Chapter 31: Aftermath

Fluttershy huddled on the floor with her back against the wall, her forehooves wrapped around her body and her head down, pink hair covering her face.

Pinkie Pie and Rarity sat on either side, trying to comfort her.

"That was bad. Really, really bad," Fluttershy sobbed. "And I was useless. I was so useless."

Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder and spoke softly to her. "You did fine. You saved a human's life."

"And the medics said he's gonna be okay, thanks to your first aid. If y'all hadn't put the tourniquet on his leg, he woulda died before the medics arrived," Applejack said as she walked up. "One of them told me before they left!"

"Going to be okay? His leg was torn off! TORN OFF! There's no way he'll be okay ever again!" Fluttershy's moist eyes looked up from under her hair. "And all those poor animals. I can't stop seeing it. I don't want to think about it but I can't stop!"

They heard the sound of intermittent gunshots outside, and tried not to think about what it meant.

Jeff was organizing a cleanup crew with the scientists. "Take the most intact specimens to the bio lab for analysis, we should burn the rest. Get dump trucks and some front-end loaders. Establish a perimeter until we run a pathogen scan."

ProteC personnel scattered to perform various tasks, and Jeff came over to Fluttershy. "Good job out there. Your quick actions saved that man's life."

Fluttershy smiled a little, still sniffling. "Thank you."

Another gunshot came from outside, and she trembled.

Jeff crouched down in front of her. "You know, sometimes we see something terrible happen. Sometimes we have to do terrible things. But remember we didn't choose this. We didn't want this to happen. And we'll find who is responsible, and make them stop." He reached out and put a hand on Fluttershy's hoof. "You're a lot braver than you think you are. You could have turned and run, but you didn't. You stayed even though you were scared, and you and Rarity saved at least one life because of it. You should both be proud."

Some time later, after the shooting had died down, a scientist came up behind Jeff and tapped him on the shoulder.

They conferred for a moment, and then the scientist left while Jeff turned to the Equestrians. "We have initial pathogen testing results. Good news is, no known dangerous infectious agents found, and no evidence of an unknown microbe at work."

He gestured at Celestia and Emmy. "Celestia, if Twilight, and Emmy, and yourself care to join me in the lab, we have a specimen ready for dissection."

Several minutes later, after a walk to the lower medical wing, the three Equestrians and Jeff entered the roomy bio lab dissection room. Chris, Marky, and several medical scientists were standing by wearing face masks. A lumpy black body bag sat closed on the steel table under a ring of lights.

"We got a specimen, mostly in one piece," Marky said. "Carted it on down here, just waiting on you guys."

Twilight put a face mask on. "Well, let's see what we got."

One scientist, his name tag identifying him as Mizuki, unzipped the body bag, and exposed the slimy, twisted horror within.

There were several gasps and brief exclamations of disgust.

"Well, at least I think it's one. Kind of hard to tell," Marky amended. "We cut it where it was connected to the other animals."

The thing inside looked like a melted plastic children's toy. It may have been some form of deer or gazelle, but it was seamlessly fused with parts or features of other animals, the skin stretched and pulpy like that of a disfigured burn victim.

"That's horrible," Emmy said. "But it's also fascinating. The Patchwork Golem."

Celestia gagged a little behind her mask. "The smell is nauseating. But continue. We have to learn whatever we can."

Twilight pulled the bag the rest of the way down with telekinesis. "Thankfully I don't have to actually touch this thing with my hooves."

"Wish I could say the same," Chris commented. "The gloves I used weren't nearly thick enough to make me happy. In fact, I'd rather have used a stick. A very long one. By the way, is there a camera rolling?

One of the scientists nodded. "There's always a holocamera rolling in here, just like all the laboratories. It records on a loop, if we want something off it, we just save it afterwards. It overwrites monthly otherwise."

"Okay great. Well, who wants to do the honors?"

Mizuki raised a hand. "I'll do it, I've always wanted to do something like this!"

Twilight backed away readily, gesturing with her wings. "Be my guest."

Mizuki leaned in with the scalpel and began to cut into the revolting thing.

