Oneiroby ngrey651ChaptersThe Dream BeginsThe Nightmare Sets inA Neverending Nightmare?AwakeningThe Dream BeginsAuthor's Note For those wondering, the name "Oneiro" is word based off the Greek term "ὄνειρος" or "óneiros", and of course, it means "Dream". There's heavy symbolism to be found in Dreams, and there will be much on display throughout this story, alluding to the terror that awaits the poor inhabitants of this orphanage. But above all, remember this: do not be afraid to leave feedback to this story. I've never really done a Conversion Bureau tale before, and if I don't get feedback, I'll never know what to add more of or what to take out to better improve my work. Hopefully though, you'll find something to enjoy about this story. Sweet dreams... The Dream Begins The clock tower estate of Oneiro had stood high on the hilltop for time immemorial, as long as the townsfolk could remember. The people in Ajax, Utah felt they’d feared it longer still. Something about that hill was unsettling and wrong. Maybe it was how isolated it was from the rest of the rolling plains of Utah that the city had been built on. Maybe it was the ugly natural path that twisted and turned like a snake as it led up to the top past long-dead rows of flowers. Maybe it was how every time you climbed up to the top of the hill, the wind would always, always bite at the back of your neck as if trying to sever your very head from its shoulders. The estate built by the late William Ajax had been set up there to keep an eye on his once-great investment. The town had housed one of the greatest and largest department stores in the West, and Ajax had been able to create a fine little mansion with a tall clock tower at its core from the proceeds. This wasn’t a normal department store…all of it had been underground for easy access to the miners that lived there. It had worked great for decades until the mines evidently just ran dry. Now the place was primarily a ghost town…folks only really stayed because they felt there wasn’t anywhere else they could really go. Now they were beginning to think their decision was slightly wiser ever since the alien continent of Equestria itself had arrived at Earth, and the barrier had begun to expand. This magical barrier transfigured and transformed all it touched, a barrier that humans couldn’t survive past. The only way to get through this barrier that was engulfing the world was to turn into one of the native inhabitants of Equestria…to become a pony and take a special potion. Hence the need for Conversion Bureaus all across the globe, the Solar Regent Celestia had informed the world’s leaders. This was the solution. The only problem being that when you turned, your mind didn’t remain the same, your soul, your spirit, your heart wasn’t your own. It seemed to be a violation of people’s very being to force them to take the potion, yet that was what the “eternally compassionate” Celestia was advocating. Now people just wanted to stay away from the barrier until something was done about it. The problem was that the few rumors that suggested others were fighting back and finding solutions were rare…and what kind of solution would be able to make right what had been made so terribly wrong? It was getting to a point where absolute despair was gripping the world. Where people would take any chance they have of escape. And the townsfolk of Ajax knew that the pony who’d bought the abandoned estate of Oneiro was sympathetic to humans. In fact, he’d turned the place into a unique orphanage for any child who was lost… But not all who wander are lost. It happened on a lonely September night… BANG! BANG! BANG! The human banged as hard as he could on the door to the dark grey estate, a single candle lit in a circular window to his right suddenly going out. Surely somebody had to be inside. “OPEN THE DOOR! Please! Open the door!” He yelled out, his voice cracked and hoarse, his face pale and gaunt as he struggled to stay standing. “Please…open…the-” Mercifully, his pleas were answered as the solid oak doors opened up and he stepped back, a pony with beautiful fur staring up at him, blue hair falling down around his face as the colt gave him a gentle smile. “Are you alright?” He softly inquired, looking the human over. His clothes were old and worn, and he smelled as if he’d been without a bath for weeks, the human’s panting, heaving breaths combined with his poor frame indicating he’d not eaten in some time. “I-I need…I’m so hungry and…and I don’t have anywhere else to go.” The human muttered out, cringing as he wrapped his arms around his chest, the wind digging deep into him as the sympathetic stallion quickly let him inside, closing the door and cutting off the cold. The human’s deep green eyes glanced around his new surroundings, taking in the warm, cozy atmosphere that now greeted him, seeing several human women sitting by a table off in a hall across the way, sipping what appeared to be hot chocolate and eating sugar-covered Pizzelle. “My new favorite Earth food.” The Earth pony admitted, his fur the color of the sky as the sun began to set in the evening, giving the human a bow as he gestured at the table, and a spare chair. The other humans all waved him over with cheery expressions, the human barreling towards the pizzelle, stuffing one into his mouth, almost coughing from the sugar intake but getting the tasty treat down with a few swallows. “It’s just so delightful, isn’t it? And I love hand-crafting the little designs I make in the pizzelle so they can hold more sugar in them like little trenches.” The pony added, trotting over to the table and pointing down at one, weaving a hoof about. The paintings on the soft brown walls were slightly faded, but the beautiful imagery still shone through. There was heavy symbolism in them all, one showed Jesus transforming water into wine, another displayed the Beast’s majestic transfiguration into a man, a third was of a purple-furred pony suddenly gaining wings. Each of them seemed to emphasis a very positive change, and there was a sense of wonder and optimism that blazed out as brightly as a torch from each one. The floors were covered in soft velvet with curtains over the windows to match, and every chair had hand-stitched pillows of different shades of blue, to match the deep blue tables the newcomer was now eating from. “Th-they’re very good.” The human managed to get out, taking in a few deep breaths before he finally sat down and began nibbling on another one, rather than simply stuffing it into his mouth so he could speak more easily to his benefactor. “I’m-I’m very sorry for intruding on you, but…I’ve been lost for weeks. I can’t remember my name, all I’ve got are the clothes on my back and I’ve been eating garbage out of people’s trash cans for so long.” “Well, my name is Shinedown Tulamoon Mare.” Shinedown informed the human, putting a hoof on his chest, over the silver medallion that held the cloak he wore together as it glimmered brightly in the light of the many beautiful candles atop the room’s golden chandelier. “This is Oneiro, an estate I bought several years ago which I’ve converted into an orphanage.” “It’s, well…really much nicer on the inside than I thought.” The human murmured as he glanced about, looking down at the pale blue plates the pizzelle laid on. “You seem to like the color blue quite a bit.” “Oh, I LOVE the color blue, it’s a very divine color.” Shinedown remarked. “It’s representative of two things which seem to stretch on forever: the sky and the sea. Not to mention there’s so few blue animals in your world outside of the occasional bird or fish, so blue is a special color.” “Mister Mare loves to brag about Oneiro, sir.” The long, brown-haired girl in a deep brown, green dress admitted, twirling a lock of hair in one finger before putting some of the hair in her mouth, chewing on it. “So I’d better stop him before he goes on a tangent. I’m Anna.” She said with a nervous smile, soft blue eyes twinkling. “The iceberg over there is Roxy.” “Because she isn’t smiling?” The newcomer asked, the blackhaired beauty nonchalantly giving him a look up from the crossword she was doing, one leg crossed over itself revealing faded jeans and deep, piercing brown eyes behind the fringe of hair that fell over her forehead. “I don’t have much to smile about. The Ajax Herald’s Crossword Puzzle is a bucket of balls and it always keeps me up at night trying to figure out what a six letter word for psychopath is.” “Maniac?” The newcomer suggested, Roxy raising an eyebrow up and scribbling it into the crossword. “I’ll be damned, it fits.” She mused aloud. “Roxy doesn’t warm up easily, buddy. Don’t take it personally. I’m Lori.” The blonde of the group cheerily remarked, extending a slender hand that the newcomer took, looking her over. She had a slightly plain face, but quite dazzling wavy blonde hair and a very, very nice smile. Lori was the best-dressed of them all, wearing a sky-blue polo blouse which had a matching vertically-pleated skirt and high heels. She shook the newcomer’s hand and gave him a cheery bow of her head. “Been here for 8 months. Mr. Shinedown’s really nice.” “Yeah, and his cooking is incredible!” The last of the young women there remarked, biting into a pizzelle and waving the sugar-coated treat in the air, her mouth stuffed up like a squirrel as she brushed some long, thick locks of reddish/brown hair out of the way. She had a plain tanned dress and shirt for her attire, with a little pocket on the front of her shirt which had a tiny, cute little cross medal stuck to it, which read “Catechist” in golden lettering. “That’s an…interesting medal.” The newcomer admitted as he reached into the dark brown jacket he wore, taking out a small medal of his own. It resembled a chariot made of silver, twinkling in the light of the hall as he looked at Shinedown’s expression. The earth pony gazed at the chariot with an odd amount of interest as if transfixed. “I’ve had this the whole time. I THINK my parents might have given me this, it seems important…” “My mom was all I had and when she died a few years back this was all I had left of her. I had to sell everything else.” The lass with the cross medal quietly admitted, her tone going from cheery to solemn and subdued, her faint Irish accent almost barely audible in her sorrow as she hung her head. “I still couldn’t pay the bills. If only ma hadn’t died with so much debt...” “Luckily Tori here was welcome to stay in my orphanage. All those without parents are welcome, regardless of their age.” Shinedown insisted. “I had to grow up without my parents because of my blood.” He admitted quietly, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m, uh…I’m an Inkblood.” “A what?” The newcomer asked. “He’s part Changeling.” Roxy spoke up with a slight snort. “Those ponies who look all buggy and can change their appearance. So I’m guessing all of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names.” “Yes, they never let me join in any of their games. Being picked on for so long, you get both very compassionate…and very angry.” Shinedown muttered darkly. “I found a way to channel both!” He added with a slight sigh, hanging his head a little. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you’d like, ah…” He looked the newcomer over, tilting his head slightly to the side. “I’m sorry, you’re positive you don’t remember anything of your past life? Not even your name?” “No, I…I don’t.” The newcomer sighed as he looked down at the medal in his hand. “I’ve got it!” He remarked, snapping his fingers. “Call me “Chariot”. It sounds impressive and important and mysterious.” “Then welcome to Oneiro!” Shinedown proclaimed with a dramatic flourish and a sweep of his cape, laughing happily as he took Chariot’s hand and shook it with zeal. “You realize what this means, right girls? What he’ll get to be?” Roxy sighed. “I’m not singing it.” “Party-pooper.” Anna remarked, hopping up and whistling a few notes before the other girls rose up, and began to harmonize. “Be…our…guest, be our guest!” The Chariot smiled. Somehow, he felt he was going to like it here. … … … …He didn’t know how long he’d been here, but he knew something wasn’t right when he realized he couldn’t quite feel his arms and legs. He had struggled desperately to try and move from wherever he was, but he was trapped, stuck on the cold steely table he’d somehow been strapped to, and utter darkness was clouding his vision. A soft miasma of pale red light began to creep into the room from just beyond his vision as he squinted through the inky blackness, trying to figure out what was approaching him. Why was everything so hazy and blurry, what had his host slipped into- He suddenly realized who it was and struggled to speak, mouth opening yet no words coming forth as his host gently patted him atop the head, holding his torch high with the other appendage as he looked mournfully down at him. “I’m going to need you to be brave.” He softly informed the young man, putting the torch on the wall as he drew a small needle from off a nearby table. “Wh…why can’t I move?” The human finally whispered aloud. A sad, quiet sigh. “You’re dead, that’s why.” “No. No, I’m not dead.” “Yes.” His host insisted, his eyes beginning to turn black, his tone becoming softer…sweeter…sliding fluidly into his ears like water being poured. “Yes, you are. Why else would you be here?” “I’m alive. I’M ALIVE.” “You’ve been dead for three days.” His host cooed, piercing green gazing back into the young man’s eyes, the human trying to speak yet unable to find the words. “Now just relax. Try to think of the needle as your friend. You aren’t going to feel a thing.” He tried to scream. The words wouldn’t come. His body was revolting against him as the needle slid smoothly into his skin and deep into his heart, those same piercing green eyes blazing back at him, that horrifying, tender little smile on his host’s face as he felt the fire spread. It surged from his heart, rising up from his chest and sweeping through his body as he finally looked down, seeing what had become of his legs… And he started to scream. The Nightmare Sets inAuthor's Note As always, please leave feedback on what you'd like me to change, what you enjoyed, etc, etc. I'll never improve without it. But keep in mind, I'm trying to create an atmosphere, build up on the mystery and horror, so please forgive me for this somewhat slow start. But I can't just give away everything in the first couple of chapters. So if your complaint is "how does this connect to the Conversion Bureau itself outside of evidently taking place in the same universe", well...you'll see. Just be patient. The Nightmare Sets in “And in other news, the barrier