Rubber hit pavement as the Ford hit the road, gunning it toward the expanse of buildings ahead. In the back seat, which jostled every which way as the black vehicle aimed to outrun it’s pursuers, Rusty and the now ponified and prone form of Rose. Twinkle kept looking back at Rusty and the cars of the IHSA as they gave chase, trying to make sense of the last half-hour. “Is it always this way with humans outside of cities!?”
Violet grimaced as the pale pink pony probed for answers, even at this time. “Never, or almost never! Now shut up unless you have something useful to say!” Violet ordered, her voice muffled under the gas mask that Jorge had thrown her. Her eyes flashed toward the mirrors as the car took on an exit toward the city center, bouncing about at the various cracks in the road impeded their progress as best they could. As they roared along the concrete, behind them a multitude of vehicles started to stabilize themselves, acting under orders from one very pissed off Lieutenant Samuel Standish.
Rusty kept moving from the back of the truck bed over to the new pony among their ranks, the mare’s eyes still wide open, with tears dried from the whipping wind around them. Counting the vehicles, Rusty was dumbfounded to see the semi truck they tore through barreling down the road behind the rest of the cars, torn metal shooting sparks up as it clashed against the highway. Staying low, the red stallion crawled past Rose and slid open the back window. “We’ve got five on us, including the damn semi truck we tore through!”
“Are you fucking serious?!” Violet nearly screamed in frustration. She was not going to ever get used to the horrible trend that seemed to have appeared since she left the Tower. “The semi. Goddammit.” Reaching a hand back, the girl hastily ripped off the gas mask and tossed it in the space between her and Twinkle. Drinking in fresh air, the girl wiped her eyes and tried to get a better look at the cityscape they were approaching.
“Son of a Bitch they’ve got the helicopter up,” Rusty commented, his tone unamused as the black shape of the military chopper took to the air. Violet shook her head violently her eyes finally registered what was in her hand. Looking at the gun Jorge had handed her, she spun and looked back, her mind screaming for plans and escapes.
Twinkle gave the red colt a reluctant look as she shook her head. “I can’t say I’m a fan of your language today, Rusty,” she sighed, having nothing to offer the conversation. The stallion shook his head in amused disbelief.
“There’s a time to be a pony and a time to act a bit more like a human, and right now we’re being chased by armed and trained men with guns and a fucking helicopter. Twinkle, I know you’re an Equestria girl, but gain a little perspective - a dirty mouth is not on my list of issues right now!” Rusty sighed as he popped his head out of cabin as he watched the helicopter start to overtake the other vehicles, and quickly latched himself to the bed as Violet spun the wheel unto the city streets of Sante Fe.
The car bumped along as it hit the abandoned streets, Violet’s eyes looking for sharp turns and tall buildings in which to lose their hunters, trying to get a feel for the truck’s ability for dangerous maneuvers. Screeching the tires as the truck made a hard left, the group could feel a couple wheels fall off the world as the truck became a two-wheeled car. “Twinkle, need a little help here!” Galvanized, the unicorn’s horn screamed to life as it hastily pushed a counter force against the truck, popping it back on four wheels as the sound of a whirling blades started to near. Rusty pushed up against the turquoise-maned pegasus, making sure the action hadn’t... done anything more to the girl he couldn’t be sure was even there anymore.
“I bet you hate how you keep finding yourself in such shit, eh, Rose?” Rusty chuckled hoarsely as he looked on behind. One of the cars had spun out completely on the corner, while the others had merely slowed down, deciding not to attempt such a sharp corner without magical air. Smoke issued from both wheels and engine from the failed car, giving Rusty slight hope in their ability to evade their pursuers. Looking back at the pony before him, he couldn’t help but notice that her large eyes were dominated by iris’s of her namesake - rose-colored. And they were staring right at him.
Bull rushing the back window, Rusty nicked his head a bit on the top piece of plastic, but otherwise he face had a silly little grin. “I’ve got a reaction!”
