> TERMINAL5 > by Master Lyra > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > SECTION 1: START UP COMPLETE > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >: LOGIN PROCESSING. . . >: LOGIN COMPLETE - ACCESS GRANTED. >: ACCESSING FILES. . . >: FILES ACCESSED. >; SEARCH “VIDEOS” >: SEARCHING. . . >: FOUND # VIDEOS- PLAY FIRST (Y/N) >; Y. >: LOADING FILE. . . >: FILE LOAD COMPLETE. >: PLAY VIDEO “SECURITY5/1/13” (Y/N) >; Y. >: PLAYING VIDEO. . . A grey security video starts playing. The video is low in quality. Footsteps are heard. 2 people walk into view, and they appear to be in an argument. “…and, boom, I was out and back here. So, they must have something pretty importanté in Sector 3. “I told you, they always do that and so nothings there!” “Listen, no they-“ Their rant is cut short when a burly looking man in a military suite walks into view. Instantly, the two other men salute the burly man. The man raises a hand to stop the salute. He starts speaking. “Boys, we have a problem. What I’m about to tell you is confidential. This may never be repeated until you receive further notification.” The men look slightly worried, apparently never having to keep any information confidential. They hesitantly nod their heads. “Good. Now, on to the facts; last week our spies for the medical department found a man on the street speaking in gibberish. After quickly closing off the area, normal doctors deduced he was medically insane. He was put into the insane asylum. When our spies did the usual check, this is what they found.” The man holds up a notebook, presumably the dialogue that the victim and the spies had. “Let’s see here… okay. ‘When asked who he was, he muttered something like Big Macintosh and he randomly started speaking in a southern drawl. Normally, we would just pass this up, but we decided to ask more. When asked what he was, he said he was, quote: An earth pony. We then also asked where he lives, he said: Sweet Apple Acres. We shrugged this off and left him,’” The big man clears his throat. “That’s what it says. But listen to this, a day later, within a block of the first man, a second man is found on the sidewalk also speaking gibberish. When taken to an asylum and asked the same questions, he responded: ‘I’m Rainbow Dash, the…the coolest…pegasus in Equestria…’ He answered to no other questions. Again, the next day within a block radius of the first man, a woman is found. Again, more nonsensical talk like: ‘Where…where’s my books…I need my books…Princess Celestia will kill me…’” The man slams the notebook down on the ground. “Ten cases of almost identical location and circumstance occurred with increasingly less time in between reports. Our agents went in and investigated. What they found was disturbing.” The man pulls out multiple pictures from his pocket. The man walks over to a table and motions for the two other men to look. They hover over the pictures, blocking the view of them. “Oh lord. How is that even possible?!” “That…defies everything…” The tough man grimly nods. “Apparently they went to investigate a house and found all of this. Apparently all of this was done by a crazy biologist who was obsessed with the show ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.’ The people who spoke nonsense believed they were characters from the show. We’re assuming he used some chemicals or something to affect their brains. But only assuming. We need you two to try and bring enough of their sanity back to find out about all of this, and then we can properly terminate this strange sickness. We have brought one of the victims here, in Sector 3. You have ten minutes to get there and conduct interrogation. Understood?” The men give a salute and say, “Understood.” All the men leave the room, and the video abruptly ends. >: VIDEO COMPLETE. >: CHECKING FOR PLAYLIST. . . >: PLAYLIST FOUND- ONE VIDEO REMAINING. >: PLAY VIDEO “SECURITYS35/1/13” (Y/N) >; Y >: PLAYING VIDEO. . . This video is also grey. It shows a room with a single cell, and there is a person inside sleeping. Two men walk into the simple room wearing military outfits. They appear to be hesitant to start whatever they will do. One man finally speaks. “H…hello?” The inmate jolts awake and immediately trains his gaze on both the men. They look extremely uncomfortable and shift from side to side. The inmate decides to strike up a conversation instead. “Hi! Can you guys get me out of here?” The man says with a strangely female like tone. “I’m Pinkie Pie! I need to see my friends!” The two military men look at each other, and one whispers something into the others ear. They both nod reluctantly. “So, um…Pinkie, how did you get here…?” One asks. The person in the cell shrugs. “I dunno. I just now woke up here after I had a strange dream where I was in a white room with uncaring meanies who tried to hold me down and I heard a weird voice in my head so I got scared so I laughed and then I got jabbed with a needle and fell asleep. I wasn’t scared they weren’t ponies in the dream because it somehow felt right but now I’m confused why you are weird Diamond Dog things except not grey or mean at least I don’t think you’re mean but I don’t know ‘cause you haven’t been talking and you are just looking at me weird and I don’t like it,” he finished, not seeming to take a breath. The military men just gawk at him, stunned. They clear their throat and awkwardly ask, “So you don’t know why you’re here?” The jailed man smiles an extremely huge smile. “Nope.” One of the men holds up a paper. “Do these names mean anything to you? Does the name John, Diane, Joey, Mary, or Ashley?” The inmate looks up at the ceiling, as if to think. “Hmm…other than the fact Diane is my middle name, nope doesn’t ring any bells.” He sighs. “I wish- whoa!” A little puff of pink escapes his lips when he sighs. He waves his hand through it. “Wow! I can see my real body through this cloud!” He demonstrates this by waving a now pink hoof through the cloud. He rapidly breaths, increasing the amount of pink in the air. The army men watch, eyes snapped open in surprise. They stay frozen in place watching a large ball of pink gas come their way. They finally back into a corner and ball up in fear. The wall of gas suddenly covers the camera, causing the screen to turn into quickly moving streams of black and white. Loud scratching is heard over muffled screams, coughs, and moans. The video stays like this for roughly ten minutes. Suddenly, the video changes to quickly moving stripes of multiple colors. The scratching stops. The video lazily returns, and the room scene has changed. The two men are doubled over laughing and a pink pony, outside of the cell, laughs with them. The pink pony regains composure. “And...and then…and then I said ‘Oatmeal? Are you crazy?!’” The group bursts out with laughing again in a new fit. There is still a pink haze in the room. The men look slightly confused and pained while laughing, like it was forced. Their skin color looks unnaturally bright and cartoonish.  