//------------------------------// // Her Horror // Story: The Conversion Bureau: A Mare's Tail // by HiddenBrony //------------------------------//         Violet was pushed along through the encampment, the strong arms of Jorge keeping her from resisting Lieutenant Standish’s orders. In front of her lay the limp form of Rose, the blonde girl who’s life she had saved, however briefly it may seem now. As they walked, Violet could hear the footsteps of purpose emanating from the Lieutenant as he walked behind them. Her eyes trained around the camp, catching sight of only a few others. As it stood, the entire area likely only had around ten people at most, a fact she found surprising, if not dulled by the fact she was a captive by all definitions. As she was forced along, she could see Rusty and Twinkle on the other side of the field in their truck as they themselves approached the semi on their side of the lot. Struggling against Jorge, Violet seethed under his grip.         “Why...? What’s going on Jorge? I thought... you weren’t like this!” Violet pleaded, pushing against his arms. The man behind her sighed as he kept her moving, the girl not seeing the man shake his head.         “Orders are orders, child.” The tall man said, his voice subdued.         Violet tried to pry at his disapproval. “Please, you must know she’s not bad! You talked to her, she’s a nice girl, really! A bit rough around the edges, a bit of a mouth, but who doesn’t?”         “Violet!” It was a light shout, but the girl in question turned to see Rusty pushing up against the female human who held him and Twinkle at bay. She threatened the stallion with her taser, her other hand held firmly on her side, right above a holster. Violet could do nothing but look on helplessly as her friends were shepherded toward the car, Sharla pushing the two inside the truck’s cabin.         Grunting, Violet tried to look back, but a jostle from Jorge kept her looking straight at Rose’s unconscious face as they were brought along. “Just what do you want to know about Fred anyway? He was an HLF member who died. Heart attack or something, nothing more,” she spat back, only to hear a light chuckle come from behind.         “Nothing more? Oh, Violet, that simply isn’t the case. Especially when you’re driving around with a couple ponies and the daughter of a high ranking HLF member.” Standish laughed, but Violet stayed silent, her brain working on unwrapping what he just said. Before she could think much further, however, Carl broke from the group, moving toward a large door on the side of the semi, while the others kept walking toward the back.         “Hey now- where are you taking her!?” Violet yelled, earning her another unceremonious shake from Jorge. She was really starting to dislike that man. “Please, don’t separate us, she just lost her brother-”         Clearing his throat, Lt. Standish straightened his uniform as he continued on. “I’m well aware of that. His body was found this morning, mangled with a large hole through his head. Apparently their festivities were cut short when a large lorry ended up driving off a crumbling expressway and it killed their new commanding officer.”         Violet again wrestled against Jorge, this time the man relenting slightly in allowing the girl to see the Lieutenant. “What are you talking about? Richard wasn’t-”         “Ah, and there’s the admission of knowledge. Lovely how that works.” Standish continued to smile as he passed by Violet, grabbing hold of the back doors of the semi and opening them. “Jorge, if you’d be so helpful...” Nodding, the large man forced Violet up and into the back of the truck, Carl appearing nearby to help the man with the job. Violet yelled at the men, but soon found herself pushed back into the dark chamber, the door slamming shut behind her. “Be back real soon. Just have to tie up a couple loose ends.”         -----         Rusty swore loudly, much to Twinkle’s displeasure. Catching a look from the pony, he sighed wistfully and slammed his head against the top of the steering wheel. “Well it’s all a bunch of manure, anyway. We were all just sitting there, enjoying ourselves, and then that rat bastard walks in an’ just... What the hell is going on?” Looking over to the unicorn, Twinkle couldn’t help but shrug.         “Hey, quiet down in there.” Sharla called from outside. Rusty rolled his eyes.         “Oh fuck off! We can’t do anything in here.” Rusty called, placing a hoof on the ignition. As he did, he felt the keys jingle underneath his hooves, and the stallion looked over to Twinkle a moment, a sparkle in his eyes. Pushing the key a little bit, the battery hummed to life as an assortment of dings and air came on, much to the human’s displeasure.         “Hey, I said quiet down! Turn your damn car off of I’ll-” Rusty pushed a button on the sound deck and suddenly the air was filled with the calm sounds of some old music CD.         “It’s some music, Sharla. I think you can agree that’s not exactly world-ending.” Without warning, Rusty slammed his hoof on the door locks and rolled the window up in front of the IHSA member. “Thank god for power windows...!”         Twinkle gave the colt a confused glance, raising her eyebrow. “What are you hoping to accomplish, Rusty? We can’t do anything in here, and now you’ve just made her angry!” Looking past the red pony, Twinkle saw the girl slamming on the window and mutely calling for the stallion to roll down his window now. Giving a goofy grin, Rusty raised his splinted hoof to his ear and mouthed a ‘I-can’t-hear-you’ at the girl. Despite the danger, Twinkle couldn’t help but giggle slightly. “Well, if she wasn’t before...”         “Ah, screw her. They promised not to harm us, so she can’t do anything until Lt. High-and-Mighty gives the say so,” Rusty scoffed, tapping a hoof on the side of his head. “Odd that they’d lock us up in our own car.”         Twinkle looked about the vehicle, having not a lot of space to maneuver, she was having a hard time agreeing with Rusty’s plan. “Well it’s not like ponies can drive, Rusty. Besides, what’s the idea when Standish does give an order to harm us?” Placing a hoof on the stereo system, she dabbled with the controls a moment before spinning the knob on the deck, quieting the music.         Rusty was currently rubbing the back of his neck with his good hoof. “Yeah, I hadn’t really thought that far, but I’d doubt that Sharla out there is keen on leaving us all alone in here, so she’s not about to get any new orders until he gets here.” As he spoke, he could see the Lieutenant in question far across the field, fortunately not hearing the calls from his agent. Looking over the group, his eyes narrowed. “Not exactly the most able-bodied militaristic group,” he mused.         “Excuse me? They have guns and helicopters, isn’t that good enough?” Twinkle gathered, her eyes trained on the helicopter nearby. She never wanted to be on the bad side of an organization that had one of those. She never wanted to be on anyone’s bad idea at all! She wasn’t used to this kind of thing. And as she looked about, her panic was slightly quelled by the sudden fear that she was becoming used to it.         However, Rusty brought her back from her revelry by shaking his hoof at the scene before them. “Not entirely. They have the hardware, but outside of Jorge I haven’t been seeing much in the way of efficiency around here. I saw a gun lying in pieces in the tent we were in, and there aren’t any radios or anything. I got to look around at most of the place when one of the medics were helping my leg.” Shaking his head, he laid his forehead on the steering wheel, unsure of what to think. “It doesn’t make any sense, Twinkle. One moment they’re helping, the next we’re separated and locked up.”         “To be fair, you did lock us in the truck,“ Twinkle teased despite the situation, earning her a giant grin from the red stallion. Looking about, she sighed as she saw a couple members of the IHSA approach Sharla. “Well, I guess we’re gonna have some trouble soon,” she muttered. Rusty looked on to see a Sharla start to relate the message to her compatriots, much to his displeasure. “I don’t suppose you have a plan yet...?”         Rusty eyed the keys in the ignition and his eyes tracked over to Twinkle’s horn. Technically, he did still have his license... Although the mugshot wouldn’t win him any contests. Shifting himself into an extremely uncomfortable position for a pony, Rusty cursed his short stature as his hooves didn’t reach the gas or brakes, sliding himself back up to his sitting position. Looking over towards Twinkle, he passed a glance back at Sharla as he opened his mouth. “Lemme tell you about something called ‘the clutch’.”         -----         Violet huddled in some dark corner, unsure of what to expect. Rose was somewhere in the truck with her, but there was no way to talk to her, or communicate. She was likely still under the effect of the sedatives. Violet looked back at the action taken by the lieutenant, making note that it didn’t seem like there was much sedative in his little needle. Maybe Rose was conscious. Laying her hand down, her skin brushed against the floor slightly. Only now did she even start to contemplate her surroundings. She had only got a glimpse when they had thrown her in here before shutting the doors, and had seen a table and chairs upon a carpeted floor. There was some reflective surface toward the back - where she was leaning against right now, actually. However, noises from outside brought her attention up as the door swung open, the afternoon sun shining bright in her eyes as she moved to cover them.         Stepping into the semi, there was a tittering sound as she recognized the voice of Lieutenant Standish. “Hm. I seem to have forgotten to turn the lights on in here. How embarrassing. Carl, if you would?” There was a short shuffling sound followed by a light click. Moments later, Fluorescent lights flickered on inside the truck as Violet’s eyes tried to adjust to the light. Along the walls were some wood paneling, obviously fake, but it was enough to give the room a homey feel to it. She was right about the table and chairs, but the reflective surface behind her just gave way into some dark room that held no light. Frowning, Violet looked up at the walls, where various gas masks littered the sides of the compartment. The lieutenant gestured over to the large tanned man beside him. “Ah, there we are. Jorge, if you’d be so kind as to bring her to the table, I’d like to speak with her like civilized people.”         Violet stood up as Jorge approached, but she rebuked him as he neared her. “I’m not Goddamned animal, I know when I don’t have the upper hand,” she seethed, moving toward the chair and sitting down. “I don’t know what you want from me, Standish. I’m just trying to get to the Bureau with my friends. We don’t deserve to be locked up like this.”         The lieutenant chuckled dryly, wiping away a tear of merriment that wasn’t really there. “Oh, I agree and I disagree. I had to be safe, you see. Your pony friends check out, as do you, of course. You’re an anomaly, though, that’s for certain. A little girl, living alone in some big tower where the head of the Albuquerque HLF branch lived.”         “What?” Violet gaped, shaking her head. “Is that why you brought up Fred? Look, I don’t know what you’re smoking out here, but he wasn’t the head of the HLF out there - he was just some old bitter man,” she argued. Still, Standish just wore that infuriating smile. Narrowing her eyes, she sighed loudly. “Okay, say he was. I didn’t know that, okay? I was just... looking for some place to be. With people. I didn’t even know he was HLF until I saw him at some meeting!” Violet wasn’t pleased by the lack of information they gave her, but she was more infuriated with how this asshole just sat there and expected the world. Not to mention something else weighed on her mind. “Where is Rose? What did you do to her? I swear if you laid a finger on her-”         “Do to her?” Standish interrupted. “Nothing, yet. Although I plan to. In fact...” Bringing out a small glass box, he placed it on the table. It was a simple box, clear on all sides but the bottom. Inside it was a large red button. Violet hated big red buttons. There was a hinge as well, obviously for flipping open and pressing that big red button. “I will be doing something quite soon. And don’t get any ideas, Violet, there really is nothing you can do.”         Violet fumed under his gaze, but betrayed nothing. “Then what do you want. I’m just a girl; I’m nothing important!”         The man laughed, shaking his head as Carl walked to the other side of the table behind Violet, standing next to Jorge as he did. “I agree with you, you are rather worthless, but that’s neither here nor there. Really, I’m just keeping you around because I’m curious as to how and why a girl who doesn’t make sense just so happens to show up in my camp and deliver the new head of the western branch of the HLF.” Chuckling to himself, he watched Violet’s face contort into something that resembled confusion and rage.         “I don’t fucking know what you think you’re talking about, but Rose is just a girl who wants to get on with her life. Her brother’s dead and he tried to kill her before he went, okay? She’s no head of the HLF-” Violet began, but she was cut off.         “She’s more or less the defacto head, considering there aren’t any more out there.” Violet shook her head, unsure of what he meant. As she did, however, he produced a vial of purple serum and placed it on the table. “Your unicorn friend said I disappeared awhile ago with her stock of ponification potion. That’s mostly true, but it wasn’t all finished, and drinkable potion is so hard to force upon others. So we’ve been testing new versions out here in the open air. We haven’t had many problems.” Jorge coughed uneasily behind him, but Lt. Standish ignored it. “At least not since our first batch. Had they been sedated I’m sure it would have been a lot less mess to clean up.” Chuckling dryly, Violet shook her head.         “Why... why are you even telling me this? I don’t want to know this!” Violet’s body was shaking now, be it from fear or anger, or some other emotion that got itself tied into the mix. Standish shook his head.         “Because you’re the most interesting thing that’s happened all month. A solitary truck in an otherwise empty pony wasteland? Bringing me Fred’s sole remaining family? The last of the western branch of the HLF? Really now, if you hadn’t escaped our gassing run in Albuquerque I’d of never had the day I’ve had. So thank you.” Lieutenant Samuel Standish stood up, approaching the dark window. “Carl, if you’d be so kind as to light up the next room?” There was another click as the other room lit up, revealing an empty metal room save for the unconscious girl within. “And there she is. You know, I really can’t stand the Human Liberation Front, and those pussyfoots in charge of the IHSA are just happy to let them roam free these days. Well, I’m sick of seeing pony and people alike killed over being friendly. So, I’m stopping the hate where it starts.”         Violet stood up, seeing the prone form of her friend in the other room. Rushing forward, she felt her arms get nabbed by the men behind her, holding her against her will and best efforts. “Stop! Don’t- Don’t kill her! She hasn’t done anything wrong! She isn’t part of the HLF anymore! She wants to be part of the IHSA!”         The Lieutenant smiled plainly, shaking his head. “Kill her? Whatever think I’d do that on purpose? If I did that I’d be no better than the scum of the Earth she was born from.” Looking down at the girl in the other room, his eyes narrowed into a malicious smile. “No, Violet. I’m going to fix her.”         -----         Twinkle shook her head, trying to wrap her head around the vehicle. “So, the one on the left is the clutch, which you hit when you want to change gears, and that’s the gas, and that one is the brake-”         “Which you won’t need until the very end.” Rusty said, looking over toward the congregation of IHSA members. Quite a few had started to circle the truck, but Rusty had ordered Twinkle to make her horn glow in a threatening manner. It had worked for the most part, each member not daring to get too close to the truck. As Rusty looked around, he noticed a couple plots not too far off, upturned dirt and large stones placed near them. He visibly swallowed as he looked about, regretting his word choice about ‘the very end’. Apparently, these people were no strangers to death, and he didn’t want to think about who occupied those fresh graves.         Twinkle whined slightly, her horn sparking to life again as she looked at an approaching member. “Rusty, I don’t know how much longer this is going to work...” she whispered. The red stallion agreed himself, but didn’t show it. “I don’t think I have it in me to do anything bad to them...”         “You won’t have to... I don’t think,” Rusty replied nervously, putting his hooves on the wheel. “Just... keep your eyes on the prize and stick to the plan.” Twinkle eyed him a moment, shaking her mane. As she did, one of the members of IHSA made a dash for the car, Rusty taking a moment to shout and point with his hoof toward the man. Twinkle wheeled about and caught the man in her sights, her horn sparking.         “WhatdoIdoWhatdoIdoWhatdoIdo!” Twinkle screeched, her bluff called as the man continued to approach. “I can’t do anything!”         