A night you’ll never forget.
Funny how it a simple night out can turn into a nightmare you can’t seem to wake up from isn’t it? I’m sure you’ve heard about it all over the news, a recreational drug that’s been sweeping the nation recently. Some crazy drug that came over here to the UK from the USA, what did the news say it was made from again? A botched up spaghetti sauce recipe?
What a joke right? How the hell does spaghetti sauce have an effect like that? Ah well never mind, you’d think that something as harmless as that couldn’t be that bad right?
Well it turns out there’s a couple of rules that come with the drug. I know what your thinking, how can a drug have rules? Well let me humour you.
The rules are simple, any idiot can understand them. The rules are never name yourself, never take the drug alone, and finally never and I mean never take more than one dose within 24 hours.
I’ve seen them out on the streets, and honestly it’s somewhat disturbing to see someone you know permanently turned into an adorable cartoonish pony. How exactly? Well like I said a moment ago...never take more than one dose within 24 hours. From what I heard some bastard spiked his drink, so I’m thankful I don’t drink often.
Anyway I’ve heard rumours...pretty disturbing ones, a lot of people think there’s some sort of conspiracy going on with this drug about where this drug came from, and what some people do to the people who overdosed on it.
They snatch you up and take you away...and sell you off to some sick twisted bastard who’ll pay a lot of money for a pony, even more if your a child. Christ the thought of it is enough to make me sick to my stomach, what utter monster does such a thing?
“Sky? Are you going to be okay?” That was my little brother, unfortunately he’s now a young bright orange colt, bright blue eyes much like my own, and reddish brown mane and tail. He’s like that because some son of a bitch decided to spike the water supply of the local school. Personally I want to kill the bastard responsible.
“Yeah I’m fine Nathan.” I reassured him, “Just a couple of cuts and bruises. How was school?” Nathan just snorted, and said it was boring as usual before running off to his room.
I flicked on the TV and checked the news. Apparently the story about the school was still a hot topic, over 120 students and teachers were affected by the water spike and 30 of them were currently missing. Mom and I made sure to keep a close eye on Nathan as much as we could. Dad was...around, but he was always working, not that he wanted to but because the company he works for are right bastards about working hours.
Anyway as I was saying, they never caught the guy responsible for what happened at the school. The bastard has a nasty habit of vanishing at a moments notice apparently.
“Mom!” I shouted as I put on my hooded denim jacket, “I’m heading out now!” Mom told me to be careful, and wished me goodbye.
It was cold tonight, surprisingly so considering it’s during the summer but what can I say this is the UK. I walked into the local pub that was down the road from where I lived, and spotted one of my friends sitting at the bar with some woman I’ve never met.
I didn’t pay her any mind as I sat next to them and ordered a drink. The woman glanced my way, and gave me a raised brow.
“Have we met?” She asked, I told her no. The woman was very attractive, in that sort of bad girl with a hidden heart of gold sort of way. What can I say I’m a very good judge of character.
She frowned, obviously that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. I gave her confused look.
“Sorry but I’d think I would remember someone who stands out like you do?” She gave me an unamused look, and pouted.
“Hey what’s that supposed to mean?” She demanded.
“Well your hair for one.” I pointed to her fiery red hair that blonde highlights, “You kind of stand out.”
“Ugh fine,” She pouted, “Your friend here was telling me about you.” I raised a brow and looked towards Jay, he was that friend I told you about earlier...the one who had his drink spiked.
“Oh really?” I asked curious, “What did he tell you?”
“He told me about what happened to your little brother.” I grimaced, I suppose it couldn’t be helped. It was common knowledge around here about what happened.
“Fair enough, I’m Sky by the way.” I introduced myself, “What brings you to these parts?”
“I’m attending university here.” She continued, “I’m studying abroad, oh I’m Sunset for the record.”
“Judging from your accent...you’re American right?” She nodded, “I’m surprised you haven’t been fazed by Jay there.”
“Oi! I’m right here y’know.” Jay spoke up.
“Well...it isn’t the first time I’ve seen ponies like your friend here.” Sunset admitted, “I’m kind of used to seeing them, practically everyone in New York is a pony now anyway. I was hoping to get away from all that, but I guess it caught up to me.”
“Yeah I heard all about that.” I replied, “That caused all sort of chaos if I remember correctly.”
“The news was saying that it was an act of an unknown terrorist group.” Sunset continued, “But I think there was something else to it.”
