//------------------------------// // The overused escape ends // Story: The Conversion Bureau: Fleeing the unknown // by The Psychopath //------------------------------// "Huh? What? Was it all a dream?" Gill wasn't aware of it at first, but he was trapped in a glass tube, with shadowed beings outside twisting nobs, pretending like they were doing something. He was stuck between tight, grey walls, that didn't seem intent on releasing their captor, and his capsule was preventing him from escaping. "Where am I? Let me out! I've got to get away!" "Get away from what?" one of those spoke with a cold snare. "From the ponies. They want to turn me into one of them!" "You mean, one of us?" the shadowy figure revealed itself to be the same character who tried to force the potion down Gill's throat at the facility. "N-no. No! It can't be. I got away from you. I was in my truck. How?" "Simple. You are just a filthy human. A defect along the evolutionary path of nature. While humanity may be part of nature, there are some things that must be destroyed to save the rest of the planet." The pegasus went towards a lever next to a wide variety of machines where the other ponies worked on. "What are you doing? Don't pull that!" "Too late. You shall become one of us whether you like it or not." He pulled the lever, and the sound of hissing above Gill indicated that he was about to be a victim of the "Ponyfication" he dreaded so much. A little pink and purple cloud slithered its way towards Fill, who tried to get as low as possible in his container. When that failed, he zipped a black jacket he had been wearing and used it to filter his breathing to some extent. The human began to beat on the glass, and started to see it crack, but the pegasi shook his head and indicated a few commands in a nearby machine. The next punch that Gill gave the capsule resulted in a powerful electrical shock that caused him to take in a massive gasp of the gas. He fell to the ground, much to the laughter of the ponies around him. Cracks and crinkles spread throughout the air as Gill could not utter a word. After tremendous pain, which resulted in the reforming of bone, tissue, and nerves, the former man was on the ground and panting heavily. Just as he began to lift himself up, the capsule elevated itself and the ponies all mobbed to him and began to congratulate and welcome him. "What did you do to me?" "You are now a pony. Congratulations. Nobody but us will accept you now." Gill had now become a dark blue pegasus with a mane and tail with a darker shade of blue traversed by stripes of white. His eyes had become wine red, and he found himself in a new room full of mirrors, where his new body tortured him everytime he turned around, and the cackling of the ponies only cemented his worst fears. With a silent yell, he punched one of the mirrors, and sent all the mirrors into a whirlwind of shards that quickly formed into a beacon of light at the end of this endless tunnel. He ran with all the strength that he could muster, and found himself in front of faceless versions of his family. Even though they had no face, Gill knew that they were his family, yet, they were much higher than him now. "Mom, dad, it's me!" "Who are you?" the father said. "It's a pony. I'm sorry dear, but we have never met." "But, but, I'm Gill! Don't you recognize me?" Gill gestured to his ponified body with his forelegs before falling down on his stomach with a painful thud. "No you are not. You are a pony. Gill has been dead for quite a long time." the father spoke. "Go back to your own kind." "But, I'm a human! This is my kind, and YOU'RE my family!" "Come back, Gill. You are a pony. You will live with us, eternally." Suddenly, the former human found himself on the floor and being dragged towards a contingent of pony giants as he tried to crawl back towards his family and the other humans. He looked behind himself and started to panic, as two giants, sheathed in shadow but basking in the light, lift themselves up above the other moving shadows. One's horn was a sun, while the other was a crescent moon. Both spread their wings wide and smiled, revealing their mouths full of fangs. With one fell swoop, they lowered themselves to Gill who screamed. *slap* "OW! What the?" The truck had apparently crashed into a butcher's shop, one that had long since closed, and was smoking. It wasn't damaged, but it wasn't now that it would start driving again. Apparently, the purple unicorn had slapped him awake. She looked furious, and her mane was all roughed up. Gill had been knocked out on the wheel. "Would it be too much to ask to know what happened?" "Those PLR brutes caught sight of you and charged after us. The unicorns used some weird magic to push your truck into the building here. They thought you were dead, so they left. Now, more importantly, WHAT AM I DOING HERE?!" "I don't know! Why'd you follow me?" "What? I didn't follow you! You grabbed me and threw me in your food pile." "Oh yeah." Gill said as he adorned a plain expression on his face. The mare stuttered in anger. "That's it? You ponynap me, through in a pile of food, get atttacked by a terrorist organization, and the best you can say is 'oh yeah'." "Pretty much. I have a weird way of thinking straightforward, so I can't exactly come up with great plans. I guess that, when they came up, I kinda panicked and ran to the truck while grabbing the thing nearest to me instinctively." The unicorn struggled to get out of the ruined foods and drinks. She used