They wipe their now teary eyes and take deep breaths. “Wow Pinkie Pie, that was hilarious!” The men say in an eerie unison. The bubblegum colored pony, presumably Pinkie Pie, looks at them with a huge smile, but the smile is quickly replaced by a small grin. “Wowie, you guys are soooooo much fun! I forgot to ask your names, though. What are your names?” They open their mouths, but then close them with a tight frown. “I don’t remember.” “Me either.” Pinkie Pie gives them an arched eyebrow, but then a large smile replaces it. “Okay, I’ll name you!” Both men stare silently, and then nod. “Good! You are…hmm…Ice Cream! And you are…Sarsaparilla!” The newly named men bob their heads enthusiastically, with goofy smiles on their faces. ‘Ice Cream’ looks around the room, until he sees the camera. “Hey Pinkie Pie, I’m going to take away the…camera thingy. The…general might come here to ruin the fun!” Pinkie Pie nods, and ‘Ice Cream’ runs and jumps, with surprising agility, to the camera. A snapping sound is faintly heard before the screen goes blank. >: VIDEO FINISHED. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTION. . . > SECTION 2: JVlog > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >; SEARCH “JVLOG” >: SEARCHING FOR “JVLOG”. . . >: PLAYLIST FOUND- ^%$*&^$ VIDEOS IN PLAYLIST. PLAY VIDEOS (Y/N) >; Y >: PRE-LOADING VIDEOS. . . >: DONE. >: VIDEO PLAYING- “JVlog1”. . . The video starts out black. Voices in the background are heard. Shakily, the camera is picked up and flipped over on to a person’s face. He is a boy with greasy, dirty blond hair. He looks to be in his teens. In the background is a wall with a shuttered window, and he is on a bed. He checks to see if the camera is on, and starts talking. “Hey everyone, this is Josh Walkins bringing you the first video in JVlog. I’ll be talking about, well, a situation I found very intriguing that was brought up lately. I’ll give my thoughts on the matter through this video blog thingy. So, for anyone who doesn’t live in America or who lives under a rock, the government has been obviously covering something up. I’ve been looking into the case and have found some information. Last month, the government closed down the street right next to us explaining ‘it was under construction.’” “Now, everyone who lives in this town or has half a brain knows that’s B.S. We drive by there every day to go to high school and when that happened, they had FBI cars swarmed all over the place. They had one house in particular closed off. It’s actually the house of my best friend, Lance. Or it used to be. He was moved out, he told me, and his father was taken to jail for some reason he didn’t know. He wouldn’t say any more, it looked like he was pretty shaken. Anyway, Lance was moved to his mom’s house, not that far away. I think the whole situation is pretty fishy.” “On to the next point. A couple weeks ago, the government banned a show. It was a big thing, and a couple protests broke out over it. Apparently it was loved by ‘bronies’ or something. I don’t know; I didn’t watch it. It was, ah…what was it called?” He pulls out a piece of paper. “Oh yeah. It was called: ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.’ Lance was a big follower of the show, he was pretty mad. The government never explained why they banned it, either. Just, boom; it’s gone” A loud, indistinguishable, female voice is heard in the background, and Josh turns his head to the side and yells, “Okay Mom, just a minute!” He then faces the camera again. “Okay, well that looks like that is all for JVlog this time, see you guys, bye!” The camera shuts off and the screen is blank. >: VIDEO FINISHED. PLAY NEXT VIDEO “JVlog2” (Y/N) >; Y >: PLAYING VIDEO. . . The screen abruptly turns on again, showing Josh Walkins. He looks at the camera with a look of excitement and fear. “Umm hi guys, this is Jvlog and Josh Walkins here. This is somewhat of an emergency announcement. Today at school I found Lance, who had been avoiding me and practically everyone else, and forced out some juicy details! He refused to let me do it with the camera but oh well.” He pulls out a notebook. “Okay. So, I asked him a couple questions before he started…well, freaking out. The first question I asked him was, ‘Do you know anything more about the jailing of your father?’ He winced, and then said, ‘Sort of. They didn’t jail him for no reason.’ I tried to get him to explain further, but he didn’t. Anyway, the second question I asked was, ‘Does the stuff happening with the T.V. show have to do with your father?’ He didn’t respond to that, so I assume no. So then I asked one final question, ‘Why have you been avoiding everyone?’ He then shook his head and laughed, ‘Avoiding? I’ve been saving you Josh.’ He then started laughing like a madman. I got creeped out and left.” “That’s how that went. It got pretty weird when he started laughing like an evil villain out of a tacky movie. Next time I get the chance I’ll use the camera to interrogate him, so I have proof. So, I hope you guys liked this installment of JVlog, see ya!” The video turns off. >: VIDEO FINISHED. PLAY NEXT VIDEO “JVlog5” (Y/N) >; Y >: PLAYING VIDEO. . . Josh appears on the screen. He looks terrible, his hair is messed up, and he looks like he has not slept for days. He speaks, drearily, “Hey guys… Josh Walkins here with another JVlog… I finally caught Lance and tied him to a chair to interrogate him, so now I have proof for all you haters. ARE YOU HAPPY?!” Josh turns away and sighs. “Sorry, I’m just a little on edge. So, without further ado, here’s Lance…” The camera turns to a teen bathed in a single light and tied to a chair. He looks a little older than Josh, with jet black hair covering his face. “Okay Lance. Have you said all those things?” Lance barely moves. “Yes.” He croaks. Josh lets out a content ‘humph’ before continuing. “Good. Now, I’ll make you answer some questions, since last time I got you here you refused to answer everything I asked. I have reinforcement if you don’t answer me.” The camera moves to a baseball bat sitting next to the chair. “Alright Lance, why have you been avoiding everyone still? You never said anything other than ‘I’m saving you’ or something. Why are you avoiding us? How are you ‘saving’ us?” Lance chuckles. “Josh, if you can’t trust your best friend, then who can you trust? I have been saving you and everyone else. If you can’t believe me, then I’ll have to show you, and I don’t want to do that. It’s what dad would have wanted.” Josh starts seething with explosive rage. “BEST FRIEND?! YOU THINK I’M YOUR BEST FRIEND AFTER ALL YOU’VE DONE TO ME?! YOU MAKE NO SENSE!” Lance chuckles once again. “Josh, how are you so blind? You have no idea what I’ve been through or the emotional and mental struggles I’ve had to go through. First my dad puts me in an experiment, then he’s jailed, then I have to live with my abusive mom. If you hadn’t been so blind, then maybe it wouldn’t have come to this…” Lance breaks the bonds around his body. “I can’t hold him off any longer and…” Lance pops into thin air. Josh screams. Lance reappears right in front of the camera. “What fun is there in making sense?” >: ERROR1241631241636- FILE IS CORRUPTED AFTER SELECTED POINT. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTION. . . >; RETRY >: PLAYING VIDEO. . . >: ERROR1241631241636- FILE IS CORRUPTED AFTER SELECTED POINT. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTION. . . >; RETRY UNDER ADMINISTRATOR >: PLAYING VIDEO. . . >: ERROR23424668- ONLY SOME OF THE FILE WAS RETRIEVED. PLAY ANYWAY (Y/N) >; Y >: PLAYING VIDEO. . . The camera faces the floor. Cackling is heard in the background. It sounds like there are two voices. “…I feel so high right now…” “Yeah this gas does that. Though I’ve gotten used to it.” “Wow. Look at the room.” “What about it? It looks nice.” “It looks like a tornado ripped through here.” Laughing. “That’s because one did.” More laughing. “What’ll happen now?” “Now? Well, that depends on you. I would take over the world, but I’m okay with whatever.” “Hmmm. How about we just keep this to ourselves?” “Oh, alright. Party-pooper.” “Who will I be?” “What?” “Who will I be now?” “Whoever you’re most like, Josh.” “Sweet.” The video suddenly greys out, leaving a blank screen. >: ERROR1241631241636- FILE IS CORRUPTED AFTER SELECTED POINT. