One Bad Apple

by The Blue EM2

Rating: teen
Tags: Science Fiction, Babs Seed, Alternate Universe, Granny Smith, Anthro, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Mystery, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Other, Adventure
Length: 6306

A hairdresser in New York gets more than he bargained for.

Brian Smith is a hairdresser in NYC, with cousins in Australia. One day, he gets an odd email from Kurt, along with spam from an MLP group.

The next day, it rapidly becomes apparent that something is wrong with him.

Or should I say her...

This story is my contribution to the events of Lavender Heart: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/360864/lavender-heart. I'd link the group but it's rated mature, so the main story it is.

Rated teen to be absolutely safe.

Published 2018-10-30 21:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-11-11 20:14:11 UTC

Bad Hair Day

It was a typically slow day in Manhattan. Brian Smith had got back from work, and was hopping onto the subway to do some shopping for food. This was a fairly standard procedure for him, but little did he realise that this would be the worst subway trip of his life.

He was quick to notice some of the passengers were looking at him strangely, with perplexed expressions on their faces. It was soon clear what they were looking at, as a close examination in the window of the subway car showed his hair was starting to get longer. Not only that, it was now pink with magenta highlights!

“What the?” he said. This surely wasn’t possible! He knew enough about hairstyling to know that hair didn’t simply change colour suddenly!

“What an odd colour,” commented a passenger nearby.

“Maybe it’s a new fashion?” somebody else suggested.

“Well, it wasn’t like that a moment ago!” added a third passenger.

He also noted his eyes had changed to a bright spring green. Some of the fringe of his new hair had started to get into his eyes, causing him to blow it away temporarily before it fell back into its usual position.

Suddenly, the world started to get larger around him, and before he knew what was happening, he couldn’t hear a thing! Just as abruptly has his hearing had disappeared, his hearing returned, just everything was very loud. A quick inspection revealed a pair of pony ears had sprouted on top of his head, and turned light tan. The new ears could pick up everything that was being said, as they rotated like giant RADAR dishes atop his skull. One middle-aged woman asked if his parents knew he was out alone on the subway, but Brian was more alarmed by the fact there were holes in the top if his skull.

Some of the passengers, unable to resist the urge to stick it on the internet, brought out their cell phones to record the reactions. Nobody saw it, but Brian sure felt it, as what felt like a brush burst out of his backside and slid onto the side of his hip. The feeling of it was enough to make his face go red.

At that point, Brian looked like a 12-year old boy with pony ears, a tail, and the ridiculous hair that made it impossible to see where he was going. He needed to get off the subway at the next stop before anything worse happened.

And happen it did.

Fur erupted all across his body, turning a light tan colour as it did so. Some freckles appeared on his cheeks, as the bones in his cheeks and nose cracked and broke apart, reforming in a new shape as his face stretched into a slight muzzle. Several of his teeth abruptly flattened, like those of an omnivore. He was barely recognizable as human by this point, but the changes only got worse.

Brian audibly groaned as his manhood receded into his body, and to add insult to injury her nipples swelled into a pair of breasts. Not massively large, but still noticeable.

Her voice abruptly rose in pitch, to the point it suddenly sounded like that of a young female. Another shot of pain blasted through her body as her toes shrank into her feet, followed by her legs gaining muscle mass to support her weight. She still had her hands, which was a small mercy, but they had shrunk in size, and were covered in the same fur that covered the rest of her body.

The train came to a stop. Brian threw her hood up, and ran for the door, lumbering across the platform with all the grace of a stampeding elephant.

“Watch it!” shouted a passenger, whom she bashed into. He had been carrying a box of doughnuts, and the contents fell all over the floor, making a frightful mess.

“Sorry!” she replied. Not only had her voice got higher, but it was now a distinctive Bronx accent. She charged for the bathroom, brushing past a policeman.

This simply made the problem worse, as the policeman was searching for a hooded graffiti artist, and simply switched directions.

“Stop!” he shouted, going into hot pursuit.

Brian ran through the door for the female WC, slamming it behind her and pulling her hood down to take a look. What she saw horrified her. Where once a human being had been was simply a horselike freak. Ears, a tail, and even a muzzle made that clear enough to her.

