The Conversion Bureau: Reality Restoration

by Fullmetal Pony

The Good Book: Alone

Kill it.

I can’t.

It took her. Thomas’s hands inched for the pillow. It smiled at him. Its large deep blue eyes full of innocence burned his soul.

I can’t! Not when it does that! That’s her face! Her eyes! Her smile! Thomas grabbed the blankets and pulled them up and made sure the pony was snug in Sarah’s bed. He got up and walked over to the door. He pulled it open and was about to turn off the lights when it opened its mouth.

“Daddy, I’m sorry my wish didn’t work.”

He turned off the lights and closed the door without looking back. He trudged over to his room and flopped onto his bed. Normally, he’d take off his clothes before going to bed, but he’d only been wearing shorts and t-shirts since he’d returned home. His uniform was meant for a priest. It had no use in Hell.

He looked over at Linda. Somehow she still managed to change into proper nightwear, but didn’t do much beyond that. She didn’t make food on her own or leave the house. She just changed clothes every day and randomly wandered the house. She retreated to the bedroom whenever she saw it. It was all Thomas could do to make stuff that barely registered as food for the two of them. Empty soup cans, discarded pop-tart boxes, and dozens of ramen packets filled the trashcan.

Then there were the salad bags. It could barely stomach the pop-tarts. Thomas couldn’t leave it to starve; even his darkest thoughts couldn’t allow that demise for it. He wanted something quick and painless. Maybe if he killed it now, Sarah’s soul still had a chance. It was there. He saw it in its eyes. Those weren’t the eyes of a demon. Wasn’t that the reason why he’d taken it out of the hospital? Why he’d brought it home? Fed it? Cared for it? She was there, buried under that horrible form, right?

The questions constantly rattled around in Thomas’s head and kept him up late every night. Linda mechanically fell asleep after staring straight at the ceiling for some time. That left Thomas alone with his thoughts. He looked over at the Bible next to his bed. It wouldn’t work. Eventually, the world went black on him. No dreams. No nightmares. Just darkness.

~~~

Morning came and the sun hit Thomas in the face. Hell, it seems, couldn’t grace him with eternal sleep, only extra sleep. His body’s internal alarm clock had given up and now he just slept until something else woke him up, usually the sun. Days blended into each other and generally felt like a blur.

He got up and looked over at Linda. She was in a semi-awake state. She looked stiff as a board and her eyes were once more glued on the ceiling. He left her alone. He could call her a traitor, a monster just as bad as the doctors, or a failure, but he knew she already called herself all things. He was in no position to lambast her.

He slouched through the house and into the kitchen. He poured himself some cheap cereal and milk. Then he remembered that it would be hungry too. He opened the fridge and brought out two eggs. It could eat eggs. He set the eggs on the counter and pulled out a frying pan and placed it on the stove. He cracked the eggs and let them sizzle on the burning metal.

Once they were sunny side up, he slid the eggs onto a plate and set it on the table. At first, he’d put food for it on the ground, tried to trick himself into thinking it was only an animal. But it spoke to him with Sarah’s voice. He couldn’t bring himself to watch it eat like a dog. First, he set up boxes so it could climb up to the chair, but it eventually learned to pull itself up.

Thomas dug into his breakfast. He didn’t want to face it. He’d done his job. He’d given it food. Now for the rest of the day. He’d finish his breakfast and then lie motionless like Linda often did. He’d ponder where and what went wrong. Then, if he were in a good mood, he’d beg something, anything for Sarah to be saved. He should have never wished she’d get better. The Devil loved to twist wishes into horrors.

He was about to shove another spoonful of cereal into his mouth when that horribly sound came from Sarah’s room. The sound of hooves hitting the ground grew louder as it entered the kitchen. He kept his eyes on his cereal, but he still caught glimpses of it in his peripheral vision. He heard it clambering up the chair and then heard the sound of it eating the eggs.

He focused back on his cereal and ate it at a much faster pace than before. He wished the sound of the cereal crunching in his mouth could dull out the noise it was making. He quickly finished the meal and made his way to the sink. He deposited the bowl, but didn’t clean it. He’d wash the bowl later when it wasn’t in the kitchen. He started back to his room.

“Wait,” it called out. “I… I made something.” He heard it hop off the table and land with four simultaneous clops. It trotted over and nuzzled against his leg. He took a deep breath and looked down. A piece of paper was in its mouth. It turned its head up and flashed a smile at Thomas. He slowly reached out and took the paper from its mouth.

It was a very crude drawing. The lines of crayon were rough and uneven. The drawing held three ponies. A pegasus and a unicorn were unfamiliar, but the pink Earth pony in middle, even in a simple drawing, was too familiar to Thomas. All three ponies were smiling. “I thought maybe if I drew us all smiling together, it’d make you feel better,” the pony explained. “Do you like it?”

There it was. That request it kept making for him to feel better. The wish Sarah had traded her soul for. It was twisted by the Devil’s lies, but Thomas still saw the sincerity in it. He bent down and rustled his free hand through it white and purple mane. No, this is what Sarah’s hair felt like. It wasn’t its mane. It was her hair. The moment in the kitchen felt very long, but then it was too short when there was a knock at the door. “Stay here,” he commanded it. It nodded in response.

If it’s those god forsaken doctors, black eyes will be the least of their concern.