Rusty drummed his hoof on the dashboard, trying to think of something. “I don’t know- Surround the truck! Make it glow! You don’t have to do anything with it, just make it look good!” His mouth was running as his hoof reached for the keys in the ignition. It took some doing, but he finally managed to turn the ignition and the engine roared to life. Twinkle shot him a look of panic as she surrounded the truck in her glow, the man backing off slightly as the truck started to levitate upwards. “Ack! Twinkle! Make it stop! Make it stop!”         Releasing the Ford, the tires bounced against the ground as Rusty bellowed instructions toward the pale pink unicorn. “Okay! Gas! Clutch! More gas! Good! First gear! Alright! Gas! Gas! Clutch!” Before them, Lieutenant Standish exited the semi truck, being met with a couple of his agents as they gestured toward the ponies in the truck. Cursing loudly, the man started to walk forward alongside his second in command as the approached the ponies.         “Clutch! More gas! Second gear! Keep going! We’re doing great!” Rusty shouted.         “Stop yelling!” Twinkle screamed, her concentration being spent on just trying to follow the instructions, let alone decipher them with all the noise Rusty was making.         “Sorry! Gas! Clutch! Third gear!” Hooves on the wheel, Rusty did his best to navigate the cars, jeeps, and personnel of the camp while keeping a steady stream of instructions to follow, his eyes trying to watch the ‘road’ and the dashboard as he did. “How did I ever drive this thing!?” As the duo made their way across the field, the semi was in sight as they accelerated closer and closer.         “Ruuuusssty! What do I do now?” Twinkle screamed over the sound of the engine, the sound of the radio, which just so happened to click unto a polka tune. “We’re gonna crash!”         Rusty turned to Twinkle with a smile on his face. “That’s the plan!”         “What?!”         Rusty gave a sheepish smile as he shrugged his shoulders. “If we knock over the truck, we might be able to get the girls out!”         “If we survive!” Twinkle shouted, looking forward to towards the looming side of the semi. “Hold on - I’ve got an idea!” Her horn shimmering even brighter, Rusty suddenly felt the wheel go slack against the ground as the Ford lifted up into the air, its momentum bringing it up towards the side of the thin metal walls. “Here we go!”         -----         Minutes Earlier...         “No! Stop! Please, let her go!” Violet screamed, the two men alongside her restraining her by the arms. She looked on helplessly as the dazed girl in the other room slowly came to her senses, taking a look at her surroundings. A metal cage, a glass window she couldn’t see through. Violet wished the same could be said for her. Turning to her right, she struggled against her captors as she pleaded with the man. “Listen to me! Listen to me, please! She’s not like him! She’s not with them anymore!” The man’s eyes glanced over toward Violet, his body language unreadable. Violet’s tears ran openly down her face, and yet all he seemed was... bored. Calm, completely dead to her screams as he reached down to a glass box. “Really now, Violet. You’re one of the good girls. We like you and what you’re trying to do. But this young specimen is a blight to our species, and really, we must remove infections before they spread further.” His hand reached down to the glass box, flipping the offending cage over on its hinges. “Violet?” The blonde called out weakly, holding her head. “Twinkle? Rusty? Wh-where am I?” She asked, bringing herself to her feet. Violet looked on, stunned. “Am I in... what is this shit? Jail? Why am I in jail?” “Rose!” Violet screamed. Lt. Standish peered over, a small smile on his face. The girl in the adjacent room spun about, as if hearing some phantom sound. Chuckling lightly, Standish placed his palm on the red button and pushed it down. “Weep for the wicked no more.” Pushing against one of the men and managing to kick the other in his family jewels, Violet wrenched herself free. Bull rushing toward her offender, she quickly learned that earning the rank of Lieutenant tends to come with some sort of physical training as she quickly found herself floored, the wind knocked from her lungs. Grabbing her by her shirt, the middle-aged man lifted her and slammed the girl against the glass. “Look at her!” Violet struggled, grasping for air as