-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-By: no sh*t sherlock-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__
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The Conversion Bureau: Cover Up
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“Make no mistake people, we have an epidemic on our hands. When two cultures meet for the first time there is always an exchange. For the most part we as a culture have been happy to trade and interact with these Equestrians. There was much we could learn from this, and I usually refuse to use this term, ‘magical’ race. However until now we haven’t stopped to think if the things we unwilling trade with each other. When Columbus sailed to the New World he unknowingly brought with Smallpox, measles, influenza and host of other diseases and afflictions with him. I believe we’re witnessing the beginning of a similar mass outbreak here. The Equestrians have spread a disease the likes of which we have never seen before. Now their official word is that its ‘Thaumatic energy radiating off from the island itself.’ That’s all well and good however if this Thaumatic energy is found in all Equestrians then who’s to say that its not coming from their own bodies as well? For this reason and in the interest of National security, I suggest that we push for the immediate shut down of all operating Conversion Bureaus and start the deportation process of all Equestrians within the United States. I think it is impera-”
A hand reached from behind me and pressed the home button on my phone, exiting me from youtube and from finishing Senator Colin Edwards' speech. Recently support for his plans had grown in tandem with the number of people afflicted by this new “Super disease.”
“What’d you turn it off for?” I asked angrily as I turned around to my brother standing behind the couch.
“Man I don’t want to hear about that shit as soon as I get home.” He said, throwing some grocery bags onto the seat next to me.
“He right though, man. Look at this.” I jumped from the couch and ran into my room. In my desk I kept an area set aside for the topic as I’d recently taken a very special interest in things Equestrian. ” Check that out.” I said as he handed him a few pictures. They were of bodies. The skin was a sickly gray color with large sections where it had started to crack and peel like old paint.
“And they’re still alive too, man.” This shit don’t kill you until a few months later when this happens to you.” I loaded up another video on my phone and passed it over to my brother. It showed a man taking a few steps on a sidewalk. With each step ash would puff out from the bottoms of his feet and they would become smaller and smaller. Eventually his right foot was gone completely and he fell forward. He hit his torso and a large part of his body exploded into dust and was carried away by the breeze of a passing bus . The man was now dead, but the camera kept filming as more and more of his crumbling body was carried by the wind.
“Get that out my face.” He winced and pushed the tablet away. “I don’t want to think about that right now. You've been stuck on this stuff for months. Give it a rest.”
“Man you never want to hear about this, but bro this shit is happening!” I shouted. “We got to think about the important stuff right now.”
Corey just shook his head. “Thats just not important to me no more.”
I couldn’t help but scoff at his detachment. “Whats more important than this?”
He paused before looking me right in my eyes. “Look, I didn’t want to say anything about it but… but I’ve found a girl, Dre. I think I’m in love with her.”
I soaked it in felt horrible. I had been going on and on about Barrier’s and various, completely valid theories for days. Meanwhile I hadn’t stopped to think of the reason my brother starting growing more distant and spending less and less at our apartment. I smiled and laughed before playfully punching him in the shoulder. “Asshole, why haven’t you said anything before now, man?!”
Corey sat down and breathed out. “I don’t know, man. I guess I didn’t know how to tell you. I knew mom wouldn’t approve and I guess I didn’t think you would either.”
“Fuck mom, Bro.” I said laughing, surprised that he would even care about her acceptance. “So what’s her name?”
For some reason Corey grew visibly uncomfortable with the question and after a moment mumbled, “Mmmndanfer…”
“What?!”
“Moon Dancer.” He said clearly.
I exhaled slowly, shaking my head and turned away from my brother. That wasn’t the name of a human. “Jesus man… How does that even work?!”
“So far its been a mostly non physical relationship.” He shrugged.
“Mostly? Bro that’s just...weird.”
“Yeah well it won’t be for long. She going to let me bypass the wait list for the Bureau. I’m getting converted next month, Andre.”
“Eh well I’m done trying to talk you out of that.” I sighed after a moment, waving a hand. We’d argued extensively about his desire to convert in the past and it wasn’t a debate I was interested in losing again. “Anyway do I get to meet her?”
“Funny you should mention that…” Corey laughed. “She’s actually been wanting to have dinner.”
