Chapters A man ran down a dark alley in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat despite the cold temperature. It had all started out as any Friday evening would have, he would arrive home from work, put away his things, grab a can of Mountain Dew from the fridge, and then plop down on the couch and watch TV until he drifted off to sleep. Usually at about this time, his roommate would come out from his room and welcome him back home, grab a snack, and then sit down to watch any one of their favorite shows. This all changed when he became a Brony, first came the posters, then the figurines, then the conventions. And it only got worse from there. He didn't mind however, as long as his best friend paid his half of the rent and didn't get pushy with the whole "join the herd mentality." he was pretty much ok with it. That would all soon change...
He got home, went through his "routine" as with any other day, and sat down on the couch. Just then his friend came barging out of his room, laptop in hand.
Fred groaned, "Jason, how many times have I told you, stop tryin' to make me a damn brony!!!, I will never watch that show!" I'm ok with you liking it, but remember what I said about getting pushy?"
" Alright then, your loss." Jason said, before walking back into his room.
As the night continued on, he began to hear strange noises coming from Jason's room. Which to be honest, was nothing out of the ordinary. However, that changed when at about 8:00 he heard a scream coming from Jason's room. He got off the couch, headed to Jason's room to check and see if he was alright. As he approached, he could swear he could hear what sounded like... Giggling?
"Jason... You alright in there?" He asked.
No response was given and so he continued to draw closer to the bedroom. Just before he could reach for the door handle, the door swung open. What he saw inside half horrified, half confused him. Pacing back and forth in the middle of the room was an all-pink unicorn with a big bright pastel smile on its face, he looked over at the bed to find Jason's clothes and laptop, in the middle of loading up what he supposed was that 'new episode'. He had been so excited over.
"Hey there Buddy!" Fred immediately recognized its voice as that of his roommate.
"Jason, Is that you?"
"Who's Jason?" The unicorn asked, seeming perplexed." My name's Velvet Nova! I'm your best friend!"
"Ummm..."
"Come watch it with me, I promise you'll feel MUCH better after it! Trust me!" Said the unicorn, gesturing a hoof at the laptop.
Fred looked at the laptop, then at the pink unicorn, then back at the laptop again. It barely took him five seconds to piece together where he believed his friend went.
"I knew that show was trouble!" He turned to run but felt a tug on his back shirt. He turned back to see a yellow glow sounding it. "You've just got to see it!"Urged the unicorn again. That thing had grabbed him, with magic!
Luckily, the magic's grip wasn't that strong, he was able to wrestle his way free from his former friend's grasp. He ran to the front door, put of his shoes on, and barely managed to slip his last shoe on before the unicorn was back. He threw the door of his house open and made a mad dash for his car. Fred reached into his pocket to grab his keys, only to realize that he had forgotten his car keys back inside.
"Dammit!" He yelled out loud, his voice echoing down the street. He turned to left to run down the street but found the unicorn once again blocking his path, laptop levitating in the air next to it.
"I promise you'll LOVE it!" The unicorn's voice cried in the distance.
"Like hell I will! "Responded Fred, who turned rightward and sprinted as fast as he could.
he ran down the street as fast as his legs could carry him. Until he came to a side street.
"Finally, some luck! "He thought to himself.
Turning into the side street he continued running. He could hear the sound of quick hoof steps on asphalt behind him. They were getting closer, and closer.
"I'm never going to outrun him like this!"
He jumped over a fence, ran through someone's backyard, then hopped the fence on the other side, finding himself in an a gloomy alleyway.
"I think I lost him."
"There you are buddy! " The voice of his friend shouted with an overtly disturbing amount of glee.
"Crap." He continued running, and running, he turned into every side alley that he could find, but no matter how fast he ran. He could still here the hoof steps of his friend and his repeated shouts to stop for him.10 minutes pasted, then 20, and still that stupid candy colored horse kept pace with him. It was 55 degrees out that night, he could see his own breath in the night air, it was freezing outside, yet he was sweating like crazy. Finally, he collapsed on the ground, tired and exhausted.
He shut his eyes as tightly as he could.
He felt a hoof tap him on the shoulder.
"You ok?" Fred heard his friend's voice say in a warm tone.
