What Once Wasby a guy with many hatsChaptersI promiseBlack BagsCracksBreaksI promiseI sat behind a bright white console as Subject three was wheeled into the room. "Good morning Sandy...how are you feeling?" The bug like pony snapped at me, struggling in its binds and screeching. "I know it hurts little one...I know...but soon it will be over." I ran my hand over her solid skull. I noticed my assistance bringing over the proper supplies. I filled a syringe with the white paste and held the subject's mouth open. "Easy!" she tried to snap her mouth shut. I barely managed to jam the tip of the syringe in her mouth before forcing the liquid down her throat. I stepped back, letting the syringe fall to the floor as the subject went still as a board, her eyes glowing bright as I hurried to my console. "Hook her to the system!" A unicorn stallion bolted out and dragged a few cables from the console and started sticking them to the changelings head. "Enough, I have it." I watched the screen go from pitch black to a fuzzy white as the video slowly cleared. The stallion slowly trotted over and looked at the video with me. "So...what is this?" I let out a soft sigh and leaned back in my chair. "This...these are memories...raw electricity we can interpret as thoughts or visions, amazing really." the screen finally cleared to a useable point. Images of large rock spires and a large tower were finally visible. "Look...see this." I pointed to the tower. "Each time we do this, that fucking tower is there. It is where they are coming from, I know it." I continued to watch as the tower grew closer and closer, the subjects memories must have been flying or being flown the way they approached the tower. "What's happening?" my assistance pestered. "The same thing as all the others...pay attention to the taller one." I pointed out the tall unicorn mare in the center of the subject's vision. "She is beautiful...but watch." My assistance leaned in and watched in horror as a bright light consumed the tower, this subject's view was perfect, she had been standing downwind of whatever calamity wrought their curse. The large mare seemed to be as calm as could be as she was enveloped by the light. The subject's memories went blank. The next visual on the screen was of Subject one, staring down at Subject three. "That's it...that's all we're getting." I cut the feed and went to unhook the creature. "Newton, take her to standard detoxification. Month long regiment, understood?" My assistant nodded dutifully and carting the changeling towards the chemical treatments we've been giving them. Two months and only a single glimmer of hope remained. One of the more recently changed bug ponies was showing signs of regaining memories. I sat back and pondered my amazing luck. They asked me to try and find out what happened and all I could do is watch as a lovely mare was continually swallowed up by a blinding light. And that thing, Subject one's face, every time I thought I could get something more I saw her damn face, smiling, mocking me. I wished they'd allow me to drive a spike through that bitch creature's head. But I was under a direct order to dig out as much information as I could before either curing or disposing of these miserable wretches. I pressed the button on my console. "Bring in subject two." I waited and yet the subject never came. A loud crackle came from the speaker behind me. "Doctor, Subject two has passed away, we are still determining cause." I felt the rage build inside me as I slammed the console. "Fucking bitch! Subject one, then!" I waited with an angry expression as Newton wheeled Subject one into the center of the room. He preempted me and set the readers to her skull. I patted him on the head as I passed by and undid the Subject's muzzle. "Subject one...Queen Chrysalis...I heard you can talk...so how about you save me some time and let me figure out what this is all about eh?" She didn't say a thing, just stared at me. "Okay then...I guess we do this the hard way." I gestured for Newton. "Get me more of the solution, and a way to feed it into her, maybe a tube or something." Newton nodded and hurried out. I turned to the subject and looked her over. "I know who you are...it's obvious...you were beautiful once...but now...." I couldn't finish my sentence. However tragic a change it was, it was no excuse to spread her curse like a virus. Newton came back in with the supplies. I forced the tube into the subject's throat and hooked everything up. I could now control the dosage of the white formula uninterrupted. "Newton how much more of this do we have?" Newton joined me behind the console. "The princess just sent another batch if we need it." I shook my head and started the feed. "I think this should be fine, but go get some just in case." Newton darted out of the room as the subject's memories started to come into focus. As I expected, she was the tall mare from the other subjects recollections. Such a shame to lose someone that beautiful. Things played out as they always did, a large gathering, a tower, then the bright light. I leaned back in my chair and watched the subject as her memories went black. "Nothing...I learn nothing from you...." I held my head in my hands as I wallowed in my failure. I snapped upright as the screen came back to life. An image of a black figure thrusting over a smaller green one. I upped the dosage she was taking, the colors of the screen grew more vivid and the Subject started talking. I bolted upright, kicking my chair over and pulling the tube from her mouth. I ran back to the console and watched as the Subject narrated her side of the story. The vision grew clearer, and either comatose or dead mare was being violated by a coal black stallion. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry- I never thought-" the coal stallion backed off the limp body, slowly kicking it aside and trotting over to the subject and staring at her. "Please...no." I couldn't tell what the stallion was saying, but he quickly disappeared behind the subject. Her vision started rocking back and forth as she babbled to herself. "Please, it hurts, it hurts!" her vision was fixated on the empty eyes of the previous mare, zooming in and out between thrusts. "Please...I can't...it hurts." her once hearty whimpers and moans were quickly becoming more and more defeated as the vision went on. Eventually her vision stopped rocking as she was shoved forward. "I want to die...just let me die...." My mind went to a very dark place as I recalled everything I knew about Subject one. She's been a problem for nearly two thousand years, or so I was told. Whatever this was, whatever this coal black bastard did was horrific. He wasn't simply happy with the rape and murder of an innocent in front of another, no, he made her carry that image for life unending. I looked at the Subject, the light from her eyes was glistening in her tears as the abuse went on. I watched as once again the video cut out, coming back to the faces of uncountable changelings surrounding the subject. I cut the video as ponies were slowly encased in cocoons. Whatever she could tell me about fixing this, it was gone by now. I cradled my head in my right arm and leaned against the console. "I didn't remember that...why would you make me remember that?" I stood up and walked over to the subject. "I thought I could fix you...I thought maybe I could mend this...deformity." She looked up at me with an indescribable amount of pain in her eyes. "I didn't remember what happened...I didn't want to!" she started trying to burst from her restraints. "Why!? Do I deserve to relive that!? Did I deserve this!?" I put my hand on her head, keeping it safely out of reach of her mouth. "I'm sorry...I had no idea." I rubbed the edge of her mane with my thumb. "You were beautiful...." "I was normal! I never...I...I don't even know my real name." she laid her head back in the gurney. "I don't know my name." She didn't cry, letting her cry would have been the easier path. She just sat there, staring blankly at the ceiling as her world crumbled