☣☣☣Jacob☣☣☣

I just finished putting the hood of my costume back up as I stepped onto the sidewalk of the comic-con entrance. I am currently going as the iconic Alex Mercer for this con and honestly the only hard part of this costume was the leather jacket itself.

I looked around and smiled at the familiar hustle and bustle of people as they went about their business. I pulled out my pre-bought ticket and headed on in. When I got in I noticed how packed it was and decided to not fight the crowd just yet. Getting into the flow of people I meandered about the con talking to a few familiar faces, browsing wares, being complimented on my costume, and eventually I quickly found myself growing a bit tired.

Deciding to take a small break I sat down at a dining area to eat a few snacks. As I finished up a bag of chips and a soft drink I looked up to find a man dressed as the Merchant from Resident Evil four. The man was flagging me down, and despite the growing unease I had when I was looking at the strange man I decided to put aside my better judgement and go see what he wanted.

When I got to him, the strange man asked, "Hello Stranger, I think I might have something in my shop that'll interest you."

It was a perfect replication of the Merchant's voice. I felt a bit of respect for the man, he played his role perfectly after all.

Deciding to humor the Merchant I said, "Alright then sir, you got my interest. Lead the way." The last three words were said with a flourish of my hands.

The Merchant cracked an unseen smile. "Follow me then."

We walked through one of the hallways until we got to a stall that seemed a bit out of the way. I felt it was a bit strange that the man just left his wares out on the table where anyone could take them. But the man didn't seem to think that anything was missing so I just brushed it off.

The Merchant reached down behind his table and seemed to carefully pull out a vial. He held it out to me so I could observe it. I noticed that whatever was inside of the vial was red and that there was a label on the side of it clearly named, Blacklight.

"Well it is very pretty but isn't that just colored water?" I asked. Even though I said that, I did notice a few odd, orangish bubbles and that it was a little more sluggish moving than water.

The Merchant chuckled. "Oh no dear Stranger. Genuine article here. Just be careful with it, this is after all, a deadly virus. And don't worry, though this was hard to come by I'll give it to you for only twenty dollars."

I felt a bit conflicted. On one hand I could act out Penn Station, on the other it was twenty dollars spent on what is still quite possibly colored water, a vial, and a label. Deciding that nothing ventured, nothing gained, I bought the vial and held it up to the light to look at it much more closely. Upon closer examination I decided that it really wasn't water.

"Hey so where did you get th-" I was about to ask when, in a flash of light, I was whisked away.

☣☣☣Third Person☣☣☣

Ponies went about their business in the incredibly busy subway station. Boarding, unboarding, chatting and just general day to day cares. That all changed when a very bright flash of light appeared and out popped an odd being that nopony had ever seen before. The creature fell to the ground with a mighty crash and bits of small debris pelted ponies. Many ponies cried out in shocked and worry for the new being's safety.

One brave pony carefully walked up to the prone form. "Um, excuse me sir. Are you perchance alright?"

With no response the pony gave a shrug to the crowd and decided to gently nudged Jacob's arm. "Are you alright?" The unnamed pony asked again.

And with a sudden gasp Jacob's eyes shot open. The anonymous pony backpedaled in surprise. Jacob pushed himself back on his feet with a grunt and he shook his head to get rid of the dust and other debris. Then he seemed to stop with a start and looked around at the crowd of ponies staring at him with faces showing a mixture of feelings.

☣☣☣Jacob☣☣☣

"Ponies? Colorful ponies at that. Familiarly styled colorful ponies as well. Friendship is Magic? How the hell did I end up here?" I thought. I noticed the crowd of ponies were still staring at me. I decided to try and communicate.

"Er hello, I'm a... I'm fine and uh, you know what? I think I'll head off now. Uh... bye!" After that awkward and failed moment of communication I then sprinted off and out of the subway station. The ponies quickly got out of my way as I barreled through.

"Is it me or am I much faster than I was before?"

I idlely noticed the sign that told me where I was, Quill Station.

Odd name, but I do get the strangest sense of trepidation though. Getting rid of that thought with a shake of my head I burst out of the doors, and quickly looked for an alleyway. Spotting one I duck inside of it and lean against the wall while ignoring the cries of shock from the ponies I probably scared shitless with that little outburst. I slid down the wall and sat on the concrete.

