May 14th 2019.
Penns Creek High
1:29 P.M.

"CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR!"

Eric and I slam ourselves against the door to the gymnasium, bracing ourselves as a wave of bodies slams into it from the other side. Nearly throwing us to the ground as we desperately try to hold out against the horde.

"What the fuck! WHAT THE FUCK!" Martin screams, adding his weight to the door as the screaming mob of equines pushes against the door in a frenzy.

"Find something to block the door!" I yell to the others.

A sudden surge of weight against the door pushes us back, nearly making us lose our footing as our feet slide across the old wooden floor. The door opens, and instantly a cacophony of high-pitched voices floods into the room.

"JOIN THE HERD!"

"EMBRACE CELESTIA! EMBRACE THE LIGHT!"

"PLEASE! JOIN US!"

"CAST OFF YOUR SIN!"

"Colin! Help us out with this!" I scream, my feet rapidly losing my grip on the ground.

My best friend runs over to us, throwing himself against the door and allowing us to make another push against the tide of bodies on the other side, with our combined weight the door is shut, and the cries of the newfoals decrease in volume. However, their muted cries still seep through the cracks between the doors, tearing at our minds and our wills as our former classmates desperately push back against the door in an attempt to get to us.

"HOLY FUCK! HOLY FUCK!" Martin is still screaming, nearly deafening the four of us as we struggle.

"SHUT. UP." Eric snarls at Martin, his massive stature allowing him to reach over and slap a hand over his mouth. He shifts his stance and presses his back against the door as he does so.

"And I thought Jehovah's Witnesses were pushy!" Colin quips, sweat creasing his brow and dampening his blonde hair as the horde of equines makes another push against us.

"Really not the time Colin!" Another figure adds, his New York, or rather, Manehatten accent reverberating across the gymnasium as he literally flies into the room. He pushes on the top of the door with his forehooves, flapping his wings rapidly, adding force and bracing the door for the next inevitable push.

"Thunder!" I look up at the Pegasus, "where's everyone else?!"

A hoof breaks through one of the windows on the door, showering me and Colin with glass as the voices return to plague us once again.

"There wasn't anything in here strong enough to hold up against 'em!" He replies, "They went to get somethin' stronger!"

Eric removes his hand from Martins' mouth. "It ain't gonna be long before the fuckin' convies figure out there's more than one way in here!" He growls over the voices of our pursuers. "They better find something fast or we might be suckin' hay in a minute!"

"That's racist!" Thunder remarks.

"Not the time, Thunder!" I grit my teeth, squaring my feet and shoulders before redoubling the force I place against the door.

The five of us struggle against their numbers for what feels like a lifetime, they push and we push back, slowly losing ground against them as their numbers only increase, most likely bolstering their numbers with the people still outside

"They're gonna get in!" Colin panicked.

"Son of a bitch!" I took a look out the window to see at least twenty newfoals outside.

"We're coming! Hold on!" Four more people came running into the gym, one carrying a large bundle of rope.

It was Naomi, Kevin, Diana and Anna, they had found something to hold the door

"Rope?! That was the best you could find?!" Thunder eyed the large bundle with panicked skepticism.

"Oh, I'm sorry, would you like to go out and look?" Naomi replied snarkily,

"It was the only thing strong enough we could find," Kevin spoke up, moving to help us, his small size didn't do much to help hold back the newfoals, but it was better than nothing

"Tie the handles!" I ordered, "We don't have time to complain!"

Naomi nodded to her sister, Anna, who dropped the bundle onto the ground before looping it through the door's two metal handles and beginning two tie a knot in it.

"Crumph! CRK! The newfoals' pounding on the door grew more frenzied as they overheard our intentions, their need to get to us becoming more intense as their screams became all the more fervent.

"LET US IN!"

"EMBRACE PONIFICATION!"

"CELESTIA DEMANDS OUR UNITY!"

Anna flinched as the only other window on the door was smashed by another hoof, showering us all with glass as the hoof flailed around.

