President Seviston strode briskly down to the portal, blinking as he attempted to finish waking up. It was three in the morning and Queen Luna was apparently at the mouth of the portal loudly demanding to speak with him immediately, if not sooner. Secret Service swarmed the area as Colonel Holiday joined him on the last flight of stairs which would lead them to the portal, "Any idea what this is about, Colonel?" The President asked.

"None sir. Queen Luna just appeared and began demanding to see you. She has been... insistent." The Colonel said diplomatically.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, President Seviston and Colonel Holiday approached the portal only to see Queen Luna looking borderline irate. As soon as she spotted the President she began, "President Seviston, I would like to know if you are aware of a violent incursion into our world by armed persons from Earth?"

President Seviston was aghast at the claim, "No, of course not. We are not aware of anyone with even the capability to do such a thing."

Colonel Holiday stepped forward, "Do you have any proof of this claim, Queen Luna?"

Luna's horn ignited and she levitated forward a brass bullet casing, "This was found near a massive blood stain in a forest to the North East. A nearby independent city-state is missing two of its citizens, both fathers and husbands, now missing. The blood stain was far to large for a Pony to survive, so at least one of them is dead." She levitated out a sheaf of pictures toward the President, "These are photographs of the scene. Until this is resolved, there will be no more negotiation."

Colonel Holiday stepped forward hotly, "Now wait a second..."

President Seviston cut him off by placing his gloved hand against the Colonel's chest with his left hand and accepting the bullet casing and pictures with his gloved right hand, "Colonel," he said in a warning tone, "You will stand down. We have work to do." He turned toward one of his aids, "Take these to the Chief Of Staff and have him get them to Langley. Have them study the photographs and see how much they can trace from this casing."

Colonel Holiday huffed but calmed his demeanor, "Yes sir, but Congress is still undecided whether or not Queen Luna or others like her were not responsible for The Event and all the lives lost because of it. We are in violation of..."

Luna interrupted him, "You still harbor the belief that WE took your people by force!?" She spoke aggressively, "Oh use your brain, COLONEL!" She emphasized the word, "First of all, we would have gained nothing by taking people. There have been a great many challenges and more than a few deaths on all sides. This has not been easy for ANY of us. Furthermore, even if we had been insane enough to do something like that, it would have soured any possible relations with Earth, trade or otherwise. And do you have any idea how much time and effort the Emissarial Staff put in to locate all the people from your world who ended up on ours? Different groups landed in different nations. Or did you stop and think how costly it has been for us? Helping to build an entire town AND relocate hundreds of our own citizens, not to mention the social and financial difficulties of adjustment AND hammering out reasonable laws?" She stomped her right forehoof, "This has NOT been easy for us, COLONEL, so before you begin throwing around accusations, perhaps try seeing a different point of view?"

President Seviston wore a contemplative expression, "Pardon me, Queen Luna, but how many Humans ended up on your world? Just to make sure we are on the same page." He already knew the numbers because of Colonel Holiday's daughter, but he wanted to be certain Luna was being honest.

"I am not certain of the exact numbers, but by our best estimation, around ten thousand." Luna replied.

Colonel Holiday looked nonplussed, "No surprise. While visiting with my daughter, I asked about that. We know about where the other nations' people ended up. Thankfully, according to what my daughter told me, there have been many fewer deaths than we would have thought."

President Seviston seemed to be in agreement, "Indeed, and we are all grateful for that. We will contact you as soon as we know something, Queen Luna."

"There will be officers stationed here at all hours. Oh, and do not be alarmed when construction crews arrive, they are going to be building a containment and processing center here for when your Congress makes their decision." Luna stated, "Though there is something which puzzles me. The prefix, 'con' means to move backward or retract and the suffix, 'pro' means to move forward or advance, correct?"

"That is a close enough approximation, but you have it about right. Why?" Colonel Holiday asked.

Luna wore a snarky grin, "Then would that not make Congress the opposite of progress?"

President Seviston had to utilize a Herculean effort not to laugh. Instead he settled for, "There have been many times where I asked myself a very similar question."

**********

General Hiriboshi broke out an exceedingly rare smile as he watched his wife, Meiying, finish up dinner. He had offered to help her, but she had firmly told him to, 'Sit down and play with your little girl. We don't get to see you often and she misses you terribly.' The General was not a General here, in his family's apartment within The Facility. Here, he was a husband and father.