“What the fuck?” she asked, quietly. “This isn’t even possible!”

The policeman smashed down the door. “Freeze!” he shouted. “Put your hands on your head!”

Brian complied, and turned around, showing the freak she was to the cop. His jaw fell in shock.

“Where did you escape from?” he asked, confused. “Right, this way, we need to get this cleaned up, pronto!”

It wasn’t long before the poor girl was in cuffs, and being driven across the city to the Police station nearby.

It didn’t even occur to her that people had filmed the entire incident on their phones. Even worse, the MTA had footage of the entire incident on their CCTV system, and it wasn’t long before a brony had spotted it and copied it over to a hard drive.

But Brian didn’t have that to worry about. Sat in a chair in the lobby of the police station, she was on show to all who walked through. Some of the police, and indeed the public, took interest, either assuming her to be some sort of cosplayer or an escapee from some freaky science experiment.

But one girl was more observant. “Look mommy!” she called, as the Police handed back her stolen bike. “It’s Babs Seed!”

The mother looked unconvinced. “I suspect that somebody dressed up as her.”

“No,” Brian said, angry. “My name is Brian Smith. I’m a hairdresser, and was a human until about an hour ago. You gotta help me.”

“Sorry, we can’t stay,” said the mother.

As they walked away, Brian began to despair. “No!” she cried. “You can’t leave me! I’ll go insane if I don’t get help! I don’t deserve this! HELP ME, PLEASE!!!”

“Pipe down!” shouted a policeman.

Brian put her head in her hands, and sobbed. Her mind cast back in time to yesterday, when this whole mess began...

Author's Note

Hello!

I hereby join the Anthros of Harmony writing team, adding Babs Seed to the action. With thanks to kwr2k13 for the transformation.

This story will progress as and when I have time, and if the other writers can fill in the details.

See ya!

Lost Days

Brian awoke as a bright light swung down from overhead, illuminating her face. She’d been locked into a small room, and had been tied down.

“Good, she’s awake,” said a distorted voice.

“Who...who are ya?” Brian gasped.

“That’s not important,” the voice replied. “Who are you?”

“Fuck you!” Brian replied.

“Answer my question,” the voice said again.

“Kiss my plot!” Brian shouted, before cringing. “What did I just say?”

She didn’t have time to consider as a blast of electricity coursed through her body. She barely had time to scream before it stopped.

“What is your name?” the voice demanded.

“Brian...Smith,” she answered.

“When were you born?”

“17th September, 2000.”

“What is your occupation?”

“I’m at school, but I’m also an apprentice hairdresser.”

Another voice spoke from behind the grille. “That can’t be right! The scans we ran suggested that at most she’d be 12!”

“I’ll deal with this,” said the first voice.

Suddenly, a door swung open, and a man in full HazMat gear stepped forward.

“Greetings,” he said. “I’m General Harrison. You’ve caused us quite the mess, having to lock New York down and impose a travel ban into the city.”

“Huh?” Brian asked.

“You’re a media sensation!” Harrison replied, and switched on the TV monitor behind him. An NBC broadcast appeared, with the footage of the Subway car she’d been travelling in, complete with the entire transformation. A bar at the side read ‘Footage supplied courtesy of MTA’.

Brian wanted to throw up.

“And this is the moment when a national scare began, when according to this footage, a young man changed into a horse-like creature.” The footage abruptly shifted, to show the presenter speaking to one of the men who had been on the train.

“Sir, what did you see that night, and why did you choose to record it?”

“Well,” the man said, "I saw a young man...change into whatever that thing was. I recorded it as I feared it was some sort of new disease.”

Harrison switched channels again, this time to the BBC.

“According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the incident is being treated as a virus outbreak. New York has been quarantined, and no flights are being permitted in or out of the city. We now go live with the director of the CDC, Robert R. Redfield.”

Redfield came up on screen, seated behind a desk.

“Mr Redfield, what can you tell us about this disease?”