“Sounds like fun.” I said.
“It really does!” Corey said lighting up. “She’s already planned most of it out on her own. Whats really cool is that she's Apparently real buddy buddy with some Equestrian big wigs and she said a few might even able to make it.”
“Oh wow.” I said raising an eyebrow. At the mention possibly meeting some Equestrian Elite, an idea started to form in the my head. Most ponies who knew anything wouldn’t say a damn word about the Bureaus or the Barrier in the public light. With the mention of them, I sought a chance to find answers to a few questions…or at least something interesting to post on the Barrier theory forums.
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"Arms to the side please. Feet shoulder width apart." A man in a suit with and an earpiece instructed me. I complied and he proceeded to pat and feel all over my body. I looked over to my right and another guy was doing the same to Corey. Ahead of us two men with rifles guarded a door.
The men feeling us up stopped at our ankles before nodding at each other and saying "clear" into a walkie. "Please move forward." He said as the men in front of the doors stepped aside for us. Once we were through, they closed and locked the doors behind us.
"Jesus man, you think they have enough security?" I asked after going through the third checkpoint.
Corey shrugged. "Moon Dancer didn't say anything about getting felt up before dinner." He said flatly.
"Oh yeah, speaking of her, she never mentioned that she was fucking loaded!" I exclaimed as I remembered how we'd gotten here. "A Gulfstream V to New Jersey, picked up from there in Rolls Royce to Manhattan. Your little sweetheart seems to be doing quite well."
He frowned at me. "Its not her, bro. She said a good friend of hers wanted to make sure we were taken care off."
"Shit, well if her friend has that kind of money, I might just have to enter into the Human/pony dating scene." I breathed out twice into my hand, took a sniff and cringed. "Damn, thats bad. All that beer on the plane, I should've brought some gum."
Corey looked me up and down before adding, "And worn a better Tux." We looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. We continued cackling as we turned a corner and entered into a large extremely luxurious dinning area. We both stopped in our tracks; never before seeing this level splendor in one place. There was a small table in the middle of the room with five ponies already sitting down... well sort of. When they noticed our presence they all stood up straight.
I recognized Moon Dancer from a few video chats and a pictures and gave her a wave which she returned. The three next to her were unknown to me and I identified them in my head as "the blue one, the yellow one and the white one." However at the head of the table, a pony slightly larger than the others with both wings and a horn. Holy shitIt was Twilight fucking Sparkle.
"Dude, Thats Twilight fucking Sparkle." I whispered quietly at the sight of one of the four Equestrian Princesses.
Corey leaned slightly in my direction and mumbled back, "No chance, bro."
"Duly noted." I shot back before Twilight Sparkle welcomed and asked us to join them. Corey gave his pony fiance a tight hug and spoke something softly into her ear as I introduced myself and shook hands with hooves with the other ponies. Holding onto and shaking Twilight Sparkle's hoof gave me a chill. I'd heard stories of her immense power and I swore touching her sent a small jolt of power through my body.
After introductions we took our seats. Me on Twilight's left and Corey on her right. Pony Attendants brought out small bowls of soup. The dinner progressed on and with each course, the authenticness of the conversation increased. We started out going through the motions of meeting people for the first time. The same BS question and answer period that I had grown quite tired of. However by the time our third course, a salad, rolled out, an outsider looking in would swear we had known each other forever. By this point we had gone through a wide range of topics. Corey and I wanted to know about Equestria and They all wanted to know about Earth just as much. We talked about similarities in clothing between our species and how it was odd that Equestria had a thriving fashion industry despite that fact that most ponies, including all five at the table, didn't normally wear clothes at all. We made light, biting jokes at the more ridiculous aspects of our societies and no one seemed to get too offended. However, all throughout the dinner I had been very conscious of the Equestrian leadership to my right. When Moon Dancer and I would trade quips back and forth, I would give a slight glance to Twilight to make sure she was still cool with everything. On more than a few of these looks Twilight would catch me and I'd quickly turn away.
However there was really no need to. Twilight participated fully in the conversation and the opinions and things she would say quickly made me consider her as a very down to earth (so to speak) being. In fact all the ponies did. The way we talked and how the conversation carried on, I stopped seeing the ponies as too different than myself. I really felt as if I was genuinely bonding with these being. Perhaps thats where things took a wrong turn.
