earth pony has her fair share of scratches and bruises, and her suit is damaged and crudely patched up, but behind her is a row of ships anchored to a dock with SECTION H painted in black behind her.

“AJ, we hear you loud and clear! Can you see us?” asks Rainbow Dash quickly.

“You're a little fuzzy and it looks like you're floating, but, yeah, I see ya,” says Applejack.

“Thunderlane broke an artificial gravity node.”

“Nice.”

“That wasn't my fault!” says Thunderlane defensively.

This brings the group to chuckle, but despite the good mood the group is now in Fluttershy still looks around, paranoid of Necromorphs floating in. Or worse. Honey Creme or the Pyro.

“So, where have you been hiding?” asks Rainbow Dash.

“I ain't been hiding. I've been trying to get a hold of y'all ever since we got separated! Them things are persistent, though. They've been chasing me nonstop and popping out of every nook and cranny,” says Applejack. Then she sees Fluttershy. “Damn, you've had a really bad day, haven't ya, sugar cube?”

Fluttershy shrugs. “Its getting better.”

“That's good.”

“Listen, AJ, we're in Section E, and we're about to go to Section F to get an emergency extraction signal out,” says Rainbow Dash. “Is there a safe spot you can hold up at until we can get to you?”

“Hon, there ain't a safe spot anywhere on this Faust forsaken ship. Hell, just a few minutes ago one of them monsters came out of a damn washing machine and tried cutting my head off!” says Applejack.

“The safest spot would be the bridge,” interjects Rarity, still rubbing her chest. “It has the thickest doors and automated security with its own talismans, and it will have access to everything we need to plan an escape or hold up until help arrives.”

“Or we can find Section 0 and go there,” suggests Thunderlane.

“Section what now?” asks Applejack.

“Forget about that,” says Rainbow Dash, casting Thunderlane a quick glare. “Just get to the bridge. We'll meet you there.”

“Gotcha.”

“Keep me posted, too. I want to know where you are every ten minutes, got it?” orders Rainbow Dash.

“Loud and clear.”

“Good. We'll see you then. Over and out.”

Applejack salutes, followed by her screen disappearing, leaving the group to float around and feeling lighter than before despite the lack of gravity.

“Finally some good news,” says Rarity.

“I can't believe she's alive, honestly,” says Thunderlane.

“Well, lets not press our luck. We got a mission to finish, and the quicker we get the relay taken care of the quicker we can get the signal out and get to Applejack,” says Rainbow Dash. “So let's get going. We're almost home!”

Author's Notes:

Soon the ponies will be going home and everything will be okay. There will be absolutely nothing terrible coming in the next chapter. Nothing at all.

On that note, I kinda rushed through this bit because I want to finally get to the communications relay. I mean, 13 chapters in and all that... Kinda got to get the speed up with the relay, the bridge, finding Zephyr, psychopath problems, Applejack stuff, Dr. Rock stuff, Marker issues, and Fluttershy going insane getting out of this mess unharmed. There is still a lot to do for this story, so I'm going to try to pick up the pace since I don't think you guys want to read a 100 chapter story... Or do you? 🤔