continued to expand another mile today…” CLICK! “Complete ponification of the entire city of Glasgow-” CLICK! “Examination of the land beyond the barrier proven impossible, every manmade drone has been eradicated-” CLICK! Chariot cringed as Roxy put the television remote down, sitting back in the plushy blue couch of the estate’s living room, the fringe-haired woman sitting next to him whilst, Tori, Anna and Lori all laid on various chairs. Each of them glanced slowly at each other, a nervous expression on their faces, the Chariot blinking stupidly as he turned to Roxy’s darkened, solemn face. “The…barrier. It’s transforming the Earth and it keeps advancing?” Why doesn’t this “Princess Celestia” turn it off or something?” “She says she can’t and the only way us humans can survive is turning into a pony.” Roxy mumbled. “…a perfect pony.” Shinedown had begun trotting into the room, holding aloft a tray of scones when he saw their expressions and the final channel they’d turned to, which was a documentary on how the ponification potions worked. He turned a pale, almost icy blue color, Chariot seeing his body tremble. Yet…something about his eyes seemed to give away a different emotion than his body was showing. The paleness didn’t seem to come from fear or horror but…pure, unadulterated rage. “I’m…sorry you have to see such things.” He murmured as he put the tray down on the table in the center of the living room, beneath yet another beautiful golden chandelier that hung high above their heads, crystal shining brightly in every candle holder it had. Their host’s blue hair flopped down as he sighed, shaking his head back and forth as Chariot took one of the scones Shinedown offered and nibbled on the edge. “It makes me ashamed to be a pony. When I first learned of it, I wanted to try and stop it.” The Earth pony admitted to Chariot, removing the cloak from his body… Chariot almost vomited. The Earth pony’s form had horrific scarring and burn marks all over his back, his tail almost burnt away completely. “There’s a reason why only unicorns and alicorns do magic. When others attempt it through alternative methods, it…doesn’t end well. I couldn’t find a way to stop the barrier.” “So you’re trying to atone for species guilt through individual action?” Chariot asked, Shinedown flinching. It hurt because it was true, and he gave a small, quiet little nod. “Look, I’m not going to hold what the barrier is doing against you. You’ve been nothing but nice to me.” The Earth pony’s head rose back up and he smiled slightly, putting his cloak back on and giving Chariot a deep, respectful bow as Anna knelt down by him and began scratching the space behind his ears, making him murr. “OHHHH. Yessss. That’s the stuff.” He murred out as Roxy glowered at an image of Celestia on display on the television screen. “Ugh. I almost miss Nightmare Moon and King Sombra when I think of what SHE’S done.” Shinedown said, not even the scratching making the scowl on his face go away. Chariot tilted his head to the side, confused. “Nightmare…wait, who?” “Both of them were ponies who did terrible, awful things back in Equestria. Kind of disprove the whole “Ponies are perfect” idea Celestia loves to espouse. And Sombra above all, he…” Shinedown cringed. “He had this ability to make people see things that weren’t real. Get inside their mind, a kind of…mesmerism. It was called the “Sanguine Condition”, an example of his willpower utterly dominating others and altering reality itself.” “That sounds horrifying.” Lori admitted with a shudder. “What happened to him?” “Celestia actually killed him when he tried to return. I suppose she didn’t like anybody reminding her of what she was doing…stripping people’s wills away.” Shinedown muttered balefully. “He needed a castle and crystals to do his work…all she needed was a potion.” “She is SUCH a bitch. I hate it when “Der Fuhrer” does an interview and people actually swallow the tripe she feeds them.” She mumbled angrily, Tori getting an idea as she began to giggle. “What is it, lunchbox?” Roxy wanted to know, tilting her head slightly to the side, her brown eyes gazing intensely at the redhead. “When der fuhrer says “We is the master race”, we heil!” “PHBBTT!” Anna and Lori sticking their hands in their mouth in a fake salute as they gave raspberries, Roxy rolling her eyes slightly before she too joined in. “Heil!” “PHBBTT!” “In der fuhrer’s face!” “You’re awfully upbeat, aren’t you?” Chariot admitted to Tori. “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and you feel fine.” “We’ve got good friends to look out for us.” She said as Anna scratched behind Shinedown’s ears again, making him stomp a hoof on the ground in quick, rapid succession. “Ohhhhh yes, right there, right there, ohhh that’s the stuff…” He murmured. Roxy “hmphed” before turning to Chariot, giving the dark-haired human a nod, brown eyes staring into deepest green. “It’s good to have another guy around, the place is a total clambake since Dan and Edward left.” “Yes, they decided to take their chances and just left in the middle of the night. Along with my silverware.” Shinedown sighed quietly as he walked over to a nearby cupboard in the living room, opening it up, revealing only a single china plate left over. “In times of trouble, I suppose everyone becomes desperate and begins doing things they’d normally never do. Not that my own race doesn’t do that. My Changeling ancestors were all about “doing what they had to” to survive.” He chuckled wryly. “That worked out so well for them.” “I can’t believe how goddamn hypocritical ponies are to talk about how unharmonious HUMANS are when they treat Changeling-blooded ponies like yourself so rotten just because of who your great grandfather had sex with.” Lori remarked, sticking out her tongue in disgust. “They got some freakin’ nerve.” “Ah, you get used to it. Kind of have to. I’m going to be in my room, I’ve got an awful headache and I need to go lie down.” Shinedown remarked, the crack of thunder piercing through the air outside, storm clouds beginning to roll in as the Earth pony “hmmed”. “Looks like a storm’s coming. Best batten down the hatches, everyone should close all the windows and the doors in the estate.” “Nose goes for the clock tower!” Tori cried out, putting a finger to her nose as Lori, Roxy and Anna all put a finger to their nose, Chariot realizing he had now been “volunteered” to go to the clock tower section of the estate to close its enormous windows and to fully lock up ITS doors. He sighed, shrugging slightly as he stood up, making for the doorway, another KRA-KRAK of lightning echoing outside before- THWOOMP. All the lights went out. Shinedown groaned. “Phooey. The generator must have gone. I’ll go take care of it…” He said, trotting towards the exit himself as all the girls scattered, each of them making for a different part of Oneiro as the wind began to batter the mansion, thudding hard against its walls as if desperately trying to get inside… … … … …he couldn’t feel his arms. Why couldn’t he feel his arms? He struggled to get out from the table he’d been strapped to, hearing a faint dripping noise echoing through the dark expanse that surrounded him. He grunted and heaved, trying to get out but… That damn dripping. What was it? Where was it coming from? It sounded close by. Drip. Drip. Drip. A light suddenly lit the room up and he glanced about, seeing he was in some kind of underground laboratory, odd instruments upon the walls with clamps meant to hold people up placed in strategic positions… Blood red seals in strange language drawn upon the walls, right where any prisoner’s back would be. He suddenly realized he was tied to one such wall and finally, turning his head, he could see clearly his- “OH MY GOD!” He screamed out, looking at his lack of arms. How in the…how?! How was it possible, how- “Oh, you’re awake. I’m…very sorry you have to see that. But please understand, this is necessary for a true rebirth. Not the false life that you would expect.” A voice spoke up, comforting and soothing as a familiar face entered the laboratory from the entryway across the room, holding a torch up high. He placed it in on the wall, approaching the terrified prisoner and reaching out, touching the seal behind the frightened human. “I’m so close.” “What have you done to my arms?!” The human screamed out. “Dear God, what have you done to my arms!” “It isn’t just your arms, look, you have to understand…” A sad sigh. “…would you like a mirror?” He inquired. The human paled. He knew what that meant. “…what does my face look like?” “Look, I know this is confusing. But you’re responding far better to the treatment than the others.” “Others?” Then he noticed something. Something that he hadn’t smelled before. Thick, like iron…foul, this ugly, pungent scent that wafted through the air from…a small crack in the wall across from his right. He peered towards it, eyes narrowing until he could faintly see beyond… And he saw the many, many corpses lying within. He began to scream. … … … …Lori sighed as she reached up on her tippy toes, arms stretching out and grabbing hold of the long window pane, slamming it shut as the wind howled outside. She glanced about the empty bathroom, sighing as he headed for the sink, trying to turn the knob. Phooey. The water was off too, and the entire house seemed to breathe all about her in an uncomfortable fashion as she looked about. It was if the entire thing was alive and she was trapped inside its stomach, the wind’s continuous blowing becoming a kind of thudding sensation like the beating of a heart. The crystalline candle holders on the walls were the only source of light, and they hadn’t been relit. She took out a small box of matches from the bathroom cupboard, making her way past the mirror and the bath and lighting up the candle. With a quick flick, the match lit up, illuminating the room and casting shadows on the walls that crept and slunk about like rats scurrying around. She cringed, shaking her head back and forth, trying not to get put off by the appearance of the bathroom. The window was shut, she just had to lock it and- A scream down the hall. Shinedown’s voice crying out in terror before being swiftly silenced. She glanced towards the doorway, eyes widening in surprise. What the hell?! Then she heard something click. “What in?” The bathtub faucet had suddenly turned on. Lori stiffened, turning around, seeing the faucet was now freely pouring water that was rising higher and higher, dark, oily water that appeared diseased, a sense of horror beginning to swell up in her like a balloon waiting to pop. She raced for the door, grabbing hold of the knob and turning it- Locked? How in the hell!? She’d just walked in two minutes ago, the damn thing was open and it sure as hell wasn’t- SPLASH. As she stepped away from the door, she noticed the water was now openly spilling out onto the bathroom tiles, the candle beginning to hiss as it seemed to grow in size, steam rising from the dark water that kept pouring freely. Lori took a step back, eyes widening, the blonde girl gulping as a shape began to rise from the overflowing bathtub, holding up a potion in its hooves, piercing green eyes with a deep red pupil gazing deep into her soul. “This will only hurt for a second.” The dark-furred unicorn cheerily remarked, King Sombra pouring the potion into the dark water around him, a sickening, disgusting mockery of a rainbow spreading from the water as it crept up her skin. She could feel it peeling away her flesh, muscles being torn and ligaments sizzling off, and she screamed in vain, struggling to get free as she continued to sink deeper…deeper, her eyes sloughing from their sockets to be replaced with false, glassy insults, her hands becoming hooves as she howled- Chariot gasped, kicking down the door to the bathroom, glancing left and right. He was SURE he’d heard a scream inside but… Darkness there. And nothing more. A Neverending Nightmare?Author's Note Earlier before I'd kind of HINTED things weren't quite what they seemed and also talked somewhat about just what the Conversion Bureau was doing to Earth. Yet just like before, the real horror of what it represents, much like the real horror of Oneiro, had not fully sunken in. Now, though... And I know what you're thinking. "Okay, why isn't this character you showed popping up in the "this character is in this story" part of the story description? Why is his icon not there? Well...don't assume anything. Including that this is the real him. Or just how real ANY of this is... A Neverending Nightmare? Chariot shook his head back and forth, cringing as he hung outside the bathroom, Anna approaching him with a concerned expression on her face. “You were supposed to be at the clock tower, glad you decided not to go.” “I WAS on my way when I had to use the bathroom downstairs.” He admitted. “Then I heard the scream up here and raced up the steps but…” He trailed off, sighing as he hung his head, holding it in his hands as Anna put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a comforting smile. “Look, we’ll stick together and track down everyone else. Worse thing to do in something like this is split up, right?” She reasoned with a calm nod, Chariot nodding up firmly as he made his way down the hallway with her, darkness stretching across it like a foul quilt. He glanced at her, looking at the back of her neck and the way her hair swayed back and forth, sighing a bit. “If she was still alive, she’d be your age right now.” He inwardly thought with a sad expression coming to his features, a hesitancy in his tone as he nervously began to mumble. “Er…Anna, um…I wasn’t completely honest with all of you when I said I couldn’t remember much about my past. It’s more like bits and pieces float about in my head…” He admitted, tapping the side of his head with his finger, dark green eyes glistening in the hallway. “And more and more of the puzzle pieces have been fitting together.” “What do you remember?” Anna asked as Chariot bit his lip. “I was…part of a police force, I believe. We were supposed to investigate the Conversion Bureaus. Find out exactly how the potion works…perhaps even make a cure.” He admitted. “After all, there’s no such thing as a supervirus. There’s always going to be some people who are completely immune to a disease, or at least highly resistant, and what is the Ponification process if not a virus seeking to take over you, body and soul?” “But the dumb thing is supposed to be magic, right? How do you handle that?” Anna asked with a shrug before the clock tower began to ring. Once. Twice. Thrice. It repeated again and again, finally sounding off that it was 9o’clock in the morning, yet dark as