Secrets Revealed
The next few days, Guam waited impatiently for Thunderbolt’s superiors to allow him to have access to the information concerning Fluttershy. Any amount of time he had to wait was too long. However, on the fifth day, he finally got his wish.
The general took Guam into his office, closing the door behind them. “Let me emphasize what I’m about to reveal to you is sensitive to both me and the army.”
Guam nodded and was all ears. He took a seat just across from where the general sat. He was hardly aware of his surroundings. If he were, the medals of Honor held within the small trophy box to his left would have impressed him. Thunderbolt took his job seriously, he always had. Guam, however, wasn’t even focused on the general’s past, unless, it coincided with Fluttershy’s.
“You are aware we have an Infantry Weapons Development Program.” the general took to his seat and picked up one of the folders on the desk. “Within that, there was a sub-program that focused on Bio-force enhancement.”
Guam nodded again. “Yeah, super soldier.”
Thunderbolt began flipping through the folder. “Yes. Oversimplification but yes.”
He picked a photograph from the folder and tossed it to Guam. It was a picture of a stallion. Guam recognized him. He was on Fluttershy’s family photo. A Pegasus with brown hair and a gentle smile.
“Brixy Bixby, Fluttershy’s father, was one of the scientist working on our Genetic Growth Enhancement Project. Very early phase work.”
Guam set down the photo and continued to listen to the general’s story. “He was tasked with modifying the growth rate of plants. We needed a base line to start testing on ponies. He wasn’t going to stay on the project. He didn’t have the stomach for the work we were planning and we knew that. Never told him what the project really was. He was a brilliant scientist, one of the best. But his experiments were met with ...very limited success.”
Guam leaned forward, absorbing every word. Guam had known ponies like that in his line of work. If you didn’t have the stones to get the job done, you were in the wrong world. The world didn’t favor the weak. It favored the bold. The ones who would step up and not let anything stand in their way.
The general placed the folder in front of him. Guam picked it up and began to read through it as the general continued.
“His daughter, Fluttershy, was born an abnormally small filly. Dangerously so.”
Guam’s ears perked up. He reverted his eyes from the page in front of him and aimed towards Thunderbolt.
“She became very sick. According to the medical report, her heart was abnormally small. She wasn’t receiving the amount of blood she needed. She was dying.”
Guam finally spoke, “But she survived?”
“Bixby wasn’t about to lose his daughter. The doctors couldn’t save her, so he decided to take things into his own hooves. He injected her with the growth serum out of desperation. And by some Celestia miracle, she survived.”
“And that’s where the creature comes in?”
Thunderbolt shook his head. “Not exactly.”
“Not the response I was hoping for.” Guam thought to himself. He was hoping for an explanation as to why that tiny filly would turn into a hulking beast. Regardless, he patiently waited for more of the story.
He continued to flip through the folder as Thunderbolt spoke, “Bixby’s actions weren’t authorized, of course. We only found out about it a few days later. It had leaked that we were going to take Fluttershy away for testing, because when we got to the house, Bixby, his wife, and his daughter were gone.”
“So they ran?” Guam asked.
“Chased them for nearly eight years until they asked for help from the wrong pony at the wrong time.”
Guam saw a page of a car that looked like it had been burning. He suspected it played a roll in the story, but he waited for the general to tell it.
“There was a car accident. The father was caught, the daughter escaped and the mother... wasn’t so fortunate.”
“Tragic,” Guam stated with as much sympathy as he could muster. “Not really. Just get to the good part.” Compassion wasn’t part of his job description. At least, not in his interpretation of it.
“It was only after he was caught, we found out that he had left his notes with his daughter.”
“I don’t imagine he was very cooperative,” Guam said, as he placed the folder back on the desk.
“No. We were right back where we started. Six years later, we finally found her again.”
“Faust, this is so damn tiring? When do we get to Fluttershy’s monster?” He wanted to know exactly how could that little mare transform into the massive creature he fought. And more importantly, how could he beat it?
“She had entered an unauthorized test site for a gamma pulse. She ended up saving some stupid mare and got caught in the blast herself. You could imagine our surprise when we found out she was alive.”
“But you finally had her? Then something happened, didn’t it?” Guam leaned forward once more. He knew this was when it was going to happen. He could feel it.
“Her father found out we had her. Tried to get her out. My men opened fire on him and that’s... when we first saw it. We still aren’t sure how it happened. There are theories that say the growth serum and the gamma radiation somehow affected her.”
Guam started to think about what the general had mentioned earlier. About Fluttershy’s father, Biby or whatever his name was, Guam couldn’t remember. Not that he cared. He thought about the growth serum that the father developed, the one that saved Fluttershy. “If he left, some pony else must have taken up the project.”
“You said the old man wasn’t working on weapons?”
The general shook his head.
“But you were, weren’t you? Want to try something else I’d say?” Guam asked.
The general was very quiet for a minute. Guam noticed that something was going on in that head. He wasn’t sure what, but he knew the general was up to something.
“One serum we developed was ... promising.”
