//------------------------------//
// Chapter XI – Resolve of the Meek Mare 
// Story: To Devour a God 
// by the7Saviors 
//------------------------------//

I tried to listen to the congratulatory words of Director Mare and the scientist, who had introduced himself as Time Turner—though for whatever reason he insisted everypony call him Doctor Whooves—but I couldn't even begin to focus on them.

In the end I simply nodded along, mumbled a few words of thanks and exited the room. Once I was outside, I was immediately assaulted by Vinyl Scratch, who slapped me on the back and gave her own boisterous congratulations.

I gave her a weak, distracted smile before making my way over to the bench I had been sitting at before. As I passed Spitfire, she merely nodded in approval before glancing over to the dark pegasus stallion holding the clipboard.

The stallion—Thunderlane, nodded in turn and marked something down on the clipboard before calling out another name. This time it was the dark green stallion who'd been completely silent up until now.

I stopped and watched him quietly rise to his hooves before making his way towards the Daeification Chamber. He didn't say a word to anypony as he pulled the smaller door open.

The door clicked shut behind him, after which the much larger mechanical double doors slid shut with an ominous finality that I hadn't even noticed going in myself.

Thunderlane had called him Seeker, not an odd name for a pony, in and of itself, but the fact that there had been nothing preceding or following it was rather strange. 

Well, it's none of my business anyway... and I have more important things to worry about now.

I raised my left arm to stare at my new armlet for a moment before letting out a long, shuddering breath. By this point, Vinyl had sat back down, leaning back against the head of the bench and bobbing her head to the beat of whatever she was listening to.

As I returned to my own seat next to Fluttershy, I watched Vinyl Scratch for a moment. With her easy smile and laid back posture, you'd think she was coming in for some kind of harmless routine checkup at the doctor's office.

I guess she didn't hear me screaming my lungs out...

Come to think of it, nopony in the room seemed to be fazed by what had transpired in that room. I turned to Fluttershy to see her trying to discreetly glance in my direction.

When she saw that I was looking, she quickly turned away with a small, and admittedly adorable 'meep'. I raised a bemused eyebrow at the yellow pegasus mare as she chanced another glance at me.

It took me a second to realize it, but it seemed as though she wanted to say something.

"Fluttershy?" I asked, feeling the need to whisper for some reason, "what's wrong? You can tell me."

"Ah, oh no, i-it's nothing really," she muttered, letting her mane fall over most of her face, "I just... I wouldn't want to bother you with silly questions or anything."

"Fluttershy," I replied firmly, "if you have something to ask, just ask it. I won't bite, I promise," a thoughtful pause, "is it... does it have to do with... what happened in that room?"

Fluttershy lowered her head even further and gave a small, nearly imperceptible nod of confirmation. My brow furrowed in confusion at her response, and her overall reaction in general.

In the very brief time I had known the mare, I had expected her to break down at the screams of agony I was sure had echoed throughout the entire facility.

But no, she was, or at least seemed simply curious.

"U-Um... well, if you don't mind," Fluttershy continued, "w-what was it like? The process I mean... d-did it... did it hurt as bad as Spitfire said it would?"

"Fluttershy," I replied with a slight frown, "didn't you hear me in there? Did any of you?"

"No, we didn't," Fluttershy answered, shaking her head, "those big doors apparently cancel out any noise that comes from inside the Daeification Chamber."

"Ah... that would explain it, I guess," I mumbled before shaking my head and looking back at Fluttershy, "well, if that's the case, I think it's best you just... find out for yourself, Fluttershy."

"Oh... o-okay then..."

Fluttershy stared at me for a long moment, searching my eyes for something—most likely trying to glean the truth of just how horrible the experience had been.

She must've realized what she was doing, because she blushed a moment later and quickly looked away. My own worried gaze lingered on her for a heartbeat or two before settling on the the large doors ahead.

For a time, the room fell into a semi-comfortable silence during which both my eyes and my thoughts inevitably drifted back to my armlet. 

Now that the horror of what had been done to me had abated somewhat, I could actually focus on just what had been done to me.

I didn't really notice until now, but my whole body felt different. My senses felt a lot sharper than they had been before, and feeling the skin beneath my fur, I was certain I had gained a bit more muscle.

I felt like there was more to it than that though.

Now that I was focusing on it, I had no idea how I had missed it before. My senses were several times sharper than they had been before—sight, sound, smell, probably even taste and touch to some degree had been heightened or changed in some way.

The only thing that felt weaker about me... was my own magic.