Over the course of the meal, I'd downed three glasses of wine. It doesn't take a whole to get me to a point where I feel comfortable saying things I normally wouldn't. And All the progress we'd made was seemingly shot to pieces as we waited for desert. I'd made a particularly good joke which made everyone laugh. On instinct I looked towards Twilight for her reaction. She caught my glance, but this time she called me out on it.
"Thats like the ninth time I've caught you looking at me, Andre." She pointed out. "Something on your mind?"
Before I could answer, an "Awwwww." rang out behind me." I think someones got a crush!" The yellow one said gleefully. She'd had her fill of wine too. "Maybe an attraction to ponies runs in the family."
"No, no nothing like that." I laughed. "Its just you seem a lot different then I'd expect. You're really cool and everything, but honesty I do have something on my mind and I feel like I can tell it now."
"Please do." She said smiling.
I smiled back. "Well... and I know Corey is gonna hate me for bringing this up, but I'm one of those guys thats interested in this Barrier of yours."
"Oh here we go! Don't engage with him on this if you want to leave within the next 3 hours." Corey said causing everyone to laugh. " Seriously though, Andre can go on about his wild theories for days."
The smile on Twilight Sparkle's shifted ever so slightly to a kind of smirk. "I wouldn't have pegged you for a conspiracy theorist."
"Well yes, I guess thats one way to say it." I sighed. "But to fair, there are some pretty interesting things I've found out about it. In fact, when you really dig into it, you find some discrepancies in the whole Thaumatic radiation story. "
"Really?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow and sounding genuinely surprised. "Please go on."
Instantly my heart started beating faster. I didn't get the chance to talk about this kind of stuff in person and I was very excited for the opportunity. "Alright well, think of any other types radioactive fallout. Its particles go into the atmosphere and the speed and direction it falls depends upon the Winds Aloft. But the Barrier doesn't follow this." I paused and looked around the table. All eyes were fixed on me with interest. "The Barrier travels circularly outward at a constant speed. No radioactive fallout moves in this manner."
Everyone at the table turned to back to Twilight Sparkle for a response and to my surprise she had a pretty good one. "Well the Barrier isn't really radiation, at least not in the way you can perceive it. The term 'Thaumatic Radiation' was assigned to the barrier by human scientists as a way to get the public to better understand it. In actuality and I know this may not be an answer that appeases you, it's just magic. Ponies ourselves are still trying to figure out its true workings."
"Umm." She was right, I didn't like that answer. However I couldn't really argue magic, especially if Twilight didn't fully understand it. I decided to pull out another thing. "Okay Well we know the Barrier travels outwards in a circle and we know how to calculate the center point of a circle. So why is it when people do the math, the center point of the barrier appears to be plus/minus 50 meters of the massive Castle in Canterlot? A castle in which two of the Equestrian leaders live?"
The table once again turned to Twilight with wide eyes. She didn't acknowledge them and simply shrugged. "Like I said Andre, Magic is a very hard thing to grasp even for us. However I assure you that we are still trying everything we can to understand and reverse this."
I was sick of this 'magic can't be understood' answer. Maybe it was that or the wine or something else but my next response was a complete outburst. "Well thats pretty convenient, huh? The barrier shows up the same time you do, and the moment it makes contact with land and people start dying, you set up Conversion Bureaus and say that currently the only way to become immune to its effects is to convert to a pony. And then anyone who brings this into questions either gets dismissed as a bigot xenophobe like senator Colin Edwards or they get your cop out answer about magic!"
It was quiet for a little while after that. The ponies mouths were stuck open in amazement. I looked to Corey who was staring down at the table with a hand rubbing his forehead. Twilight looked at me with a confused look. "I'm sorry, but that sounds vaguely like an accusation."
"Maybe It should." I snapped back.
"Damn it, Andre thats enough!" Corey finally stopped me. "Twilight, I sincerely apologize for my brother. I...I don't know what his problem is." He shot me a look that could kill after that. I slunk down into my chair. I calmed down and felt extremely embarrassed at my outburst.
