Shetland slowly blinked at the ceiling, sluggishly asking herself how she’d gotten in her bed. She smacked her dry lips. Everything felt so numb, as if her blood had been replaced with sand. Wanting to take a look at her alarm, she stemmed her hoof against the cover and let out a sudden yelp as a hundred burning needles rammed into her leg. She rolled on her stomach, her hooves held out before her head, wrapped in bandages, concealing a few dark spots. And now it all came crashing down on her waking mind. Toasty’s disappearance. The unbelievable rage that had made her ignore the damage she was causing to herself. The letters. Shetland swallowed. It was not just her lips that were still dry. The odd feeling of numbness remained in her limbs, soon calming the pain in her hooves. With a controlled, calm breath, she slid off her bed. An ear-piercing scream came out her throat as her hindleg impacted on something hard, like a rock. Stumbling on her other three hooves, Shetland stared in disbelief at the doorhandle on the ground. Where did that come from? But she was ripped out of these thoughts as the door opened and a Voidmarine peeked inside, worriedly checking each corner.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Shetland pressed through her teeth as she looked at the destruction in the room. There was little left that wasn’t damaged in some way, from her broken desk to the crack in her table, the dented door on the fridge and the various bent or broken doodads that cluttered the floor, stained by a mixture of spilled whiskey, water and blood. With a groan, Shetland reached down to grab her stained carpet with her teeth, intending to use it to safely swipe everything into a corner, when her eyes fell once again on the Voidmarine. “You can go now.”
But the Voidmarine didn’t leave. Instead, he entered the room, his visor-covered eyes drawn to Shetland’s bandaged hooves. “Holy Celestia, Shetland,” his voice came, distorted by his helmet’s speaker. “You look terrible.”
Shetland covered one hoof with her other, to little effect, as they were equally bandaged. She shot a glare at the marine, who stopped in his tracks.
“Sorry, sorry.” As he spoke, his hooves rose to his helmet. With a sharp snap, the mechanism loosened and he placed it on what remained of the table.
Shetland let out a breath. “Crust,” she sighed, rubbing her forehead in exasperation. “What are you doing here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked with a nervous smile. “I signed up to guard you. I thought you’d want someone that you knew nearby, since your-” casting her a cautious glance, he cleared his throat.
Shetland’s eye twitched dangerously. “Anything new about her?”
“N-no,” Crust admitted. “But Princess Twilight is examining the-”
“I know!” she snarled, causing him to take a step back. A pang of guilt hit her, but she was in no mood to apologize.
He swallowed. “Though… It’s nearly half a day since I received any news, there may be new developments already. I certainly hope so,” he added with a nervous look. “I-I think me and her could become friends, right?”
Shetland made a gruff, non-comittal sound. Her eyes darted towards the door. If only Crust would leave, so she could go to her mother, wherever she was.
Having followed her eyes however, Crust spoke before she could open her mouth. “Actually, now that you’re awake, we should be going.”
“Going where?”
“To a doctor,” he explained, casting a look at her bandaged limbs. “You think that’s gonna be fine after wrapping some fabrics over it?”
“I want to speak with my mother,” Shetland said firmly. She wanted news, as fast as possible, to satisfy this starving beast inside her that was scratching its bloody claws against impenetrable walls.
“Only after seeing a medic,” he insisted, putting his helmet back on. “I was ordered to bring you there, first.”
“I don’t care!” she snapped. “If this hacked robot can tell us where Toasty is, I want to know right away.”
“The only thing that will happen when you burst in there is that the princess will send you right back to where you should be.” he argued, heat flaring in his voice, even through his helmet’s distorting effect. “Why do you think I even have this order?”
After a bit more back and forth, Shetland was forced to concede his point. It did sound exactly like something her mother would do. So, clenching her jaw, she followed him, occasionally wincing at the throbbing pain in her hooves.
“Ah, Miss Sparkle.” A batpony nurse looked up as Shetland entered the hospital. “Long time no see. I believe you have missed a couple appointments. If you would please follow me.”
Under her breath, Shetland grumbled something unintelligible. Though despite that and the bitter look she cast at the nurse’s back, she followed the order. Crust had made his point clear, and all she could do was get it over with as fast as she could. “I’ve had things come in between, Rose,” she grumbled.
