August 13th, 2018 Monday
Penns Creek High School
7:55 A.M

When I had first stepped off the school bus, I had generally understood the fact that this year was probably going to be something special, whether that was a good kind of special or an: oh God, oh fuck, kind of special, I couldn't say for sure until I got into the school year for real.

"Time will tell, I suppose." I thought, my lips pursed into a grim line on my face, the grimace turning into a frown as the sounds of hooves on pavement and wingbeats made their way to my ears.

In spite of the hopes of countless students and even some of the staff, the converts did show up to school, their backpacks looped around their forelegs as unicorns and earth-ponies trotted off the bus, while pegasi simply flew in to school, touching down in front of the entrance with a certain smugness that left several other converts and even a few humans staring enviously at them. Most tried to ignore them, some of the more accepting people tried to strike up a conversation with them, I did my best to tune them out, believing I knew how the conversations would all end up. The converts would end up creeping out the human talking to them, usually when they started talking about conversion. It was what had happened almost every other time a human and a pony seemed to interact.

This time, something was different, over the din of countless students conversing with each other the sound of the ponies' high pitched voices made their way to my ears, but their words didn't seem to add up. Instead of the usual drivel about how great conversion was, I heard things that didn't make sense.

"So, did you hear about the game yesterday?"

"Calvin? No, sweetie... you're waaaay too good for him."

"Conversion? I mean yeah, it's amazing, but it's not all I'm gonna talk about."

The newfoals actually sounded like people again!

I had stood stock still when I had first made the realization, straining my ears to make sure that the words I heard were coming from the very same creatures that had seemed borderline threatening just days before.

"Eli!"

I had made a mistake in standing still, if I had just kept moving I might have been able to blend in with the crowd and make it straight to homeroom without a second thought, but my brain had entered an"error 404" state, one that left me completely unaware of my surroundings as a very familiar teal unicorn approached me.

"Hey, Eli? You alright?"

I snapped out of my stupor to find Erica, or I guess, Starry Skies, looking at me with a concerned expression on her face.

"Oh!" I scratched the back of my head nervously as I felt warmth rise to my cheeks. "Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"It's almost time for homeroom, and you've kind of been standing there for the last three minutes." Starry cocked her head.
"Is there something on your mind?"

"Uh." I mentally tore through my archive of bullshit excuses for being weird, feeling even weirder for having to find one to explain my behavior to a newfoal of all people.

"Yeah, I forgot some homework, pretty important stuff." I gave her a nervous smile before quickly walking forward, trying to break off the conversation as quickly as possible.

She gave me a blank stare, "it's the first day of class."

"Shit!" My mind screamed, "diversionary tactics ineffective, begin evasive manuvers!"

"Oh..." I said, slowly beginning to walk backward in the direction of the front doors, "Whoops?"

The unicorn snorted, laughing somewhat as she trotted to keep up with me, I joined her in laughing, my own nervous giggling betraying the discomfort and anxiety I felt being around her. I backed up into the doors, pushing through them before turning and hurrying off to my homeroom.

"OkgoodtalkingtoyouIgottagotoclassbye!"

"You're gonna have to try harder than that if you want to fool me, Eli." Starry trotted up next to me, entering through the front doors just after I did with a troubled look on her face. "It's because of us, isn't it?"

I stopped, turning back to the unicorn.

"Us?"

She gave me a sorrowful look, "Newfoals, Eli. " Her expression was one of frustration as she pawed at the linoleum tiling, she looked at me with a look that lacked any sign of lost humanity, but there was something more there, something that pulled at me, almost begging me to believe her.

"Did you think we don't notice how people avoid us? People like you?"

I broke eye contact with her out of habit, my cheeks reddening once again.

"Don't take this the wrong way, I know what you must think of us after Mr. Deloach went crazy. But I don't think any human in Penns Creek really knows what's happening to us."

Starry Skies moved into my line of sight, her eyes boring into me like a drill, her ears had drooped and she had a frown on her face.

"Do you want to know how it feels to think one way when every other part of you screams for you to do something else? I used to love watching old horror movies with my parents, and now I can barely bring myself to even look at the screen when they come on! They look at me like I'm not even their daughter anymore, just some freak that took her place! They smile and they say they love me, but I hear what they say when they think I'm not listening."

The sound of the bell sounded through the school's P.A system, signaling the beginning of homeroom, and still, I couldn't bring myself to move from where I was standing. Her words gluing me to the spot as she continued.