twilight outside, the crash of lightning splitting the skies being the only source of true light for either of the two. Anna cringed a bit, Chariot shuddering as he wrapped his arms around himself. “I knew something was off about this estate. Perhaps we should simply break out and make a run for the town.” “If we can’t find the others, we’ll do that and get the cops.” Anna reasoned with a nod. “Smartest thing to do, right?” “Yes. We play it smart, we’ll be fine.” Chariot agreed, giving her a small little smile. SOME TIME EARLIER… Tori had been speaking to Shinedown as he held a small candle up, using it to light their way towards the power generator so he could attempt to turn it back on. The thing was outside in the garden, and they had to go through the library sector of the east wing to reach it. Before, the library had seemed beautiful, majestic, each towering bookshelf like a vibrant stack of rainbows displaying tomes of every tone. Yet now all of the shelves seemed to be like bars, meant to trap them where they were and keep them from escaping. “You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?” “You are?” “Um…kinda sorta?” Tori sheepishly admitted as she gave her host a nervous smile, rubbing the back of her neck with a slender hand as he apologetically smiled back. “I’m sorry this is happening.” The Earth pony admitted as he noticed a small table coming up to their right. “Oh.” He murmured, seeing the photo there…it showed a dragon with unmistakably the same exact skin color that Shinedown now had, only the Shinedown in the photo that was holding the little tyke up for the camera to take a picture of was of a greyish shade, more similar to the “Changeling” body structure. “Is that…really you?” Tori wanted to know as she picked the photograph up, examining it closely as Shinedown sighed and nodded his head. “That’s Sunset. He was a very dear friend of mine. My sister, she…she was supposed to hatch him from an egg to pass her final exam in school, but she had no use for a baby dragon so she gave him to me.” The Earth pony sounded as though he was on the verge of tears, his voice a faint, tragic whisper. “He became sick about five years after that, I…I took on his color scheme to honor him whilst I did research on a cure.” “You couldn’t find one? I’m-I’m so sorry.” Tori apologized, looking down at her host as his expression became…faintly angry for a moment before he bit his lip, then spoke carefully, deliberately. “No. Celestia had a cure. The same “cure” she used for humans. The ponification potion. Everyone…heh. Heh-heh-heh.” He began to chuckle, but it was a sad, almost “I give up” kind of laugh. “At first, everyone is just so…SOOOOO happy to see the potion work. To have it give them limbs they might have lost. To see the cancer that they’d had fade away. To get wings or a horn, and sure, it stings a bit at first but it’s a good kind of hurt, like peeling away a scab. You know it’ll feel so, so good to have it off. I watched the potion bathe over Sunset and he went from a little tyke to a fine young colt.” A slight twitch in the pony’s expression. A…darkening of his eyes as he put the candle on the floor. “He seemed a little…overly cheerful, but not even that could kill the joy I had in knowing my best friend was back.” Shinedown said, the tears now beginning to well up in his eyes. “No, that…that came when I realized he didn’t like reading mysteries anymore, and…and never got angry, never cried, the…the look in his eyes. That light, it wasn’t there. He’d have this LIGHT, this…this cute little twinkle!” The Earth pony began to say, his voice cracking, his body shaking. “You’d see it there when he talked about painting and drawing and you knew he was thinking up something wonderful to make, already painting it in his head, that…that light wasn’t there anymore. The heart was gone!” Shinedown covered his face, sinking to his knees as he began to openly sob, Tori leaning down and gently stroking his mane in careful, deliberate strokes as his whimpering cries wracked his body. She sat there, stroking her host, a look of deep sympathy on her face, Shinedown’s tears falling to the floor like the rain pouring down outside. “It took…it took my friend from me. And I realized something was very…VERY wrong.” Shinedown finally got out. “I swore to come to Earth and research. I promised myself to find some way to help people. No matter what it took.” “You’re a good person.” Tori insisted, patting his head before rising up. “You’ve helped me and the girls out so much these past few years, I’m sure you’ll be able to do so many more great things and make Sunset proud!” “I’d like to think that…” Shinedown murmured, heading for the doorway that would lead to the garden outside, and the power generator with it. “Here, I’d better go first, see if I can do it alone. You keep the door open and an eye out for-” Then a chandelier above broke, plummeting down into him, crashing him through the floor as his screams faded away into the inky black below… PRESENT… Roxy had run off for what was the clear and obvious choice: the tool closet in the kitchen. Quickly moving across the carpet, the fringe-haired young lady opened it up…or rather, attempted to, only to find the damn thing was stuck. She grunted, tugging as hard as she could, growling at the futility of it. “Damn it!” She yelled out, kicking the closet. “How the heck am I supposed to get a weapon to defend myself? A powertool is a girl’s best friend.” She sighed, turning to the kitchen drawers. “Guess a carving knife will have to do. If it was good enough for Michael Myers, it’ll be good enough for me.” She felt the cool texture of the knife in one hand, weighing it in her palm to make sure it was sufficiently strong, and swung it about in the air, the knife making a smooth “woosh” sound with each slice as she smirked a bit, pulling out another carving knife and sticking it into her pants, tying it around her with her belt so it didn’t cut into her side. “Heh. Any little piggy that tries to bump me off is gonna go wee-wee-wee all the way home.” “You have spunk. I hate spunk. It’s a poor man’s substitute for charm.” A voice whispered out, Roxy stiffening before glancing about, frowning. Where had that come from? She clutched the knife tightly, holding it before her as she took a few steps around the kitchen, past the counter and towards the hall. “Show yourself…” Roxy growled, eyes glancing left and right, the house breathing about her in long groans and creaks. “Spunk has to be broken. Will must be broken. To make room for the true Willpower. Mine.” Roxy suddenly heard a “THUMP” from the tool closet, turning around, eyes narrowing as she approached it. She took a few cautious steps towards it, knife held up as the faint thumping returned. It almost sounded like tiny bodies were being thrown- The doorway burst open, disgusting, ugly roaches flying out, hissing and snarling at her as she sliced and scratched at them with the knife, trying to get them to leave her alone, horrific laughter ringing through the air from the phantasm’s voice. Roxy bolted down the hall, the cockroaches chasing after her, their hissing cries rising in a terrifying crescendo as she finally made it to one of the downstairs bedrooms, slamming the door shut and locking it behind her, panting and heaving as she rested down on the nearby bed, lying down in it, looking up at the mirror hanging over her- King Sombra the Shadowlord stood there, dark mane flowing freely, green eyes glinting as he emerged from the mirror, holding the horrific potion in one hoof. “Relax, tomboy. This will only hurt for a second.” He cooed, pouring the potion down upon Roxy, and as he face began to melt away, and veins in her cheeks popped and sizzled like popcorn she screamed and SCREAMED AND SCREAMED- … … … …Anna and Chariot kept close together, moving through the halls towards the unmistakable horrified voice of Tori as they glanced about, eyeing every doorway, watching every shadow, trying to make sure it wasn’t moving, ready to reveal some horror that would leap out and strike at them. The library door was tightly closed, and Chariot knocked on it carefully, Anna giving him a small nod. So far, so good. “Tori! Victoria, are you there?” He whispered through the door, Lori’s whimpering ceasing as they heard her approach the door and knock back. “Yes, yes, oh God, I’m here, I’m here. A chandelier came down, it…it came down on Shinedown and he crashed through the floor!” “Listen. You need to get the door open and we all need to get out of this estate and get help. Oneiro isn’t safe at all.” Chariot reasoned. “Can you open up the door?” The doorknob handle turned uselessly, Tori audibly grunting behind the door, throwing her body against it with an aggravated growl. “GRRR! The stupid thing won’t open, I-I gotta get out of here, I don’t do well in the dark!” She admitted, Chariot’s face becoming sympathetic as he put a hand against the door. “Look, Tori. Calm down. Can you find something large and heavy, throw it against the door?” “I’m a 98 pound weakling so…that would be a “no”, I’m afraid.” “Damn.” Anna murmured. “Well, the library leads outside. Just run out there and head to the front of the house, we’ll make for the front door and meet you there.” She said through the doorway, Chariot shuddering as he felt a dark chill rise in him, the sound of Tori’s footsteps racing off for the exit as another set of footsteps began to fill the air. The two of them turned, seeing the heavy footfalls of armored hooves making their way down the hallway as the candles on each wall began to slowly light up as HE passed by each one. King Sombra was there, smiling pitilessly, his every step spreading a diseased, disgusting ooze of a rainbow…pure ponification potion that was reaching out to ensnare them. “Come and take your medicine like good, BIG little boys and girls.” He whispered to them, his voice deep, authoritative and powerful with a horrific persuasive edge that made them cringe, Chariot grabbing hold of Anna’s wrist and racing for the nearby doorway, opening it up and slamming it shut, locking it behind them as they made for the window, still not yet closed, and open just enough so maybe…maybe they could slip out. “Go, go, I’ll hold him off!” Chariot insisted to Anna, holding her shoulders and giving her a firm nod. She began to push herself through the opened window as the wind cut at her face, making her hair toss back and forth whilst Chariot grabbed hold of a nearby desk’s chair. He swished it back and forth, eyes narrowing intensely as the doorway burst down, King Sombra standing tall and proud, red pupils glittering as the Chariot held up his makeshift weapon. “This will only hurt for a second, little ones.” He cooed out. “Funny, I was going to say the same to YOU!” Chariot roared, launching himself at Sombra as Anna wriggled out of the window, landing on the grass below and racing towards the front of the estate, intent on finding Tori… A crack of lightning split the sky, she shielded her eyes from it’s light- And remembered nothing else. AwakeningTori had decided to make a run for the town. She was determined to get to the cops, the wind striking her face with rock-hard zephyrs that felt as if a giant hand was trying to shove her away from Ajax, Utah. She continued to trek down the hill, grunting slightly as she fought against the wind, her brown/red hair flapping about as she kept moving. She was only a few minutes away from the town, she’d be fine if she could just- Something wasn’t right. She stiffened as she hid behind a nearby tree, the wind’s force lighting up as she peered down towards the near-ghost-town that was Ajax. You might not have picked up on it at first until you really, really looked closely: There was nobody on the streets but ponies. All of them too…cheery-looking. Smiling unnaturally, with big, soulless eyes and peppy little smiles and without a single “Cutie Mark” on their side to indicate their talents. Something clearly wasn’t right here, and Tori wanted to know what. She slunk along the hill, out of sight of the ponies on the streets as she slipped down towards a nearby grocery, crunching down by its window, back to the wall. She listened in as lightning split the sky, one of the ponies within going to the window and staring out at the estate of Oneiro in the distance, its gigantic clock tower ringing loudly as Tori kept crouching, able to see the pony, yet him not able to see her. “I think lightning might have struck the estate.” The pony admitted, its voice oddly familiar. “…oh my.” It murmured, shaking its head back and forth. “That’s a surprise.” “You think Shinedown’s finished with his work up there, Edward? He keeps saying he can make the potion even better.” Tori heard the storekeeper within remark. Wait. Edward? Tori’s eyes bulged wider than dinner plates as she clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a gasp of shock and horror. No wonder his voice sounded familiar, that was Edward! One of the many boys who’d gone missing! They’d had at least six before Roxy had moved in with them and the number had dwindled to two, and then Dan and Edward had just vanished one day, supposedly stealing the silverware! “Don’t know how he can improve perfection. And speaking of, I just looooove being a pony now!” The pony at the window cheerily intoned, turning away from the window and walking back into the store. “Princess Celestia sure was clever to set up secret conversion bureaus in towns like this. These humans are just so unpleasant, they don’t fight fair. So if they want to be sneaky about how they fight us, we can do the same.” Tori’s blood turned to icewater in her veins. Oh no. Oh noooo. The entire town had been turned into a secret conversion bureau? And Shinedown was in on it? How? Why- The Orphanage. Of course. He’d taken in the unwanted children of the town and converted them. The boys had been changed into ponies and then sent out into the town to ponify it. And he’d been intending to do the same to all of them! She felt hot, bitter tears spring to her eyes as she wiped them away on her sleeve, gritting her teeth as she looked into the store window. Yes. Rifles still on the wall. Bullets in the back. All untouched compared to the dried goods and candy. She just had to get in and get ahold of it, take care of the psychopathic unicorn that had been threatening her friends in the estate. It wouldn’t be too hard to get inside, the store did have a back entrance. She grabbed a fallen brick off the ground, making for the doorway, enjoying the feel of the slightly-cracked brick in her hands as she opened up the store’s back door and snuck in, Edward leaving as the store owner knelt down behind