~~~

The time at the hospital was even more of blur than life currently was. Thomas had shattered. He vividly recalled waking up in a bed with bandaged hands and a raspy voice. His looked at the wrappings on his hands, he’d been slamming them on something.

Then it had come into the room. It was yellow with a leaf green mane. “Oh Mr. McAlister, we were getting wo-” It didn’t finish. Thomas sprung out of the bed and was on it in an instant. His hands tightened around its throat.

“You demons! You took her! You took her!” There were the sounds of shoes and hooves running over to his bed. He picked up the unconscious monster’s form and threw it at a mixture of nurses and other monsters. However, he was so distracted with what was in front of him, he didn’t feel the needle jab him in the arm until it was too late. He still smacked whoever knocked him out though.

Thomas awoke again in the bed. This time there were restraints on his arms and legs. The doctor who had taken care of Sarah was by the bed. His right eye was black and swollen shut. Thomas tried to reach out and wring his neck, but the restraints held him in place. All he could do was raise his head and hope the animosity in his eyes would set the doctor aflame. “You killed her!”

“We saved her,” the doctor calmly stated. “The power was out and her life signs were fading fast. Your wife gave us permission in the nick of time.” Thomas just bared his teeth at the doctor. In response, the doctor sighed. “I know this is jarring to you. It was to us as well when all this started. But now she’s healthy.”

“Go. To. Hell!” Thomas spat in the doctor’s face.

The doctor sighed again and turned to walk away. Then the sound of hooves started. It got closer and Thomas started wiggling his restraints around trying to get them loose. He saw it in the corner of his eye. Its mane had Sarah’s hairstyle. It was getting closer and then it tripped on its own legs and fell to the ground. “Oof! Four legs are hard.”

The doctor walked over and helped it up. “Sarah, you should go back to your own bed. You’re recovering.” The doctor looked down at the red marks on her pink legs. “Walking is still hard for you.”

“But I heard daddy yelling. I… I just wanted to make sure his hands weren’t red anymore.” It sucked in its breath and tried to hold back tears.

“Sarah, your daddy and mommy aren’t very happy right now. You should just go back to your bed.”

It rushed past the doctor and up to Thomas’s bed. Without a care for itself, it nuzzled Thomas’s left hand. “I’m sorry daddy!” It cried. “They said you’d feel better! I…” It broke into sobs.

It was the same sound Sarah had made when she scraped her knee learning to ride a bike. Thomas flexed his hand as much as he could and used it to wipe away its tears. “Sarah,” he murmured. Then the doctor had carried it away, it wailed all the way to its own bed. Thomas felt the wetness of the tears in his hand and cried as well. He cried until sleep came.