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTION. . . >; DELETE PLAYLIST “JVlog” >: DELETING PLAYLIST. . . >: PLAYLIST DELETED. ALL DATA IN PLAYLIST HAS BEEN TERMINATED FROM MEMORY. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTION. . . > SECTION 3: Scheisse! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N Whoa, nelly! Slow down. I have a forewarning here. This chapter contains swearing and another language. I have included translations in the first comment, but you will probably be able to tell what it is. Just in case. Okay… go ahead! >; SEARCH “MUSIC” >: SEARCHING FOR AUDIO FILES. . . >: SEARCH COMPLETE- 12 FILES FOUND. >; PLAY >: PLAYING FIRST FILE “MOMENTO”. . . The screen remains black, and only a timer is shown. It counts up with the seconds. Only scratching is heard for five seconds. Slowly, the scratching stops and a far-away voice is heard. The voice is indistinguishable. Then the voice abruptly becomes clear, laden with a husky accent. “Ah! Dieses Computer ist scheisse! Ahh…Hallo. Zis is my audio diary…uh…ja! Johan’s audio diary! I made zis because I wanted to have zomezing for me to be remembered, because…vell… zomezing is very wrong. Everyone iz freaking out out in my little town. Ze clouds have stopped moving and wild animals are starving for no real reason.  Ze scariest zing iz da days und nights are twice as long, like zey are slowing down or zomezing. Ze government iz trying to calm everyone, but es iz not verking. Protests have broken out saying ve should live on za moon or zomezing. Even creepier iz how at least 200,000 people have gone missing. And I am one hundred pearcent sure I saw a purple cloud somewhere. Scientists have also gone mad trying to explain ze phenomena, and ver it all began. It iz zad actually. I myself believe es iz zat crazy biologist from America. Speaking of America, zat place is now closed off  all communication from everywhere else. No one know why either. Makes you vonder, you know? Oh, right now I am in my basement, because a massive riot iz going on outzide.  It makes it seem no one is inzide.” A loud crash, like glass breaking, is heard and unclear yelling is heard over the din. “Scheisse! Ahh… zey have found me. Vell… fick der Welt. Aufwiedersehen, Johan’s Diary.” The audio ends. >: AUDIO FILE FINISHED. AWIATING FURTHER INSTRUCTION. . . >; PLAY NEXT >: FILE “NEXT” DOES NOT EXIST OR IS NOT UNDER THE DIRECTORY. >; SEARCH DATE “7/13/13” >: SEARCHING. . . >: SEARCH COMPLETE- 1 FILES FOUND >; PLAY FILE >: PLAYING VIDEO “CS11254315”. . . The screen instantly turns on and shows the face of a grubby thirty year man who is obviously nervous and afraid. He is constantly looking around, checking for something. Suddenly, he talks. “Okay, it looks like there’s a break in the attacks. I don’t know how in hell I’ll be able to hold them off for long. Damn wretches… Alright, this is for you guys. Joey, you’re the man of the house, if there is one. Take care of your older sister, okay? Be a big man for me. Susan, you’re a smart young woman. You can find a place for you and your brother to hide. Make sure to watch out for him okay? Me and mom are so proud of you. You guys have grown so much…” The man is in tears now. A small clop clop is beginning to be heard. The man wipes the tears off his face, and sets the camera down. He walks off screen. Suddenly, a loud bang bang fires off mixed with muffled screaming. The man reappears on screen with a shotgun slung over his shoulder. He picks up the camera while mumbling “The American way…” Once he picks up the camera, he starts speaking again. “Sorry ‘bout that. That’s the only way to hold them off without them brainwashing me. If you find this video, the shotgun will either be in my dead body’s hand or under this table. I hope you live wonderful lives, children.” A loud ensemble of clopping begins. The man turns pale, and swears, He puts the shotgun under the table. He faces the camera one last time. “Bye…” Four or five colorful figures enter the screen. They appear to be small horses, or ponies. They surround the man in a circle. The man puts himself in fighting stance. “If you’re going to take me, you'll have to fight me!” One of the ponies, an orange mare, trots out from the formation and bucks the man’s shoulder with lightning quick speed. He instantly passes out. The group goes deadly silent. “Are you sure that this is necessary, Twi?” She asks uneasily. “If princess says it is, it is. I don’t like it, but they could be a threat to New Equestria,” a purple female with a horn protruding out her head replies. “If you say so…” She puts the unconscious man on her back with an audible groan. A cyan pony, who has wings, says, “I still don’t understand why you can’t use your magic…” The purple one huffs. “I’ve already told you Rainbow Dash. Magic doesn’t exist here for some reason. After we woke up here, I couldn’t use magic. Princess Celestia says there’s no magic. So there’s no magic.” The rainbow one snorts as a response. “And I can hardly fly. And the sun and moon move on their own. And these creatures inhabit here. This is so weird!” Murmurs of agreement pass through the group, except for one. “I don’t know, maybe they’re friendly? Perhaps we should negotiate… if you want to… eep!” The cream colored mare shies away after her outburst. The purple one, presumably the leader, answers her question. “Fluttershy, you know we looked through some of their history books and found they were violent. They’ve had so many wars; it’s hard to keep count! They would probably try and imprison us or something. Dissect us. That wouldn’t be fun.” The yellow pony meekly nods as a response. The group of ponies walk off screen. The scenery remain blank for ten minutes. Then the rainbow one, Rainbow Dash, returns. She looks around, and hurriedly walks up to the camera. She smiles as she walks around it, studying it. “Heh. I could use you…” The screen goes blank. >: VIDEO COMPLETE. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTION. . . > SECTION 4: James Steel > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N Swearing warning. >; SEARCH DATE “7/5/13” >: SEARCHING. . . >: SEARCH COMPLETE. 