the counter, picking up a small safety deposit box. Tori held the brick high and slammed it down on the unicorn, catching it off guard as a horrific KRUNCHA-KRAK sound filled the air, blood splattering on her dress like a Jackson Pollock painting, the pony crashing to the floor. Now for the rifle. SOME TIME LATER… Chariot slowly opened his eyes, Shinedown patting his cheek with a hoof, the human strapped to some kind of table, everything blurry and dark as the earth pony’s eyes blazed with triumph. “Oh, its wonderful! Just wonderful! You’ve no idea how long I’ve been trying to make this right.” He informed the human, trotting back and spreading a hoof at a nearby countertop for Chariot to examine as his vision began to return to normal. Several rainbow-colored potions laid atop the table, glimmering brightly with a faint green outline shimmering about them. “What…the hell did you do?” Chariot murmured as Shinedown pulled out something from the folds of his cloak, Chariot realizing it was one of the many crystalline candle holders the estate of Oneiro had. “What is that?” “This is one of many crystals that King Sombra himself used to help amplify his willpower…make others see what he wanted. I’ve put them in this entire estate to craft the perfect testing grounds for my theory. The idea I could utterly exert my will over others if they were in a state of fear and terror, and thus be easy to dominate and capture. With you, I had to use direct force, unfortunately…” He sighed, hanging his head and shaking it back and forth. “I had to essentially break every child I brought here down, ravage their minds, make them empty to replace their will, in essence, with my own. But that was the only way it could work. Human willpower alone won’t cut it, it needs a catalyst of pony will to resist.” “Resist what?” Shinedown stopped then, turning, eyes narrowing slightly as he looked upward. “…I think we’re about to get a guest soon.” He remarked. “Tori appears to on her way.” He cringed. “You’ll have to get her to stop.” “Why should I? It sounds like you’ve been torturing people!” Chariot snarled angrily. “To bring them back from ponification.” Chariot blinked in surprise, mouth hanging slightly open. “…wh…what?” He asked, eyes widening as Shinedown put the crystal away and headed over to the countertop with the potions, picking one up. “I wasn’t able to stop the barrier. Those experiments failed. But when I was with my ponified partner and we were watching a film, an idea came to me. Within the film, there…there was a boy. A boy who WILLED himself out of this place called the “Matrix” to awaken in the real world, and an idea struck me. Could it be possible to have a ponified being will themselves back to normal?” Shinedown paced back and forth, his tone hurried, conspiratorial, yet excited. “The idea fascinated me. I tested it on ponified human after ponified human, trying to use spells to get them to retain enough of their humanity to will themselves back, to force their bodies to reject the potion. The problem is that though there are a portion of humans in this world who truly are immune to the potion, like yourself, well…you still need one thing more. A little “hair of the dog that bit you”. Willpower from a pony to help override the potion. It’s taken me years, but I finally found someone who was not only naturally resistant to the potion, but who has survived the process! Mainained their soul!” He held up a mirror from the folds of his cloak up to Chariot’s face. “Look!” He insisted. “You’re a pony, but your mind! Your mind is human, you’re free!” He proclaimed, Chariot gasping at the sight looking back at him. Big eyes…a muzzle, green hair and dark black fur…yes, he was a pony, a pegasus, in fact, with quite lovely wings. “All you need do is take that last step. While you were unconscious, I used the seal you’re lying on, the old magic, to place my will into you the same way I used seal magic to try and get humans to retain their own will. I’ve given you a hoof…take it and lift yourself up.” Chariot could see the blood red seal written on the table behind him, odd, shimmering letters sparkling in the light of the hidden laboratory room and he cringed, an angry glint coming to his eye. Damn it, he was sick of this, he was human, not a goddamn- And like that, his body shifted back to normal. His hooves became hands. His legs and arms became longer. His face was…well, a face! A normal, human face. Still had green hair, but that wasn’t an issue, not really. Not anymore. “It works! Complete success!” Shinedown proclaimed, tears of joy brimming in his eyes. “With your help, you can help me create a replacement potion that I can substitute for the one the Conversion bureau has been disseminating. All the ponified humans will have a chance to turn back! And best of all, it will allow you to go through the barrier!” Shinedown clapped his hooves together, happily grinning. “The barrier will recognize you as being ponified at one point, and it will be fooled into thinking you still are! It’s the perfect weapon to fight the solar tyrant! All we need is to sample your spirit with another seal, apply it to the potions I’ve got here-” He remarked as he gestured at the potions behind him before noticing something wasn’t quite right. Why wasn’t the human’s hair turning back to dark brown? And…and why was the human’s eyes so…unnaturally green now, with such piercing, black pupils? They almost appeared reptilian as they gazed down at him, and Chariot now spoke with a voice that was quite different than Shinedown had heard before. “We had a feeling this was what was going on. That you were somehow experimenting on humans up here. We weren’t sure why, but the fact you were trying to create a cure to ponification just saved your life.” The being said, its voice powerful and mighty as it folded its arms over its chest. “I’m one of many who observe worlds, Shinedown T. Mare, part of a multidimensional society of do-gooders who go from realm to realm, righting what’s been made wrong.” Shinedown turned pale as a sheet as the human smirked. “My “title” is Chariot. Chariot of the Major Arcana. That I wasn’t lying about.” “Wh…what’re you…wait, what do you want?” Shinedown murmured, eyes widening as he took a few steps back. The way the Chariot was looking at him was unnerving, like he was a hunk of meat. “Look, let us just talk this over-” “Your potion will do a great deal of good. But you have to be punished for what you’ve done. Innocent people have suffered to get this cure.” Chariot held a hand up, dark, pulsating energy rippling around it. “…our boss, she doesn’t believe in “getting even”. Doesn’t believe in revenge. She’s a nice girl. And normally I don’t either. But nothing about my life has been “normal” for quite a while, so…” He grinned like some sick, demonic thing that God had stuck under a rock and tried to forget. “Just relax. Because this will only hurt for a second.” … … … …Tori placed the rifle down on the grass, gently turning Lori’s body over as the tears flowed freely down. Lori’s form was charred and smoking, the lightning bolt had hit hard and she’d probably had no idea how close she’d been to freedom. The redhead struggled not to cry, but after everything she’d seen and had been done to her and her friends, all of it was just too much, and she clung tightly to the charred remains of her dear friend. She held Lori’s form for what seemed to be many hours before the wind finally eased up, allowing her to hear the creaking of the front door, Chariot stepping out in a lovely black jacket with a deep green scarf and gloves, his hair also a brilliant shade of green as he knelt by Tori, holding her cheek. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get out here in time.” He apologized, Tori looking deep into his green eyes as he smiled tenderly back. “But I’ve got a potion here that will help turn the people of this town back to normal.” He offered, pulling out a small bottle from the folds of his jacket, Tori gasping at the shimmering, greenish potion he now had in his gloved hand. “We can make sure all this suffering wasn’t in vain.” “How did you…what…” Tori murmured as Chariot smiled more broadly. “It was what Shinedown was working on. A potion to reverse pontification through willpower alone. It required somebody like me, evidently my spirit has a resistance towards such things, to add in the last ingredient it needed to work, but…it will work. We just introduce this into the town’s water supply, and it’ll be cured. Then we get this to the world’s governments and we can begin fighting back by mass-replication of these things.” “He did all that he did…just to make this?” “He needed test subjects. Probably should have just asked, but…then again, considering how everyone here is so frightened of the potion, you probably would have just said “no” anyhow.” “And put a bullet in his head.” Tori admitted with a sigh. “Getting ponified is usually a death sentence. Now it won’t have to be.” She added, finally feeling a smile coming to her face. “For the first time in a long night, I’m…feeling pretty damn good.” “The work’s just begun.” Chariot insisted as he put away the potion and extended his hand. “…let me reintroduce myself. Call me “Drake”.” MEANWHILE… He finished adding the wrappings to his arms and legs. With those combined with the one atop his forehead, they’d be a constant reminder of the new duty he had. He felt the medal around his neck, the emblem of the Chariot burned into it as he then wrapped the belt around his waist, looking himself over in the mirror. Nobody in Equestria would know of the ancient magic he now had had forcibly sealed onto him. His punishment. His cross to bear. Good intentions or not, he’d gone too far, and now would have to make amends for all he’d done as he struck back at the Solar Tyrant. Luckily, nobody would recognize him now. His fur was now dark, a charcoal black, and if you looked closely, you could faintly see the words written ever-so-faintly into the wrappings he’d placed upon himself. Written in ancient symbols, the old magic had been deeply tied to him. The seals he’d used were now one with him. He exited the estate, seeing the two humans making off for the town as he stood at the front door, sighing slightly before turning around and closing it, placing a hoof upon the doorway. He willed the seal to appear, a powerful greenish/blue blaze lighting up the doorway as a mighty crest was burnt into the door. Now nobody would ever get inside again. The damn place deserved to rot away with the annals of time. Bringing the hood up over his head, he trotted off for the east. It would take some time to get to the barrier and to Equestria, but he’d make it. The work had just begun, after all. And the new Chariot of the “Major Arcana” was ready to ride, to strike back at humanity’s greatest enemy and to reclaim the Earth. … … … … “There’s no WAY that happened.” The ponies in the bar in Canterlot shook their head back and forth, looking over a newspaper that one orange-colored pony was reading, his white hair hanging low over the paper as the others crowded around him. The front page was clear: humans had re-transformed, going from pony to human before Celestia’s eyes, and it had shook the ponies of Equestria to the core. How, in the name of everything harmonious, was that possible? “She saw it with her own eyes, though. Must be true.” The white-haired pony remarked with a calm expression, handing the newspaper to the blue-furred Pegasus near him, seeing a cloaked and hooded pony with an odd medal around his neck looking over in his direction, head tilted slightly to the side before he walked over. “Bartender…” The pony said, pulling out a small bag of bits and handing them to the bartender with a small smile beneath the hood. “I’m thinking we should cheer these poor, unfortunate souls up. A little bit of my special martini mixed with your finest ale would do wonders.” He remarked, holding up a green vial and giving it to the bartender. “Mix that in with a barrel of your best and it’ll give everyone the kick of confidence they need.” “I dunno, I don’t much like martini-” The cloaked pony gave him another small bag of bits, the bartender cheerily taking the vial and heading for the back room as the hooded earth pony lowered his hood and tenderly smiled at the whire-haired unicorn next to him. “You used to be human, right?” “Oh. You can tell? I was not aware.” “Well for one, you’re a blank flank even though you’re older than me, and two, there’s always a certain “quality” surrounding new converts.” The medal-wearing pony admitted, shaking the converted pony’s hoof. “Its true, my name was Richard Dawkins in the old world. I took the potion for, ah, scientific curiosity’s sake. I’d been testing it for quite some time, wanted to see its full effects and if it would truly work on all humans, regardless of age or gender or other traits.” “Really? I tested the potion too, in my own way.” The medal-wearing pony informed Richard as the bartender came out with a large barrel of his ale, now mixed with the special little potion that would add a new “kick”. “I worked on it for some time. You wouldn’t believe what I did with it. It can change your life, y’know?” “Yes. Say, didn’t catch your name…” Richard remarked as he took a swig from a poured glass of the special ale. “You can call me the Chariot. I strike hard and I strike fast.” He informed Richard, putting down a copy of the Bible in front of the unicorn as Richard opened it up, his mind beginning to feel…tingly. A sudden realization hitting him as he opened the book, seeing the “surprise” within, noticing a few other ponies in the room had similar books and were giving him a look and a small, knowing nod. Those sons of bitches. Those disgusting, deceitful pony bastards. “Holy hell…” Richard growled, putting the cover back on before the other, non-former-human ponies could see, Chariot smiling back at him. “However did you get hold of this? You don’t even look old enough to have one, you need to be at least sixteen!” “Well, and as the good book says, “Children are as arrows in the hands of a warrior.” Chariot cheerily intoned as he hopped off his seat and headed out the door, Richard turning, clutching the hollowed-out book in his hand and nodding at the other former humans in the bar who also had such books. They focused their will. And a few minutes and surprised shouts of horror later, the entire bar was lit up with the satisfying cracks and bangs of gunfire, the Chariot picking up a newspaper from a nearby, stunned pony on the corner, looking it over and shaking his head as he sauntered down the sidewalk. “Celestia’s dream is coming to an end.” He wistfully sighed. “And her nightmare is just beginning.”