I could barely even feel it.

A feeling of dread washed away my growing amazement at the changes and in a sudden panic, I lit my horn and reached for the mana within me, attempting to cast one of the more complex spells I knew.

It was a spell to keep a specific area superheated or sub-cooled for an extended amount of time. I had often used the spell when working with active Hive Cells in the lab.

I focused my spell on a secluded spot of the bench, trying to lower the temperature enough that the metal would be noticeably cooler.

It felt like my own magic was fighting against me every step of the way, refusing to cooperate no matter how much or how hard I pulled. I grunted and strained and sweated, and the spell nearly fizzled out, but eventually, the metal began to cool and I released the spell. 

I sat there staring at the spot in horrified disbelief as I panted and gasped. I winced at the painful burning sensation in my horn. 

I was completely spent.

It had taken far too much effort to do something I had normally been able to do with barely any thought or strain at all.

I didn't even flinch when I felt a soft hand settle on my shoulder. Instead I slowly looked over to see Fluttershy giving me a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry," she said with genuine sadness in her voice, "I... um... I had heard how hard this was... on unicorns specifically, but I didn't really... well," she retracted her hand and put it to her chest before hiding her face behind her mane again, "I'm sure you don't need somepony like me to tell you how awful it is."

"Somepony like..." I shook my head, my growing despair ebbing slightly as I gave the meek pegasus a small, if bitter smile, "Fluttershy, I'm... well, this isn't okay in the slightest, but I'll... I'll find a way to manage. I'm sure it's just as horrible for pegasi, not being able to fly like you used to."

"Oh, I don't mind so much," Fluttershy replied, "I was never really much of a flier to begin with," she looked away, her eyes suddenly distant, "I do have a friend who... didn't take it so well when she went through the Daeification Process. Flying meant everything to her, but... well..."

She sighed and looked back at me with a sad smile.

"Those are the sacrifices you have to make when you become a Daeus Hunter, and she was willing to make them anyway," her smile fell slightly, along with her face, "she adapted eventually, but it was... hard. She tried to hide it, but she was depressed for awhile."

"I'm... I'm so sorry to hear that, Fluttershy," I replied earnestly. I looked away and sighed, "I... here I was, ready to have a complete breakdown about losing most of my magic, and I didn't even realize how hard it must be for everypony that goes through this. When I think about how many ponies gave up the same thing... my own worry seems petty in comparison."

It was true.

Severely weakened as it was, I at the very least, still had use of my magic, and could even cast a complex spell like I had done earlier, albeit with tremendous effort.

Many of the unicorns with weaker magic to begin with, completely lost the use of their magic when they became Daeus Hunters.

"It's not though," Fluttershy replied firmly, her tone breaking through my thoughts and causing me to look back at her in surprise, "you've lost a big part of who you are as a pony, Twilight. That's not something anypony should take lightly, and it's okay to feel sad about it."

I stared at the pegasus, my mouth hanging slightly open.

Her eyes suddenly widened and she blushed again before hanging her head. It seemed as though she remembered her namesake, because she fell silent after that, but not before whispering one last thing that I made sure to take to heart.

"Just... don't let what happened consume you, okay?"

I closed my mouth and gave Fluttershy a grateful smile.

"I won't Fluttershy," I replied with a nod, "I promise."

She returned my smile with a small, shy smile of her own. It was then that I realized the mare next to me was a lot stronger than I gave her credit for, and after hearing what she'd said, I found it a lot easier to believe she had stayed here of her own volition.

But had she really?

"Hey, Fluttershy?" I asked with a slight frown. The pegasus tilted her head curiously and I continued somewhat hesitantly, "why did you, I mean, are you—"

My inquiry was cut off by a loud hiss that made both Fluttershy and I jump.

We all watched as the metal doors slid open and Seeker step out. The stallion looked just as stoic coming out as he did going in, though I could tell even from a distance that he hadn't been completely unaffected.

I could see the slight sheen of sweat running down his face, and the minute shaking in his arms. Still, Seeker had come out a Daeus Hunter, his armlet the standard black and white of all the others.

Vinyl gave her own congratulations as she had done with me, though it was quite a bit more subdued, and she didn't get up from her seat.

The stallion didn't even seem to notice, completely ignoring her as he sat back down without a word to anypony. Vinyl eyed him with a small frown for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and replacing her headphones back on her ears.

Then the next candidate was chosen.

"Vinyl?" Thunderlane called out. When he received no response he looked up from his clipboard and frowned in annoyance at the oblivious unicorn mare, "Vinyl? Vinyl Scratch!"