“But it was possible to make a new appointment, or simply come without one, we are typically not fully occupied all day,” Rose Petal argued without looking back at her patient. With an impatient wave of her hoof, she ushered Shetland into a new room. “Now, if you would please take a seat?”
Though giving the small lounger a critical look, Shetland climbed on top, resting on her left, unburned side, seemingly the only place left of her body that was still healthy. All her bandaged hooves dangled over the edge, providing a much needed relief from their constant burning. It was short lived however, as the nurse leaned in closely to get a good look at each of them. Suddenly, she pinched one of them, causing Shetland to gasp for air.
“What was that about?”
The batpony pulled on the bandage, nodding as she barely got any grasp on the fabric. “Very well covered wounds,” she commented as if Shetland wasn’t even there, then began to unwrap the bandages. Shetland grit her teeth, but it was unnecessary, as Rose proceeded slowly and gently.
“No signs of inflammation,” Rose said, giving her patient a nod and a smile. “And if Twilight Sparkle has treated you, then there is no danger of foreign objects left inside those wounds. For a timespan of only thirty hours, you have recovered remarkably well.”
Shetland, who had been about to comment throughout the small speech, sputtered. “Thirty hours?” she asked incredulously. “What do you mean, thirty hours?” What happened in the last day?
Rose blinked. “O-oh, were you not aware? I assumed Princess Twilight had told you before administering the dosage.”
“The-” Shetland shook her head. “You mean that syringe with the stuff that would prevent me from dreaming?” Her mouth felt both fuzzy and dry. Did her mother trick her once again?
“W-well, we were told you would arrive as soon as you woke up, and since you are here now, the d-dosage must have been enough to make you sleep those thirty hours.”
With a sudden cry of anger, Shetland smashed her hoof into the side of her lounger, a move she immediately regretted as pain exploded in her leg.
“I-I must ask you not to do that!” Rose protested.
Shetland grit her teeth. “Just finish your stuff,” she grumbled. The sooner she would be able to confront her mother.
“C-certainly,” the batpony stammered, getting back to working on Shetland’s hooves. She smeared a paste over the wounds, which stung for a brief moment, before settling into an odd, cold feeling, yet the pain now felt suppressed, as if it had gone to sleep. “R-really, I am almost amazed how quickly and well these have healed,” she muttered as she wrapped a new set of bandages over the legs. “If you really do not have any alicorn magic, then you must have at least have more earth pony magic than most.”
Her attempt to lighten the mood was obvious, and Shetland couldn’t bring herself to play into it. “Won’t do me much good, considering I can’t cast spells regardless.” She cut the nurse’s response off with a wave of her hoof. “Is this okay now? Can I leave?”
Rose swallowed. “A-almost, you need to take a small walk around the hospital, to make sure these sit right.”
“They do!” Shetland insisted with a groan. “They definitely feel too tight and they dont constantly brush against me, it’s fine.”
“You cannot decide that yet,” Rose said, her stammer disappearing as she met the larger pony’s eyes. “It’s a doctor’s order.”
“Ugh, fine!” Shetland groaned, slipping off the lounger. “But then I can go?”
“Possibly,” Rose said, and Shetland was briefly tempted to give her a light headbutt, although she repressed the urge, as it would only cause more problems and delay. Sucking a cold breath through her teeth, she began weaving through the hospital. Rose wasn’t lying when she said Shetland could have come anytime. Though the waiting room was occupied, none of the ponies seemed bored or impatient, like they had just arrived. Some of them shot her a wide-eyed look, but she quickened her pace, leaving them and their curious stares behind. Her hooves stung, yet with the salve, the pain was easily bearable, akin to a mere papercut. With a groan, she stretched out her scarred hindleg. The second she’d focused on it, it had once again started to itch, yet the bandages denied her even the small relief of a nice scratch. Only when the shout came a second time did it reach her ears.
“Shetland!” In a purple burst, Magenta appeared before her eyes, the three-legged form of Pipe standing behind her. “Shetland, I’ve been wanting to see you!” Magenta exclaimed.
Shetland edged her features into a forced smile. “Hey, Magenta,” she said, halfway managing to sound joyful. “What brings you here?”
“Pipe.” Magenta’s wing did a motion halfway between pointing at her colleague and shrugging. “He’s getting his leg looked at. Amputations aren’t easy on the body, y’know?”