"Do you even know why we keep talking about conversion? Why we stay together so much?" Her voice became choked up as she continued, causing the pony to close her eyes as she continued.

"Ponies are a prey-species by nature, we require a herd to feel anything even close to safe, and when you live in a town populated by the apex-predators of an entire planet, how else are we supposed to cope? We want more newfoals in the town, Eli, whether we like it or not, our instincts are screaming at us to either find a bigger herd, or to make one. But people like you keep looking at us like we're walking timebombs!"

"I-" I tried to explain myself, tried to say something that would make me seem vindicated in the matter, but nothing seemed to come out of my mouth. Ever since Edward I had kept seeing the same pony in the faces of every other newfoal. But with Erica, it was something different entirely. She was living proof that the newfoals were getting better, and worse yet, she was right, and that stung.

"We're all trying to get better at stuff like this, you've seen how everypony is talking now, right? It took weeks of us practicing together, overcoming instincts, mental hurdles, and even our own natures just to get to this point!"

She stared at me, tears in her eyes, "I know how you must see us, you were there when Mr. Deloach went crazy, I can only imagine what he must be feeling right now, but everyone is looking at you now, expecting for you to be up in arms against us."

She stepped closer, suddenly rearing up and resting her front hooves on my chest, she was on the verge of breaking down, I wanted to protest, but found myself allowing it, my guilt strongarming me into compliance.

"I'm begging you Eli, don't be like everyone in the H.T.F. don't be like Eric."

Alarm bells went off in my head, I took her hooves in my hands and gently let her back down to the floor.

"What do you mean like Eric?" I said, my voice soft but firm.

Starry hesitated, the look in her eyes changing from a pleading look to one of resentment, but at the same time, she seemed unwilling to talk about it.

"Erica."

"My name is Starry, Eli." She sighed, "I can't help but to want it that way."

"Starry, then." I said with some reluctance, "is Eric-?"

"Not physically, not yet." Starry relented. "There have been a few threats, I hear other newfoals talk about it when they meet, he and a few other people have been doing this for weeks, and it's not just newfoals either, he's been going after their friends, family, and anyone who supports us as well. They're scared, they're all scared and they're all looking to me to tell them what to do and I don't know what to tell them."

The distraught unicorn sat down in the middle of the hallway, beginning to cry outright.

"They want to run away, a lot of them do, and it's all I can do to get them to stay here with their families! B-but I don't even want to stay here! This is my home! I've lived here my entire life, but I can't stand the look everyone gives me every time I step outside my own house!"

The pony wiped at her eyes with her hooves, clearly breaking down from the pressure. I paused, I could just walk away, right now, promise her I won't be like Eric and not say another word to her or any other newfoal for the rest of the year. I could just go back to keeping my head down, fix things with Naomi and get on with my life.

I didn't have to do this.

I didn't want to do this.

Why was I doing this?

"Ah, Fuck."

I knelt, forcing myself to overcome my reservations and wrapped the unicorn in a hug, her breath caught slightly, my actions shocking her, but after a few seconds I felt her hooves around me, and she buried her head into my shoulder, crying her eyes out. She felt exactly like everyone had expected one of them to feel, soft, warm, but strong at the same time, her forelegs carrying muscles that could carry her for miles at a running pace. I was just grateful she wasn't an earth pony, I had heard that they were even stronger than unicorns.

I hesitantly patted her on the back, softly speaking sweet nothings in a hope to calm her.

"It's fine, it's ok, you're gonna be ok, alright? It's all gonna be alright."

She cried into my shirt for a few minutes, her tears wetting my shirt as she continued to bawl, God, how much emotion had she been holding back?

She eventually stopped crying, but continued to hug me in silence, her hooves tightly wrapped around my shoulders.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Mmhm." She replied, her response muffled.

We let go of each other, the two of us awkwardly taking a few steps back, shifting uncomfortably as we did so. I couldn't believe had just done that, in the middle of a school hallway, when this school was so drowned in opinions right now that even the kitchen staff would give you dirty looks if you thought a certain way. My eyes wandered to the black orb of a fisheye camera, confirming that there was likely video evidence of me hugging a newfoal.

Well, considering that I've already thrown myself down shit creek, I might as well toss my paddle in the river as well. I guessed I was taking a side after all.

I looked down at Starry, kneeling once again to look her in the eyes.

"Who else is with Eric?" I asked.