1 FILES FOUND. PLAY FILE (Y/N) >; Y >: PLAYING VIDEO “SECURITYS37/5/13” A grey scene appears. There is a large round table in the middle of the room filled with important looking people. They wear fancy suits and dresses, but their faces betray it with looks of fear and worry. Idle chatter fills the air. They seem to be waiting for something. As if on a cue, the doors swing open to reveal a large yet pristine man. The room turns silent. The man, now flanked by two bodyguards, sits down at the table. He looks at the faces surrounding him, sighs, and says only; “They’ve captured New York.” Shocked and displeased murmurs pass through the table, but the man holds up his hand, effectively silencing everyone present. “Has the biologist said any more, Mr. Strassen?” “No, Mr. President,” one man at the table replies. “I’m afraid I won’t have that title for very long unless he tells us something.” The man slams his hand on the desk. “Those damn ‘ponies’ have converted 2 million more. If we don’t find a cure, and fast, then we’ll be the United States of Equestria!” The president looks to a woman at the table. “Bring him to me.” The woman nervously nods her head and leaves. The room stays silent. After a few minutes, a man hoisted by two bulky bodyguards enters. He looks to be about forty years old, and he has a grubby stubble. He wears a smirk as he is planted and locked into a chair. The president, with a look of obvious disgust, starts asking him questions. “What the hell is your name?” The grubby man shrugs. “James Steel.” The man replies. “Can we turn the people back?” The president asks again. The man’s smirk grows in size as he very slowly shakes his head. The president sighs and runs his hands through his hair. “Why did you do this?” The man laughs. “The world as we know it is corrupt. People are by nature greedy, selfish bastards who’ll stab you in the back the first chance they’ll get, if they think they will gain something from it. The ponies, by nature, are pure, selfless beings. They naturally love and tolerate each other, coexisting in harmony. Face it; the time of humans is gone. We have killed so many people to benefit ourselves. Our attempts at peace are always disrupted by some whack-job who wants to cause chaos. You may think this is ironic, but I only want the world to be better. If the world is innocent, pure and peaceful; isn’t that what the world has wanted for so long?” “Maybe it takes a new species for this to happen. All I know is that we just need to embrace the ponies. Sure, I didn’t think it could spread, but is it really so bad? It was bound to happen sooner or later. We were probably going to kill each other by a nuclear war. At least this way our spirit lives on, and the generations after us do not have to suffer for what we’ve done.” The president scrutinizes the man, looking past his eyes. Finally, the president sighs. He turns to the rest of the round table, and reluctantly says; “We’ll surrender.” The video ends. >: VIDEO FINISHED. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTION. . . >; SEARCH AUTHOR “Lance Steel” >: SEARCHING. . . >: SEARCH COMPLETE. 1 FILES FOUND. PLAY FILE (Y/N) >; Y >: PLAYING VIDEO. . . The video turns on to show a dusty basement with a table bathed in a yellow light. The camera is shaky, jerking around. The camera then turns to show an older teen with jet black hair. He looks excited. “Hi guys. This is Lance. I snuck into my dad’s basement to look at what he didn’t want me to look at. It’s a weird desk, but the rest is dark and I didn’t want my dad to find me here.” Suddenly, loud footsteps sound in the background. “Oh shit! I gotta hide!” The camera moves away from his face and faces the desk again, but lower. Lance is presumably hiding behind something. A man walks into view. He glances around, checking for a disturbance. He frowns, but then he shrugs and flips a switch. It reveals the rest of the room. The room is large. The walls are white-wash. Strewn across the room are various chairs and cages containing animals and the occasional person. The people are disturbing. One man is half human half pony. He gives an occasional twitch. Another man is fully cartoonish, but randomly bursts out laughing and also screams randomly as well. One of the cages is filled with a rabbit that is cartoonish, and he seems to be fine. Another cage has a dog that is a mixture of limbs of cartoonish qualities and normal qualities. It barks with a strange voice. The man looks at the cartoon rabbit with a look of accomplishment. He takes the cage to the table and writes down information. Lance gives a startled gasp and mutters, “Oh my god…” The man instantly freezes. He gets up, and turns around. Lance screams. The man calmly approaches Lance. Lance place the camera behind an object, but it is still in view of the scene. Lance is dragged by the man to a chair. He locks Lance into place. The man starts speaking. “Lance, why did you go down here?” Lance gulps and meekly answers, “I wanted to see what was down here…” The man shakes his head. “Son, when will you listen to me? But I can’t really be mad at you. When I was younger I was also adventurous. So I’ll just test on you instead. You arrived at the perfect time, Lance. I just finished a new version of the medicine I’ve been working on. I hope this teaches you a lesson, Lance.” The man picks up something off the desk and walks over to Lance. It looks to be a syringe. He pulls up Lance’s sleeve. Lance struggles against the bonds, but to no avail. The man injects a pink substance into Lance’s arteries. Lance bites his lips. The syringe empties, and the man puts the syringe in a trash can. He picks up a clipboard and a pencil off the table and walks towards Lance. He pulls up a chair and sits there, watching. He begins to ask a few questions. “So, how are you feeling?” Lance frowns. “Not that well. It feels all tingly.” The man writes down something. “Okay. Tell me, what do you like to do?” Lance gives him a curious glance. “Well, you know I like to play soccer. I also like to go skateboarding and hang out with my friends.” The man nods. “Okay. So, who are your friends?” “Well, my best friend is Josh. I also have a crush on Emily.” The man smiles, and writes down something. “Why do you like Emily?” “Well, she’s hot and nice.” The man nods. “Why are you being so honest?” Lance opens his mouth, but then closes it. “Uh, I don’t know.” The man writes something else down. “Tell me, who is best pony?” Lance smiles a toothy smile. “Pony? Best pony is not a pony. Best pony is Discord.” The man’s smile disappears as he freezes. He then slowly nods. He writes something down. He stands up, and releases Lance. Lance looks surprised, but quickly walks off. The man smiles. “He’ll be a good servant.” The man leaves the room. The video stays showing the same scene for roughly ten minutes. Then, the screaming man abruptly screams very loudly. Then he starts to morph. His limbs move, the audible crunching and snapping sounding. His skin color slowly turns orange. The limbs arrange into a quad pedal position, and his hair recedes but comes back, golden, to form a mane. A snout forms, and his eyes become larger and have large eyelashes. A tail grows. Finally, freckles form on his face, and a Stetson hat pops out of nowhere onto his head. He passes out as an explosion somewhere sounds and blasts the camera away and off. >: VIDEO FINISHED. