Salvation Through Destruction

by RoflLuxRay

Chapter 1 + Prologue

Salvation Through Destruction
A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic by: RoflLuxRay
Based on concepts from: The Conversion Bureau by: Blaze

The world… is changing. It’s changing, it always is. A few years ago, no
one ever suspected that those small creatures that called themselves “ponies”
were nothing more than an anomaly for biologists to study. Their “magic”, their
habitat, their lifestyle… They detonated mankind’s curiosity like that bomb the
U.S threw on Hiroshima over sixty years ago.

As time went on, a group of Russians discovered a
way to enter their world, but are yet to find the way back. The so called land
of Equestria, where they inhabit peacefully, quietly, away from the wars, the
famine and the deceases that hunt mankind every day.

Them Russians reached an agreement with the ponies,
and are converting people into ponies and placing them safely in their worlds.
Seems like a perfectly good idea, except for the fact that once “ponyfied”, as
they call it, you abandon who you were. Keeping only fake memories those ponies
plant on you so that you blend in perfectly to their rainbow colored nirvana.

Humanity was quick and firm in their actions, the
UN forbid ponification, but yet maintains somewhat “formal” diplomatic
relationships with the pony’s ruler, Princess Celestia, through their envoy,
Twilight Sparkle.

This pony stands for free, deliberate ponification.
“It should be everypony, I mean, everybody’s choice!” she said on TV the other
day. I agree with her to some degree, it’s just that I can’t get to trust those
creatures. I feel they have plans on their own for us.

I’ve been doing some research on them ponies,
especially on Twilight Sparkle; quite a name she packs. Apparently they have
long life spans, my math says that she’s around her eighties, and she seems
quite young and fresh. That horn in her head seems to be the source from her
magic, I mean, it flashes whenever she uses her telepathy and telekinesis.

I’ve also intercepted some interesting intel on
some anti-ponies groups that target her and have a bounty on her head. If
Twilight were to fall, humanity might follow.

Ponies might have a way to save humanity if we live
our lives through their ways… Our salvation through destruction, how clichéd is
that.

I am not a superhero, nor a pony sympathizer. But I
do reckon that Twilight Sparkle must not die, not today, not tomorrow. Not
ever; if ponies do ever die. I will do all in my power to stop them, to find a
way to make all of this right. To make up for mankind’s mistakes and those I’ve
made on my own.

Twilight Sparkle is attending a meeting tonight in
New York, where a trap is set. She’s supposed to arrive on a black SUV,
protected by at least ten escorts in five sedans surrounding her in strategic
positions. But one of them has gone rogue. He’s signed a juicy deal with
senator Adam Chambers for the purple pony’s head. This… man is one of the
reasons why ponies are so hated in America. He’s got one sweet mouth that son
of a bitch.

If my data is correct, then this rogue escort
should plant a bomb on Twilight’s car during her speech, set to detonate upon
her departure. But if they were to get caught, they can always shoot her like
Lee Harvey Oswald. I must be precise, swift… I can’t fail.

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Chapter 1

I stood at the edge of the building, looking at the
Mandarin Oriental Hotel. As I analyzed my way inside a shiver ran down my
spine, forcing me to tighten my grip on the pillar next to me. With the help of
my binoculars, I took a closer look on the street ahead of me and saw five
sedans neatly aligned around a black Hummer.

“That’s my target,” I muttered as my hand stretched
for the sniper rifle next to me. The gap of thirty meters between me and the
hotel’s balcony did not scare me; I was used to handle myself at high heights.
Without hesitation, I leaped into the void; the cold winter wind struck the
parts of my face unprotected by the balaclava mask. With a firm grip on my
zip-line, I slid across the glowing streets into a balcony in the twentieth fourth
floor. I was careful enough to avoid crashing straight into the glass window,
even though it was the second time I used a zip-line and was the longest one
too.

Once safe, I took my binoculars again and saw the
caravan even closer now, just a few blocks away from the hotel. I zoomed in and
tried to locate any signs of rare activity. Nothing, the polarized windows,
aided by the glowing streets of New York protected any passengers inside from
any curious stranger, including me.

I gazed down at the hotel entrance, where a bunch
of leeches that carry the ID of a reporter awaited her, hoping to get her next
story off the misfortune of an innocent pony. I could see that expectancy grew
on the crowd along with the noise they made as the caravan was in their line of
sight. It was in that moment when I took my PSG-700 and scoped down the SUV.

Once in front of the red carpet, a henchman opened
the door and I saw it. Though it was more like her, a young woman in a purple
dress gracefully descended the vehicle in such fashion. Her long straight
bi-colored hair, dyed in purple and pink ran all the way to her back. Anyone
could swear that was a woman if it wasn’t for the horn that shot from her head.

“So that’s what Twilight Sparkle looks like…”
I muttered and removed my eye from the sniper rifle’s scope, “Let’s not
get you killed,” I reached for my vest and pulled my binoculars again, this
time to focus her escorts. One of them took control of the vehicle and drove it
towards an underground parking lot west of the main entrance.