“Well,” Mr Redfield replied, "We at first thought this was an isolated case. But it has subsequently been confirmed that there have been other cases across the globe. Our colleagues in the Australian Border Force have confirmed several cases in Western Australia, and another in Alberta was confirmed by the RCMP. This is a global problem, and we are looking into all issues to solve it.”

Brian hung her head. “Oh god,” she whispered. Her face was all over the news, and she had inadvertently started a health scare. And what about that bit with Western Australia? “Kurt was right...”

“Who’s Kurt?” asked Harrison.

“I need to explain this story, from the very beginning,” Brian told him.

“I’m listening...”

Flashback-3 days earlier...

Brian completed another haircut, with another satisfied customer thanking him for his work.

Brian was not the tallest of people, and was of light build, with brown hair and blue eyes. Although just an apprentice, it seemed he already had the knack for removing hair without producing legions of bald people.

He reported to the desk and clocked out, his shift being over.

“See you tomorrow!” the desk manager called.

“See ya!” Brian replied.

Getting into the upstate apartment he shared with his family, he walked to his room, dumping his bag as he went along and hitting the switch on his computer.

“Let’s see, who’s contacted me?” he murmured to himself. His job, alongside schoolwork, usually meant he was deluged in emails. And the usual ones were there; Wargaming.net promoting this, that and the other, his gaming club posting the dates for the next get-togethers, and notifications from YouTube that Defunctland and Yesterworld had uploaded new videos.

But one email surprised him. It was from an Ashley J Smith. He didn’t know anybody of that name. He clicked on it, to immediately be presented with a bizarre image:

It looked like somebody had plonked a horse’s head on a human body. But the message below was far stranger.

“Howdy Brian!” it read.

“You’re probably wonderin’ who this is. Well, I am-I was-yer cousin Kurt. I got an email from this group called MLP: Theory Analysts and boom, I looked like this!

Yer littler cousin Amy got it too, and so did most of us! We’re now engagin’ in spreadin’ the magic of friendship across Australia, and Ah just wanted to catch up with ya!

How’s the Big Apple?

Ashley.”

“This is a joke,” Brian thought. He knew his cousin had some weird tastes, but this just took the cake!

He typed back, “Really good photoshop skills there, Kurt.”

It was the whole MLP thing that got him riled. He knew Kurt and Amy liked it, but he just couldn’t stand the show. It was too sugary and cheerful, full of the hip-hip-hooray bullshit he hated. It reminded him of when his English class had been forced to read Little Women. He shuddered at the memory.

He then deleted the email, but just as he did it another one flew into his inbox, from a group called ‘MLP: Theory Analysts.”

“Seriously, what the hell?” he asked, immediately deleting that one as well.

Another one from the group suddenly appeared in his inbox. It promptly went into the delete pile.

When a third appeared, along with the message, “Stop deleting them,” Brian had had enough. He clicked on the email, without looking at the contents, and sent the following reply.

“Hey, stop it, or I WILL report you for spam.”

A reply appeared almost immediately. “Watch the video, and we will.”

Brian hit the report button anyway, and clicked on the link. Immediately, his eyes were assailed by a bright light emanating from his screen. He coveredthem, to avoid getting a seizure, and proceeded to watch the video, setting to double speed to get it over with.

It was a video about some little horse called Babs, or whatever. Brian didn’t care. He just wanted this person to stop spamming him.

They did, thankfully. He deleted the video from his internet history, and completely forgot about the events of the evening.

His next day was the same as usual, he had work, and got home. But his parents were out, and that meant a subway trip to get groceries.

“I believe you know the rest,” Brian finished.

Harrison nodded. “Right now, the FBI are hacking the Analyst servers, as we now have a connection between all the cases. They were sent a video that caused them to change into characters from the television show, ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’. If we can get the evidence, we’ll have them in jail in no time.”

“What about me?” Brian asked.

“Our science team is working on how to change you back, but this sort of thing takes time.”

The news suddenly came up again.

“We now go live to Megan McCarthy, showrunner of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’.

There she was, sat behind the desk.

“What do you think of this incident?”

“It’s bizarre, to say the least. What is most surprising is that this incident appears to be a background character.”

