Carcer City Limits
November 12, 1998
1950 Hours

When Twilight Sparkle emerged to the other side, the first two things she noticed is that she was somewhere in a forest and she did not turn into her human form this time. The colors of this world were not as bright as she experienced when pursuing Sunset Shimmer. She took her first steps forward in this place, cracking the fallen leaves with her hooves as she examined this forest.

The trees slightly swayed with the fall air, though most of them were not giving up their leaves quite yet. Birds trafficked by looking for the next objective to their survival while various other creatures scurried around in their daily commutes. The November sun was only peeking above the mountainous area that surrounded what seemed to Twilight a much larger city than the town housing Canterlot High. She stopped near a rock to notice a road running along the edge of the forest, with a guardrail defending vehicles from what seemed like a steep drop into the city. Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be much traffic, but Twilight assumed that was because it was getting late and that the roads were not that well maintained. She turned back to find that the portal was fluctuating again and more of her friends started to arrive.

Rarity was the first, and she was a bit disappointed that there wasn't much beyond animals. "Twilight, darling. Are you sure we're in the right place? As much as I try to appreciate nature, I wasn't particularly interested in messing up my mane."

"Well, there is a city not to far up north, so we might be close."

Applejack laughed as she met up with them: "Ah don't know. This place seems pretty similar to our world considering all the critters I've seen. Though the air seems to be kinda funny. Somepony must be a really bad cook because somethin's burnin'."

Fluttershy squeaked by to meet up with the rest of them: "I kind of like this. It's very peaceful in this forest and there seem to be a lot of animals to get to know. But you are right, Applejack. We will have to address the smell."

"OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!!! I'd like to help them bake so they don't burn everything, that sounds so nervousciting!" Pinkie Pie leaped in excitement of interacting with these new creatures.

Twilight cautioned the pink baking expert: "Let's just make sure that these humans are open to that kind of thing, first."

"Oh, I'm sure they will. From what you said Twilight, they seem really nice once you get to know them." Fluttershy recalled.

The alicorn smiled awkwardly "I did, didn't I?"

Rainbow Dash rushed in on the conversation: "Well, let's just see if their best athletes can keep up with me. They might be as good at sports as you say, Twilight, but I want to know for myself."

"You might beat them in a race, Rainbow, but hoof wrestling is a whole other story." Twilight smirked as she playfully mocked her friend's overconfidence.

They all giggled at her remark as the two princess arrived to survey this new world. Celestia knelt behind a rock next to Twilight in order to observe the fruits of the relatively wasteful project she authorized just to shut her brass up.

"The human world seems very different from what I knew about it and from what you described."

"That's just it, Princess, this isn't what I visited when I stepped through that mirror in the Crystal Empire. It's not as colorful or inviting as Canterlot High and Fluttershy is definitely right about the air."

"To be honest, Twilight, as much as I wish to be optimistic of approaching humans peacefully, as princesses, we must be prepared for the possibility that the air quality will be the least of our problems."

"That's what has me worried."

"Prepared, not worried, Twilight. The many years I've served Equestria have taught me all too clear the difference between the two."

They both looked back at the others who seemed to be interacting with and studying the forest. Fluttershy was attempting to talk to the local birds, though it was anypony's guess on how successful she would be in doing so. "They seem really nervous" she reported to Luna.

"I suppose that is to be expected, considering how our kind is rarely seen around these lands."

Rainbow Dash placed her hoof over the yellow pegasus and reassured her friend from Cloudsdale: "I wouldn't worry about. They'll know we won't mean them any harm."

"I'm not sure if that's the reason they seem so nervous."

Applejack twisted her head to the right and whispered to Luna: "Yer Majesty, Ah think we might have our chance to make our first impression."

Luna turned to notice a single bipedal figure walking near the edge of the road along the guardrail and signaled to the others that it was coming their way.

"Everypony get down!" Twilight ordered, "We should first observe their natural behavior before making contact."

All eight ponies hid themselves behind various trees and bushes spread out alongside of the broken road circling the city as a young teenager was enjoying a walk, humming to some tune nopony recognized. He then broke into singing: "Come on, Come on, let's take this train. We're moving out of here, but we'll soon be back again."