around her. I grabbed her by the cheeks. "I promise you...I will find out." I thought back to every subject I'd watched, trying to piece together what I could. I could only piece together one word. "Princess...." I let her go, keeping on hand on the gurney. "Princess...of what...I do not know." I turned her head to meet my own. "But I promise you, I will find out." Newton tiptoed over. "Doctor...should I-" "Chemical treatment, triple dosage. Cure her, or kill her. Either way is a mercy." I rubbed her forehead with my thumb as she was wheeled out of the room. I lumbered back behind the console and sat there for what felt like hours. I pulled back a log, leaving a blurry image of the mare that had once been burned into the screen. That is who I'm fighting for...that is who I spoke to. Not that vile bug creature, not that shell of a beast, but the true person inside of it. I'm not sure whether that was the right thing to do or not, but I pray to god that I will be judged on my intentions, for my actions come at a heavy price. Author's Note More? Black BagsI walked through the halls of my facility. My heels clicked loudly as I walked sullenly through "Doctor, Doctor Torkivich!" Newton ran over to me. "Sir we need you now, subject seven's out of control!" I let out a long groan as I walked steadily towards the seventh room. I waited at the door with Newton while the occupant continually rammed the walls and clawed at the door. "Disgusting.... Dosage?" Newton poked his hoof with his right. "I uh...one and a half standard dosing for a changeling that size sir." "Time in captivity?" Again Newton fumbled about. "One and a half years total, three months with us." I took a deep breath and gathered my thoughts. "Any signs of recovery?" Newton looked into the room. The changeling quickly headbutted the window, threatening to break its own skull in the process. "Sir...I think you can tell." "Da...I know...." I tucked my hand into my coat and wrapped it around my pistol. "A shame...but at this rate, killing them would be a mercy." I had Newton get ready with the door and steadied myself. "I know little one, you're afraid...but Doctor Danila is here to send you to rest." I charged into the chamber, slamming my weight against the rabid creature, and forcing my gun between its plates. "Go to your god little bird, be free." I fired, sending round after round through the creatures flesh, shredding it and leaving it dying on the ground. I held its head underfoot and finished it, leaving a half eviscerated corpse laying in the padded white room. I stepped out and whipped the rancid black ichor on my legs. "Get a cleaner in there, subject seven is now gone to god." I holstered my pistol and pressed my hand against the window. It hurt, it hurt like killing my own children. I knew there were people trapped in these broken evil forms, but not all were strong enough to break past, and sending them to rest was all I could do. Newton looked ill as I left the door open. "Sir...how the hell do you do it?" I looked back at the bloody mess I had left. "Eh...unwavering belief in god, absinthe, and the ever looming thought of suicide." I closed the door. "How is subject two-two-eight?" "Uh..., good actually. Do you want to--" I cut Newton off. "Clean this cell, I know the way." Newton looked squeamishly back at the bloody room. "Yes sir...right away." I walked down the pristine white halls of the facility. Humanity had brought one pure thing with them, white tile and the smell of antiseptic. I was nearly blindsided as a troop of ponies ran past, hurrying a gurney along and heading towards the recently passed. I felt sick as I heard the plasticy sound of a body bag being prepared. The sound was very tactile, horrid, bleak. I didn't like my job, but if I could save just one, it would be worth it. I thought back to Newton's question and decided that must be it. I hurried past the dead and found the cell the recovering patients were settled in. I found the room in question and pulled the thin door open. "Privyet Juniper, how are you?" I asked the room, Juniper walked out from behind the bathroom wall. "Who's there?" she asked in no particular direction, "I can still smell you." She looked awful, the bug like carapace slowly peeling away, revealing pink flesh with the beginnings of a ashy brown coat coming back in. "Is Doctor Torkivich, how are you feeling?" "Oh...I thought it was you. My eyes are feeling better, I still cant see, but they're better." she walked carefully around, eventually bumping into me and feeling around my legs. "You're here to talk right? Would you mind carrying me?" I leaned down and picked her up. "Of course. How are your legs? Any complications since you lost your wings?" Juniper shifted around in my arms. "Cold...I feel cold." "I fix." I carried her into the small seating area provided for the recovering patients. I wrapped a soft cotton blanket around her and sat her down across from me. "Better?" "Yeah." She smiled, her rounded teeth finally making a appearance behind the sharp changeling set. I spotted something strange with her eyes. "Juniper, can you see light?" "A little." she tucked her head into her blanket and rubbed her eyes. "Yes, yes I can see light." I reached over and rubbed the blue shell over her eyes. I scratched the surface, it flaked against my touch. "Juniper...close your eyes, and tell me if I'm hurting you." She agreed and I could see her eyes shut behind the lightening film. I pressed my hail against the film, shattering it and sticking my finger behind it. I slowly peeled the thin film and cleared her left eye. "I- I see light! I can--" she froze as a bright green eye stared petrified at me. "Monster...." I held her shoulder tight, letting my gloved hand hold her bare flesh. "I am human...you have missed much since your change, but we fix in time." Her eye darted around like mad as she sat speechless. "Doctor...I'm scared." I took the back of her head in my hand and held her over my shoulder. "I know little one...but you are safe now...you are safe now." I rubbed the her half cracked head, chunks of the once hardened carapace falling apart around my fingers. "Through it all, I promise you are safe." She started crying into my jacket. "Blood...our blood...why are you--" "Shh shh shh... We are not there, we are here, now, safe and sound." I clutched her head into my shoulder. "I promise to you, on my life, that you are safe." I held her for what felt like ages before letting her draw away from me. I managed to peel away the rest of the changeling carapace on her face, revealing her soft pink skin and stunning green eyes. I surpressed a smile as long as I could before breaking down and crying. I pressed my eyes against her bare forehead and cried openly. I had done it, whatever curse or hex this was, I had beaten it. I held the mare for a long time, eventually scooping her blanketed form up and taking her out of the room. I found Newton coming out of the restrooms, pale as a ghost. "Sir...who's that?" Juniper turned her head to meet Newton's. "Newy?" Newton froze in place. "No." "Newton?" Juniper asked hazily. "June? Juny?!" Newton bolted over as I ducked down and set the wrapped up mare on the ground. "Juniper!?" He ran to her, taking her in his forelegs and crying loudly into her side. "Oh dear Celestia I thought I lost you! June, Junie, oh god...oh dear god...dear god." he broke the greatest rule I'd ever seen ponies adhere to, he called out to his god. I sent Newton home and saw Juniper to her quarters. She was exhausted from the little bit of strain I put on her and I didn't want to risk having an issue. The treatments I had put each and every changeling on made them highly weak and unstable, so this was an extremely slow and delicate process. The following day "No!" Newton was clawing at Junipers door. "Don't fucking touch her!" a pair of grown human guards were having trouble restraining him. "Get away from her!" I hurried over and pulled Newton free of the guards. "What the fuck is happening!?" Newton tried to get free. "They're taking her! They're taking her