Unseen to the others, Chris's hand hovered near his pistol. When the disfigured creature remained unresponsive after being opened and having several of its organs removed, he relaxed a bit.

"-multiple organisms all fused together! Mizuki was saying. "Look, see this? This is a deer's heart. But this? This is a rat. An entire rat. And it's completely inside the deer, and their nervous systems are directly connected! Look at this!"

He poked at a fibrous tendril reaching from the back of the rat's head and connecting to the deer's backbone.

"That's some kind of an umbilical. I believe it's nerve tissue." He poked at the stretched, melted skin. "And the entire bodies, blood systems, everything... all of it is welded together. These creatures were all tacked together, while still alive, to create the monster that attacked us."

He turned to face the others.

"This thing connected the brains and bodies of multiple animals to create a single, decentralized nervous system. That's why it was so hard to kill. Each creature stayed alive on it's own, and took over a portion of the processing load. If one died, the others shared the workload. It's like a daisy-chained computer processor."

"How do you think it accomplished this?" Chris asked.

"I have no idea." Mizuki shrugged. "I can't find any kind of biological agents in the blood or tissue that could even remotely do something like this. It's as if..."

"As if a powerful, dark magic were at work," Emmy finished.
Celestia nodded. "I feel its presence, even now the remnants of the force that did this to these poor beasts taints the air with the foul tinge of death."

"It's like an evil spell, more powerful than anything I have ever seen before, dragged these creatures to do the bidding of... Something." Twilight looked unsettled. "I don't know anyone or anything that would be capable of doing this, even if they wanted to. Even Discord couldn't do something like this."

Celestia spoke again. "I believe it used animals because their minds are weaker. They do not have the level of self-awareness or resistance that a human or pony does. They were helpless to stop a force they could never understand."

Mizuki pulled at the flesh on the points where it had been connected to the main body. "Umbilical fibers here as well. Also the bones have fused at the connection points. They've combined to form a rigid skeleton."

Marky grunted. "I am willing to bet there is some central core component, some parasite or artifact that started the growth of this nightmare."

"Who knows what we are looking for though. It could have been tiny, like a catalyst," Jeff added.

"Or this may have all been caused by something else casting a spell. I don't know if we'll be able to tell," Twilight said.

Chris cracked his knuckles. "I didn't see anything obvious, and if there's something alien out there, it may be buried under several tons of decaying flesh, most likely with several .50 caliber rounds through it."

Mizuki shrugged. "Up until now, this "magic" crap never entered scientific research. Frankly, I have no understanding of how to deal with it, so I'm going to stick with what I know. I'll take a look at some samples from the fused areas under the microscope. I expect it's going to be a lot of mixed DNA and confusion on a cellular level, but if I find anything useful or especially unusual..." He paused as he realized how ridiculous that sounded. "Well okay, this entire situation is completely bizarre. But if I see anything that I believe may have caused this, I'll let you know. No need for you all to stay down here for that, it's going to take my team some time to sort through this mess. Oh, and if you DO find anything intact out there, bring it down here."

"Thank you, Doctor," Jeff said, turning around in the doorway after the others walked out. "I'll tell the cleanup crew to keep an eye out for anything odd. We are going to burn the rest of the corpses."

"Probably a good idea, before the smell gets really nasty. Well, nastier."

"Indeed." The door closed as Jeff departed.

Outside, Celestia waited for him.

Neither of them spoke, and they slowly walked down the empty underground hallway together, lost in thought while the rest of the group, talking animatedly, left them behind.

After a moment, Jeff stopped and turned to Celestia. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

She paused too, looking at him without speaking.

"I had wanted to bring something amazing to our world. Instead, our work brought destruction and death. And because of us, your world is in danger too. In my mind, I keep seeing Fluttershy sobbing as that beastly abomination mocked us. I keep seeing the looks on all your faces when that video played on the first day."

His voice broke and he stopped abruptly, turning away from her. When he spoke again, it was without facing her, in a carefully controlled monotone.

"I've seen good men die. I've ordered bad men killed. But for some reason, I can't forget the innocence I stole from you and your people."