The Dream BeginsAuthor's Note For those wondering, the name "Oneiro" is word based off the Greek term "ὄνειρος" or "óneiros", and of course, it means "Dream". There's heavy symbolism to be found in Dreams, and there will be much on display throughout this story, alluding to the terror that awaits the poor inhabitants of this orphanage. But above all, remember this: do not be afraid to leave feedback to this story. I've never really done a Conversion Bureau tale before, and if I don't get feedback, I'll never know what to add more of or what to take out to better improve my work. Hopefully though, you'll find something to enjoy about this story. Sweet dreams... The Dream Begins The clock tower estate of Oneiro had stood high on the hilltop for time immemorial, as long as the townsfolk could remember. The people in Ajax, Utah felt they’d feared it longer still. Something about that hill was unsettling and wrong. Maybe it was how isolated it was from the rest of the rolling plains of Utah that the city had been built on. Maybe it was the ugly natural path that twisted and turned like a snake as it led up to the top past long-dead rows of flowers. Maybe it was how every time you climbed up to the top of the hill, the wind would always, always bite at the back of your neck as if trying to sever your very head from its shoulders. The estate built by the late William Ajax had been set up there to keep an eye on his once-great investment. The town had housed one of the greatest and largest department stores in the West, and Ajax had been able to create a fine little mansion with a tall clock tower at its core from the proceeds. This wasn’t a normal department store…all of it had been underground for easy access to the miners that lived there. It had worked great for decades until the mines evidently just ran dry. Now the place was primarily a ghost town…folks only really stayed because they felt there wasn’t anywhere else they could really go. Now they were beginning to think their decision was slightly wiser ever since the alien continent of Equestria itself had arrived at Earth, and the barrier had begun to expand. This magical barrier transfigured and transformed all it touched, a barrier that humans couldn’t survive past. The only way to get through this barrier that was engulfing the world was to turn into one of the native inhabitants of Equestria…to become a pony and take a special potion. Hence the need for Conversion Bureaus all across the globe, the Solar Regent Celestia had informed the world’s leaders. This was the solution. The only problem being that when you turned, your mind didn’t remain the same, your soul, your spirit, your heart wasn’t your own. It seemed to be a violation of people’s very being to force them to take the potion, yet that was what the “eternally compassionate” Celestia was advocating. Now people just wanted to stay away from the barrier until something was done about it. The problem was that the few rumors that suggested others were fighting back and finding solutions were rare…and what kind of solution would be able to make right what had been made so terribly wrong? It was getting to a point where absolute despair was gripping the world. Where people would take any chance they have of escape. And the townsfolk of Ajax knew that the pony who’d bought the abandoned estate of Oneiro was sympathetic to humans. In fact, he’d turned the place into a unique orphanage for any child who was lost… But not all who wander are lost. It happened on a lonely September night… BANG! BANG! BANG! The human banged as hard as he could on the door to the dark grey estate, a single candle lit in a circular window to his right suddenly going out. Surely somebody had to be inside. “OPEN THE DOOR! Please! Open the door!” He yelled out, his voice cracked and hoarse, his face pale and gaunt as he struggled to stay standing. “Please…open…the-” Mercifully, his pleas were answered as the solid oak doors opened up and he stepped back, a pony with beautiful fur staring up at him, blue hair falling down around his face as the colt gave him a gentle smile. “Are you alright?” He softly inquired, looking the human over. His clothes were old and worn, and he smelled as if he’d been without a bath for weeks, the human’s panting, heaving breaths combined with his poor frame indicating he’d not eaten in some time. “I-I need…I’m so hungry and…and I don’t have anywhere else to go.” The human muttered out, cringing as he wrapped his arms around his chest, the wind digging deep into him as the sympathetic stallion quickly let him inside, closing the door and cutting off the cold. The human’s deep green eyes glanced around his new surroundings, taking in the warm, cozy atmosphere that now greeted him, seeing several human women sitting by a table off in a hall across the way, sipping what appeared to be hot chocolate and eating sugar-covered Pizzelle. “My new favorite Earth food.” The Earth pony admitted, his fur the color of the sky as the sun began to set in the evening, giving the human a bow as he gestured at the table, and a spare chair. The other humans all waved him over with cheery expressions, the human barreling towards the pizzelle, stuffing one into his mouth, almost coughing from the sugar intake but getting the tasty treat down with a few swallows. “It’s just so delightful, isn’t it? And I love hand-crafting the little designs I make in the pizzelle so they can hold more sugar in them like little trenches.” The pony added, trotting over to the table and pointing down at one, weaving a hoof about. The paintings on the soft brown walls were slightly faded, but the beautiful imagery still shone through. There was heavy symbolism in them all, one showed Jesus transforming water into wine, another displayed the Beast’s majestic transfiguration into a man, a third was of a purple-furred pony suddenly gaining wings. Each of them seemed to emphasis a very positive change, and there was a sense of wonder and optimism that blazed out as brightly as a torch from each one. The floors were covered in soft velvet with curtains over the windows to match, and every chair had hand-stitched pillows of different shades of blue, to match the deep blue tables the newcomer was now eating from. “Th-they’re very good.” The human managed to get out, taking in a few deep breaths before he finally sat down and began nibbling on another one, rather than simply stuffing it into his mouth so he could speak more easily to his benefactor. “I’m-I’m very sorry for intruding on you, but…I’ve been lost for weeks. I can’t remember my name, all I’ve got are the clothes on my back and I’ve been eating garbage out of people’s trash cans for so long.” “Well, my name is Shinedown Tulamoon Mare.” Shinedown informed the human, putting a hoof on his chest, over the silver medallion that held the cloak he wore together as it glimmered brightly in the light of the many beautiful candles atop the room’s golden chandelier. “This is Oneiro, an estate I bought several years ago which I’ve converted into an orphanage.” “It’s, well…really much nicer on the inside than I thought.” The human murmured as he glanced about, looking down at the pale blue plates the pizzelle laid on. “You seem to like the color blue quite a bit.” “Oh, I LOVE the color blue, it’s a very divine color.” Shinedown remarked. “It’s representative of two things which seem to stretch on forever: the sky and the sea. Not to mention there’s so few blue animals in your world outside of the occasional bird or fish, so blue is a special color.” “Mister Mare loves to brag about Oneiro, sir.” The long, brown-haired girl in a deep brown, green dress admitted, twirling a lock of hair in one finger before putting some of the hair in her mouth, chewing on it. “So I’d better stop him before he goes on a tangent. I’m Anna.” She said with a nervous smile, soft blue eyes twinkling. “The iceberg over there is Roxy.” “Because she isn’t smiling?” The newcomer asked, the blackhaired beauty nonchalantly giving him a look up from the crossword she was doing, one leg crossed over itself revealing faded jeans and deep, piercing brown eyes behind the fringe of hair that fell over her forehead. “I don’t have much to smile about. The Ajax Herald’s Crossword Puzzle is a bucket of balls and it always keeps me up at night trying to figure out what a six letter word for psychopath is.” “Maniac?” The newcomer suggested, Roxy raising an eyebrow up and scribbling it into the crossword. “I’ll be damned, it fits.” She mused aloud. “Roxy doesn’t warm up easily, buddy. Don’t take it personally. I’m Lori.” The blonde of the group cheerily remarked, extending a slender hand that the newcomer took, looking her over. She had a slightly plain face, but quite dazzling wavy blonde hair and a very, very nice smile. Lori was the best-dressed of them all, wearing a sky-blue polo blouse which had a matching vertically-pleated skirt and high heels. She shook the newcomer’s hand and gave him a cheery bow of her head. “Been here for 8 months. Mr. Shinedown’s really nice.” “Yeah, and his cooking is incredible!” The last of the young women there remarked, biting into a pizzelle and waving the sugar-coated treat in the air, her mouth stuffed up like a squirrel as she brushed some long, thick locks of reddish/brown hair out of the way. She had a plain tanned dress and shirt for her attire, with a little pocket on the front of her shirt which had a tiny, cute little cross medal stuck to it, which read “Catechist” in golden lettering. “That’s an…interesting medal.” The newcomer admitted as he reached into the dark brown jacket he wore, taking out a small medal of his own. It resembled a chariot made of silver, twinkling in the light of the hall as he looked at Shinedown’s expression. The earth pony gazed at the chariot with an odd amount of interest as if transfixed. “I’ve had this the whole time. I THINK my parents might have given me this, it seems important…” “My mom was all I had and when she died a few years back this was all I had left of her. I had to sell everything else.” The lass with the cross medal quietly admitted, her tone going from cheery to solemn and subdued, her faint Irish accent almost barely audible in her sorrow as she hung her head. “I still couldn’t pay the bills. If only ma hadn’t died with so much debt...” “Luckily Tori here was welcome to stay in my orphanage. All those without parents are welcome, regardless of their age.” Shinedown insisted. “I had to grow up without my parents because of my blood.” He admitted quietly, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m, uh…I’m an Inkblood.” “A what?” The newcomer asked. “He’s part Changeling.” Roxy spoke up with a slight snort. “Those ponies who look all buggy and can change their appearance. So I’m guessing all of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names.” “Yes, they never let me join in any of their games. Being picked on for so long, you get both very compassionate…and very angry.” Shinedown muttered darkly. “I found a way to channel both!” He added with a slight sigh, hanging his head a little. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you’d like, ah…” He looked the newcomer over, tilting his head slightly to the side. “I’m sorry, you’re positive you don’t remember anything of your past life? Not even your name?” “No, I…I don’t.” The newcomer sighed as he looked down at the medal in his hand. “I’ve got it!” He remarked, snapping his fingers. “Call me “Chariot”. It sounds impressive and important and mysterious.” “Then welcome to Oneiro!” Shinedown proclaimed with a dramatic flourish and a sweep of his cape, laughing happily as he took Chariot’s hand and shook it with zeal. “You realize what this means, right girls? What he’ll get to be?” Roxy sighed. “I’m not singing it.” “Party-pooper.” Anna remarked, hopping up and whistling a few notes before the other girls rose up, and began to harmonize. “Be…our…guest, be our guest!” The Chariot smiled. Somehow, he felt he was going to like it here. … … … …He didn’t know how long he’d been here, but he knew something wasn’t right when he realized he couldn’t quite feel his arms and legs. He had struggled desperately to try and move from wherever he was, but he was trapped, stuck on the cold steely table he’d somehow been strapped to, and utter darkness was clouding his vision. A soft miasma of pale red light began to creep into the room from just beyond his vision as he squinted through the inky blackness, trying to figure out what was approaching him. Why was everything so hazy and blurry, what had his host slipped into- He suddenly realized who it was and struggled to speak, mouth opening yet no words coming forth as his host gently patted him atop the head, holding his torch high with the other appendage as he looked mournfully down at him. “I’m going to need you to be brave.” He softly informed the young man, putting the torch on the wall as he drew a small needle from off a nearby table. “Wh…why can’t I move?” The human finally whispered aloud. A sad, quiet sigh. “You’re dead, that’s why.” “No. No, I’m not dead.” “Yes.” His host insisted, his eyes beginning to turn black, his tone becoming softer…sweeter…sliding fluidly into his ears like water being poured. “Yes, you are. Why else would you be here?” “I’m alive. I’M ALIVE.” “You’ve been dead for three days.” His host cooed, piercing green gazing back into the young man’s eyes, the human trying to speak yet unable to find the words. “Now just relax. Try to think of the needle as your friend. You aren’t going to feel a thing.” He tried to scream. The words wouldn’t come. His body was revolting against him as the needle slid smoothly into his skin and deep into his heart, those same piercing green eyes blazing back at him, that horrifying, tender little smile on his host’s face as he felt the fire spread. It surged from his heart, rising up from his chest and sweeping through his body as he finally looked down, seeing what had become of his legs… And he started to scream.