When he next awoke, there was small packet near his bed. Its cover had shadows of a human and a pony joining hand and hoof. The doctor was back as well. “That’s one of the hospitals own copies. They haven’t gone into wide circulation yet. She’ll have had all the basics taught to her in two days. After that… it’s up to you. But if you intend to harm her, we will find someone else to provide her a home. Think it over.” He walked away from the bed and left Thomas with the packet.

Thomas stared at the packet for a long time. Then he just looked up at the ceiling. The next day, Linda had gotten out of her own bed and shambled over. They hadn’t put her in restraints. She bent down and they looked into each other’s eyes. Thomas felt as if he was staring into an abyss of white, black, and brown. Linda probably felt the same as well, but she was looking at a chasm of white, black, and blue. “My fault,” she whispered.

“No,” he whispered back. She’d been tricked. That’s how the Devil worked, one moment of weakness and an eternity of damnation. For all the things Thomas wanted to say or call her, he couldn’t bring himself to condemn his wife. He was damned, she was damned, and Sarah was damned.

Two days later, he’d taken it home. If he’d abandoned it, it would have cried. Sarah would have cried. At first, it talked about how excited it was to go home, but when it saw neither Thomas nor Linda was talking, it frowned and went silent. It eventually just went with leaning on Thomas’s side while Linda drove home. By that point, the power was fully back and the hospital had helped Linda retrieve the second car at the house. It was a long ride home.

~~~

Thomas slowly opened the door. The natural light, unencumbered by windows, stung a little. “Hello?” He weekly asked. He was looking at a familiar face.

“Oh Thomas! Thank god!” Anton gave Thomas a very deep smile and held out his hand. Thomas slowly reached out his own hand and Anton pulled Thomas in for a quick hug. “Everyone at the church was worried. After the first week, most people moved on. A few of us stayed. Then I couldn’t take it after another week. I had to make sure you were alright.” The old man spoke with a fiery intensity, as if he had lost a child. Anton had experience in losing his children. “You look terrible.”

“I… I’m fine,” Thomas ran a hand through his hair. It was knotted in places and he could feel the grime that had accumulated in it. When was the last time I showered?

Anton gave him a concerned stare. “You’re not fine. Please, can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Thomas looked away from the old man. He couldn’t tell him.Tell the man who had lost his family to the demons that now Thomas was harboring one right in his own house? Never. “I…I…” He kept his eyes on the floor.

“Oh.” There was now a touch of sadness in his voice. “Was it little Sarah? I was worried after I saw you rush out from church a few weeks ago.” He put a hand a Thomas’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“No Anton, you’ve suffered much worse than I have.” Your son made the choice to join the Devil. Sarah was forced to. “It’s just taking a little to recuperate.”

“I see,” Anton replied. “I really did enjoy the work you did at the church, but you need some time with the missus to reco-” The sound of four hooves hitting the ground resonated throughout the house. Thomas nearly coughed up his heart. “What was that?”

“L-linda must h-have dropped a plate.” It was trotting now. No! Anton can’t know! Nobody can! “S-she’s been a little disturbed by Sarah’s passing. I have to go!”

“Take care, Tho-” Thomas slammed the door closed before Anton could finish. Just in the nick of time, as the pony appeared in the entrance hall. A second later and Anton would have seen. “What are you doing?” Thomas coldly asked it.

“I thought I heard Mr. Finney. I haven’t seen him since I went to the hospital. I wanted to say hello.” It flashed Thomas a smile. “He always told funny jokes.”

Thomas shuddered and imagined what Anton would do if he knew. What Thomas would do if it were a different pony. What he would do if it didn’t have Sarah’s soul. “Mr. Finney wouldn’t be happy to see you now.”

“But… but Mr. Finney was always happy to see me,” it stammered.

“Things are different now.”

It didn’t say anything in response. It just slowly sniffled, let out a whimper, and then ran crying to Sarah’s room. Even behind a closed door, Thomas could hear it crying.

Linda shuffled out into the main area of the house with a combined look of confusion and concern on her face. “Sarah… it was crying.” She looked around. “What day is it?”

“Honey… go back to bed, you’re just having a bad dream.” Thomas would deal with this himself. Linda had suffered enough already.

“Yes, I think some more sleep is good.” Linda disappeared back into the bedroom.

Thomas ran his hands through his hair and over his face. He took a deep breath. He had to calm it down. The crying would break him and Linda otherwise. He took a deep breath, took very slow steps, and entered Sarah’s room.

It was sobbing under the covers. He sat down at the foot of Sarah’s bed and didn’t know what to do from there.

“It’s not fair,” it cried. “They said you’d be happy, but now you and mommy are even worse. You don’t talk and you just frown all day. I hate it!” More sobs emanated from under the cover.

“Please Sarah, don’t cry. Things are just… difficult right now.” Sarah’s voice and her cries, that was definitely his daughter. Not a demon, not a monster, just a poor girl that had been thrown into the pit. A simple blanket hid the horror that was reality. “This isn’t your fault.”