“Promising, huh? That’s sounds like my ticket.” They had developed a way to make a superior pony. Guam smirked at the thought of growing into something that could best Fluttershy. “So, why’d they run?”
“Her father was a scientist. Her mother was a pacifist and a tree hugger.” The general slowly stood up. “They are not one of us.”
The general took a deep breath as his eyes aimed towards the window. Guam could feel the gears in the general’s head turning. Guam was fully aware of the general’s reputation. He also knew that the general’s current status was at risk and that he was willing to do whatever it took to get the job done. Something Guam grew to admire about his commander.
The general finally spoke, “Guam, how old are you? 42?”
Guam wasn’t sure where the general was going, but he decided to answer, “39, sir.”
“Takes it’s toll, doesn’t it? Get yourself out of the trenches, for Faust sake. Should be a colonel by now.” Thunderbolt raised his eyebrow.
“No, sir. I’m a fighter. I’m not one to sit on the back lines. I’ll be a fighter as long as my body lets me.”
Guam then stood up. “But you know sir, if I had the body I had ten years ago, take what I know now, that would not be a pony I’d want to pick a fight with.”
The general turned, giving a satisfying smirk. “I think I can arrange something like that.”
Guam smiled at that thought. He was hoping that the general would say something like that. If this serum were as effective as the general hinted, he would be strong enough to face that monster again. The thought obsessed him. The thought of facing down that monster again, both terrified and thrilled him.
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Bixby sat alone in a small room looking through a microscope. He had been in that room for a long time, staring at the same thing for what seemed like hours. Only taking a few seconds to write down something on a nearby scrap of paper every so often. He leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. Just then he heard a soft voice, “Daddy.”
The tiny voice snapped him back to reality. He turned around to see his little filly with a smile on her face. He smiled back. “Hey, little angel. Come here. Let me see how big you are.”
Fluttershy leaped towards her father as he stood up. He swept the little filly off her feet and into the air. The child giggled as she was hoisted towards her father’s face.
“Wow, you are getting so big!” her father stated, as he gently nudged his daughter’s nose with his.
“What are you doing, daddy?” the little angel asked, noticing the microscope.
The father gave her a smile and sat back in the chair, the little angel on his lap. “Take a look,” he lifted his daughter to the microscope, holding her so she wouldn’t fall.
She looked and her eyes widened. Strange white orbs surrounded by much larger red orbs drifting in a clear solution. “Wow! What are those?!” the filly asked in awe.
“Those are called blood cells.”
“Blood cells? What are those?”
The father chuckled a bit. “Those are in your blood. They make you healthy.”
“Do you have blood cells to make you healthy?
The father couldn’t help but smile at such an innocent question. “Yes, I do. They are in you, and me, and mommy and every pony.”
“Wow. They look so big!”
“They are actually real small. Want to see?” The little filly nodded. Bixby took the slide from the microscope and showed it to the little angel.
“Hey! I can’t see the blood cells any more!”
“You can’t?” The father spoke in a politely sarcastic tone. “That’s because blood cells are so small, you can’t see them with just your eyes. You need a very special machine.” He pointed towards the microscope, introducing the little filly its name.
“What’s a micro cope?” the filly asked.
The father gave a slight chuckle at the child’s attempted pronunciation, “A microscope is-“
Just as he began to explain, a burst of gunfire shatters the image.
Fluttershy gasped as she awoke. Her heavy breathing filled the air around her, echoing throughout the cave she had fallen asleep in. She looked around to find herself still in the dark cave she had rested in. A storm had broken. Rain plummeted from the sky, soaking the land outside. Thunder must have simulated the gunfire in her dream. Within the cave, the echo of the thunder made it seem louder.
Tears started to develop in Fluttershy’s eyes. She missed her father. She missed her mother. She missed having another pony to talk to when she was sad or scared. Her father always knew what to say when she needed to know something. And her mother’s voice was always so gentle and kind. They always put her before themselves. A quality that Fluttershy had taken for granted many times. She would have given everything to take them back in her hooves. She wished with all her heart she could see them; see their smiles. But like the photo, they were gone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fluttershy entered the small town of Hoofington, a much smaller town than the city of Baltimare. The city was a lot cleaner and friendlier than Baltimare too, which she was grateful for. Still, she was wanted all over Equestria. She couldn’t let anyone see her who might know who she is.
After finding an old hat in the dumpster, she stuffed her hair into the hat as tight as she could. The hat would have fit if not for all her hair clumped into a ball, trapped by the rims of the headpiece. Pink hair off her left side was all that hung from her face. She would have preferred to hide this as well, but there wasn’t any more room in her hat to completely conceal her hair.