The silence stretched for a long moment, then Celestia spoke softly. "A long time ago, when my sister Luna and I were young, we ruled Equestria together. She was my best friend always, and I loved her with my whole heart. When we were together, nothing could ever go wrong for us. We faced adversity, certainly. Many powerful foes terrified us. But we were never without hope, and we were never without each other."

She paused, and Jeff turned his head slightly towards her, listening.

A moment later she continued. "There came a day when my dear sister looked me in the eye, and despised me. Unbeknownst to me, her soul had been poisoned with discontent. Hatred overcame her, and she became a monstrous creature of the darkness." Celestia sniffed a little, and brushed her eye with her hoof. "Even now I hurt in my chest when I think about it, because when her soul filled with jealousy, it was me that she hated. Hated so much that she tried to kill me, right there. My own little sister."

A tear ran down her face, leaving a moist trail on her white fur.

"I was so deeply wounded in my spirit that I almost didn't defend myself. I almost let her slay me, because nothing could be worse than the terrible knife of her hatred for me, twisting in my heart, cutting my soul to pieces."

Jeff didn't move, frozen in place by her words and tone.

"But I couldn't only worry about how I felt. There was a whole country of ponies who would suffer under her reign of terror. They looked to us to protect them from evil... and now I was the only one who remained true to carry that responsibility."

A silent moment, and her breathing was slow, controlled.

"I did the only thing I could, even though it wasn't what I wanted. I fought my sister, who I loved so much. I fought her with everything I had. I never, ever wanted to hurt her. But I did hurt her. I unleashed my power upon her, and I hurt her very, very badly. Then I locked her away in a place where she was alone, in the dark. I had to, or nopony would ever have been safe from her wickedness."

Jeff turned to face her, and they looked into each others tear-filled eyes for a moment.

"For so many years after that, I smiled, I laughed, I led a prosperous land of kind ponies who have trusted me to keep them safe. But always, deep inside my soul, was the image of my dearest little sister, sobbing in the infinite, empty darkness, alone for eternity."

On impulse, Jeff reached out for her, and they embraced, two powerful leaders from very different worlds, united by the need for companionship.

"What happened?" Jeff asked quietly.

"I was lucky," Celestia said softly in his ear. "The power of love and friendship brought my sister back to me, against impossible odds. It was the single happiest day of my life."

Jeff said nothing, and she pulled back slightly to look at him.

"Yes, some of the things we have seen here are horrible. But we are strong, and stronger together. Even Fluttershy, she bends without breaking. Her tears may flow easily, but her will is iron when she is backed against the wall."

"This is different. We brought this on you. It was our-"

"No it isn't," Celestia interrupted him firmly. "It doesn't matter how it happened, and the how of it is ludicrous anyway. There's no way you could have foreseen something as bizarre as this. What matters is that we... that our worlds met. And I don't regret that, and I don't think any of us do. This is not the first time we have fought powerful enemies, and I am sure it will not be the last."

Jeff squeezed her once more. "Thank you. For being here. For being with us. For being our friends."

Celestia put on a crooked smile as he released her. It matched her mildly mussed crown and mane. Jeff realized it was the first time he'd ever seen her even slightly disheveled, and he also realized the effect was rather charming.

"Oh you know. How could we not?" She reached up and straightened her crown with both her forehooves, the gesture almost jaunty. "Friendship is, well, kind of our thing."

"I'm glad for that," he replied. "Sometimes even the boss could use a hug."

"I'm more huggable than I pretend to be," Celestia said. "A leader has to maintain a certain image, after all."

"No kidding. Let me see if I can put my stony face back on." He scowled for effect, then gave up and grinned.

They both chuckled, then headed onward down the corridor, walking side by side companionably.

***

Several hours later, Chris looked off his balcony as the last of the dump trucks departed for the burn pit with a full load of bloody dirt. It was still dark outside, and the powerful work lights from the heavy equipment lit the field below him. The tractors had scraped the animal matter off the road and out of the field, and had gone on further to take a layer of soggy, discolored topsoil to the incinerator as well.