“A what?” Twinkle guessed.
“Little busy, need a bit more than that, Rusty!” Violet called out, again refusing to slow down as the truck spun around another corner. “Twinkle! Push!” she shouted, the truck again groaning as it felt its grip to the road giving away, and again the exasperated unicorn pushed against the broadside of the vehicle.
“What is with human transportation and its ability to make anypony piloting it a bossy little bitch!” Twinkle shouted, the engine suddenly silent as both Violet and Rusty stopped their trains of thought to look at the pink unicorn. Realizing what she said, the embarrassed mare put a hoof to her mouth. “Oh! Um-”
“Now that’s more like it!” Rusty cheered playfully, Violet shaking her head - in the middle of a life-and-death struggle, these ponies seemed to find light in the situation. Looking to his side a moment, Rusty once again saw the form of Rose and tapped the girls. “I saw something! Rose was looking at me! Right at me with her big ol’ eyes!”
Twinkle looked back pushing the red colt’s head straight out of her way as Violet tried to keep her truck on the road. However, the moving pony proved to be a bit of a distraction for the purple-haired driver, so she shot a hand out and pushed the unicorn back to her seat. “Steady, Twinkle! I don’t even want to think about anything other than getting somewhere safe! Or at least somewhere to hide...!”
Heeding her terms, the unicorn kept herself forward focused and task oriented, instead opting to stick her head out the window and look up. “Violet, that helicopter is still up there. We need to find higher buildings or something-”
“Sante Fe doesn’t have taller buildings!” Rusty cut in, Violet shaking her head violently. Screeching the wheels again, Twinkle was starting to believe the purple-haired female was turning sharply just to shut everypony up, her horn keeping the truck steady as it flew through the intersections, the sound of gunfire behind them as a number of vehicles attempted to make a mark on the truck. However, it didn’t make Rusty any happier. “Bullets! They’re shooting at us! Goddamn, why are they this pissed at us!?”
“You did nearly run a couple over!” Twinkle shouted at the stallion. The red pony contemplated this, but only ended up shrugging and looking a bit sheepish.
Violet looked back a moment, her mind racing with questions. They were just a group of ponies - plus one human. There wasn’t that much of a need to track them down - Not even under some vague idea of Rose being important to the HLF. But then again.... Reaching for the gas mask, Violet brought it close to her chest as her other hand steered the gar, still white knuckling her. “I’ve got an idea why.”
Twinkle’s eyes flashed as she eyed the gas mask. “Violet, why do you have that thing, anyway? What’s so important about it?” She paused as her brain started to work. “And why are they chasing us!?”
“It’s that ponification serum - the kind from your Bureau. They’ve been modifying it. Making it gaseous. It’s what they did to Rose.” Violet said, her voice deadpan as she found a curved road to turn unto. They had already lost three vehicles - the semi among the first to go. But two very capable cars were still on their tail, and the helicopter above keeping an eye on them - before long the others who were still working would be on them thanks to it. “It doesn’t have any sedatives in it, so they did it to her when she was... she was conscious, Twinkle.”
“Mongrels!” the unicorn spat. Violet raised her brow at the visceral response, but made no effort to stop it. “There’s a reason why we never made chambers for mass conversion - nevermind the parallels to your World War II villains.” Twinkle looked up above towards the helicopter, her eyes narrowing before she stuck her head back in the cabin. “There’s no way to portion gas right - especially for inhalation. They were liable to kill her, not to mention- Oh sweet Celestia, Violet, I need to get back there!” Twinkle suddenly shifted herself, but the human pushed her back down. “Violet! She needs attention! The amount of strain a mind goes through-”
“I know. I saw it. They made me watch!” Violet screamed, not tearing her eyes of the road. Twinkle could only huff in disbelief, shaking her head in alarm. Violet slammed on the accelerator with all she had as she drove the car into another side street, this time clashing up against a wall instead of relying on Twinkle’s magic. Sickening scrapes caused Rusty to cover himself and Rose with a blanket as sparks flew alongside the truck, the driver side mirror completely scrapped as its shards rained out upon the sidewalk beside it. Thanking whatever deity she could think of, the Ford’s wheels squealed as it rocked back onto the street, before Violet spotted a building before a fork in the road.