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTION. . . > BONUS 1: Pinkie Pie > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: Heads up, the bonus chapters will be done out of the normal fashion and will not be necessary to read. Although they will fill some plot holes. Also, you are going to hate me. But it’ll be okay. *snap* Pinkie Pie watched as the camera was snapped off its place on the wall. Ice Cream now had a very pleased look on his face as he held the now sparking camera. Though her face showed no signs of it, Pinkie was worried. How can anypony forget their name? She thought, observing Ice Cream happily smash the used to be camera into a wall. He…she…it whatever is pretty violent. I wonder if it’s a side effect of the ga- WARNING: SECURITY THREAT IN SECTOR 3! WARNING: SECURITY THREAT IN SECTOR 3! The pink pony didn’t need to be told thrice. She had already grabbed her two new friends, hauled them on her back, and bolted right out of the prison room. The flashing red lights and loud sirens were meant to disorient the most likely escapee, but Pinkie Pie, the party animal, was quite used to it. The aforementioned pony was rounding corners at random, not really knowing where she was headed. The trip was made long and eerie, no thanks to the empty hallways and the sleeping creatures on her back. After what seemed like hours of running, she reached a door that blatantly said: EXIT “Yes!” Pinkie squealed, finally happy to be able to relieve her load. She put all of her energy into sprinting towards the door, bucked it open and… …found herself in a room full of the angry looking creatures. Oh darn. So close. About ten of them slid long looking tubes onto their shoulder and yelled “Fire!” Ten missiles went straight towards the stunned pony and sleeping creatures. The missiles were dead on. Everyone in the room covered their ears when the huge boom penetrated the air. Soot flew out everywhere, and smoke made everyone cough. Medics walked up the gas, expecting to find dead bodies. But when the gas cleared, it showed two sleeping creatures and a stunned pink pony. Pinkie and the gang were almost comically covered in soot. Pinkie Pie blinked three times, shook her coat out, and giggled. It was not a nice giggle. Pinkie Pie giggled more, leaving the whole room stunned and actually scared. Finally, she stopped the display and said: “That was pretty funny! Lemme try now!” As quick as a rabbit in a sugar high, Pinkie kicked the tube out of one of the creatures hands jumped up, and fired it at the group. Pinkie only saw a leg fly out in front of her before she fell to the ground, face first. She blacked out. ***UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF TIME LATTER*** Her vision slowly returned, almost lazily. Pinkie jerked her head left and right. She was in a spotlessly white room, only interrupted by a chair and a light dangling overhead. Pinkie Pie then noticed she was laying belly up, bound by numerous restraints and gagged. Pinkie Pie tested them and tried yelling to no avail. She was just left there to brood over what had happened. I hope everypony is okay, especially my new friends. Maybe they’re bound up like me. I hope the creatures didn’t hurt them. As if almost on cue, muffled screaming came from somewhere else. Oh no… I wonder if Twilight could- my friends! Where are they? Am I the only one in this world? If they’re here I hope they’re okay… I just wish I wasn’t alone… Pinkie Pie’s brooding was interrupted by the sound of opening doors. The pony strained to turn her head towards the source. It was one of the creatures from the room. He held some sort of collar and a remote in his hands. The party pony stayed uncharacteristically quiet as he placed the collar around her neck. The creature then sat down in the chair and ungagged her. Pinkie started talking a mile a minute. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name? What are you? Where are we? Are my friends here? Are they hurt? Why am I tied up? Will I be untiARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The creature had pressed the button on the remote and it sent electrical shocks throughout Pinkie Pie’s body. He left it on for five seconds before turning it off and leaving a gasping pony in its wake. “Whoa! I think your prank device has too many volts!” She said, still gasping. The creature gave a dark chuckle and shook his head. “Pony, you’ll have to learn I ask the questions. Now shut up and let me talk.” After hearing nothing more from the pony, he spoke more. “Good. Killing men is punishable by law, let alone twenty men at the same time in cold blood. That will get you executed. However, if you answer some of my questions then we’ll let you live.” Pinkie Pie’s pupils shrank down to pinpricks. Her usual smile turned into a fearful frown.  “I…I killed somepony?” The creature smiled. “Twenty people. With a rocket launcher.” Pinkie Pie’s mane and tail deflated instantly. Her frown drooped lower, her lips quivering. She started bawling shamelessly in front of the man, her tears streaking down her body. I killed somepony. I killed somepony. I killed 20 someponies. I…I’m evil… My friends would hate me… My family would hate me… I… I’ve disgraced the Pie name… The only way to halfway repay for this would be… “*sniff* Just…Just let m...me die…” The man’s smile faltered to a frown for a moment. But as soon as it was gone, it came back. “Hmm… I don’t know pony. We were planning on bringing your friends to you…” Pinkie Pie instantly squirmed. “NO! THEY CAN’T KNOW!  THEY WILL HATE ME FOREVER! I NEED TO DIE PEACEFULLY WITHOUT THEM KNOWING!” She screamed, tears flying around everywhere as she violently shook her head. The man just laughed. “Okay Pie. We’ll do just that.” He stood up and walked out the same way he came. There was a man in a surgeon’s outfit on the other side. The man whispered to the doctor: “I broke her. Just go and dissect her.” The doctor gave a nervous smile before nodding and walked towards the door. But once he got there, he hesitated. “Did she really kill anyone?” The doctor asked. The man laughed. “Nope.” > BONUS 2: Applejack's Beginning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N I know you hate me, but it’s okay. Just read. “Ugh… it feels like Ah drank too many glasses of hard cider…” I groggily looked up from my laid down position. I found myself in a dark room, smelling of many animals. It was small and wet. Wow, where am Ah? I thought, rising from my prone position. I slipped and fell on my unbalanced feet. Why can’t Ah balance mahself? Why can Ah not remember anything? I finally stood up, my legs almost groaning in protest. I looked around again, this time for an exit. The only one I could see was stairs. I took a step forward only to face plant on the ground. Why am Ah having such a hard time? Ah’ve been doing this my whole life…haven’t Ah? Why can’t Ah remember anything!? Let me review what Ah now about me: Mah name is…uh… gosh darnit Ah don’t know! Ah feel like breaking down and crying! I looked up at the hat that was on my head. It was made out of straw and it looked like a cowboy hat. Hmm… maybe this holds some clues… I stood up again and tilted the hat off of my head. It’s a…Stetson. Yeah, that’s what it’s called. Ah guess that explains the southern drawl. I looked at my orange colored body. I turned to get different views of myself. I had a trio of apples on my hips/butt area. What a weird tattoo… apples…apples…hmm… I mentally shrugged and practiced walking. It became easier and easier as I continued. Ah guess Ah need to get good at this. It’ll probably be important walking. I snorted to myself at the joke as I kept walking. After about ten minutes, I was pretty good at it. Well, let’s try the stairs. I headed to the stairs when I started to hear footsteps. Crap. Why do Ah get a bad feeling about this? “…on the rabbit and the dog. Hopefully the screaming guy died. He was probably in a lot of pain.” I froze as I saw a person walk down the very stairs I walking to, muttering to himself. He walked over to a light switch and flipped it on. He turned towards a newly revealed table and picked up a clipboard. Then he started singing an oddly familiar song. “Winter wrap-up, winter wrap-up! Let’s finish our holid-“ He froze as he stood in front of an empty chair. “Holy shit. He disappeared.” He observed. He turned around, probably to check for the missing person. That’s when he spotted me. I stood frozen while he did too. He dropped his clipboard and his jaw hung loosely. We stood there like that for what could have been hours but probably were only a few