//------------------------------// // Thunder of Chaos // Story: Reconstruction // by MasterZero //------------------------------// "Professor!" Radiant Light wrapped her hooves around the neck of the scientist. "How are you?" She inquired, smiling at the human, her blue eyes twinkling with trust. "I'm fine. How do you feel, Radiant?" "Really woozy. How is it going with you? How is my husband?" "He is recovering well. You'll be able to visit him in due time." "That's fantastic!" The unicorn then looked at the plate the professor was holding and grinned. "Food for Bulb and I?" "Actually, just for you. Bulb is scheduled for his operation now." "What? But you said tomorrow!" She argued. "The sooner we cure him of his disease, the sooner we can focus on finding other members of your race." The unicorn slowly nodded, but still seemed reluctant. "I wish I knew why my family alone ended up here...." The mother looked into the nearby room, and called out to her son. "Bulb! Please come out here." An earth pony foal opened the door and walked into the room. He smiled at the scientist, and his mother. "Hey, Professor Mandela! What's up? Ooh! Did you bring us food?" "Actually, this is all meant for me. The Professor says its time for your operation," the mother explained. The earth pony shuddered and took a step back. "Prof...I'm scared. Are you sure I have to?" "I know, Bulb. Fear is normal. But you need to face that fear. I promise, the process is painless. You'll be asleep for most of it," Mandela swore, petting the white mane of the yellow colt. "I give you my word, Radiant Light, your son will be fine." "Thank you, Professor. I trust you." The mare nuzzled the human's hand as he moved it near her. "Go with him, Bulb. I'll see you and your father soon." "Right, mom!" Bulb smiled, jumping into the arms of the scientist, laughing as the man stood up and he looked down at his mom. "You should start eating, Radiant. I'll be back later to make sure you're okay. If you need anything, just tell someone through the intercom," Mandela comforted. As he took the foal away from his mother, he noticed the mare was struggling to lift the food to her mouth with her magic. He made a mental note of that. "Thanks, prof," Bulb grinned. "You found my family." "I'm glad we found you too, Bulb. If we hadn't, the disease might have progressed to a more severe stage." The young colt smiled as he got himself comfortable in the arms of the human. He eventually arrived in a sterile, white room, with a table of medical tools arranged on wheeled table. A nurse and doctor were also there, ready to cure the colt. He was placed on a table and Mandela whispered to him to relax. "Hey, Bulb. How you feeling?" The doctor was already picking up syringe filled with a clear, odorless substance. Bulb shuddered at the sight of it. "I'm okay, doc, but...is that for me?" "Its an anesthesia, Bulb. Its going to make you sleep. It'll make this all painless for you," the man promised. The colt felt his hoof being held by the nurse, and she gave him a reassuring smile and a stroke on his head from her gloved hand. "How is your mother, Bulb?" "She's okay. Hey, can I see my dad when you guys are done?" The nurse made a noise with her mouth. As if she was gasping, or panting for air. She simply nodded her head and placed a medical mask over her mouth. "Yeah, you'll be with him after this." "Are you okay, nurse? You look sad." "Okay, we're ready. Hold still, Bulb," the doctor requested, interrupting the stallion. The colt flinched as the needle neared him, but the nurse offered her hand from him to hold and nuzzle into as the needle went through his hide. The liquid nothingness was pushed into his body. "There. You were a very brave boy, Bulb." "Thanks, doc...Oh, wow...I think I feel it getting to me already," the colt mumbled, feeling woozy. He felt his head fall back, onto the head rest. "Thanks again," he mumbled, giving a weak smile to the professor as he went to sleep... ------------------------------------------------- Fear can create hate. Hate can create evil. But sometimes, being afraid helps you do the right thing. "My name is Jean-Jacques Dubois, an agent of Interpol. Do you know why you are here?" The woman was of Asian descent. She looked at the French agent for a moment. "I will not tell you anything, until you promise my protection. I am risking my life coming here. They could have followed me. They could know I am here and may plan to kill me for it." Jean-Jacques wrapped his hands around the woman's and he gave a reassuring smile. "I promise, you will have the full protection of Interpol. We can and will protect you." This seemed to be enough for the elderly woman, and she began to recount her story. "My name is Alona Vong. I am from Laos. I was a scientist in Project Ends- a multinational operation to understand and study the new creatures, Equestrians, minotaurs, as well as several other races, including a captured giant bear which we now know is called an Ursa Minor. Our objectives were to find each species' weakness, to understand them, and to figure how to best protect ourselves from them." "Why are you here? Why tell us this?" "The head scientist, Wole Mandela, believes in treating the subjects 'humanely' before their experimentation. He says he wants their final moments to be in ignorance and joy. He does it to avoid needless cruelty, but I, and several of my colleagues found it only made the process worse. We