Chapter 13: Room Seven

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"T…ten thousand years?" Twilight stammered slowly falling into a stunned seated position, her face a delicate mask of disbelief. She always knew that alicorns were immortal, even then it was a difficult concept to believe that Dream Reaver had known the Celestia for such an incredible amount of time. As a fan of mathematics she understood that such a number may not have seemed all that big. When applied it to a sense of time it became altogether meaningless, impossible to comprehend what a significant amount of history that had transpired, all of the lives that had come and gone in the intermediate years while an alicorn remained ageless, unchanging. In a profound way Twilight was grateful that she hadn't been born an alicorn.

"In actuality it has been ten thousand, three hundred, and twelve years?" Reaver said plainly, refilling his glass with another round. "Relationships between immortals and long lived species are complicated and hard to explain to ponies whose lives are measured only by decades."

"I….still I'd like to hear more," Twilight quickly overcame her earlier trepidations and pulled out trusty quill, ink, paper, and began dictating the conversation up to that point.

"Celestia has never talked her past before or even about the existence of a third Alicorn. I'm curious to learn more. Like what is the extent of your relationship with her?" Twilight leaned in closer, not realizing her quill was forming a large ink spot on the paper.

"You'd do better to ask Celestia yourself if you want to know about her past. I'd rather not speak for her." His voice was the measured cadence of a dignitary, confident and deep, betraying no emotion unlike his body which visibly tensed up at the subject.

"As for my side," He went tacit and slowly panning his head from left to right as if he was carefully examining the room for unseen eyes, "we are friends and allies with a similar goal, but our methods clash. Though she does comes to me from time to time for advice and counsel when certain past sins catch up with us or old wounds are opened. Other times we are bitter, hated enemies. Sometimes it's all of the above, none of the above, but we've always had the utmost respect for each other."

"That's not really an definitive answer." Twilight said, annoyed at his paper thin answer, it was more a transparent concept than a quantitative object.

"Of course it is, just not the one you wanted. There is a difference." He grinned lightly when she became even more annoyed, "It's not a simple thing, but if you want a story then let me tell you of the time, long ago, when I rose up to declare myself to be the rightful heir to the throne and nearly denied Celestia her right to rule." Twilight opened and closed her mouth like a panting fish. Suddenly taken aback and regarding him with fresh fascination and a little anxiety, but continued to write her account.

"It was right after we removed the previous tyrannical ruler from Equestria," Reaver continued, spreading his arms dramatically. He rose onto his hind legs to stand tall like a king towering above a royal assembly, spreading his wings to their full length. Light and lightening crackled from his horn in waves of raw energy that traveled along his body and diffused into the air.

"I declared myself superior in every way; power, intellect, and wisdom. I was destined to ascend the throne as the true ruler that Equestria needed, far surpassing anything that Celestia, young and foolish, could ever be. Failed policies made way for a battle that raged for days in the skies over Canterlot with the fate of the future to be decided." Soon his burst of energy faded and he settled back into his previous neutral mindset.

"I take it you lost." Isaac interrupted tactlessly, acting as if he was not impressed.

"Did you rub both brain cells together to figure that out?" Reaver deadpanned, receiving a 'touché' grin from Isaac, "You've never seen sweet Celestia when she's mad, Isaac. The last ten millennia have mellowed her out somewhat, although I wouldn't be surprised if she still had a bit of that youthful pride still in her. I hear there are some ponies who still call her Trollestia to this day. Respectfully, from behind her back, of course."

"Of course." Isaac agreed not entirely sure why. He didn't know much about Celestia, though she sounded like just another government type that he needed to watch out for.

"Look," he stamped a hoof out of frustration, "can this history lesson wait until we've dealt with the Marker. I'm tired of just waiting around, right?" He nudged Twilight.

"Huh?" she jerked as if awoken from a day dream, "Oh, yeah, I guess we'd better do that." She signed and wondered if ponies really did call Celestia by such a horrid name? She'd have to look into that and the elements help any pony she caught red hoofed.

"Our next step is clear because I sense the enemy is close to completing the Marker as we speak." Reaver said calmly as if discussing the weather.

"What?" Twilight gasped nearly dropping her paper, body going cold, "How do you know that? Is it even possible?"

"Have you not felt its influence on your mind? Voices, hallucinations, other strange phenomenon happening around you?"

"He's right," Isaac agreed wincing as he recalled a fairly recent encounter, "remember the fight in the mines, all those necromorphs? We thought the signal followed me in. It might have come from this new Marker."