"Its not a problem. " Twilight smiled and waved a hoof. "Andre, this is obviously a subject you're very passionate about. If you really do have questions, I'll contact you in a few weeks when i learn more and we can discuss anything you want in length. How does that sound?"
"That...that sounds wonderful." I answered quietly. " And I'm sorr-"
"No apology necessary." She said smiling. "Now please, let us finish dinner."
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About a week after the dinner, Corey followed through on both getting converted and marrying Moon Dancer all on the same day. He moved out of the house our parents left us and the two of them now live somewhere in Equestria. After my behavior at the dinner, I felt Corey had become ashamed of me and I hadn't spoken to him at all since he'd left. Before he shipped off, he told me that he'd write to me. But I hadn't seen a letter yet and this was over four months ago.
As the weeks went on, I began to see less and less human faces. The Conversion Bureaus had kicked into high gear. 450 or so were scattered about the country and each one had a minimum of 300 conversions a day. Being that my city happened to host a Conversion Bureau, the human faces in my community were quite rapidly disappearing. As the New Foal population grew, Equestrian born ponies started showing up too. They set up shops selling things that only ponies would want.
However it wasn't just the people and the businesses. Certain ideas and points of view were being seemingly being eliminated as well. People like Senator Edwards, who would stand against who would stand against the free movement of Equestrians throughout the country and demand answers to the Barrier, were becoming endangered species. Attitudes had changed and most no longer wanted to hear about ponies or anything Equestrian in a negative light.
I didn't enjoy how things were going in the world and largely tried to shut myself out of it. I stayed in most days and browsed the web for any new information about the Barrier. However things had died down even in that area.The most active posters on most websites had suddenly ceased all activity. It was liked they'd just disappeared. One rumor was that the Barrier had finally passed through their cities and that they had outright refused to leave. However to me, that didn't seem likely.
At any rate I was about to begin my Saturday routine of drinking at 11 in the morning and watching T.V., when my phone lit up. I answered and a familiar voice spoke.
"Hi Andre, Its Twilight Sparkle."
"Hey Twilight, long time no talk." I answered.
"Very true. I was wondering if you were busy today?" She inquired. "I'd like to talk to you about your favorite subject."
I put her on mute for a moment while I shouted in excitement. I had been waiting for this moment since she offered it. "No! not at all."
"Thats great! There's a library about 3 miles from your house. I'm sort of in a hurry so, do you think you can meet me in one the conference rooms in say...half an hour"
I jumped from the couch and headed to get dressed. "Sure I'll see you there!"
I threw some clothes on and was at the library in 20 minutes. It was very nearly clear as it was around noon on a Saturday. I pushed open the conference room door to find it empty. I looked around in confusion for a moment before having to shield my eyes from an intense purple light. There was quick "POP" sound and suddenly it was gone. Twilight now stood at the other end of the conference table.
"Twilight hey!" I said quickly, taking a seat and pulling out a chair next to me for her. She took it without saying a word and I smiled. I took my bag from my back and threw it on the table. "There's some data and inconsistencies that you can look over if you want but this right here is what really interestin-"
"Andre, I don't have much time and only here as a courtesy to your brother." She cut me off sounding quite serious. "I've looked into the Barrier extensively since we last talked. I come to realize something that you really should take to heart."
Yeah?!" I said mouth agape in anticipation.
"I'm going to say this once and then be on my way, so I really need you to understand what I'm saying." She leaned forward and looked me deep into my eyes with a grave tone. "You need to stop digging around about the Barrier, Andre."
I pulled back. All the excitement had drained from my body. I was so confused. What was this? Was I in trouble? I stammered for a moment to get my thoughts out. "Twilight, whats going-"
She held a hoof up to me. "Don't talk, just listen. I know the Barrier is something you have an interest in and you desperately want to get to the bottom of it, but please, for your own sake, drop it! I will not be able to warn you again." She then stood away from the table and was engulfed again in the same light as when she appeared.
I remained in the conference room staring straight ahead for a long while after Twilight left. Our encounter had lasted less than a minute, but It had left me frozen in fear. Was I in danger? And if so why?! I kept asking myself. My mind kept taking me back to events outside my house. People taking longer looks than normal or following behind for one too many turns. I immediately felt like I was being watched.