“I need to contact Hot Rod Wheels to see if he can help me. But I need a computer for that. Where in this city could I go to use a computer? I lost my old laptop back at the circus camp. Where should I go? I know, the library! “
Her parents used to take her there to read and enjoy books. Her father would introduce her to books on math, science, geography, while her mother would read her stories about princesses, knights and even terrifying dragons. She loved it when her parents would read to her. She would cling on to every word they spoke. She could never take them with her. Not with the soldiers tracking her. But she did learn a lot from those books. She knew that sometimes, libraries had computers that a pony could use. And she was in desperate need of one.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
After an hour of traveling through town, she finally located the library. Fluttershy entered through the double doors to see shelf upon shelf of books. For a small town, this certainly was a big library. Not the biggest Fluttershy had ever been in, but it was still a sizable one. She looked to the desk on her left to see a young mare on the phone.
“I know, right?” The mare spoke on the phone, not even noticing the yellow Pegasus.
“Um... Excuse me,” Fluttershy politely spoke, but the mare didn’t even hear her.
“Are you kidding?! He seriously said that?! To you?!”
Fluttershy was always patient, but this was important and she didn’t have time to be patient. “Um… Excuse me? Miss?” she spoke a little louder, but the mare still didn’t seem to respond.
“Oh, no way! I’ll tell you right now, if that was my stallion I would-“
“Excuse me!” Fluttershy finally shouted. The whole library turned towards her. She started to turn red. Her head sank into her shoulders. She didn’t mean to yell, she just lost control. “So much for not arousing attention,” she thought to herself.
“Sorry, I’ve got to take care of this.” The mare told the other pony on the line. She turned herself around, glaring towards Fluttershy. “What?”
Fluttershy was a bit frightened. This pony wasn’t very nice and ‘she’ hadn’t come out in a few days. She didn’t mean to make a fuss of things. It wasn’t like her at all. But after everything that had happened to her, she really needed help and she was afraid she wouldn’t receive it if she didn’t do something. She didn’t want to cause any more trouble, but she needed a computer. “Could I use one of your computers?” her soft voice finally spoke.
“Yeah, sure,” the mare replied as she shooed the Pegasus away. She continued her conversation as normal, saying something about a very rude Pegasus. She bothered her, but Fluttershy had been the victim of rude and inconsiderate comments before. She did her best to ignore it, trying to look on the bright side.
“Well, at least I have a computer. Now I can talk to Hot Rod and hope he can help me.”
If all went well, she would contact her friend and be out of the library before something bad happened.
Fluttershy made her way to the computer and booted the chat program. As soon as it was loaded, she typed her message.
‘Hot Rod? Are you there?’
A few seconds later, a message appeared on the screen.
‘Lil’ Angel! I hadn’t heard from you for a while. I was beginning to worry.’
A second message appeared on the screen before Fluttershy could respond.
‘I have wonderful news. Preliminary tests show immense reduction in Gamma toxicity levels.’
Fluttershy couldn’t believe what she had read. If this were true, this could be everything she’d ever dreamed of. She would be finally rid of the spores that ailed her. She would be rid of the curse that burdened her. She tapped on the keyboard, spelling her next message.
‘Will it cure me?’
Fluttershy waited patiently for his response. It only took a few seconds, but those might as well been hours to Fluttershy.
‘Yes.’
Fluttershy almost leaped out of her chair with joy. It took all her restraint not to cheer as loud as she could. She could have very possibly stumbled onto the cure that had eluded her for so long. Just as she began to smile, another message appeared on the screen that wiped it away.
‘But I need more data. I need Gamma levels, blood saturation, and there is an irregularity in your cells. I need to know about the information on that as well.’
If Hot Rod would have asked her five years ago, she could have told her about her father’s notes. Everything that she had been was in those notes.
Her father had kept a very close track of her biology for years. Ever since her family was on the run, her father would run all sorts of tests on her. She didn’t realize what they were at first, but her father had injected her with a growth serum that saved her life. Her father told her that the serum was the reason they wanted Fluttershy and the reason they had to run away. In those notes was everything about the serum. The formula that created it and how it progressed within her as she aged. She had attempted to read it several times, but never understood it much.
She wished with all her heart that she knew where to start looking for her father’s notes, but she lost them all those years ago. The same day she lost her father. With a heavy heart, she sent her reply.
‘I can’t. I don’t have it anymore. I lost it.’
Fluttershy wasn’t sure what to do, what to say. She had put all of her faith into Hot Rod’s scientific mind. If he or she couldn’t help her, maybe, no pony could. As if the computer could read her mind, the message appeared.
‘Without it, I cannot help.’
And with that, images of living a life without fear disappeared before her very eyes, replacing them with tears of sorrow.
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Please excuse while I wipe the coke off my monitor.
But seriously, nice reference.
I'd probably end up using that as a voice being called for over an intercom.
2199244 Totally cool with me. I had been watching a lot of the old show with him and Lou. Great show and great music.
2199266 From the little I've seen (and I must remedy that as soon as I can) it was damn good.
And that theme music is the best.
Nice update and great reference to the old Hulk TV show.
I cannot wait to read what happens next now that Gaum knows the truth about Fluttershy's life.
2199811 I figured fans would enjoy that. I know I would.
U R SO EVIL/AWESOME FOR MAKING THAT PART OF A STORY!
2202412 What can I say? I'm evil.
2203634
Love the reference.
2214543 Thanks
2214692
You're welcome!