“Oh like what?” I paused for a moment, “Wait you said the attended the university nearby right? Aren’t they helping the police to find out what this stuff is made of.”
“Yes, it’s apparently got ingredients that aren’t found anywhere on Earth.” Sunset explained, “They think it’s a new species of plant.”
“What like it’s an alien plant?” Jay asked, “Like from a different dimension or something?” I sighed at Jay’s question.
“Jay, you really need to lay off the science fiction.” I replied.
“Think about it Sky.” Jay continued, “Isn’t there a myth that if you at the food of a different world you become a part of it...or something like that?”
“Jay that’s just an urban myth.” I groaned.
“Well he could be right.” Sunset added, “There’s usually some truths to myths after all.” I debated what she said for a moment, and truthfully she had a point.
Time passed by and soon enough everybody left one by one, Jay had left leaving me and Sunset alone. I couldn’t blame him for leaving early given what has been going on recently.
“Need someone to walk you home?” I asked, “It gets pretty dangerous around here during the night time.” Sunset pondered my offer for a moment, and nodded her head yes.
The night time air was refreshing, and Sunset seemed to be enjoying it. Despite how empty the streets looked, it was still a dangerous place to be if you were walking alone.
“Do you believe in magic Sky?” Sunset spoke up, I raised a brow at her question.
“I’m more of a science and tech kind of guy.” I answered, “It doesn’t hurt to keep an open mind though.”
“I’ve always been fascinated by it...” Sunset admitted, “Not that smoke and mirrors stuff, but real actual magic.”
“You sound like you’ve seen some first hand.” It wasn’t hard to deduce what she was getting at, “Though to be honest I wouldn’t mind seeing some myself. With all the messed up stuff going on right now maybe a little magic would do some good.” Sunset shook her head and laughed, I wondered if I said something funny.
“Magic doesn’t fix everything, but for the most part you’re right.” She explained, “That plant I was telling you about earlier, it’s called Poison Joke.”
“What?” I looked confused, “You mean the one that’s used in that drug?”
“Yes, and from the looks of it someone has found away to distil it and make it even more potent.” Sunset continued, “Normally it’s mostly harmless, and the effects are only temporary, that’s what been used in the pills before.”
“But now it can be used in another form, like a liquid?” I finished her train of thought, “That must be how the water and drinks were getting spiked right?” Sunset nodded, “Oh Jesus H. Christ on a bike...”
As we walked the straight towards the street where I lived, I noticed there was a police car outside my Mom’s front door. Sunset looked at me in confusion as I suddenly ran towards my mother’s home.
“H-Hey wait for me!” Sunset shouted as she followed me to my mom’s front door. I ran inside...only to find two policemen standing over my parent’s dead bodies, “Oh by Celestia...”
“Are you Mr Trainor?” One of the policemen asked, I nodded, “I’m sorry but we have some bad news...” Realisation hit, and I ran upstairs.
“NATHAN!!” I shouted as I ran to my little brother’s room, I kicked open the door and collapsed only to find his bedroom empty.
“I’m sorry...” One of the policemen told me, “But we think he was taken. We couldn’t find the body.”
“DAMN IT! WHERE’S MY LITTLE BROTHER!!” I screamed in a rage, “TELL ME DAMN IT! WHO IS THE FUCKING BASTARD RESPONSIBLE!!!”
“Mr Trainor please...” He tried to calm me down, “We’re looking into that now, and so far we don’t have any leads.”
“You got to be fucking joking!” I growled, “Why haven’t you been able to find anything! This sick shit has been going on for weeks!”
“Sir calm down, but you’re going to have to find another place to stay for a while.” He explained, I snorted and cursed under my breath.
“Tch...Fine.” I spat out. They both lead me out of my own home, and I was left without a place to stay for the time being. I stormed outside and Sunset stood there waiting for me.
“They told me what happened...” Sunset said solemnly, “I’m sorry for your loss.” I leaned against the garden wall, and said nothing.
“...What kind of monster did this?” I asked myself, “So help me god if I ever find the son of a bitch, there’s not going to be enough to bury!”
“...” Sunset said nothing as I ranted.
“...God damn it!” I cried, “D-Damn it all! So help me god I’ll get my little brother back one way or another!”
“...You don’t have a place to stay do you?” Sunset spoke up, I looked at her and nodded, “Y-you can stay with me...until all this is all sorted.”