“But I made that wish and now everypony is sad!”

Thomas stretched out a hand and brought it over her body. He rubbed her with the blanket separating them and tried to comfort her. “I’m sorry Sarah, that’s how these things work. We never get what we want out of deals like that.” How dare he! How dare he do this to an innocent child! My child! Thomas clenched the blanket with the hand that wasn’t consoling Sarah. He gritted his teeth. I won’t let it be like this! Sarah can still be saved. I… I just need to keep her from falling into other sins. Yes! Her soul is still pure, right? If I can just preserve that, then it’ll be okay. “It’ll be okay.”

“Daddy?” Sarah shifted the blankets and looked at him with puffy eyes and a runny nose. “Are you sad because I did something bad?”

He raised his hand and brushed her hair. “No Sarah. You’ve just been tricked. Those ‘princesses’ lied to you. They made you do something that made mommy and me very sad. But it’s not your fault.”

“It isn’t?” she sniffled.

“No. I know how to make everything better though.” He got up and went to the little drawer by her bed. He pulled a Bible out of it. “I want you to read this every day and pray to the Lord. He’s mad that the ‘princesses’ tricked you too. But you need to show what they did was wrong, okay?”

“Then you and mommy will be happy again?”

“Yes.” I-I’ve always talked about redemption and renewal, right? Anyone can be saved if they just repent. The wrath he felt against the Devil began to turn into compassion for the Lord. Yes, he’s forgiven traitors before. This… this will work.

Sarah’s mood instantly improved. “Okay!” She nuzzled the book open. “I’ll start reading right now!” She pushed her muzzle against the pages, but instead of turning to page one she flipped through about fifty pages. “Oops, I guess it’s a little harder to turn pages now.”

Thomas reached forward and went back to the first page. “That’s fine Sarah. I know things are very hard for you right now. Just keep reading this and everything will be okay.” Yes, everything will be okay. He got up. “I’m gonna tell mommy things are fine now. You just keep reading. I’ll be back soon to help you turn the pages.” He walked to the door and looked at Sarah reading the good book. You failed to take her you bastard. He went to his bedroom.

Thomas walked over to the bed and looked over Linda. She was staring at the ceiling again. “Linda?”

No response.

“Linda? It’s Thomas.”

Still no response.

“Linda, I’m going to save Sarah.”

She blinked and slowly turned her head to look at Thomas. “Oh, Sarah stopped crying.” Her face looked like it was about to cave in on itself. “Is it gone?”

“Yes.” Thomas knelt down and clasped one of her hands with both his own. “It’s gone now. There’s only Sarah left. She’s very scared though. We’re going to help her. She’s been tainted by the Devil, but we’re going to cleanse her.”

Linda began to tear up. “I’m sorry Thomas. If I had just been strong, she’d be with the Lord now an-“

“Shh.” Thomas caressed her hand with his own. “I’ve told you, I don’t blame you. No mother could sit by while her child died. But the Lord is forgiving.” Thomas got up and dusted off his Bible. “I’ve been a fool, wallowing in my own misery. The Devil thought he had won, but we’ll show him!”He used his free hand to pull Linda out of the bed. “We’re not damned yet. Sarah’s shown me that.”

“R-really?” Linda stuttered. She gripped Thomas hard, like he was the only thing keeping her upright.

“Yes.” Thomas led her over to the light switch and turned it on. “We’re not going to live in filth anymore. We’re going to clean up, purge ourselves, and pray. We’re going to be a good Christian family again.”

“Thomas… I haven’t heard you talk like that since we got married.” She let go of him. She wobbled a little, but quickly found her balance. “I’m going to go take a shower, right now.”

“Good.” Thomas smiled, the first real smile he’d had in a while. “After that I want you to tell Sarah she’s doing a good thing. She’s confused right now. We’ll keep her on the right path though.”

“Okay, I won’t take long.” Linda disappeared into the bathroom. The sound of running water soon emanated from the room.

Thomas left the bedroom and went back to Sarah’s room. He was pleased that she was still reading. She was on the third page now. It was crumpled and torn a little from her attempts to turn it though. “Oh, sorry daddy, I hurt the book.”

“It’s fine.” I’ll need to help her a lot now. He walked over and knelt by her bed. He used his hands to even out the creases in the page. He gave her a small smile. “You’re making mommy and me very happy.”

“Yay!” Her smile stretched from ear to ear. “Oh! Hey daddy, can I ask you a question?”

“Yes, Sarah.” Anything to get you back on the right path.

“Well, god made everything, right? So did he make ponies too?”

Thomas’s face became neutral. “Yes, Sarah. He made ponies. But their leader made him very unhappy.”

“Is that why they were just on TV before now?”

“Yes, he didn’t want any of his other creations to interact with them. They did very bad things.”

“But they made me better.” Sarah looked at him. Her eyes, filled with curiosity and a twinge of fear, were like a window into her soul. There was confusion in there as well. Confusion he’d have to correct.

“They did a lot of things to you Sarah. They want to take you away from mommy and me forever. Never trust them.”

“But…”

“Ever. Now lets continue reading.”

Sarah turned back to the book. She wasn’t smiling anymore. “Okay daddy.”