"Yes, but…" Twilight sputtered, "Then why did the monsters suddenly die if there was a Marker controlling them?"

"Maybe something blocked the signal?" Isaac though out loud, scratching his cheek. "I have no idea. If it's not fully built then maybe it can't maintain a signal for a long period of time?"

"Those are…sound ideas," Twilight calmed herself, if only a tad, "right now maybe we should be more concerned that they built a Marker in less than a single day?"

"Twilight, the enemy has known for generations how to construct a Marker." Reaver countered, "They never dared to try it until now because it would be useless to them."

"But Luna said the book was what they needed to build it. Why steal it if already knew?"

"What Luna said was true, but for a different reason. There is a second part to the book. Our enemies are not foals; they know an uncontrollable Marker would equally spell their doom as much as it would ours. No, they needed the Tome in order to enslave the Marker and bend it to their will."

"How?"

"Celestia's pupil, at the time, found a way to control it. She discovered ways to use magic to manipulate the signal and modify the frequency of the energy waves that it emitted. She described it akin to putting a pony in a straitjacket."

"Both of you are fucking idiots," Isaac shouted giving Reaver a dismissive wave of his hoof before he was sharply interrupted by an angry kick to his leg from Twilight. He afforded her a sidelong scowl and ignored her.

"I've seen what comes from trying to control a marker. You may think you're safe, that you've got it all figured out but that's just what the Marker wants you to believe. It will never stop trying to find a way out and eventually it will."

"Just so, by the time we realized what was going on it was too late." Reaver contributed.

"Either outcome will be bad for Equestria," Twilight looked up to Reaver for guidance, "We can stop it, right?"

"…No," he replied curtly, "I brought you all the way out here to tell you there is no hope, nothing to be done, because I find it cute how your jaw goes slack in the presence of total planetary genocide. YES, there is a way to stop this."

"Then tell us how?"

"I can't," he shook his head to emphasize, "unfortunately the one who defeated the Black Marker passed away before they could pass on that information."

"Who? Was it Celestia's pupil?" Twilight prodded.

"No, it was her son."

"She had a son?" Twilight's mood plummeted at the news. She wondered how much more there was that she didn't know about her mentor. Wasn't she the princess' trusted, most faithful, student? Yet she realized now how much she didn't know.

"Had and he was the first pony to ever wield the Elements of Harmony."

"Ohh, Poor Celestia, she must've been so heartbroken." She felt a few tears threaten her.

"As all parents are when they have to bury their children. It is important that you understand that you too may have to make a similar sacrifice."

"No, I refuse to let anything like that happen to my friends." She snapped up ready to move the heavens to prevent such a fate, turning to Isaac with face full of purpose. "We can stop it right now."

"How are you planning to do that?" Isaac said.

"Right after you stormed out of the library, Isaac, Rarity came by and said that a friend of mine had been kidnapped. Her name is Fluttershy and Rarity knows where she's been taken to." Twilight panned back to Reaver, "My friends are preparing to go and rescue her as we speak. I can't,…won't, let anything happen to her."

"I see," There was a glimmer of light in the alicorn's eye, "A strange turn of events. This might prove to be a very fortunate development for us, indeed."

"What's fortunate about my friends being taken away from me?" A few strands of hair unsettled themselves from her main as her fury simmered. "Her house was broken into, her animals murdered, and to top it all off Ditzy Doo was kidnapped as well! There is nothing good about that."

"You need to put your personal feelings aside. You, of all ponies, should know the value of understanding the nature of the enemy you face and not running in half blind."

"Ghuu," she barked, "Fluttershy is one of my best friends and the most gentle and kind pony I've ever known. I will not so casually dismiss her?"

"Because I know what you are up against." His voice raised a few decibels to match the unicorn's. The two of them glared at each other in a test of willpower before Reaver unexpectedly broke it off and looked upwards as if losing himself in an old memory.

"Twilight, have you ever heard of a species called grundels? How about a bushwooly, mountain elf, a sea pony, or even a flutter pony?"

"I've read about them," her anger melted away at the change in topic, "but I haven't actually seen any of them."

"You never will since they're all gone now, my fault." He raised a hoof over his face, voice whispering. "Myths and legends are all that remain now. In a single week hundreds of civilizations were consumed by the marker or died out soon after the war ended…the world was a very empty place." Reaver inhaled sharply falling into a horrible gloom that contrasted his earlier confidence.