“...” I paused for a moment, and the silence was heavy between us, “Thank you Sunset. This means a lot to me...”
Sunset and I made our way to her home, a small simple flat big enough for two. It was lightly furnished and gave off a warm homely atmosphere, I was reminded of the countryside for some reason.
“...Nice place you have here.” I said quietly, my thoughts still on what happened earlier.
“...It’s not much but it’s home.” Sunset blushed with embarrassment, “I hope you don’t mind sleeping on the couch, this place may be big enough for two but there’s only one bed.”
“...No.” I replied, “No I don’t mind.”
There was another heavy silence between us, neither of us could think of anything to say. I’m not surprised given what has just happened.
“I can’t believe this is happening...” I spoke up, breaking the silence between us, “Both my parents are dead and my little brother’s been taken. God I hope my friends are okay...”
“...What kind of monster does such a thing?” She asked herself, “And I thought I’ve seen some monsters in my life time.”
“Have a rough past?” I asked.
“Of sorts yes.” She admitted, “I had a bit of a nasty streak back in high-school, there’s just some things you don’t mess with.” She didn’t elaborate, and to be honest I wasn’t in the mood to ask.
“I can kind of relate...” I told her, “All my friends say I’m a bit of a weirdness magnet...all this because of a drug, just what is it worth to them to murder my family and kidnap my little brother?”
“...I don’t know.” Sunset replied, “During my time here I’ve seen some really sick things.”
“Do you think there’s anyone who can help me find my brother?” I asked her.
“I don’t know, I suppose we could look for clues.” Sunset suggested, I nodded in agreement. Maybe that was the best place to start, I’m not looking forward to dealing with the damned press because of this.
It was getting close to one in the morning, and I was lying on the couch still awake. I felt so angry that someone did this, worried about my little brother, and utterly distressed that my parents were killed.
It was pitch black outside, and well I couldn’t sleep. How could I after what happened? I took a look around Sunset’s living room, there was various books on sciences, and sociology. There was a few books on myths and legends, magic and a few fantasy novels I recognised.
“Huh, she didn’t strike me as the type.” I muttered. I noticed a photo on the small table in the corner, it was a photo of herself and six other people I didn’t recognise which I assumed they were friends of hers.
Sleep took me eventually, and it was far from a pleasant one. I had a nightmare about my little brother being beaten and hurt by some pervert, crying out for me to help him and I couldn’t do anything about it. I shot up in a cold sweat, I was shaking at the thought of being unable to help my little brother.
“Morning already?” I looked at the clock, it read five in the morning, “God damn it...what a horrible nightmare...” Given the time I decided to get up and make myself a cup of coffee, I wasn’t going to get back to sleep any time soon.
I made it strong and sweet, and I was somewhat surprised that Sunset was a vegetarian. I shrugged and didn’t think anything of it, and took a sip of my coffee.
I looked around her living room, and I noticed various notes on the table. I took a closer look, from what I could understand about them they mentioned that Poison Joke plant that Sunset mentioned last night. It listed various known effects on the plant, and from the sound of it the effects were only supposed to be temporary and that it could be used in some vary twisted plants.
It did mention however what happened if you diluted the plant so you could put it in any form of liquid.
“Jesus...” I muttered to myself as I read through the notes, “Diluting it makes it more potent, and turns what should have been a temporary thing into a permanent one.” I shuddered to think what would happen if this got into a water supply.
“Morning...did you sleep well Sky?” Sunset asked me warmly.
“Not really...” I replied, “Considering what happened I shouldn’t be surprised.” Sunset walked past me into the kitchen, and I caught a glimpse of her backside. I almost spat out my coffee once I realised Sunset had walked past me in the nude.
“Are you okay?” Sunset asked, not seeing what was wrong with the situation at hand.
“Erm...” I took a moment to compose myself, I couldn’t help but notice Sunset was...very attractive. She had smooth skin with a fair complexion, her hair came down to her waist, curves in all the right places, and was that a tattoo of a red and yellow sun just below her hips? “I-I'm fine...you?”
“I can’t complain, though you seemed to be a bit tense about something.” Sunset pouted, “C’mon Sky tell me what’s wrong?”
“Erm...you’re naked...not that I’m complaining mind you.” I stuttered, she gave me a raised brow.
“And?” Sunset shrugged, “There’s thing wrong with walking around naked around my own place right? I’m more comfortable like this.”