~~~

Things returned to some normalcy at the house after that. Linda began to cook again. It was a relief to both Thomas and Sarah, as they had both gotten tired of Thomas’s culinary skills. Though, there were a lot more vegetarian dishes now. Linda did everything she could to not remind herself what her daughter had become. If meat meant a night by the bathroom comforting Sarah, it was off the table.

As the days passed, there was improvement. They prayed as a family every day and Thomas and Linda begged forgiveness for Sarah while she kept reading the Bible. Eventually, they began to play games with her as well. Scrabble, Connect Four, and Battleship became some of Sarah’s favorite games. Sometimes, while Linda was cooking, Thomas would play a movie for Sarah. He hadn’t watched a movie with her since she’d gone to the hospital. He particularly liked showing her The Little Mermaid.

“She made a very bad mistake asking for legs,” Thomas said. He got up and popped the DVD out of the TV.

“But it was how the prince got to meet her,” Sarah replied.

“And it almost cost them their lives and their kingdoms. Besides, did you see at the end how the prince would have been happy with Ariel just as she was?”

“I guess.” Sarah looked down at her hooves. “Daddy, do you not like me?”

“What?” He rushed over and draped an arm around her. “Sweetie, why would you say that?”

“Is it because I have hooves?”

Thomas felt his chest tighten. He took a deep breath. “Your mother and I were happy that you got better, we just didn’t want it this way. I know we didn’t say a lot to you when we first got back, but seeing you like this was hard on us.” He raised his hand and rubbed her head. “You’re still my precious little girl though. Never forget that your mother and I love you.”

“Okay.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Linda called out.

“Yay!” Sarah jumped off the couch and galloped into the kitchen.