I pushed out of the conference room and headed for the exit. I emptied out the contents of my bag in the trashcan on the way out. Months of data and documents on the Barrier gone just like that. However that was wasn't all I had. I headed back home quickly and locked the door. I had some major cleaning out to do.
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Senator Edwards had gone missing. He was due to speak his very unpopular opinions in the now majority New Foal city, San Francisco, and never made it to the venue. Before his departure he was the only person with a large support base who would actually question the Barrier's story. Now there was no one left.
It had been months since I had looked up anything about the Barrier. I'd shredded all the documents I had in my room and even cut off all contact with people who were still actively looking into it. Conversion Bureau's kept doing their thing and rough estimates were that 61% of all Americans had gone through the process. Thats damn near 2 in 3 and it was very apparent. These days, wherever you went, you were likely to see just as many humans as ponies.
The Barrier had also reached the United States. Florida was nearly completely engulfed along with up to 40 miles along the entire eastern seaboard. Tens of millions had already been displaced and it was only going to get worse. I'd received my doomsday time and in exactly 26 days the barrier would reach the edge of my city. I would have until then to either move, convert or crumble into dust. However as the barrier lumbered across the land, sooner or later people would have to convert.
I tried to stay away from anything that had to do with the Barrier, but the circumstances surrounding Edwards' disappearance had drawn me back in. Soon after the Barrier had overtaken Miami, he announced that he had somehow obtained pictures of something happening inside the former city. He said he would reveal them during his speech in San Francisco. It didn't take a conspiracy theorist to see that something was definitely wrong there.
A few days later and of course his pictures leak onto the internet. It was several shots of Miami. The Barrier had hit there about a 20 days ago and it had been said that it destroyed most man made objects. It wasn't just the human body that was broken down and crumbled into dust, it was building, houses and cars too. The Barrier was supposed to turn Miami into a flat desolate plain. But it wasn't. The images showed a myriad of Equestrian styled buildings and shops. Ponies lined the streets and it looked to be the beginnings of a small city, built atop the ashes of Miami, Florida.
It was then that I started to gather what the actually existence of the Barrier was for. After I'd downloaded the pictures to my computer I reconnected with an old friend I'd known on the forums. I told him and only him the new theory I had, that was rapidly seeming more and more likely. We talked more and more and eventually I sent him my phone number so that we could communicate easier.
*BRRRRRRING* *BRRRRRRRRRING*
I snatched up my phone a few minutes later and answered.
"Hey, man." I said.
"Hey back." The voice was familiar. I immediately tensed up and felt my heart sink. I swallowed down my nervousness, but didn't respond. "Sorry were you expecting someone else?"
"Twilight...I...I" I managed to get out. "Am...am I like...good?"
"Yeah sure, why wouldn't you be?" She said normally.
"Ummm well the last time we spoke-"
Twilight laughed. "Forget about all that! That was all nonsense."
"Oooookay then. Is something going on?"
"How would you like to see your brother?"
"Really? He's back state side?!" I gasped.
"Yup!" Twilight said happily. "I'm actually kinda already on my way to get you right now. I was sort of anticipating you saying yes. "
"Really?! I'd love to see him again" I exclaimed. "Thats awesome! "
"Yes it is." She said quickly before hanging up
Twenty minutes later when I opened my front door, I was expecting to see a carriage or a wagon or something. Instead nothing but Twilight Sparkle waited for me. I carried only a small bag with a change of clothes with me. Twilight moved hurriedly up my walkway. I waved to her, but she ignored it and continued up my front steps.
"Hey Twi, you rea-" Twilight tilted her head down and pointed her horn at me. From it, came a purple beam of light which enveloped me. In an instant I lost all my strength. I couldn't finish my sentence or even stand up. I collapsed right outside my house. The last thing thing before passing out was the pained look on Twilight's face as she stood over me.
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I woke suddenly. I sat straight up and my eyes shot open. I looked around and found myself in a tent. The wind whipped loudly outside and I could feel it coming through the thin material.
Up ahead, Twilight stood with her back to me at the exit. I jumped to my feet. I felt incredibly weak, but I managed to stumble forward and stand next to her. It was so bright outside I had to squint. A light grey dust covered the ground in a layer about three inches thick. The strong winds were picking it off the surface and blowing it around everywhere. From what I could see, there couldn't be anything around for at least a few miles.