“I’m not going to argue, but I find it a bit strange that you would walk around like that when you have guests staying over.” I explained, she muttered something I didn’t quite understand, something about different social standards or something of the like, “Oh living here is going to be interesting...” I muttered to myself.
“Well I don’t see the problem.” Sunset took a sip of her own coffee, and sighed, “Honestly out of all of my friends you’re the only one to have a problem with it.”
“Oh I don’t have a problem with it, who am I to complain when a beautiful woman decides to walk around naked?” I admitted, “Hey if that’s what you want to do, don’t let me stop you. Cool tattoos by the way.”
“Tattoos?” She paused for a moment, “Oh you mean my cutie mark!” I raised a brow in confusion.
“Cutie mark?” I gave her a look of disbelief, “That’s a rather interesting name for a tattoo.” She shot me a dirty look and flipped the bird at me.
“What you’re telling me you don’t have one of these?” Sunset asked, I shook my head no.
“Most people don’t have tattoo’s like that, well not unless you go to a tattoo parlour.” I explained, “Still though I find tattoo’s on a woman rather attractive, but then again I would say the same if you walked in here in nothing but thigh-highs and heels.”
“Jeez and here I thought Dash was a flirt.” Sunset laughed, “Poor Twi never stood a chance.”
“I take it their friends of yours.” I asked, “I saw the photo over there so I assume their in the photo.” She walked over and picked up the photo in question.
“Yes, we went through a lot together.” She explained, “Before I became friends with them I was a bit of a bitch, but it’s thanks to them I found out who my real friends are.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“We’re still friends but we all went our own way.” Sunset explained, I picked up a hint of sadness in her voice, “This drug, the one they call Pon-E, it started in Canterlot High. Someone, I don’t know who but he handed out these pills to anyone interested...you know the junkie crowd, and the next thing we knew there was several ponies running around like bunch of hyperactive five year olds causing all sorts of chaos.”
“Did they catch him?” I asked.
“No he vanished during all the chaos.” She replied, “Principal Celestia was looking into it but they never found anything. The first permanent case was a week later, and there was fair amount of vandalism to the statue outside the school.”
“You think this is the same guy doing all this?” I wondered aloud.
“I don’t doubt it for a second.” Sunset confirmed, “From the brief glimpse I caught of him, he had blond hair hand had a distinctive compass and crown motif on his jacket. Seemed like the really stuck up spoilt type.”
“A distinctive motif, and the ability to seemingly vanish into thin air.” I paused, “You’d think someone like that would stand out in a crowd, kind of like you do.”
“And how is that bad?” Sunset asked.
“It’s not, I can disappear into a crowd if I wanted to.” I explained, “But someone that distinctive shouldn’t be able to. Christ next thing you’ll tell me is that he was wearing a white hood and uncanny ability of hiding in plain sight.” Sunset placed her hands on her hips, and gave me a knowing look.
“What like that hooded denim jacket you wear?” Sunset shrugged, “Not my style, leather is much more my thing.”
“Oh really?” I raised a brow, “Speaking of which you said I reminded of you of someone.”
“O-oh...he was an old friend of mine...he passed away a long time ago.” She stated, “I pretty much left home after that, it was kind of the last straw if you want to put it that way.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.” I replied, “I didn’t realise I reminded you of him.”
“Never mind that now, let’s get sorted and start looking for a lead.” Sunset spoke up hoping to change the subject, “We have a long day ahead.”
Author's Note
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I wanted to do a darker twist on the whole Pon-E drug mentioned in the stories Pon-E and Pon-E Bust, which I reccommend checking out. And for anyone asking it is an AU set in the Equestria Girls Universe.
Author's Note
Doing a bit of an experiment here so tell me what you'll think if i reccomend some links to some ambiance for the story. Since I can't post links here, open a new tab and search for the following songs on youtube if you want to listen to the soundtrack for added ambiance.
An Empty Street - Silent hill ost: Tears of...
The Encounter from the Monsters - Parasite Eve 2 OST: Heaven Sent Killer
The Escape - Parasite Eve 2 ost: Metamorphosis
Safety at the Sunset's home - Silent hill 2 ost; True
A Darkening Sky.
My parent’s murders and my brother’s kidnapping was on the local news, and there was no idea on who the culprit was. The police had came and questioned me, I explained where I was that night and Sunset confirmed my story. In the end they ruled me out as a possible suspect, and admittedly I had ask them to inform me on any developments on the investigation. They said they can’t make promises but they would try.