she struggled to remain focused. Before her, a purple mist started to descend into the room where the blonde girl spun about in confusion. “H-Hey!” She called, backing herself away from the offending smoke. “What the hell is this? Don’t I get a trial!? What the fuck is this!?” Turning her head toward the glass, she couldn’t help but notice it shaking and knocking. “H-hey! Look, I get it! I’ll be good, just- God, what is this stu-h... stu...” She blinked, her mind starting to blank. Violet could only choke out her friend’s name. “Rose...!” she whimpered, slamming against the glass. Rose could only look vaguely toward the glass window, feeling the vibrations against her palms. Lt. Standish released Violet, smirking to himself as he saw a waft of purple smoke enter into the blonde girl. “There we are.” Pushing Violet into the glass one last time, the man turned to check on his bodyguards, a sarcastic smile on his face. “Ah, Carl, how’re the kids? Hopefully you can still have them. Jorge, keep an eye on her, make sure she watches the whole thing. I’m going to get something to eat. I’m thinking... Apples.” Violet glared at the man through flowing tears, looking for some way to stop what was happening. There had to be a way. “Rose...” She coughed, her lungs starting to function again. In the other room, the blonde girl couldn’t help but breathe in the purple mist, her legs weakening with every breath as she collapsed to her hands and knees. “Oh god... it... hurts.” Rose coughed, purple phlegm sticking to the floor. Looking around, tears brimmed on the side of her eyes. “I’m... going to die?” she convulsed, her arm sliding against the floor. Violet spun around, her eyes searching for something - anything - to get Rose out of her predicament. Eyes focusing on a wooden chair, Jorge watched her bolt for the furniture, only taking a moment to reach for a gun at his side. Uncaring, the purple haired girl hurled the chair at the glass. To her horrid surprise, the chair bounced harmlessly off the offending glass, the reflective surface only shuddering under the trauma. “Bulletproof glass. One way mirror.” Jorge muttered darkly. Violet rubbed her eyes quickly as she turned toward the darker toned man. “For the more emotional audience.” His voice hid a sad darkness. Violet approached him, but he slowly drew out his gun, shaking his head. “Nuh ah-uh. No closer, darling.” Violet stared at him, her eyes brimming with tears. “Please...” she said, looking over to Rose as her body started to convulse. “Help her...” Jorge sighed, shaking his head. “I’m sorry.” Violet opened her mouth, but instead ran to the window, looking on toward her friend. “I’m under orders. It’s too late anyway, she breathed the serum in.” Violet glanced back at him, her tears dropping on her shirt. “There isn’t anything I can do, child.” Rose’s body was on fire. Her head slammed against the ground as she writhed. She could hear some vague banging, her eyes tracking falsely to the door. “V-Violet..!” she breathed. And then, a sickening crack. Rose’s limbs shot out in a feral rage, her fingers snapping and fusing as magic started to work. It burned her. Her veins were like gasoline, and the magic a match, igniting from within. Rose screamed. Violet could only watch in a stunned silence as she watched her friend twitch and break in front of her. Her bones snapped loudly, her skin glowing unnaturally. Along her skin Violet could see the veins blackened along Rose’s body as her hair shimmered and even sparked. Her tanned, peach skin starting to fade into a pink hue, the color crawling from bulging arteries along her body. The passages of blood snaked across her body, repositioning themselves as her bones started to move in her body. And her screaming became like drowning, her lungs being stretched and skewed in unreal ways. Violet couldn’t look away - she couldn’t stand to see it, but she couldn’t look away. And then it happened. Rose’s back arched, the skin next to her shoulder blades pushing out. Something was trying to escape, a creature clawing out from her insides. The skin ripped and tore as growing bones whipped out into the air, covered in blood and dripping fluids over the floor. Violet’s stomach did a cartwheel as she keeled over slightly, her hand on the glass the only thing keeping her upright. The skeletal appendage was draped in loose skin that shimmered and started to stretch