Rainbow Dash noticed Fluttershy seemed excited that her assumption would be proven correct, but was distracted by some awful smell that she could not pinpoint. Twilight raised her head slightly and noticed the boy had some kind of earplug attached to both of his ears which connected to a device the alicorn deduced played music. This is so exciting, I can't imagine the applications in Equestria, she thought.

Rainbow Dash was still trying to trace the odor that so bothered her. It made her think of Applejack's dog, Winona, during those times she refused to take a bath. This, however, was different.

Twilight decided that she would be the first to approach since it would be easier for her to assure him that they wouldn't hurt him and that he wasn't dreaming. But before she could even say a word, a figure leaped out of the bushes towards the oblivious teenager, giving an apelike howl as he charged. The boy fought to defend himself, dropping his music player and putting up a fighting stance. But the similarly aged figure (at least, from what Twilight could observe of his features) pulled out a glass shard and repeatedly stabbed him with it. It kneed him in the face and then pushed him over the guardrail down the cliff leading to the city before jumping down himself after beating his chest repeatedly while howling.

All eight ponies stood near the edge of the woods wide eyed and horrified of what they saw. Fluttershy was on the edge of crying, if not for Rainbow Dash being there. Twilight looked nervously to Celestia to see what she thought.

"And I thought I saw everything in my life." the wise alicorn only sighed and held her head down in memory for this seemingly nice human.

Rarity seemed to be no mood for experiencing murder: "I'd like to go home now, thank you very much."

"Rar's onto something, How can we trust that the same thing won't happen to us if we show our faces?" Applejack concurred.

"I don't like this at all. IdontlikethisatallIdontlikethisatallIdontlikethisatall..." Pinkie rambled while curled into a ball and rocking herself in fear.

Fluttershy whimpered while holding back tears: "I'm not sure what to make of this. They can't all be like this, can they?"

Rainbow Dash protested the other's assumptions: "Come on, girls. Are we really supposed to assume that all humans are like this? Besides, are we really that perfect? Of course not. I'd say give them a chance. We haven't even talked to them yet."

Luna whispered to her sister: "We have fifty minutes left. Besides, this is only a trial run of the device. I'd recommend we continue examining the flora and fauna and collecting samples for the scientists to examine."

"That's probably for the best. We've seen plenty enough for today."

"Shall I inform them of your decision?"

The normally confident alicorn princess only gave a weak yes as one tear formed, flowing freely onto the ground.

...

Mathers High School, Carcer City
November 13, 1998
1945 Hours

After stepping out of his adopted father's police cruiser, Thomas Schaffer headed across the street to reach the edge of the campus. By this time, the sun was already in the final stages of setting, with the stars emerging out of their slumber. The trees were swaying and bending to the will of the cold fall air, while using their leaves to guide Thomas towards his destination: the homecoming dance. It would officially start in fifteen minutes, but he wanted to meet up with his group who he told to meet him five minutes ago. He tried his best to run but was forced to fight his tuxedo, slowing him to a jog. As he progressed towards the back of the school where the entrance to the dance was designated, the groove of 80's disco rang like church bells, getting louder and louder with each constrained step Tom took.

Staying aware of his surroundings, Thomas noticed three black limousines parked against the the white portables outside the student parking lot. Considering how there were groups of gossiping Fashionistas with rich dads in his neighborhood, this was hardly surprising. As he got closer to the extending line to enter, a blonde girl was conversing with a dark-haired freshman and Thomas' best friend, turning to wave at their approaching comrade. Thomas pranced his way to confirm that he was going to this dance with them (trying his best not to trip, of course). The dark-haired freshman named Tyra gave him a big hug: "Tom!!! Why are you dressed so fancy?!"

""Why not? After all, aren't we always trying to make a good impression for potential employers?"

"I don't know, Tom. It just seems like a bit much. I mean, I know many politicians in Vice City are calling for a reversal on child labor laws, but should we just assume they are right and that they will win?"

Thomas' best friend, a thin, blonde Junior named Daniel Jason, chimed in: "Wasn't it Alex Shrub who introduced that in '86?"