"Where are we?" I groggily asked her.
Without looking at me sighed and said. "We're near Knoxville, Tennessee."
"Tennessee thats..." I was still tired and my brain took a moment to process it. " Thats inside the Barrier!!" My heart started racing. Now wonder I felt weak, I was dying. "Why are we here?!"
Twilight started crying softly and turned away from me. This angered me and I became frantic. "Noo! Don't start this now." I yelled as I grabbed her and pulled her to look at me. "Twilight, why did you bring me inside the barrier?! What is this?!"
"Andre I am so sorry." She said wiping her eyes. "I swear to you that this isn't what I wanted. I tried to change her mind, I really did. But she was convinced you wouldn't just leave it alone. So I have to do this. I have to get rid of you."
I was panicking and wasn't processing much of what she said. The most important bit I got from it was the "get rid of you" part. "Why do you have to do this?! What is this about?!" As soon as I finished asking, a shooting pain went up my arms and legs. I yelled in pain and let go of Twilight.
She grabbed me this time and slowly lowered me down until I was sitting with my back again the tent's fabric wall. "Lie still, Andre. It helps with the pain." I tried to do what she said, I'd do anything to stop this burning sensation. I tried to rub my forearm to help, but instead a puff of light grey dust came off. I looked at my entire body and it was all the same same light grey color.
"You were right, Andre. " She admitted. "I did look into it and I found out the truth. The Barrier isn't some type of radiation. Its creation wasn't an accident either. I was just as shocked when I found out, as I'm sure you are now."
My breathing slowed and I stopped panicking. 'I knew it." I said softly shaking my head. "You god damn monsters."
"Your atmosphere was toxic to large number of us. 1 out of 3 ponies began to get sick. My mentor had to do something, and so she created the Barrier shortly after the first few deaths. At first it was only meant to enclose the Equestrian lands, but the magic used to create it was powerful and unstable and continued to grow beyond our control. The Barrier was intended to amplify Equestria's natural magic and use it to purify your atmosphere, basically terraforming it for us. Unfortunately, it was so unstable that it began to purify more than just the air. We still don't know why it attack humans and man made objects. We experimented and tried to reverse the effects, but it kills so quickly that we, really didn't have much to go on."
I chuckled softly as i shook my head. " You've killed us all." I said defeated. "The idea was always in the back of my mind, but I had no idea that it would be so...insidious."
"We had no malicious intent when we created it and we tried to do what we could to correct it, we really did. However politicians like
Colin Edwards started trying to convince large numbers of the public that it was something we had created specifically to affect humans. At that point we decided that it was best to just keep it quiet."
With the last of my strength I reached out to grab Twilight and pulled her to look at me. A large chunk of my little and ring fingers remained on her until they slowly broke down into ash. "But you couldn't keep it quiet. People got interested and wanted to know the truth. And when they managed to get ahold of it, you and little friends scooped them up and murdered them!"
Twilight turned away from me as more and more of my body began to crumble. "Im sorry Andre, really I am." I couldn't formulate a response for and I didn't want to. For a long moment we both sat in silence listening only to the wind whistling outside. "...Are you ready?" She asked quietly.
I sighed. It was over. No one was coming to get me, to save me. My parents were dead. My brother was married off and I was pretty sure cared little for me. I didn't have any friends left that weren't already ponies. I had accepted my imminent death, but I was still angry. I hated the fact that Twilight and the rest of the Equestrian leaders were going to get away with this. Soon there wouldn't be anyone left to care about what they had done.
"Yeah I'm ready." I spat out. "If you see my brother, tell him I was right."
Twilight said nothing and turned to look at me. At once I felt the tent disappear and the wind on what was left of my skin. With nothing of support behind me, I fell backwards until I was staring above at the grey sky. I couldn't turn my head, I couldn't feel my arms and legs either.
But I could feel myself getting smaller as the wind blew pieces of my dying body away. Then after a few more moments, my vision started to blur and go dark. I couldn't tell whether Twilight was looking at me or not.
And then there was nothing.
Author's Note
:3