"A-Aright, You want me to watch this show of yours, I'll watch it! "He spit out, cursing to himself. As he opened his eyes standing there was the pink unicorn, with a wide grin on his face. It set the laptop down on the ground, and pressed play with its magic.
"Besides, how bad can It actually be?"
The theme song played as always it always did.
"My little pony, My little pony, ahhh.."
5 minutes later...
"Wow, you were right, this show really is amazing!"
He was so captivated by the myriad of light and colors on screen, that he didn't even notice the white fur beginning to sprout on his back, or the fact that his hair was slowly growing longer and turning a deep blue.
The first episode ended and and the next episode began to play.
"Sorry, I judged you man, you were right about this show all along-ARGGGGHH!!!!!"
He collapsed to the ground in shock and pain as he noticed the white fur, and the wing's beginning to sprout on his back. Tearing through skin and rearranging his shoulder blades.
"Don't worry, it'll be over soon, and you'll feel AMAZING when you wake up!"
In his last moments of consciousness, he realized that he had fallen right for his frien-no, that creatures plan.
His screams were all in vain, an soon faded into laughter and giggling. Echoing off into the night. With the same unsettling childlike joy.
Meanwhile at Foundation Site 15...
Author's Note
Beware suspicious links...
The members of of mobile task force Epsilon-6 sat around a coffee table in a break room of site 15, immersed in a game of Uno.
"I wasn't cheating, I'm just lucky Brandon." A second operator touted, folding his arms.
A voice crackled through the overhead speaker system. "Mobile task force Epsilon six report to the briefing room immediately!"
"Well, Duty calls, Try again next time man." The group shook hands and shuffled away.
The Members of task force Epsilon six, Designated 'Village Idiots' Lieutenant Jackson, Staff Sergeant Brandon, Corporal Alex, and Sargent Ramirez. Left the breakroom, and hurried down the hallways of site 15 until they reached briefing room
Alright Epsilon 6, Here's the story, recently we've been getting some strange readings across the internet, Particularly Focused around the town of McKinleyville, California. We originally suspected a Memetic Incursion. However, after we lost contact with the local police, and our field agents on the ground at exactly 0900 hours yesterday. We began to suspect that this was the work of the Serpent's Hand. Which, as you know, they operate multiple bases and safe houses in the area. However, Recent satellite scans of the area have revealed that this is not the case. We are sending you in to investigate, as usual, Gamma 5 will be running interference to make sure that this all stays under the radar. We've had Members of Iota 10 under the guise of highway patrol officers' cordon off the area. Good luck, Epsilon 6.
The 4 mobile task force members left the briefing room, and quietly and calmly hurried down to the armory.
The 4 members suited up, all black combat fatigues, and an assortment of M4 pattern rifles and P90 Personal Defense Weapons. With M9 Beretta sidearms and fragmentation grenades to boot. As the donned their gear they stayed silent, like the quiet professionals they were. They then walked outside, and boarded a Blackhawk attack helicopter, enhanced with the best stealth technology the foundation had access to, and began the 2-hour long flight to McKinleyville. Despite having previously dealt with everything from a cat with a TV set for a head, to the horrifying SCP 096, the team couldn't help but wonder what they would find this time.
2 hours later...
The Blackhawk flew over the vast mountains and redwood forests of Humboldt County, until McKinleyville came into sight.
The helicopter landed on the outskirts of the local airport, so as not to draw to much attention. The team disembarked and began their trek into town. "Alright, our first area of interest is the residence of one Fredrick Almeda. Danger close, we don't know what we're getting into."
The team advanced into the town, keeping to back alleys so as not to draw to much attention from any leftover civilians. However, when, they came to the center of town after about 15 minutes of walking, they noticed something, there was no one on the streets. The normally bustling streets stood before them, empty. Just then they heard what could only be described as, "Frivolous and insane laughter" Coming from the northern side of town.
"Uh, Epsilon 6 to Overwatch, the town is quiet, with the exception of what sounds like high pitched laughter coming from the northern end of town, Permission to investigate?"
"Roger, Epsilon 6, This is Overwatch, You have a go."
The team contained walking down the sidewalk, until the came to a residential neighborhood. The four laid eyes on what appeared to be dozens small pastel-colored horses. Going about their day as humans would. Some appeared to have wings, other horns, and some, neither. More strangely, they were all conversing with one another in perfect English. A few of them noticed the Task Force and galloped over to greet them.