"I think it was, Jason. But someone else took it up after the puritan vote in Florida kicked Shrub out because he wasn't loyal enough or something. Say, Aliyah? You traveled to Vice City last year. Did you hear about how that campaign is going?"

The petite blonde in a purple dress returned from zoning out to answer: "I don't know. I didn't pay attention to the politics. I was far too busy partying at the Malibu and the Pole Position clubs. I gotta tell you, Vice City has a very unique flour that they use, only its better if you don't use it to cook but eat it straight. It's quite a rush of flavor!!!" Her eyes widened as she stared at the three of them.

Thomas cleared his throat and the group remained silent as they inched through the line to enter. Various students of the four groups were conversing, dancing, and drinking inside. After paying for the four of them, Thomas entered the lunchroom that had been converted into a dance-floor with lights, various soft drinks, and Guns N' Roses being played out of speakers spread around the square perimeter of the room. All but three of the lunch tables were folded up to the side to platform various food and drink, with many students actively swarming them. Several were already dancing and/or standing around. But the most prominent were members of most mysterious social group in Mathers High School: The Partakers.

Because even narrators can forget, the Partakers are a bit more difficult to explain than the last three partially because they are often rather secretive and underground. But what the citizens of Carcer City know about them is that they love to be festive, that is, they partake in raves and other sorts of parties. They are arguably the biggest thrill-seekers, even more than the Athletes. Many are known to be involved in Parkour, martial arts, and skydiving. They have various secret spots with the nickname "Parstakes" spread all over various zones of the city where they can meet to do whatever they do. We do know that their parties have on occasion involved illegal narcotics (with rumors that the group had connections with the Colombian Cartel, though this was later dismissed). They are hard to tell since they are not as obvious as Athletes, Fashionistas, or Geeks, thereby fairly hard for the CCPD to catch when they try. Though, to their credit, they are surprisingly tidy.

Thomas sat down to many dinners with Gary telling stories of kids holding raves with precision and then breaking into the shadows before any of the officers could reach the site. Thomas had not seen these things personally, but he hardly gave a rat's ass about any of that because he was slow-dancing with Aliyah to "Witchcraft" by Frank Sinatra. Savoring moments like that tend to make one oblivious to surroundings and Thomas Schaffer was no exception. However, at the last minute, he saw out of his peripheral vision an Athlete named Timothy Tbone, who did not want Aliyah to associate herself with Tom under the guise she should stick with her own kind, but it was really because he wanted her all to himself so that he could indoctrinate her into the Epsilon program. Tim grabbed her by the shoulder, which Tom assumed was to pull her away from him. He turned to confront the egotisitcal fundamentalist.

Tim pulled out a hunting knife and held her near it, causing her to freeze in terror. The jagged blade glistened in the bath of disco lights. Tim's eyes darted around the room in order to defend himself from invisible enemies. Thomas looked for an opening to strike, but could not find any that he could pull off without harming either of them. Tim slowly lowered his hand down the curves of Aliyah's body, then looping back up her dress, all while keeping the knife at her throat. No one moved or made a sound, but remained fixated at the knife edging closer to her throat. At this time, Sinatra's love ballad was the only source of noise present, and the room remained in torturous silence as Aliyah was groped for a few good minutes.

As soon as someone took a step towards calling 911, Tim's arms switched positions immediately, with his left arm now holding her in a chokehold and his right arm digging the knife directly into her vagina, Aliyah only let out a scream of agony as blood dripped from her dress to the floor, aiming pleading eyes at a helpless Tom. Tim removed the knife with a jerk and threw the slowly paling girl to the nearby wall, proceeding to kick her repeatedly in random parts of her slowly body, shouting incoherent slurs in some pent-up rage that Tom suspected was building up over the years. But why now? What compelled him to act like this in front of the entire student body? he thought.

Then he noticed the earpiece hiding on Tim's person, which obviously caused even more questions to attack his brain as if they were the dying voices of thousands. But before he could address even one, more screams erupted to his right. Several Fashionistas were assaulted by Geeks wielding metal pipes, swinging them with a surprisingly injurious force despite being characterized as physically feeble (though, arguably, that could easily be another unfair generalization). Soon the rage spread wildly and the whole scene devolved from a school dance to a bar brawl from hell. Two Athletes grabbed some girl wearing glasses and forced her head against the elaborate punch bowl, shattering the glass. They then proceeded to grind her face against the fragments in order to scratch her face while kneeing her in the stomach. Partakers were fighting off some football players in the bathroom, wrestling and slipping in various pools of blood and urine.