Two images came up on screen. One was a police capture shot of Brian, the other of one of the ponies off the show. There was an irritating, earworm-like song playing in the background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejBKKbA2a7A

“The resemblance to Babs Seed is uncanny, to say the least.”

Brian perked up. That was the name of the character in the video she was sent! She began to shake with rage. “When I get my hands on them-”

“We’ll deal with that,” Harrison said, walking over and releasing her restraints. “I think you’re stable enough to be allowed to walk around. We’ve got a PC set up for you, if you so wish.”

Brian walked over, although it wasn’t easy without feet, and sat down at the PC. She brought up the Analysts page, and started to type.

Author's Note

Next chapter's up! Hope you enjoy!

Revelations

Brian waited on the response from the Analysts, twiddling her thumbs in boredom. Eventually, a ping came through, as a message had arrived.

It read: "Babs Seed, Babs Seed, what we gonna do?”

It was the lyrics from that irritating song. Brian roared in anger, and typed in: "Why did you do it?”

“Do what, exactly?”

Brian shook as she typed her response. "Ruin my life? Turn my cousins into freaks? What does this achieve?”

A few moments passed, until another answer came in. "We didn’t ruin your life.”

“Yes you fucking did! I look like a horse, and nobody will hire me now!”

A few moments later, an answer arrived. "We saw a lonely child in need of friends when we saw you. A cold, aloof person who was alone. You are just like her.”

Brian sighed. "You could have at least asked me before sending that email. You gave me absolutely no choice, nor did you give my cousins any choice.”

“It’s not a matter of choice, Babs. They were all destined to be those characters, just as you were destined to be who you are now.”

Talking with this person clearly wasn’t helping. "Well, destiny this!”

Brian logged out. She’d had enough of this conversation. But it was apparent her family weren’t the only ones affected by this. She then remembered what Redford had said.

“Our colleagues in the Australian Border Force have confirmed several cases in Western Australia, and another in Alberta was confirmed by the RCMP.”

There was a pattern. They were targeting NATO countries. So, they must be somehow connected to NATO’s enemies!

Another person stepped into the room. “Good evening Brian,” he said. He was dressed in a white labcoat. “I’m Doctor Maynard, and I’ll be looking after you and overseeing your medical care.”

“You give me my shots, I take it?” Brian answered.

“More or less,” Maynard replied. “But first, I need to take a blood sample.”

Brian turned her chair around. “Why?”

Maynard smiled. “I believe that General Harrison mentioned something about a cure. Well, we have a sample of your blood before you were infected. If we can compare it to your blood after the infection started, it could hold the key to making you human again!”

Brian’s face lit up. “Really?” she said.

“I can’t guarantee anything,” Maynard told her. “But it’s a lead worth pursuing in my books.”

He took out a needle, and extracted what he needed. Brian winced briefly, but wasn’t overtly bothered. After all, she’d received injections before, and this was effectively that-just backwards!

“Thank you,” said Dr Maynard. “I’ll get back to you when I’ve had a breakthrough.”

General Harrison returned a few hours later. “We’ve got your cousins,” he said.

“How’d you find them?”

“The Australian Army performed a Snatch-and-Grab for us,” the General replied. “Don’t worry, all entirely legal. We’ve got them in the medical ward, and we’ve performed a blood extraction for analysis.”

“So, you can cure them?”

“That’s the intention. Was there something you wanted?”

Brian sighed. “Sir, I think I have a lead on who might be behind this.”

“I’m listening.”

“Sir,” Brian began, “I’ve noticed that the infections have thus far occurred in 3 countries. There’s Australia, Canada and now the US.”

“Odd that,” Harrison answered. “One of the ones we recovered, a Mouse-like creature, is an American citizen by the name of Alex Viator. But you are the first to occur on American soil.”

“But what do the Analysts get out of this?”

“Clearly, they’re not afraid to make enemies with 3 superpowers in one day.” Harrison shrugged. “I’ve got a meeting with the DoD tomorrow, and I’ll need your help to convince them of the dangers of this threat.”