All the while, the members of Epsilon 6 were standing there, understandably confused as to what they were witnessing.
Lt. Jackson finally spoke up, "Uh, Overwatch, You seeing this?"
"Copy Epsilon 6, proceed."
Just then, Corporal Alex spoke up.
"Sir, I recognize these creatures."
"What do you mean, Alex?"
"Well, as you all should know, I'm a brony. I... Well... I watch My Little Pony in my free time." The rest of the team groaned,
" And I'm quite sure that these things that we are currently staring at are ponies. The exact one's from the cartoon."
"That may be true, But we still have to treat these things with cation, Remember, you don't just lose contact with a half dozen field agents for nothing."
Just then one of the " ponies" Let out a greeting. "Hey guys, look, more humans! hello there, my name is Velvet Nova! Pleasure to meet you!" The creature extended out one of its appendages in the same way a human would to handshake.
The team, remained there, unmoved by it's greeting.
It lowered its hoof, seeming somewhat distraught by their unenthusiastic demeanor. And continued talking to them. This time, several others joined in. "Follow us, We have something to show you all, We promise that you'll LOVE it!"
"Overlord, What do we do?"
"Play along with them Epsilon 6, let's see what more we can learn about these things."
Corporal Alex decided to open up his mouth again "I know we're supposed to be professional and all, but still, ponies!"
"Cut the crap Alex! You can geek out about this once we've done our job." shouted Brandon over the comm system. The other team members nodded in agreement.
"Oh alright."
"Come on, Follow us!" shouted the creatures again.
"Move out Village Idiots, lets see what they want."
The team walked with the creature , Who had identified himself as "Velvet Nova" down the road, As they pasted the houses and front yards, they were greeted by friendly smiles and hoof waves from the other creatures.
Finally, Velvet led the team into one of the houses, occupied what he and Corporal Alex Identified to be 3 pegasi. The team received the same warm greetings from them as they had from the others. one of them even offered the team a freshly baked cupcake. Which they promptly turned down. They entered the living room, and Velvet turned on the TV, "Here's what we wanted to show you, hope you like it, Sit down if you want. It won't be long now."
"I think we'll stand, right Alex?"
"Actually sir, I think I'll sit down."
"Suit yourself, but don't come crying to me when The Site Director chews you out for breeching protocol."
The members of Epsilon 6 looked around the room and found 2 more 'Ponies' siting on one of the couches.
Just then the TV began to play, to the team's surprise, it was an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The other 3 members began to question the other ponies within the house. Just then, Brandon spotted a glint coming from one of the ponies sitting on the couch.
"Hmm, that looks familiar." Staff sergeant Brandon walked over to it, and picked it up, to his shock, it was the insignia of one of the foundation field agents that had gone missing.
"Where did you get this!?" He demanded, waving it at the red and yellow earth pony. The being just looked up at him and smiled.
After a moment, he recognized it as the twisted face of one of the agents who had gone missing.
"I don't need it anymore." Responded the creature.
"Oh no.."
Brandon looked back at the TV, then at the other ponies in the room. Then he remembered what Dr. Black had said about a potential memetic incursion.
"Guys, I just found one of the Field Agents, they've somehow been transformed into one of those... Things."
It didn't take long for Jackson or Ramirez to figure out what happen, or what their equine hosts where trying to do to them.
"Epsilon 6, pull out mow!" Shouted Jackson, waving at the door.
The three of them turned to leave, but found themselves blocked by 2 of the pegasi.
"Come on, won't you just stay for a little longer?" One of them asked.
Just then they heard the terrified voice of Corporal Alex call out from behind them.
"Uh guys, I think somethings happening to me-AHHAHHHHHH!" The Corporal collapsed in what looked like an epileptic fit.
The team turned to look in horror at their Squadmate, who himself was staring in horror at the grey fur beginning to grow on his arm.
"Alex!" They all shouted out. Without thinking, Brandon grabbed Alex, and threw him over his shoulder, at the same time Ramirez and Jackson opened fire on the other ponies in the room, killing the 2 blocking the door. In a hail of bullets.
"Village Idiots, move out!" the 3 of them ran out of the house, Alex in tow, and made their way as fast as they could back to the airport. A few tried to follow the team, but were gunned down by Ramirez, who was providing cover support for them. But they just kept coming.