"THE POTION! BRING THE POTION!"

"PUSH IT THROUGH THE HOLES!"

"Shit!" Martin swore, "Any day now Anna!"

"I'm trying!"

"I"m seeing potion bottles out there!" Thunder warned, "They're passing it up!"

"Craaaaap!" My nerve began to fail as I saw the potion grow closer and closer to us. "Anna, I don't want hooves!"

"YOU"LL LOVE IT!" A unicorn mare screamed through the window, "We'll free you from your human nature! You'll all be so happy as ponies!"

"The fuck I will!" Eric snarled back.

"It's almost here!" Thunder's voice grew frantic as his wings flapped faster than I thought possible.

"Oh God!" Martin's head was slick with sweat, his ebony skin reflecting the fluorescent lighting of the gym . "FUCK THIS!"

Colin glared at the panicking boy.

"Martin I swear to God if you run out on us I will personally use you as a shield for the potion!"

"Got it!" Anna threw herself back from the door, leaving a tightly wrapped pair of handles behind as she put as much distance between her and the door as possible.

We all followed suit, practically throwing ourselves back from the door as the potion poured through the windows, dousing the entire lower half with the purple substance.

"COME BACK!"

"WE"LL MAKE YOU ALL HAPPY! LOOK HOW HAPPY WE ARE!"

"Shut up!" Screamed Diana, "Shut up! Shut up!"

The newfoals continued to beat against the door, throwing their bodies against it as they continued to scream and shout.

"Come on!" Eric got to his feet and began to help Anna to hers. "That rope isn't going to hold for long!"

"Wait!" Martin called out, "does anyone else hear that?!"

Thmp! Thmp! A dull thud echoed in the exposed metal vents above us, moving along its length until it left the room.

"They're in the vents!" Naomi looked overhead with a fearful expression, everyone followed her gaze as the sound of thumping only intensified, leaving the room and heading further into the school.

"Does anyone know where those vents lead next?!" I asked, looking at everyone's terrified faces as the noises continued.

"I think to the cafeteria," Diana whispered.

"Not to mention every other classroom in the school." Remarked Colin.

This was bad... first the mascots... then the field... now, this.

The pounding on the door slowed, before coming to a stop as the converts left the door, the sound of their hooves and laughter fading away as they began to run off to God knows where.

"Can we talk about what just happened?!" Anna looked back to the rest of us, "Who the hell would do something like this?"

"Did you see what that stuff did to them!?" Kevin added, "They went from screaming and running like us, to tackling anyone with hands and screaming about potioning them!

"They melted! God, I can't get that screaming out of my head!" Colin cast another mournful look in the direction of the doors. "Is that what the potion actually does to people?!"

"Wasn't the mental degradation supposed to happen gradually?!" Naomi held her hands behind her head, attempting to steady her breathing, "How did they get all of that potion anyway?!" She asked to no one in particular.

"Reitman..." I answered.

Everyone turned to look at me, their expression ranging from shock to grim confirmation.

Thunder's eyes widened.

"That would mean..."

"Reitman,... explains the mascots and the T-shirt cannons." Colin chuckled darkly, "To think we thought those rumors were false."

"Reitman must have left all the potion into the town when she came to give that speech..." Naomi concluded, "But why Penns Creek?"

I think back to one of my 'unexpected' houseguests... she had said Equestria had wanted her magical talent, but that doesn't explain why Reitman would just show up and supply an attack on the school. Penns Creek was a town of nobodies, nothing important was here, which meant that my Equestrian friends were a little bit more than they seemed.

"No, man..." Martin said, denial clear on his face "My sister is with them... she wouldn't do something like this."

"Reitman has a way with words..." I replied, " Anyone can see that, and with all the religious crap she was spouting it made it seem like the P.E.R was a cult and the potion is their holy water, if your sister is with them, she might already be a newfoal."

"But-"

"CRACK! CRACK!"

Gunshots echoed throughout the building, cutting off any conversation as the noises slowly faded.