Still no response.

Spitfire gave a weary sigh and shook her head as Thunderlane practically screamed Vinyl's name, muttering something about recruits and an early grave.

"Huh? Whuzzat?" Vinyl called back, lifting one side of her headphones after a minute, "is it finally my turn?"

"Yes," Thunderlane growled impatiently, "it's your turn. Get in there."

"Oh, sweet!" I blinked in surprise as the mare pulled off her headphones, took out her phone, and took off her magenta shades before she hopped up from her seat and making a beeline for me, "here, hold these for me would ya?"

"Wait, I... oh," I replied as she shoved her belongings into my arms, "alright, I guess... sure."

"Cool, thanks, Twi," Vinyl called back as she walked back to the open doors, "see ya when I see ya."

With that, she gave one last wave and lazy smile before pulling the door open and stepping inside the chamber. The metal doors slid shut behind her and everything was silent once more.

"She seems... nice," Fluttershy commented quietly, "I wonder how she can remain so calm about all of this?"

"From what I understand," came Spitfire's raspy voice, surprising the both of us, "that mare more or less has nothing to worry about when it comes to the Daeification Process."

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head slightly, "does she have a high compatibility rate?"

"She has a perfect compatibility rate," the lieutenant replied with a small chuckle, "she may not be a 'New-Type' user like you're supposed to be, but she has a one hundred percent compatibility rate, as did her father before her, and his father before him."

"Wow," I breathed, "I... that's... that's incredible! A whole family of fully compatible ponies?" I turned towards Fluttershy, "what are the odds of that?"

Fluttershy simply gave a small shrug as Spitfire replied.

"Very low I'd imagine," she said, her tone thoughtful, "normally, you'd only see that kind of compatibility with changelings," she chuckled again, "in fact, I remember there'd been a rumor that the mare's family had either been changelings themselves, or were at least part changeling."

"Is... is that true?" Fluttershy asked, eyes wide with intrigue, "is she... is her family really part changeling?"

"Nah," Spitfire said with a small shake of her head, "they're not changelings, just really, really lucky when it comes to genes, I guess."

"That's crazy," I muttered, looking at my own armlet, "no wonder she's so calm and collected about the whole thing..."

Then again, I somehow had the feeling she would've been that way even if she had slim chance. The mare had an easygoing, unflappable air about her that made everything seem like it was going to work out for the best.

"Um, Twilight?"

I looked up at Fluttershy's questioning tone and saw she was giving me a curious look. When she had my attention, she continued.

"Um... Spitfire said you were supposed to be a New-Type user," she said with a bemused frown, "what does that mean? Does it have something to do with the color of your armlet?"

"I..." I glanced at the armlet in question, not even realizing that that was probably the reason it was a different color from everypony else's, "yeah, I guess it does."

I look back towards Fluttershy and proceeded to explain my own situation. Once I started, I found I couldn't stop.

I told her about my job at Wendigo HQ, and how I was suddenly transferred, then completely reassigned altogether. I told her about the President's letter, and about my compatibility as a New-Type Daeus Arms user.

I told her about my harrowing trip from Canterlot to Ponyville. I told her about how strong the Chief Commander was, and lastly, I told her about the dragon Luna had rescued from near death.

The last statement seemed to make the shy mare somewhat uneasy, but nevertheless, I could feel the sympathy rolling off of her in waves. I told her I was going to visit the dragon when I first got the chance, and that she was more than welcome to join me—an offer she agreed to, but with an odd amount of reluctance.

It was as I was just finishing up my story that the doors opened and Vinyl emerged, black armlet in place and a weary, relieved smile on her sweaty face.

"Sweet Tartarus," she exclaimed, "that was way worse than I thought it'd be, but hey, at least it's over, right?"

"Glad to see you're okay," I said with a small smile as I handed back her things, "Spitfire told us you had nothing to worry about from the beginning."

"True, true," Vinyl replied, placing her shades back on her face and her headphones around her neck, "doesn't mean it didn't hurt like a motherbucker though."

We shared a small laugh and she made her way back to her own seat. My smile fell into a concerned frown when I turned and saw Fluttershy's face.

The mare had gone even paler than she was before, her eyes wide and locked on the single door leading to the Daeification Chamber.

Just as she did for me when I started to freak out about my magic, I reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, hesitating for only a moment.

She jumped slightly, both at my touch and at Thunderlane's voice calling out her name. I looked from the pegasus stallion to Fluttershy, putting on the most reassuring smile I could muster.