Thomas shook his head. If only she’d stayed human. He got up and joined his family for dinner.

~~~

Something was poking Thomas. He was still tired though. His internal clock was getting a little better, but he still slept in a bit. Whatever it was continued poking him. It was rough and… “No!” Thomas sat up and grabbed the hoof and pulled the pony up.

“D-daddy!” Sarah was shaking like a leaf.

Thomas grimaced at what he’d done and gently put Sarah back on the floor. “I…I’m sorry Sarah. You surprised me. Please, don’t do that again.”

“Sorry daddy, I was just really excited.”

“Why?”

Sarah rolled a rubber ball around with her hoof. “I wanted to see if we could kick this around outside a little.”

“Sarah…” No! If someone sees, I’ll… She was flashing him the puppy dog eyes. “We’ll play in the backyard. Okay?”

“We’re gonna play ball! We’re gonna play ball!” Sarah repeated as she excitedly jumped around the room.

“Ugh,” Linda moaned. “Too early.”

Thomas got up off the bed and picked up both Sarah and the ball. “Sweetie, mommy still needs a lot of rest.” He dropped her outside the room. “I need to get dressed first and then we’ll play.”

“Oh, sorry mommy,” Sarah called out. Thomas smiled at Sarah and then closed the door. He quickly tossed on some clothes and then opened the door again. Sarah was in the same spot he’d left her with a huge smile across her face.

“Ready to play?”

“Yes!” She happily galloped to the back door. Thomas ran to catch up. By the time he reached the door, she was jumping up at the knob. She could reach it, but it kept slipping from her hooves. “Er, the dumb door won’t open! Daddy, help!”

Hmm, guess childproofing the doors wasn’t necessary after all. “I’ve got it sweetie.” He put his hand on the knob, but didn’t turn it. “But I’ll only open the door if you promise to be a little more quiet when we get outside, okay?”

Sarah moved a hoof across her muzzle as if she was pulling up a zipper. She smiled and energetically nodded her head.

“Good girl.” Thomas pulled the door open and stepped into his backyard. He shuddered a little. The grass was overgrown creeping onto the sidewalk. Leaves from the back yard’s single tree covered the ground. Dust was settled elsewhere. Thomas had taken pride in his skills with the back yard. Geez, the front yard must look even worse.

Sarah darted past him and jumped into the yard. Then she fell down.

“Sarah!” Thomas ran up to her. She slowly got up and put a hoof to her head.

“Ow! Daddy, there’s a lot of plants back here. There’s the grass, the tree, the weeds, and a bazillion other plants I can’t name.”

“Are you okay now?” What just happened?

“Yeah, it just surprised me.” Sarah gave him a smile. “It was like they were all saying hello at the same time.” She giggled and then started rolling in the grass. Dead leaves crackled under her. “Hee! Plants are funny!”

“Maybe we should go back inside.” Plants talking? What is she ta- Earth pony! It’s another trick by the Devil!“Sarah, whatever the plants say, don’t listen to them!”

Sarah stopped rolling around, stood up, and looked at Thomas. “They aren’t saying anything. That’d be silly daddy. I just kinda know where they all are now.” She anxiously looked over at the ball. “Can we play now?”

Thomas wanted to go back inside. Being on the grass was waking up the demon in Sarah. He should have picked her up, tossed her in her room, and made her read more of the Bible. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t break a promise to her. He’d failed her before and now she was curse. Even if it was something as minor as kicking a ball around, he couldn’t bring himself to deny her that small joy. He picked up the ball and tossed it to her. “Catch.”

Sarah lunged to catch the ball, but it slipped out of her hooves. She lightly fell onto the grass and leaves. “No fair daddy! I can’t catch stuff! We should only kick the ball!” Sarah pouted.

“Sorry Sarah, I… I forget sometimes.” I really do wish I could forget sometimes.

Sarah huffed and went to get the ball. She positioned it with her legs to that it was directly facing Thomas. “My turn.”

Thomas assumed a faux catcher’s position. “Show me what you’ve got, sweetie.”

“Here I go!” Sarah playfully kicked the ball with one of her front hooves at Thomas. It actually moved quite fast and he almost missed it.

“Good kick sweetie!”

“Really?” Sarah’s eyes filled with delight.

