Fluttershy wiped sweat from her brow as she kept an eye on the chemicals as they mixed together. Her job had never been strenuous, but Canistan had always been much hotter than the moderate climate of Equestria. Any other pony would have had a difficult time adjusting, but Fluttershy had been moving from country to country for several years now, and had been forced to endure new climates and change her wardrobe as well, depending on the weather. Canistan was typically very hot, so Fluttershy usually wore light clothing.
She had tried to stay in the country of her birth at first, but General Hurricane efforts to find her had made that impossible. Wanted Posters hung in every police precinct, courthouse and bounty office. Even some foreign governments were on her scent now, but only the General pursued her past one mission.
Fluttershy had been curious about Hurricane's relentless search at first, but that hadn't lasted long. Now she simply feared him, almost as much as her monster, but for a different reason. The monster could be contained so long as Fluttershy stayed calm, but whenever General Hurricane found her, she panicked. Hurricane had met the monster more times than he had actually met Fluttershy. That's what scared Fluttershy the most.
Hurricane had been a highly respected military official before he'd sent Boot Strap to spy on her. After the first year of chasing her though, he had quickly lost that favor. Always came after her like he had nothing to lose. He'd already lost the respect of his colleagues and, because the lab in which the monster had been born was destroyed, Fluttershy's capture was the only way to get it back. He chased her like he had nothing to lose because all he had to lose was Fluttershy, or more importantly the potential weapon she housed.
Fluttershy felt a paw tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see her replacement standing behind her.
"I'll take it from here. Have a good day," he said as Fluttershy got up from her chair.
"Thank you very much," she replied as she removed the protective goggles from her face. The dog simply waved in response as Fluttershy left.
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Fluttershy arrived home and was excited to see a small package on her doorstep. Almost a week ago she had heard of a new form of Radiation Treatment that involved several herbs from all around the globe. The treatment she'd been the most interested in involved a flower called Royal Bell. Royal Bell was a flower that mostly grew on the border lands between Griffinhiem and Minotine. It had taken several weeks worth of wages to have a small amount shipped to her home, but every bit had been worth it.
Fluttershy picked up the package as she entered her home and set it on her worktable. She then removed her work suit and hung it back in the closet before returning to the box that just may hold the solution to her problem. She quickly ripped the top open and removed the padding inside, revealing a dried flower with faded purple petals extending almost three inches from the stem.
"So beautiful," Fluttershy said, sadly, knowing she would have to cut the petals up in order for this to work. It was the only way to properly utilize the unique qualities of the plant. Royal Bell petals had the ability to absorb greater amounts of the sun's rays and at the same time store that energy for later use. The reason behind this was theorized to have something to do with the frequent storms in it's natural environment that could blot out the sun for weeks. Botanists that studied the flowers quickly learned that many victims of the radiation from the atomic bombs used in the Minotaur War had simply laid in a field of Royal Bells several times a day for months and had seemingly been cured. The locals who lived near the fields believed them to be enchanted by ancient sorcerers, but a scientist had been able to figure out the true cause. The flowers were able to thrive off of various forms of radiation. It wasn't clear how much radiation they could absorb before it became too much, but Fluttershy hoped it could handle the amount lying dormant with in her.
Fluttershy picked up a pair of scissors and held them over a few of the flowers petals. "I hope this works," she told herself, worry gripping her heart at the thought of another failure. "I need this to work," she said as she snipped off several petals and got to work.
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General Hurricane flipped through several documents on the soldiers that had been assigned to the current mission as he rode in the back of an SUV on its way to the bases airfield. Colonel Winchester sat next to him eyeing the files over his shoulder, giving looks of approval to some of the more impressive candidates.
On any other mission Hurricane would have been impressed as well, but knew better. He'd brought some of the best soldiers with him every time he went after Fluttershy and not all of them had been from Equestria. It always ended the same though. Most died and those that didn't either went insane or were far too injured to continue a military career.
General Hurricane jumped from the jeep as it arrived on the runway. Several more vehicles followed each one dropping off two or three soldiers that had proven themselves in the field of combat. The entire group stood in line behind a jumbo jet with the ramp down so the vehicles could be loaded into the back.
Hurricane gave each of them a once over before approaching the pegasus stallion at the head of the group.
"Is this the best we can do?" he asked, seeming unimpressed with the soldiers.
The pegasus, Major Drill, smiled at his friends lack of confidence. "I thought you might want a soldier with that little something extra," he replied. "There's one more. Sergeant Heavyweight. Pegasus. Trained by ex-Griffin stealth flyers and Minotaur combat forces during that joint exercise we did with them several years ago to keep things peaceful," the Major explained as a helicopter rose over the horizon and quickly approached. "The best part however is his success record!" Drill continued, shouting over the sound of the chopper. "He's never failed an objective. He's like you. Does what's necessary," Drill finished, stepping back as the helicopter landed.