Rusty stuck his head in, shaking some debris from his mane as he looked about. “The hell was that for!?” he called, before Violet gestured weakly with her thumb.
“Last second turn, didn’t really think about it. Did those bastards make it?” she asked, not daring to turn and look. And it’s not like she could use her side view mirror. However, Rusty had the courage to look, and was gratified to see an orange Taurus find itself wedged inside of a streetlamp as he turned to see. Giving a shout, Rusty’s positive attitude was short lived as a dark black truck like their own barreled into the turn, narrowly dodging the the broken car.
“One of them did,” Rusty reported, before leaning down next to the pegasus. Succumbing to the fact he was little more than lookout at the moment, his head trailed up into the sky, catching sight of spinning blades as the helicopter ducked out of sight behind some buildings. Resting his head down, he checked over the puce pony. Bringing a hoof to her face, the red pony pushed it from side to side, trying to get a better look at the girl. “Oh, you poor, poor thing. The world’s falling apart around you and it’s not giving you room to breathe,” he sighed, laying his head down. He could hear Twinkle and Violet conversing in ever escalating tones, shaking his head slightly. “You know, Rose, I’ve got a niece I was going to see, too. A wonderful little pegasus, like yourself.”
“I remember the day she was born. I was still a human then. Oh, if you could have held a baby foal in your hands, Rose.” Rusty lifted his head, the truck in the distance wasn’t really catching up, but it wasn’t getting any further away. Tears beaded around his eyes as he felt the truck take another sharp turn. “Oh my, and those little wings. She tried to flap them the moment she was delivered. Born to fly, that one.” Rusty chuckled at the memory, or maybe it was the fact he was sitting in the back of a truck during a car chase, and the only thing on his mind was the family he’d leave behind when they... if they failed to get away. “She’s turning four soon. By Celestia, how they grow.” Placing his head down, the pony averted his gaze toward the sky, hoping he wouldn’t see the hovering helicopter overhead, despite hearing the throbbing sounds echoing over the city. Closing his eyes, Rusty reflected on his niece. “I haven’t seen her in so long...”
Sighing deeply, his ear turned toward the cabin, trying to gather what the girls were talking about. Probably some plan to lose the last vehicle, but unless they caused them all to eventually crash while avoiding to do the same, eventually the other vehicles would find them again thanks to the helicopter. He wondered if he’d have ever really gotten around to going had he not met Violet. He loved his family dearly, but they were so far away, and Equestria... anypony he met that went there had only sent him mail and postcards claiming what a paradise it was, and rarely returned stateside. It seemed so foreign to him, and yet... it was the only world his niece knew. None of the pain and death and car chases and forced ponification and feral animals and guns or any of that. The worst she would have by the end of this day was likely to have an uncle she never really knew. But his sister would tell her. Tell her he loved her. Tell her he held her the day she was born and promised that he’d do anything to keep her safe.
“What was her name?”
Rusty blinked, his thoughts dashed by a new yet familiar voice. Jerking his head towards the source, he was caught off-guard by the blinking rose-colored orbs that stared at him.
“Your niece... What was her name?”
Clearing his throat, the stallion couldn’t suppress his smile even if he wanted to. “Prairie Fire,” he choked out, blinking away tears. “Her name is Prairie Fire. She’s the most beautiful little thing in the world. Orangish Red coat, just a bit lighter than mine, and a crazy little mop of blue-green hair for a mane, little curls everywhere. Her mom says it’ll straighten out in time - all of us did growing up. Except me, of course, before I went pony.”