"This isn't working!" Ramirez shouted out.
"Smoke 'em then! "Shouted Jackson.
Ramirez opened his grenade launcher up, loaded in a a smoke grenade, and fired ahead of the oncomming crowd. While the ponies were dazed by the flash and cloud of smoke. The team slipped away, and continued off towards the airport.
As the team passed back by the town square, Alex let out another pained scream.
The team stopped for moment as Brandon set Alex down. He was almost 1/2 of the way transformed already.
"We've got to find a way to delay it." Said Brandon. "I ain't losing another member of my team."
Brandon reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a tranquillizer dart.
"This ought to stop it for now. Hold on buddy, you'll be alright. I'm sure those people back at Site 15 will figure something out." He uncapped it and stuck it into Alex's shoulder.
"It's kind of ironic, isn't it? In all my excitement I forgot all about what Black had said back at the briefing. "Alex said with a sigh as he slipped into unconsciousness. The team kept running, until they had made it back to the airport.
The team boarded the helicopter and began to fly away.
"Contact Command, tell them they need to tighten their cordon around the town, and to have a hazmat unit waiting on the ground as soon as we land, I want Alex examined as soon as possible."
"Understood sir. "Responded the copilot.
Author's Note
For those of you who don't know, Site 15 is the SCP foundation's premiere site for containing memetic hazards and monitoring the global internet.
The Blackhawk pulled away from the Airport and began its flight back to base, the remaining 3 members of Epsilon 6 were quiet the whole way back. Eventually the Helicopter touched down at one of site 15's landing pads, And the task force disembarked. They were immediately greeted a by a team of 6 medics clad in Class 6BNC Hazmat suits. Flanked by security Personnel.
"We're here to bring Corporal Alex in." Said the lead one.
Lt. Jackson led the medical team to the Helicopter, where they found the still sleeping form of Corporal Alex inside. Resulting In a Quiet awwww... from a few of the Agents in the back when they caught glimpses of the ponified MTF Operative.
"Can it morons'. You're here to figure out what's wrong with him, Remember!?"
The Medical Team nodded in approval, before placing Corporal Alex on a stretcher, and speeding him way to the bases infirmary.
"You think He'll be alright?" Asked Ramirez.
" Don't no, we'll have to wait until the doctors get a look at him." Responded Jackson.
The team was approached by several other Medical staff.
"We'll be needing to examine you guys as well, Just as a precaution."
One quick medical examination later...
"The Team sat around the Infirmary beds, Still clad in their gear from the mission. Wondering what was going to happen to their teammate, when a call rang out over the intercom.
"All present members of Mobile Task Force Epsilon Six report to Conference room 2-A For Debriefing."
The team got off their beds, walked out the door, and headed down the hallway. When they entered, they were greeted not only by Doctor Black, But also by several other researchers. Doctors, Elisa, Dan, Tomson, and Gregory. As well as, to the whole team's surprise, The Site director.
"Ho boy, We must be in serious trouble if the Site Director's here." Said Brandon with a nervous grunt.
"Greeting Epsilon six, please sit down." Dr. Black asked in a calm fashion.
Once the team had seated themselves around the table. The Site director Spoke up.
"First of all, as you requested, we've tightened the Cordon around the town to within 1 kilometer of the affected area, and as of now, these 'Ponies' Inhabiting the zone have not seemed to notice, nor make any effort to intervene, or circumvent our forces. The good news is, with help from some of our to hackers over at Kappa 10, we've managed to confirm the cause of this to indeed be memetic in nature, and we have Mobile Task Force ETA 10 on standby."
"The bad News is, that this wasn't an Isolated incident, we've found more iterations of this Cognitohazard virus in Servers across the country, and we currently have no solid way of pinning it down. If we don't put a stop to this, we might have millions of young boys and girls, (And Middle aged men) Waking up to a... let's say 'colorful' surprise. We need to find a way to put a stop to this thing." Said Dr. Gregory. The Other doctors than began explaining how the virus worked, and how it gradually began to transform a person the longer they watched.
Lt. Jackson butted in. "That's good and all, But what about my corporal? Have you managed to stop his transformation?"
"Unfortunately, no, the best we can do for him at this time is keep him under sedation until we figure out a way to save him, or at the very least, his mind." Replied the site director.