He was seated on the floor, thankful to be out of his uniform, and enjoying seeing his three-year old daughter trying her best to perform a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Despite her age, she was doing remarkably well. As little Yunru set the bamboo ladle down at the perfect center on the pot of steaming water, she missed the dreamy smile on her Father's face.

He and his wife had argued back and forth for what seemed like years about whether or not their daughter should learn about the heritage of both her parents. It was a closely guarded secret, but Meiying and her husband were not both pure blood Chinese. Meiying was, but Hiriboshi was half Japanese, a fact which would have spelled disaster at the very least, and at worst the executions of himself, his wife, and their daughter if it came to light.

He had barely been able to pass off his name as a statement of insult to the people of Japan, when he was registered in the People's Republic Of China. If it were not for his service during the uprisings and his earliest service as a child soldier during those turbulent years, he would have been arrested and hung for his Japanese heritage. Even then, it had taken the word of his old commanding officer to vouch for him and he was still 'interrogated' thoroughly about his loyalty as a party member.

Eventually, he and his wife compromised on the matter. Yunru would learn about the cultural heritage of both nations, but her parents would not withhold any information about the various inhuman treatments by the nations. Their hope was to allow their daughter a healthy respect for what people were capable of, both the good and the bad. As such, Yunru was going to be learning Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, and English, though the last was tentative.

Meiying carried a cloth covered dish to the table and set it down, "Supper is finished." She said, smiling at her husband and daughter.

Yunru pouted as she splashed a drop of water onto the mat, but a smiling pat on her head from her father brought out a tiny giggle as he stood up and offered his hand to his daughter. She accepted his hand and he led her to the table.

Hiriboshi had to hide his thoughts as he gazed at his wife and daughter, 'This is how it should be. Two people making peace with their cultures and raising the next generation to understand all sides.' He accepted the plate his wife passed to him and lifted the cloth covering their dinner, fingers dancing away from his wife's snapping chopsticks as she sought out his hand. She shot him a stern gaze which was laced with a warm smile as he uncovered the fish tempura she had made from scratch, which had been a whole other argument, getting her to agree to learn how to cook Japanese food.

The lights in the apartment suddenly shut off only for red emergency lights to activate as a blaring klaxon began shrieking a warning. General Hiriboshi's head snapped up, eyes intense. He swiftly rose to his feet and picked up Yunru, who had her ears covered, and headed toward the bedroom he and his wife shared. Meiying closed the door behind herself as she followed them into the room, "What is it? What is going on?" She asked urgently.

General Hiriboshi set Yunru on the bed and straightened up, shaking his head, "I don't know. Stay here with Yunru." He stepped over to the closet and ripped his uniform off the hangers, "Stay in the room until the alarm stops." As he finished tucking in his shirt, he reached into the top of the closet and withdrew the old pistol from when his cousin had served with the Red Guard under Mao, "If anybody comes in, shoot them unless they address you by name first." He then pulled down his own belt with his own pistol and fastened it on, "Stay here and keep Yunru safe." He kissed Yunru on her head as he left, giving his wife a firm nod and he heard the door click locked behind him.

He grabbed his key cards as he dashed through the front door of their apartment and into the hallway outside, locking the front door behind himself. Running down the corridor, he came to the tram stop and was grateful that he did not need to wait for one to arrive.

Five of his soldiers were already aboard the tram, their rifles loaded and secured. Hiriboshi sat down on the tram and simply said, 'go'. The tram driver took off, pedal pressed as far down as it would safely go. Not bothering to turn his head, he addressed his soldiers, "Why is the alarm sounding?"

As if to answer his question, the overhead intercom sounded, "All military personnel to stations. General Hiriboshi to Specimen Containment. All other personnel are required to return to their quarters. All military personnel to stations. General Hiriboshi to Specimen Containment..." and it kept repeating.

The General picked up the tram's onboard phone and dialed, "Medical Division, Specimen Containment." He directed the automated system. Within a few moments, he heard somebody pick up, "Hello?" The voice's accent sounded Korean.

