"Queen Celestia! Queen Celestia!" a blue unicorn mare with a wand and crescent wand cutie mark yelled frantically.
"What is it Checker Monarch? Your split personality, Trixie Lulamoon right?, isn't trying to make yet another pathetically pitiful comeback attempt again is she?" the Solar Alicorn asked with mild curiosity and thinly veiled annoyance.
"Oh no, that isn't the problem, your highness."
"*sigh* Then what is it? Has Sunset Shimmer and the other Element Bearers finally located PrincessTwilight Sparkle and her student Starlight Glimmer yet? Or unsealed that pocket dimension that Discord had teleported himself, the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor, my sister Luna, my niece Mi Amore Cadenza, her daughter Flurry Heart, and King Thorax and the Changelings into?"
"Still nothing on either project."
"Then what is so important right now that it just can't wait?!"
"Cell #83 of Ponification for Earth's has gone silent!"
"..."
"Uh, m-my-my Queen? Are y-you okay? D-do y-you n-need s-some water?"
"WHAT?! HOW EXACTLY IN MY NAME DID ANY SUBGROUP OF THE PER JUST GO AND DISAPPEAR AFTER EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE FOR THEM AND STILL AM DOING FOR THIS MISERABLE MUDBALL OF A PLANET!"
"Well, your highness, you see there was this attack on one of the safe-houses that we secretly established for our PER agents..."
"Yes, and?...
"And it was a total massacre..."
"Don't. Leave. Me. Hanging. In. Suspense. Just Keep. On. Talking. Right. Now. Or. Else."
"Yes, my Queen. Of course, my Queen."
"Talk! NOW!"
"..."
"Unless. You. Finish. This. Briefing. Right. Now. Or. You. Will. Find. Yourself. As a... "donor" for. Ponification. Potion 2.0, is. That. Understood."
"Y-yes. Yes, m-my Queen. As I was saying, there is only a small list of ponies and humans in PER Cell #83 that managed to survive the onslaught."
"Do they have?..."
"No, they have been separated from all of their stockpiled supply of the Potion."
"..."
"Uh, m-my Queen."
"The list."
"Begging your majesty's pardon?"
"The list of survivors. Give. It. To. Me. Right. Now."
"Yes, of course! Here you go, your highness," Checker said as she took out a scroll and held it out for Celestia to take.
Celestia took the scroll and asked, "Is there anything else, Checker Monarch?"
"No."
"Then leave me."
Celestia waited until she had reached her private sanctum before she unrolled the scroll.
She took a very careful look at its contents, memorizing the names of the survivors. But then she stopped herself, and, while mildly chuckling, said to herself, "Celestia, you actress! You got so far into character that you forgot that the loss of one measly PER Cell is a meaningless loss!"
Now in hysterics, Celestia decided to retire for the night. Before leaving for her bedchambers, she decided to take one last look at the six names on the list: Sparkler (a unicorn mare), Johnny Doe (a human), Jenny Foreman (another human), Firefly (a pegasus mare), Sunny Omelet (a stallion Newfoal), and Scot Fitzgerald (yet another human).
Celestia smirked to herself as she though, 'Oh please, Checker. What made you think that the soon-to-be complete end of one small, insignificant portion of my fanatical agents in the Ponification for Earth's Rebirth movement was urgent, high-priority news?
'After all, what could possibly happen to them that will impact my operation against those savage monkeys that have deluded themselves into believing that they have become an actual civilization, when it is excruciatingly obvious that they are still animals? What kind of impact could those survivors possibly have?'
Jenny looked at Johnny and asked him, "Why won't you tell us your real name?"
He looked at her and simply replied, "I have my reasons."
"But—"
"Would you please just respect my privacy alright?!"
"..."
"Thank you for shutting the hell up. Geeze!"
Then Firefly flew in and said, "Hey! We found a place to use as a shelter for the night!"
They both blankly stared at her in stunned confusion, then at each other, and then back at her. Irritated, Firefly yelled, "Come on! Let's go already!" as she zoomed off.
And then came right back and, very sheepishly, said, "Oh, right. You don't know where it is. Heh-Heh. (I feel so embarrassed.) Just follow me, okay?"
The two nodded and Firefly took off again, but at a much slower pace this time.
There was no conversation between any of them, as all three were lost in their thoughts: Jenny could only wonder who Johnny really was, Johnny could only reflect on the dark reality of his horror-filled past, and Firefly was worrying about how she'd be able to return to Equestria and her Queen.
Well, actually, Firefly did have something else on her mind—she was eager to finally ponify the stupid, worthless apes that she had to work with in her assigned role as one of her Queen's assigned overseer-agents in the PER movement as part of her prerequisites to join the Wonderbolts.
They were all lost in thought, all almost blissfully unaware of what truly awaited them....
"This... is really it? Seriously?" Jenny asked in blatantly underwhelmed disappointment as she stared at the abandoned pizzeria.
"Yeah," Scott replied, "This is where we'll be taking shelter in for the night."
"This place is a wreck!"
"Well, it was the best some of us could find on such short notice, okay?!"
"You do understand that we're just gonna be staying at this 'Freddy Fazbear's Pizza' place until the morning, right Jenny?" Sunny interjected in his usual overly cheerful voice, thus diffusing the tension.
"Oh," Jenny said awkwardly, then she noticed the look of recognition in Johnny's eyes.
Johnny noticed her gaze and snapped, "Yes, I know this place, but that's none of your fucking business, you nosy little bitch!"
"O-kay," Sparkler said, "I believe I speak for everypo, er, I mean all of us here, when I say that I think we have all had enough today, and we should definitely turn in now."
All nodded in agreement, and, one-by-one, they all squeezed in through the boarded up windows, none of them truly aware of what the night had in store for them.