away!" "What!?" I tossed him back and charged into the room. A pair of ponies was slowly forcing Juniper towards the wall. I charged in and kicked the ponies in the ribs. "Get the fuck away from her!" I tossed one into a wall and threw the other into a table. "She is fragile!" I reached Juniper as she gasped for air. "Juniper, you look at me, look at me! Focus on me!" I held her tight and felt her chest, the already weak beat was now overworked and straining. "Sedatives! Sedatives now!" I screamed as I held the quickly failing mare in my arms. "No no no no, fuck!" Juniper's eyes were dilated, her beat irregular and strand. I set her down and tried to do everything in my power to keep her heart going. "One, two, three." I started compressions. "One, two, three!" little by little her panicked expression faded. "No, no no no no fuck, fuck! One, two, three! Please god, hear me now, please. One, two, three." I continued futily as more personnel flooded the room. "Fuck you! One, two, three! Please...please...please...." I gave up and laid my head across her motionless chest. "Please...don't leave." I heard a loud clicking sound draw closer as I pulled a blanket over the now passed on mare. "What the hell happened here!? Where's the subject!? I sent for her an hour ago!" I turned and found another doctor, a man I had worked with on trying to undo the poison that infected their bodies. I stared at the human in the coat like mine. "Why, what point did your intrusion make?" I grabbed him by the collar. "Was my patient, not yours!" I screamed with righteous indignation as I shook him. "You send your people, send them into my building, to take my subjects, for what?!" The man threw me off of himself. "You had results! We needed to capitalize on said results immediately!" I contemplated shooting him. "You killed her.... They are isolated for a reason, I leave them separate for a reason, I make them take time for a reason!" I dropped the body and lunged for his throat. "They need time! She needed time, you fuck, you pig, you animal!" I was slowly strangling the life out of him as he pleaded his last. I was moments away from ending his pitiful life when the depression washed over me. My rage was washed away as I realized all that work, months of extremely measured doses of highly expense medicine, years of research. All were wasted through one man's inability to keep to himself. But killing him would do nothing. I picked up the body wrapped in a blanket and walked outside. I don't know exactly how far I walked or how long, but I ended up in the middle of a street holding the body to my head. "I could have done more." I explained to god. "I could have stopped him...I could have saved her, she was going to live!" I felt a hoof on my shoulder, but didn't bother to look up, I knew Newton's voice well enough by now. "It's not your fault." "I could have done something!" "You weren't there, it's not your fault." A crowd slowly gathered around my as I sobbed into the blanket covered body. "I could have done more, I could have saved her, I would have found a way." I chanted to myself. She had come so far, farther than any other, just to have her life plucked away by a weakened heart. I ended up being arrested and later discharged. The doctor that had involuntarily killed my patient was deported, but I never saw Newton again. My work continues as others slowly start to change back, shedding their thick hides for more fragile forms. But now, each day I walk past the door to Junipers room, there is a large red X on it, and a vase with a pure white lily. She was the one, save one, and save them all. She was it, and I couldn't save her. My next twenty hours were spent with a gun to my head, and after a dud round I returned to work. Between sessions of monitoring dosages on patients and checking vitals I would mutter a phrase to myself endlessly. "Save one, just save one, just save one, save one and save them all." In the coming days the patients experienced a thirty percent death rate due to infection, organ failure and trauma. But I continued to chant. "Save one, that's it, just save one." CracksI walked once again trough the bright white halls of our facility. Some brilliant person had made a counter on the main entrance. As of this morning it read one-one-zero-twenty six. Nearly a half of what we had at first. Such a loss of life was appalling, abhorrent, and heartbreaking. Of nineteen thousand, we have lost nearly eight thousand. It felt a lingering pain in my stomach as I went towards subject one's chambers. She was responding to treatment like a roach to radiation. One would be hard pressed to find any changes, but they were there. Even the slightest cracks or flakes in her carapace were colossal achievements. A new pony walked over to me. "Sir. I'm Newton's replacement." he spoke nervously, as if asking for my approval. I only nodded to him, ushering him along the halls. "I'm sorry if I'm a bit late. They still aren't sure what happened to him so they said to wait for a few weeks." I stopped him in the hall. "I don't care. You're here, so get to work. Check the rooms, count the dead and report them to me when you are sure. And be sure to make sure they are dead, they like to play dead, so poke them or something." My new assistance seemed appauled. "Poke them?" "Yes." I waved him off and started walking away. "Tap them, poke them, check if they're really dead. You'll figure it out." I had somewhere to be. I hurried down the halls once again, past the red marked door, past the operating room, past it all and into subject one's private room. It resembled a hotel room, covered in medical equipment and reeking of sterilizer. I wrapped a mask around my head, barely able to stand the smell of synthetic medicines in the air. With the fumes now cut by the mask I could walk freely. I hurried into the subject's treatment room and found her taking her daily dosage. At first I had started her on basic, then double, and by now she was up to four times the dosage. Given her size and the extent of the genetic damage I deemed her able to take more. "Subject one...hello. Any more memories?" I probed as I pulled a chair over to her bed. "Any complications, weakness, anything?" Subject one turned to me. "Oh...it's you. How's Juniper?" I resisted the urge to hit her. "Good, she's resting peacefully. But I'm here about you." I stood up and looked her over. "Any cracks, anything?" "You will burn." she mumbled to me as she stared at out her slowly fogging eyes. "For what you did to me, for what you did to my hive, for everything." I checked her restraints and scratched at the cracks that were growing on her scalp, her rancid green mane having fallen out a month ago. I let out a long sigh. "It's trying to heal...how...." I tried to peel away the black plates, managing to spot the smallest sliver of flesh beneath the hard black shell. "...What is your name?" She stared at me weakly. "You know my name, yet you refuse to use it." "Lies!" I shook her bed hard, rattling the railing and making the equipment jump. "You know who you are, why refuse to accept it!?" She glared at me, her eyes fading noticeably in the time I had been here. "You love her don't you. You love a mare you've never even met, how sad." I felt like killing her, like flooding her body with toxins would fix every problem she caused me. I suppressed my rage and settled back into my seat. "Save one, save them all. You are the strongest, she was the strongest, you are my chance." I adjusted her dosage, adding about ten percent more to her intake. "So, I will ask again. Why do you refuse to acknowledge who you are?" Subject one let out a rattly groan as her eyes completely glazed over, solidifying into a solid blue green shell. She went into a heavy seizure, rattling the bed and shaking everything connected to her. I held her down and waited until the seizure passed. Once she settled down I held my hand to her chest. I felt horribly sick as I checked my watch. "Time of death...two--" The subject's heart raced back to life as she let out a guttural scream. "No! Off, get off!" She pulled at her restraints and started hyperventilating. "Not another!" I yelled, pulling a box from the wall. I opened it and prepared a syringe full of sedatives. I jammed the needle into the IV and watched as her heart rate fell to a weak level. As she stabilized I sat beside her, watching as a large fissure broke the hearty breastplate in half. Once her breathing was the only sound left in the room I pressed my hand against the fissure, digging my nail between the cracks and chipping away a large chunk of the blackened shell. I could finally see a soft patch of pure pink flesh, bare and heaving. "Is not much." I mumbled to myself. "But it's a start." I picked up her limbs, checking where the holes had been, now covered over by a thin grey film. I rubbed my hand over them, finding them rock solid. Ecstatic with the sudden change I slumped back down in the chair. "What is your name?" Subject one laid there for a long time, just panting and trying to regain a steady breath. "I'm...I...