“I can imagine,” Shetland muttered, glancing over to the unicorn, who managed a pained smile as he waved the third of his foreleg that was left.
Magenta let out a chuckle, before her expression fell, adopting a serious look. “So, how are you doing?” she inquired.
“Hurting a little,” Shetland muttered back. “Got some cuts and bruises, but it’s nothing like missing a limb altogether.”
“You know what I mean.” Magenta attempted to lock eyes with Shetland, who avoided her worried gaze. “If it’s of any help, I feel with you.”
A deep, raggy breath sounded from Shetland’s mouth as she pressed her eyes closed. Of course there’d been no hope to avoid the topic. She felt her throat tighten. “I’ll bring her back.” The words felt hollow in her ears, fragile as clay, uttered just so something was said. And yet, it dragged Magentas features into a smile, both sincere and confident.
“Of course you will. Wouldn’t be your first time saving ponies.” She let out a chuckle, a real, actual chuckle. “And unlike me, Toasty will know that you’re coming.”
Shetland stared at her, holding that impossible smile, speechless at the sheer confidence that she, Shetland would succeed... A tightness grew in her throat and she swallowed, as her nose suddenly felt hot and stuffy. “I-I-” she stammered, then shook her head. “I must be going.” she blurted out before leaving the perplexed pegasus behind, who was hopefully unable to see her face.
----
The moment Shetland stepped out of the hospital dome into the connecting tunnel, she looked around for the armored form of Crust. It had taken a re-examination and a short lecture about her following exercise regimen to satisfy the slit-eyed nurse. If only she hadn’t been so impatient as to not ask about that salve Rose had used on her legs, the wounds were already resuming their stinging sensation.
As always, it was easier for Shetland to be found than for her to find something, and after a few moments, she heard Crust’s distorted cough coming from her side. She gave him a brief look. “There you are. Take me to my mom.”
He nodded briefly. Of course he’d been expecting her demand. “The Princess is currently in the workshop.”
“Working with Scalloway on the bot?” Shetland asked. She took his nod with a brief flare of satisfaction. How convenient that the two things she wanted were in the same spot. This feeling only lasted for a couple more steps however, as her legs constantly shot weak, but nonetheless distracting signals into her brain. With a grimace, she tore her eyes from the path she was walking, forcing herself to look around for a brief distraction.
And there it was. While at first glance just the same, the colony had unmistakably changed for anyone who had been here for even just a week. While not the most common sight, it had never taken long for a robot to come along, mixed in with the normal settlers, going around their daily tasks or just looking for conversation. Now, their absence was haunting, despite the remaining ponies putting on a macabre sense of normalcy. Yes, they went around their business, but their voices were lowered, their ears always raised slightly in alarm. Their business was forceful, never stopping for a chat or just to take a few undeserved minutes of breaktime. And instead of robots, there was the sight of Voidmarines, more than ever. Before, they could easily be passed up, as only some would wear their intimidating, powered armor. Now, there was not a single one even just removing their helmets, their dark appearance lending itself to the tense atmosphere.
She took a deep breath. Out from the un-dirtied side of the glass tunnel, she saw a group of ordinary ponies counseled by yet another marine. A militia, as Crust explained, formed of the ponies judged more trustworthy to handle themselves. As it turned out, Princess Luna had given into the public pressure, even for just a small symbolic notion. Shetland stared at the scrawny ponies as they attempted to rally in groups on command. She shook her head, giving one last glance at their shaken, but nonetheless stern expression before she averted her eyes. She’d been jumped by war unsuspectingly, without warning. The time she’d prepared for the next battle, she could only remember in brief, incoherent flashes of emotion, but it fit the expression of those ponies, the dreading, waiting mood of the entire colony. It felt like they were preparing themselves for a catastrophe.
These thoughts spooked through Shetland’s mind, until a gesture from Crust made her come to a sudden halt. He raised his hoof, banging it against a steel door, which quickly opened.
“Shetty!” Twilight spoke quietly, yet as if to make up for it, she let the words emerge from her mouth at a rapid pace. “No, don’t answer, we have to let him concentrate.” Her hoof reached around Shetland’s shoulder, pulling the mare inside as she closed the door on Crust, without as much of an acknowledgement. “Shhh!” she whispered in Shetland’s ear.
