General Hurricane kept his eyes on the window of the armored vehicle, watching the buildings of the small town pass by as the sun fell below the horizon. He quickly checked Fluttershy's current address compared to the area they were in.
"Stop here," he ordered the driver. "Alright, listen up soldiers," he said turning to the armed stallions sitting in the back of the troop transporter. "We are three blocks from the target. Any closer and we risk being spotted by it. You're on foot from here on. Maintain radio contact at all times," the general informed as his soldiers conducted one final check of their equipment.
The general watched as Heavyweight slid a magazine into his rifle, making sure it was locked and loaded. "Sergeant Heavyweight," Hurricane called catching the soldiers attention. "I want you to take point," Hurricane told him.
Heavyweight gave the general a salute. "Yes sir," he replied as he moved to the back of the transport. "Everypony ready up!" he called out as he opened the door in the back of the vehicle. "Let's move out," the Sergeant said leaping from the vehicle, the other soldiers following close behind.
Hurricane closed the door after the last soldier left. He then turned towards the several consoles on the left side of the vehicle towards the front. Each screen displayed a live feed from cameras on the soldiers helmets. It was too early in the morning to expect much activity, but Hurricane did notice a white unicorn mare walking down one street in a black raincoat. She didn't seem to notice the soldiers, but the general thought she was worth remembering. She can wait though, Hurricane thought.
"Here we go," the general told himself as Fluttershy's front door appeared on every screen.
/////////////////////////////
The sound of footsteps close by awoke Fluttershy from her slumber. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up in her bed. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light in the corner of her home the bed was in. Fluttershy looked to the source of the light and was surprised to see a unicorn mare with a purple mane standing over her work desk with a flashlight.
"Who are you?" Fluttershy asked, catching the unicorn off guard. The startled pony whipped around surprised only to smile calmly when she saw Fluttershy.
"I'm not here to hurt you," the unicorn told her in a soothing tone. Fluttershy couldn't help but relax, realizing the mare could have done anything she wanted while Fluttsershy had been asleep. "But there are others on their way and they aren't so kind. You may remember General Hurricane," the intruder informed as she grabbed Fluttershy's research notes off of the desk and put them in a bag. Fluttershy darted to the window and looked down at the street. "They'll be coming through the front door. I'd suggest going out the window," the unicorn told her, holding out the bag for Fluttershy.
Fluttershy eyed the bag anxiously. "It doesn't matter though. I cured myself," she told the stranger. Fluttershy could only assume how much the mare knew, but if she knew Fluttershy was running from Hurricane she probably knew why.
The white mare looked surprised. "Unexpected, but no matter. You still hold the knowledge to recreate the circumstances that created Flutterrage," she argued as she started pushing Fluttershy towards the window, pushing the bag into her hands.
"Flutterrage?" Fluttershy questioned.
"Apologies. Its a codename. For what you were before," the mare clarified. "It doesn't matter though. We both need to make ourselves scarce. Now go," the unicorn pressed more urgently.
Fluttershy didn't like that this mare had named the monster. It set off several alarms that reminded her of Hurricane, but the mare was warning her. Fluttershy looked from the mare to the window, unsure if the intruder was trustworthy. It didn't take long to decide though. The threat of General Hurricane was too much. She had to run.
Fluttershy ran to the window and pushed it open, the sound of her front door creaking open startling her. Fluttershy looked to the door to see her mystery guest leaving through it. "You aren't coming with me?" she asked, hesitant to leave this mare alone to face Hurricane.
"No. I'm sorry, but I need to try to keep my organization's involvement off the record," the mare said as she opened the front door. "Until next we meet," she finished with a wave as she left.
"Umm... bye," Fluttershy said quietly as she flew out if the window and glided to the ground below, being careful not to damage the contents of her bag. She knew she couldn't escape by flight. She'd tried before, but Hurricane always made sure he brought plenty if Pegasi and they always outmatched her in the air. Instead Fluttershy started running down the street, trying to use the cover of darkness to remain hidden.
/////////////////////////
By the time Heavyweight and his team had reached Fluttershy's front door, the sun had finished setting, leaving them in darkness.
"We're in position sir," Heavyweight told the general over his radio.
"Breach and tag her," came the simple command from Hurricane.
Heavyweight signalled for the soldier behind him, a black earth pony, to kick the door in. The earth pony got in position, ready to kick the door down while the others stacked up on either side of the door. Heavyweight gave the earth pony a nod and watched as the stallion's foot ripped the door off of it's hinges. Heavyweight and the rest of the team poured into the room firing their weapons at the empty bed they had expected to be occupied by their target.
"Shit! She's not here!". Heavyweight cursed as he looked around the room. Nothing seemed out of place and Heavyweight was starting to lose his calm.
"Stay on target soldier. Find Fluttershy," Hurricane's voice told him.