"This is General Hiriboshi, what is the situation?" He spoke loudly and clearly. The response sent a chill down his spine, "The specimen has escaped sir. Dr. Sembrin is unconscious and suffering from injuries ranging from contusions to blunt force trauma. The entire ward has been locked down, but we are uncertain if the specimen is still in the area."

**********

With a team of thirty armed and armored soldiers behind him, General Hiriboshi swiped his access card over the sensor panel and stepped back as quickly as he could. The door leading into the Specimen Containment area opened smoothly, while the alarm klaxons continued blaring. The General stood to the side as the breaching team entered the area swiftly calling out the word 'clear' as they cleared the closest rooms.

The General entered last, his pistol drawn and he closed and sealed the door behind him, 'If the specimen is still here we have to ensure it does not escape. One of those things was able to fatally injure two good men before they put it down.' He followed behind the breaching team as they entered the main containment area, pulling the medical personnel to their knees with their hands behind their heads, eleven in all.

The General addressed the room, "Whom did I speak with on the phone?"

An older Korean doctor spoke up, "It was me, sir."

"Let him up." Hiriboshi ordered the soldier who was guarding the man.

The man shakily rose to his feet and addressed the General, "I did not see it happen, but when I came to check on the specimen blood samples, I saw Dr. Sembrin on the floor and the Specimen Containment door was open." He said, gesturing to the hermetically sealed room that had been repurposed for the specimen, "The specimen was gone sir."

The General looked around the room and spotted an oscillating security camera in the corner. Pointing to it, he asked, "Where is the feed in this room accessed?"

The Korean doctor pointed to an adjoining room, "In the main office and in security station number nineteen sir. I have the access codes if you need them."

The General nodded, "Do it." He gestured to the soldier who had been standing next to the doctor, "Go with him. Where is Dr. Sembrin?"

"He is still unconscious sir. We are concerned about his head injury. He has not shown any signs of swelling in his brain, but we are keeping him under observation." The Korean doctor replied.

The General paused and thought for a moment, then walked over to the door he had just sealed. The door showed no signs of damage and the only way to enter or exit the area was with a properly keyed swipe card. He turned back to the Korean doctor just before he left the room, "Was Dr. Sembrin's key card missing?"

"No sir. Dr. Sembrin still had his key card when I found him." The Korean doctor said.

"The specimen is still here somewhere. There is no damage to the door and Dr. Sembrin's card is still accounted for." He explained to the breaching team, "Keep an eye on the doctors and make them comfortable while we figure out where this thing is." Hiriboshi followed the Korean doctor into the main office where the older man was already sitting behind the desk, "There. We have access, General." He rose from the seat and the General sat down.

General Hiriboshi began manipulating the recorded video feed backwards. He saw when Dr. Sembrin was found and continued back a little farther. He paused the feed and pointed to the room on the camera, "How did you find Dr. Sembrin when he left through the front door?" He asked as the video feed showed Dr. Sembrin leaving the Containment Area.

The Korean doctor was shocked, "I have no idea."

General Hiriboshi continued the playback, watching the specimen as it walked back and forth in the hermetically sealed chamber. It frequently peered around the room, then back to the door keeping the chamber sealed. The Korean doctor gasped loudly as the specimen was engulfed in green flames and a completely different creature was left in its place. The soldier standing next to them spoke quietly under his breath, "Camouflage like a fucking god." The General's eyes narrowed as its jagged horn lit up in a green aura. Moments later the door sealing the room slowly opened. The specimen slowly inched its way out of the sealed room, peering around carefully for a moment before it was engulfed in green flames a second time and an exact copy of Dr. Sembrin, clothes and all, was left in its place. It wobbled briefly, as if it had never stood on two legs, before it fell and hit its head on a nearby table. Less than a minute later, the Korean doctor entered the room.

General Hiriboshi grunted unhappily as he turned to the Korean doctor, "The Dr. Sembrin you have in recovery is an alien shapeshifter."

The General rose to his feet and drew his pistol again, "Where is recovery?"

The Korean doctor pointed to the far side of the lab with a shaking hand, "It is the left hand door, sir."

The General stepped into the Containment area and addressed the soldiers, "The specimen appears to be a shapeshifter of some sort. It is in recovery. Let the doctors up and form up on me."