Suddenly, a claxon went off. Harrison sprinted over to a monitor, and pulled on his helmet and gas mask. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“They’ve escaped!” shouted a soldier down the other end of the console. "We can’t slow them down! We’ll hold them off as long as we can, but-AAAARGH!” His voice abruptly cut off, and his brains were splattered all over the monitor.

Harrison sighed. “Well, shit.” He reloaded his MP5 and holstered a Magnum .44. “I’ll have to make the most of a bad situation."

“What’s happening?” Brian asked.

“Seems like your friends have woken up,” the General replied. “But I’ve already got counters for that. Ready the Talons for deployment.”

“Talon 1 thru 5 are already on the ground, moving into position.”

“Wait for my word before moving in.”

“Do you need me to do anything?” asked Brian.

Harrison nodded. “Yes. I have a plan to stop them. And for that, you’ll need to play hostage. We get you in close, and then BAM!”

Brian nodded. “I’ll do it.”

They hurried down the corridor, Harrison holding his revolver to Brian’s head. Of course, it was all pretend, but the enemy didn’t know this.

Several guards filed in behind them, ready to fire if things got nasty. They rounded the bend, and before them stood Ashley and her band of freaks. It made Brian want to puke, seeing these perversions of humans.

Harrison raised his voice, jamming his revolver into Brian’s temple. “I believe she belongs to you?” he said. “I’ll let her go if you surrender yourselves, and tell us what you know about how you came to be the way you are.” He nodded. "So far, so good.”

Brian wandered forward, and saw Ashley kneel down.

“Hey there. You doin’ okay, sugarcube? Ah’m Ashley, and Ah’m yer cousin. This here’s Alex, and o’ course, yer family. Mah brother, Big MacIntosh, Granny Smith, and cousin Apple Bloom!”

“Howdy, cousin! Ah’m so glad t’ meet ya!” One of the freaks ran forward, and hugged Brian. “You doin’ okay?” Who the hell did she think she was?

Another one of them chided the small one. “Now, now, don’t be overcrowdin’ her. Give her a chance to get t’ know us better.” She turned to Brian, “Ah’m yer grandmother, youngin, but ya can call me Granny.”

Brian had had enough. With a cry of rage, she shoved the small one back. "Piss off!" she snarled. "The last thing I want is to be related to freaks like you!"

"Babs, Ah thought-" Ashley’s started to say.

"Don't you fucking call me that!" Brian interrupted before she could continue. "You ruined my life! I was perfectly happy before you sent me that email and those Analysts turned me into a freak."

"The Analysts want to save the world and spread the Magic of Friendship." Ashley stated, reminded of what Twilight told her when they first discovered their current mission after their initial changes.

"And I imagine they also told you it was the Fausticorn's will to risk your ass instead of them doing it?" Brian was clearly furious. "What right do they have to use our world as their playground?"

Ashley couldn't answer. She hadn't even considered that.

Brian continued. "The Army, well, see, they have been keepin' an eye on me. They're already workin' on an antidote for my...condition. And then they can cure us all!"

Ashley looked over at Brian, “A cure? What kinda lies are they feedin’ ya, sugarcube? We aren’t some disease a little needle can fix..”

Just as Ashley reached her cousin, Alex vanished in an emerald flash startling the guards who started to look around.

“YOU WANT TO KILL YOUR OWN MEN, GENERAL? HERE LET ME HELP YOU!”

The General saw a fire-maned mouse woman glaring at him. “You are not worthy of the rank you hold, hiding behind a noncombatant. You're not worthy of being human more are those who blindly follow you.”

Harrison laughed. “What a fool,” he thought. "Says the Servant of an Alicorn too scared to show her own face. Have you really questioned what is happening here?"

He began to step toward her, calmly, his NCB gear clanking as he strode forward. Alex tried to conjure up a spell, but it spluttered and died in her hands as the General got closer.

"What the?" she exclaimed, visibly terrified.

"Not so powerful now, are you?" the General laughed. "It always makes me smile to see my foes shit in their boots, upon realising what a Hornet's Nest they've kicked up."

With that, he struck her in the face, knocking her out.

Brian suddenly became aware of a hail of gunshots behind her, as another soldier strode forward. Ashley was caught in the shoulder and fell down, injured. Brian saw her go for a revolver, and grabbed a taser in response.