“Bollocks!” I scolded at myself “How could I have
forgotten that they have an underground parking…”

As the SUV vanished into the darkness of the
underground parking lot, I removed my mask and began taking my stealth clothes
off; luckily, I had foreseen the event of me walking into that fancy party by
wearing a black tuxedo under my apparel. Makes it harder to move, but it does
keep you warm though.

Once my clothes were completely different, I broke
into the room behind me by picking the door. Blinded by darkness, I desperately
inspected the walls for a shutter, and with a sudden click, the glass
chandelier above lit suddenly, revealing a cozy, warm suite.

I stared at the mirror in front of me and
remembered why I was once married in my late twenties; no one could ever look
away from a man with deep hazel eyes like mine. I approached the mirror to
inspect my clear brown hair closely, trying to take it into a better position.
With thirty seven years on my back it was harder to find a comfortable position
for my slowly vanishing hair. Once done, I took my small briefcase and pulled
out a Glock-19 and a P229 pistol, hiding them in my ankle and in my jacket.

As I finished my preparations, I heard footsteps
closing into the room. I quickly took everything and hid it under the master
bed, shutting the lights off just in time before a couple of henchmen equipped
with MP5-K entered the room. Their bulletproof vests were barely recognizable
from where I stood, but it was easy to tell they were fully equipped.

I gulped while hiding behind the long curtains on
the far side of the room, hoping the darkness would cover my exposed shoes.

“There is no one in here, I told you chief Bartoli
is crazy,” one of them said with a voice that rattled in the room, closing the
door shortly after.

“That was too close,” I sighed in relief and
carefully stepped outside the room, into the fancy corridor, lit by candle
lights to fit the occasion. I strolled down with caution to avoid being seen
before I arrived at the grand hall; where a party before the speech was going
on.

After wandering around the hotel for five minutes,
I finally ran into the elevator. I pressed the down button and patiently
awaited it. As I did, I heard a voice that seemed similar to me.

“Good night, gentlemen,” it spoke as I turned to
face it. My body shuddered when I noticed the two henchmen were behind me with
their arms locked and loaded.

“Good night,” I replied politely, hiding my fear
under a relaxed tone of voice, “what’s with the firearms? Expecting trouble?”

“Hopefully not. We have one big guest today, so
security is a little tighter. Sorry if we are making you feel uncomfortable,”
there was something in his voice that calmed my soul.

“Don’t worry gentlemen, I’m sure everything will
turn out just fine,” as I finished my phrase, the elevator door opened. Inside
the clear metallic walls reflected everything around me.

“Hold on,” one of them said as I stepped inside, I
gulped and prepared myself to quickly draw my pistol, “We still have to clear
the east wing, Mason.”

“C’mon, Sullivan. There’s nothing in here,” the
other one ranted.

“Gentlemen, I know it’s not any of my business but
I think it’s better if you check the east wing. I saw a man acting too rare
around room 2476,” I interrupted in the most polite way I could. Both man
glared at each other, until Sullivan gave in.

“Alright, let’s head off to room 2476,” they turned
and walked away towards the east wing, right from where I was standing. Once
inside the elevator I pressed the button that was supposed to lead me to the
party level.

“Okay. So I’ll slip to the underground level to
survey her car, then return to the party level to cover Twilight Sparkle”, I thought while the elevator descended slowly.

Eric Johnson’s ‘Gem’ wasn’t enough to stop my heart from beating so fast. I’ve
done coverage tasks, breaking and entering, assassinations and yet I was never
this nervous.

When the elevator opened, I saw a large, golden
hall filled with white tables with fancy, expensive decorations and people all
around me talking. The noise was overwhelming; you could barely hear the slow,
sonata music over the sound of people talking about how lovely is the weather
or if they find pony fashion attractive.

I slid my way through the crowd, avoiding any contact
with people other than the casual ‘evening’ with a somewhat drunk blue collar
individual. I eventually reached the back garden, where security was guarding
the entrance to the parking lot. I approached the henchmen slowly as I searched
my pocket for the parking ticket.

“Excuse me, gentlemen. I forgot my mobile in my
vehicle, may I retrieve it?” I pulled the ticket out of my pocket; one of them
took it and stepped aside after looking at it for a couple of seconds, “Please
hurry, we are making small repairs on one of the vehicles.”

I nodded and walked into the asphalt of the parking
lot. It was darker in there, only small places were lit. I pulled out my P229
and approached the walls, where it was darker. Despite the party was quite
close, it was quiet enough to hear people’s footsteps at a distance.

Eventually, I was able to hear people mumbling in
the distance. I walked closer and saw six people around Twilight Sparkle’s
Hummer. A briefcase was visible next to one of them; it emitted a flashing red light.

“Strap it under the car. The programming in it
should take care of the rest, hurry up before someone sees it,” one of them
desperately implied while handing over the briefcase to a man under the car.

