The Pink Haired Woman

by Seran

Clean up

“This is an emergency broadcast from Denver, Colorado.” The television announcer stated, the words ‘Breaking News’ plastered on the screen.

The image cut to that of two reporters sitting behind the news anchor desk labeled ‘Chanel 6’. A name ran across the screen as the camera focused steadily on a female reporter.

“Good evening, Denver. I’m Diane Blaine,” the reporter said. “It has been three hours since an internet attack came to light uploading not spyware, but government documents into servers across the world. The images all have the label THPA in the corner and include items such as locations of, quote, ‘areas of interests’ across the globe, many of which are in our own back yards.”

An embedded screen cut in revealing a map of central Colorado with a large star over Dewford.

“The town of Dewford, Colorado, also the source of this information, is marked to having a sort of portal to another world. A world populated by – who guessed it – mythical creatures.” A video followed showing Equestria and its many citizens. “The credibility of this footage is unknown at the moment but the fact that over seven terabytes have been found uploaded from a remote server in the heart of Colorado makes this too much to be a hoax, and many people have turned into believers.”

“In related news, several THPA vans have been found parked outside a house, which was the site of a shooting the same time the virus spread.” She continued, “A Dewford local captured footage of the shooting, showing armed men defending the house from the agents.” The footage showed cellphone footage of the battle at John’s house from down the street.

“The battle ensued for several minutes, before a man pleaded with the armed men inside the house to surrender. Government helicopters arrived shortly afterwards, apprehending the men and the shooters.”

The embedded screen enlarged as it cut to a man holding a megaphone. “This man, whose identity is unknown, claims to have sent the virus from his phone, though no sources have proven it. The Government agents who responded still have no comments. As of now, the reports came in stating five men were injured, one in critical condition. But as of now, there were no fatalities.

“However in that same town a few minutes earlier, an explosion erupted in the Vagabond Hotel, killing two and wounding three others...”

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John sat outside the emergency room, miserably avoiding eye contact with any passer-by. He sat still, unable to move as there were handcuffs on his wrists making noise at every movement he made. Two soldiers stood by, making sure he could not leave. John looked up to see his house on the news on the television facing them. John remained quiet as he worried over his brother, his house, and Fluttershy, whom he hadn’t seen since the incident. He couldn’t begin to think of what was happening to her. “John?” A female voice called.

John looked up in haste, hoping to not see someone familiar. His eyes only saw the Evans family.

“Please, step away.” The uniformed men commanded the intruding family. The group looked at him with eyes of both worry and disgust. John knew how they felt. He saw it before.

The two soldiers returned to their posts and two important-looking men passed by and entered the hospital room. John, distraught over what had happened to him, played the situation over in his head. The shooting ran through his head as he tried to come up with the best scenario. None had a great ending. He began to blame his lack of practice. One thing he tried not to blame was her, Fluttershy.

He began to think that if it wasn’t for her, Andrew may not have gotten hurt. He grew angry over the thoughts in his head, linking Andrew’s injury to Fluttershy. He hoped something bad was happening to her to make up for the damage he was feeling.

________________________________

In the mobile unit stationed just out of Dewford, soldiers stood in line as the SUV convoy approached the improvised camp. The chain-link fences held down by sandbags and tarps kept out the expanding group of curious media. A gate was opened as the vans grew closer. The soldiers saluted the men as they stepped out of the vans and entered the station.

The men entered to see a scared woman with bright pink hair cowering behind the desk she was cuffed to.

“No need to hide,” the man closest to her said with a smile. “No one is going to hurt you.”

The woman hid more with every step he took. He then stopped as the woman disappeared behind the desk altogether.

“Why is she cuffed?” Asked the man.

“One of the guards did it, I guess.” The man outside replied.

“Pass me the key.” He ordered. The key was brought to him with haste. He then carefully reached for the cuff and unfastened the grip.

With a flinch, the woman held her wrist. She quickly glanced at the man, and noticed the name tag. “Your name is Sullivan?” she asked shyly.

“Yes, I am Agent Sullivan,” He tried to talk to her as non-threateningly as possible. “I work for the Government. What’s your name?”

The woman hesitated to answer his request as her voice stuttered. “I am M–Mary”

“Okay Mary,” he continued, as he pulled up a chair. “I am here to help you. We apprehended the bad men who were trying to hurt you. You are safe now.”

As soon as she heard ‘bad men’, one person came to mind, one person who she saw getting taken away. “Where is John?” She quietly asked. “I want to see John.”