The Nightmare Sets inAuthor's Note As always, please leave feedback on what you'd like me to change, what you enjoyed, etc, etc. I'll never improve without it. But keep in mind, I'm trying to create an atmosphere, build up on the mystery and horror, so please forgive me for this somewhat slow start. But I can't just give away everything in the first couple of chapters. So if your complaint is "how does this connect to the Conversion Bureau itself outside of evidently taking place in the same universe", well...you'll see. Just be patient. The Nightmare Sets in “And in other news, the barrier continued to expand another mile today…” CLICK! “Complete ponification of the entire city of Glasgow-” CLICK! “Examination of the land beyond the barrier proven impossible, every manmade drone has been eradicated-” CLICK! Chariot cringed as Roxy put the television remote down, sitting back in the plushy blue couch of the estate’s living room, the fringe-haired woman sitting next to him whilst, Tori, Anna and Lori all laid on various chairs. Each of them glanced slowly at each other, a nervous expression on their faces, the Chariot blinking stupidly as he turned to Roxy’s darkened, solemn face. “The…barrier. It’s transforming the Earth and it keeps advancing?” Why doesn’t this “Princess Celestia” turn it off or something?” “She says she can’t and the only way us humans can survive is turning into a pony.” Roxy mumbled. “…a perfect pony.” Shinedown had begun trotting into the room, holding aloft a tray of scones when he saw their expressions and the final channel they’d turned to, which was a documentary on how the ponification potions worked. He turned a pale, almost icy blue color, Chariot seeing his body tremble. Yet…something about his eyes seemed to give away a different emotion than his body was showing. The paleness didn’t seem to come from fear or horror but…pure, unadulterated rage. “I’m…sorry you have to see such things.” He murmured as he put the tray down on the table in the center of the living room, beneath yet another beautiful golden chandelier that hung high above their heads, crystal shining brightly in every candle holder it had. Their host’s blue hair flopped down as he sighed, shaking his head back and forth as Chariot took one of the scones Shinedown offered and nibbled on the edge. “It makes me ashamed to be a pony. When I first learned of it, I wanted to try and stop it.” The Earth pony admitted to Chariot, removing the cloak from his body… Chariot almost vomited. The Earth pony’s form had horrific scarring and burn marks all over his back, his tail almost burnt away completely. “There’s a reason why only unicorns and alicorns do magic. When others attempt it through alternative methods, it…doesn’t end well. I couldn’t find a way to stop the barrier.” “So you’re trying to atone for species guilt through individual action?” Chariot asked, Shinedown flinching. It hurt because it was true, and he gave a small, quiet little nod. “Look, I’m not going to hold what the barrier is doing against you. You’ve been nothing but nice to me.” The Earth pony’s head rose back up and he smiled slightly, putting his cloak back on and giving Chariot a deep, respectful bow as Anna knelt down by him and began scratching the space behind his ears, making him murr. “OHHHH. Yessss. That’s the stuff.” He murred out as Roxy glowered at an image of Celestia on display on the television screen. “Ugh. I almost miss Nightmare Moon and King Sombra when I think of what SHE’S done.” Shinedown said, not even the scratching making the scowl on his face go away. Chariot tilted his head to the side, confused. “Nightmare…wait, who?” “Both of them were ponies who did terrible, awful things back in Equestria. Kind of disprove the whole “Ponies are perfect” idea Celestia loves to espouse. And Sombra above all, he…” Shinedown cringed. “He had this ability to make people see things that weren’t real. Get inside their mind, a kind of…mesmerism. It was called the “Sanguine Condition”, an example of his willpower utterly dominating others and altering reality itself.” “That sounds horrifying.” Lori admitted with a shudder. “What happened to him?” “Celestia actually killed him when he tried to return. I suppose she didn’t like anybody reminding her of what she was doing…stripping people’s wills away.” Shinedown muttered balefully. “He needed a castle and crystals to do his work…all she needed was a potion.” “She is SUCH a bitch. I hate it when “Der Fuhrer” does an interview and people actually swallow the tripe she feeds them.” She mumbled angrily, Tori getting an idea as she began to giggle. “What is it, lunchbox?” Roxy wanted to know, tilting her head slightly to the side, her brown eyes gazing intensely at the redhead. “When der fuhrer says “We is the master race”, we heil!” “PHBBTT!” Anna and Lori sticking their hands in their mouth in a fake salute as they gave raspberries, Roxy rolling her eyes slightly before she too joined in. “Heil!” “PHBBTT!” “In der fuhrer’s face!” “You’re awfully upbeat, aren’t you?” Chariot admitted to Tori. “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and you feel fine.” “We’ve got good friends to look out for us.” She said as Anna scratched behind Shinedown’s ears again, making him stomp a hoof on the ground in quick, rapid succession. “Ohhhhh yes, right there, right there, ohhh that’s the stuff…” He murmured. Roxy “hmphed” before turning to Chariot, giving the dark-haired human a nod, brown eyes staring into deepest green. “It’s good to have another guy around, the place is a total clambake since Dan and Edward left.” “Yes, they decided to take their chances and just left in the middle of the night. Along with my silverware.” Shinedown sighed quietly as he walked over to a nearby cupboard in the living room, opening it up, revealing only a single china plate left over. “In times of trouble, I suppose everyone becomes desperate and begins doing things they’d normally never do. Not that my own race doesn’t do that. My Changeling ancestors were all about “doing what they had to” to survive.” He chuckled wryly. “That worked out so well for them.” “I can’t believe how goddamn hypocritical ponies are to talk about how unharmonious HUMANS are when they treat Changeling-blooded ponies like yourself so rotten just because of who your great grandfather had sex with.” Lori remarked, sticking out her tongue in disgust. “They got some freakin’ nerve.” “Ah, you get used to it. Kind of have to. I’m going to be in my room, I’ve got an awful headache and I need to go lie down.” Shinedown remarked, the crack of thunder piercing through the air outside, storm clouds beginning to roll in as the Earth pony “hmmed”. “Looks like a storm’s coming. Best batten down the hatches, everyone should close all the windows and the doors in the estate.” “Nose goes for the clock tower!” Tori cried out, putting a finger to her nose as Lori, Roxy and Anna all put a finger to their nose, Chariot realizing he had now been “volunteered” to go to the clock tower section of the estate to close its enormous windows and to fully lock up ITS doors. He sighed, shrugging slightly as he stood up, making for the doorway, another KRA-KRAK of lightning echoing outside before- THWOOMP. All the lights went out. Shinedown groaned. “Phooey. The generator must have gone. I’ll go take care of it…” He said, trotting towards the exit himself as all the girls scattered, each of them making for a different part of Oneiro as the wind began to batter the mansion, thudding hard against its walls as if desperately trying to get inside… … … … …he couldn’t feel his arms. Why couldn’t he feel his arms? He struggled to get out from the table he’d been strapped to, hearing a faint dripping noise echoing through the dark expanse that surrounded him. He grunted and heaved, trying to get out but… That damn dripping. What was it? Where was it coming from? It sounded close by. Drip. Drip. Drip. A light suddenly lit the room up and he glanced about, seeing he was in some kind of underground laboratory, odd instruments upon the walls with clamps meant to hold people up placed in strategic positions… Blood red seals in strange language drawn upon the walls, right where any prisoner’s back would be. He suddenly realized he was tied to one such wall and finally, turning his head, he could see clearly his- “OH MY GOD!” He screamed out, looking at his lack of arms. How in the…how?! How was it possible, how- “Oh, you’re awake. I’m…very sorry you have to see that. But please understand, this is necessary for a true rebirth. Not the false life that you would expect.” A voice spoke up, comforting and soothing as a familiar face entered the laboratory from the entryway across the room, holding a torch up high. He placed it in on the wall, approaching the terrified prisoner and reaching out, touching the seal behind the frightened human. “I’m so close.” “What have you done to my arms?!” The human screamed out. “Dear God, what have you done to my arms!” “It isn’t just your arms, look, you have to understand…” A sad sigh. “…would you like a mirror?” He inquired. The human paled. He knew what that meant. “…what does my face look like?” “Look, I know this is confusing. But you’re responding far better to the treatment than the others.” “Others?” Then he noticed something. Something that he hadn’t smelled before. Thick, like iron…foul, this ugly, pungent scent that wafted through the air from…a small crack in the wall across from his right. He peered towards it, eyes narrowing until he could faintly see beyond… And he saw the many, many corpses lying within. He began to scream. … … … …Lori sighed as she reached up on her tippy toes, arms stretching out and grabbing hold of the long window pane, slamming it shut as the wind howled outside. She glanced about the empty bathroom, sighing as he headed for the sink, trying to turn the knob. Phooey. The water was off too, and the entire house seemed to breathe all about her in an uncomfortable fashion as she looked about. It was if the entire thing was alive and she was trapped inside its stomach, the wind’s continuous blowing becoming a kind of thudding sensation like the beating of a heart. The crystalline candle holders on the walls were the only source of light, and they hadn’t been relit. She took out a small box of matches from the bathroom cupboard, making her way past the mirror and the bath and lighting up the candle. With a quick flick, the match lit up, illuminating the room and casting shadows on the walls that crept and slunk about like rats scurrying around. She cringed, shaking her head back and forth, trying not to get put off by the appearance of the bathroom. The window was shut, she just had to lock it and- A scream down the hall. Shinedown’s voice crying out in terror before being swiftly silenced. She glanced towards the doorway, eyes widening in surprise. What the hell?! Then she heard something click. “What in?” The bathtub faucet had suddenly turned on. Lori stiffened, turning around, seeing the faucet was now freely pouring water that was rising higher and higher, dark, oily water that appeared diseased, a sense of horror beginning to swell up in her like a balloon waiting to pop. She raced for the door, grabbing hold of the knob and turning it- Locked? How in the hell!? She’d just walked in two minutes ago, the damn thing was open and it sure as hell wasn’t- SPLASH. As she stepped away from the door, she noticed the water was now openly spilling out onto the bathroom tiles, the candle beginning to hiss as it seemed to grow in size, steam rising from the dark water that kept pouring freely. Lori took a step back, eyes widening, the blonde girl gulping as a shape began to rise from the overflowing bathtub, holding up a potion in its hooves, piercing green eyes with a deep red pupil gazing deep into her soul. “This will only hurt for a second.” The dark-furred unicorn cheerily remarked, King Sombra pouring the potion into the dark water around him, a sickening, disgusting mockery of a rainbow spreading from the water as it crept up her skin. She could feel it peeling away her flesh, muscles being torn and ligaments sizzling off, and she screamed in vain, struggling to get free as she continued to sink deeper…deeper, her eyes sloughing from their sockets to be replaced with false, glassy insults, her hands becoming hooves as she howled- Chariot gasped, kicking down the door to the bathroom, glancing left and right. He was SURE he’d heard a scream inside but… Darkness there. And nothing more.
A Neverending Nightmare?Author's Note Earlier before I'd kind of HINTED things weren't quite what they seemed and also talked somewhat about just what the Conversion Bureau was doing to Earth. Yet just like before, the real horror of what it represents, much like the real horror of Oneiro, had not fully sunken in. Now, though... And I know what you're thinking. "Okay, why isn't this character you showed popping up in the "this character is in this story" part of the story description? Why is his icon not there? Well...don't assume anything. Including that this is the real him. Or just how real ANY of this is... A Neverending Nightmare? Chariot shook his head back and forth, cringing as he hung outside the bathroom, Anna approaching him with a concerned expression on her face. “You were supposed to be at the clock tower, glad you decided not to go.” “I WAS on my way when I had to use the bathroom downstairs.” He admitted. “Then I heard the scream up here and raced up the steps but…” He trailed off, sighing as he hung his head, holding it in his hands as Anna put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a comforting smile. “Look, we’ll stick together and track down everyone else. Worse thing to do in something like this is split up, right?” She reasoned with a calm nod, Chariot nodding up firmly as he made his way down the hallway with her, darkness stretching across it like a foul quilt. He glanced at her, looking at the back of her neck and the way her hair swayed back and forth, sighing a bit. “If she was still alive, she’d be your age right now.” He inwardly thought with a sad expression coming to his features, a hesitancy in his tone as he nervously began to mumble. “Er…Anna, um…I wasn’t completely honest with all of you when I said I couldn’t remember much about my past. It’s more like bits and pieces float about in my head…” He admitted, tapping the side of his head with his finger, dark green eyes glistening in the hallway. “And more and more of the puzzle pieces have been fitting together.” “What do you remember?” Anna asked as Chariot bit his lip. “I was…part of a police force, I believe. We were supposed to investigate the Conversion Bureaus. Find out exactly how the potion works…perhaps even make a cure.” He admitted. “After all, there’s no such thing as a supervirus. There’s always going to be some people who are completely immune to a disease, or at least highly resistant, and what is the Ponification process if not a virus seeking to take over you, body and soul?” “But the dumb thing is supposed to be magic, right? How do you handle that?” Anna asked with a shrug before the clock tower began to ring. Once. Twice. Thrice. It repeated again and again, finally sounding off that it was 9o’clock in the morning, yet dark as twilight outside, the crash of lightning splitting