I asked if I could gather some clothes, and but they refused to let me into my own home. I frowned, but I understood...I’d probably end contaminating he crime scene or something.
“Mr Trainor what do you know of this Pon-E drug?” The investigator asked.
“Only that it turns you into a pony for a fair few hours, and it’s permanent if you overdose.” I answered, “I’ve never “rode” if that’s what your asking.”
“What do you mean by “rode” Mr Trainor?” He asked me confused.
“It’s the local slang for it.” I explained, “You can’t go into a bar these days without someone mentioning it.”
They questioned Sunset next and I confirmed Sunset’s statement when they asked me to. It became a point of interest when they mentioned Sunset was attending the university near the centre of town, didn’t she mention last night that the university in Newcastle was studying this drug?
Sunset and I left the police station, we both wondered where we would both start our own investigation.
“Any idea’s where we could start looking for clues?” Sunset asked, “I mean this is a big city, we could look all day and not turn up with anything.”
“Well we could check out the university and ask there, but I doubt we would get any more than what you’ve already said.” I replied, “And we could track down a dealer and beat the answer out of him.”
“What!” Sunset scolded, “You can’t just beat someone up for answers!”
“That’s not what I’m getting at.” I argued, “Find out where he’s getting it from, and follow the trail back.”
“I see...” Sunset gave me a look of concern, “...But still Sky.”
“But nothing Sunset!” I shouted, “My parents are dead, and my brothers been kidnapped! I am not going to sit around and wait for the police to come up with something! I an going to get my brother back one way or another, and if it means I have to smash a few skulls in then so be it!”
“Sky...” Sunset looked at me with a dejected look.
“I’m sorry for snapping at you Sunset...” I sighed, “I just want my brother back and some answers.”
As we walked through the streets, both of us felt a chill down our spines. I stopped and took a look around, everything seemed so run down. This wasn’t anything unusual considering we were in the older parts of town, but that wasn’t what was bothering me.
“Where is everyone?” I asked, “It’s nearly noon, and this place should be packed right now.” Sunset looked around and quickly saw what I was getting at, “Even if this the old part of town it still should be busy.”
“Should we look around?” Sunset wondered, “This doesn’t feel right...it’s far to quiet.”
Sunset and I continued down the abandoned street, each step we took echoing. I scanned our surroundings, there was something definitely off here. After a while we soon found out why the places was seemed so empty, there was scattered and torn clothes littering the street and the inside of the various stores in the area.
“What happened here?” I knelt down, and examined a pile of ruined clothes on the floor, “...It looks there was struggle here, but from what?” Sunset examined another nearby pile.
“These reek of Poison Joke...” She stated, and picked up a nearby beverage cup, “Do you think the drinks were spiked?” I looked up and noticed the various bits of litter and ruined food one the floor.
“Shit.” I cursed, “It’s lunch time, but where did everybody go? This place should be littered with ponies right now. How does an entire street go empty in the middle of the day?”
“...This is Canterlot high all over again.” Sunset stated, looking around the empty street once again, “but it’s much, much worse this time.”
“This happened before?” I asked curious.
“Yes, this has happened before.” Sunset answered, “but everypony is going missing this time, it was just a panic in the school before.”
“Don’t you mean everybody?” I corrected, “Anyway let’s look around maybe we’ll find some answers.”
“Should we split up?” I shook my head no, and explained it would be better if we stuck together in a situation like this.
It didn’t take long to decide on where to start looking, and with every building we checked it was all the same, clear signs of a struggle, discarded food and drink, and a pile of clothes one the floor and furniture.
“Bloodstains?” Sunset commented, “and bullet casings?” I looked to where Sunset was pointing. The walls were cover in blood spatter and what I guess would be brain matter amongst the dried blood. I took a closer look, and noticed a trail of blood that led into another room at the end of the hall.
“...Maybe we’ll find something if we follow the trail.” I suggested, “Whatever is causing this, it’s taking the bodies dead or alive.”
We quietly followed the trail, up to where it stopped by the door. Sunset and I exchanged a look and I slowly opened the door. The first thing that hit was the foul smell.
“Oh fucking Jesus H. Christ on a bike!” I winced at the smell, “Smells like something died in there.”