I wasn't entirely sure why I was involving myself in this, I guess I could say it felt right, but I still had my doubts, but I was willing to believe the unicorn was telling the truth, and if she was, well, I wasn't duty-bound to be some white-knight to the newfoals, but Starry had reminded me that the equines were still people. People who were going through something that neither I nor any other human being in this town could even begin to comprehend.

"A few of Eric's friends, I think I heard something about Naomi being there once."

I swore mentally, it was only a matter of time before Eric did something like this, but Naomi, I was hoping she would at least have the sense to stay neutral in something like this. If they even saw me talking to Starry like this, they would probably see me as siding with the newfoals.

But, that was what I was doing, wasn't it?

"Thank you." The unicorn offered a small smile. "I... wasn't expecting you to do something like that, but... I needed it, after everything that happened during the summer, after we all converted, I remember seeing you and your group, I didn't mean to intrude on you guys, but I wanted to try to calm things down between all of us. But then Alex saw Kevin and all of a sudden everypony was following me and talking about the trip to Atlanta, I didn't mean for it to end the way it did."

"It's fine," I replied.

"No, it's not." She insisted, " Ever since you started that group I've been trying to emulate you, tried to become a leader to the newfoals just like you did for their siblings. I was hoping that since we all stuck together anyway, we could work together to overcome this, and it's working! It really is! But I think most people are too scared after what happened to Mr. Deloach, I thought I could get both of our groups to work together, but everypony wasn't ready yet, and now Ripple Wood won't stop
bothering Anna, and I think Alex is trying to pressure Kevin into conversion, and it's not just us foals either, I think the adults were starting to act out too. I've really messed up and now I don't know how to fix all of this."

"There may be no good way to fix this." I remarked, "Especially with Eric on the warpath."

I scratched my head anxiously, taking another deep breath.

"Ok, time to do something stupid." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

Starry cocked her head, "what do you mean?"

"I'm gonna see if I can talk to Eric, see if I can get him to see reason, or at the very least, threaten to call the cops unless he and his friends leave you guys alone."

She looked doubtful, "you do know his dad is a cop, right? One that hates newfoals?"

"Yeah, well, it's a good thing I won't be going to him about it." I took a deep breath, steadying myself as I prepared to stand back up.

"Wait."

Starry reared up again, this time wrapping her hooves around my neck in another hug.

"Thank you, thank you so much."

"Yeah, well." I chuckled. "If you see me with a black eye you'll know it didn't work, in the meantime." I took my phone out of my pocket, "we're twelve minutes late to homeroom on the first day of school."

Starry went wide-eyed and looked at a nearby clock, "Uh oh."

"Yeaaaah. We might want to hurry."

I stood, nodding to her before the two of us went off in the direction of our separate homerooms, I felt good about the choices I had made, maybe that was just the whole Christain in me talking, but for all the good deeds I was about to perform, but couldn't shake the feeling that I was walking from one lion's den into another.

Going through the first week of school can be a difficult experience at times. There was the unfamiliarity of the new classes, the confusion that comes with planning the route from class to class, the stares of classmates both new and old, their thoughts hidden behind their eyes like top-secret documents hidden behind a safe. The looks of the newfoals made it even worse, especially since they were the same faces I had avoided and even feared for the past few months. I still saw Edward when I looked at them, but now a guilty feeling bared down on me as well when I met their eyes.

The promise I had made Starry had been fresh in my mind the entire week, and as each day went by I found myself lacking the courage to go up to Eric and Naomi, fearful of what they would say, fearful of what they might do.

I would be making myself a target once again by defending the newfoals like this, but this time, it was members of my own species that would have their eyes set on me.

Regardless, the promise seemed to follow me wherever I went, distracting me from schoolwork, keeping me awake at night. If I didn't do it soon I would drive myself crazy.

I couldn't risk confronting them all together, I'd end up a punching bag if I did something as stupid as that. I needed to make sure Eric was alone or with Naomi when I talked to him. But that window seemed to be a rare occurrence at the very least, as his little gang seemed to follow him through the halls, changing with the classes but ensuring that he always had backup when he decided to bother a newfoal or another kid.

Sometimes I would see his gang in the act, the newfoal would do their best to move on to class while they followed him, sometimes they harassed them in the halls, other times, the bathroom. Their words harsh and mocking, one newfoal stallion was laughed at as they tried and failed to hop-up onto a toilet for the first time, and ultimately ended up falling in.