"T-that must have been one of the deputies." Anna breathed, "They must have stayed behind to look after the building."

"This is bucked...." Thunder paced back and forth, his hooves clopping against the hardwood audibly.

A scream split the air, one so loud and long it sounded like the guy's vocal cords would have been bleeding by the end of it, but instead, the scream slowly changed into loud, psychotic laughter, laughter that echoed through the halls and lingered long after it had ended.

"Maybe we should talk about this somewhere less exposed." Naomi cast a worried look at the gym's entrance, which was both unbarred and wide open. "Somewhere with fewer vents and doors."

"Good idea...." Eric looked at the door uneasily, "There's a supply closet by the guy's locker room..."

The nine of us quickly moved to and crowded into the locker room, finding the door, we all did our best to get everyone in there, Thunder had to hover in place just so all of us could fit.

"Well..." Naomi groaned, "It's better than nothing."

I shouldered my way past Anna and Diana "We need to get out of here..."

"We just got in." Eric cocked his head in confusion.

"Out of the school!" I grumbled, "If we don't want to be ponified."

We needed to get to our homes, I really needed to, as my 'guests' had more than a little explaining to do regarding who she was and why Reitman organized an attack to get her.

"Wouldn't it be better to wait?" Anna piped up, she turned to Eric, "You called your Dad just before everything happened, right?"

Eric nodded.

"Well then," Anna gave an optimistic smile, "We should just wait here until Eric's dad and all the other sheriffs get here!"

"What makes you think the cops can handle this?" Martin interrupted. "For all we know the town is being attacked too."

That left us all in silence...

"He has a point." Thunder's ears drooped.

"The Sheriff's office doesn't have much in the way of chemical protection." I pursed my lips, "We don't even know how many people out there were converted, they may already have a ready-made army."

"This is beyond bad." Naomi leaned against a wall, tears leaking from her eyes. "Why us!?"

"The people under Reitman are radicals," Colin scowled "religious ones at that, if we're to believe the rumors, they've been kidnapping people ever since the HLF attacked the bureaus."

"Might as well be a holy war," I added. "The HLF have been butchering Equestrians in the streets, you've all seen what that maniac in Austria has been doing to them. It only makes sense that the P.E.R would fight back."

"But outright attacking a town like this?" Naomi clenched her fists, "

"How does that have anything to do with Penns Creek?" Eric rolled his shoulders uncomfortably

Naomi's face contorted in fear as her eyes widened. "I might have an idea..."

All of us looked to her, eyes expectant.

"Numbers."

"What's that supposed to mean." Diana stammered.

"It means that they're here to recruit."

Thunder's eyes widened considerably as understanding dawned on him, "Oh, we're bucked, we are B-U-C-K-E-D"

"Can someone give me a straight answer please?!' Eric tapped his foot nervously as he looked between us.

"It means they're here for everyone here..." I said, my heart beating out of my chest.

"They're gonna convert everybody.

"Right you are Eli!" A cheerful and familiar voice came from the other side of the door,

All of us looked at the door in horror, none of

"Now if you could please all step out of there, we can get started, Eli, my love, you can be first!"

Out of any words or phrases used to describe the situation, I think Colin described it best.

"Oh fuck."

We desperately threw ourselves against the small room's door as hooves began beating against the wood, beginning to splinter it.

Well, this is where I die, well... not die, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not gonna like pontification very much.

I'm not gonna lie, on a scale from "one" to "up shit creek without a paddle," I'm probably up shit creek without a boat.

I suppose it all could have gone much worse for me, but it definitely could have gone better.

Maybe I should elaborate....

Act Zero: Memories

Author's Note

New Prologue!

I was working on another chapter when I got the idea for this, so expect another one in short order after this is posted.

Again, sorry for all this, this will probably be the only time I actually add a new chapter in that takes the place of another one. I hope this doesn't effect your view of the story in a negative way, I'm still new to the whole concept of writing fanfics, but I'll get better with practice.