"It'll be alright, Fluttershy," I said soothingly before biting my lip nervously, "it... it does hurt... a lot, but the pain goes away pretty quickly."

"It's not the pain I'm worried about so much," Fluttershy replied almost tonelessly, her back turned to me, "Twilight, I only have a twenty percent chance of a successful bond."

I felt a cold chill run down my spine.

"Y-You... but... but you," I slowly shook my head, letting my hand fall away from the mare, "Fluttershy... that's... that's not—"

"I know."

"But then why?" I cried, turning the pegasus around to face me, "why are you here if you have such a low chance of... of..." I rapidly shook my head, "it's too risky!"

She merely looked at me.

Even as I watched, the look of abject fear suddenly seemed to melt away as she looked back at me and her face relaxed somewhat, completely contrasting with my increasing fear and worry.

Then she gave me that same reassuring smile I tried to give her earlier.

"Why go through with it?" I asked desperately, "were you conscripted like I was? You had to be, right?"

She slowly shook her head and turned back towards the door.

"I came here on my own," Fluttershy replied in a soft voice that held a surprising amount of compassion, "I did this—I'm doing this, for Angel, and all of the other creatures still alive and hiding in the Everfree."

"I... what?" I responded, eyes wide with bewilderment, "your risking your life for... for the animals? In the Everfree? Are you telling me there's still fauna roaming around in that Tartarus forsaken forest?!"

Fluttershy closed her eyes and nodded.

"Probably the only animals left in this entire region outside of the reserves," she replied, now almost completely calm, "I... I want to save them, Twilight. They're suffering because of those monsters, and I can't sit by and do nothing."

I simply stared at her.

She was willing to risk everything for a no doubt small chance to save these creatures. Like injecting myself with Hive Cells, it was something I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around.

Did she really love animals that much?

Was she really willing to die so that they could live?

How did she even know there were animals alive out there in the Everfree?

But wait... Angel?

As if on cue, the small white rabbit from earlier poked its head out of Fluttershy's coat, its ears and nose twitching. I looked at it with an uncomprehending frown and it looked back at me stoically before raising its head to look at Fluttershy.

That's when it hit me.

"Angel," I muttered, "so that's who you were talking about..."

I released my hands from where I had placed them on Fluttershy's shoulders and sat back, staring at the other mare with a look of understanding.

"I get it," I replied, quietly and unhappily, "you really feel that strongly about this, don't you?"

Fluttershy gave a grim frown.

"Despite those monster's best efforts, there's still a lot of us left," Fluttershy replied, conviction and a hint of anger coloring her tone, "but many of the native creatures of Equus are either endangered or have already been hunted to extinction by those... those... things.

"I want to do what I can to save the ones that are still trying to survive out there, and the best way I can do that—the only way I can get as close to them as I want, is to become a Daeus Hunter, so... that's what I'm going to do."

On that note, she rose to her hooves, the little rabbit slipping back inside her coat as she did. She gave me one last smile that I tried to return with partial success.

"Thank you for listening," Fluttershy continued in a quiet but grateful tone, "I know how foolish I'm being, but I can't leave them like this, not when I can do something to help."

"I know," I replied, feeling my insides twist and my eyes water at the thought of the worst coming to pass, "just... good luck, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy nodded and took a shaky breath before turning to Spitfire. She 'eep'd' when she noticed the eyes of everypony else in the room directed at her, save for the stallion in the corner.

Apparently they had all been listening to our conversation, and had reacted differently. Spitfire gave the shy yellow pegasus the warmest, saddest smile I had seen her wear yet.

Vinyl gave an approving nod, and Thunderlane was trying, and failing, to hide his own watery gaze of admiration.

"Well go on then, get in there," Spitfire said, breaking the silence with a chuckle, and nodding towards the door, "you'd best not keep them waiting any longer."

Fluttershy blushed and nodded before briskly walking over to the single door. She turned and gave me one last look, which I returned with a nod and a much more genuine smile this time around.

She tried to smile back, but only gave a weak whimper before forcing herself to action, pulling the door open and rushing inside before her nerve completely left her.

The metal doors slid shut, and the room fell into an unbroken silence, save for the muted sound of  music coming from Vinyl's headphones. 

Nopony seemed to want to say anything, and I couldn't blame them. From the look on everypony's face, I could tell they were all just as worried about Fluttershy as I was.

Everypony, except for Seeker.

