Matthew woke up to the sounds of what sounded like yelling. After letting herself focus a bit she could tell it was a heated argument between her parents and it was the worst possible one to be hearing.
"He's not a female, bottom line. If God wanted him to be a female, he would have made him a female to start with," her dad's harsh tone was heard.
"God might be taking corrective action with all of these transformations. What're you going to do if your foal turns out to be a filly?" Her mom's voice fired back.
"You saw the news report. There was some terrorist who was the cause of this, and they caught them. It's all some big demonic tampering across the human race that is trying to take control of our minds and bodies. We might not be able to resist the body change, but we should do everything in our power to resist the mind and keep our souls intact," her father said.
"So, Matthew is supposed to just pretend that she hasn't changed that way? That's ridiculous. Why would you even think of doing that to your foal?" her mother said angrily.
"Child, not foal, I'm not giving into the mind control. You need to start using the proper terms again too," her father snapped. "I do it because it's the correct thing to do. It's what God intended and no child of mine is going to disgrace this household by pretending to be something they aren't."
Matthew pulled herself to a sitting position, quietly tugging the covers off her now fully developed wings. Her ears sagged as she continued to listen on.
"God would not let this happen if it wasn't intended. Whether that is my son or my daughter up there he or she has my devotion and support. You will treat him or her with respect," her mother growled.
"I'm treating him as God intended him to be," her father replied.
"Well, maybe that's the problem then. Perhaps God has seen how horrible humans are and he decided to send this person to start the world over with something better, because it's disgusting to think a parent should turn away their own foal. That terrorist is a hero sent by God. I'll be glad come tomorrow when I'm a full pony and I can shake off any humanity I have left, because humanity clearly isn't worthy if it has its families turn their backs on their own foals," her mother all but screamed.
"You don't mean that. You aren't going to just abandon your humanity,," her father said dismissively.
"Oh, you bet your ass I mean it," her mother could be heard saying. She then heard her father give off a gasp.
"Watch it! You are going to set the house on fire," her father yelled.
"It's just some sparks, not fire, you dolt. You've got me so worked up this thing is reacting. I need to just get away from you for a few minutes and calm down before I say something I regret later," her mother said.
"You can barely move! You aren't going anywhere," her father shouted.
"I'll goddamned crawl down to the church if I've got to, but I'm not dealing with you right now after what you said about Matthew! We can calm down and continue this conversation tomorrow when you might have some lick of sense, you horse's ass," her mother answered with fury.
Matthew couldn't let her mother do that, not under normal circumstances and definitely not when this was all her fault. She got up and slowly got out of the room.
"You! You finally decided to get out of bed. What in the hell has gotten into your head," her father yelled up to her as she exited out of the room.
"Don't yell at him, Matthew has done nothing wrong," her mother scolded.
"Oh, so we're back to calling him a him now. I guess we're making progress," her father sneered.
"I don't know what to use right now, but that's my foal and you will not say a harsh word to him when he has done nothing wrong," her mom snapped back.
"Mom, I'll help you get where you want to go," Matthew finally said, trying to ignore her father.
"She needs to stay where she's at instead of associating any more with those demon possessed ponies," her father snarled.
"The only pony acting demon possessed is you. Matthew do you think you can still operate the car? I don't think we're ever going to use it again so no point in preserving gas," her mother asked.
"I think so. It'll be slow and uncomfortable trying to operate the gas and brake, but I think I can manage," Matthew replied.
"You two aren't going anywhere," her father yelled. He tried to get up, but planted his face straight into the carpet.
"You can't stop us. You can come over to the church tomorrow when you can walk again and we can see if you have seen some reason by then. Until then enjoy eating the carpet," her mother said as she started crawling towards the front door. She really couldn't walk, they were too bent over to keep their balance on two legs and their forelegs weren't developed enough for them to walk on all fours properly.
"Get back here! I'm the man of this house and you will obey me," her father yelled. The two of them just ignored him.