"The moment we saw it we knew it was not of this world. It was massive, ancient, and alien. It hadn't just fallen from the sky but had been delivered to us for reasons no pony could figure out." He shook his head, "We didn't win, we simply survived and now we're at the cusp of it all happening again and all you can think of is saving one friend?"

"Shove it up your ass, you son of a bitch," Isaac yelled unrelentingly, "If Twilight wants to go save her friend then that's fine with me. I know what it means to lose someone you love." His outburst quickly dissolved and he looked away in shame. "To…fail to be there for them."

"Besides destroying the Marker is my job and I can do it by myself." He finished reasserting his earlier statement.

"Yes, I heard that you have enjoyed some success in the past. While I respect your skill and am partly responsible for your existence here in Equestria, that does not mean I trust you. While you've been stumbling through Everfree and playing apple farmer many more ponies have been disappearing all across Equestria. Fluttershy was not the first and even Rainbow Dash has been counted amongst those missing."

"Rainbow Dash too? When!" Twilight screamed.

"Several hours ago."

"What are they going to do to them?" Twilight already had a sneaking expectation of what the answer was. She didn't want to speak it out loud, she was too afraid she'd be right. On her behalf, Isaac stepped in to answer it for her.

"They're going to be used as test subjects aren't they?" he pounded his hooves in disgust, "They'll use them as test subjects until they can no longer serve a useful purpose. Then they'll be used to make necromorphs." It was a disturbing parallel to how Earthgov had treated him and several other prisoners in their mindless pursuit in building an obelisk of death.

"No!" Twilight released an anguished wail, heart clenching under a death squeeze, while her legs turned to jelly, "they…no. They wouldn't…their going to turn my friends into more of those abominations." Her eyes begged Isaac, pleaded for him to say that she was simply playing a cruel joke or that there were other possibilities; however Isaac could not bring himself to look at her.

"There is still hope though," Reaver said lifting his drink to sip at it, accompanied by the gentle sound of tumbling ice cubes, "until now we were unsure where the stolen ponies were being taken. Now it seems you might have unwittingly stumbled upon the enemy's home."

"Your right, if they are kidnapping ponies to make necromorphs then we might be able to solve two problems at once."

"Exactly, Twilight. It is good to see that you're still in good spirits. Most ponies would be a little more 'hesitant' chasing after the enemy after nearly being killed."

"I was lucky to have Luna and Isaac with me," Twilight gave Isaac a small approving grin of thanks, "they both saved my life."

"An act that came with a lot of strings attached."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm..." Reaver hummed while closely examining Twilight. So long and intense was his gaze that Twilight felt herself blush a bit in embarrassment, "Again I won't presume to speak for another, especially Princess Luna. I love her like a sister and if she hasn't told you then neither will I, you'll have to take it up with her. I will say you won't feel so grateful when you learn what it cost her to save your life and the price that you too will have to pay."

"Speaking of Luna there is something I need to know." Isaac stepped in, "She tasked Twilight the duty of summoning a weapon into this world. Twilight said it was her fault for miscasting the spell, that I was not suppose to be here, that it was an accident, and Luna seemed to support this. Thing is, I don't believe it was an accident."

"But it was. It's my fault. I let everypony down." Twilight admonished, placing a hood on Isaac's shoulder.

"Oh?" Reaver beamed with interest, "How so?"

"Come on, I'm not an idiot." Isaac felt insulted, "A world facing destruction from a Marker and I just happened to fall into it on random chance by a failed spell? I'm not a scientist but the numerical odds of such a thing must be incredibly small. You can't sit there and tell me I'm here by coincidence."

"Your right, I can't." Reaver smiled, "When the two princesses came to me for my council I told them that I knew of a weapon that could possibly tip the odds in our favor. The fact your standing here is proof that Twilight performed the spell to my exact specifications."

"So you lied to me, to Celestia and Luna." Twilight huffed, insulted at the very notion.

"Had I told them the truth about what the weapon really was I suspect neither of them would have agreed to go through with it, especially since it involved you at the center of it all."

"So you're the reason why I'm here and a horse too." Isaac poked Reaver in the chest but failed to incite a reaction from the alicorn.

"I made you a pony so as to allow you move more freely in the world and not draw unwarranted attention from the enemy. So you could speak and read the language as well. This is why your mind bonded with Twilight's, it was an exchange of information."

"But why drag me back into this crap? Huh? Why me?"

"Because…for those of us who dwell in the infinite space between science and magic, between delusion and ultimate truth, you are what we call a nexus, both of you. Wherever you go, the world has a tendency to follow. It has saved lives and is exactly what we need now."