“Oh Celestia I’m going to be sick!” Sunset exclaimed as she saw what was in the centre of the room.
There was a body, or rather half of one lying in a pile of blood, organs and some other liquid I didn’t recognise. It looked like the body had partially melted away and the rest looked like it was in stuck in mid transformation into a pony.
“Oh fucking hell...” I resisted the urge to throw up at the sight, “Is this what happens if you take a dodgy patch of those pills?”
“No this is something else entirely...” Sunset commented, “Poison Joke only does this if someone’s tampered with it.”
“Is someone trying to change the recipe of the pills?” I asked, “You seem to know a lot about this Poison Joke, would you care to explain?”
“I already told you Poison Joke isn’t natural to earth, everyone seems to think it’s a new species of plant.” She explained, “But it’s not, it’s not even from this world...at least not the original variety.”
“What?” I looked at her in disbelief.
“This variety was grown here.” Sunset continued, “I’ve studied both samples back at the university, we call this new variety Toxic Joke and I fear someone is trying to perfect it for these pills.”
“...There’s something you’re not telling me isn’t there?” Before Sunset could even answer the body on the floor began to twitch and it tried to stand up.
“RUN NOW!!!” Sunset shouted, we both watched as the body stood up right, twitching as root like tendrils shot out of the remains of it, a twisted mix of pony, human and plant gurgled and moaned. Sunset and I made bolted out the door.
That thing gave chase, the squelching of each step it took as it stumbled clumsily after us. It slurped and moaned as it struggled to keep up, it lashed out with it’s tendrils hoping to catch either of us.
“What the hell is that thing?” I shouted to Sunset, as we ran. We stopped in our tracks as another one of those monsters came out from the door in front of us, this one looked like the last but with the difference being it was made of multiple bodies, “Down the stairs! Christ we’ve walked right into a hive of these things!”
“...H-Hel...p...u-uuuuuussssss!!!” The monsters cried as we ran, “....ack...pl....eaaaassse!!!”
“Don’t stop!” Sunset shouted, “Don’t let those things catch you!” We ran down flight after flight of stairs with those creatures in pursuit of us, and more and more joining them.
We reached the ground floor and rushed towards the entrance, we both barged through the door and the sunlight shone through the entrance. The monsters writhed in pain when they were exposed to the sunlight, and burst into flames.
“What the hell is happening to them?” I exclaimed, “Is the light doing this?”
“These things can’t stand the light, Toxic Joke withers and dies when it’s exposed to sunlight light.” Sunset explained, “We had to keep that sample in a dark secluded area to study it.”
“Then we need to get out of here right now!” I shouted, “The hell is going on here?”
“Let’s head back to my place, and I’ll explain there.” Sunset suggested, I nodded in agreement. The journey back was quiet, but thankfully we weren’t attacked by any more of those things. It was unnerving to see the place so empty, it wasn’t just that street that was littered with empty clothes so I assumed they had either been dragged off to who knows where or became one of those things.
Sunset looked around, locked the door behind us and shut the blinds. She checked every corner of her flat before sitting down.
“What the hell is happening?” I demanded, “Just what the hell are those things? What do you know Sunset?”
“Look Sky this isn’t easy for me to explain.” She started, rubbing her temples trying to come up with a way to explain, “Oh by Celestia there’s really no other way to explain this is there.” She sighed and continued, “That plant isn’t from this world, but a one where magic rules over instead of Science.”
“Excuse me?” I exclaimed, “Next you’ll tell me it’s from a land of magical horses where all sorts mythical beings live. Really Sunset you expect me to believe that?”
Sunset shot me a dirty look and raised her hand forward, the next thing I knew I was slammed into the wall and held up in the air.
“Do you believe me now?” She asked angrily.
“Okay...” I replied, “Say if I believe you, what’s that plant doing here?”
“That is what I would like to know.” Sunset answered, and loosened whatever was holding me up against the wall, “That plant does not grow here, and that horrific variant we saw...” She trailed off, and sighed, “Look Poison Joke usually affects other ponies, yes ponies Sky! It’s usually some random, but it’s mostly a harmless change.” Sunset paused for a moment, “But on humans it’ll turn them into ponies temporarily, and permanently if they overdose on it. The only reason Poison Joke does this is because it grows on Equestrain soil.”
“So what about this Toxic Joke then?” I asked.
“There’s something in the soil here,” Sunset explained, “It’s like the soil’s been contaminated by something.” I realised what Sunset was getting at.