Matthew tried to give her mother as much assistance as possible, but was forced in the end to just watch her crawl as her efforts at supporting herself up proved futile in Matthew's own stooped state. She got gathered up the discarded car keys from an end table and watched every painful creep of her mother towards the front door.
When she opened the door she jumped with shock and her wings shot out to either side of her. Standing right outside with hoof pulled back to begin knocking were John and Haley. They looked at her, looked down to her mother, and then back to her with wide eyes.
"Um, is this a bad time again? Did you need some help with something?" Haley said.
"Yeah, this is kind of a bad time to talk, but we might need some help. Do you think you can help my mother get to the car in the driveway? I'm trying to take her to the church," Matthew said with some relief.
"We can do that," John said with a dip of his head. "Haley, do you think you can help hoist her up over my back? I'm pretty sure I can carry her over to the car; she doesn't look too heavy."
"Thank you," Matthew said with a sigh of relief.
"Just the one? We can help anypony else too," Haley said as she tried to peer into the house.
"There's no helping that bastard in there," her mother said through gritted teeth. She really was pissed, well beyond anything that Matthew had ever seen her before. She could be hot-headed and stubborn at times, and occasionally say something cruel, but this was the first time Matthew had seen her like this. The fact that rage was directed at her father was just as shocking. How much had been said before Matthew woke up?
"Okay ma'am just push yourself up to your hooves as best you can and I'll get you over on my partner's back. It isn't going to be comfortable being carried like a sack of flour, but it'll only be for a minute or so until we get you into the car," Haley said soothingly to Matthew's mother. "What's your name by the way? I'm Haley and this is my partner John."
"My name is Charlotte. Thank you for helping us," her mother answered.
"Ponies always give help, ponies are kind, ponies are loyal to each other; we're happy to help," Haley said as if reciting from memory. Tonya had said something like that too before. Was there some sort of pony guidebook everypony else was reading that she had missed hearing about?
"If that is so then I know some person who doesn't deserve to be called a pony," her mother said with a last baleful glare back into the house, spitting out the word person like it was the worst curse she could think of.
"Maybe he'll come around tomorrow after he calms down," Matthew said as she watched Haley help her mother onto John's back as John lowered himself to make it easier.
"I hope so," her mother said as John lifted her up. "I don't know what I'll do if he's still turning his back on his own foal."
"Maybe I can try to be what he wants me to be. I've done an alright job of pretending so far," Matthew said glumly.
"You'll do nothing just to placate him...wait, pretending? Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Her mother asked.
"Yeah, saying that. It was easy to make my peace with once I opened myself to the fact it might be true. I don't know if that is because of ETS or if it would be that way normally, but I don't think it matters. It is what it is," Matthew said with a guilty tone.
"Don't you dare feel guilty. My filly is not going to feel ashamed of herself. God is giving us a chance to start over on the right hoof and we aren't going to have you start over feeling guilty for being what God made you. We're leaving all those stupid human concepts about what you are supposed to be behind and embracing what you are," her mother declared.
"My father hates me, there isn't anything to feel good about with that," Matthew said, letting tears loose from their confines.
"I'm hoping your father is just confused right now, and everything will be better once he is a full pony," her mother said in a more subdued tone as they reached the car.
"And if not?" Matthew said as she opened the car door.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If he's going to keep condemning his own foal then he has no place in my life until he sees the truth," her mother said in a low voice. It sounded like she was holding back tears. "I likely didn't carry myself the best tonight either, and when I calm down completely maybe I'll be able to talk to him better. I know I said some very harsh things. I meant most of it, but I was escalating the situation all the same."
John and Haley, who had both been very politely silent through this entire exchange, carefully deposited Matthew's mother into the back seat of the car where she could lay down. Then turned back to Matthew.
"John will fly ahead to the church and make sure somepony is ready to help when you arrive. I'll keep an eye on you above just to make sure you get there alright. You already look like trying to operate that thing is going to be hard to do, and on top of that there have been a few humans out and about today that have been harassing ponies. They haven't hurt anypony yet, but they still are ones we want to avoid if possible," Haley said as the car door closed behind Matthew's mother.
