General Thunderbolt looked over the reports of what happened. He lost his lead and by now, she could be anywhere in Equestria, possibly even outside of it. Everything he had going his way had gone wrong, and now he didn't even have a soldier to fight her if this happened again. Brown Sky had every bone in his body shattered and his organs were only partially working. He probably wouldn't make it through the night, according to the doctors.
Brown Sky. What had he been thinking? He knew the plan. He was ordered to stay back unless he was needed. If he hadn't started gassing her, they might've been able to take her in without incident. Instead, almost two dozen ponies had died, and reports were still coming in on some of the ones who had survived.
A knock on his door snapped him out of his thoughts. "Come in," he said, closing the files he had on his desk. A messenger opened the door and looked at Thunderbolt hesitantly. "Well, what is it?"
"Forensics might have found something big," the messenger said. "They found her saddlebags."
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Fluttershy woke up slowly. She kept her eyes closed to keep the headache from getting too bad as she shifted into a sitting position. After a couple of moments, she opened them and looked around to see where she was.
It looked like a reservation. Trees were everywhere and it was raining a bit, though not too much. She couldn't quite tell exactly where she was, but judging by the noises in the distance, she was near a city. Hopefully it would be one close to this doctor Trotmier. If it was too far away, she would never reach him before she was found again.
Fluttershy stood carefully, making sure her hooves didn't go flying out form under her. The transformations were getting harder and harder to deal with. It could be a sign that the other her was starting to become more dominant, but she didn't want to think about what that could mean. It was almost too frightening to even consider, especially for her.
She held up a hoof to her chest and remembered what Twilight had taught her so long ago now. When everything had started changing and things just got out of control, Twilight had shared her technique to help Fluttershy with her confidence. It had worked for a time, and still helped her stay calm when she started to get scared, but it didn't help her with anything else. It was the first thing she tried when she realized what the trigger was.
After taking a few deep breaths, she started walking. It could take a while, but she was closer to a cure than she had ever been. If everything went well, she wouldn't see Thunderbolt until it was done. If not, things would get ugly in a hurry.
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"It took a while to piece the papers back together, but we have a lead on where she might be," a scientist said to General Thunderbolt. "It looks like the profile for someone called Doctor Trotmier."
"What do we have on him?" Thunderbolt asked.
"Not much," the scientist replied. "What we do know is that he's a chemist."
"That's it?" Thunderbolt asked. "If she's looking for him, then there has to be a bigger connection."
"There is," the scientist continued. "He's been researching the effects of various chemicals on the equine body as well as dabbling in radiation research. Gamma research."
Thunderbolt froze. He barely continued to breathe. She was going to take it from him. After everything, she was going to take away what they had been working towards. Every ounce of research they already had was inside that thing, and she was going to be so selfish as to take that away from him. She had to be caught quickly, before she had the chance to meet with this Trotmier pony. The problem was, if anything happened and she changed, they wouldn't have anything to fight her. That beast was nigh unkillable.
"We also have some news concerning Agent Brown Sky," the scientist said, interrupting the general's stream of thoughts.
"Have we found his next of kin yet?" he asked.
"That... won't be necessary," the scientist said. "He's made a full recovery and should be on his way here in a few minutes. The doctors have never seen anything like it, and neither have I."
Thunderbolt chuckled. "Of course that stallion would make through that beating," he said under his breath. "When he gets here, send him to my office. I want to have a little chat with him."
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Somehow, Fluttershy had made it to the one place she needed to be. She didn't know exactly how, but thanked her luck for taking her there.
It didn't take long to find the apartment. It was easy enough to get to, but remembering which one was a little difficult. The moments before the transformation tend to be a bit fuzzier and she had lost her saddlebags when it happened. Hopefully, they hadn't been found too quickly by the soldiers looking for her. If they did find it, then she could have less time than she thought. Of course, it could also end up as a trap if they knew. Hopefully, neither of those were the case and she would be able to fix this soon.
When she knocked on the door to the apartment, there wasn't an answer. She knocked again, but still nothing. She glanced down the hall briefly before giving her attention to the lock on the door. it wasn't too complicated, but it would still take a minute. Fluttershy didn't have the advantage unicorns did when it cam to opening doors, but she could still get in.
The sound of someone clearing their throat caused her to jump and her heartrate with her. She slowed down, taking deep breaths to calm her heart before something happened that she couldn't risk here.
Fluttershy turned around and looked at the unicorn stallion behind her. His deep blue coat practically shimmered purple in the lighting of the apartment building, accentuating his aqua-blue mane. He had hard silver eyes that were boring into her, a scowl on his face as he stood there. "It's a lot easier if you just ask," he said.
"Sorry," she replied. "I didn't realize you were here."
"I caught that," he replied. "Now is there a reason for you trying to break into my home or am I calling the authorities?"
"This is your apartment?" she asked. "You're Doctor Trotmier?"
"Yeah," he said.
FLuttershy let out a small sigh of relief. "I came here looking for your help."
He looked at her, a little surprised. "You're the mare Hoofton told me about?" he asked in awe. "I'm sorry, please let me get that for you." He unlocked the door, an orange glow surrounding the lock and door knob as it opened. "How much did Hoofton tell you about my work?"
"He told me you were my best bet at fixing this," Fluttershy said as she walked into the homey apartment.
"Oh, it's much more than that," he commented. "He gave me some research data a few years back and I've been working on it ever since. The effect the radiation had on your genes is amazing! I've never seen anything like what happened to you."
"Do you know how to get rid of it?" she asked.
"I could," he replied. "But it comes with risks. I can only do it using your blood to target the appropriate mutations andfilter out any leftover gamma radiation. That on top of actually having to induce an episode to make sure I hit the right thing without killing you. That and I'm not entirely sure it'll-"
"How much of my blood do you need?" Fluttershy interrupted. "And how long do you think it'll take to examine it?"
"I already have what I need," he replied.
"What?!" she questioned. "How?!"
"Hooftong sent it over with the other data," Trotmier explained, walking over to a large door. Inside was a walk-in refrigerator with what must've been gallons upon gallons of Fluttershy's blood. "It wasn't enough to really do anything with, though, so I had to concentrate it and make more."
"You need to destroy this," she said. "Once this is done, all of it needs to be burned. It's too dangerous to just keep around."
"If you say so," Trotmier said, walking out with a couple of bags of blood. "It'll take me a minute to get everything set up, but then we can strap you down and get to business."
She let out a small sigh. "Please just hurry."
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"After this, you're done," Thunderbolt said to Brown Sky as he paced in his office. "The only reason I'm even letting you join in on this mission is because you are a necessary precaution. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Sky replied.
"Good," Thunderbolt said. "Now go prep for the mission. We're leaving as soon as everyone is ready. We're catching Fluttershy tonight, and we're going to revolutionize warfare with her."