Heavyweight shook his head to clear it and noticed the open window. He rushed to it and smiled when he saw a yellow mare running around a corner several houses away.
"We got her she's moving along the street!" the Pegasus shouted as he leaped from the window, the rest if his team following after him. They reached the corner Fluttershy had disappeared at and saw their target again. Heavyweight opened fire just as she rounded another corner and cursed. "Let's move!" he shouted, charging forward, his team close behind.
////////////////////////
Fluttershy started to panic when she heard the soldiers shooting at her.
I need to find some place to hide. Somewhere isolated, she thought, fear driving her to follow her instincts. She'd gotten into the habit of getting away from populated areas whenever Hurricane found her, in case the monster came out. Fluttershy started on the path she usually took to work, knowing the factory would have closed for the night a few hours ago.
The scared pegasus dodged through alley ways and side streets, trying to throw off the pursuers. She could hear them catching up, their boots pounding against the pavement and the occasional gunshot warned her she needed to pick up the pace.
Finally, after several minutes, the plant came into view. Fluttershy wasted no time flying over the fence to get away from the soldiers as they appeared from the buildings not far behind her.
"There she is!" one of the soldiers shouted seconds before a dozen tranq darts were shot at Fluttershy. The few that made it through the fence, hit the ground just a few feet from Fluttershy. Her panic renewed, the mare ran to the nearest entrance to the factory and entered, seeking out someplace to hide.
The darkness inside the building was almost overbearing. It might be difficult to be found in here, but with no lights she wouldn't be able to see the soldiers when they came looking for her. Eventually she found a broom closet that had plenty of space to hide behind the shelves of supplies. Fluttershy hid herself as best she could and prayed she could find a way to slip past the soldiers.
The sound of a door getting kicked in near where she had entered alerted her to the soldiers entering.
"Spread out! Search everywhere!" the stallion in charge shouted as they entered
////////////////////////
General Hurricane stepped into Fluttershy's home along with Winchester. "See if she left behind anything we can use," he ordered. The one room apartment was mostly empty. Hurricane guessed Fluttershy hadn't tried to personalize her home. Guess she's getting used to being chased out if these dumps, Hurricane thought.
The general was about to give up when he heard the faint sound of glass breaking. He turned to the table and walked over to it, noticing a microscope with a slide on it. The slide was cracked in half and was leaking a green ooze. Hurricane knew it was the blood of his enemy.
"What were you up to?" he asked himself.
///////////////////////////
Fluttershy kept her eyes on the door to the supply closet, the sound of boots stamping around on the factory floor keeping her vigilant. Occasionally she would see a light pass under the crack at the bottom of the door, but after almost twenty minutes of searching they had yet to open her door.
Just as she was starting to get hopeful that she may not even be found the door opened and a black earth pony walked in and spotted her peeking at the door. Fluttershy backed herself against the wall behind as the stallion came around the shelves and pointed his gun at her.
"Come quietly and I won't shoot you," he demanded, surprising Fluttershy.
Hurricane must not have told them what I was, she thought as she showed the soldier her handss so he wouldn't think she was armed. She planned to let him lead her out of the closet before trying to escape again.
"Get up, move," he demanded, grabbing her roughly and pushing her out of the closet. Fluttershy's heart beat quickened at the rough treatment and she started getting a familiar feeling in her gut. "I've got the target. She's cooperating," the stallion said into his radio.
"Tranq her!" another soldier shouted, distracting the earth pony.
Fluttershy started moving away from the stallion quietly, but bumped into a cart of cleaning supplies she hadn't seen in the darkness.
"Hey, stop!" the soldier shouted as he pulled Fluttershy by her mane and threw her to the ground. "Stay put!" the stallion shouted as he tried to hold Fluttershy down only for the mare to struggle against him.
Fluttershy recognized the feeling she had gotten moments ago. She felt a burst if adrenaline shoot through her veins, making her hands shake. She fell to the ground in pain as her coat changed from yellow to green. Then an emotion welled up inside her as the world began to fade away. Anger. Her cure hadn't worked.
/////////////////////
Heavyweight cursed as he listened to the struggle over his radio. "Would you just shoot her!" he shouted, livid with rage for the idiot who'd found their target.
"I've got this just... what the bu-" the soldier started, only to be cut off by static, telling Heavyweight, his radio was broken.
"Dammit. Somepony get me eyes on that idiot!" Heavyweight shouted as he started moving towards the part of the factory, he'd told that soldier to search.
Heavyweight rounded the next corner and stopped as an object came hurtling at him from the darkness.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" the black earth pony screamed as he sailed over Heavyweight's head.
Heavyweight shook his head as he readied himself for a fight. "All units, regroup on me! We have contact with a hostile! Regroup!" he shouted into his radio as he started moving in the direction he'd seen the soldier fly from.
/////////////////////
Hurricane had just returned to the troop transport vehicle after searching Fluttershy's house. "Report," he ordered the stallion sitting in front of the computer screens.