But something odd was happening. The previously unstoppable earth pony could barely lift the pistol.

"Wha'?" she said. "It's like mah magic's gone!"

"Quite correct," Brian said, and loaded the taser.

"No," Ashley whispered. "Don't do this."

"I have no choice." Brian pulled the trigger, and Ashley's collapsed.

The same solder took down the others effortlessly, stun bullets rendering them unconscious.

“Targets down!” he radioed in.

Brian laughed. "Stupid fool. She's so honest she can't even detect when she's being stalled."

Meanwhile, 4 of the others stepped toward the dragon. “Initiate the field,” said one.

One waved his hand, and a powerful signal began to emanate. The dragon’s fire abruptly dried up, giving them a window to engage.

“Open fire, AP,” radioed one. The solider equipped with an M249 opened fire, the bullets tearing through the dragon’s carapace, as tank shells rained down upon the creature.

The soldiers strode forward, firing as they did so. The creature began to buckle and shrink under the onslaught, eventually being reduced to nothing but a human.

The first of them handcuffed her, switching on his radio. “Target down, prepare for transit.”

Brian saw Harrison and the other soldiers form up near her, carrying the bodies of the anthros.

"Well done," Harrison told her. "You've picked the right side, and stopped a group of extremely dangerous terrorists. Come on, let's go! Get them into storage!"

Author's Note

Tension builds! Let us see what happens next!

The End (Bad Ending)

There was no stopping them now. The portal was now open. General Harrison surveyed his work with pride. All those years of being regarded as a crackpot, finally redeemed.

He turned to Brian. “Good. That’s one less loose end to worry about.”

By the time anybody realised he had a gun in his hand, it was too late.

The bullets fired from said gun punched through Brian’s shoulder and stomach. She was thrown onto the floor and lay there, bleeding.

“What the fuck?” she gasped. “I was on your side!”

Harrison shook his head. “I guess you are more like the Apples than you thought,” he said mockingly. “You’re so honest, you can’t tell when somebody’s telling a lie.”

He stepped away. “I give Brian around 3 minutes to bleed out, which is plenty of time for her to consider whether any of this was worth it.”

Alex appeared suddenly, having escaped containment, and used her ki magic to blow open the containment chambers. However, her magic was unable to reverse the changes to Kurt.

“That was no cure!” she said angrily. “It’s killing Kurt, and furthermore I cannot stop it.”

“Ya mean?” Apple Bloom asked, her eyes watering.

“Don’t you worry about that,” Kurt said. “We have your cousin to worry about.”

They ran over to Brian’s dying form. She was heaving air in as best she could.

“What...are you idiots...doing here?” she gasped. “Get...after him...and stop him!”

Kurt put pressure on Brian’s wound, whilst Alex did her best to try and heal her. But it was no use.

“The damage is too severe,” the mouse-like creature informed them. “I can’t save her.”

Brian spoke one last time. “Keep going...and stop him. I am spent.”

With that, her head rolled to one side, and all was silent.

“What are we gonna do?” Big Mac asked.

Kurt looked back. “We go after Harrison...and we kill the bastard.”

The team set off, heavy of heart and intent on their purpose. But behind them, in the room, Dr Maynard was up to something.

Kurt had grabbed a pistol from a table nearby, and was sure he could use it. They staggered into the control room, and found Harrison was busy packing up everything and anything.

Mac set up with an LMG, and immediately opened fire. The soldiers opened fire themselves, and fanned out in order to avoid being hit.

Kurt pushed up the middle and fired upon Harrison, who returned in kind. They closed upon each other.

There was the portal. Suddenly, a tendril shot out of it, filling Kurt with energy and restoring him to Ashley.

“Well, that’s convenient!” Harrison laughed. “Talk about a deus ex-”

Suddenly, he was hit by a shotgun blast. There, was Brian.

“Brian, what’re ya doin’?” asked Ashley.

The anthro looked at her cockily. “The name’s Babs,” she said.

“Don’t kill him Babs, it won’t achieve nothin’,” Ashley told her.