Rose nodded weakly, her eyes trailing over the flashing scenery. Her body ached and her vision was blurry at best, but she could recognize her friend, even if she could have never considered him such just a short twenty four hours ago. “Violet... Where’s Violet...?” she breathed, as if she had some warning for her.
Rusty sighed and shook his mane. “Piloting the truck, of course. But uh... this is hard to explain, but we’re on the run for our lives...”
Violet’s voice cut the air between them as her hand landed on the gearshift. “Okay, everypony,” she shouted, a small smirk playing on her lips as she uttered the pony-only phrase. “Hang on! Rusty, keep Rose safe as best you can, ‘cause we got a plan!”
“We do not have a plan and you are not-” Twinkle roared, before the car made a stunted jerk forward before slowing down considerably. Violet spun her hands around the wheel until it could go no more, and the truck lurched into an insane spin, its forward momentum impeded. Forcing itself to move, the truck shifted right some as the four wheels screeched and left trails of burnt rubber on the tarmac, the faraway black truck closing in on them. Violet kept the company of ponies intact, her thoughts idling out to her grandfather who had taught her to drive. As the truck came to a sudden and jerky stop, Violet’s hands patted down every part of her body to make sure she was all there, before feeling a hoof become hard pressed on her side, the unicorn giving a halfhearted buck in the cramped space. “Don’t you dare do that again!” she shouted, but Violet could only shake her head with a smile on her face.
“Just stay there a moment, Twinkle, and wait for my signal.” Violet breathed, closing her eyes a moment. Nodding her head, she opened the door, much to the protests of the unicorn.
“You’re going to get yourself killed!” the unicorn shouted, but the girl just shrugged it off.
“I’ll leave that up to you, sorry!” Violet replied in a sing-song voice, covering her nerves up. As she walked out into the open, she saw Rusty looking about confused. “Hey there, Red. Sorry about this in advance, but we couldn’t keep driving like this - we’re nearly out of gas as it is. You bought a hell of a gas guzzler.”
“Violet..?” Rose called out, gingerly lifting herself up. At her mere voice, Violet slammed up against the truck bed and peered into the back. Rose’s wings moved awkwardly as she tried to move to her hooves, finding difficulty. “Shit, I thought it would be like crawling on your hands and feet...”
Twinkle had her head stuck out of the back, her voice soft as she gave advice. “Just... take it slow dear, the magic helps you get around it. Just try moving naturally and it should come easier to you.”
Rose gave a dry chuckle. “Natural... right.”
“Rose. Oh... I thought you were- he said there was only a small chance...” Violet couldn’t think of anything, but instead captured the girl’s head in her arms and brought her in for a hug. “Thank goodness you’re alright!” Rose struggled against the girl’s arms, but soon melted into the gesture, sighing hard.
“For at least another five seconds. Violet, we have company.” Rusty cut in, pointing a hoof towards the black truck. It slowed down nearby, two men in uniform could be seen through its windows. Above, the helicopter passed, Violet looking on as she recognized the man who stood, framed by its own side entrance. Looking back down to the two men who were mobilizing, Violet’s arms raised up high as she stepped forward.
“Heads down, ponies, Rose.” Violet muttered under her breath, her mind not making the distinction for her once-human friend. Taking a few steps toward the other black truck, the doors soon flew open as one of the men came out, brandishing a service issue handgun.
“Stop right there.” Violet’s feet stopped short as she eyed the man. The driver of the vehicle soon stepped out of the car as well, although he had no weapon to call his own. Instead, he brandished a night stick, likely pillaged from some abandoned police station. “Don’t take another step,” he bellowed, earning him a look of disgust from the girl.
“Yes, because I’m so likely to disobey a direct order from a man holding a gun,” she chided, shaking her head. “Look buddy, I don’t know what’s going on here, but you all had no right to hold any of my friends hostage, or do what you did to Rose.”