-" she convulsed violently. "Fuck you human! You took my eyes, you took my damned eyes!" Subject one continued to snarl and fight her bindings while I stood up and threw a blanket over her. "A miraculous day I think." I checked my watch and rubbed her head, flakes of black shell coming off as I did. "Maybe soon I can unbind you and you can eat solid food." "I'll eat your heart!" Subject one snarled as I walked away. With that done it was time to clean out the bodies for the day. I waited in the hall for my new assistant to run over to me. "There you are, you never told me where to--" "Yes yes, now bodies, how many?" I snapped and rolled my hand impatiently. "Hurry, Newton would be done by now!" "Uh sir...there aren't any." "What you did it already? Maybe you--" "Sir!" my new assistant stomped his hooves. "Let me finish please.... There aren't any bodies to clean up sir. There was some vomit but somepony was already cleaning it up." I rubbed my chin and leaned against a wall. "No bodies, nothing? No casualties?" "No sir...that's good right!?" I nodded offhandedly. "Yes...yes is good." I rubbed my head, letting my nails dig into my hair. "I just...I don't know what to do with myself right now." I truly had no idea what I should be doing. Half my day was cleaning out the bodies that piled up over the day. "Anyone in emergency care?" My new assistant shook his head. "Nothing sir, like I said, some vomit, but they said the changeling was fine." I stared at the floor. I was free, there was nothing I could do to help. In fact, anything I could do would only harm. I quickly decided to pay my respects at the red marked door and went home. This was it, I was on the edge of either complete failure or absolute success. And all I could do was wait, and so wait I did. It felt horrible, like watching my own death grow closer on the calendar. But should I try to act, I'd run the risk of damaging a patient or causing them horrific damage. Author's Note This was it, I was on the edge of either complete failure or absolute success. And all I could do was wait. This is what it's like to publish to this site. Fucking terrifying for a low level person like myself. BreaksI walked through the halls towards Subject One's room. The smell of disinfectant and the sound of my shoes clicking sent my brain back in time. The subject was tearing itself apart, the once black shell cracking and falling off, only to rebuild itself in an instant. Three weeks back to back, little by little the subject was being cleansed of the blackening plague. Even other subjects were beginning to show the same level of repair as Juniper. They were regaining their speech, learning to walk again, shedding their false appendages, their bodies were healing. But I couldn't celebrate, I could only keep working. I couldn't let those who've died, die in vain. Everyone was counting on me, Subject One was counting on me, thousands of lives were waiting for me to save them. I could see it in their eyes, the hollowness was finally broken even if only slightly. We could see the pupils showing through, darting around as they waited indefinitely for their fate, for their horror to come to an end. I stopped in the hall as a crowd gathered before one's chamber. I ran over, pushing several people out of the way and forcing myself into the room. My heart sank into my gut as I saw two men unhooking Subject One. Not a single spot of black, she was clean. "What happened?" I asked calmly, walking towards the working men. "What the fuck happened!?" The two men didn't look at me. "I'm sorry sir, we tried to call you, but you never picked up." I grabbed one of the men, slamming him past a few pieces of equipment and into a wall. "What happened!?" The other man in the room started sliding a bag under Subject One. "Flat lined at midnight. We tried to resuscitate." I slammed the man in my grip against the wall before throwing him off. "No damn it!" I felt my heart start racing. "Nooooo!" I kicked an IV stand over and started bashing the equipment. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I punched a wall, splitting the skin on my knuckle and splashing the room in blood. I stopped as my torn hand rested on a counter. The two men went about their work, packing up the body and removing it. I stayed in the room, trying to collect any sense of myself as my world fell apart. I fell to the floor, my arm stuck on a counter as I slumped into the corner. My assistant found me an hour into my failure. "Sir.... I thought you'd want to know...the changelings are...they're changing back." He stepped over and stood toe to toe with me. "You did it." I ignored him, lost in my silent hysteria. He stood for a long time until walking out, closing the door behind him. I sat in that room, lost in my own mind as I tried to think of where I went wrong. I was convinced it was something I did. At some unknown point I had pulled my pistol out, letting it linger in my lap as I clutched my head. I had come from the frozen north, learned everything I could about these creatures, I'd come so close, yet I couldn't fix it. "Danila." A soft voice broke the soft shuffling as I pulled my pistol under my jaw. "Danila...look at me." I recognized the voice. Juniper was standing before me, her body clean, normal, not a single blemish. "Sir." Another voice, Newton's, added into the growing choir. "Sir, you gave her back to me." "No...I did nothing!" I screamed, pointing my pistol at the ghosts. "I failed, I could do nothing!" "Doctor." Another voice, "Doctor," Another, "Doctor." The room buzzed with a choir calling after me, pony after pony joining the spectral orchestra. "Doctor, you saved us." I could feel my breath go heavy as I stared at the thousand strong crowd, crammed like mad in the large room, staring at me, calling to me. "Doctor, you did everything you could." They sang in unison, rattling the room as they chanted. I had lost my mind, I had realized this and was ready. I held my pistol to my temple. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...." "Doctor." A single regal voice broke the chanting. "Doctor, you saved us all." An ethereal sky blue unicorn stepped over to me, ducking her head down and staring me in the eyes. "We are bound no longer to that blackened form, and we, I, thank you." My hands shook violently as I felt my finger tighten, my eyes blurred as I ducked my head. "I tried...I failed...I'm so sorry. I couldn't save the one." The unicorn lifted her head, staring down at me. "Do what you must, but understand, you are our savior." The room emptied out in an instant, the specters turning to dust and disappearing in a single glorious wave. I gathered myself for the end. Two final ghosts standing beside me. "Sir...I'm here." Newton stated coldly as he put his hoof on my knee. "We won't leave you." Juniper's withered voice croaked from my right. "We're here for you." I laughed crazily as I felt my finger tighten for the final time. "Thank yo--" Author's Note Project SHELL: SUCCESS Doctor. Torkavich: Deceased Total saved: 11025 Project is hereby disbanded until further necessity demands it.