The soldiers let the doctors stand up and arranged themselves around the General, "That door," he gestured to Recovery, "Is where the specimen is now. Seal the rest of the area. If it resists, shoot to kill."

**********

Crimson slowly made his way through the air ducts, trying to be as stealthy as possible. 'The creatures fell for my trick. Granted I didn't plan to fall and knock myself senseless, but it worked out well. The creatures left me alone in a room with a large enough air duct to escape through. I have never been so glad that such things are universal.' The Red Changeling had never been so frightened in his life. His wing was broken and he had been taken prisoner by strange creatures and who knew what kinds of horrors they planned to force on him. 'I have to get out of here. But where do I go?'

He had no idea where he was going. He was lost and afraid. 'Are my wives and foals alright?' He regretted they had never seen him in his true form, but with what Chrysalis had done, there was no way he was going to show them. They might leave him and he would rather die than lose his loves and children. He wondered what happened to his friend, but he was more focused on escaping.

The loud noises and red lights he saw through the vents were disorienting. 'How am I supposed to escape with all that racket? I don't even know where I'm going.' His stomach grumbled loudly, reminding him that it had been days since he had last eaten. Thankfully, years of love had given him a significant amount of love from which to draw from for his magic and transformations.

He continued crawling through the air ducts, it had been hours and still he had no idea where to go. His nose though, told him which direction to follow. It was a smell of cooking food, a type he had not enjoyed in some time: fish. He loved fish, but his wives were definitely not fans. He had almost brought home some fish once, but after hearing his wives complain about the smell, he was glad he decided against it. Now though, the smell called to him like a siren song.

He crept through the vents heeding the inaudible call toward an unknown destination, 'If the creatures are there, I will bide my time until they leave. I need to watch more of them anyway so I can have as many disguises as possible. And I need to find one all alone so I can steal their memories and knowledge. After that, I can formulate an escape plan and go home.'

He continued following his nose, not realizing the anger boiling up from the military personnel and one General, because of Crimson's escape from Recovery.

After what seemed like hours, Crimson finally arrived at the source of the smell. He peeked through the vent and saw what he could only imagine was a dinning room. There, on the table, was the fish he smelled. Taking time to look around, he did not see any of the creatures, which struck him as odd, 'Nobody leaves perfectly good food out to spoil. They must still be here somewhere.' But try as he might, Crimson simply could not spy the residents and his stomach was rumbling more and more with each passing second.

**********

Meiying was feeling more and more nervous as the hours ticked by. Yunru had fallen asleep, but the stress of staring at the door and not knowing who might come and what their intentions were, was pushing the poor woman toward a nervous breakdown. Yunru stirring on the bed brought Meiying's attention back to her daughter. The little girl yawned hugely and rubbed at her eyes, "Daddy back yet?" She asked quietly.

Meiying swallowed hard, "No, he is still working. Go back to sleep, Yunru. He will return before you know it."

Little Yunru stretched her arms and smacked her lips, "I can't. I woke up because I'm hungry."

Meiying felt like a terrible mother. Her own parents had enormous difficulty keeping food on the table when she was little and her memories of growing up each day had ended with her squirming in her bed every night because of her hunger pangs. When Meiying found out she was pregnant, she swore her children would never have to know the pain of going to bed hungry even for a single night, 'But he said not to open the door...' she waged an internal war within herself over the problem. While she knew her husband was a stalwart man who had once easily killed five men who tried to mug them while out on a walk, her maternal instincts demanded that she find a way to feed her little girl, the issue was compounded by the fact that she had sworn to never send her daughter to bed with an empty stomach.

Meiying was torn between obeying her husband, whom she trusted with her very life, and feeding their little girl, 'I know he locked the front door, he always does. There is no way to get in without a key card, and the front door is more solid than this bedroom door... I'm sure he wouldn't begrudge our daughter something to eat. I'll only leave the room long enough to get her a plate. I can go for days without eating, if I have to.'

Swallowing hard at the thought of deviating from her husband's directions, Meiying turned to her little girl, "I need you to be quiet Yunru. I'm going to get you something to eat, but you need to stay silent." Yunru nodded her head in agreement.