The driver shrugged it off, paying little mind toward her words. “Orders is orders, ma’am. Maybe when you put fifteen years of service into the army an’ then get screwed into handling domestic disputes fer the last three years, maybe we’ll listen to what you have ta say.” The other soldier shot him a look, but he ignored it. As he stood, a voice crackled over the black trucks radio, Violet recognizing the tones as belonging to Lt. Standish.
Still, she might as well run her mouth. “So that’s that? If your orders are to kill innocent people, whose only crime is that they’re related to some bad apple, it’s justified? You’re with the IHSA-”
“The what?”
“Ugh.” Violet slapped her hand on her forehead. “The I-H-S-A. “
The driver looked over to his companion, a look of bemusement on his face. “‘The fuck calls it the ‘Ehhsah’?” The gun toting soldier shrugged as he entered the cabin of his truck, intent on answering Standish’s call.
Cheeks red with embarrassment, the purple-haired girl pressed on. “It doesn’t matter how it’s called! You’re supposed to protect humanity’s survival! Not kill them! That’s the opposite of what you’re called to do!” She looked about, her ears hearing the helicopter above, but she couldn’t see him among the buildings. Smirking, she shook her head. “Don’t you think that’s hypocritical?”
The driver shrugged, “Hey, we’re not trying to kill anyone. We’re just trying to remove the humans that aren’t beneficial from the future. Through ponification. They still live... sometimes. But we’ll get it right sooner or later.”
The gunman exited the cab, rolling his head around his neck as he turned toward Violet. “Orders from Standish. Kill the girl, and the ponies.” The human girl was taken aback by the candid answer, but shook off her shock quickly.
“Well, nevermind. I guess we are in the killing business again!” The driver chuckled, gesturing from the gunman to Violet, a sick smile on his face. “It’s nothing personal, love. Orders is orders, y’know.” As he spoke, the man raised his weapon up to Violet, his hand clicking the safety off.
Violet’s face darkened, her expression changing from fear to a dire grimness. “Yeah.” A faint purple sparkle appeared around the firearm, giving the gunman pause before the offending weapon was ripped from his hands by an invisible force. As it soared through the air, Violet reached into her pocket and brought out Jorge’s gun, aiming it toward the gunman and firing. She missed the first two shots, but connected with his head with the next. The driver scarcely had time to turn around before a bullet collided with his back, downing the man immediately. “Nothing personal.”
Violet wanted to throw up.
Twinkle did.
Rusty popped his head out from the back, fearing the worst as he soon saw Violet standing still out in the open, the drumming of heartbeats coinciding with the throbbing of helicopter blades. Keeping on his good hooves, the red stallion rushed to Twinkle’s aid, who was currently hanging out of the truck window on the passenger’s side. Rose kept looking at her hooves, then over to her wings, the appendages twitching oddly as she tried to figure out how they moved. Numbly, Violet spun about and approached the truck bed, placing her hand on its edge. Looking over the assembled group of ponies, she silently turned to see the helicopter in the distance. She saw the form of Lieutenant Standish, and shot him the finger in a flare of anger.
Suddenly, she felt a hoof on her hand, turning to see Rose. The girl seemed worse for wear, but she was nothing tragic, at least on the surface. No words were shared between the two, merely taking solace in the fact that they were both, for lack of a better word, okay. Spinning on her heels, Violet pointed to the other truck, putting on a thin smirk. “We got gas.”
-----
Piling into the new truck, Violet took little time in acquainting herself to the mildly different controls and quickly noticed she was dealing with an automatic rather than a manual, much to her pleasure. Twinkle and Violet even brought the mattress over, even though it didn’t fit as well. There was little discussion on seats, Rusty taking the passenger’s seat while the mares took the truck bed, Rose unfurling her wings and shrugging. Violet removed the holster from one of the agent’s belts, taking note that the driver had a holster himself, but no gun with it. Still, gas mask in hand, she grabbed some of the tools from Rusty’s truck and threw it in the space between the seats and the truck bed.