moments. I thought I could break the ice. “Uhh… hi there!” The person turned white and passed out. “Well shoot! He’s a shy one.” I stated, actually quite shaken. Am Ah the only one of mah kind? Am Ah a freak? Maybe Ah’m rare or somethin’. Ah just wish he would wake up so Ah could ask some questions about myself. I laid down the only way I knew how: flopping over. I actually felt really tired. I decided to take a quick nap on the floor. I woke up to the sound of talking. I lazily opened my eyes. “Few more minutes Big Mac…” I said without really knowing it, shutting my eyes once more. “….jack? Applejack? Applejack, are you awake?” I heard from beside me. “Ah said few more minutes Big Mac!” I said, more angrily than before. It’s the weekend for Pete’s sake! I slowly opened my eyes again to the sight of a white basement and a man standing above me, looking excited about something. Suddenly, my mind felt like it had been clouded by something. Oh mah gosh! How long did Ah nap? Who’s Big Mac?! Who’s Applejack? Who’s that man? I opened my mouth to say something, but the man shook his head. “It’s okay Applejack, you need your rest.” A few things were running through my head at this point. 1.           Is Applejack mah name? 2.           Is Big Mac someone Ah know? 3.           How in hell does this man know my theoretical name? 4.           Am Ah going crazy? I stared at the man.  “Who’s Applejack?” He furrowed his brow and wrote something down on a clipboard. “So do you know who you are?” He asked, pointing his pencil at me. I shook my head as a reply. Ah think Ah’m some sort of test subject. By the way he’s actin’, Ah’m pretty important.  He looked over my body more, checking each detail. I blushed as he looked below my stomach, but I had no idea why. He lingered in that area, tapping his chin with his pencil. Then he wrote something down. Hmm… Then he sat down in his chair. I took this opportunity to ask some questions about myself, since it seemed he knew me. “’Scuse me mister, but who am Ah?” The man sighed and looked down at his hands. He looked downcast. “I wish I could tell you. I really do. But, alas, I cannot. It would probably put your brain in like some sort of shut down mode. Why? Well, I can’t tell you that either. The only way you can get your memory back is to have objects that might trigger some chemic…memories.” I scrunched my muzzle as a response, but he looked smart enough to trust. Plus, he knew me and how to get me to do what he wants. Ah best comply. When Ah’m stronger Ah’ll confront him. He stood up and beckoned for me to follow. He walked towards the stairs, and then up them. I hesitated at the looming challenge. Today’s gonna be a looooooong day. Or night. Ah have no clue. I sighed to myself as I began my journey of self-discovery and perhaps loathing by going up the stairs. > (SPOILER) TIMELINE OF EVENTS > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: Okay guys. A lot of you are probably confused about when everything has happened since the information was presented in no particular order. My original intention was for you to piece it together, like a mystery. But I guess you need a little help. This is a timeline of what has happened so far, but it is in no way required. In fact, I recommend you DO NOT read this, as it takes away some of the fun of the story. Note: There are no dates on this timeline; it just lists the order of events. Obviously there are spoilers. Anyway, here you go (you unimaginative people):               1.       Lance Steel finds the basement and all the experiments within. He is found out and experimented on himself. Screaming man transforms into Applejack. (Section 4 part 2) 2.       Applejack wakes up and is found by James Steel. Has no memory. (Bonus 2) 3.       James Steel is found out and Lance Steel is moved to his mother’s house. Men bring one tested on person to be interrogated. Man turns into Pinkie Pie. (Section 1) 4.       Pinkie Pie is found in base. Runs into trap. Mentally and emotionally broken by man. (Bonus 1) 5.       Josh Walkins researches mysterious events surrounding Lance. Goes off the deep end when interrogating Lance. Lance turns into Discord. (Section 2) 6.       President surrenders to ponies. Asks James’ motives. (Section 4 part 1) 7.       Rest of world becomes suspicious of America. (Section 3 part 1) 8.       Man gives goodbye to family. Captured by ponies. On a mission from Celestia. Magic doesn’t work. Rainbow Dash takes camera. (Section 3 part 2) > SECTION 5: Diary > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >; SEARCH “Diary” IN DOCUMENTS   >: SEARCHING. . .   >: SEARCH COMPLETE- 1 .doc FILE FOUND   >; OPEN   >: OPENING FILE. . .     Day 1   James isa nice man he tolds me to keepo a diary of my memoriesw if i remembered any. i will alsop use it as a wayto let out emotons. he gives me food and waterd while i try and remember them to   Day 2   I took lessons from James how to use a keyboard better. I can hit the keys without hitting others now. Since I didn’t remember proper writing etiquette, he (re)taught me that as well. Sometimes, though, he creeps me out. It seems like he is always watching me and taking notes on seemingly random things. And he seems a bit too enthusiastic at times, and he keeps me away from his son, who has yet to learn about me.   Day 5   The last three days have been hectic! The first day, while I was snacking on an apple, I passed out with no explanation. Sometime later, I woke up inside my head. I saw my locked up memories play out before me, except everyone’s faces were fuzzy at best and all I could hear was mumbling and muffled sounds. It was like I was hearing the sounds from another room.  Certain moments were extremely clear, but others were hazy, more so than normal.    One clear moment was me kicking an apple tree at mid-day, watching the apples tumble through the air and land into baskets that were set around the tree.  It was surprisingly calm and peaceful, and with it came a sense of belonging. Soon enough, though, I was whisked away into another memory. This repeated multiple rimes until I finally woke up into reality. James was stood above me, wearing a worried expression. When I told him about what had happened, he became sour. I thought he would be happy that I saw some memories, but oh well.   The next day, in a better attitude, James took me into the backyard of his house and made me do some exercises. First I was doing muscle building, and then cardio exercises (like running), and mind exercises. Most of what we did was the mind exercises, like solving a Rubik’s Cube (which is hard to do with hooves) and riddles. It was actually really fun. It bonded me and him very close together. He is very enjoyable substitute for my unnamed friends. I still would like to be with my best friends though.   Anyway, today we relaxed around the T.V. and watched some shows. We watched something called “American Idol”, we watched an action movie I can’t remember, and cartoons. I was (and still am) unsettled by the cartoons. How can something look so similar to me? I think James noticed my discontent and changed the channel. But still, how does that happen? Am I from one of these planes of existed? I think I’ll ask James.   Day 6   Lance saw me today. James got seething mad at him and yelled at him for 20 minutes and grounded him for barging in on his “personal time”. What he didn’t notice was that Lance was passed out on the floor after seeing me. I guess I had the same effect on him like I did on James. I, myself, didn’t like how he was treating his son, and started scolding him about it. This turned into a full scale fight. It ended with me being confined to the basement as well. The nerve!   