over the white ivory, the puce color spreading. A tail started to grow, splitting out of her spine as a thin bit of bone shot out. As the gruesome display continued, Violet couldn’t help but notice Jorge nearby, his hand over his heart. “What...?” she called, her mind sick at the thought of what was happening before her. “Paying my respects. There is little chance for survival,” he said, sighing as he holstered his gun. “There is little left now. She won’t feel it much longer.” Jorge averted his gaze as Rose’s head started to bulge slightly, the skin around her eyes stretching out. Violet couldn’t hold it anymore as she dry heaved, what little substance she had in her stomach unable to make its way up her throat. Jorge gave her a forlorn gaze, watching the last of the purple mist start to evacuate the room. Violet turned to look at the pony on floor in the room. Rose’s hair ceased to shimmer as it dulled into a turquoise blue, her puce skin starting to sprout a coat of similarly hued hairs. Feathers grew at an exponential rate, little twigs popping out of her wings, growing into brilliant feathers in minutes. Blood was splashed along the floor and drenched the fur along her backside. As the loud murmur of the ventilation started to subside and the purple mist gone from the room, a loud rumble continued throughout the area. Looking up, Violet’s tear-stained face looked about in confusion. “What... What now!? What’s that noise?” Jorge paused at the doorway, looking around him. “I... don’t know.” As it growled and roared, Violet’s ears rang with the familiar sound. She spun slowly as she looked at the man, who was already running forward. “Get down!” he shouted, catching Violet in a full bodied tackle. The roar of the Ford’s engines at full pedal-to-the-medal speeds bellowed as the metal truck slammed through the makeshift walls of the chamber, the slightly airborne vehicle brushing against Jorge’s back as it crashed through the semi-trucks thin metal exterior. There was a screech of metal and a crash of glass as shards rained down upon the two humans, the heavy truck clearing one side of the truck and ripping through the other. Violet could hear the terrified screeching of Twinkle as it went by, the smell of magic in the air as the levitated vehicle came crashing down back on the ground on the other side of the lorry. The wave of confusion and delirious rushes that came after was like a horrible nightmare. Her ears ringing and her chest heaving, Violet pushed herself off the ground as Jorge rolled over, his body pelted with glass and still recovering from being hit by the flying truck. Stumbling toward the broken window, Violet climbed over the jagged edge, glass cutting into her hands as she fell over her broken friend. Grabbing the unfamiliar face, Violet brought it to her chest and looked it in the eye. The eyes were open, wide, and tears were simply streaming down Rose’s face. “Rose...!” Cradling her friend in her arms, the purple-haired girl wept over the limp pony. “Come on, Rose... please...” There was a ripping sound as the door to the chamber ripped off its hinges, a pale pink pony rushing in from the side. “Violet! Violet, you’re okay! Rusty! She’s in here - you missed her you red ponce!” she cried, galloping over toward the kneeling girl. “Violet, who-” She started as the red Earth pony came in at full gallop. “Violet! Oh thank Celestia... Come on, we gotta go - those IHSA members are gonna mobilize real soon here and we still gotta find Rose!” Rusty proceeded to approach the girls, his eyes training on the puce pony in Violet’s arms. “Who is that?” He asked, his face contorting as he looked about. There really wasn’t a lot of places in the encampment to hide people. As the human girl cradled and sobbed over the blue-maned pony, Rusty stepped forward again. “Violet... Who is this pony...?” Twinkle gasped openly as her eyes trained over the bloody spot over the pegasus’ wings and the floor nearby, her mind connecting the dots. She had seen hundreds of conversions, ghastly things that were meant to be done while the patient was unconscious, but the look, the far-away fear and pain in the pony’s eyes. “Rusty...” she choked. The red pony looked over to Twinkle, his eyes fogged. “Rusty... It’s her...” Violet could hear them now. The voices outside. The sounds of engines and metal. She could hear Lt. Standish screaming at his men. The