“Crap… If I kill these guys it should alert the
rest of them, making them take the option of shooting her guns blazing,” I stepped back and turned around towards the party “
I think it’s better to let them think their plan is working.”

“Did you find your cell phone, sir?” the henchmen
asked, I carefully took out my blackberry, “Yeah, just a couple of missed calls
from the kids,” I said with a huge, honest smile. Lying was something natural
on me, a bad habit I learned from my times during college.

“Alright then, enjoy the party,” I walked inside
again with one thing in mind. Get Twilight Sparkle out of there in one piece. I
strolled around the party looking for her, I eventually found her behind a
thick layer of people.

I pulled out my Blackberry and traced her cell
phone using a chip tracking program, sending one message after I obtained her
number. I was able to see when she read it, her face turned white in fear.

“You are not safe in here; meet me in the bar as
soon as you can. Ask for a dry martini,” was the message. I went to the bar, sat and asked for a glass of wine.

“Are you waiting for someone?” the bartender asked
in a nice tone, he was cleaning a cup as he approached me.

“Yes I am,” I took a closer look at him and noticed
a ring on his left hand, it had the symbol of the all England lawn tennis and
croquet club, “You seem like a man who knows the ways of the British gentlemen.
That’s one ring you have in there.”

“Oh this,” he blushed while glancing at his ring,
“My father was a Wimbledon umpire. He handed this down to me when I turned eighteen.”

“I see-“

“One dry martini, please,” a woman’s voice
interrupted our conversation; I turned to see her standing next to me. She was
taller than I thought at first, around one seventy five, her lavender eyes
shone above the rest of her face.

“Miss Sparkle?” I politely asked. She turned to
face me with a scowl, “I know you must be a little surprised from my statement
on the message. But I was merely speaking the truth.”

“What’s with your accent?” she asked while
continuing her cold glare.

“Pardon my Scouse, Miss Sparkle. We can discuss the
matter of my accent later on, for I have important news to share with you,” I
took a sip of my wine and asked her to sit.

“Well you better be fast, my speech is about to
start,” she disdainfully sat next to me as the bartender served the drink she
ordered.

“I have discovered that you are the target of an
assassination,” I calmly said as I pulled a note from my blazer and placed it
on the table.

“What is that?” she grabbed the note and read it.

“It’s an e-mail from one of your escorts to John
Antonin, head of the American anti pony society. As you can see, he signed a
thirty million dollar bounty with senator Chambers for your assassination.”

“This can’t be right,” she said surprised “this man
is my security chief, Carlos Bartoli. He’s using an alias, this is his e-mail.”

“In that case, then this situation has become far
more complicated than I anticipated at first,” I took another sip from my wine
and continued, “I’ve spotted how some of your security planted a bomb on your
car. You must use another exit. After your speech, I will be waiting for you
here to take you to a safe house.”

“I can’t believe this” her face turned white from
fear, again, “A.J was right. They are going to kill me.”

“Nobody is going to kill you, Miss Sparkle. I’ll be
protecting you during your speech. Be quiet though, for my cover may be blown
if you show signs of weakness,” I placed the empty cup in the table and stood
up.

“This is so kind of you sir, but why should I
believe you?” she asked as I walked away.

“You don’t have any reasons to not believe me,” I
vanished between the crowd and headed towards the second floor, to save a good
spot for her speech. From there, you were able to see the tables, the people,
the stand, everything. Preparations were being finished for Twilight Sparkle’s
speech, and people were already gathering around to wait it.

I wandered around the second floor, looking for a
good spot to witness the speech that also happens to be apart from the crowd. I
found it on the far right corner, with a good sight of Twilight Sparkle’s left
flank. Minutes passed on and a thunderous applause received her on the stand.

The horn in her head began glowing in an intense
white color, lifting a bunch of paper into the air and gently placing it in
front of her. The applause stopped as she cleared her throat.

“Thank you all, for coming tonight. It is an honor
to have you here, listening to me for a minute,” she giggled for a moment,
“Now. The purpose of this is to make some announcements regarding the matter of
ponification. First, I am glad to announce that, after long discussion, we have
reached an agreement with Japanese technology developer Sony, to assist in the
development of a technology that would allow a most efficient ponification,”
the crowd interrupted with an applause.

“Also, it is my pleasure to announce you that
progresses are being made with the UN to legalize, in a certain degree,
ponification. It is well known that people are being sent to our world
illegally, even though Princess Celestia does not encourage the practice,
anypony who wants to become an Equestria citizen is welcome to join us. Once
the legal matters surrounding human immigration have been solved, I’m sure
humans and ponies can co-exist in a peaceful way and learn many things from
each other.”

During the respective applause, I noticed a man
from between the crowd constantly approaching closer to the stand, something
wasn’t right about the way he pushed his way in between the crowd

“As a final announcement, I am proud to announce
that Princess Celestia is attending this year’s Human-Pony Relationship
Congress,” during the applause, I saw this man pulling a pistol from his
blazer, he had to be stopped. I pulled my P229 and took the shot.