//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: MLPU: The Incredible Flutterage // by TheInvincibleIronBrony //------------------------------// "Oh thank you so much Dr. Splice," Fluttershy said into the phone. The yellow pegasus had spent the last half hour speaking with another geneticist about a solution to the declining rabbit population around Dodger City. The rabbits seemed to be in the wake of a yet unknown disease. While investigations have gone into the matter, hardly any pony was worried about the loss of a few rabbits. But Fluttershy, she was an animal lover. She always had been, even as a small filly. That is why she went into genetics. She wanted to improve the lives of animals. Little by little she did her part, teaming up with other scientists to make the world better for ponies and animals. She had helped endangered species all around the world and now she was going to help those poor rabbits. "It's not a problem Dr. Fluttershy. Be sure to keep me posted on how the experiment goes," Dr. Splice replied happily. The stallion was a pioneer in genetics. He had been Fluttershy's first choice for help and he'd been very cooperative. The only reason Fluttershy had been on the phone for so long was because she had spent the first twenty minutes of the conversation trying to work up the nerve to ask her colleague for access to his research. She had spent an hour before the call simply wandering around her office, trying to glean some courage from the multitude of animal posters plastered all over the walls. However, what little confidence she had built up was worth it. Sitting on her desk was a piece of paper that she had written the formula Gene Splice had created. It wasn't complete though. That was where Fluttershy and the other researchers at the Dodger City Genetics lab came in. For all her genius, Fluttershy knew that she couldn’t do it alone and Dr. Splice was every bit the pony she had heard about. "I'll be sure to call once the results are in," Fluttershy said, barely above a whisper. Gene chuckled. "Alright. Talk to you later," he replied. "Bye," Fluttershy answered hanging up the phone. She then picked up the piece of paper and made her way out if her office. The hallway beyond her door was made of plain white walls and had a very sterile smell. Fluttershy moved through the halls, headed for the research wing on the other side of the building. As she trotted, she couldn’t help but smile. All her hard work was going to pay off. Research would soon bring the rabbit population back to normal. All that was needed was a little more time. And Dr. Gene Splice had given her just that. She eventually entered the office with the name Boot Straps on it. "Boot, I got Dr. Splice's equation," she announced. The surprised earth pony stallion smiled at the news. "That's wonderful news," he congratulated. He picked himself off the chair and shook her hand excitedly. Boot Straps had come to Fluttershy early on in her studies of the rabbits in the area. Fluttershy had been hesitant to accept his help at first. With a name like his and his muscular build, Boot Straps looked like he was in the military. Fluttershy had a deep mistrust for the military, due to the rumors of a Super Soldier Serum in the later years of the Minotaur War. Experimentation on animals, subjecting them to untested serums and chemicals, all in the hopes of creating a ‘super soldier’. It caused Fluttershy’s heart to sink simply thinking about how those poor animals were treated. Not to mention all the weaponizing of projects. The Equestrian military was set on creating more powerful weapons than everyone else. Fluttershy, however, despised violence. Boot Strap quickly proved himself trustworthy however. With a quick background check and several questions in genetics, Fluttershy brought him on board, and they had been working together for months since. He was smart, kind and had a good set of morals. He had discovered a possible solution through Gamma radiation. However there was no safe way to expose the rabbits to gamma rays in their natural form. The answer to this problem came when they had heard news of Gene Splice's success in breeding super spiders. Normally the separate strains of arachnid DNA would reject each other, but Gene had created a formula that forced the separate strains to need each other. Fluttershy wanted to test if an altered version of the formula could be created that would protect the test subject from the harms of the radiation. "How soon can we have the serum ready?" Boot asked eagerly. Fluttershy smiled at the earth pony's enthusiasm. "We can have it ready by the end of the month," she answered. //////////////////////////////// Weeks passed as Fluttershy and Boot kept their work going. Days would pass with little to nothing to show for it. But Fluttershy refused to give up. She wanted to find a cure for the rabbits. And nothing would stop her drive. Finally, Fluttershy looked at the small container, holding a green liquid, resting in the back of an injection needle. She and Boot had been working tirelessly to create this small amount of the formula. She sat alone in the viewing room. A window on the far side of the room looked into a white chamber containing a chair with a large mechanical arm hanging over it. This was the device that they had used to test gamma rays on organic tissues. The results had been rather poor to date. The cells