made friends with the creatures, and told them that we were there to help, only to drug their food. We told them they were sick and we could help them, and they believed us. I found it worse than treating them like cattle." Agent Dubois nodded his head and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder as she began to cry. He reached into his pocket and handed her a tissue, before asking her if she wanted to continue. She did. "We also have several informants in various governments. I cannot give you all the names, but I can give you some of the governments we have moles in. The United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Russia, Norway, and Japan." The officer, who so far had been nothing but sympathetic and patient with the woman, was shocked by what he heard. "What?! That's impossible, how have we not found them?" "We may come from third-world countries, but that doesn't mean our agents are third-rate." The woman looked at the man. "I only know the names of a few agents. I had to escape before they realized what I did." She then pulled a CD case from her shirt pocket and placed it on the table. "You'll find their names on there." "Thank you for coming to us with this information." "I can show you where it is, if you can rescue them." She looked at him, wiping tears from her eyes. "Will you rescue them?" "We'll notify the United Nations. We will save them. Until then, you will be placed under protection. I promise, Miss Vong, everything will be okay." The woman nodded her head, and as the man left, she quietly continued to wipe away her tears. ------------------------------------------------- When the United Nations heard about Project Ends, the usual uproar was only made stronger. Accusations were thrown at one another. Princess Celestia, her sister, and the rest of the 'aliens' were asked to leave the assembly, not knowing anything about the situation. "Can you hear them?" The minotaur ambassador, and his fellow creatures, were in a separate room. The loud roars of the Assembly reduced to muffled whispers to them. Celestia nodded her head. A simple listening spell allowed her to clearly hear the angry shouts and accusations each ambassador made to the other. "What is happening, sister?" "There is a lab, in one of their nations, that has dozens of captured ponies, minotaurs, griffons, and even a young Ursa Minor. They've been experimenting on them. Dissecting them." Celestia prepared herself for the rage of the ambassadors, and the questions and disbelief her faithful student gave her. "That's not possible! The ambassador told me-" "The human ambassador lied!" The bison stomped his hooves into the ground in anger. "They all lied! I knew coming here was a mistake!" "These creatures are a threat and should have been seen as such from the beginning!" The griffon ambassador added, his claws digging into the floor. "All of you, calm down. Remember, an individual a group does not make....The humans say they are going to launch an attack. They're going to bring the scientists to justice." "Oh. This ought to be good," the cow mumbled. The rest of the ambassadors began to exit the room, intending to leave back to their own people. This left Twilight, Luna, and Celestia among themselves. The unicorn looked at the white alicorn and the little sister seemed to be contemplating their place in all of this. "Sister, do you still have faith in these creatures? Are they still worthy of our trust?" "I believe they are." "Then we have faith in your belief," the Princess of Night replied, nodding her head. "Do not have faith in me. Have faith in them," the elder sister replied. "Still, I will need to speak to the President after this. Something tells me this will only get worse before it gets better..." ------------------------------------------------- And in the dark of a night, an attack was launched by the United Nations. They invaded the base in silence, a multinational team, though many of the members were from the country the attack was being held in, Iran. With American, French, and Japanese overseers, they invaded the base and caught the scientist. It was all so easy. Of course, now came the true test of whether or not the two groups could coexist, side by side... The head scientist sat in a well lit room. The only pieces of furniture being a white, metal chair, bolted to the ground, with a similar table in front of him, and another chair on the opposite side. The scientist stared at his distorted reflection on the table. His dark skin was covered in beads of sweat. He stared at it, even as the door opened and a figure walked in. It was an African woman. She sat in the opposite seat and was the first to speak. "My name is Abena Okonkwo. Do you know why you are here?" "My name is Wole Mandela. I was the lead scientist for Project Ends. It was me who allowed each project and I was there for a majority of the experiments. You are here to no doubt interrogate me." "I am." "You will no doubt break my arms and hit me, yes? That is how Americans gain information, yes?" He spat, still not looking at the woman. "You have been watching too much American television, Wole. I'm here to talk to you. Nothing physical." "Americans love their violence, don't they?" Wole let out a grim laugh, wiping sweat from his forehead. "I will talk. You need not torture me. I did what I thought was right." "You killed innocent creatures. Dozens of them. Even more are scarred, physically and