"Damnit!" He pounded the desk in anger.
Just then a call came in over the Director's personal radio. It was one of the officers in charge of monitoring inbound communications.
"Sir, You need to see this!"
"On my way." Responded the Director. "Dismissed, Epsilon 6, pleasure working with you as always, best of luck to your team mate.
"Thank you sir." The 3 members rose out off their chairs, and saluted him as he exited the room.
Meanwhile...
The CEO of Hasbro was siting at his desk at the top floor off company headquarters, and was getting ready to close up for the day when he suddenly heard a knocking at His Office door.
"Come in." He said.
What Happened almost made him pass out from shock. Standing there was a horse-like Figure with a dark cloak, with the Insignia of a horse and a planet. Emblazed on their shoulder in silver .The creature approached him, and began to speak.
"Greetings, human. My name is Dagaz, leader Of the Ponification of Earth for Humanities Rebirth. Or PER, for short. I have brought you a gift."
The CEO rubbed his eyes and looked down at the whiskey bottle sitting on his desk, "I pray that I'm just dreaming."
"Oh no human, according to my magical scans, you are fully conscious." The being held out a hoof, and the CEO reached out and felt it. Sure enough, it felt solid and real.
"Alright... Mister Dagaz, what is it that you want with me? "Asked the CEO.
Oh, Nothing but a simple business proposal, you see, we recently released a new season of My little pony, To great succe-"
"Wait, I though that show ended years ago."
"Oh, I can assure you, its very much still alive, and it was met with great ratings when it was shown to the public."
"Well, anything to make us more money!"
"Anyway... As I was saying, it was met with great approval from its many adoring fans, however, it was wiped from the internet for no reason whatsoever. I-we need access to Hasbro's servers in order to get it back up again. What say you?"
"Well, I don't see why not." Responded the CEO.
"Great. Now, before we begin, I Would like you to watch an episode of it and tell me what you think."
The CEO's expression darkened, "Fat Chance, But there ain't a way in hell that I'm watching that."
"I'm not asking. "Responded the Creature.
Before The CEO Could react, he was pulled to the ground by... Wait, more Ponies?! Well, It's not like this day could've gotten any weirder. He called out for his Security guards but in their place came an earth pony and a pegasi.
"Hey there boss!, You needed something- Oh, I see .you're about to watch your first episode. Mind if we join in?"
This only caused him to scream louder.
"Who are you people, What are you doing to me!?!?!?!"
"Don't bother screaming, every last human in this building has already learned the 'Magic of Friendship' And soon you will to. Just watch. And so, he did, and just like so many others before him, He started it off a human, and ended it off a pony.
"Great, now that that's done, We can continue with our plan."
Unfortunately for this so 'Dagaz' He had in fact not gotten to every humans in the building as he had hopped.
Meanwhile back at site 15...
The Site director and the technicians looked on at the event unfolding on the monitors with a mix of horror, sarcasm, and confusion.
"So, you see sir, it is my opinion that these beings pose a clear and recognizable threat to humanity's existence, I recommend that you immediately dispatch supplementary forces to my location, It should be clear from this footage that they need to be put down as soon as possible and- wait, Oh ####ing ####! They found me, Delta 5 ou-." The feed went dark after that.
"Get Me Site 19 on the, tell them we're going to be needing to borrow NU 7 "Hammer down for a while. And those Guys form ETA 10. We have a planet to save... again."
Kill everything that moves
The Technicians of Site 15 Contacted Site 19, Which as it happens was still in the process of recovering from a certain neck snapping statue. Luckily, MTF nu 7 or "Hammer Down" Was more than happy to help out. You See, for this MTF, The Term Mobile applied very loosely, They Contained over a thousand members and had access to some of the most powerful weapons and armored vehicles that the Foundation had to offer. They were so large that the foundation could only send a small portion of the task force to their aid. With the promise that they would be waiting just beyond the property line to provide additional support incase things got to out of hand. The Primary Task force undertaking this mission would be MTF eta 10 Designated "See No evil" So called because they were the foundation premier mobile task for fore dealing with Cognito hazardous memes and anomalous information. Prefect for the task at hand. The Site director contacted the 6 members of eta 10, Major Jefferson, Sargent Clearwater, Private Riley, Private Gregory, Staff Sargent Edwards, and last but not least, Corporal Brooks. They were currently holed up in their assigned break quarters, mulling over the files that they had just been sent by the Bases IT department when a call for them rang out over the intercom.