I promiseI sat behind a bright white console as Subject three was wheeled into the room. "Good morning Sandy...how are you feeling?" The bug like pony snapped at me, struggling in its binds and screeching. "I know it hurts little one...I know...but soon it will be over." I ran my hand over her solid skull. I noticed my assistance bringing over the proper supplies. I filled a syringe with the white paste and held the subject's mouth open. "Easy!" she tried to snap her mouth shut. I barely managed to jam the tip of the syringe in her mouth before forcing the liquid down her throat. I stepped back, letting the syringe fall to the floor as the subject went still as a board, her eyes glowing bright as I hurried to my console. "Hook her to the system!" A unicorn stallion bolted out and dragged a few cables from the console and started sticking them to the changelings head. "Enough, I have it." I watched the screen go from pitch black to a fuzzy white as the video slowly cleared. The stallion slowly trotted over and looked at the video with me. "So...what is this?" I let out a soft sigh and leaned back in my chair. "This...these are memories...raw electricity we can interpret as thoughts or visions, amazing really." the screen finally cleared to a useable point. Images of large rock spires and a large tower were finally visible. "Look...see this." I pointed to the tower. "Each time we do this, that fucking tower is there. It is where they are coming from, I know it." I continued to watch as the tower grew closer and closer, the subjects memories must have been flying or being flown the way they approached the tower. "What's happening?" my assistance pestered. "The same thing as all the others...pay attention to the taller one." I pointed out the tall unicorn mare in the center of the subject's vision. "She is beautiful...but watch." My assistance leaned in and watched in horror as a bright light consumed the tower, this subject's view was perfect, she had been standing downwind of whatever calamity wrought their curse. The large mare seemed to be as calm as could be as she was enveloped by the light. The subject's memories went blank. The next visual on the screen was of Subject one, staring down at Subject three. "That's it...that's all we're getting." I cut the feed and went to unhook the creature. "Newton, take her to standard detoxification. Month long regiment, understood?" My assistant nodded dutifully and carting the changeling towards the chemical treatments we've been giving them. Two months and only a single glimmer of hope remained. One of the more recently changed bug ponies was showing signs of regaining memories. I sat back and pondered my amazing luck. They asked me to try and find out what happened and all I could do is watch as a lovely mare was continually swallowed up by a blinding light. And that thing, Subject one's face, every time I thought I could get something more I saw her damn face, smiling, mocking me. I wished they'd allow me to drive a spike through that bitch creature's head. But I was under a direct order to dig out as much information as I could before either curing or disposing of these miserable wretches. I pressed the button on my console. "Bring in subject two." I waited and yet the subject never came. A loud crackle came from the speaker behind me. "Doctor, Subject two has passed away, we are still determining cause." I felt the rage build inside me as I slammed the console. "Fucking bitch! Subject one, then!" I waited with an angry expression as Newton wheeled Subject one into the center of the room. He preempted me and set the readers to her skull. I patted him on the head as I passed by and undid the Subject's muzzle. "Subject one...Queen Chrysalis...I heard you can talk...so how about you save me some time and let me figure out what this is all about eh?" She didn't say a thing, just stared at me. "Okay then...I guess we do this the hard way." I gestured for Newton. "Get me more of the solution, and a way to feed it into her, maybe a tube or something." Newton nodded and hurried out. I turned to the subject and looked her over. "I know who you are...it's obvious...you were beautiful once...but now...." I couldn't finish my sentence. However tragic a change it was, it was no excuse to spread her curse like a virus. Newton came back in with the supplies. I forced the tube into the subject's throat and hooked everything up. I could now control the dosage of the white formula uninterrupted. "Newton how much more of this do we have?" Newton joined me behind the console. "The princess just sent another batch if we need it." I shook my head and started the feed. "I think this should be fine, but go get some just in case." Newton darted out of the room as the subject's memories started to come into focus. As I expected, she was the tall mare from the other subjects recollections. Such a shame to lose someone that beautiful. Things played out as they always did, a large gathering, a tower, then the bright light. I leaned back in my chair and watched the subject as her memories went black. "Nothing...I learn nothing from you...." I held my head in my hands as I wallowed in my failure. I snapped upright as the screen came back to life. An image of a black figure thrusting over a smaller green one. I upped the dosage she was taking, the colors of the screen grew more vivid and the Subject started talking. I bolted upright, kicking my chair over and pulling the tube from her mouth. I ran back to the console and watched as the Subject narrated her side of the story. The vision grew clearer, and either comatose or dead mare was being violated by a coal black stallion. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry- I never thought-" the coal stallion backed off the limp body, slowly kicking it aside and trotting over to the subject and staring at her. "Please...no." I couldn't tell what the stallion was saying, but he quickly disappeared behind the subject. Her vision started rocking back and forth as she babbled to herself. "Please, it hurts, it hurts!" her vision was fixated on the empty eyes of the previous mare, zooming in and out between thrusts. "Please...I can't...it hurts." her once hearty whimpers and moans were quickly becoming more and more defeated as the vision went on. Eventually her vision stopped rocking as she was shoved forward. "I want to die...just let me die...." My mind went to a very dark place as I recalled everything I knew about Subject one. She's been a problem for nearly two thousand years, or so I was told. Whatever this was, whatever this coal black bastard did was horrific. He wasn't simply happy with the rape and murder of an innocent in front of another, no, he made her carry that image for life unending. I looked at the Subject, the light from her eyes was glistening in her tears as the abuse went on. I watched as once again the video cut out, coming back to the faces of uncountable changelings surrounding the subject. I cut the video as ponies were slowly encased in cocoons. Whatever she could tell me about fixing this, it was gone by now. I cradled my head in my right arm and leaned against the console. "I didn't remember that...why would you make me remember that?" I stood up and walked over to the subject. "I thought I could fix you...I thought maybe I could mend this...deformity." She looked up at me with an indescribable amount of pain in her eyes. "I didn't remember what happened...I didn't want to!" she started trying to burst from her restraints. "Why!? Do I deserve to relive that!? Did I deserve this!?" I put my hand on her head, keeping it safely out of reach of her mouth. "I'm sorry...I had no idea." I rubbed the edge of her mane with my thumb. "You were beautiful...." "I was normal! I never...I...I don't even know my real name." she laid her head back in the gurney. "I don't know my name." She didn't cry, letting her cry would have been the easier path. She just sat there, staring blankly at the ceiling as her world crumbled around her. I grabbed her by the cheeks. "I promise you...I will find out." I thought back to every subject I'd watched, trying to piece together what I could. I could only piece together one word. "Princess...." I let her go, keeping on hand on the gurney. "Princess...of what...I do not know." I turned her head to meet my own. "But I promise you, I will find out." Newton tiptoed over. "Doctor...should I-" "Chemical treatment, triple dosage. Cure her, or kill her. Either way is a mercy." I rubbed her forehead with my thumb as she was wheeled out of the room. I lumbered back behind the console and sat there for what felt like hours. I pulled back a log, leaving a blurry image of the mare that had once been burned into the screen. That is who I'm fighting for...that is who I spoke to. Not that vile bug creature, not that shell of a beast, but the true person inside of it. I'm not sure whether that was the right thing to do or not, but I pray to god that I will be judged on my intentions, for my actions come at a heavy price. Author's Note More?