mentally." "Creatures? Can you not find a better word for them? They talk, think, create, love. They are like us." "You knew this and yet you killed and hurt them." "For what its worth, when I could, I gave them anesthetics. I wanted them to suffer as little as possible. When they had to die, I killed them as quickly as I could, even if that distorted the data we received. Painless. I gave them each 'humane' quarters. Food. Water. I gave them good final moments. I did not hold them in pens, like lambs to the slaughter. They were not walking in a line into death. I did my best to ease their suffering." "You slaughtered them." "I know. I would have done it again if I could go back. Even if they were humans. Even if they were angels." "Why?" "Because my people have suffered enough. Because the rest of the world lives in fear of the new Roman Empire." The scientist, for the first time, looked into the woman's eyes. Tears were going down his face as he struggled to control himself. He swallowed and continued. "Over 500,000 lives were lost during the genocide of my country, Rwanda. We pleaded for the mighty, 'developed' nations to help. We called out to America to save us. We received nothing." "That's what this is about? Revenge? You think killing all of these innocents will hurt America like your country was hurt?!" "No!" He roared, slamming his hands onto the metal table. "It was to protect my nation! To protect us all! Uruguay, China, Iran, Laos, and all of the other 'savage' countries, America and her elite vilify. Think about this, Miss Okonkwo. America already has one of, arguably, THE strongest military. America has bases across the planet. America is on the edge of technology and medicine. America is the world's superpower! What is the rest of the world then? We are nothing, but the next Iraq, if we are lucky. If we are not, than we are another Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Wole wiped the tears from his eyes as he struggled to control himself. "And now, these ponies and minotaurs and griffons come. They go to America for help. America is happy to do so, and in doing so, America becomes even more powerful. It is simply a matter of time until America unleashes the captured monsters upon our nations. A matter of time until America 'liberates' another country." "You believe America is your enemy?" "I hate evil, no matter the name or shape. You can call us monsters for what we did, I will agree, but we are only monsters because they forced us to be." Mandela looked back at the table as every memory went through his mind. Every face. Every lie he made, fresh in his mind, yet it was like their decayed husks were infesting him. "An innocent foal trusted me with his life. Thought I was saving him from a disease. Thought it was anesthesia. Another one thought I was giving him food. Even more thought I was their friend. I keep asking myself, was it right? Not killing them, I knew that was wrong, but was it right to treat them like that before their death? Giving them food and shelter, telling them I was there to help?" The tears came back, stronger than ever. He cried for every mother that did not know her child was dead. He cried for every father he ripped away from his family. He cried for every friend he betrayed. He cried, because they never got the chance to know the truth before he... "I won't ask for mercy. I won't ask for forgiveness. Just know that I am more than a villain. I had my reasons. Let history be my judge." As the interrogation continued, a call came to one of the agents monitoring the act. He took out his phone and held it to his ear, his eyes widening in horror as he heard the news. ------------------------------------------------- "Get away from me, you monster!" "What's going on here?!" A trio of soldiers entered through the room to find the place in chaos. Human soldiers were aiming guns at the Equestrians and their fellow supernatural beings. A man was already on the ground, slumping against the wall, and the TV was the only source of sound. "We didn't do anything!" "Liar!" One of the unicorns roared, his horn glowing, ready to open fire with it. "Dad, stop! He's our friend, remember?!" His daughter screamed. The pegasus flew in front of her father as the colt seemed to shake with fear. "Where's my wife?! You said you had to take her in due to injuries! But you killed her, didn't you?!" "Where's my brother?!" "Where are my foals?!" Chaos and threats were thrown across the room. As they were, the three soldiers saw the TV and in all the chaos somehow still heard the reporter speaking. "Pictures and videos of the creatures being killed and dissected have recently been posted on several internet sites. The types of creatures dissected on camera include minotaurs, griffons, and all three types of Equestrians. Each video seems to imply that the scientists, whose faces and voices have been distorted, had gained the trust of the victims, before giving them a lethal injection of potassium chloride, telling them it was an anesthesia. Government officials have not given a response to this recent, and distu-" The TV was silenced by a beam of magic hitting it, causing the flat screen to explode in a mix of sparks, glass, and plastic. Anarchy and discord filled the area, as the humans struggled to control the situation. The ponies that feared for their lives, and the lives of their loved ones attempted to protect themselves from what they saw as