“Pollution.” I stated, “I’m guessing that there’s next to no pollution in this Equestria?”
“Yes!” She exclaimed, “It’s a basic fact that Poison Joke gets it properties from the soil and environment it grows in.”
“Oh god!” I exclaimed, “If normal pollution does this I dread to think what radiation would do to it.”
“That’s just it someone is growing this stuff on purpose Sky.” Sunset continued, “If this stuff gets loose who knows what havoc it could cause.”
“Surely there’s some way of stopping all this?” I asked, “I mean this is something straight out of a horror.”
“Toxic Joke is vulnerable to light and anything that’ll burn it, just like any plant.” Sunset explained, “Poison Joke acts the same way.”
“Will that magic, or what ever you did to me be of any use?” I asked.
“Not by much.” Sunset stated, “My magic is much, much weaker here in this world. I can’t really do much outside basic telekinesis. Back in Equestria there’s plenty of ambient magic in the air, but here...”
“There’s next to nothing to draw on.” I finished.
“More or less, it’s not that I can’t do magic, but the lack of magic in the air makes it significantly harder to perform it.” Sunset continued, “Each unicorn has their own personal supply of magic reserves, but without the magic in the air it’s like trying to draw water from a stone. I don’t doubt even an alicorn would have a hard time using magic here.”
“So I guess you’re from this Equestria then?” I asked intrigued.
“I am yes...This isn’t even my original form.” Sunset chuckled awkwardly, “I was turned into a human when I first came here through that mirror.”
“Well that would explain all the weird stuff people have been seeing lately.” I stated, “People disappearing, which I’m assuming they’ve become whatever those things are, and there’s someone trying to turn people into ponies on purpose on the loose as well.”
“Not only that I’m pretty sure whoever is causing all this is from Equestria as well, and I’m pretty certain this isn’t Discords doing either.”
“Discord?” I asked, “And that is?”
“Oh he’s a god of chaos.” Sunset replied simply, as if it was common knowledge.
“Oh well that’s just great, let me guess if it isn't him it must be one of the other four.” I stated sarcastically.
“You have four chaos gods here?” Sunset asked, missing my sarcastic tone.
“Oh why yes of course,” I replied, “Let’s see there’s Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle and Tzeentch.” I counted each on one hand, “Next you’ll be telling me you haven’t heard about the God Emperor of Mankind.”
“Oh grow up Sky!” Sunset exclaimed angrily, finally catching on to my sarcasm. I shook my head in disbelief.
“Anyway what are we going to do about all this?” I asked.
“W-We’ll keep looking around to see if we can find who is responsible for all this.” Sunset answered, “I’m pretty sure whoever is behind all this is responsible for your parents murder and brother’s kidnapping as well.”
I looked outside the window, it would be getting dark soon. If Sunset was right then those things would be coming out as well, and who knows what they’ll do to the people here.
“All hell will break out soon...” I stated, “I wonder if the police know anything about this?”
“I think they know already, and entire street just doesn’t disappear like that without somebody noticing.” Sunset concluded, “Do you think they’ll send in the SWAT teams?”
“Without a doubt.” I replied, “I don’t know how effective firearms will be against those things.” I turned on the TV, and it was already on the news. The street we were in was vastly different from when we last saw it.
The buildings were covered in organ like vines and tendrils, much like those abomination were. They were littered with various blood red flowers which I assumed was the Toxic Joke Sunset mentioned.
“Oh god, are those bodies I attached to the walls?” I wondered. The tendrils were growing from lifeless bodies that had been cut open, dissected and rooted onto the walls and ceiling.
The footage shown next was graphic as one of the SWAT members sent in was violently torn apart by one of those creatures. The rest of the team opened fire and took the creature down, only for it to get back up a few moments later. We both watched on in horror as the rest of the team was torn apart into nothing more that a haze of crimson red mist.
“I don’t doubt this will spread if left unchecked.” Sunset added, “And I’m certain this place will be safe for much longer.”
“Any idea where we should go?” I asked.
“The University.” Sunset stated with certainly, “It’ll only buy us sometime, but the research there might give us some answers that might help us stop all this.”
“How are we going to stop this?” I exclaimed, “Whatever all this is. It’s bigger than both of us! Is this...Is this someone’s sick idea of an experiment?”
“I just don’t know Sky I really don’t.” Sunset said solemnly.