However, the barking voice of Lt. Standish coming from the radio was certainly a problem, as the human turned to her pony friends as they all got themselves in mildly comfortable positions. Turning the vehicle on, the truck started to move out, just as the IHSA members in the crashed Taurus were coming around.
Grabbing the radio receiver, Violet thumbed the response button in her hand as they drove. Standish had to know, even from a distance, that things had not worked out to his advantage. Violet and the ponies were up to three guns now, the one they had taken from the soldier, Jorge’s, and the weapon used to kill Richard. If anything, Violet figured she had enough ammo to justify missing a few shots. “Hey, Jackass.” Violet called out to Standish, giving the others pause. She honestly didn’t know what she was doing, but she was playing it by ear. “I’ve been coming to terms about just what the hell you think you’re doing, and I’ve got a basic idea on how bad you’ve fucked up today.”
There was silence on the other end as the truck continued on, the blades of the chopper close behind as Standish ordered his pilot to continue on. Trading glances with Rusty, Violet shook her head. Despite this, an answer called out from the radio. “Yeah, and how do you figure?”
Violet smirked, “Well, for one, you failed on your assassination attempt; Bravo there, let a witness get away from you; Two, actually, counting one pony; And lost a number of your agents, all of which seems pretty bad from where I’m standing.” Although Violet had to admit, a lot of what she had gotten away with today was due to her pony friends, Twinkle in particular. Feeling mildly pleased with herself, the purple haired human smirked.
“Oh you think you’re so smart, huh? Stupid little bitch, well let me tell you something! I’ve got loads of goddamn gas on this thing, enough to coat three square miles of this fucking city! You think you’re getting away from that?!” Violet raised an eyebrow, passing a glance over to Rusty. The pony looked in the back, spotting the gas mask among the other tools. Standish continued his little tirade over the coms as Violet reached back with a lazy hand, nabbing the headgear as she gave a short smirk.
“You’re bluffing. There could be a hundred people left in Sante Fe still, are you really going to risk killing all of them just to get to three nondescript ponies and a little girl? Not to mention some of your men may still be alive down here.” Violet’s tone was as sweet as it was sickening, the red stallion giving the girl a smirk as he looked back at the mare’s in the back. Twinkle seemed interested in the conversation, but Rose was far more interesting. Despite driving at some fifty miles per hour, the new pony was on all four limbs, wings outstretched as she felt the wind rush beneath her wings, the sensation of flying so great that a look of serene calm was crossed over the ponies features.
Violet took a stare at the radio a moment as she looked about the truck, seeing if she could catch the helicopter which burned in her ears. Perhaps her last threat had won her the day? Turning off to a side street, the only sentient with jeans still on was soon cut off from her fleeting moment of triumph. “They’re expendable. Besides, haven’t you seen this city? Empty! Not a man nor pony among its walls. The homeless are all ponies, and the humans have left for bigger and better things. Those that are here are like roaches. Useless to humanity. Maybe they’ll do better as ponies.”
Twinkle gasped sharply at the thought of the lieutenant releasing such a weapon on his own men, shuddering in disgust. “Doesn’t he have any loyalty?” she exclaimed, putting a hoof to her mouth.
“If he had any of that, we wouldn’t be in this mess. He literally thinks he’s helping the IHSA cause,” Rusty muttered darkly, catching sight of the helicopter for a brief moment before Violet turned a corner.
Twinkle nodded. “Either way, we can’t call his bluff, if somepony is living here- I mean, if some person, human, is living here, then we can’t just let him dump the potion! They could be hurt, or killed!” Shaking her mane about, the unicorn felt helpless. “Violet, you have to stop him!”