The stallion gave the general a fearful look. "The team has made contact with an unknown hostile sir," he stated, seemingly confused.
Hurricane's eyes widened as he turned to the screens. One was paused on a still frame of a over sized green fist. "Dammit!" he cursed as he grabbed a headset and put it on. "Sargent Heavyweight, do you copy?" he asked, urgently.
"I read you sir," the pegasus replied calmly. Hurricane watched the sergeant's screen as the soldier walked through the factory Fluttershy had worked at.
"New orders Sargent. Switch to live fire and retreat," Hurricane ordered.
"We can still catch the target sir," Heavyweight argued.
"Sargent, things didn't go according to plan. Get your soldiers together and get the hell out of there!" Hurricane yelled.
There was a pause for a moment. "Understood," Heavyweight replied.
//////////////////////////
Heavyweight waited for his team to join him before moving for the exit. "New orders. Switch to live fire and retreat," he told them as he switched out the clip in his gun.
"We're giving up?" one soldier asked.
Heavyweight gave him a stern look. "I just watched that idiot who found the target get tossed across the factory. So yes, we're leaving," he answered, the rest of the soldiers quickly switching to live round magazines at the news. "Form up, let's go. And stay quiet," Heavyweight ordered as the group began moving towards the door they'd kicked in before, flashlights lighting the way.
They'd barely gone ten feet before heavy footsteps could be heard not far away. The group stopped and scanned the area with their flashlights.
Heavyweight was starting to get nervous. "Let's move," he ordered, keeping his voice down.
The group started moving again with one soldier keeping an eye on the rear. He kept sweeping the factory behind them with his light. As he moved the light over a row of conveyor belts he noticed what looked like a green column. "What the hell?" he whispered as he brought his light to the top of the object. The soldiers eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed, catching the groups attention.
Standing just twenty feet away from them was a ten foot tall, green behemoth. It was breathing heavily and looked as angry as a minotaur, it's face contorted in rage. Heavyweight's team all looked on in shock as the monster looked at them like it didn't know what to make of them, which only seemed to agitate it more.
Heavyweight grabbed a grenade from his belt and pulled the pin, tossing the explosive at the monster. "Run!" he shouted as the grenade exploded at the beast's feet.
"GRAAAHHHHHH!" it roared as the soldiers bolted for the exit. The beast thundered after them, it's feet cracking the ground as it ran. One soldier started firing blindly behind himself as he ran, hitting his target mostly by luck. The others followed his lead out of fear. The monster stopped and grabbed a vat of chemicals almost as big as itself and hurled it at the group.
Heavyweight turned almost too late, tackling the soldier to his left out of the way as the vat hit the ground crushing two more soldiers. The pegasus did a quick headcount, and cursed as he noticed they were down to five including himself. The other three soldiers were running through the cover of the chemical vats, firing at the monster as it tore through the steel containers like they were paper.
"Get up!" He shouted, pulling the stallion to his feet. "Help me distract it!" the sergeant yelled as he opened fire on the green beast, the soldier next to him following suit. Heavyweight pulled the pin on a stun grenade as the monster held up a hand to shield its face from the gunfire. Heavyweight lobbed the grenade at it. Just as the green giant turned to him the grenade went off at its feet. It recoiled as the bright explosion disoriented it.
"Move!" Heavyweight shouted to the others as the monster lashed out at the containers around it, roaring in discomfort. The other three soldiers started running again, a greater urgency in their steps.
Heavyweight started following them, but the sound of gunfire drew his attention. He looked back to see the soldier he'd saved before walking backwards slowly and firing at the monster. Before he could do anything the monster bucked another vat at the soldier. He dived away just barely missing getting crushed. The vat flew over Heavyweight's head and he watched in horror as it landed on the other three soldiers.
Heavyweight ran to his remaining comrades side, tossing another stun grenade to distract the monster. As soon as the creature was blinded, the sergeant grabbed the soldier and hauled him to his feet. "Let's go!" he yelled as the pair started running. They could hear the thundering of the monster's massive feet as it chased them.
The pair rounded another corner and found the door they'd entered from. They're muscles were burning, but they pushed forward. They were just a few feet from the door when the beast crashed through the factory machinery behind them and Heavyweight's companion started shooting again.
"GRAAAAAAHHHHHH!" the monster roared as it picked up a piece of a conveyor belt and hurled it at them. Heavyweight tried to jump over the debris, but tripped on a steel cable. The machinery knocked his legs out from under him in mid jump and he felt a pain lance through his head as his world became black.
/////////////////////////
"GRAAAAHHHHHH!" the monster roared as it surveyed the destruction around it. None of the ponies that had attacked it were moving anymore. The beast grunted in satisfaction as it unfolded it's wings and with a powerful thrust took off, smashing through the roof as it went.