"Now there's one thing I don't understand." Twilight piped in, "There was a mind control spell woven into the summoning…"

"A mind what now?" Isaac asked.

"A spell that Luna said would bind the wea…uh, you to my control." Twilight absent-mindedly played with her mane.

"Hey, no one is controlling me, especially not a purple figment of my imagination."

"Too bad, because the first thing I'd do is give you a sunnier disposition. Then there is the matter of your foul language."

"How about I give you my foot right up your…"

"Enough," Reaver's howl settled the matter once and for all, "You were an unknown element, Isaac. There was no way of telling how you'd react once you arrived and I couldn't risk you actually harming Twilight, Celestia would never forgive me."

"So you screwed with my head?" Isaac never wished more that he could make a pony's head explode just using his mind.

"Just a small mental block to ensure that you'd never be able to cause her any physical harm directly or indirectly." The alicorn informed Isaac who fumed with indignation.

"I'm tired of being manipulated to serve another's agenda!" The former human wanted to kill this bastard, rip him apart and paint the walls with his blood. The more he thought of it the more his body stiffened to the extent his muscles clenched so hard making that it immobilized him. Anger was defeated by shock when he realized what was happening.

"No doubt you realize it's also futile to try and attack me." Reaver demonstrated this by leaving his throat exposed to Isaac's mercy.

"Please stop this," Twilight pleaded, "There is no need for all this, and we're supposed to be on the same side." Whether or not her words had any effect Reaver backed away.

"The hour is getting late," he said, "and you should be on your way, but before you go there is one final matter." Using his magic he levitated a medium sized jewel box from a brown sack that had been hiding behind the table. The jewel box was painted with a midnight blue and laced with gold along the edges and on the hinges. Rhombus shaped gems of red, pink, and green wrapped around the box in four sets of three.

"Open it," he said as the box was laid at Twilights hooves. Twilight complied and was rewarded with a flash of light and a burst of a familiar magical energy that filled her with feelings of absolute safety. She knew exactly what was inside before the light finally faded away.

"The Elements of Harmony," she marveled, plucking a golden tiara with a large star, made of a magenta colored tourmaline, set upon the crown. The inside of the box was padded with a fine pink silk that contained six valuable treasures, the tiara among them. The other five were gold necklaces and each one had a different shaped and colored pendant that corresponded to the cutie-mark of its representative pony, who all happened to be Twilight best friends. They were the elements of honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, and loyalty. Twilight's was the most powerful element of all, magic.

"Celestia wanted you to have them, a word of warning though," Reaver grew unusually hushed with a serious scowl, "the Elements are powerful weapons, however, use them only as a last resort since they will draw the Marker's attention to you."

"I don't understand."

"You will in time. Just remember that each element grants the user powers that can be used individually, apart from the whole." Reaver turned away from Twilight, addressing a rather brooding Isaac, "I did not forget about you Mr. Clarke."

"I swear if you pull out a crown or earrings I'm going to jump right out the window." Isaac jabbed a hoof in the alicorn's direction.

"No there is no seventh Element or jewelry for you."

"Good, he'd probably represent crabbiness." Twilight giggled.

"I think a certain purple pain in my ass should be quiet." Isaac huffed, receiving a raspberry from Twilight in return.

"I managed to pull a few favors and requisitioned an item from the Princesses' own private museum. It's over there, in the sack behind the table.

"What is it?" Isaac tried not to sound too interested.

"Something I think you'll like." Reaver nodded assuredly, "One more thing, I had hoped that Twilight's friend, Rainbow Dash, would've been around to help you get your wings off the ground, so to speak. Since she's missing I hired another fast flyer to help you out, someone you can trust, and I hear she's one of the best." A pale aura of magic formed around the alicorn's horn and he backpedaled a ways as the pool of energy began to grow brighter.

"She should be at the library now." He said just as a great conflagration of magical energies swarmed and filled the room with a deafening tone and a push of force that sent reality itself seeming to buckle under the strain. It lasted only a second and when it was over Reaver was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh my," Twilight gasped picking herself up off the floor, "I've never seen a teleportation spell that powerful before." Isaac just brushed the dust and dirt from his coat noting that the great grinding of the clock tower's gears had returned in full force. Sparing not a though for it he strode over to the table and spotted the sack where his 'gift' awaited him. He slowly reached out for the bag, hesitating only briefly, unsure as to what was inside or that it might even be a trap.