"All eta 10 personnel, Report to the armory and then briefing room A-2 immediately!" The team ran down the hallway, got suited up in their standard equipment, however, unlike other mobile task forces, this included a pair of googles with built in Cognito hazard filters. They then hurried down to conference room A-2 where they were met by Dr. black, and to their surprise Epsilon 6.
"Greetings eta 10, You'll be briefed by Epsilon 6 on the current situation." The six team members took their seats around the table, and the members of epsilon six began, alongside Dr. black began explaining the nature of what they were going up against. After that Epsilon six left the room, and Dr. Black gave them their primary objectives.
"First you are to make it to the buildings server room, and destroy it. Second, You are to capture this being. "He passed around a few photos of a horse-like being wearing a dark cloak.
"He calls Himself Dagaz, And claims to be the leader of an organization known as 'the Ponification of Earth for Humanities Rebirth,' Or PER For short. We find it paramount to remove him from the equation before he and his organization cause and more trouble. You are authorized to use lethal force on anyone, or anything attempting to prevent you from completing your mission, Understood?"
"Sir yes sir!" Responded the members of eta 10.
"Good, Now, there's a helicopter wanting for you at pad A. Good luck."
The team left the briefing room and ran to pad 5, before boarding a long-range V 22 Osprey dual rotor helicopter. And beginning the long, long journey to Hasbro headquarters, halfway across the country.
8 hours of flight and 2 refueling stops later...
Just as the sun was beginning to set again the team spotted the large grey office building. The pilot set the aircraft down on an open field a quarter mile from their intended drop zone.
"Command set too set her down far off from the intended drop site, So as not to draw to you any attention!" Shouted the pilot back at the members of the Task Force. "I'll be waiting here when you guys need to pull out!"
The Osprey landed and was approached by One of NU 7's unmarked Humvees.
"So, you're those 'See No Evil' guys the Foundation was telling us about?"
"Yes." Replied Major Jefferson.
"Hop on in."
The team made its way down the empty streets towards the building. Arriving at the base of it.
"You're on foot from here. Good luck." The Humvee pulled away. Leaving the members of ETA 10 alone on an empty street with Hasbro Headquarters directly ahead of them.
"I don't like the look of this, it's too quiet." Said Staff sergeant Edwards. The Team entered the building, and immediately found themselves facing down a group of converted employees.
"Hi, There! Name's-" The pony was cut of by a series of suppressed gunshots from the teams rifles, killing all 9 of them.
"Poor guys, most of 'em probably didn't even have a chance to look away from their screens when this first started. "Said Private Gregory.
"Shut it Greg, you can worry about these brainwashed fluffballs later. Right now, we need focus on getting to the server room, and shutting this thing down for good."
Eventually the team came to an office block. Unlike the previous previous ones, their where no smiling pones waiting to try and ambush the team and convert them it was all silent. Jefferson motioned for them to advance further. they advanced past the first 3 sections of cubicles, but on the fourth one a Pegasus came flying out of tackled Sargent clearwater to the ground.
"Get this thing off me!" She shouted. The team was about to open fire when gunshot rang out and the pegasus fell dead on the ground.
"Command, did you dispatch any additional mobile task forces to reinforce us?" Asked Edwards over the radio.
"No, we did not."
The Team looked in the direction of where the shot had came from and saw 6 men, all dressed in black combat fatigues, and sporting an insignia the team knew all to well. A blue pentagram. The Global occult coalition, aka the GOC, aka, the
"Ugh, hold your fire, its the GOC. What the hell are you people doing here?" Jefferson called out to the men on the far side of the room.
"Protecting humanity, you?" Was their response.
"Same. How should we proceed Command?"
"We've contacted The other teams commander at the GOC, they've given authorization For the 2 of you to join forces, for the time being. "
"Rodger that." The other team nodded in approval, confirming that they had received the order as well. And the 2 groups continued towards the server room. They continued fighting their way through swarms of ponified employees until they finally reached the server room. All the while Dagaz was watching this all unfold in horror on the security cameras, he chuckled to himself.
"Sir, Why are you laughing?" asked one of the converted guards.