Rose opened an eye, bending her knees slightly to cut herself away from the wind. However, her back legs fell wrong and she ended up falling into a laying position, her wings still outstretched and picking up the wind from the sides of the vehicle. Noting her comfort in such a position, the pegasus tapped her hoof against Twinkle’s back left limb, causing the unicorn to look back. “Tell the fucker we’ll meet him somewhere.”
Twinkle stared at the girl, but soon shook her head as she turned to Violet and related the idea. “Rose says to orchestrate a meeting with him.”
Violet looked back at Twinkle, her face awash in confusion. “What? Seriously?”
“That’s not what I said! Twinkle, tell ‘er what I said word-for-word.”
Twinkle shot a glare back at the pegasus, but relented, her mind filling with guilt over the pegasus’ circumstance. “Ahem... what she said was... ‘Tell the fucker we’ll meet him somewhere’,” she still ended up staring daggers at the pegasus. “Good?”
“Great,” Rose said, looking pleased with herself.
Violet gaped momentarily, but soon shook her head. Mulling over the details, she at least could keep the conversation going. “Well, fine. Let’s see where this goes...” She mused, shaking her head. Clicking the radio, she kept her voice level as she delivered on the idea. “Okay, Standish. You called my bluff. We’ll meet you somewhere, and we’ll try to talk this out. No one else has to die.”
However, this time Standish was quick to reply. “That’s Lieutenant Standish, girl. But let’s make this very clear, I can’t have you or your friends live, so let’s get this straight - you will be dying. It’s just whether or not you want the gas to kill you and leave your friends stranded as well as play roulette with the humans left in the city, or to just die heroically. That said, meet me at Arovista Park in an hour. Thank you Violet, it’s been a pleasure.”
There was a silence in the truck after a very resolute sounding click, causing the truck to slow to a stop, Violet eventually turning off the engine as she stared blankly at the assembled ponies. “Well... shit.”
-----
Violet sat on the sidewalk, resting her arm over her knee as she heard the passing helicopter above. It had only been fifteen minutes since the announcement, and since then she had parked inside a store, taking no mind of the fact she drove through the glass doors to do so. However, seated under an awning, she had little reason to fear being seen. Alongside her sat the pegasus Rose, the girl apparently taking her transformation in stride. As she stared at the pony, Violet sighed wistfully. “Doesn’t it... bother you?” She began, trying to find the best words.
Rose looked up, her eyes lit in tempered curiosity. “What? Being forcefully turned into what I considered a sin against nature less than twenty-four hours ago? Back when I had a fucking brother and, until you showed up, blissfully unaware of the fact my dad had died?”
Violet sighed, running her hand through her hair. “I was gonna find a better time to bring that up, but yeah. Here you are, sitting on a sidewalk, wings sticking out of your back... You’re a pony,” she breathed, laying her head against the wall. “And I saw you awake during the conversion. That’s not... I mean... shouldn’t you be...”
“Psycho? Broken? Dead inside?” Violet simply nodded. “What, did you forget that he shot me up full of chemicals before I nearly choked to death on purple smoke?” Rose questioned. Violet’s eyes shot up, but Rose looked away. “I don’t like it, and it did hurt, but only as much as a really bad sneeze that you feel in your arms. But being awake for it? Listening and watching as your own bones snap and reposition themselves, seeing yourself light up like a fuckin’ Christmas Tree? Yeah, it shocked me.”
Violet cringed horridly, in which Rose smirked. “Yeah, kinda the reaction I got out of it. Except a lot worse,” she chided, before instinctively trying to run a hoof through her hair. Taking a moment to realize she had no fingers in which the hair to go through, she placed her hoof back down and stood up - a bit more stably this time. “Still though, can’t complain too much. I’ve got wings, and once I get used to doing the whole flapping thing... Well, you’ll be hard pressed to get much complaints from me. Thank God I didn’t become an Earth pony. Or is that ‘Thank Celestia’ now?”