Feeling that such reservations were just unfounded paranoia he reached inside and felt something cool and hard in his hoof. Extracting it into the light he beheld an octagonal shaped black metal tube with a handle on one end. He couldn't help but feel an instance of déjà vu. He'd seen this object many times before. Back home it was a standard sight aboard starships, but he'd never thought he'd see it in a place like this.

"Holy shit." He mouthed as he placed the flat end of the tube on the table. Threading a hoof through the handle he gave a firm clockwise tug and the top of the cylinder rotated with ease. After half a rotation there was a click and Isaac pulled up and a hiss of air escaped the tube, with the billowing of cold white fog, as he extracted a clear circular glass tube.

Isaac stared disbelieving at the smooth rectangular, bronze colored, object encased inside the glass. There were no logos, safety stickers, or even a serial number but there was no doubting what it was; a CEC nano-lithe fusion battery for his RIG. He had just been handed the means to power his advanced suit back into life.

"You're fucking kidding me. How the hell did he get one of these?" Maybe he didn't want to know the answer to that. The question along raised all sorts of uncomfortable scenarios.

(…………………………………………………………………………………………)

The stretcher shook and jostled her wildly about as the dogs pushed her over the uneven rock strewn path towards their destination. Fluttershy could see nothing past the black sack wrapped tightly over her head. Occasionally the light from an overhead lamp managed to break through and warm her eyes, otherwise she had lost all sense of orientation and position as she was guided down endless tunnels that twisted and turned before suddenly folding in on themselves with no sense of purpose or goal.

It went on like this for an immeasurable amount of time until the stretcher's wheels collided with a sudden steep incline and she had let out a loud scream of discomfort and surprise, her face flushing from the embarrassment and shock. Afterwards the ground leveled out and from the sound the wheels made on the floor the ground was made from an artificial material that she was unfamiliar with yet it was hard and made a squeaking sound. Even on the smooth surface Fluttershy still continued to shake, her fatigued muscles aching from the earlier fight. Though she trembled more out of fear and anxiety at what was awaiting her; hunger, fatigue, and confusion only compounded her ill feelings. She didn't know what to do or if there was anything more she could do to escape this dark place. She gasped uncontrollably and was so frightened that she couldn't cry.

Her brain was like leaved scattered in a hurricane; wild, hard to control, and form into a single coherent thought. With all her might she tried to center her thoughts on a single focus, contemplating what her heroine Rainbow Dash would do to handle a situation such as this. Rainbow was strong and brave, surely she'd find a way out for sure and doing something incredibly cool in the process.

Fluttershy also remembered a time when Rarity had been trapped last year by the diamond dogs. Everypony had believed that Rarity had been in great peril. Turned out the fashion designer had turned the tables on the dogs and won her own freedom without the help of her friends.

The butterscotch pegasus found her feelings had turned their way towards Cherry and the atrocities she'd committed against Angel and Ditzy. She'd felt a chink in her chain of fear, experienced a contortion forming on her face, and followed by a grinding of teeth as evil thoughts filled her head. All of her animal friends were either dead or without a home now because of a simple fact. That she was the smallest of all her friends and was of no help to anypony. Her friends had encouraged her to be the best pony she could be and while she had tried, in the end, it hadn't been enough.

She was weak.

The procession of pony and dogs halted suddenly and interrupted her train of thought and self pity as a series of sequential clicks of heavy door locks being released echoed down the hall and the metallic reverberation of a very large door opening. She felt the vibration of large motors grinding and protesting as they worked fervently to open the way. Before the engines finished their work, the dogs started moving her again, past the doors and down a curved incline. There was an abrupt upsurge of sounds all around her as she was lead through a large crowd. Footfalls of dogs and ponies could be heard everywhere and a massive amount of disjointed chatter made it impossible for her to pick out a single conversation over another. Rising above the din of voices, like a thunder clap, was the fierce unmistakable snap of several whips filling the air and accompanied closely by a wail of agony from a pony, mares and stallions, and sometimes from a dog as well.

"Room Seven." One of the dogs barked as they came to another halt. There was an electrical buzz preceding the release of another, smaller, door this time. As they passed this door she felt a wave of gloom fill her to the marrow as the door slammed shut and she was sealed inside with her captors. The restraining belts holding her down were removed while four pairs of clawed hands grabbed at her tightly and lifting her from the stretcher. She was quivering in a cold sweat, too frightened to move. Afraid that if she screamed or tried to struggle that they'd only hurt her more or Ditzy in retaliation. A bolt of freezing cold snapped up her spine as she was placed against an icy chair that was angled halfway between a horizontal and vertical position. The dogs wasted no time in applying metal cuffs on her legs and immobilizing her once again.