Knowing a lost cause when he sees it , Thomas signaled to Daniel in order to make a break for it. Tyra also was ready to run, but before she could, gunshots shattered the windows of the school provoking her to scream and dodge the incoming bullets. Several Partakers came in wielding pistols and shotguns and began firing mindlessly into the already hysterical crowd. Tom and Daniel fled into the shadows as students either fought back or cowered only to be slain by Athletes wielding pocket knives. Daniel motioned to Tyra, but she was overpowered by two gun-toting students, who pulled her by her hair and opened fire while howling like monkeys defending their territory from rivals. Blood flowed from her various wounds

Daniel urged: "Dude, we have to go now, or we'll be just a bloody statistic on the six o'clock news."

Thomas nodded and followed his friend through the teeming battlefield that had erupted and escalated to unlike anything Tom had ever anticipated. Many lied dead while their killers limped in pain, only being fueled by the opportunity of revenge against those who they've hated for so long. Thomas recognized one girl who stood above the body of her rival in cheerleading, moving the largest glass shard around the wound among many embedded in her corpse. A sophomore, who Thomas saw got rejected by his crush to go to the dance yesterday, kindly borrowed a gun from a Partaker's corpse and pulled the trigger while holding it near his head. He fell on the side of his head towards the normally cheery ASB officer who was far too injured by stab and bullet wounds to move. The poor boy's life flowed slowly like syrup as his eyes flickered in relief and his body quit on him. A shy computer nerd who Tom noticed seemed rather sheltered by his single mother showed very little remorse when he pounced on her, repeatedly punching her in the face with the strength only long-seated hatred could provide for someone of his stature.

Daniel interrupted Tom's thoughts on these poor souls: "Hey, I think I can lock the small gym and that will allow us to properly figure out how we're getting out of this mess."

"Sounds good. Need any help?"

"Just watch my back."

Thomas kept a look out for anyone approaching for a kill, though the fighting seemed to have flushed out of the commons and probably is spreading to the rest of Carcer City's residential zones, where hopefully the police will be able to address it. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he saw movement in the nearby office, with the computer showing all of the feed from security cameras in the school, many of which were filming carnage. He could only make out a stout figure sitting on the dean's chair while two others stood near the door, presumably guarding it.

"Hey, Tom. I think I figured it out. Get in here and help me secure the door."

Just as Tom started to do so, he was spotted by a roaming Partaker carrying a sawed-off shotgun who charged them with some sort of squealing noise while attempting to reload his weapon. Thomas and Daniel struggled to bar up the door as their assailant resorted to using his weapon as a blunt instrument of death when he realized he had no ammunition left.

"Come on! Pull!" Daniel encouraged. They closed the door as Sinatra finished his song to introduce the night's next singer: the screams and wails of both victim and murderer. The Partaker repeatedly banged on the door, screaming to get in. The two friends had their fingers crossed that their hasty fortification job would work. They waited in the dark for a sign that they would be safe. The Partaker's scream was cut off by gunfire that presumably mowed him down. Putting his ear to the door, Thomas could infer that a group had been patrolling the area looking for targets by the clamor of cheers and someone ordering "This way!" The noise gradually got fainter until all was silent.

They both sat on the cold, dirty gym floor in exhaustion as the occasional scream and gunfight raged outside of the room's pitch black embrace. Thomas only sighed and held his head down as he thought back to why any of this happened to begin with. The only real observation he made during these moments that he could link to what was happening were whoever was operating the cameras in the dean's office. Even then, there wasn't a whole lot that could do to piece together why a perfectly normal American high school would devolve into some kind of war zone.

Daniel was the first to speak his mind: "So now what?"

"Simple: We get the hell out."

"That's definitely easier said the done. Besides, where would we go?"

"Considering how I was adopted by the head chief of the Carcer City Police Department, that might be a good start. He probably will know a great deal about what went wrong."