simply couldn’t stand the new strands being injected and would act violently due to gamma exposure, generally causing a complete cellular collapse. Boot had left, saying he needed to acquire the last thing they would need for the experiment. Fluttershy stayed in the room, her mind vexed with their dilemma. Test after test showed that the formula was not stable and that it could potentially be dangerous to a live subject. Thus far, they had only tested the serum on blood samples. Boot had talked about wanting to test it on a larger subject, to see if the added mass would change the outcome, but Fluttershy felt they weren’t ready. Not a moment later the stallion arrived, carrying a cage with a small white rabbit. "What's that for?" Fluttershy asked her brow furrowing. Boot looked at her unsure why she seemed angry. "We need a test subject," he said. Fluttershy's eyes widened. "No. I would never test anything on an animal I wouldn't test on myself first," she replied. Boot had seen her get like this before and knew arguing was pointless. There was to be no animal testing when Fluttershy was present. He had heard a story from one of his fellow researchers that when they tested an experiment on an animal and Fluttershy found out, she went berserk. They had never heard the pony, who is normally very quiet and reserved, speak so loudly and with so much anger. "Well what do we do then?" he asked setting the rabbit down on a counter. Fluttershy thought for a moment. "I'll test it," she answered. Boot's eyes shot open. "Are you out of your mind? This could kill you if we're wrong!" he shouted. Fluttershy smiled. "Then it will be for a good cause. This was all started by me. I won't let any pony or animal stand in my place," she told him with more confidence then she'd ever had before. Boot had argued fiercely against Fluttershy’s haste to experiment on herself. However, Fluttershy had told him that it was possible that the extra mass would allow the subject to survive the procedure, but that she wouldn’t condone the action of a defenseless rabbit to give its life for science. Boot didn’t agree with Fluttershy’s choice, but she would never change her mind. Fluttershy assured that the procedure would be safe, not that she could insure that. Boot knew it too. Boot considered this for several minutes before sighing. "Fine. But the second things go wrong, I'm pulling the plug," he told her. The yellow pegasus smiled. "Thank you," she said, picking up the needle with the formula in it. She took a deep breath before piercing her skin and watched as the liquid drained into her body. She then removed the needle and tested her balance. Once she was sure she was fine she smiled at Boot again. "Okay, I'm ready," she said as she removed her lab coat, revealing the oversized sweater and sweatpants underneath. Fluttershy had never been comfortable showing off her figure. Boot opened the door to the testing room and placed a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder as she began to enter. "Last chance to back out," he offered hopefully. Fluttershy shook her head and continued into the room. Fluttershy would have been lying if she said she wasn’t scared. In fact, she was quaking in fear. Every step she took, felt like it might be her last. She could almost feel death whispering in her ear, asking her for any last wishes. Fluttershy only wished for her death not to be in vain. That with her last breath, everypony’s lives would be bettered by her sacrifice. Boot sighed in defeat and he made his way to the complex control panel in front of the window. He watched Fluttershy climb into the chair and rest her arms in the grooves on either side of her. Boot pressed a button and small metal loops trapped Fluttershy in place. The loops were cold as they touched Fluttershy’s skin. The restraints were to keep the subject from hurting themselves. They never imagined it would be an issue since the figured the test subjects wouldn’t survive. And yet, here she was. Strapped to what might as well have been an electric chair. Fluttershy struggled for a moment, but the loops held her in place, just as they should. Fluttershy took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Boot looked at Fluttershy again. The pegasus gave him a nod and he activated the gamma beam. The mechanical arm over the chair lit up and directed a green light at Fluttershy's head. The arm swiveled, coming to rest on her eyes. Almost as soon as it did Fluttershy began struggling to keep her eyes open. After a full minute she began to convulse and Boot switched the beam off. "Keep going!" Fluttershy shouted. The sound of the usually timid pegasus shouting was shocking enough. Boot ignored her request and quickly entered the test room. "Fluttershy, we need to get help," he told her as the loops released her arms. Before Boot could help her out of the chair he noticed her coat changing to a deep green and her mane crimson. "Fluttershy?" he called out as the Pegasus began to grow, muscles bulging from her body as her clothes started stretching and even tearing in some places to accommodate her new form. Boot watched frozen in fear as his research partner transformed into a monster. The chair bent under the beast's weight. The green giant sat up from the chair and turned to Boot. "F-Fluttershy?" he called again, more fearfully. Then the giant lunged at Boot with a blood chilling yell. "RAHHHH!"