"No good humans," John grumbled. Matthew heard the sound echoed within the car by her mother. Was everypony so quick to cast off humanity as something to be distrusted and disposed of? It didn't feel right. Yeah, there might be many bad eggs, but this seemed like a blanket judgement of the race everypony had been a member of as recently as two weeks ago and most partly were. It stood out to her due to its hypocrisy.
The stallion took off into the air as Matthew positioned herself in the driver's seat as best she could. She hadn't realized how much she had shrunk till now, despite the fact she had cut her pants back a few days ago due to their getting too long. Even with the car seat pushed all the way forward it was going to require her to stretch to reach the pedals. She could do it, but it was going to be kind of stop and go the entire trip.
"Are you sure you can work the car? This isn't built for ponies, or halfway complete ponies," Haley asked as she looked between Matthew's legs and the pedals. It was like an elementary school student was trying to drive a car.
"I'll get through it. I doubt there are any other cars out on the road right now to get in a wreck with, and it's just a drive around the block in essence," Matthew replied as she gave up on trying to get her seat-belt fastened.
"If you say so," Haley said doubtfully. "I'll be right above you. If you have problems where you can't do it I'll come down and help. Worst case scenario I can probably carry your mom on the ground the full way. Not the fastest or most comfortable way to do it, but if it has to work that way I'll do it for you."
"We'll try getting the car there first, but thank you for offering," Matthew said as she closed the driver door.
Matthew started up the car and realized right away that she wasn't going to be able to twist her body around to look behind her as she backed the car out. She would need to rely completely in the mirror. Her foot really was just short of reaching the gas and it required her to slump down to reach and tap the gas. She pulled the car out of the driveway with a series of small jerks, and one bigger one that she didn't intend that nearly put her over into the neighbor's mailbox.
It wasn't much better after she put it back in drive. She wished that this car had cruise control so she didn't have to keep trying to reach the pedals and could pay attention to the road in front of her completely, not to mention not have such a jerky trip. Her mother put up no protests about the quality of Matthew's driving though.
Haley eventually flew down next to the window, causing Matthew to jump in her seat.
"Sorry for startling you. John and I need to take off. There is some trouble back towards the hospital and we need to go help. We'll find time to talk later," Haley said. Matthew just nodded as Haley took off again without further word.
The trip took longer than it should have, longer than it would have taken Matthew to walk just yesterday. Eventually the church came into sight though, and it was a shock to see.
The first and most obvious difference from yesterday was that every car on property had been moved to form a crude wall along the road with only the normal driveway not blocked off. The entrance into the newly constructed wall had several ponies standing around it along with one or two who were still mostly human sitting to the side. The most human ones had guns at the ready.
The next thing to notice was the unicorns and earth ponies were pulling up the concrete of the parking lot. It looked like a few of the pegasi were trying to help too, but the bulk of the work was being done by the other types. Most of the tents had either been taken down or had been moved to a more central location of the church grounds, all out up close enough together that there was no room between them aside from some narrow paths than ran along stretches of ten or more tents.
These ponies were preparing to be attacked. She didn't have to know much about military tactics or anything to see that. What in the hell was going on?
As the car pulled up to the entrance to the newly formed compound she brought it to a complete halt and opened up the driver door.
"Stay in here, Mom. Something is up here and I'm going to see if they're even going to let us in," Matthew instructed.
"I couldn't leave if I tried. What's happening? I can't see anything from here," she responded.
"The church has set up a barricade around it and has armed guards watching the entrance. It looks like they're worried somepony might attack the church," Matthew answered.
"Likely worried about humans," her mother said. There was a hint of hostility in the use of the term humans. Her mother wasn't a full pony yet, but just like Tonya seemed to have divorced herself from the human race. Her heated words from earlier didn't seem to be just heated words.