Shetland shot her a glare, but her mouth stayed shut as she passed a look around the room. It seemed like everything it normally contained had been briskly shoved aside. Along the walls was a cluttered mess of robotic parts, small maintenance computers and a few old model Voidmarine suits, most of them possessing guns build into the side of their hooves from back when pistols couldn’t be used by an armored pony. Shetland was surprised to see her own, modern suit stand among the rest, brand new aside from a bunch of scratches and spots where the color had chafed off. But she only gave it a short glance, as she silently stepped to the table, on which the limp body of the hacked robot lay, as if merely resting casually. Shetland swallowed at the sight. While this robotic mare was clearly taller, shoulders much thicker and her mane had been removed, there was an eerie resemblance to Toasty, just from the color and shape of her chassis. Like it had a mind of it’s own, her hoof reached out, only to be slapped away by her mother’s, who shook her head with a stern look. Suddenly, a synthetic voice began to speak.
“Warning: Command ‘sudo move visualFile0311 memory/visual’ failed. User does not have sudo-rights.”
Abruptly, the robot’s eyes began to glow in an icy blue. Shetland tensed up, but as soon as it began, the robot’s eyes blinked out again. Both Sparkles let out a relieved sigh, interrupted by an angry shout.
“Boot up, ye bolted piece a rubbish!” the tiny mechanic shouted, drawing their eyes towards him. He sat at a distance to the robot, most likely to not be squished should it be able to move at all. He glared at a small screen that was still thrice his size, displaying a myriad of symbols Shetland couldn’t decipher as anything but meaningless scribble. Scalloway fell back, rubbing his reddened face with an exasperated groan. “Darn…” he muttered. “A thought ah’d get through it's blasted skull that time.” His feelers hung tiredly as he turned towards the pair. He blinked, then rubbed his eyes before giving them another glance. “Ah’d think a was seein’ double, Princess, but that mug’s hella uglier.”
“This,” Twilight spoke sternly, keeping her voice even. “Is my daughter, Scalloway. I believe you have met before.”
He blinked a few times, raising a hoof over his eyes as if to shield them from an invisible source of light. “Ah, yer the fat ox with the armor. Ye got a strong smell, Sparkle. Ah’d like an assistant ta scrub it before ah get inside the sweat-stained thing again.” That last sentence was directed at the exasperated Twilight.
“Don’t worry, Shetty,” Twilight spoke loudly. “What he utterly, completely lacks in manners, he makes up for in his skills. Though I think you should take a break.” she added worriedly to the wavering breezie.
His feelers shot up and lit up in angry lights, but a moment later, he sank down, rubbing his face. “Ah’d like some cold water,” he muttered, his voice barely reaching Shetland’s ears, and she realized that he was constantly forced to scream in order to be heard at all. Twilight nodded. Her magic seizing a single drop of water from a nearby cup, floating it over to the breezie, who somehow grabbed the little ball of water, slurping a few mouthfuls before splashing it over his face. Twilight turned around, allowing the breezie a sliver of privacy in his makeshift shower. Shetland quickly followed suit.
“Rose told me that I’ve been in bed for thirty hours. Care to explain?” She’d wanted to yell those words, but instead they came out as a whisper. The anger she’d felt had dissipated and the few glimmers that were left only conjured a feeling of awkwardness as she glared at her mother.
“I wanted you to recover a little.” Twilight’s wing reached over Shetland, but then it stopped a few inches over her back before she slowly pulled it back. “If I hadn’t given you the medicine, I imagined you would stomp all over the colony immediately, tearing all your wounds right back open.”
“So?” Shetland crossed her forelegs. “I want Toasty back, and if something happened and I wasn’t awake-”
“If anything happened that we could have acted upon, I would have woken you up right away. I know how you feel, Shetty.” She took a shallow breath. “You feel just like I felt when you ran into the sandstorm.”
Shetland bit her lip, unable to respond. Her mother’s words sounded earnest, but she did not trust that Twilight would have woken her up if she thought Shetland would then do something dangerous, like trying to rescue Toasty. But there was no sense in throwing these doubts into Twilight’s face. “Fine,” she whispered. “But tell me you won’t drug me behind my back again!”
“I hope I won’t have to,” Twilight said noncommittally, her eyes drifting somewhere around Shetland’s left cheekbone. “I have faith that Scalloway will crack through soon.”