The black sack was removed from her head and she had to impulsively squint her eyes against the assaulting light that was emitted from a lamp hung right above her head. She was afforded no reprieve as the sack was then forced into her mouth. The dog had rolled the sack up and held it like a rope across her cheeks, silencing her protests and holding her head firm against the chair. He pulled with such indissoluble strength that she felt like her jaw was about to break and she struggled to breath as her tongue was forced back into her throat. She closed her eyes and wishing with all her heart that this was all just a bad dream. That Angel, Twilight, or any of her friends would arrive and wake her up at any moment. Then they'd look directly into her eyes with faces scrunched up and reflecting great concern and sympathy.

"Hold her eyes open," said a stallion with a tone of calm authority and undisguised repugnance. The dirt crusted fur of a dog's paw forced one of her eyelids open, the overhead lamplight making it impossible to distinguish the faces of her tormentors as they seemed to float above her like ghosts.

"Don't move." The stallion commanded while holding something above her face. It was long, thin, and light shined off its surface with a mosaic of colors.

"No please..." Fluttershy begged softly, memories of Ditzy's hollow eye socket playing out across her own face.

"Don't worry this isn't going to hurt at all." The stallion cooed condescendingly. Fluttershy bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, tears finally forcing their way out from exhausted ducts as the object was lowered to hover mere centimeters above her eye. She yelped expecting nothing but pain but was surprised as a splash of a warm liquid dropped her eye, followed by a second and third drip. The same was repeated for her other eye. The deed done her captors shuffled out of the room and locked the door tightly behind them.

She blinked her eyes repeated until the light above had become unbearably bright forcing her to seek sanctuary behind closed lids. Continuing to sob uncontrollably as the eye drops mixed with her hot tears to the point both her cheeks were covered in a salty liquid and small rivers ran unimpeded down her neck. The door opened, more dogs came delivering a rattling stretcher and placing it just off to her left side. Other dog carried in several heavy objects and slammed them down front of her. Not a word was said and as soon as the unseen activities were complete the dogs departed. Their heavy footsteps replaced by a singular meandering hoof step of a pony.

The pony halted behind her and Fluttershy visibly tensed unsure of what more they were going to do. She felt one of her eyes forcefully pried open by the pony's hoofs. She gasped in surprise and pain as her eyes started to burn from the lamplight which was now akin to staring straight into the sun. The stranger then let her go and mercifully turned the overhead lamp off. Fluttershy sighed in thankful relief, sniffing loudly, and began blinking her eyes to clear the sun spots.

"The eyes are fully dilated, good." Spoke the pony, quill scrapping against paper, before she departing the room leaving Fluttershy isolated for another indeterminate amount of time.

As the world slowly refocused itself Fluttershy was able to observe her prison in all its bleak existence. The flat featureless gray walls of the hexagon shaped room were unnaturally smooth as if the whole room had been carved from a single piece of metal. Light came from six dim little lamps affixed to the corners and two air vents hung from the ceiling and covered with grates that had been welded on permanently. Even if she could remove the grates the vents were too narrow to fit a pony her size. It was quite inside yet everything seemed to hum with a subtle power, vibrating ever so slightly from an invisible giant heartbeat.

She craned her neck to look over to the spare stretcher that'd been left next to her. She'd hoped it to be empty or have a friendly face she could talk to, on both counts she had been wrong. Folded neatly on one end there was a single green surgeon's gown with a white mask draped over it. Along with it was an arrangement of stainless medical implements, on narrow trays, whose clean and sterile surfaces caused the light to project around the room, shiny eyes that seemed to be searching for her. Neatly arranged on the trays were surgical tools from syringes and scalpels, to clamps, retractors, needles threaded with sutures, and many more she didn't recognize but all fostered a mounting dread. Her blood froze and muscles went rigid when she saw the drill, a rotating handle attached to a shaft ending in a sadistic looking corkscrew cutting blade. Next to that was a pair of rib spreaders and a serrated hacksaw. Her imagination betrayed her and dreamt up all the horrific results these instruments could inflict upon her body, a ravaged and dissected body with organs missing and limb dismembered.

Fluttershy snapped her gaze away feeling both cold and numb, the world faded into the background becoming fuzzy and somehow alien. Her stress was at a breaking point and a dark depression was descending onto her mind, consuming her with unforgiving anguish.