I grabbed my head with a hand and said out loud, "What the hell? How the fuck am I in Equestria of all places?! This is a god damn show! Though I get the feeling that this can't be a dream or coma. This feels too real, and I've never lucid dreamed before in my life. There could be worse places I could be sent to though..." I shook my head as I tried to wrap my head around the fact that I am in an alternate universe. "The last thing that I remember was..."

I growled in anger as I recalled the merchant that sold me the vial. That must have triggered this mess, he might also be responsible for the disappearances of the other people missing at other cons. In a fit of anger I slammed my fist into the ground and for a second I felt fear that I would break my hand. That was unfounded since in a glorious and loud crack the weak concrete gave way to my fist of righteous anger.

I stared at the ground in astonishment. I brought my hands up in front of me and I didn't notice anything too different in the looks. But now that I was paying attention I finally noticed that I felt strong. I felt that I could control everything about me and to prove my point my arms had a series of, well, wriggling of the red and black tentacle variety. But before I could put two and two together I heard a noise from my right.

"Well well well. What do we have here boys?" Said a rather unimportant voice. I turned my head to my left and saw three earth ponies in the alley. They were all dressed as stereotypical gangsters from the 1940's. The one in the middle was dark green with a short brown mane and tail. The one on the left was brown with a black mane and the right one was black with a brown mane. These ponies were screaming that they were unimportant and it was the middle one who spoke. The other two just decided to chuckle quietly.

I got up and brushed myself off. I turned to them and spoke up, "You have yourself an agitated human who honestly doesn't want to be bothered right now."

The leader of the trio snorted in amusement. "Tough guy eh? Well this is our turf here and I feel we should show you what happens when you trespass. Get 'em." The last part was directed at his two lackeys and they bum rushed me.

When one got close I did what I felt was natural and gave him a quick right hook to his face and he was sent flying into the wall of the building. If he didn't die from his face being caved in from the force of my hit he would've died on impact with the wall. I briefly felt a bit stunned as I watched him die against the wall, but that bit of emotion was squashed as I turned to the other. His friend saw what I did and screeched to a halt, but it was futile and I grabbed him by the neck with him squirming in fear all the way. With a quick squeeze of the stallion's neck it broke and the squirming pony fell limp in my hand. I tossed the pony to the side.

The leader of the trio screamed in horror, "M-Monster!" I looked towards him and began stalking him. "N-No! No! Leave me alone!" He scrambled to get away from me but tripped over an upturned trashcan. He looked behind himself and saw me standing over him. My fist was the last thing he saw before it went through his chest, instinct took over and tendrils covered his body and brought it into mine.

I gripped my head as a sudden rush of memories flooded into my brain.

☣☣☣

"Daddy! Daddy! Look at what I made!" Yelled my excited filly of a daughter by the name of Color Twist. The little blue filly bounced around around my legs until she held up a painting she made.

"I'm looking, I'm looking, sweetheart." I said to Color Twist. "Oooh very nice. You'll be a wonderful painter someday Color." I smiled at her considerably more brightened face at my praise.

"Uh huh! I even got my cutie mark today! Got it right after I finished my painting!" Color wiggled her rump and I saw her cutie mark was a paintbrush with a multitude of colors coming off the brush end and wrapping around the handle.

I grinned at her, "I think this calls for a celebration! How about I pick something up for you when I get back from work?"

Color gasped, "Really?! Oh thank you daddy!" Color sped towards me and gave me a hug. I hugged her back.

"You're welcome sweetie."

☣☣☣

I gasped and fell to my knees as the last bit of recent memories faded and the rest stored into the recesses of my mind to be viewed later. I looked on in horror at the last place the pony, no, father was before his death.

"I-I just killed speaking and intelligent creatures. One even had a daughter sitting at home, waiting for the dad that will never return." I looked at my hands and what I became finally clicked in my mind.

