Friendship Is a Strange Journey
Day Zero: Saying Goodbye
It was muggy, rainy and uncomfortable outside of the Conversion Bureau in the town of Lantern, Ohio. Cars were parked outside in the parking lot, all abandoned by their owners. The towing company had made an effort to tow them but it quickly became clear they weren’t going to make any money from the effort. A motorcycle pulled into one of the few remaining parking spots. After putting down the kickstand, he rushed into the building to avoid getting soaked. The automatic door chimed as he stepped through and started shaking the excess water off of his form.
“Oh Joshua how are you this afternoon?”
The human tugged off his helmet. His hair was blonde, but the tips close to his eyes were tinted brown. His face was young and jovial, eyes coloured grey not unlike the clouds outside.
“Oh hey Spring Breeze, nice to see ya,” Said Joshua.
“Alma said she wanted to talk to you about something. It sounded like it was urgent.”
“Thanks for the heads up. Show me your new foal’s picture sometime okay?”
“Oh that wouldn’t be a problem at all. Say hi to your sister for me okay?”
“Sure thing Spring.”
As Joshua headed towards his sister’s room he started to reflect on recent events that brought him here in the first place. It was nearly five years to the day that his parents had decided to become ponies and go to Equestria. Their father was a doctor that worked at Valdez Genetics and Fabrication, one of the many corporations that owned half the planet. Dad had loathed the company with a passion, as they cut corners with research and seemed to more care about their clients’ money than their health. When the ponies appeared on Earth with their proposal to leave Earth behind and enter their own land he had jumped at the chance. Even so, he had reined in his excitement and talked it over with his family. His wife echoed her husband’s desires, but his sister Alma had refused since she was dating somebody and it was starting to get serious between them. Joshua himself had been sitting on the fence but had allowed Alma to sway him into staying. Their mother arranged for the siblings to stay with their Aunt Maebe. It took some time to adjust, but eventually things settled into a normal routine: School, hanging out with friends, usual family stuff. Then with absolutely no warning at all Alma said she wanted to go to Equestria as well. Joshua had tried finding out why, but no amount of talking or coaxing could drag the sudden decision from her. After a few weeks of futile effort, Joshua agreed to accompany her to the ponification camp. It had been a week since they had arrived; Alma so far had been called twice but had refused due to nerves.
Maybe the reason she wanted to talk was that she was getting cold feet and wanted out?
Joshua didn’t have time to think about that too long before he arrived at his destination. He knocked on the on the door a few times and when he heard a gentle “come in” he opened the door and walked inside.
The room really wasn’t much bigger than closet space and Joshua often wondered how his sister could stand the cramped area. In most ways Alma looked like her brother. She had the same skin tone and the same eyes, though she had inherited their father’s red hair, which hung down to her shoulders. Joshua couldn’t help but inwardly sigh when he saw that Alma was dressed in a simple gown and sandals, the attire worn by those about to be converted.
Guess she decided to go through with it after all.
“I was wondering when you were going to get here Josh. They called me about 10 minutes before you got here.”
“What can I say? Traffic was hell. A tumble weed nearly ran me off the road.”
It was a feeble joke, though the two laughed at it anyway. They were used to Joshua’s sense of humour. They both sat down, Alma on the bed and Joshua in a chair.
“Tell me something. How come you’re putting off getting ponified? You seemed pretty gung-ho about it before.”
“I really don’t have an answer. The time just didn’t feel right.”
“A little late to be having second thoughts don’t you think?”
“If you think I’m not going through with it Josh…”
“Nah, that getup they have you in tells me you still want to. Just thought I would ask, sis.”
“My turn now. You haven’t exactly told me why you DON’T want to go to Equestria. You’ve been tight lipped about that.”
Joshua leaned back in his chair as he thought about his answer. He knew the question was going to come up in the conversation sooner or later but he still didn’t have a concrete answer to it. Alma wasn’t going to take “Because I don’t” again, and he didn’t think the partial answer he had would be enough to satisfy her anyway.
“Honestly, I really didn’t know the reason for not going.”
“You make it sound like you have a reason now.”
“Yeah, I feel that if I went and got ponified then I would be giving up.”
“What would you be giving up on Joshua? Half the planet is a corporate controlled wasteland! Dad didn’t want that kind of life for us! That’s why he and mom left in the first place! Please don’t tell me you’ve been listening to that Amerie girl’s ramblings again.”
Amerie was currently Joshua’s girlfriend. She was a sweet girl when she wanted to be, but she never got along well with Alma. Joshua had brought her on one of his visits, hoping for the sake of the occasion that the two girls would be able to bury the hatchet. Those hopes were dashed because not more than five minutes into the visit they started arguing. At one point Alma went as far as accusing Amerie of being part of the Human Liberation Front. It had taken Joshua and half of the ponies in the bureau to keep Amerie from jumping on his sister.
“I can’t say she didn’t contribute to it, but for the most part I want the reason to stay because of Aunt Maebe.”
“Aunt Maebe did good work—she may even have helped to save the world at one point—but that was years ago. Look around you! People are flocking to get ponifed every day! Don’t you think that tells you something about what is happening in the world?”
“That’s the thing, I don’t agree with that way of thinking! They did something that most humans wouldn’t even dream of doing. I feel we would be wasting their efforts and sacrifices if we just packed up and left!”
“The Land of Ruin was human’s fault in the first place. The way things are going now it probably won’t be very long before it shows up again and finishes what’s left of Earth off. Is it really so bad to want to leave something old and decayed behind for something new?”