"Well, because they cannot possibly stop us! Show these humans what else we have been working on."
The 2 teams entered the server room, and as soon as they di a dart flew out of the darkness and hit one of the GOC Operatives, He Began to scream as the other members of his team watched helplessly as green fur began to sprout all over his body, then hooves, until he fully converted, his expression turned to one of pure happiness as he looked back at his still human teammates, and began shouting for them to join him. Of course this was not going to happen, Unfortunately for him. The GOC is Known for having a deep hatred of the anomalous, and a notorious shoot first ask questions later mentality. One of the other GOC Agents shot him in the head, and the remaining 11 humans ducked behind cover.
"Holy ####, Command Didn't say anything about this!" Jefferson yelled out.
"Riley, Pop a flashbang, Edwards and Clearwater, get ready to make a break for the servers, And GOC People... lay Down Some covering fire. The Remaining 5 GOC members reluctantly agreed to help eta 10, seeing that it was either, them, or getting converted into pastel colored talking horses.
"3, 2, 1 Go!!!' Riley throw a Flashbang, and Edwards and clearwater, protected by their cognito hazard googles sprinted as fast as they could to the servers, Darts wizzed by them on all sides, but to their surprise, none hit them. When they reached the desk, they found it guarded by a lone unicorn, who they quickly dispatched, and began planting explosives. Clearwater spotted a flash drive, which gave Edwards an idea.
"Hey Guys, Lets grab a copy of this program before we go. The Foundation will want it. "
"Good Idea, Now finish it up over there, it looks like they've ran out of darts." 2 of the GOC members ducked out from behind cover, and shot the pony which had hit their former team member with a ponification dart. They raked its position with bullets, and it toppled over, dead. Edwards and Clearwater finished up. and ran back to were the other were hiding, they turned and left the room. Locking it's doors as they did.
"Care to do the honor's Brooks?" Said Clearwater, tossing the detonator to him.
"Don't mind if I do." He Pressed his thumb down on the detonator, and a loud boom rocked the building.
"AHHAHAH!", yelled out Dagaz, who was still watching on the cameras. "These humans just don't know when to quit!"
"Sir, What should we do? Those were the last of the ponification darts they just destroyed and that tv show of your doesn't seem to be working either." Asked one of the nearby guards.
"Barricade this level, there may still be time left to save these humans." He responded in a voice so seemingly compassionate and warm that it was borderline scary. All the while the members of see no evil, and the surviving members of the GOC team continued on towards the top floor. Until they came to its entrance. One of the GOC agents gave the door a kick, only to stumble back and land on his rear. "Guess the doors reinforced, hey Gregory, do you have any more plastic explosives?"
"No, Sir, we used the last of them on the server room."
"Damnit!" Just then one of the GOC members raised their hands.
"I've got some." He replied.
The team set the C4 up just behind the door, retreated back down the hallway. and blew the door open. They jumped out from behind cover and stormed onto the top floor, gunning down every pony they could find. They Searched around for Dagaz, but found him gone.
"Uh, Command, This is eta 10, target is gon-" Just then they spotted a dark figure dart out from behind a desk, and run for the rooftop exit.
"Everyone after him! do not let him leave!" One of the GOC members Raised his rifle an opened fire, grazing Dagaz's left foreleg, he continued running in a panic.
"What the hell was that! You could have killed him!" Yelled Brooks.
"That was our mission, destroy all traces of the memetic virus, terminate all converts, and kill their leader."
"I should have known better. You guys watch the GOC people and make sure they don't try any other crap, I'm going after Dagaz."Said Major Jefferson.
"Alone Sir?" Asked the members of eta 10.
"Yes. Contact Nu 7, tell them to have snipers trained on the roof incase anything goes south. "With that he slammed a fresh magazine into his rifle and ran off towards the rooftop entrance. When he finally arrived, he found a trail of blood droplets leading to an air conditioning vent, he could hear what sounded like, whimpering? No, It couldn't have been... the leader of one of the foundation's most recent and top groups of interest was, crying?
"Come out with your, Han- Hooves in the air and We can end this peacefully!" Yelled Jefferson.
"You poor poor human...you don't understand do you?"Dagaz dragged himself out from behind the vent.
"What do you mean?" Asked Jefferson.