her magic to keep herself free from filth. Waltzing next to Gill, she wiggled her rear in his face unvoluntarily as she tried to get out of the truck. This made Gill laugh, especially so seeing as he was being tickled by her tail. "What's so funny." "You're shaking your ass in my face. It's pretty funny where I'm sitting." Suddenly, the unicorn mare slammed her derriére onto the seat and turned red. "What do you think you're doing? Pervert!" "Pervert? We are two different species. You might be a female, but it will be a cold day in hell until I find you attractive." Gill crossed his arms and looked smugly at the mare, who looked angry. "What, so I'm not good enough for you?" "That is not a question I'm answering, and if you want to get out, it's by pushing da button on da door over thar." "What bu- Oh." a small click resounded through the truck as the unicorn unlocked the door. "Eheh." "So, what's your name? Francine?" "What? No. It's Heart Drop." "Seriously?" Gill said with a cocked eyebrow. "Yeah. You've got a problem with it?" "It sounds like an pet's name." "Hmph! And what is yours?" "Gill Tammerheight. It is British." the man shouted proudly as he smashed a fist against his chest. "And I embrace my heritage of the Queen's proud land." "That name is still stupid." "Better than being called 'Chocolate Dip' or whatever." "Yaddayadda. Let's get out of this mess you've gotten me in." The two hopped out of the smoking metal carcass and made for the exterior of the building. Nobody was around, strangely, and both scanned the area to see that this section of the city was utterly desert, save for the few hundred humans living there. "A ghetto?" the two thought out loud. "Well that's just great. I hope you're happy." Heart Drop fumed as she stomped the ground, but was confused when seeing Gill smiling and "holdin' his britches". "Yes. Yes I am. I wasn't ponified, and I'm alive." "But you're still in the same city." Heart smirked while Gill's arms dropped to his sides. "Fuck. You're right. Hngh." Gill started to panic again. "Why are you so afraid of becoming a pony?" "For obvious reasons! There's already the thumbs, then there's the height, then there's my past. My race is human, not pony. I want to keep what was given to me." "I see...Let's find a way out of here. I'm sending you to a psychiatric hospital." "Like hell you are!" Gill ran for it, with the unicorn mare chasing after him. "Get back here!" Some people who were discussing subjects, or doing whatnot, were caught off guard by the sight of a man screaming while flailing his arms in the air while a small purple unicorn, barely as high as his hips, was chasing furiously after him. Meanwhile, a group from the HLF caught wind of the existence of a PER base on the other side of the city. Snowman was the leader, and every person was wearing black uniforms covering their entire bodies, save for the snowman who wore a bright blue. He, and five other humans were lying down on a hillside near the entrance of the pony base, disguised under the guise of a rather large home. Three ponies were in front of the building and talking to eachother about their thoughts on the gas. With a grunt, Snowman took out some binoculars to see what they were doing precisely, and if any other witnesses were around to see the events that would unfold. One of the soldiers whispered to his leader: "Sir, what is the plan again?" "Kill all PER members and destroy their cache of gas and potion." "Are we to take prisoners?" "No. Kill them all, quietly." "Understood." The man in bright blue armor gestured to a far away building and used his pointing finger to tap the ground twice while pointing downwards. In a flash, the three ponies were on the ground, holes gaping through their heads. The other humans then came out of hiding and entered the building, while three hid the bodies. There were twenty soldiers in total. Each wore a uniform and carried an assault rifle, while Snowman carried his trusted spas-12. There was nothing in the house, but the boss knew better. He went into the kitchen and stomped hard on the floor, breaking off a massive piece of floor board and revealing a secret passage. "Boss, how did you-?" "They always use the same tricks. Filthy fuckin' ponies. You three, plant the explosives around the exits. When the tunnel explosions start, they'll try and run out. Then BOOM!" The three troops saluted their boss and proceeded to do as told, while said boss man went down the solid stone steps of grey with the rest. While most would be unfamiliar with how a pony base would be established, there was still quite a bit of technology left, and the PER were using it to their leisure. Televisions in rather large rooms, an area where the foods were stored, a few chained up humans being dragged through a do-What? "What the? They're going to ponify them!" one of the soldiers whispered angrily. "Let's kill them!" "Hold on. Put on your masks." "The mustard gas?" "The mustard gas." The soldiers each put their gas masks on, and, one by one, strapped the leather to their heads, indicated by a silent slapping noise. Each showed a thumbs up to indicate that they were ready. Once it was all confirmed, Snowman took out two yellow metal canisters, flick the pins, and tossed the 'nades into the pile. Two seconds later, and a wide explosion wracked the lower levels. It was quickly followed by a mass gushing of a yellow, noxious fume that started to intoxicate everypony there. The soldiers came out of their corner and walked calmly