“No, no I don’t think it is. I understand the appeal of packing up and moving on to greener pastures…”
“Then why don’t you? Don’t you miss our parents? They may be ponies now but they are still mom and dad.”
“I haven’t gotten that far with my answer yet. I just still think there is still something worth doing on this planet.”
Alma looked ready to continue the debate but her shoulders sagged, eyes closed and slowly shook her head.
“I guess I’m not going to convince you…”
“If I had a problem with you going pony I wouldn’t even be here. I’m your brother and though I may not agree with your choice one hundred percent, I’ll support you in any decision you make.”
“You know, I never would expect you to say something like that. It sounds way too mature for you, Josh.”
“If you’re going to be like that I can just leave.”
“There’s the door.”
They sat in silence before they both burst out laughing, the tension they had allowed to build up between them dissipating. After that the conversations became easier, getting along with each other as a brother and sister should.
“Guess it’s time for me to go,” Alma said as she started to head to the door. Joshua rose from his seat and stood next to his sister.
“You’re not going up there by yourself.”
Alma gave a small smile. “Thanks Josh, this means a lot.”
“What are brothers for? Come on let’s not make them wait any longer than they have.”
Joshua would never admit it to anyone, but the walk down that hallway was possibly the longest of his life. For a moment he faltered and he entertained the thought of going with his sister. Five years was a long time to be away from one’s parents and there was no telling when he would see his sister again. He had heard stories of families never even hearing from ponfied family members again. He knew his own family would never let something like that happen, but the thought still worried him. He felt a squeeze on his hand bringing his attention to his sister who was giving him a gentle smile. He would miss Alma. He missed his parents, but no matter how much it hurt he couldn’t leave until he had his answer about staying on Earth. When they arrived at the double doors a Pegasus pony was already there to meet them. Her coat was forest green in colour, mane and tail a light brown. Her red eyes seemed to light up when she saw Alma though turned to confusion when she saw Joshua with her.
“Hey there Sky Chase, I thought you wouldn’t be back this week” said Alma
“Oh you know how these things are. It had gotten a little quiet around the office as of late and I just needed something to do and maybe see how Dusty does running the office on his own.” The mare focused on Joshua and looked him over a moment.
“I’m going to venture a guess and say that you must be Alma’s brother Joshua. You really do look a lot alike.”
“Uh, thanks Sky Chase. How do you know my sister anyway?”
Alma actually took that question. “Sky Chase was around on orientation day with one of her friends. We bumped into each other, started talking and we hit it off really well.”
“It was a fun conversation. I would love to talk more with you after you get done adjusting to being a pony Alma.” Sky refocused on Joshua. “Are you considering going to get the treatment yourself, Joshua?”
“I’m going to have to decline, Sky Chase. I’m just here for moral support.”
Sky Chase shrugged and motioned to a bench close with a flick of her head.
“You can wait out here if you want. Alma’s the very last one, so the staff shouldn’t mind.”
Joshua nodded his thanks and turned to his sister. She hugged him and he returned the embrace.
“I’ll be seeing you,” Alma said.
“I’ll be holding you to that,” Joshua replied.
Alma extracted herself and walked through the double doors. Sky Chase looked up at Joshua, concern crossing her face.
“Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to? She was really was hoping to get your family back together.”
“I know, not a day goes by that I don’t miss my parents, but I don’t think I want to make that kind of change.”
Sky Chase nodded and walked through the doors, which left a lingering echo as they closed.
“So you couldn’t convince him, could you?” said Sky Chase as she was pouring out the ponification potion into a cup. Alma lay on the bed specifically made for when she woke up as a pony. She stared up at the ceiling as though she was watching something up there.
“No I couldn’t. I didn’t think I would, but I just wanted to try at least once to see how he really felt about things.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow Alma.”
“Josh likes to think about his decisions for a long time. I was hoping he hadn’t settled on an answer just yet, so I could convince him otherwise.”
“You seem to know your brother quite well.”
“I try to. He can be a headache sometimes, but he’s really sweet. I just don’t want Josh to get himself hurt trying to play hero. He likes the idea of it but I don’t think he really knows what it means.”
“Oh and you do Alma?”
The girl fidgeted a bit with her hands. She looked like she was about to say something but changed her mind.
“No, I guess I really don’t.”
Sky Chase walked over to her patient, carefully balancing a tray with the potion on it.
“Alright, need you to drink up.” Alma took the cup and drank the contents down. Her face screwed up as she swallowed it.
“Something wrong?”
“It takes like grape jelly. I hate grape jelly.”
Sky Chase gave a small laugh “Sorry hun, really can’t do much about the flavor.”
Alma leaned back into the bed and she made herself comfortable. She knew that this was the point of no return.
“Now just relax, this will be all over before you know it.”
It wasn’t hard for Alma to do as she was told because now she found it hard to keep her eyes open. Oddly enough she noticed a blue butterfly flitting through the room. When it flew close Alma lifted up her arm with the strength she had left and the butterfly settled on her finger.
“Hey Sky, there’s this pretty butterfly here…”
The pony in question looked away from the monitors that were keeping track of Alma’s health and looked over to the girl. She had her arm outstretched like she was reaching for something, but Sky Chase didn’t see a thing.
“Alma I don’t see one…”
“You don’t but it’s...it’s…”
Alma’s fell back to her side as she finally drifted off into a peaceful slumber. The butterfly in question, completely invisible to Sky, circled around human girl a few times before finally flying out the open window.