“Yes, that’s right, just go and obey orders. Do as your cousin tells you.” The general laughed. “Act as yourself.”

Babs had two choices; follow her own heart, or do as she was told.

It must have taken her all of 3 seconds to decide.

She pulled the trigger. Harrison was sent flying and to his death at the bottom of the gantry.

Ashley ran over to the computer and punched some buttons. No result.

“Ah can’t shut the portal,” she said. “NATO is pouring through at an unstoppable rate. We’ve failed.”

“Come on!” Ayumi shouted. “Extraction is waiting!”

They ran to another portal, and emerged in Australia, knowing that two worlds were locked in a state of war, with nothing to end it all. Both Earth and Equestria were doomed.

Author's Note

If you want to read the good ending, click here: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/361690/19/aspects-of-harmony/preventing-a-war-the-good-ending

Hell Breaks Loose (edited 7/11/18)

Secretary of Defence James Mattis walked through the halls of the Pentagon, flanked by guards. Behind him was Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO. They had been called to an urgent meeting with Department 7 of the US Military, though what it was about was unclear.

They were directed into a room of the main corridor. Standing at the screen of the room was General Harrison. He saluted both men, and they in return.

“Be seated,” Mattis instructed everyone. The guards formed up outside the door, as well as inside the door and around the room.

Stoltenberg looked up to Harrison. “What is the issue that you bring to our attention, sir?” he asked. “And may I ask what Department 7 is?”

Harrison nodded. “Sir, Department 7 is a branch of the United States Military specifically designated to deal with supernatural and magical threats to the USA.”

Stoltenberg looked like he was about to laugh. “Magical threats?” he asked. “There is no such thing!”

Mattis looked over. “Mr Secretary, please let the General explain.”

Harrison coughed, and moved the slideshow to bring up an image. “Sirs, around January of 2017, Australian media reported a most bizarre case. A young man, named John Radderson, was transformed into a human-pony hybrid faintly resembling a character from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.”

Stoltenberg was shocked. “Is this some sort of joke?”

Harrison moved the slideshow on, showing an image of a creature that resembled both a horse and a human female. Next to it was a screenshot of Twilight Sparkle.

“These images were secured by ASIS operatives working with us.”

“Our allies have no reason to lie to us,” Mattis noted. “Please continue, General.”

Harrison nodded. “Suddenly, it began happening on a massive scale. By the end of last year, no fewer than 11 cases had been reported in Australia. Then it began happening on a global scale. 2 US citizens, Alex Viator, and Tyler Hartfield, were transformed whilst overseas. Then one was reported by the RCMP in Canada.”

He paused. “And now, one has occurred on US soil.” He switched the slideshow again to show the MTA footage from a few days ago. “A young man called Brian Smith was changed into one of these things whilst on a Subway journey. She’s currently safe at our facility.”

“Is there a connection between these cases?” asked Mattis.

“We found that all of them received an email from a group called MLP: Theory Analysts. We think this is the first incident of a weapon like this being transmitted through the internet.”

“In what way do you think this is a weapon?”

“We found out who is behind the Analysts. Beings from another dimension called Equestria.” The General paused. “It seems likely that they are intent on weakening our population in preparation for a full-scale invasion. Their ground commander is called Excalibur Edge, but we took him out in a snatch and grab.”

“How is this an attack?”

Footage came up on screen, showing the base attack of a few days earlier. “This group, currently being held in custody, launched an attack on our base a few days ago. We were able to take them out, but this shows that we are under attack, if they are this brazen to hit us directly.”

Stoltenberg was not convinced. “I need actual, living proof these things exist before I will even consider military action of any description.”

Harrison nodded. “Brian, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Brian stepped forward into the light, and the room gasped.

“My God,” Mattis whispered.

“What are you?” asked Stoltenberg.

“I was to be one of their puppets,” Brian replied. “But I ain’t gonna be a pawn in somepony else's game. I saw through their lies and deceit, and they mean nothing but harm to our nation! To the world!”

Mattis looked over to Harrison. “You’ve convinced me enough,” he said. “The US will answer this attack on our lands with war!”