light sound of snapping glass. Her eyes snapped open at the last sound. Standing on the other side of the now open window, Jorge stood, hunched over, his gun trained on the human girl. Glass shards were poking out of his back as he looked over them, his eyes glazed as he looked about the truck. Above him, a broken pipe spewed out purple serum into the open air, brushed away by the wind, but heavy as it started to rain on him. Rusty stepped forward, but the sound of the gun’s safety being clicked off stopped him dead in his tracks, instead opting to just glare angrily at the man. “Hasn’t she suffered enough?” Rusty growled. Jorge’s eyes flashed up at the descending cloud and back to the girl. His hand moved behind a rend in the metal, picking a gas mask up off the wall. Rusty’s eyes sharpened as her snorted. “Hmph. Human survival, at any means.” The mask flopped next to Violet’s hand. The collected group silently looked between it and the man, a look of confusion between them. Jorge coughed, blood splattering over his teeth as the shard in his back penetrated his lung. “Go on...” he called. Violet numbly reached out, grabbing the mask as Jorge openly winced as the purple mist started to pool around his nostrils. Looking down at the pony, Violet gently laid a hand on Twinkle as the unicorn nodded slowly, her horn sparking, lifting the prone form of Rose’s pony body. Strapping the mask on her face, Violet stood up, her hands bleeding from the glass. “Hide your hands, child... don’t let the mist-” he coughed, again, a loud snapping sound issuing from his left arm as it broke. “Damn! Get out of here, child,” Jorge warned. As he did, the other bodyguard ran into the destroyed holding cell, Jorge spinning around at him. As Carl pointed his weapon at Violet, Jorge fired a round into the agent’s head, his blood splattering on the wall behind him. Violet gasped sharply, but Jorge ignored it, slamming the gun into the girl’s hands. “Violet! We gotta go! Now!” Rusty shouted, the stallion pushing the girl into action. Spinning about, Twinkle was out the door with Rose as Rusty brought up the rear. Tensely looking at the gun in her hand, Violet spun about to see feet and wheels starting to mobilize on the other side of the semi. Jorge had fallen over. Backwards. His body twitched and snapped still, but his face was slack already. Turning toward the damaged Ford, Violet saw Rusty starting to slow down from his damaged forehoof, but otherwise doggedly trying to help the others. She saw Rose - poor Rose. Sprinting for the drivers seat, the engine was already roaring as Twinkle helped herself into the passenger’s sear, Rose and Rusty set in the back on the mattress. Twinkle’s eyes were flowing with new tears. “Violet, I don’t think - I think Rose is...” Violet didn’t let her finish, grabbing the gear shift and pouring on the gas. Tires ripping into the soft earth below it, the truck wretched itself from the ground as it tore off toward the highway, the collecting forces. Violet could feel the mist in the back of her mind. It consumed her, choked her. The fog that cloaked her mind. And now? It had been given corporal form. It tracked her - it never wanted to leave her alone. Breathing heavily into the mask, Violet focused as best she could on the road ahead. The truck bumped and skidded unto the expressway, the various vehicles of the IHSA branch tearing behind her as she shifted into a new gear. Rusty braced himself on his good hoof as he leaned on the side of the truck, looking back at the cars that gave chase. His hooves burned from the last time they had to run, and now he was chased by the something even scarier. Looking back toward the girls, his eyes fell on Rose, the poor girl. Scooting along the bed, Rusty pushed his head through the window toward Twinkle. “We’ve got company. Plans?” Violet shook her head. “Drive. Run. Until we can’t anymore.” Rusty’s eyes trained over to the fuel gauge, the truck part way through its journey. A full on push would eat gas like nothing else, but a slow drive would mean certain death. In Violet’s white knuckled grip was the gun Jorge handed her, her mind buzzing at the implications of what he must have expected her to do with it. Protect herself. Aim it. Kill with it. Shifting into top gear, the engine drank greedily from its reserves. She was the only human now. And she had to prove everything that was worth.