Black BagsI walked through the halls of my facility. My heels clicked loudly as I walked sullenly through "Doctor, Doctor Torkivich!" Newton ran over to me. "Sir we need you now, subject seven's out of control!" I let out a long groan as I walked steadily towards the seventh room. I waited at the door with Newton while the occupant continually rammed the walls and clawed at the door. "Disgusting.... Dosage?" Newton poked his hoof with his right. "I uh...one and a half standard dosing for a changeling that size sir." "Time in captivity?" Again Newton fumbled about. "One and a half years total, three months with us." I took a deep breath and gathered my thoughts. "Any signs of recovery?" Newton looked into the room. The changeling quickly headbutted the window, threatening to break its own skull in the process. "Sir...I think you can tell." "Da...I know...." I tucked my hand into my coat and wrapped it around my pistol. "A shame...but at this rate, killing them would be a mercy." I had Newton get ready with the door and steadied myself. "I know little one, you're afraid...but Doctor Danila is here to send you to rest." I charged into the chamber, slamming my weight against the rabid creature, and forcing my gun between its plates. "Go to your god little bird, be free." I fired, sending round after round through the creatures flesh, shredding it and leaving it dying on the ground. I held its head underfoot and finished it, leaving a half eviscerated corpse laying in the padded white room. I stepped out and whipped the rancid black ichor on my legs. "Get a cleaner in there, subject seven is now gone to god." I holstered my pistol and pressed my hand against the window. It hurt, it hurt like killing my own children. I knew there were people trapped in these broken evil forms, but not all were strong enough to break past, and sending them to rest was all I could do. Newton looked ill as I left the door open. "Sir...how the hell do you do it?" I looked back at the bloody mess I had left. "Eh...unwavering belief in god, absinthe, and the ever looming thought of suicide." I closed the door. "How is subject two-two-eight?" "Uh..., good actually. Do you want to--" I cut Newton off. "Clean this cell, I know the way." Newton looked squeamishly back at the bloody room. "Yes sir...right away." I walked down the pristine white halls of the facility. Humanity had brought one pure thing with them, white tile and the smell of antiseptic. I was nearly blindsided as a troop of ponies ran past, hurrying a gurney along and heading towards the recently passed. I felt sick as I heard the plasticy sound of a body bag being prepared. The sound was very tactile, horrid, bleak. I didn't like my job, but if I could save just one, it would be worth it. I thought back to Newton's question and decided that must be it. I hurried past the dead and found the cell the recovering patients were settled in. I found the room in question and pulled the thin door open. "Privyet Juniper, how are you?" I asked the room, Juniper walked out from behind the bathroom wall. "Who's there?" she asked in no particular direction, "I can still smell you." She looked awful, the bug like carapace slowly peeling away, revealing pink flesh with the beginnings of a ashy brown coat coming back in. "Is Doctor Torkivich, how are you feeling?" "Oh...I thought it was you. My eyes are feeling better, I still cant see, but they're better." she walked carefully around, eventually bumping into me and feeling around my legs. "You're here to talk right? Would you mind carrying me?" I leaned down and picked her up. "Of course. How are your legs? Any complications since you lost your wings?" Juniper shifted around in my arms. "Cold...I feel cold." "I fix." I carried her into the small seating area provided for the recovering patients. I wrapped a soft cotton blanket around her and sat her down across from me. "Better?" "Yeah." She smiled, her rounded teeth finally making a appearance behind the sharp changeling set. I spotted something strange with her eyes. "Juniper, can you see light?" "A little." she tucked her head into her blanket and rubbed her eyes. "Yes, yes I can see light." I reached over and rubbed the blue shell over her eyes. I scratched the surface, it flaked against my touch. "Juniper...close your eyes, and tell me if I'm hurting you." She agreed and I could see her eyes shut behind the lightening film. I pressed my hail against the film, shattering it and sticking my finger behind it. I slowly peeled the thin film and cleared her left eye. "I- I see light! I can--" she froze as a bright green eye stared petrified at me. "Monster...." I held her shoulder tight, letting my gloved hand hold her bare flesh. "I am human...you have missed much since your change, but we fix in time." Her eye darted around like mad as she sat speechless. "Doctor...I'm scared." I took the back of her head in my hand and held her over my shoulder. "I know little one...but you are safe now...you are safe now." I rubbed the her half cracked head, chunks of the once hardened carapace falling apart around my fingers. "Through it all, I promise you are safe." She started crying into my jacket. "Blood...our blood...why are you--" "Shh shh shh... We are not there, we are here, now, safe and sound." I clutched her head into my shoulder. "I promise to you, on my life, that you are safe." I held her for what felt like ages before letting her draw away from me. I managed to peel away the rest of the changeling carapace on her face, revealing her soft pink skin and stunning green eyes. I surpressed a smile as long as I could before breaking down and crying. I pressed my eyes against her bare forehead and cried openly. I had done it, whatever curse or hex this was, I had beaten it. I held the mare for a long time, eventually scooping her blanketed form up and taking her out of the room. I found Newton coming out of the restrooms, pale as a ghost. "Sir...who's that?" Juniper turned her head to meet Newton's. "Newy?" Newton froze in place. "No." "Newton?" Juniper asked hazily. "June? Juny?!" Newton bolted over as I ducked down and set the wrapped up mare on the ground. "Juniper!?" He ran to her, taking her in his forelegs and crying loudly into her side. "Oh dear Celestia I thought I lost you! June, Junie, oh god...oh dear god...dear god." he broke the greatest rule I'd ever seen ponies adhere to, he called out to his god. I sent Newton home and saw Juniper to her quarters. She was exhausted from the little bit of strain I put on her and I didn't want to risk having an issue. The treatments I had put each and every changeling on made them highly weak and unstable, so this was an extremely slow and delicate process. The following day "No!" Newton was clawing at Junipers door. "Don't fucking touch her!" a pair of grown human guards were having trouble restraining him. "Get away from her!" I hurried over and pulled Newton free of the guards. "What the fuck is happening!?" Newton tried to get free. "They're taking her! They're taking her away!" "What!?" I tossed him back and