Stoltenberg spoke up. “I will convene the NATO defence council immediately. They are clearly not afraid to attack 3 NATO members in one year. It will not take much to convince our allies.”

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Harrison replied. “We will see to it that these attacks do not go unpunished.”

Arriving back at the facility, Harrison and Brian walked back through the base and arrived in the interrogation room. There were all 4 captured anthros, locked in place in storage tanks. They were all visibly struggling as the doctors monitored their vital signs.

“I would give up struggling if I were you,” Harrison told them.

“Why do you fight us?” Apple Bloom asked.

“The same reason I fight any enemy of the United States,” Harrison replied.

“Well Ah’ll be!” said Granny Smith. “How is spreadin’ friendship against American values?”

“You have no idea what’s really going on here. You guys are simply paving the way for an invasion!”

Ashley looked shocked. “Babs, how could ya believe such hogwash! The Princesses-!”

“See us as scum to be wiped out! They forced the Aspect of Honesty on you, just as they forced this form on me!”

Harrison took up the lead. “Well, the tables have turned on them. The USA and NATO have both declared war on Equestria. All we need is a way to get there, and repair the damage already done.”

“We ain’t a disease!” said Big Mac. “How do ya propose correctin’ the problem anyway?”

“Doctor Maynard!”

“Sir!”

“Please explain to them how this antidote works.”

The doctor stepped forward. “The method used by the Analysts was a mutagenetic virus. It rewrote portions of your genetic code. Now, in order to reverse the mutations, we simply needed a sample of your DNA as it was before it was rewritten.”

Harrison interrupted. “Luckily, he’d already had a demo run.” He waved his hand.

The soldiers from the previous day stepped forward.

“Did you think that you were the first?” the General asked. “No, we were. We were the ‘First Six’. We were to be used to clear the way for Equestria. Until we realised the truth, that we were simply brainwashed.”

“Hogwash!”

“Let me prove it. You may have heard of ‘Tempest Shadow?’”

Harrison removed his mask and stood straight. Strands of his hair were still purple.

“After they successfully changed us back, we retained our abilities, and became able to interrupt the magic of others. Those generators were developed, by studying us.”

He smiled. “But now, to test the antidote. Brian, considering the situation, I’ll let you choose the test subject.”

Brian smirked. “Ashley,” he said.

Ashley gulped, “Sugarcube, think about what yer doin’ t’ yer own family! Ah’m still yer cousin, whether Ah am Kurt or Ashley. Ah’m still the same person, er pony regardless of who Ah look like now. That’s the honest truth! An’ Ah should know: Ah’m the Element o’ Honesty!” Just then her element glowed a bright orange and fired a beam towards Brian, hoping it would open her eyes to the truth.

The beam ground to a halt in front of her. The field produced by the General and his men was simply too strong.

"You really thought we wouldn't anticipate your little ploy?" Harrison asked mockingly. "We came here with our weapons loaded and our safety's off."

Brian just shook her head. "Ashley," she sighed. "You really are so honest you've forgotten that ponies and people can lie." He signaled Dr Maynard, who opened Ashley's containment chamber, and jammed the needle into her arm. He injected the contents, and stepped back, closing the lid as he did so.

Ashley screamed as a blast of pain shot through her body, the transformation she had gone through a year earlier suddenly going into reverse. Within the space of minutes, where the Element of Honesty was once held, was now plain old Kurt Smith.

Harrison nodded. "One down, 19 to go." He glanced back at Brian. "You made a good choice. Your actions have, in all likelihood, saved humanity."

Ashley, now Kurt, was placed back in the containment chamber. The clothes that he wore as Ashley seemed too small for her, as they would have fitted an athletic girl like Ashley, being an apple farmer. "Ah'm so sorry, sugarcube." He said to Brian.

Apple Bloom was showing a mixture of anger and sorrow, letting out a sound that was somewhere between a shriek and a sob. "What did ya do to mah sister?" she begged.

"You mean your brother," Harrison corrected. "I'm putting an end to this unnatural fuckery."

He pulled a switch, and a rift began to open, revealing a portal to Equestria.

"The portal is open," he radioed. "Commence the invasion."

Author's Note

Dun dun dun! More on this later!