Thomas shuffled the ball back and forth between his feet. “Alright, you've already got one strike against ya. Do you think you can catch it this time!”

“I’m gonna catch it!” Sarah assumed a stand off position.

“Alright! Here. It. Comes!” Thomas kicked the ball with what he calculated to be the right amount of power for Sarah to catch it, but she’d still have to move to get it.

Sarah saw the direction the ball was going and galloped for it. She held out a hoof and barely managed to stop it with a hoof. She looked down at the ball and then at Thomas, then back at the ball again. She then gave him the biggest smile yet. “I did it! I did it!”

“Great job Sarah!” Was worried I might have kicked it too hard. Thomas squatted down and assumed the catcher’s position again. “Let’s see if you can actually get me to miss one.”

“Okay! I’m gonna make it go really fast this time!” Sarah gave him a determined smile. But instead of kicking it with one of her front hooves, she turned around and bucked the ball. It zoomed straight at Thomas and knocked him right off his feet.

“Oof!” was all he could say when the air got knocked out of his lungs. He then hit the ground. It was fortunate he’d been squatting a little. Otherwise the fall might have hurt much more.

“Daddy!” Sarah galloped over and nudged his face with her nuzzle. “I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you that hard! Oh, please don’t be mad!”

“Ugh.” Thomas sat up and brushed the leaves out of his hair. His breath was staggered from the blow. “I’m okay.” He rubbed a hand over where the ball had hit him and winced a little. It was still a little tender. “Where on Earth did you learn to do that?”

“It… It just felt like the natural thing to do.”

Trying to use my own child to kill me. His tortures never end! Thomas’s face darkened. “Sarah, don’t ever kick like that again. It’s not natu-” He froze. There was the sound of flapping nearby, like a large bird was stretching its wings. Then Thomas saw it. It was orange with a hot pink mane. How long has it been watching? “Sarah, get inside.”

“But daddy…”

“Do what I say!”

Sarah nervously nodded and went back inside. That left Thomas alone in the back yard with it. He ignored the pain in his chest and got up, never breaking eye contact with it.

It slowly raised a hoof. It gave him what he perceived as an evil grin. “Um, hi. I live down the street. I know we really didn’t talk much before, but well, things are a bit different now.”

“Go away.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” It raised its hooves in mock apology. “I didn’t mean to intrude. Honest! I just heard you playing and then I saw you too and it was so cu-“

“Leave!”

Its ears drooped. “I’m really sorry. Are you hurt? My husband could help yo-” It was interrupted by the rubber ball hitting its face. It’s muzzle turned red from the hit. It now looked at Thomas with eyes full of hurt. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have been snooping.” It quickly zoomed off.

Thomas stood in the backyard, fully alone now. He went back inside when the flapping of wings faded. He breathed deeply and rushed into the house. He locked the door behind him and then went to lock all the other doors.

“Daddy?” Thomas ignored Sarah as he rushed to the front of the house.

“Honey?” Linda called from the kitchen. “Is everything okay?”

He finished making sure the front door was locked and then went into the kitchen. “Linda. Get Sarah to her room.”

Linda dropped the spatula she was using to cook breakfast. Her face looked very pale. “Why? What’s wrong?” Her words were shaky.

“Just get Sarah to her room and make sure the windows are locked and the blinds shut.”

“Y-yes.” Linda moved away from the kitchen. She looked down at Sarah. “Sarah let’s go to your room.”

“Am I in trouble?” Sarah nervously asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s just go to your room, okay?” Linda marched forward and Sarah followed.

Thomas scooted whatever Linda was cooking off the on part of the stove and turned off the heat. He shut the curtains of the window above the stove and did the same to the rest of the curtains in the house. He ran to his bedroom and closed all the shades. Once he was sure the house was locked down he went to go get Linda. He marched into Sarah’s room.

Linda was sitting next to Sarah on her bed. Linda was lightly petting Sarah’s mane. “Thomas, Sarah told me what happened. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he huffed.

“Then what’s going on?” Linda asked.