"I'm Alex Mercer... That bastard turned me into Alex Mercer! How? How?!" My arms had tendrils writhe around because of my agitation. I calmed down a bit when I realized that. "This is unreal, I mean sure it's kind of cool but I can't even be called human anymore. Do I have to kill and consume just to survive now? At least the real Alex had the benefit of losing his memories so the transition was easier for him, but me? I really don't want to think about it."

I sighed in defeat since I can't change what I have become now and it's likely being a virus will kill my empathy soon anyway. Grimly I focused on changing my form to 'Grassy Knoll' the pony I recently consumed, strange though why a pony with a name like that would be in a city like this. I could sift through the memories but I didn't honestly care after all that recently happened.

In a blaze of tendrils my form quickly took the shape of the pony and memories of how to walk and do daily pony things instantly buzzed through my mind. I searched the others for any bits, took the two bags and have my biomass create some saddlebags for me. Quickly dumping the bits in there I trotted off to the local bakery to pick up the cake Grassy was going to get for Color.

It was the least I could do for the little filly after all. She won't likely be happy when she eventually learns the truth.

☣☣☣

Color's cute-ceañera was a success in Jacob's opinion. All of her friends joined and had a blast and their respective parents all mingled together talking and laughing in the moderate apartment. I was being the gracious host for a house that isn't mine but since I have flawless identity theft on my side and all of Grassy's knowledge it worked out well.

"So Grassy did you hear about the disturbance at Quill Station today?" Asked one of the random mothers here by the name of Cream Cheese.

I think I had a faint idea. "Disturbance? No not a thing, what happened?" I asked, keeping to my role.

"Well some sort of creature just appeared out of nowhere and destroyed a part of the floor. It fled and not too long later somepony reported two murders in an alley right next to the station! Absolutely horrid! In my opinion that is an awful bit of coincidence there..."

"Oh hush Cream. You should at least give the benefit of the doubt. Not every new creature is going to be bad you know!" said another mare by the name of Starry Night.

"Humph! I shall stand by my opinion thank you. That strange Tirek thing was proof enough to me." Huffed Cream. I was just glad I got some form of timeline awareness now.

The party went on for a while longer and eventually it was time for the whole thing to come to a close. The children were tired and I could see the parents were as well.

"Well it has been fun everypony but I think we can all agree it's time for bed!" A few adults chuckled and some of the young colts and fillies groaned. "Now now none of that. You children need your rest."

All the guests began walking out the door, the kids either sluggishly walking beside their parent or parents or laying on that parents back. Cream walked by me with her child snoozing on her back. She stopped and looked at me.

"I know how hard it is being a single parent Grassy. So if you ever need any... comfort, then please come and visit me sometime." She ended that little statement with a sly smile and wink and walked out into the street.

"Pony poon, yay or neigh?" I briefly entertained the thought, but it's not like I could actually do it anymore. Sad as that may be.

I brought Color to her room and tucked her in. Technically she was supposed to brush her teeth by now but she was already out like a light. I looked down at her sadly. To her I am still her loving daddy but to me I am his killer that is just fulfilling a role that I could never keep. I turned and headed out the door of her room and slowly closed the door.

"I love you daddy." I heard her whisper in her sleep.

"I love you too... sweetie." I whisper back as the door finally closed. I sighed in depression and walked back down to the living room.

Looking around I decided to get to cleaning, not like I felt tired anyway. As I was cleaning a chemistry set the kids were using an important thought suddenly rushed to the forefront of my mind.

"Wait, if the Merchant sent me here and gave me the powers of Alex Mercer then does that mean the vial..." I choked in absolute horror as I realized I didn't have the vial anywhere with me.

"Oh dear god, the trepidation I felt at Quill Station makes sense now. Even the name makes more sense now! Quill Station is equal to Penn Station, the same station where Alex Mercer released Blacklight on Manehatten in both the video games! I don't even have a way to track all the ponies there, for all I know the virus is already spreading wider and wider!"

I dropped the bag of garbage and stared out into the city from the window.

"What have I done?"

Author's Note

So a new story I'll be working alongside my other. Just wanted to get some darker stuff out of my head and I haven't seen an Alex Mercer displaced yet. If there is one though feel free to point it out for me!

Also a member of this site by the name of Wadusher0 created some artwork for this story!

Here it is!