"Good morning." The cheerful sincerity of that voice snapped Fluttershy back into reality. It had come from the spectacled pegasus stallion that she'd seen before. Stepping into the room the door closed behind him, becoming seamless with the surrounding wall.

Beneath a pair of oak colored reading glasses, with almost nonexistent lenses, was a set of rosy colored eyes embedded into a welcoming grandfatherly face with the kind of smile that delighted in spoiling the grandchildren with toys and candy while telling tall tales of heroic daring. His chestnut coat had almost completely faded with age as well as his mane whose original color had long been lost to the unrelenting passage of time. He wore a vest of a pale royal blue with a single golden chain hanging from the left pocket. In the oppressive silence Fluttershy could hear the tic-tic-tic of his pocket watch.

He was carrying a black suitcase expertly balanced on his back as he purposefully strode over to a table and chair that had been deposited in front of Fluttershy. He said nothing more as he placed the suitcase on the table and opened it, extracting seven tan colored folders and neatly arranging them on the table. One of the folders had her name, 'Fluttershy,' written on it in a thick hoof-heavy font. Five of the other folders also carried the names of all of her friends; Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and all the rest. However there was one file that did not bear a name.

Taking Fluttershy's folder into his hooves he sat down and began to read the contents, occasionally making clicking sounds with his tongue. She noted, with no small amount of curiosity, that her folder was thicker than those of her friends. Thus the time passed in an uneasy fashion while she shivered in the cold indifferent atmosphere. Her only companions were the thrumming sensation emanating from the walls and the sound of a page being turned.

"Mmm ah hm, mm, very interesting." The stallion hummed, his ears peaking in subdued excitement as he looked up to study Fluttershy like she was a pinned butterfly on display.

"Very interesting," he repeated before losing himself in the file again.

"Who are you?" Fluttershy breathed, barely understanding her own voice yet, somehow, the aged pegasus had heard her.

"You can call me Doctor. Not my real name of course but my employer values secrecy."

"What…who…t…um," she swallowed hard trying to alleviate her dry mouth. Her tongue felt like a thick heavy weight, "what are you go…going to do to me?" The stallion leaned forward while adjusting his glasses.

"You and I have never met before; I was hired to do a job nothing more or less. I have no vested interest in helping or harming you as long as the job gets done. As for what happens to you, that depends on you and how much you choose to cooperate. It's nothing personal, you understand." Cradling the folder in one arm he rose from the chair to drive forward and stand between Fluttershy and the medical stretcher.

"Now, before we can begin there are a couple of gaps in our records we need filled. My employer wants everything kept neat and tidy."

In spite of his harmless appearance there was something incredibly off, a dark aura that surrounded him, he didn't move like a pony nor did he smell like on. Her sharp olfactory sense triggered stinging sensations. She could smell the overpowering stench of formaldehyde that clung to him, as well as the nauseating necrotic stink of cadavers and blood.

"Your name is Fluttershy, a pegasus mare, blood type O negative; are you currently taking any medication? Do you have any known allergies? Have you had any trouble with your heart?" Fluttershy didn't respond choosing to fight against her restraints in a vain attempt to get a far away as possible. She hadn't heard the question she only felt an acute sense of panic grip her, overwhelming all of her sensibilities as she struggled towards escape. She wanted, no needed, to get away from this monster dressed with a pony's skin.

"You will respond when spoken to. Cooperation will be rewarded; deception and resistance will be punished." She felt the futility in her struggles give way to hopeless despair as she settled down just enough to actually look him in the face.

"Are you currently taking any medication? Do you have any known allergies? Are you... having any trouble with your heart?" He repeated the question, slower this time. She shook her head letting out a whimper that signaled her defeat as she settled limply back onto the chair.

"Good," The doctor returned to his seat and pulled out a pen, "then let us start with something fairly recent. Now here is a report that says you were once a very successful fashion model under the administration of Photo Finish, correct?" Fluttershy nodded.

"Yet, despite your popularity at the height of your success you suddenly quit. Why?"

"Umm…because I ha…hated it." She stuttered more from confusion at why it was important than from fear of answering. A quick glint of surgical steel in the corner of her eye reminded her of what was awaiting and she reasoned that if she could hold out long enough her friends would find her. She held no desire to speak with this pony though it was best way to stall for time.

"What did you hate about it?"

"All that attention. All the ponies staring at me, silently judging." It'd been the worst time of her life. She

"Would you say you were loved by your fans?"

"Oh, um, I guess so."

"But you threw it all away."

"Uh, y…yes."