“Who is John?” Sullivan asked.

“John, the stallion who was taking care of me.” She replied with a sad glimmer from the corner of her eye. “Your guards took him away along with his brother, Andrew.”

Sullivan turned to ask, “was anyone with Agent Alvarez in that house?”

“An armed man claiming to own the house Alvarez was hiding in.” A man replied.

“Where is he?” Sullivan asked again.

“At the hospital, being questioned.” The man replied.

Sullivan turned to her and continued to ask questions. “What happened between you and John?”

“John was the first stallion who helped me when I came here.” She stated, “He fed me, clothed me, and kept me company while I stayed here.”

“Is he your boyfriend?” Sullivan asked, slightly disturbed by the horse language.

Fluttershy was confused about the phrasing. “Boy-Friend?” She asked, “What is that?”

“A Boyfriend is someone you have a romantic relationship with.” Sullivan explained.

Fluttershy blushed in embarrassment. Her eyes darted to the side as her mind was filled with the thought of John courting her. One memory came back to her, the memory of John’s drunken kiss. Her head sank into her chest as her face grew even more red.

“I… I don’t know if he likes me like that.” She replied with stutters in her voice. “But he is a nice stallion and I don’t have anyone else here but him.” Her eyes teared up as her voice began to crack. “Please, don’t hurt him. He was only trying to save me. Don’t put him in a dungeon, he didn’t do anything wrong.”

________________________

John watched the news every time they brought up his house. Uncertain of what would happen to him, he sat motionless, watching people pass by.

The doors opened and the two men stopped to look at him. John looked up at them with hidden worry about what they would do next.

“Are you Juan Alvarez?” One of the men asked.

“It’s John now.” John replied, wary of what may happen next.

“We are agents Donovan and Michaels. We worked with agent Alvarez and March on this assignment.” They introduced themselves. “You’ll need to come with us.” He reached down to get a grip on the handcuffs. They pulled him into the hospital room as the soldiers blockaded the door.

Jon entered to see Andrew lying in his bed in a gown. The sight both angered and relieved John. The men ordered John to sit down as they began to question him.

“Tell us what you know about the visitor.” Donovan ordered.

John was confused over what they wanted to hear. “This is still confusing to me.” John said. “Can you guys explain what the hell is going on?”

The men turned to each other and back to Andrew who was listening in on the conversation. “Agent Alvarez explained to us what you did for her, we want to know if she meant something to you.” Michaels stated. “Why was she under your care for the past week?”

John looked at his feet as he dug deep to find the answer. “I guess I just wanted to be a good person for once.”

“Well whatever your intentions were,” Donovan stated, “you saved her life, and Agent Alvarez’s as well.”

John looked up at them in confusion.

“Agent Alvarez told us that you fought hard to protect her, even without knowing where she came from.” Agent Donovan continued. “What is it about her that you feel the need to defend her?” John dug into his memory as he thought deeply about their question. All he saw was her smiling face being plastered in his subconscious. Her small mouth curving up as she saw him enter the room, her shyness shadowing a person who wanted to come out and be happy. He then reflected it on himself as she brought him to be happy for the first time in years.

“Sir?” The man asked him again.

“I guess I just saw something in her that I needed to help rather than push her away.” John replied as he looked over to Andrew, who glanced at him slyly.

“Whatever the case may be,” Michaels interrupted, “We need to tell you that whatever you were trying to hide, is out of the water. As we speak, the files debunked by the THPA are being broadcasted across the globe and your precious girlfriend is going to be the target of all of this.”

“What?” John was surprised.

“News reporters are coming from every channel in America, every periodical, tabloid, blog and website. They got a taste of what has happened and they are hungry for more.” Michaels pointed at the television as he made his point. “They have your address and name. You will be placed to protect her at all costs. People from all backgrounds will want to get to you–democrats, and republicans, anti- and pro-immigration. They all want to know more. What are you going to do?”

John sat in shock as he heard the rant of the agent. He had trouble with just a few curious people. Now hundreds were here. “I– I’ve had experience with the media in my day,” he stuttered, “I’ll just need some help.” He thought carefully, as he remembered what he saw on the television, “and a place to live.”

“We’ll fix your home and anything damaged in the gunfight.”

“Guys.” Andrew called to the three. “The president is about to give a statement.”

The three men turned to the screen where the president was sitting in the Oval Office. The nameplate on the desk read ‘President Malachi Graham’.