the skies being the only source of true light for either of the two. Anna cringed a bit, Chariot shuddering as he wrapped his arms around himself. “I knew something was off about this estate. Perhaps we should simply break out and make a run for the town.” “If we can’t find the others, we’ll do that and get the cops.” Anna reasoned with a nod. “Smartest thing to do, right?” “Yes. We play it smart, we’ll be fine.” Chariot agreed, giving her a small little smile. SOME TIME EARLIER… Tori had been speaking to Shinedown as he held a small candle up, using it to light their way towards the power generator so he could attempt to turn it back on. The thing was outside in the garden, and they had to go through the library sector of the east wing to reach it. Before, the library had seemed beautiful, majestic, each towering bookshelf like a vibrant stack of rainbows displaying tomes of every tone. Yet now all of the shelves seemed to be like bars, meant to trap them where they were and keep them from escaping. “You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?” “You are?” “Um…kinda sorta?” Tori sheepishly admitted as she gave her host a nervous smile, rubbing the back of her neck with a slender hand as he apologetically smiled back. “I’m sorry this is happening.” The Earth pony admitted as he noticed a small table coming up to their right. “Oh.” He murmured, seeing the photo there…it showed a dragon with unmistakably the same exact skin color that Shinedown now had, only the Shinedown in the photo that was holding the little tyke up for the camera to take a picture of was of a greyish shade, more similar to the “Changeling” body structure. “Is that…really you?” Tori wanted to know as she picked the photograph up, examining it closely as Shinedown sighed and nodded his head. “That’s Sunset. He was a very dear friend of mine. My sister, she…she was supposed to hatch him from an egg to pass her final exam in school, but she had no use for a baby dragon so she gave him to me.” The Earth pony sounded as though he was on the verge of tears, his voice a faint, tragic whisper. “He became sick about five years after that, I…I took on his color scheme to honor him whilst I did research on a cure.” “You couldn’t find one? I’m-I’m so sorry.” Tori apologized, looking down at her host as his expression became…faintly angry for a moment before he bit his lip, then spoke carefully, deliberately. “No. Celestia had a cure. The same “cure” she used for humans. The ponification potion. Everyone…heh. Heh-heh-heh.” He began to chuckle, but it was a sad, almost “I give up” kind of laugh. “At first, everyone is just so…SOOOOO happy to see the potion work. To have it give them limbs they might have lost. To see the cancer that they’d had fade away. To get wings or a horn, and sure, it stings a bit at first but it’s a good kind of hurt, like peeling away a scab. You know it’ll feel so, so good to have it off. I watched the potion bathe over Sunset and he went from a little tyke to a fine young colt.” A slight twitch in the pony’s expression. A…darkening of his eyes as he put the candle on the floor. “He seemed a little…overly cheerful, but not even that could kill the joy I had in knowing my best friend was back.” Shinedown said, the tears now beginning to well up in his eyes. “No, that…that came when I realized he didn’t like reading mysteries anymore, and…and never got angry, never cried, the…the look in his eyes. That light, it wasn’t there. He’d have this LIGHT, this…this cute little twinkle!” The Earth pony began to say, his voice cracking, his body shaking. “You’d see it there when he talked about painting and drawing and you knew he was thinking up something wonderful to make, already painting it in his head, that…that light wasn’t there anymore. The heart was gone!” Shinedown covered his face, sinking to his knees as he began to openly sob, Tori leaning down and gently stroking his mane in careful, deliberate strokes as his whimpering cries wracked his body. She sat there, stroking her host, a look of deep sympathy on her face, Shinedown’s tears falling to the floor like the rain pouring down outside. “It took…it took my friend from me. And I realized something was very…VERY wrong.” Shinedown finally got out. “I swore to come to Earth and research. I promised myself to find some way to help people. No matter what it took.” “You’re a good person.” Tori insisted, patting his head before rising up. “You’ve helped me and the girls out so much these past few years, I’m sure you’ll be able to do so many more great things and make Sunset proud!” “I’d like to think that…” Shinedown murmured, heading for the doorway that would lead to the garden outside, and the power generator with it. “Here, I’d better go first, see if I can do it alone. You keep the door open and an eye out for-” Then a chandelier above broke, plummeting down into him, crashing him through the floor as his screams faded away into the inky black below… PRESENT… Roxy had run off for what was the clear and obvious choice: the tool closet in the kitchen. Quickly moving across the carpet, the fringe-haired young lady opened it up…or rather, attempted to, only to find the damn thing was stuck. She grunted, tugging as hard as she could, growling at the futility of it. “Damn it!” She yelled out, kicking the closet. “How the heck am I supposed to get a weapon to defend myself? A powertool is a girl’s best friend.” She sighed, turning to the kitchen drawers. “Guess a carving knife will have to do. If it was good enough for Michael Myers, it’ll be good enough for me.” She felt the cool texture of the knife in one hand, weighing it in her palm to make sure it was sufficiently strong, and swung it about in the air, the knife making a smooth “woosh” sound with each slice as she smirked a bit, pulling out another carving knife and sticking it into her pants, tying it around her with her belt so it didn’t cut into her side. “Heh. Any little piggy that tries to bump me off is gonna go wee-wee-wee all the way home.” “You have spunk. I hate spunk. It’s a poor man’s substitute for charm.” A voice whispered out, Roxy stiffening before glancing about, frowning. Where had that come from? She clutched the knife tightly, holding it before her as she took a few steps around the kitchen, past the counter and towards the hall. “Show yourself…” Roxy growled, eyes glancing left and right, the house breathing about her in long groans and creaks. “Spunk has to be broken. Will must be broken. To make room for the true Willpower. Mine.” Roxy suddenly heard a “THUMP” from the tool closet, turning around, eyes narrowing as she approached it. She took a few cautious steps towards it, knife held up as the faint thumping returned. It almost sounded like tiny bodies were being thrown- The doorway burst open, disgusting, ugly roaches flying out, hissing and snarling at her as she sliced and scratched at them with the knife, trying to get them to leave her alone, horrific laughter ringing through the air from the phantasm’s voice. Roxy bolted down the hall, the cockroaches chasing after her, their hissing cries rising in a terrifying crescendo as she finally made it to one of the downstairs bedrooms, slamming the door shut and locking it behind her, panting and heaving as she rested down on the nearby bed, lying down in it, looking up at the mirror hanging over her- King Sombra the Shadowlord stood there, dark mane flowing freely, green eyes glinting as he emerged from the mirror, holding the horrific potion in one hoof. “Relax, tomboy. This will only hurt for a second.” He cooed, pouring the potion down upon Roxy, and as he face began to melt away, and veins in her cheeks popped and sizzled like popcorn she screamed and SCREAMED AND SCREAMED- … … … …Anna and Chariot kept close together, moving through the halls towards the unmistakable horrified voice of Tori as they glanced about, eyeing every doorway, watching every shadow, trying to make sure it wasn’t moving, ready to reveal some horror that would leap out and strike at them. The library door was tightly closed, and Chariot knocked on it carefully, Anna giving him a small nod. So far, so good. “Tori! Victoria, are you there?” He whispered through the door, Lori’s whimpering ceasing as they heard her approach the door and knock back. “Yes, yes, oh God, I’m here, I’m here. A chandelier came down, it…it came down on Shinedown and he crashed through the floor!” “Listen. You need to get the door open and we all need to get out of this estate and get help. Oneiro isn’t safe at all.” Chariot reasoned. “Can you open up the door?” The doorknob handle turned uselessly, Tori audibly grunting behind the door, throwing her body against it with an aggravated growl. “GRRR! The stupid thing won’t open, I-I gotta get out of here, I don’t do well in the dark!” She admitted, Chariot’s face becoming sympathetic as he put a hand against the door. “Look, Tori. Calm down. Can you find something large and heavy, throw it against the door?” “I’m a 98 pound weakling so…that would be a “no”, I’m afraid.” “Damn.” Anna murmured. “Well, the library leads outside. Just run out there and head to the front of the house, we’ll make for the front door and meet you there.” She said through the doorway, Chariot shuddering as he felt a dark chill rise in him, the sound of Tori’s footsteps racing off for the exit as another set of footsteps began to fill the air. The two of them turned, seeing the heavy footfalls of armored hooves making their way down the hallway as the candles on each wall began to slowly light up as HE passed by each one. King Sombra was there, smiling pitilessly, his every step spreading a diseased, disgusting ooze of a rainbow…pure ponification potion that was reaching out to ensnare them. “Come and take your medicine like good, BIG little boys and girls.” He whispered to them, his voice deep, authoritative and powerful with a horrific persuasive edge that made them cringe, Chariot grabbing hold of Anna’s wrist and racing for the nearby doorway, opening it up and slamming it shut, locking it behind them as they made for the window, still not yet closed, and open just enough so maybe…maybe they could slip out. “Go, go, I’ll hold him off!” Chariot insisted to Anna, holding her shoulders and giving her a firm nod. She began to push herself through the opened window as the wind cut at her face, making her hair toss back and forth whilst Chariot grabbed hold of a nearby desk’s chair. He swished it back and forth, eyes narrowing intensely as the doorway burst down, King Sombra standing tall and proud, red pupils glittering as the Chariot held up his makeshift weapon. “This will only hurt for a second, little ones.” He cooed out. “Funny, I was going to say the same to YOU!” Chariot roared, launching himself at Sombra as Anna wriggled out of the window, landing on the grass below and racing towards the front of the estate, intent on finding Tori… A crack of lightning split the sky, she shielded her eyes from it’s light- And remembered nothing else.
AwakeningTori had decided to make a run for the town. She was determined to get to the cops, the wind striking her face with rock-hard zephyrs that felt as if a giant hand was trying to shove her away from Ajax, Utah. She continued to trek down the hill, grunting slightly as she fought against the wind, her brown/red hair flapping about as she kept moving. She was only a few minutes away from the town, she’d be fine if she could just- Something wasn’t right. She stiffened as she hid behind a nearby tree, the wind’s force lighting up as she peered down towards the near-ghost-town that was Ajax. You might not have picked up on it at first until you really, really looked closely: There was nobody on the streets but ponies. All of them too…cheery-looking. Smiling unnaturally, with big, soulless eyes and peppy little smiles and without a single “Cutie Mark” on their side to indicate their talents. Something clearly wasn’t right here, and Tori wanted to know what. She slunk along the hill, out of sight of the ponies on the streets as she slipped down towards a nearby grocery, crunching down by its window, back to the wall. She listened in as lightning split the sky, one of the ponies within going to the window and staring out at the estate of Oneiro in the distance, its gigantic clock tower ringing loudly as Tori kept crouching, able to see the pony, yet him not able to see her. “I think lightning might have struck the estate.” The pony admitted, its voice oddly familiar. “…oh my.” It murmured, shaking its head back and forth. “That’s a surprise.” “You think Shinedown’s finished with his work up there, Edward? He keeps saying he can make the potion even better.” Tori heard the storekeeper within remark. Wait. Edward? Tori’s eyes bulged wider than dinner plates as she clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a gasp of shock and horror. No wonder his voice sounded familiar, that was Edward! One of the many boys who’d gone missing! They’d had at least six before Roxy had moved in with them and the number had dwindled to two, and then Dan and Edward had just vanished one day, supposedly stealing the silverware! “Don’t know how he can improve perfection. And speaking of, I just looooove being a pony now!” The pony at the window cheerily intoned, turning away from the window and walking back into the store. “Princess Celestia sure was clever to set up secret conversion bureaus in towns like this. These humans are just so unpleasant, they don’t fight fair. So if they want to be sneaky about how they fight us, we can do the same.” Tori’s blood turned to icewater in her veins. Oh no. Oh noooo. The entire town had been turned into a secret conversion bureau? And Shinedown was in on it? How? Why- The Orphanage. Of course. He’d taken in the unwanted children of the town and converted them. The boys had been changed into ponies and then sent out into the town to ponify it. And he’d been intending to do the same to all of them! She felt hot, bitter tears spring to her eyes as she wiped them away on her sleeve, gritting her teeth as she looked into the store window. Yes. Rifles still on the wall. Bullets in the back. All untouched compared to the dried goods and candy. She just had to get in and get ahold of it, take care of the psychopathic unicorn that had been threatening her friends in the estate. It wouldn’t be too hard to get inside, the store did have a back entrance. She grabbed a fallen brick off the ground, making for the doorway, enjoying the feel of the slightly-cracked brick in her hands as she opened up the store’s back door and snuck in, Edward leaving as the store owner knelt down behind the counter, picking up a small safety deposit