Emmy stood next to him, watching the truck leave. Men with fire hoses began spraying the blood stains off the street, sweeping the powerful blasts of water back and forth while slowly walking forward, forcing the pink liquid ahead of them.

Emmy shivered a little against him. He put an arm around her.

"This hasn't been the best morning," she said.

"No, it hasn't. And I wish I could say things are going to get better, but I'm sure it's going to get a lot worse. I'd be lying if I said otherwise."

Emmy looked up at him. "Chris, please lie to me. I'm having a hard time right now. That thing... the more I think about it, the more afraid I am of a creature capable of creating a monster like that."

Chris squatted down and put his arms around her neck, whispering in her ear close enough to tickle her fur with his breath. "I've got a better idea. How about we take a bath?"

She smiled. "A hot one. With shampoo?"

"Of course. I'll wash your mane."

"Ohhh, I like that."

***

Above them, in one of the penthouse suites, Twilight Sparkle lay on her bed, tired but unable to sleep. She accessed the ARHUD messaging system and sent a PM to Starlight Glimmer.

• Twilight Sparkle: Hey Starlight, are you awake?
  
• Starlight Glimmer: Hey Twilight. Sorry it took me a minute to find my phone. Yes, I'm awake, I haven't slept well tonight. How are you?
  
• Twilight Sparkle: I'm okay. I can't sleep though. Rough day. Well, morning.
  
• Starlight Glimmer: What happened? I was worried about you for some reason. I thought you'd be sleeping so I didn't want to message you and wake you up.
  
• Twilight Sparkle: Some monster attacked in the middle of the night. Everypony is okay though. Well mostly. A human was injured.
  
• Starlight Glimmer: Oh my. We've had a few here also.
  
• Twilight Sparkle: How are things for you?
  
• Starlight Glimmer: It's been busy. There are several rifts I have to reseal every other day. We've had several monster incursions. So far we've been lucky that nopony has been seriously hurt, but we have to be ready all the time.
  
• Twilight Sparkle: I'm sorry Glims, I left you with too much to do.
  
• Starlight Glimmer: Don't worry Twilight, Spike and Big Mac are helping a lot. You'd be proud of Spike. He's taken over a lot of the heavy lifting for me. And Big Mac is now my commander for the Ponyville volunteer defense force.
  
• Twilight Sparkle: Volunteer defense force?
  
• Starlight Glimmer: The military is spread thin right now, dealing with developing situations all over Equestria. We are taking care of Ponyville ourselves.
  
• Twilight Sparkle: Is it getting worse?
  
• Starlight Glimmer: There is a slow increase in the number of rifts we are discovering. I don't know if that means we just didn't see them before, but I have a suspicion that new ones are appearing.
  
• Twilight Sparkle: Oh no. What's coming through them??
  
• Starlight Glimmer: Mostly nothing. I seal the rifts anyway to be on the safe side, but the overwhelming majority are simply there. But a few have let some nasty things through.
  
• Twilight Sparkle: We're working on things here. I think things are coming to a head.
  
• Starlight Glimmer: I know Twilight, don't worry. We can deal with whatever happens here. Focus on your mission, it's dangerous to be distracted. And I don't want anything to happen to you.
  
• Twilight Sparkle: Thanks Glims. You be safe too.

***

Down the hall from Twilight, Celestia and Jeff were in her penthouse suite playing chess. "Checkmate," she said, sliding her queen into position beside his king.

"Indeed. You play a hard game, milady."

Celestia rolled her eyes. "I'm suspicious of your playing. I'm more than half convinced you let me win."

Jeff's headset beeped, and he checked the message, his back straightening. "The Leviathan will be here by the end of the day."

Celestia's ears pricked forward. "I am excited to see this ship of yours."

Jeff sighed. "Speaking of which, there is something on board that I need to tell you about, Celestia."

His tone of voice worried her. "Jeff? What is it?"

"A matter of secrecy like you would not believe. Actually, we need to have a meeting."

Celestia's face was troubled as Jeff sent some messages, then turned to her. "Will you come with me? We need to do this in a secure location."

"Of course."