“You could say Luna, too. Mix it up a little,” Violet teased, a sad smile still on her face. As she leaned her head back, the human closed her eyes. “Rose... when I said Fred was dead... I didn’t know he was your dad. Or that he was head of the HLF. I’m so sorry...”
Rose bleated, catching herself in mid-motion as she chuckled at the equine mannerism. “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t get along with dear ‘ol Dad much anyway. Or hear from him, Richard neither. He was as much the ‘head’ of the Human Liberation Front as the Queen of England ‘ran’ Britain. More a figurehead to respect if anything.” Exhaling, it was clear the topic didn’t much interest the puce pegasus, but she went on. “God, he owned that title though. He actually thought everyone and their mom had to treat him like a king! Like it was worth bein’ the head of what basically was a terrorist group.” Shaking her mane, Rose quit the motion quickly, her eyes narrowing. Giving it some thought, the pegasus slowly gave a full head shake, unused to the pony equivalent. “That said, I do seem to be in the business for some new family.”
Violet’s eyes opened incredulously, her face breaking out into a huge grin. “Just like that, you’re gonna get over all of this?” she mused, coughing slightly as a brisk wind stole her breath away. “Sure that’s not the ponification talking?”
Rose sighed, bringing herself up on four hooves, which only brought her slightly above Violet’s head where she sat. “Actually, to be honest? I’m pretty sure it is.” The human’s eyebrows shot up, but Rose continued, “But I’m okay with that. My life is hugely fucked up right now, and if anything helps me get through it, I’ll take it.” Giving an experimental flap of the from her new extremities, the pegasus laughed for a change. “Plus, you know, wings.”
“Ah yes, wings, the great equalizer!” Violet laughed, rubbing her back against the wall and feeling her shoulder blades clash with the concrete surface. “I hope I can be a pegasus once this is over,” she said, looking down at the ground. The admission caught the pegasus off-guard, her face melding into one of intrigue.
“Wait, I thought we were gonna die here in a half an hour,” she admitted, shaking her head. “You know, to save the goddamn shut-ins and incidentals.”
Violet smirked, shaking her head. “Oh, I have no intentions on dying, Rose. Call it that ol’ human need to survive, but I feel like throwing a couple wrenches where I can and seeing what happens.” Standing up, the girl drew herself to her full height as she watched Rusty and Twinkle appear outside, taking cautious steps around the glass until they were outside. “Even if it does mean a little pony gas here and there,” she finished, drawing the attention of the ponies nearby.
Twinkle cast a lazy eye over to Violet, but she simply ended up rolling it at the girl. “I don’t know what you’re planning, I don’t want to know what you’re planning.” Shaking her mane, the unicorn bleated in displeasure. “I already know I’m not going to change your mind, and I know you’re going to need me.”
Rose chuckled openly at this, giving Twinkle a once over. “Well well, a far cry from yesterday. What’s got you in such an open mood?” At this, Twinkle gave a smirk as Rusty innocently whistled off the corner of his mouth, drawing blank stares over the flower duo. “Wait. Waaaiit.” Rose shook her head violently, her mind suddenly awash in mental imagery.
“Hm? What was it you said Rusty? Mmm, being chased around and having your life put on the line... is a time to be distinctly un-pony, correct?” Twinkle said with a smile, “So given our situation, I did the most human thing I can think of!” Swishing her tail back and forth, the mare decided now was as good of a time as any to make her way back through into the building where the truck lay.
Violet let out a loud snerk, covering her mouth as she kept herself from giggling further. Rusty let loose a second innocent whistle, swaggering toward the doorway. But before he got too far he found himself blocked off by a fully erect pair of wings, barring his entrance back inside. In Rose’s eyes held an intensity that scared him as she stepped forward. “Hold it right there buddy, I got a question for you.”
Rusty gulped loudly, running his eyes left and right in an attempt to avert the gaze Rose was inflicting on him. “Y-yes?”
Narrowing her eyes, Rose outlined her query very cleanly. “Do unicorns have contraceptive magic?”