But, the newfoals never seemed to react how Eric wanted them to, my guess was that he expected anger, that he was trying to provoke them into fighting back so they had even more ammunition for their anti-pony campaign. But the ponies had always either responded with forced smiles and slight hints at conversion.

The newfoals' human relatives seemed to be much easier prey for them, humans weren't an unknown for them, and they couldn't seriously injure any of them like a pony could if they got pushed too far.

Kevin, unfortunately, was a prime target for them, the freshman being quiet and with few friends thanks to his brother, what friends he did have he tended to stick close to as much as possible, but there were times where he would walk through the halls alone, and I would watch as Eric backed him into a corner, heckling and sometimes even exhorting money from him and other students.

And then, there was the Equestrian.

Thunder Arc, a native to the city of Manehatten back in Equestria, Eric seemed to go out of his way to provoke him. But from what I could see, the pegasus was not one to be pushed around, I only saw the two of them go at it once in the halls, the pony's eyes met Eric's with fire and defiance, always meeting an insult with an insult of his own, tempers flared and if a teacher hadn't been watching from the threshold of her classroom, I had no doubt that the encounter would have turned physical.

Thunder kept to himself mostly, I had two classes with him, and he usually sat in the back of both rooms, only speaking when spoken to and completing his work in silence. When another student spoke to him his responses were short and to the point, not seeming to care much for conversation. The newfoals, however, never seemed to leave him alone, he seemed to be only slightly more comfortable around them, and they seemed to be the only ones that ever sat next to him during lunch.

The newfoals themselves seemed to only improve in behavior, Starry being the shining example among them, being both polite, sensible, and rarely speaking a word about conversion to anyone. Eric seemed to leave her alone, I had asked her why once and she didn't seem to have the slightest idea as to why. The two of us slowly grew to be friends as the next two weeks passed like nothing, I felt eyes on my back every time I spoke to her, but I refused to allow them to get to me. I made myself a promise that I would make up for the way I treated the newfoals during the summer, and my friendship with her was the first step in that process.

She was a great conversationalist, being both as intelligent as Naomi and pretty witty to boot, she ended up tutoring me in geometry for a while, and to my disbelief, she had a gaming hobby as well. We never spent time at my own home, for fear of how my parents may react, but her parents seemed thrilled when she first brought me to her home. Though her parents rarely ever seemed to be home, and when they were home, they were very aloof, almost dreamy, Starry said that they had taken to drinking ever since she converted.

Soon as the days passed and the two of us spent more and more time together she seemed to be just like any other one of my friends, though all of my other friends were human.

Colin was the only other friend of mine I introduced her to, he treated her with caution, but seemed to be polite enough to her. I could only imagine what he thought of her, of me, but after everything he was still willing to hang out with me, and in my book, that said a lot.

That was how the first month went by, with me struggling to fulfill a promise as Eric and his people only grew in confidence, sooner or later I was going to have to say something, sooner or later an opening would appear and I would have to take it.

My window of opportunity came sooner than I expected.

September 3rd 2018
Outside of Penns Creek High
3:45 P.M.

"So, gluestick, I've been wondering, is it your dad or your mom that has the horn?"

"Buck off you big gorilla, both of them have more than you'll ever have!"

"Oh, really?"

"Not... not like that!"

I had heard the conversation in passing as I had begun walking home to school, just two faint voices coming from under the stadium-seats of the football field. I knew who both of them were before I even tried to see who it was.

Eric and Thunder, just the two of them, both pissed, both ready to strangle the other.

That was my window, not the most opportune time to confront him on something like that, but I was tired of waiting, Starry hadn't said another thing about my promise ever since the first day of class, but I could tell she was waiting for a change, I had my chance, if I didn't take it I didn't think I could face Starry.

I approached the bleachers, steeling myself for an inevitable punch to the face as their voices grew closer.

"Y'see pony, ever since you horses showed up shit's only gotten worse for us humans, you and that fucking potion should have stayed on that Dungeons and Dragons game you call a planet."

"Not my fault your sister knew what was good for her, I heard you treated her like she was nothing but a monster, she's better off without you!"

"Fuck you gluestick! Say another word about her and I'll fucking kick your ass!"

"Do it then, plothole!"

I walked up on the two of them about to go at it, their eyes locked on each other as they slowly began to circle each other.

"That's enough!"

My voice cut through the air like a judge's gavel, carrying with it much more force than I had intended it to. Eric turned on me, his expression showing that he hadn't been expecting me to show up, but he didn't seem to care much either way.