charged into the room. A pair of ponies was slowly forcing Juniper towards the wall. I charged in and kicked the ponies in the ribs. "Get the fuck away from her!" I tossed one into a wall and threw the other into a table. "She is fragile!" I reached Juniper as she gasped for air. "Juniper, you look at me, look at me! Focus on me!" I held her tight and felt her chest, the already weak beat was now overworked and straining. "Sedatives! Sedatives now!" I screamed as I held the quickly failing mare in my arms. "No no no no, fuck!" Juniper's eyes were dilated, her beat irregular and strand. I set her down and tried to do everything in my power to keep her heart going. "One, two, three." I started compressions. "One, two, three!" little by little her panicked expression faded. "No, no no no no fuck, fuck! One, two, three! Please god, hear me now, please. One, two, three." I continued futily as more personnel flooded the room. "Fuck you! One, two, three! Please...please...please...." I gave up and laid my head across her motionless chest. "Please...don't leave." I heard a loud clicking sound draw closer as I pulled a blanket over the now passed on mare. "What the hell happened here!? Where's the subject!? I sent for her an hour ago!" I turned and found another doctor, a man I had worked with on trying to undo the poison that infected their bodies. I stared at the human in the coat like mine. "Why, what point did your intrusion make?" I grabbed him by the collar. "Was my patient, not yours!" I screamed with righteous indignation as I shook him. "You send your people, send them into my building, to take my subjects, for what?!" The man threw me off of himself. "You had results! We needed to capitalize on said results immediately!" I contemplated shooting him. "You killed her.... They are isolated for a reason, I leave them separate for a reason, I make them take time for a reason!" I dropped the body and lunged for his throat. "They need time! She needed time, you fuck, you pig, you animal!" I was slowly strangling the life out of him as he pleaded his last. I was moments away from ending his pitiful life when the depression washed over me. My rage was washed away as I realized all that work, months of extremely measured doses of highly expense medicine, years of research. All were wasted through one man's inability to keep to himself. But killing him would do nothing. I picked up the body wrapped in a blanket and walked outside. I don't know exactly how far I walked or how long, but I ended up in the middle of a street holding the body to my head. "I could have done more." I explained to god. "I could have stopped him...I could have saved her, she was going to live!" I felt a hoof on my shoulder, but didn't bother to look up, I knew Newton's voice well enough by now. "It's not your fault." "I could have done something!" "You weren't there, it's not your fault." A crowd slowly gathered around my as I sobbed into the blanket covered body. "I could have done more, I could have saved her, I would have found a way." I chanted to myself. She had come so far, farther than any other, just to have her life plucked away by a weakened heart. I ended up being arrested and later discharged. The doctor that had involuntarily killed my patient was deported, but I never saw Newton again. My work continues as others slowly start to change back, shedding their thick hides for more fragile forms. But now, each day I walk past the door to Junipers room, there is a large red X on it, and a vase with a pure white lily. She was the one, save one, and save them all. She was it, and I couldn't save her. My next twenty hours were spent with a gun to my head, and after a dud round I returned to work. Between sessions of monitoring dosages on patients and checking vitals I would mutter a phrase to myself endlessly. "Save one, just save one, just save one, save one and save them all." In the coming days the patients experienced a thirty percent death rate due to infection, organ failure and trauma. But I continued to chant. "Save one, that's it, just save one."
CracksI walked once again trough the bright white halls of our facility. Some brilliant person had made a counter on the main entrance. As of this morning it read one-one-zero-twenty six. Nearly a half of what we had at first. Such a loss of life was appalling, abhorrent, and heartbreaking. Of nineteen thousand, we have lost nearly eight thousand. It felt a lingering pain in my stomach as I went towards subject one's chambers. She was responding to treatment like a roach to radiation. One would be hard pressed to find any changes, but they were there. Even the slightest cracks or flakes in her carapace were colossal achievements. A new pony walked over to me. "Sir. I'm Newton's replacement." he spoke nervously, as if asking for my approval. I only nodded to him, ushering him along the halls. "I'm sorry if I'm a bit late. They still aren't sure what happened to him so they said to wait for a few weeks." I stopped him in the hall. "I don't care. You're here, so get to work. Check the rooms, count the dead and report them to me when you are sure. And be sure to make sure they are dead, they like to play dead, so poke them or something." My new assistance seemed appauled. "Poke them?" "Yes." I waved him off and started walking away. "Tap them, poke them, check if they're really dead. You'll figure it out." I had somewhere to be. I hurried down the halls once again, past the red marked door, past the operating room, past it all and into subject one's private room. It resembled a hotel room, covered in medical equipment and reeking of sterilizer. I wrapped a mask around my head, barely able to stand the smell of synthetic medicines in the air. With the fumes now cut by the mask I could walk freely. I hurried into the subject's treatment room and found her taking her daily dosage. At first I had started her on basic, then double, and by now she was up to four times the dosage. Given her size and the extent of the genetic damage I deemed her able to take more. "Subject one...hello. Any more memories?" I probed as I pulled a chair over to her bed. "Any complications, weakness, anything?" Subject one turned to me. "Oh...it's you. How's Juniper?" I resisted the urge to hit her. "Good, she's resting peacefully. But I'm here about you." I stood up and looked her over. "Any cracks, anything?" "You will burn." she mumbled to me as she stared at out her slowly fogging eyes. "For what you did to me, for what you did to my hive, for everything." I checked her restraints and scratched at the cracks that were growing on her scalp, her rancid green mane having fallen out a month ago. I let out a long sigh. "It's trying to heal...how...." I tried to peel away the black plates, managing to spot the smallest sliver of flesh beneath the hard black shell. "...What is your name?" She stared at me weakly. "You know my name, yet you refuse to use it." "Lies!" I shook her bed hard, rattling the railing and making the equipment jump. "You know who you are, why refuse to accept it!?" She glared at me, her eyes fading noticeably in the time I had been here. "You love her don't you. You love a mare you've never even met, how sad." I felt like killing her, like flooding her body with toxins would fix every problem she caused me. I suppressed my rage and settled back into my seat. "Save one, save them all. You are the strongest, she was the strongest, you are my chance." I adjusted her dosage, adding about ten percent more to her intake. "So, I will ask again. Why do you refuse to acknowledge who you are?" Subject one let out a rattly groan as her eyes completely glazed over, solidifying into a solid blue green shell. She went into a heavy seizure, rattling the bed and shaking everything connected to her. I held her down and waited until the seizure passed. Once she settled down I held my hand to her chest. I felt horribly sick as I checked my watch. "Time of death...two--" The subject's heart raced back to life as she let out a guttural scream. "No! Off, get off!" She pulled at her restraints and started hyperventilating. "Not another!" I yelled, pulling a box from the wall. I opened it and prepared a syringe full of sedatives. I jammed the needle into the IV and watched as her heart rate fell to a weak level. As she stabilized I sat beside her, watching as a large fissure broke the hearty breastplate in half. Once her breathing was the only sound left in the room I pressed my hand against the fissure, digging my nail between the cracks and chipping away a large chunk of the blackened shell. I could finally see a soft patch of pure pink flesh, bare and heaving. "Is not much." I mumbled to myself. "But it's a start." I picked up her limbs, checking where the holes had been, now covered over by a thin grey film. I rubbed my hand over them, finding them rock solid. Ecstatic with the sudden change I slumped back down in the chair. "What is your name?" Subject one laid there for a long time, just panting and trying to regain a steady breath. "I'm...I...