"We'd also probably be protected like any other survivors the CCPD came across. But the question is how do we reach them? Can we be certain they'll look here first?"

"We can rely on the fact they probably will be checking this place for bodies at some point. So unless our barricades fail us, it might be better to stay put."

Daniel sighed: "So what do we do to survive, because it could be a while."

"I don't know about you, Daniel, but I don't think I want to eat for a few good hours." Thomas acknowledged as he held his hand over his mouth. "Say, you don't mind, do you buddy?

Daniel simply replied "Considering this place is already a mess, I don't think it matters."

Tom smiled and walked to the corner to vomit. He later returned and sat across from his best friend in complete silence. Realizing that it was past his scheduled bedtime, he lied his head down on the laminate floor and tried to sleep.

Author's Note

For all the reasons that I joined FimFiction, I have to say that I did not anticipate that one of those would be to have a genuine learning experience of what it means to be a good writer. So far, I've learned three important lessons while on here writing:

1. It's always important to break up your paragraphs to prevent your story from becoming a giant wall of text. You're not writing an essay, and it is preferable that it doesn't resemble one.

2. Always be in the right state of mind when writing, because that is when your creativity shines the most.

3. People who join the sites with the intention of writing and finding good fanfiction are more patient than one might give credit for.

The first I learned when I was trying to submit Detention Party since the moderator was very specific on that. It makes sense for similar reasons why shots in movies only last a few seconds: to keep your reader engaged as opposed to having them sit through long paragraphs (Though I am waiting to see the fanfiction equivalent of Stanley Kubrick. Then again, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense when I think about it.).

The other two I learned happened when writing this chapter.

This was a difficult chapter for me to formulate since the first two were only building up to the real crux of the story: Ponies in Carcer City. I was establishing the character Thomas Schaffer and the world he lived in, which was in the same universe that Grand Theft Auto takes place. Establishing that Carcer was part of that world, which outside city limits, was characterized by over the top violence and dark slapstick, was relatively easy since I was writing during a time where Carcer City was in its heyday, and therefore, more resemble places like Liberty City or San Andreas. I, having played GTA III and Vice City, was familiar with this world and how it was set up. Sadly, I had never been able to play Manhunt, but I knew what it was about, what it was famous for, and why it stands out as a significant moment in the history of the video game industry. I have done and will continue to do research on what makes a game like this tick, so that I can represent it properly.

With that in mind, the second lesson comes from the fact that I was trying to write this chapter during a fairly stressful day with a lot of different stuff going on, which, I will admit, turned out to be a really stupid idea. I was kind of upset that people wouldn't leave me be which put me out of the proper state of mind, which is a really bad time to write. I was also a bit pissed that I faked out people who favorited my story by accidentally publishing the chapter before it was ready, which didn't help.

The third lesson was that I tried to rush something this delicate, considering I knew a lot about one thing (MLP, obviously) and not so much about the other (Manhunt, despite the research I've done) and it turned out to be terrible. Rushing the creative process is never a good idea. Why do you think modern parody movies i.e. Epic Movie and Disaster Movie) are such atrocities? The first two chapters were put out in rapid fashion with people warming up to it. I thought I could do the same with this one but I only pissed people off.

Thus the result of these two sins of writing resulted in something not up to par with my own expectations. In fact, it could be considered downright insulting to either franchise (which was never my intention). I hold myself accountable for those mistakes and sincerely apologize to those who were enjoying my story only to be disappointed.

In order provide only the best quality of storytelling that I can give, I will be posting a new chapter once every week or two. Believe me when I say I want to make the wait worth it. Granted, it will be difficult to cram writing fanfiction into my schedule involving summer homework and it will only get harder as the school year starts again (considering how writing these chapters can take me an entire day), but I want to know that each entry is consistent and high quality.

It has been a privilege to be able to share my love of MLP and the potential of video games to tell great stories with all of you, and I am grateful that people are willing to take time in their day to support an aspiring writer who hopes to one day take these skills and write games that people will hold high.

I know that I'm not perfect, and that I am not above criticism. But I am grateful for the bronies that have been willing to support me and my stories.

With the most sincerity,
Bendita Locura