"What do you want? Mind your own business, horse-fucker." He growled, beginning to turn back to Thunder.

"Is... is this how you're going to keep doing this, Eric?" I managed to say.

He paused.

"How long is this going to go on?" I gestured to Thunder, "he hasn't done anything to you, none of them have."

Eric turned back to me, cold fury in his eyes.

"Nothing? Is my sister nothing?" He snarled.

"That was Equestria's fault, not his."

Eric closed in on me, his stature making me feel like a dwarf in his presence.

"Why don't you go back to fucking that horse that used to be Erica? You walk up on me like you have a goddamn idea what it's like to lose someone, for them to tell you they hate you for just being human and then leave like you didn't mean anything to them. I don't give a damn how much better they act, they deserve every last thing coming to them."

"Sarah left because you treated her like she wasn't family." I replied, "You wouldn't even give her the time of day when she did come to you for help."

"Slap!"

The backhand I got sent me reeling, nearly causing me to fall as I managed to catch one of them nearby beams for support.

"Naomi said you'd do something like this, try to play the saint," Eric said glaring at me. "You're a coward, Eli, you're just like every one of those freaks who converted. Do your parents know you're hanging out with that horned freak? God, if I had a kid like you I might have just given you off to some orphanage."

I pushed myself off the bar only to receive a punch to the face, knocking me to the ground.

"What a disappointment you are, tell you what, how about you go back to that whorse? I let you be, and you can go be with your marefriend and I'll pretend like this little incident never happened

I felt anger burn in my throat, words that I didn't want to say and things I didn't want to do burning in my mind like branding irons.

"Fuck you." I spat, gritting my teeth as he put his foot in my gut.

"Maybe I should bring you some of that shit, huh? Would you like that? To be a fucking gluestick like your friend, you don't even deserve to be human." Eric sneered, "Carter was right, everyone who stands with these freaks is no better than them, they're beneath us."

"He's better than you." Thunder's voice drew Eric's attention back to him.

"The fuck you say?" Eric wheeled on the pegasus.

"This guy?" Thunder gestured to me with his hoof. "I've heard about him, he's more of a man than you'll ever be." Thunder pressed, "He's here standing up for somepony he doesn't even know, getting slapped around and not even bothering to hit back, and what are you doing?"

The pony glared at him. "Throwing your weight around, blaming everyone but yourself like some little foal having a temper tantrum, you're the coward here, it was your fault your sister left you."

"Shut the fuck up!" Roared Eric, charging Thunder, who lept back, flapping his wings once to dodge the punch thrown by Eric. Without thinking I stuck my foot out, tripping the enraged linebacker and sending him face-first into a support beam. His nose smacked into the metal and he fell onto his butt with an enraged growl, blood pouring from his nose.

I stood, my hands balled into fists as I gave Eric a look that meant business.

"You need to think about who's really to blame here Eric. You can throw your problems onto absolutely everyone you want, but it's not gonna go away until you face the fact that it's your fault." I turned my back on him, feeling his hate-filled eyes on me as I walked away.

"Plothole." Thunder spat, following me out from under the bleachers and into the sun.

"Crap," I muttered, massaging my jaw and looking at the bruise forming on my chin. "How am I gonna explain this to mom and dad?"

"Tell 'em the truth." said Thunder from behind me, "Ya helped me out when ya could've walked on by."

I shrugged, "Anyone would've done it."

"That's a load'a horseapples."

I shrugged, "probably."

Thunder gave a short laugh, plodding up to stand in front of me before hopping into the air and hovering to be face-level with me.

"Thunder Arc." He offered me his hoof.

I raised an eyebrow and gave a half-smile, bumping the hoof with my fist like the Equestrian meeting guides online had said to do.

"Elias Hallanday."

Thunder nodded, "My ma knows a spell that'll make that bruise disappear, c'mon." He landed and began trotting off, down the sidewalk, looking back to me when he noticed I wasn't following.

"Ya comin' or what?"

I shook off my initial stupor, hesitating for a moment but pushing past it, shouldering my backpack, I jogged after him.

"Yeah, sounds good."

Author's Note

I'm a liar, yes I know.

Worlds Away will be updated, but I had a spark of inspiration, and after a few hours of brainstorming I've got the plot of act zero written out.

Yay! Consistency!

About time.

Shut up.

Anyways, constructive criticism is accepted with open arms, thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!