As Matthew got out of the car one of the guards shined a light on her. It wasn't full dark yet, but it still hurt her eyes to have it shine right in them.
"What's your business? Are you here for shelter?" One of the ponies called out.
"Yeah, me and my mom, she is at a stage she can't walk. Are we welcome in? Why's there a barricade?" Matthew asked.
"Sorry about the suspicion. Group of humans attacked the high school last night. Didn't end up hurting anypony, but they started a fire and scared a lot of ponies. Some of the other shelters have been reporting similar things on a smaller scale. We're just making sure no pony here gets hurt," the same pony said as they dropped the light. Matthew could see now it was a pegasus stallion with purple fur and equally purple mane.
"We'll get a stretcher out here for you to help get her inside. It'll be just a minute, what type is she?" The pony asked.
"Unicorn, or at least she will be by morning," Matthew said.
"Okay, we'll see about making sure some of the horn heads are about when she wakes up to help her figure things out. She likely can on her own, but having a friend that has already gone through this makes it easier. My name is Paul; these other ponies are Timothy, Amber,Tom, Jeff, Rico, and Juan just to introduce everypony. Since you're a night pony, we are really happy to see you here. I know you'll want to be with your mom through the night, and we don't want to impose on new guests, but we could really use a hoof out here overnight if you're willing. You ponies see better in the dark than the rest of us, and are more alert that late at night," Paul said.
"I wouldn't mind helping normally, but really want to stay with my mom through the night tonight. She's had a really rough time today. I doubt I'll be much use tomorrow, but can try to act as a set of eyes then if you need help," Matthew answered, hoping she wouldn't disappoint them too much, or worse have them insist.
"That's understandable, and we can respect that. We'll accommodate you," Paul said with a quick headbow.
The stretcher was out to them quickly and her mother was quickly taken into the church itself. There was a legion of ponies in their final stages in the main chapel, hundreds maybe. There were also scores of fully transformed making their ways around them all trying to take care of everypony. A few sat down in front near the altar that looked like they were praying.
"Matthew? I wasn't expecting you here," came the voice of Tonya. Matthew looked up and saw the pegasus hovering just above them.
"My mom needed to be here away from my dad, they had a fight...about me," Matthew said with shame.
"Oh," Tonya said guiltily. "This wouldn't happen to be about the stuff I said this morning?"
"Yes," Matthew said in a flat tone.
"I'm sorry, I should've maybe kept my big mouth shut and just let things run their course. I wanted to help, but I ended up hurting you," she said with sorrow.
"Don't you go apologizing for it," Matthew's mother said. "She needed to hear it, and I needed to hear it too. I was listening the whole time."
"You were?" Tonya said with lowered ears. "I didn't do a very good job trying to talk about it."
"You did a good enough job, even if it wasn't perfect. She says she accepts it, so you couldn't have screwed up too badly. I know it wasn't the best talk, but your heart was in the right place," her mother said.
"I can talk for myself, Mom," Matthew grumbled.
"Just want to make sure she understands I love you as my daughter. Which reminds me," her mother said as she turned her head back to Tonya. "I owe you an apology for behaving in an unChristian way towards you and condemning you. You are a mare and you are a good mare. I hope you accept my apology."
"Ponies forgive," Tonya said with a smile.
"I just want to get my mom settled in and sit with her through the night while she finishes up. Can you help me get her up near the altar area? I think she would prefer up there," Matthew asked Tonya.
"Oh, sure. I'll help your mom settle in," Tonya said as she flew down and landed next to the stretcher.
"You can call me Charlotte, Tonya," her mom said with a smile.
"Sure thing, Charlotte," Tonya answered back with a warm smile in return.
It was a very strange day. First finding out she was a she, then the talk with her mother that she would never have imagined she would have had in a million years, then waking up to her mother standing up for her to her father. On top of that there were apparently humans attacking ponies, and there was some sort of terrorist that she still hadn't heard the actual news about. Now her mother and Tonya were going from hissing and spitting about one another to being friends. The world truly had gone mad.