box. Tori held the brick high and slammed it down on the unicorn, catching it off guard as a horrific KRUNCHA-KRAK sound filled the air, blood splattering on her dress like a Jackson Pollock painting, the pony crashing to the floor. Now for the rifle. SOME TIME LATER… Chariot slowly opened his eyes, Shinedown patting his cheek with a hoof, the human strapped to some kind of table, everything blurry and dark as the earth pony’s eyes blazed with triumph. “Oh, its wonderful! Just wonderful! You’ve no idea how long I’ve been trying to make this right.” He informed the human, trotting back and spreading a hoof at a nearby countertop for Chariot to examine as his vision began to return to normal. Several rainbow-colored potions laid atop the table, glimmering brightly with a faint green outline shimmering about them. “What…the hell did you do?” Chariot murmured as Shinedown pulled out something from the folds of his cloak, Chariot realizing it was one of the many crystalline candle holders the estate of Oneiro had. “What is that?” “This is one of many crystals that King Sombra himself used to help amplify his willpower…make others see what he wanted. I’ve put them in this entire estate to craft the perfect testing grounds for my theory. The idea I could utterly exert my will over others if they were in a state of fear and terror, and thus be easy to dominate and capture. With you, I had to use direct force, unfortunately…” He sighed, hanging his head and shaking it back and forth. “I had to essentially break every child I brought here down, ravage their minds, make them empty to replace their will, in essence, with my own. But that was the only way it could work. Human willpower alone won’t cut it, it needs a catalyst of pony will to resist.” “Resist what?” Shinedown stopped then, turning, eyes narrowing slightly as he looked upward. “…I think we’re about to get a guest soon.” He remarked. “Tori appears to on her way.” He cringed. “You’ll have to get her to stop.” “Why should I? It sounds like you’ve been torturing people!” Chariot snarled angrily. “To bring them back from ponification.” Chariot blinked in surprise, mouth hanging slightly open. “…wh…what?” He asked, eyes widening as Shinedown put the crystal away and headed over to the countertop with the potions, picking one up. “I wasn’t able to stop the barrier. Those experiments failed. But when I was with my ponified partner and we were watching a film, an idea came to me. Within the film, there…there was a boy. A boy who WILLED himself out of this place called the “Matrix” to awaken in the real world, and an idea struck me. Could it be possible to have a ponified being will themselves back to normal?” Shinedown paced back and forth, his tone hurried, conspiratorial, yet excited. “The idea fascinated me. I tested it on ponified human after ponified human, trying to use spells to get them to retain enough of their humanity to will themselves back, to force their bodies to reject the potion. The problem is that though there are a portion of humans in this world who truly are immune to the potion, like yourself, well…you still need one thing more. A little “hair of the dog that bit you”. Willpower from a pony to help override the potion. It’s taken me years, but I finally found someone who was not only naturally resistant to the potion, but who has survived the process! Mainained their soul!” He held up a mirror from the folds of his cloak up to Chariot’s face. “Look!” He insisted. “You’re a pony, but your mind! Your mind is human, you’re free!” He proclaimed, Chariot gasping at the sight looking back at him. Big eyes…a muzzle, green hair and dark black fur…yes, he was a pony, a pegasus, in fact, with quite lovely wings. “All you need do is take that last step. While you were unconscious, I used the seal you’re lying on, the old magic, to place my will into you the same way I used seal magic to try and get humans to retain their own will. I’ve given you a hoof…take it and lift yourself up.” Chariot could see the blood red seal written on the table behind him, odd, shimmering letters sparkling in the light of the hidden laboratory room and he cringed, an angry glint coming to his eye. Damn it, he was sick of this, he was human, not a goddamn- And like that, his body shifted back to normal. His hooves became hands. His legs and arms became longer. His face was…well, a face! A normal, human face. Still had green hair, but that wasn’t an issue, not really. Not anymore. “It works! Complete success!” Shinedown proclaimed, tears of joy brimming in his eyes. “With your help, you can help me create a replacement potion that I can substitute for the one the Conversion bureau has been disseminating. All the ponified humans will have a chance to turn back! And best of all, it will allow you to go through the barrier!” Shinedown clapped his hooves together, happily grinning. “The barrier will recognize you as being ponified at one point, and it will be fooled into thinking you still are! It’s the perfect weapon to fight the solar tyrant! All we need is to sample your spirit with another seal, apply it to the potions I’ve got here-” He remarked as he gestured at the potions behind him before noticing something wasn’t quite right. Why wasn’t the human’s hair turning back to dark brown? And…and why was the human’s eyes so…unnaturally green now, with such piercing, black pupils? They almost appeared reptilian as they gazed down at him, and Chariot now spoke with a voice that was quite different than Shinedown had heard before. “We had a feeling this was what was going on. That you were somehow experimenting on humans up here. We weren’t sure why, but the fact you were trying to create a cure to ponification just saved your life.” The being said, its voice powerful and mighty as it folded its arms over its chest. “I’m one of many who observe worlds, Shinedown T. Mare, part of a multidimensional society of do-gooders who go from realm to realm, righting what’s been made wrong.” Shinedown turned pale as a sheet as the human smirked. “My “title” is Chariot. Chariot of the Major Arcana. That I wasn’t lying about.” “Wh…what’re you…wait, what do you want?” Shinedown murmured, eyes widening as he took a few steps back. The way the Chariot was looking at him was unnerving, like he was a hunk of meat. “Look, let us just talk this over-” “Your potion will do a great deal of good. But you have to be punished for what you’ve done. Innocent people have suffered to get this cure.” Chariot held a hand up, dark, pulsating energy rippling around it. “…our boss, she doesn’t believe in “getting even”. Doesn’t believe in revenge. She’s a nice girl. And normally I don’t either. But nothing about my life has been “normal” for quite a while, so…” He grinned like some sick, demonic thing that God had stuck under a rock and tried to forget. “Just relax. Because this will only hurt for a second.” … … … …Tori placed the rifle down on the grass, gently turning Lori’s body over as the tears flowed freely down. Lori’s form was charred and smoking, the lightning bolt had hit hard and she’d probably had no idea how close she’d been to freedom. The redhead struggled not to cry, but after everything she’d seen and had been done to her and her friends, all of it was just too much, and she clung tightly to the charred remains of her dear friend. She held Lori’s form for what seemed to be many hours before the wind finally eased up, allowing her to hear the creaking of the front door, Chariot stepping out in a lovely black jacket with a deep green scarf and gloves, his hair also a brilliant shade of green as he knelt by Tori, holding her cheek. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get out here in time.” He apologized, Tori looking deep into his green eyes as he smiled tenderly back. “But I’ve got a potion here that will help turn the people of this town back to normal.” He offered, pulling out a small bottle from the folds of his jacket, Tori gasping at the shimmering, greenish potion he now had in his gloved hand. “We can make sure all this suffering wasn’t in vain.” “How did you…what…” Tori murmured as Chariot smiled more broadly. “It was what Shinedown was working on. A potion to reverse pontification through willpower alone. It required somebody like me, evidently my spirit has a resistance towards such things, to add in the last ingredient it needed to work, but…it will work. We just introduce this into the town’s water supply, and it’ll be cured. Then we get this to the world’s governments and we can begin fighting back by mass-replication of these things.” “He did all that he did…just to make this?” “He needed test subjects. Probably should have just asked, but…then again, considering how everyone here is so frightened of the potion, you probably would have just said “no” anyhow.” “And put a bullet in his head.” Tori admitted with a sigh. “Getting ponified is usually a death sentence. Now it won’t have to be.” She added, finally feeling a smile coming to her face. “For the first time in a long night, I’m…feeling pretty damn good.” “The work’s just begun.” Chariot insisted as he put away the potion and extended his hand. “…let me reintroduce myself. Call me “Drake”.” MEANWHILE… He finished adding the wrappings to his arms and legs. With those combined with the one atop his forehead, they’d be a constant reminder of the new duty he had. He felt the medal around his neck, the emblem of the Chariot burned into it as he then wrapped the belt around his waist, looking himself over in the mirror. Nobody in Equestria would know of the ancient magic he now had had forcibly sealed onto him. His punishment. His cross to bear. Good intentions or not, he’d gone too far, and now would have to make amends for all he’d done as he struck back at the Solar Tyrant. Luckily, nobody would recognize him now. His fur was now dark, a charcoal black, and if you looked closely, you could faintly see the words written ever-so-faintly into the wrappings he’d placed upon himself. Written in ancient symbols, the old magic had been deeply tied to him. The seals he’d used were now one with him. He exited the estate, seeing the two humans making off for the town as he stood at the front door, sighing slightly before turning around and closing it, placing a hoof upon the doorway. He willed the seal to appear, a powerful greenish/blue blaze lighting up the doorway as a mighty crest was burnt into the door. Now nobody would ever get inside again. The damn place deserved to rot away with the annals of time. Bringing the hood up over his head, he trotted off for the east. It would take some time to get to the barrier and to Equestria, but he’d make it. The work had just begun, after all. And the new Chariot of the “Major Arcana” was ready to ride, to strike back at humanity’s greatest enemy and to reclaim the Earth. … … … … “There’s no WAY that happened.” The ponies in the bar in Canterlot shook their head back and forth, looking over a newspaper that one orange-colored pony was reading, his white hair hanging low over the paper as the others crowded around him. The front page was clear: humans had re-transformed, going from pony to human before Celestia’s eyes, and it had shook the ponies of Equestria to the core. How, in the name of everything harmonious, was that possible? “She saw it with her own eyes, though. Must be true.” The white-haired pony remarked with a calm expression, handing the newspaper to the blue-furred Pegasus near him, seeing a cloaked and hooded pony with an odd medal around his neck looking over in his direction, head tilted slightly to the side before he walked over. “Bartender…” The pony said, pulling out a small bag of bits and handing them to the bartender with a small smile beneath the hood. “I’m thinking we should cheer these poor, unfortunate souls up. A little bit of my special martini mixed with your finest ale would do wonders.” He remarked, holding up a green vial and giving it to the bartender. “Mix that in with a barrel of your best and it’ll give everyone the kick of confidence they need.” “I dunno, I don’t much like martini-” The cloaked pony gave him another small bag of bits, the bartender cheerily taking the vial and heading for the back room as the hooded earth pony lowered his hood and tenderly smiled at the whire-haired unicorn next to him. “You used to be human, right?” “Oh. You can tell? I was not aware.” “Well for one, you’re a blank flank even though you’re older than me, and two, there’s always a certain “quality” surrounding new converts.” The medal-wearing pony admitted, shaking the converted pony’s hoof. “Its true, my name was Richard Dawkins in the old world. I took the potion for, ah, scientific curiosity’s sake. I’d been testing it for quite some time, wanted to see its full effects and if it would truly work on all humans, regardless of age or gender or other traits.” “Really? I tested the potion too, in my own way.” The medal-wearing pony informed Richard as the bartender came out with a large barrel of his ale, now mixed with the special little potion that would add a new “kick”. “I worked on it for some time. You wouldn’t believe what I did with it. It can change your life, y’know?” “Yes. Say, didn’t catch your name…” Richard remarked as he took a swig from a poured glass of the special ale. “You can call me the Chariot. I strike hard and I strike fast.” He informed Richard, putting down a copy of the Bible in front of the unicorn as Richard opened it up, his mind beginning to feel…tingly. A sudden realization hitting him as he opened the book, seeing the “surprise” within, noticing a few other ponies in the room had similar books and were giving him a look and a small, knowing nod. Those sons of bitches. Those disgusting, deceitful pony bastards. “Holy hell…” Richard growled, putting the cover back on before the other, non-former-human ponies could see, Chariot smiling back at him. “However did you get hold of this? You don’t even look old enough to have one, you need to be at least sixteen!” “Well, and as the good book says, “Children are as arrows in the hands of a warrior.” Chariot cheerily intoned as he hopped off his seat and headed out the door, Richard turning, clutching the hollowed-out book in his hand and nodding at the other former humans in the bar who also had such books. They focused their will. And a few minutes and surprised shouts of horror later, the entire bar was lit up with the satisfying cracks and bangs of gunfire, the Chariot picking up a newspaper from a nearby, stunned pony on the corner, looking it over and shaking his head as he sauntered down the sidewalk. “Celestia’s dream is coming to an end.” He wistfully sighed. “And her nightmare is just beginning.”