"Really? Well I find that to be quite fascinating. Recall another more recent incident where you erupted into Canterlot castle during the Galloping Gala screaming, and I quote, 'Your going to love me."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well you got everypony's attention that night, including my employers."

"I...I just wanted the animals to like me and let me care for them, but they kept running away. I didn't mean to get angry."

"Do you hate the other ponies?"

"What? No! I could never hate anyone."

"I find it strange that you seek so much approval from animals that you devolve into a uncontrollable rage when you feel you're denied reciprocation. Yet freely given love and consideration from ponies drives a desire in you to disappear from public awareness and cast their feelings aside like flotsam on the ocean."

"No, that's not true."

"Then why do you isolate yourself from your friend by living like a hermit surrounded by stupid creatures? For that matter why would a pony who is," he consulted the folder, "described as being, 'easily frightened, meek, shy to the point of incapacitation, and known to be afraid of her own shadow,' be doing living right next to the Everfree forest? A place well known for its fierce and violent predators?"

Fluttershy hesitated, unsure how to reply to that question in kind. Though, in truth she wasn't entirely sure as to the answer herself. It just seemed like something she had always been meant to do given her talent and cutie mark.

"Nothing to say? Very well, I'll just write it down as your first fabrication." He wrote furiously into the folder with surprising zeal. "Then there is the matter of, what do you call it? The Flutter-stare? A most unusual ability for the bearer of the element of kindness. It is why you're here." He stated matter-of-factly before pointing upwards, "They want to know it, how it works, and that job falls to me. The fact you hold an element is just a…delightful perk." He said as he continued to write.

"I was quite impressed with your sudden demonstration earlier. Doubtful your victim would agree, but," the doctor stole a peek at the arrangement of surgical equipment, "I'm sure he'll give us plenty of useful research after his interview and dissection."

"Oh, and before I forget," he reached over to a series of buttons that had been built into the table's surface. From her position and angle Fluttershy had been ignorant of their existence. A simple depression of one button sent a surge of electricity coursing through the hoof restraints on Fluttershy's forelegs. The yellow mare convulsed wildly as the current passed through her chest, through her heart, making cracking and popping noises as she screamed in horrific pain. It felt as if her chest was going to rip itself open, it burned and she couldn't breathe. The screams fell silent as her oxygen was wasted.

A second, the stallion had only pressed the button for one mere second, but it was enough. Fluttershy collapsed as limp as a piece of dead meat. Somehow she'd remained conscious and her chest rose and fell rapidly as tried to fight through confusion and pain.

"Never contradict me." He said calmly untouched by the suffering he'd just committed. He reached over and opened another folder that carried a certain lavender unicorn's name,

"Now I wanted to talk to you about Twilight Sparkle, if you could perhaps provide us with the names and addresses of any extended family…"

"Please, no more, just let me go." She pleaded barely able to speak. The stench of burnt hair filled her nostrils as tendrils of smoke lifted from her bruised body.

"That's not up for me to decide," the stallion said dismissively, "my employer has a great deal of interest in you and in your unique talents, best to just accept your fate. One other thing, your friend Ditzy Doo," Fluttershy perked a little at her friend's name "sends her regards. She's being moved to another room elsewhere in the facility. One of my associates will be handling her case."

"She's still alive." Fluttershy sighed with relief, feeling a tinge of hope returning.

"Hmm, yes, I imagine that we'll only hold her as long as we hold you. Of course that means the more you stall," he chewed on the inside of his cheek "we can't let her go."

"You're just a big bully, a cold hearted, bad pony." Fluttershy hissed through clenched teeth, her anger returning and rising to a boil. She instinctually fought the restraints, her body overflowing with a need to resist somehow if just for the sake of Ditzy.

"Twilight and my friends will not stop till they have found me. You have no right…"

"No! YOU have no rights." The spectacles Pegasus shot up from his seat and spat acid at the helpless pony instantly silencing her. "Take a look around you Fluttershy. There's no princess here, no friends, no justice, no mercy, No fairness, No Hope, and NO Escape! You will leave through that door only when we know your secrets and not one second BEFORE!"

With a speed that belied his aged body the doctor dumped all the files back into his briefcase and with a steep frown of disgust pardoned himself from the room, the door opening automatically as if sensing his mood. His departure signaled the arrival of a dog guard who took a hold of the stretcher and wheeled it out before the door closed. An instant later the lights went out, plunging Fluttershy into total and absolute darkness.

There was silence at first, then the room filled with her exhausted pitiful cries of anguish, echoing cruelly in her ears as she fell into a painful dreamless sleep.