traitors to their trust, and the ponies that still had faith in the humans, who were trying to calm their kin down. One of the soldiers couldn't take the chaos anymore. He saw one of his friends being thrown across the room and into the ground. He fell to the ground, still. The soldier held up his gun and placed a finger on the trigger, before he fired. ------------------------------------------------- Similar cases like these appeared all over the world, but it was focused in America. Fear and paranoia infected the minds of many, of pony and human alike. Professor Wole Mandela's plan seemed to have been a success. He wanted to save the unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi, and all those like them, from being used as weapons by the empires of the world. Now, the idea of either side working with one another seemed impossible. At best, isolation from each other; at worst, a full out war between the races. All hope seemed lost. "Mr. President?" The man turned his head away from the window to behold the radiant body of Princess Celestia. She bowed her head to him and he did the same. "Princess Celestia. I didn't hear you come in," he said, sitting in his chair and turning his body to face her. He felt his soul overcome with guilt as he looked at her, before he hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry." To his shock, both leaders had spoken at once, and they stared at each other with disbelief. "Mr. President, my ponies have allowed fear to infest their minds. They should know that the actions of a few members of your race do not echo through you all." "No, Princess, I should apologize to you. Not only is it my species, but we've discovered several conspirators within our governmental body. People who have been feeding information to the scientists, even locations of isolated members of your kingdom. I'm sorry." "It takes great inner strength to apologize for one's mistakes, Mr. President. But we should not focus our energy on apologizing, at least not to each other." The aging man sighed and nodded his head. "You're right. We need to get our kingdoms back in order, it would seem." "Agreed. Trust is easy to break, but difficult to mend. Difficult, but not impossible." The man looked out his window and stared into the night sky. Celestia did the same and couldn't help but be reminded of her changed role in life. Her powers could still move the moon and sun, but her powers were no longer needed for it here. Yet her subjects still looked to her and her sister for leadership. "The people out there wanted a leader. They needed someone who could get them out of the dark and into a better place. Not paradise, maybe, but a day better than yesterday." The president turned once more and began walking over to Celestia. "They chose me, but I never imagined it was going to be during my term that we would meet the first 'aliens,' and I never could have imagined all this would have happened. Its hard to believe that the rest of the world had this little faith in us...." He sighed, stopping just about a foot away from the princess' snout. "But looking back...I can see why." "Is that it then? You will just give up and let our people fight among themselves? Let distrust and chaos rule over pony, human, and others alike?" "I didn't say that. But I can't fix the mistakes of the past. I can't save the lives lost, and I can't stop people from thinking what they will think. Even if we destroyed every last copy of Project Ends, no one is going to trust each other. Not after that..." "I wish to tell you a story." The President stopped his inner monologue and gave Celestia look of utter bewilderment. "You're never too old to learn, Mr. President. Once upon a time, the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies lived in disharmony. Hatred and distrust were rampant. To make matters worst, a blizzard was destroying their country and leaving nothing but death and suffering. But the blizzard did only part of the work. The hate between the three races did far more damage to each other than the blizzard ever could. It was only by working together, and choosing not to meet the end as enemies, did they find a new home and save the remnant of their races." "Wasn't the blizzard caused by the Windigos? Who fed on hatred and created more of it to devour?" Celestia's elegant and wise poise was broken as the human spoke and she looked at him in curiosity. "How did you know that?" "My ambassador and yours seem to have become good friends. They are constantly exchanging tales of our two races, and he, in turn, gives them to me," he chuckled, laughing at the memory of just a few days ago. A smile formed on Celestia's snout and she joined in the small laugh. "Yes, it would seem so." Her face slowly returned to one of wisdom and age. "My point is this, Mr. President: No country is free of sin. No being is without evil." The human nodded in agreement. "An intelligent man once told me that there is no such thing as good and evil in the world, only different shades of grey." "And a very wise pony once told me that 'Friendship is a wondrous and powerful thing. Even the worst of enemies can become friends. You need understanding and compromise. You've got to share, you've got to care."' "If it was that easy, we'd all be singing songs together and dancing," the president grimaced. The soft hoof of the goddess was placed upon on his shoulder. "It won't be easy..." "Nothing worth doing is."