The stallion continued to stare at the opposite wall, completely ignorant of the tension in the room. His expression gave nothing away, and his stoic silence was beginning to unnerve me to the point that I began fidgeting.

I looked away from him and turned my attention to Spitfire, deciding to start some kind of conversation.

"So, um... Spitfire?"

"Lieutenant, to you, recruit," she corrected immediately, "now that you're officially a Daeus Hunter, I expect you to refer to me by my rank."

So I was right then. Score one for me I guess..

"Sorry, Lieutenant," I said quickly, "I was just wondering," I gave Vinyl a side glance as I spoke, and saw that she had once again, tuned everything out but her music, "how did you know so much about Vinyl and her family?"

"Oh, that?" she replied, "Vinyl's father and I go way back, believe it or not. He and I were part of the same squad back when I was stationed at the Manehattan Sub-Branch of Wendigo. We still keep in touch from time to time, which is how I knew about Vinyl Scratch."

"Oh," I replied with a thoughtful look, "that's... actually pretty interesting."

"It's a small world sometimes," Spitfire replied with a shrug, "you'll find that once you climb higher up the ranks, you tend to travel to different places often."

"Why is that?" I asked curiously.

"Kid, not many of us Daeus Hunters live to make it past the rank of a standard lieutenant," Spitfire explained with a solemn frown, "high ranking soldiers are few and far between, so normally we spread them out, send them where they're needed most. There is the occasional oddball every now and then, though."

"Oh?" I replied, raising an eyebrow, "what's that supposed to mean?"

"Take 1st Unit Leader, Captain Applejack for example," the pegasus replied with another chuckle, "she's a damn good Captain, but she's never once set hoof outside of the Ponyville region, whereas those in her position usually get shipped all over Equestria."

"Oh, that's right," I replied, more to myself, "the President said that's who I'd be assigned to once I got out of training."

"Consider yourself lucky then," Spitfire said with a knowing nod, "out of the three Unit Leaders we have here in Ponyville, she's without a doubt the most reliable."

I was about to ask who the other two were, when the tell-tale hiss of double doors silenced me. Just like that, all the fear and worry I'd managed to push aside came flooding back.

The others and I all turned to watch the doors slide open, and after a tense moment, I almost cried with relief as a familiar yellow form shakily made its way past the open doorway and into the waiting room.

Her once beautifully cascading pale pink mane was extremely unkempt, her cyan eyes were bloodshot, her face was stained with tears, and her breathing was ragged and strained... but she was alive.

She was as okay as I could've expected, and the black and white armlet pushing up the sleeve of her oversized coat indicated she had gone through the process successfully.

If her current state was anything to go by however, it looked as though it had been some kind of ordeal for the meek mare. Though I was in a similar state coming out, not even I had looked this... worn.

Despite all of this, my first instinct was to rush over to the poor mare and embrace her in a crushing hug, which, to my own surprise, is exactly what I did.

"I'm so glad you're okay," I said in a slightly choked voice before pulling away with a relieved smile and teary eyes, "I didn't think you'd make it to be honest, but I've never been more happy to know I was wrong."

Fluttershy said nothing in response as she continued to breathe in heavy erratic gasps. My relived smile gave way to a worried grimace as I looked at the mare.

"Fluttershy?" I said, taking a step forward and placing a hand on her shoulder, "hey, Fluttershy, are you gonna be okay?"

The pegasus gave me a weak smile and a shaky nod before falling forward into my chest, causing me to yelp in surprise.

"Gah! Fluttershy!" I cried, stumbling back as I caught Fluttershy in my arms, "what are you..."

My words died in my throat as I looked down at the currently unconscious mare I was holding onto. I looked back over to Spitfire, who began making her way over to where we were standing.

"Move," she commanded, "let me see her."

I complied, handing Fluttershy over to the Lieutenant. She looked her over for a moment before letting out a visible sigh of relief and turning back to me.

"It's alright," she said, answering my unasked question, "she just fainted from the stress and exhaustion. A little rest and she'll be fine."

I gave my own sigh of relief at the news, and saw Vinyl do the same out of the corner of my eye. Some of us handled it better than others, but It looked like we had all made it through the Daeification Process, and for that, I was grateful.

Still, that didn't stop the uncertainty I felt about what our future entailed, and though I was happy for Fluttershy, I still had to wonder whether or not she'd be cut out for something like this.

I still wasn't even sure I was cut out for this, but after hearing Fluttershy's words, I felt I had no right to complain, and I could only hope I found the same conviction she had to do what I needed to do.

I could only hope.