-" she convulsed violently. "Fuck you human! You took my eyes, you took my damned eyes!" Subject one continued to snarl and fight her bindings while I stood up and threw a blanket over her. "A miraculous day I think." I checked my watch and rubbed her head, flakes of black shell coming off as I did. "Maybe soon I can unbind you and you can eat solid food." "I'll eat your heart!" Subject one snarled as I walked away. With that done it was time to clean out the bodies for the day. I waited in the hall for my new assistant to run over to me. "There you are, you never told me where to--" "Yes yes, now bodies, how many?" I snapped and rolled my hand impatiently. "Hurry, Newton would be done by now!" "Uh sir...there aren't any." "What you did it already? Maybe you--" "Sir!" my new assistant stomped his hooves. "Let me finish please.... There aren't any bodies to clean up sir. There was some vomit but somepony was already cleaning it up." I rubbed my chin and leaned against a wall. "No bodies, nothing? No casualties?" "No sir...that's good right!?" I nodded offhandedly. "Yes...yes is good." I rubbed my head, letting my nails dig into my hair. "I just...I don't know what to do with myself right now." I truly had no idea what I should be doing. Half my day was cleaning out the bodies that piled up over the day. "Anyone in emergency care?" My new assistant shook his head. "Nothing sir, like I said, some vomit, but they said the changeling was fine." I stared at the floor. I was free, there was nothing I could do to help. In fact, anything I could do would only harm. I quickly decided to pay my respects at the red marked door and went home. This was it, I was on the edge of either complete failure or absolute success. And all I could do was wait, and so wait I did. It felt horrible, like watching my own death grow closer on the calendar. But should I try to act, I'd run the risk of damaging a patient or causing them horrific damage. Author's Note This was it, I was on the edge of either complete failure or absolute success. And all I could do was wait. This is what it's like to publish to this site. Fucking terrifying for a low level person like myself.
BreaksI walked through the halls towards Subject One's room. The smell of disinfectant and the sound of my shoes clicking sent my brain back in time. The subject was tearing itself apart, the once black shell cracking and falling off, only to rebuild itself in an instant. Three weeks back to back, little by little the subject was being cleansed of the blackening plague. Even other subjects were beginning to show the same level of repair as Juniper. They were regaining their speech, learning to walk again, shedding their false appendages, their bodies were healing. But I couldn't celebrate, I could only keep working. I couldn't let those who've died, die in vain. Everyone was counting on me, Subject One was counting on me, thousands of lives were waiting for me to save them. I could see it in their eyes, the hollowness was finally broken even if only slightly. We could see the pupils showing through, darting around as they waited indefinitely for their fate, for their horror to come to an end. I stopped in the hall as a crowd gathered before one's chamber. I ran over, pushing several people out of the way and forcing myself into the room. My heart sank into my gut as I saw two men unhooking Subject One. Not a single spot of black, she was clean. "What happened?" I asked calmly, walking towards the working men. "What the fuck happened!?" The two men didn't look at me. "I'm sorry sir, we tried to call you, but you never picked up." I grabbed one of the men, slamming him past a few pieces of equipment and into a wall. "What happened!?" The other man in the room started sliding a bag under Subject One. "Flat lined at midnight. We tried to resuscitate." I slammed the man in my grip against the wall before throwing him off. "No damn it!" I felt my heart start racing. "Nooooo!" I kicked an IV stand over and started bashing the equipment. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I punched a wall, splitting the skin on my knuckle and splashing the room in blood. I stopped as my torn hand rested on a counter. The two men went about their work, packing up the body and removing it. I stayed in the room, trying to collect any sense of myself as my world fell apart. I fell to the floor, my arm stuck on a counter as I slumped into the corner. My assistant found me an hour into my failure. "Sir.... I thought you'd want to know...the changelings are...they're changing back." He stepped over and stood toe to toe with me. "You did it." I ignored him, lost in my silent hysteria. He stood for a long time until walking out, closing the door behind him. I sat in that room, lost in my own mind as I tried to think of where I went wrong. I was convinced it was something I did. At some unknown point I had pulled my pistol out, letting it linger in my lap as I clutched my head. I had come from the frozen north, learned everything I could about these creatures, I'd come so close, yet I couldn't fix it. "Danila." A soft voice broke the soft shuffling as I pulled my pistol under my jaw. "Danila...look at me." I recognized the voice. Juniper was standing before me, her body clean, normal, not a single blemish. "Sir." Another voice, Newton's, added into the growing choir. "Sir, you gave her back to me." "No...I did nothing!" I screamed, pointing my pistol at the ghosts. "I failed, I could do nothing!" "Doctor." Another voice, "Doctor," Another, "Doctor." The room buzzed with a choir calling after me, pony after pony joining the spectral orchestra. "Doctor, you saved us." I could feel my breath go heavy as I stared at the thousand strong crowd, crammed like mad in the large room, staring at me, calling to me. "Doctor, you did everything you could." They sang in unison, rattling the room as they chanted. I had lost my mind, I had realized this and was ready. I held my pistol to my temple. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...." "Doctor." A single regal voice broke the chanting. "Doctor, you saved us all." An ethereal sky blue unicorn stepped over to me, ducking her head down and staring me in the eyes. "We are bound no longer to that blackened form, and we, I, thank you." My hands shook violently as I felt my finger tighten, my eyes blurred as I ducked my head. "I tried...I failed...I'm so sorry. I couldn't save the one." The unicorn lifted her head, staring down at me. "Do what you must, but understand, you are our savior." The room emptied out in an instant, the specters turning to dust and disappearing in a single glorious wave. I gathered myself for the end. Two final ghosts standing beside me. "Sir...I'm here." Newton stated coldly as he put his hoof on my knee. "We won't leave you." Juniper's withered voice croaked from my right. "We're here for you." I laughed crazily as I felt my finger tighten for the final time. "Thank yo--" Author's Note Project SHELL: SUCCESS Doctor. Torkavich: Deceased Total saved: 11025 Project is hereby disbanded until further necessity demands it.