Seconds later the doors slid open and a brown pegasus stallion hopped out in full tactical gear. "Sergeant Heavyweight, reporting for duty!" he shouted, stopping and saluting to Hurricane.
Hurricane smiled as he observed the soldier. "At ease soldier," he replied as he turned back to the rest of the group. "Alright soldiers, on the plane. You'll be debriefed enroute. We don't have time to waste!" he shouted, getting immediate satisfaction as every soldier, Heavyweight included grabbed their bags and marched up the ramp, followed by the General and Winchester.
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Fluttershy winced as she stuck a needle in her foreleg, drawing a small amount of blood for her experiment. After removing the needle from herself, she started mixing the bits of the flower with a few other chemicals known for suppressing radiation. Once, she was satisfied with the mixture she set it aside and grabbed the needle with her blood and a slide for a microscope. She pushed a drop of blood from the needle onto the slide. Fluttershy then opened one of the drawers in the desk and grabbed a small wooden stick which she stuck into her potential remedy, being sure to get the stick soaked in the solution.
Fluttershy held the stick over the blood sample and watched as a few drops dripped in. With that done she placed a second slide over the first, spreading the blood across the small piece of glass and placed it under the lens of the microscope. The normally red blood cells floated around, but the radiation had given a great number of them a sickly green color and almost twice the size of the others. Not enough to visibly change the color of her blood except under a microscope.
Fluttershy observed the blood for several moments, almost giving up hope that anything would happen. Just as she was about to look away she noticed several of the green cells had begun to shrink and lose the color that signified the radiation's presence.
Fluttershy slowly backed away from the desk as a smile crept over her face. "I did it," she told herself. "This nightmare is finally over," she said as she leaped from her seat and laughed.
Once she'd had a chance to calm down she checked the blood sample again just to be sure and noted that it hadn't changed. She grabbed another needle from her drawer and stuck it into the antidote. Once she felt she had enough she found a vein in her forearm and inserted the needle, pushing on the plunger and watching as the liquid drained into her body.
Fluttershy sat still for a moment and kept herself calm, not wanting to cause any adverse side effects by getting excited and accidentally inducing an episode.
After a few moments when nothing happened, Fluttershy opened another drawer on her desk and pulled out a pulse monitor. She placed it around her wrist and took a deep breath. Once she found herself calm enough, she raised her other hand and struck herself across the face. She could hear the monitor begin to beep as her pulse quickened and the adrenaline from the pain began to kick in. She waited a moment before repeating the process. She kept this up until she saw the monitor and noticed she was right around the beats per minute required to unleash the monster.
Fluttershy rubbed her stinging cheek and almost cried in joy. She could feel all the stress from her years of torment beginning to ebb away as she got up and walked to her bed, collapsing in a tired heap. Seven years she'd been stuck in a never ending nightmare, chased to the ends of the planet by a pony hellbent on making her a weapon of mass destruction. And now it was over. She was finally free. She would never have to worry about hurting anyone or causing millions of bits in property damage.
I'm finally free, she thought as she drifted into the most peaceful sleep she'd had in years.
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"Alright listen up soldiers!" General Hurricane called out, gaining the attention of his men. They were enroute to an airfield near Basset Town at the moment. The plane they rode in bumped and shook as it flew through the sky. The passengers were bathed in a red light so they could see the packets they were being handed.
"Your target has been spotted in Basset Town by our ground agents. Her home address is listed in your packets," he told them as the soldiers flipped through the pages. "Your objective is to take the target in her home. You will be using tranq rounds only. Taking her alive is an absolute must," he finished, eyeing everyone. "Any questions?"
"What makes her so important?" Heavyweight asked from the General's left, looking up from his packet.
Hurricane glared at Heavyweight. "She is in possession of highly classified government secrets. Why soldier? How important does she need to be to be of concern to you?" Hurricane asked, keeping the anger out of his voice.
Heavyweight glanced back at his packet. "This intel says she's been implicated in the deaths of several soldiers involved in other missions where she escaped capture. No specialized combat training is mentioned though. I guess I'd like to know how she's killed trained soldiers with nothing but a Phd under her belt?" Heavyweight asked, returning the General's glare.
Hurricane smiled menacingly. "If everything goes as planned, you won't have to find out," he said as he leaned down to speak in Heavyweight's ear. "Pray that everything goes according to plan," the General said, straightening up and taking a seat further up the plane towards the cockpit. "E.T.A. thirty minutes. Everypony get ready," he called out as he buckled up.