"I knew it...You're just like the others, You poor waring creatures, there will be no peace until you have all been saved."Dagaz said, still quivering from the wound.
"I've heard Just about enough of your crap, come with us peacefully and I'm sure we can work something out."
"N-No. You've pushed us around for years now, You deserve to be helped, all of you."
"Listen Here Mister... Dagaz is it? you converted some people you shouldn't have, and now my friends are the only thing keeping the GOC from dragging you out of here, head on a stick. This is your last and final warning."
"I-I just wanted to help you all..."His Horn began to glow.
Major Jefferson noticed this, and raised his rifle. But to his surprise, the Pony turned, and made a mad dash for the edge of the building rooftop.
"Jefferson to Hammer Down. Non-lethal rounds! Do not let him get away!!!"
"I bid you farewell human." Dagaz jumped off the building and disappeared in a flash of light.
"NO!"
Jefferson ran to the building's edge, and looked off it. Only To find no sign of of the Creature which had just jumped.
"He must've teleported away, DAMN that little piece of fur covered #### to ####ing hell!" The gunman stamped the rooftop in frustration.
Just then the other members of eta 10 burst thought the doorway behind him, GOC in tow.
"Where did he go!?"They all shouted.
"Gone, teleported away." He responded.
"Command to ETA 10, send extraction, Dagaz escaped."
"Rodger ETA 10. Radio silence until return to base. "
A helicopter arrived at the room top and ferried away the members of eta 10, and The GOC members, which they released back to the GOC on the way back to base at a neutral location. On the way back the entire team was silent.
10 hours later...
The Helicopter had arrived back at base, and the members of eta 10 disembarked and immediately headed in for debriefing.
"The Site Director's sure going to chew me out for this" Thought Jefferson. "I'll be lucky to keep my job, if that."
They reentered conference room A-2 and to the whole team's surprise, instead of getting yelled at, they were greeted with a round of applause, and handshakes form the site director, and senior researchers.
"I'm confused, why are you thanking us? We let a leader from a top group of interest get away."
"That's true" Responded the site director, but you stopped the viruses effects from spreading any farther, and tats all that matters for now."
Dr. Black was listening to this whole conversation, and how they recovered one of the virus's original copies. He thought back to Corporal Alex who was lying unconscious in the infirmary 2 levels below them. "That gives me an idea." The Doctor thought to himself.
48 hours later...
Alex's eyes fluttered open, and he looked around to find himself laying in a hospital bed. Last thing he remembered was Being jabbed in the shoulder by one of his Squadmates with a tranq dart. He looked down at his body, and screamed when he saw it. Instead of the usual bipedal human that he was used to, he instead found a body of a creature he was all to familiar with. A grey furred pony.
"Wait, something's wrong, shouldn't I be brainwashed right now? Unless this is all a fantasy dreamt up by my mind, and the real me is still a mindlessly happy abomination." He tried moving one of his new forelegs, and sure enough, they felt real."
Just then to his surprise, Dr. Black walked in. "Ahh, yes, I see my cure worked. How are you feeling Corporal?"
"I Have a massive headache, but other than that... I feel normal, aside from the whole, changing species thing. How did you people fix me?"
"That's classified I'm afraid, there are some friends of yours who've been waiting a while for you to wake up."
Just then, the other 3 members of Epsilon 6 walked in.
"Hey there man! How's your new body treating you? "Asked Jackson. A bright smile appeared on Alex's face.
"Wouldn't know, I've been awake for all of 2 minutes. It's great to see you all again."
"You got yourself a horn there Alex. I've been doing some research, and by the look's of it, you can do some pretty cool things with it." Said Ramirez.
"And we brought you a get well soon present. Pizza!"
"Thanks guys." Alex grabbed a slice out of one of the boxes with his hooves, and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Doctor, tell the the site director that we're going to be taking a short leave." Said Jackson.
"Will do Sir." Replied Dr. Black.
Meanwhile in the Wyoming wilderness...
Dagaz appeared at a PER camp. And immediately collapsed the ground, one of the other ponies spotted Him, and summoned a medic. As he was being carried back, one of them asked him" What Happened?"
"The humans... They won... But not for long..." As he continued staring off into the night sky. A sadistic smile appeared on his face.
The world may not know it, but whatever happens, the Foundation will always be there. Ready as ever.
Secure. Contain. Protect.