“I’ll tell you outside.” He looked at Sarah. She was trembling a little. “Sarah, I’m not mad at you. Mommy and I just need to talk for a sec.” He grabbed Linda and pulled her out of the room. He shut the door and made sure they was a good distance away from it before he spoke again. “They’re down the street.”

“What?”

“The demons! I was playing with Sarah and one was watching us! What if they’ve been watching us this whole time?” Fear glinted in Thomas’s eyes.

Linda’s eyes reflected back the fear. “Good lord! What do we do? What if they come for us?!”

Thomas realized that he was just scaring her. Shoot! What am I doing? Linda... she can't take this. He placed his hands on her to comfort her. “It’s okay Linda. It’s gone now. I scared it away. We’ll pray that it won’t come back. I’ve locked all the doors and shut all the windows. It won’t be able to watch us either. We’ll be fine.”

“Yes.” Linda bobbed her head up and down. “Yes, we’ll be fine.”

Thomas brought his hands to his side. “Why don’t you finish up breakfast now. We just had a little scare is all. I’ll go make sure Sarah’s okay, alright?”

“That sounds good.” Linda moved past him and back into the kitchen.

Thomas slowly walked back into Sarah’s room. “Sarah?” Immediately after opening the door, Sarah flung herself at his feet.

“Daddy!” She nuzzled him as she hugged his leg. “I promise I won’t do it again!”

Thomas squatted down and brushed her mane. “I’m okay now Sarah. It isn’t your fault, but we’re gonna need to stay inside for a little now.”

Sarah’s ears and mouth drooped. “Oh, okay. I really did like the plants though.”

“W-well, you were in the hospital for a while, so you probably just forgot how they felt.”

“I guess.”

Thomas stopped petting her mane and stood up. “I know it was a rough morning, but we’ll have breakfast soon. While we’re waiting, read your book, okay?”

“Got it.” Sarah jumped up on her bed and pulled the Bible over. She’d figured out how to angle her hooves to hold the book and turn the pages. She smiled as she read. Thomas turned around to go. “Oh and thanks for playing ball daddy.”

He turned around, a weak smile on his face. “Just don’t kick too hard next time.” He then closed the door.

Thomas’s mind went back to the pegasus. I've been too ignorant. I’ve had a demon living down the street for god knows how long. I need to stay up to date.

Comments

[DiStort]

Hoo boy, this family's falling apart like a Jenga tower.

[Da Bunnana King]

This is why I've stopped reading books that people throw ay me saying it will save my soul.

[SkyStream]

nice story bro but you may want to remove the italics

[ray10k]

you might want to check your formatting, there is a missing italics end tag right before Sarah starts reading.

[Defoloce]

The scene where Sarah offers up her drawing to her dad is powerful and heartbreaking. Very well done.

[Katamariguy]

I hate wacko Christians. They give us normal Christians a bad name.

[Katamariguy]

I hate wacko Christians. They give us normal Christians a bad name.

840438 See? My point in action.

[Spiritus Arcane]

Just a little minor thing, but why can't Sarah eat pop tarts? If Pinkie and the rest of Ponyville and beyond can wolf down cakes, cookies, and other confections I doubt pop tarts would give them any trouble.

Feel bad for Sarah, as this is gonna probably end in her either rejecting/being taken from her parents, or her growing up literally hating herself...

[Noble Cause]

This is... remarkably depressing. I want to hug Sarah like crazy.

[Fullmetal Pony]

847467
A pop tart is pretty much as manufactured as you can go in terms of food. Ponies just aren't built for eating stuff like that. It's the equivalent of drinking water in a foreign country.

[TurtleCopter]

Hurray! Jesus freaks and ponies! What's not to love?

Can't wait for the next chapter.

[DotRook]

Wow... Ch4 and Ch5 are the strongest chapters so far. I really want to see where this goes.

[Scygnus]

I'm enjoying this so far. I'm expecting a happy ending to 'The Good Book' segment, but it'll be interesting to see how you pull it off.

After all this srs busns is done, may I suggest a silly story next? Like certain notorious bronies putting off conversion out of fear of getting a large dose of Trollestia for their crimes? The idea came to me while checking on a certain Lavender-shaded Princess' tumblr, if you catch my meaning.

[Katamariguy]

Stupid hypocrite and his double standards.