along the path as the ponies each died of toxic fumes. When the boss stopped at the electronic doors made of a fine metal, he gestured one of his mates to place an explosive on the door. Another explosion, and the mustard gas began to seep into the next rooms. Instead of being brown and cramped, like the previous area, this one was white and etched with doorways. There were several pictures and colorful posters of Celestia and Luna all over the walls. Snowman spat on them, and continued through the almost jungle canopy due to the amount of plants everywhere. Whilst going to a room full of restraining tables and machinery made for injections and whatnot, Snowman heard some screams, and rounded the nearby corner, only to signal his troops to wait in place. After certainty, the "commando" dressed in a sky blue armor took out his little desert eagle, and peaked around the corner with a jagged knife that he had stashed in a hidden pocket. There were five people that were spotted, and four had already been ponified. Snowman's fury seeped inside of him as the last remaining woman screamed in fear and lashed about to become free of her restraints on the table that held her up at a rather curious angle. The mechanical arm holding the needle full of potion twisted and whirred a few times as the blue pony with a grey mane and tail, wearing a whitecoat no less, messed around with the commands of the machine. This was too much, so the big boss charged out from his corner and grabbed the unicorn's head from behind. He then let his hands slide into its maw, so as to be able to stretch it until it suddenly snapped, blood and gurgling saliva filled the spot the unicorn now occupied as a grave. Cleaning his hands, the soldier was about to free the woman when he noticed that she was crying as the arm injected the last few drops of potion within her arm. "Damnit. Well, I'll make sure you don't suffer the horrors of ponyfication." the soldier said as he armed his desert eagle and pressed it coldly against the forehead of the panicking woman. Every movement the gun made, her eyes would follow. When the bossman pulled the trigger back, the woman snapped. "No, wait! Please! I don't want to be a pony, but I know that there'll be a cure in the future. I may turn into a pony now, but I'll do whatever you want me to do. I-I'll scrub the floors. Be a workhorse. I don't care. Just don't kill me while I still have an ounce of humanity left to retrieve. There was a silent pause, and nothing but the darkness of the room served as a companion for the the two. Finally, the soldier removed his gun and freed the woman, who fell to the floor and began to morph, painfully. Snowman, however, shot the remaining four right between their eyes. The time he did that, the woman who was now a yellow mare with a turquoise mane and tail, but no horns or wings, layed unconcious upon the floor. Big Boss grunted and spat at the floor, only to heave the unconcious creature over his shoulder. The others soon arrived. "SIr! We have found the cache of gassed potion, and have delievered our stock of incinerary rounds." "Good. That will burn up the gas and prevent the explosion from spreading it everywhere. Let's go. The others will be coming from the other parts." As they made a run for it, one soldier noticed the pony on Snowman's shoulder. "Sir?" "She clings onto her humanity and has offered menial services in exchange for a future antidote to this damnable product." "I see, but the mustard gas is still in the halls that lead to the exit." "Hmph." Snowman took his mask off and placed it on the mare's face. Right before they entered the infested hallways, Big Boss took a deep inhale and ran towards the stairs with an increased vigor, and he was slowly followed by the others. The entire group his back on the hillside where Snowman and four other were previously observing the three, now dead, guards. One of the soldiers was shaking in anticipation as he held the remote for the explosives. "Easy, Flyswatter. Not now. Wait for it...wait for it...incendiaries, now!" Once again, a violent explosion rocked the land, and a huge crater formed behind the building as the earth exploded into a million pieces and spread itself across the nearby areas. "Can I do this one now?" "Sure. The snipers are there in case you do it too early." "Oh boy!" Bouncing bout impatiently, the second the ponies got into the frameworks of the doors, the explosives placed on the outer side of the building consumed their victims in an unholy fire of death. The house was now no more than a burning rubble that belched smoke as high as the eye could see. "Let's go!" "Yes, sir!" Everyone ran away from their location and into hidden military transport vehicles camoflaughed nearby. They had an easy target this time, but future encounters would be more deadly. "So, Big Boss, I think you'd be unhappy to know that the PER have killed that man we think was immune to the potion." "What?!" Snowman growled. "B-b-but, there have been some sightings that suggest otherwise. He's apparently in the ghetto. Crashed his truck, apparently. The ponies did it." Bossman was about to strangle the two typical idiots of his part of the HLF movement, but then thought and said: "Tell ya what. Go to the ghettoes. It's still your job to get to him before those fucking prick ponoes. If you fail." he started gingerly "I will tear the flesh from your bones and feed it to you two. Got it?" "Y-y-y-y-y-yes s-s-sir!" the two were shaking like leaves in a hurricane.