Day 8 Nothing much has happened in the last two days after James let me out of the basement. We have avoided each other, and Lance has avoided us.   Day 9   Today I asked James about my origin and existence. We hadn’t talked since the fight, so obviously he was caught by surprise. He was flustered for a second, but then answered:  “Well…you’re a pony! I thought you knew that!”   But I replied with: “That’s not what Ah meant James! Why do Ah look like Ah’m from a cartoon?!”   I’m not even kidding when I say he bolted out the door right after that. I ran after him, but he got in his car and bolted off. I’m going to ask Lance about me. He’ll have answers.   Day ???   I don’t know what day it is for Applejack. This is Lance typing in place for her. Today she came in and demanded that I tell her where she came from and who she was. Reluctantly I told her she was from a cartoon. With more pestering, I told her she was from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. She shut up when I showed her an episode. Well, she shut up a little too much; she’s now passed out on the floor.   I don’t know what the hell is happening anymore. I mean, yeah I have Applejack on my floor! What brony wouldn’t want that? But it’s not really Applejack. It’s a replica made by my sleaze ball of a dad. I was just a normal brony until my dad caught on. He would lock himself in our basement for days on end, only coming out for food and water. He tested on animals first, I learned, trying to get that cartoon look. I guess when he succeeded on that aspect he started on the brain, learning what things hold memories and tinkered with that. Then he worked with DNA and tried to learn how to get someone to mutate. After that, he found some suicidal somebody and tested on him. I hate my dad. He tested on me, even! It’s only a matter of time until I change… I think Applejack’s coming to, I’m gonna check on he Ergpqierg Qerthrtjjj                                                 rthqrthh                                                   rgadgggr Attk           gjf               h                 ghf             hg                               hgcgh        jgc              j                   g Rg                                                                                                   gh                     Hggmv  kjgv            kjg              hvkv          ghv             k                  jbhk I remember everything. Lance is tied up. I packed my things and got a week’s worth of food. I got an audio recorder. I remember the me before me. James if you’re reading this: Buck you.     > BONUS 3: Pinkie Pie Part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Nope.” At once Pinkie Pie became enraged. He LIED to me?! About such a serious topic?! Pinkie had stopped crying, but her mane was still deflated and straight. But as soon as she heard the conversation on the other side of the door, it poofed back up, like it was angry itself.  I have to make a plan! That meanie creature thingy is going to come in again, or another one will. I have to keep up the act. I hate this part of my job. The lonely surgeon sighed as he pushed the double doors open. Well, it is the only part… but still… The man was greeted to an empty room. The table in the middle was void of any life and the bonds were gnarled open. He became confused as he looked around, but soon he face-palmed. God dammit… I went to the wrong room again! Stupid coffee break! It always gets me lost! I’ve got to learn the layout of this plac- He fell over with a soft thump. He saw three quad pedal figures above him before he blacked out. Pinkie Pie idly counted the tiles on the ceiling while waiting…. And waiting… She had been waiting for half an hour for a figure to walk through. It was extremely hard for her to keep up the sad act while she wasn’t actually sad. She was angry. She waited and waited… Finally, the door slowly creaked open an eighth of its full extent. The pink pony tensed, waiting for something to happen. Then a small metallic canister rolled in. It was roughly the same size as a small thermos. Pinkie soon became confused. What is that…? She got an answer when it opened and began releasing a cloud of green gas. Some ponies had said the mare was dim-witted or feather-brained. To a small extent it was true, but she was not dumb. As soon as the gas came out Pinkie Pie started trying to get out of her bonds and screamed. They wouldn’t budge, however, so she feebly gave up the one-way struggle. The gas built up to an enormous size and loomed over the pitiful pony. Pinkie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It surrounded her as she held her breath. This is it. The end. There’s nothing I can do. Goodbye, Twilight. Goodbye, Fluttershy. Goodbye, Applejack. Goodbye, Rarity. Goodbye, Rainbow Dash. I’ll miss you wh- “PINKIE PIE” Surprised, Pinkie let out her breath. “Some…pony…help…” Inside her head she screamed this but it came out like a whisper. The final thing she registered before she became unconscious was rapid footsteps. Pinkie Pie’s consciousness came slowly at first, a slight trickle of awareness. It was like fog dissipating under the new morning’s sun. When she opened her eyes, she only saw three figures above her. Still not fully awake, she closed eyes her eyes again. Suddenly, her memories came back and hit her like a train. The creature… the lie… the act… the gas… Pinkie jumped up, no longer asleep. She looked at her surroundings. She was in a hallway that was dimly light a few light bulbs that lined it. It was painfully white and sterile, and looked like a hospital. It seemed empty, however. She then saw her friends. Twilight Sparkle looked worriedly at Pinkie Pie, Applejack idly twiddled her hooves, and Applejack was also looking bored. “TWILIGHT! APPLEJACK! APPLEJACK! IT’S SOOOOOOOO GOOD TO SEE YOU! THANKS FOR SAVING ME!” Twilight looked happy as she took in the bear hug, albeit still worried, Applejack looked confused and so did Applejack. “You’re welcome Pinkie, and it’s good to see you to but aren’t you a little confused about App-“ Twilight replied, but was cut off. “APPLEJACK AND APPLEJACK AND TWILIGHT! HOW’D YOU FIND ME? DID’JA USE YOUR MAGIC, TWILIGHT? THAT’D BE COOL, BEING ABLE TO USE MAGIC! IF I HAD MAGIC, I’D PROBABLY USE TO GIVE EVERYOE CUPCAKES! OR MAYBE I’D GIVE EVERYONE CAKE… OR MAYBE I’D GIVE EVERYONE CHIMI-“ “PINKIE!” The trio yelled to stop the rambling. Pinkie looked a little flustered but nonetheless happy. “Yes, everypony?” Twilight face-hooved. “Pinkie, did you notice how there are two-“ “OMIGOSH! TWO APPLEJACKS?!” Pinkie started shuddering as one of the Applejacks approached her. “It’s okay Pinkie! We were worried, so we came and helped ya! You looked to be in trouble!” Slowly, Pinkie pushed off Applejack’s hoof and walked backwards, into a wall. Her eyes were shrunk down into pinpricks, and they darted back and forth. The other Applejack joined the first one and loomed before the scared Pinkie Pie. They then said in an eerie unison: “Come on sugarcube… don’t be scared…” The pink pony screamed, jumped up, and sped off to the right in one second. Twilight sighed at the two dumbfounded Applejacks. “You had to say that, didn’t you…” A/N Wow, sorry for lateness on this one! Normally I’d put this in the comments, but I wanted to tell you the next part is an alternate version of this chapter. It was the original, but I didn’t like it. Enjoy! Pinkie Pie didn’t care that they put her in a scary room. Pinkie didn’t care how the creatures loomed over her with sharp tools and disturbing grins. She had killed somepony. She had ended somepony’s life. The creature in a white suit stood over her menacingly with a saw-blade. “This will hurt, you know,” he said to the pink pony. “I don’t care anymore…” she replied, now lying on her back to let the man cut her belly. He smiled, and started cutting. Then, he lurched forward and banged his head on the table and fell over with a thwack. Pinkie then saw her friends, or rather two of her one friend. “Pinkie! You weren’t even resistin’!” Pinkie Pie instantly turned sour. She turned away and humphed. “Pinkie, we need to move, now!” Pinkie decided to follow and they ran out of the room. A/N There you have it folks! That’s what would have happened, sort of. It would have been a little different, but that’s the main idea. Remember to rate/comment/subscribe!     > Important Update > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As you may be aware, this story is... well, almost dead. It's been a loooooong time since the last update, and I've been slaking more than Slaking. I mean, he sleeps every other turn! Jokes aside, I will be picking up on this story soon, and I already have in my head what's going to happen till the end. Sorry for the long wait! Really sorry, in fact. So sorry, I will post a cute kitty! ... > SECTION 6: Fall of America Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >; VIEW LOCKED FILES >: ENTER PASSWORD >; ********* >: PASSWORD ACCEPTED. LOADING FILES. . . >: FILES ACCESED. SHOWING FILES. . . >: SECURITYPREDHALLIVASION/LOCKED.mp4 >: PRESMEMO/LOCKED.mp3 >: FINALWORDS/LOCKED.avi >; PLAY ALL >; PLAYING FILES. . . The hall is void of all life, and the video is in black and white. It seems no one is near, but scuffling feet and breathing is heard. Sandbags litter the hall. The door is rigged with C4. It seems like something is out of the view of the camera. Some talking can be heard. “Private?” “Yes capt’m? “Tell the sergeant to hold the position. He’s our only fallback. And tell him if we can’t hold it, then die trying. Or be turned into a pony.” “Yes, capt’m. Right away, capt’m.” Running. The sound soon dies out and is replaced by deathly silence. Someone cocks a shotgun. Very slowly, more steps are heard. “Capt’m?” “Yes private?” “The sergeant acknowledges your request. He will hold the back line.” “Good job private. Get back in your position.” “Yes sir.” The private walks somewhere unseen. No one moves. They just seem to stand, crouch, or sit still. It looks like they are playing a waiting game. The video stays like this for a couple minutes. Then, slowly, the sound of a horse walking is heard. The sound gets progressively closer and closer. No one breathes. Then a small horse, or more likely a pony, turns the corner and looks blankly at the scene in front of it. It stands right behind the entrance, right behind the C4 blockade. It attempts to communicate. “Hello. I am Twilight Sparkle. I come here on behalf of Princess Celestia, who has not yet arrived. She wishes you lay your weapons down and we can settle this peacefully. We do not wish to fight. Just lay your weapons down, and we will not assimilate you, since this is your wish.” The humans mumble to each other off-screen. The sound of running. Silence, and patient waiting on the pony’s part. The sound of running again. The camera is closer to the huddle now, and the talking can barely be made out word for word. “The president says to get James, sir.” “Ah fuck… the element of surprise is already gone I guess… go get him. The president isn’t stupid I hope. Now, private.” “Yes, sir!” Someone scurries off. The pony stands there, unblinking. It has a pleasant smile on its face. It looks to be very content. Soon enough, the footsteps return, albeit with an extra pair. The sound of jingling chains fills the tense air. A man is suddenly pushed face first into the ground in the middle of the hall. He is dressed casually, with jeans and a V-neck long sleeve shirt. He grunts into the ground. The pony looks at him questioningly. A tall, burly man steps into view. He wears a full military outfit, loaded with miscellaneous weapons. Only the back of his shaved head is visible, but he seems to always have a grim atmosphere. “This is the man who created you. He, with some crazy biological shit, tested on humans to turn people into ponies. You are fake. You are not real. This is the person who made you.” The pony only smiles larger and slightly tilts its head. “I did some studying on humans while waiting for this day. I found that humans lie for self-preservation. They have in many circumstances, such as in wars. I believe that this is one of those times.” The man on the floor laughs. The man standing is violently shaking and is working his jaw. “Are you accusing me of lying you inhuman swine?!” The pony still smiles, but it looks like it is smirking more than before. “Exactly.” The man looks to be extremely angry. “OPEN FIRE!” The pony then stops smiling and her eyes widen with surprise. The bullets roar towards it. They nearly hit her. Then they just stop. They float for a second before falling to the ground. The pony looks somewhat impressed, but mostly relieved. The standing man and the laying man look mortified, but the laying man looks mortified with happiness. “CEASE FIRE! I SAID FUCKING CEASE FIRE YOU MAGGOTS!” The gunshots stop sounding, and bullets stop flying. The pony stands there happily, with an animal at its side. Or, rather, a mix of animals. The misshapen floating shape smirks at the surprised and terrified soldier’s faces. It floated in front of the captain, smiling evilly. “Boo.” It says. The man falls over with a thump, out cold. The rest of the soldiers are dumbfounded, not even moving. The pony turns her head behind her. “Now.” A giant herd of ponies rush through, easily capturing the men. The lying man is nowhere to be seen, as is the animal mix. The ponies fill the air with their breath, further disabling them. The ponies say nothing as they rush in and breathe their toxic gas and convert the men. Somehow, the ponies are invincible. Try as they might, the humans can’t kill them. Some of the bullets penetrate, but the ponies instantly recover.   Screams fill the air for longer than one might think possible. The ponies say nothing as they charge though, the charge lasting a full 20 minutes of constant rushing of ponies. The camera blinks out for about 10 minutes during this time, slowly returning with color. The ponies are multicolored. All shapes, sizes, and race. Finally it ends. An eerie and disturbingly abundant silence penetrates the toxic air. The world seems frozen in time, like a moment of silence for those lost. The video time is running out. One minute remaining. On the last minute, a lone figure comes in from the very hallway the ponies came through. This one is distinctly human, though. It walks with power and authority. However, its grace is limited, and it stumbles every so often. The woman wears dark purple clothes, with sparkles across her cape. Her hair is a midnight blue.Her eyes shine with a brilliance of a thousand moons. “I suppose I am… a little late?” The video ends. >: VIDEO ENDED. >: WARNING! BATTERY CRITICAL. 7% REMAINING (30 MINUTES) FIND ANOTHER POWER SOURCE