“No scrambled brain can stop me fer long, though this one’s a bastardly tricky one,” Scalloway grumbled. He was utterly drenched, but the cold water seemed to drive off his tiredness. “A tried ta go through it’s cameras, feedin’ it a small script disguised as a picture file an’ bypassin’ security. But the darn virus caught me, when ah was so close. Ah’d just got it ta think ah was the root user when that blasted virus caught me. Took away me privilege an’ refused ta comply since.” He let out a groan. “An’ it’s smart. Very smart. Won’t be able ta use the same strategy again.”
“But there are many ways to get into a system,” Twilight said encouragingly.
“Yeh, an’ if ah got a strawberry fer each one ah tried ah’d be fatter than yer daughter.” He shook his head. “But if ah managed ta move a self-replicatin’ file an’ froze most of the system, maybe ah could sneak in a file inta the bootup to prevent it from loadin’!” His feelers let out a bright glow, but it vanished as soon as it happened. “Though how ta go about that…”
Shetland tried to follow the following jargon, but it soon devolved into even worse tech-speak, made utterly impossible to follow as Scalloway fell back into his native tongue at several points during his tired rambling. Still, Shetland forced herself to pay attention, on just the slight off-chance that she would be able to help somehow. She glanced at the disabled robot, the one final lead she had left. She would not half-ass this, and if it took days upon days of trying to understand this mixture of two utterly foreign languages, then so be it.
Hours passed. After a while Scalloway had requested a pen, and, although unable to hold it himself, he’d conscripted Twilight to rapidly scribble down his hurried rambling. Shetland sat aside, occasionally slapping herself when she found her attention drifting. After another long while, however, Scalloway let out an annoyed huff. “Can ya tell that-” His words stopped at an angry glare of the alicorn. “Can ya tell yer daughter to leave us? ‘Er noisyness is distractin’.”
Shetland grit her teeth, but nodded as she got up.
“Shetty, please take your armor,” Twilight called after her. "Take it to your room. Do not leave without it. I want you to be safe, okay?" Twilight explained, seeing Shetland's surprised look.
“Okay,” Shetland whispered, dragging the suit the last few inches outside before gently shutting the door. You were useless to them, anyway, an inner voice whispered, and as much as she tried, she couldn’t fully get it to shut up.
She blinked, surprised to look out the glass tunnel into darkness. Had she been inside that room until nightfall? It seemed like it. Her lack of tiredness had blinded her to the passage of time, but of course she wouldn’t be sleepy after spending a full day in bed. The sound of far-off armored hooves hitting the metal floor startled her with the realization that there was still a curfew, and if she was seen outside, she might have to spend an uncomfortable amount of time explaining the situation, or worse, the marine might even interrupt her mother’s and Scalloway’s work!
Though, Shetland pondered as she looked at her armor. The sheer factor of presence this armor provided was not to be underestimated, and she would take any bet that it, combined with her name, would stop any marine from bothering her.
Also, she could confirm that her armor was not smelly. At least, not out of the ordinary, her mind insisted stubbornly. She shook her head, ridding herself of stupid thoughts. She could go to bed now. Though… she really wasn’t tired at all, her mind insisted. Her body agreed, it didn’t want to rest yet. If only the gym was open at the time. Bet that’d be a great sight for the Voidmarines, seeing a crazy mare working up a sweat in the middle of the night. While she was thinking, her legs already carried her away.
It wasn’t her room she was going towards though, she soon realized. She’d met a Voidmarine on her way, but he’d simply allowed her to pass, even giving her a salute. Shetland reasoned he must have recognized her. It didn’t seem like her legs carried her anywhere, really, just further, making her random way through the colony, staring out into the dark night, searching. It would be cold outside, she knew. Uncomfortably, but not dangerously cold. A part of her wanted to go into the unknown right now, just dash forward, without thinking. She rested her helmet against the glass. She’d be doomed to fail. Only an unimaginable stroke of luck had led to her success last time, and then she’d at least had a faint idea where to go. Now she had nothing. She took a deep breath. Despite the stable temperature in her armor, she felt cold. “I’ll find you,” she whispered into the darkness, her voice frail, scared. “I’ll find you. You won’t get her.” She bumped her helmet onto the glass, producing a light thud, followed by a far-away gunshot. And with a sudden electric whine, darkness took over.