Meiying unlocked the door and slung it wide open, holding the pistol in both hands and aiming it at everything she looked at, just like her husband had shown her. She carefully took stock of everything in the Living Room and, finding it clear, proceeded to silently make her way toward the dinning room table.

She spotted the table, but was mindful not to let her eyes linger on it or its contents. She kept her eyes moving, seeing as much as she possibly could and keeping the gun up and ready. She reached the table and switched the gun to her right hand as she carefully picked up the fish tempura, long cooled to room temperature. The basket felt light so she looked inside. There were only two pieces of fish left and one of the two had a bite mark in it. She knew her husband might have taken a piece or two, but she knew without a doubt that her husband would never, ever leave a bitten piece. He was too strict about finishing food and he would have left plenty for Meiying and Yunru, 'Somebody is in here...' her thoughts began to run rampant as she spotted the mangled vent from the air duct which fed fresh air through the entire facility, 'They didn't make a sound... and they might still be nearby.'

Meiying instantly turned flee, but as she turned, before she could run, she came face to face with an older Bosnian man who was wearing a doctor's lab coat. Moving before she realized she had done so, Meiying's knee came up into the crotch of the man, a defensive move her husband had taught her in case she were ever cornered. As the Bosnian man bent double, his form flickered and he was enveloped in flames. Meiying raised her hands and as the flames died away, she saw a creature out of nightmare.

Keeping her hands steady, Meiying stepped back before it could move, and began firing the gun at the creature.

**********

General Hiriboshi was in security station nineteen trying and failing to find any evidence of where the specimen might have gone. He knew it was using the air ducts, but it could come out literally anywhere. He was constantly urging the security monitoring staff to find something, moving from console to display monitor to audio recording station.

"Sir, picking up sounds of gunfire from the microphone at junction one-four-three-nine, Residential Zone." One of the operators suddenly spoke up.

General Hiriboshi darted across the room and peered at the monitor, his worst fears becoming reality, "Most of the residents don't have guns. Which squads are in the area?" He asked urgently. The operator clicked his headset and spoke, "Squads in Residential Zone near one-four-three-nine, report in immediately."

The response came back almost instantly, "Saunders here, I have confirmed sounds of gunfire from apartment three-five-zero-five-two-eight. Hiriboshi family residence."

General Hiriboshi was gone from security station nineteen before the operator had time to inform him. He ran for all he was worth, calling out instructions to the squad over his command headset as he went.

**********

Nine minutes later, General Hiriboshi came running around the corner and in sight of his family's apartment. The squad was already in position around his door rifles at the ready, "Call out for my wife, Meiying, by name! Breach, NOW!" he ordered.

The squad leader tapped his access card against the reader and the squad entered the apartment saying Meiying's name loudly, yelling orders, and calling out information as they went. General Hiriboshi ran in after them and had to skid to a halt at the sight which greeted him.

Meiying was lying on her back with a medic tending to the blood seeping from a wound in her chest, while the specimen was lying on the floor at the point of five rifles. Its horn was covered in blood, but it sported seven bullet holes in its face and body. It wheezed, breathing in and out shallowly. Its neck bulged oddly as it turned to look at the General, obviously suffering from internal injuries to its neck and head, its jaw shattered by the bullets. Blood seeped from its open mouth as it panted for breath. It looked to Meiying's prone form then back to General Hiriboshi again. Its eyes slipped closed and its head drooped slowly to the floor.

The General quickly slid past the creature and the medic attending to his wife. He opened the bedroom door and saw his little girl curled up in the corner of the room rocking back and forth as she sat on the floor with her hands covering her ears and terrified tears streaming down her face.

Hearing her Father's voice, Yunru looked up and saw her Father standing in the doorway. In a flash, she sprang to her feet and crashed into her daddy, eyes closed and with fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. She wailed in both relief and fear as she dealt with the stress and fear in the only way any three year old knows how, in the safe arms of a parent. Mommy calms nightmares, but daddy is the one who protects from physical dangers.

As the General knelt down quietly shushing his little girl, his thoughts turned dark, 'Capturing that thing was a mistake. As soon as it got free it went after helpless civilians... it went after my family... MY FAMILY...' his thoughts turned darker still in ways most people will never know.

Author's Notes:

Another chapter down. Feel free to leave comments and let me know if we missed any typos.