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Liam
slid smoothly around the broken wall, thought 'Grenade' and his
right hand instantly moved away from the gun, dropped below his
vision, and returned holding a smooth cylinder. He knew this place,
this corner with the concrete hedgehogs and the ammo box, and he knew
the spawn point. It was right over the little crack in the barricade,
and if he threw high, at a practiced angle, he would have reason to grin.
In his
mind, he imagined the motion of throwing, and his arm mechanically
tossed the grenade over the wall. It was perfect, his practice
informing the toss, and within a moment, words formed in the air
indicating a successful frag. Then his vision was filled with a
triumphant march, a stirring image of soldiers cheering, and the
noisesome clatter of scores, ranks, awards, and experience gained.
Dylan
ripped the set from his head, his dark hair left standing at an odd
angle by the rough motion. What the FUCK? He threw his
mindset on the unkempt floor, in anger, but controlled just enough to
avoid breaking the appliance. What the flying FUCK was THAT?
Seriously, let me be the first to say 'Fuck You, Man'. Sincerely.
What WAS that shit?
A massive,
toothy grin faced Dylan. Liam slowly lifted the MicroSony Mindset
from his head, and smoothed his dishwater blond mop of hair. It
didn't help much. It's called winning, Dylan. Winning. You
should try it sometime. Feels nice!
No,
that was Bullshit! I spawn, and BAM, and... well, fuck you.
They were
both grinning now, Dylan's face marked with a touch of excited
frustration, but also a tiny note of admiration. It was a pretty
amazing throw.
Liam rose
to his feet, and began to head to the bathroom. Yeah, I
practiced that. And I'm proud of that, motherfucker! As he
rounded the shelves, he added Come on, you could have done the
same... well, if you weren't a crying little bitch, of course.
This
elicited a round of muffled expletives from behind the door as Liam
settled in. Something in the pizza last night was not agreeing with
him, and he needed a little alone time to enjoy some explosive
decompression. He'd been holding things a little too long.
When Liam
was finally able to leave, he was greeted by the sound of the
threevee and Dylan's excited Over here, dude, quick! The bubble
has just creamed Bakersfield!
The
'bubble' was the iridescent, perfectly spherical barrier that
surrounded the emerging land of Equestria. Since it had first emerged
from the sea four and a half years ago, the strange soap-bubble like
shield had never stopped expanding. Slow at first, news reports had
eventually been forced to admit an acceleration. Now, the sphere was
visible from space, a shining dome more than a thousand miles in
diameter, like some great gemstone set into a Fabergé egg
earth. It was the largest no-fly zone in history.
Look!
Dylan was excited It's just beginning to push into Los
Angeles!. The news anchors, two overly blond talking heads,
were decrying the loss of American soil, and the horror of the sheer
magnitude of it all.
Liam took
his seat Mother-fuck. Damn that's something. Damn. The
properties of Equestria's shield were such that nothing human could
penetrate the barrier. It was open to almost all matter, but anything
human met with total solidity. The effect was such that even bones,
buried deep in graves, were pushed out of the ground, swept as by a
shimmering bulldozer, up into the light of day.
But this
was not all the barrier did; what passed through safely changed.
Radiation ceased. It just stopped being radioactive. Poisons stopped
being poisonous. Gasoline changed into something not entirely unlike
raspberry jam. The most wilted, dying grass turned greener than the
finest summer day, the darkest, most brackish water became the purest
blue, and highway pavement shimmered and fizzed, shifting visibly
into bright and colorful cobblestone pathways. High skyscrapers
melted into thatched-roof buildings, and everywhere trees and flowers
filled every space.
Outside of
the bubble, the works of man, gray and grimy and hard, and inside the
bubble, a brightly hued fairyland where only a semblance of the
original pattern could be interpreted.
Look
at that! it was an extreme close-up shot, from the ground,
showing the slow, inexorable expansion of the Equestrian barrier.
Liam could see clearly the edge of the bubble visibly swallowing the
very last edge of what had once been a petrochemical tank, the other
side of which had become a very pleasant looking hillock, covered
with flowers. The hillock was strangely high and domed, the mass of
it at a steeper angle than physics should allow. That was Equestria
defined: an utterly alien physics, a completely alien world. No, not
world, 'universe', thought Liam.
It's
not going to stop. It is just not going to stop. This is going to...
it's going to cover the world and that is that. Dylan was
unusually somber.
If
it never stops, then at some point, eventually, there won't be any
place left. There won't be any earth left. And no human can live in
there. Liam shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
It's
death in there. For humans. Dylan paused for effect For
humans. He stressed the word. Savored it on his tongue,
stretched it.
Listen
man, we mothefucking have to do this. We are going to have to do it.
If we want to live, we are going to have to...
Get
ponified. Dylan spat the word. Mother fuck.
Ponified. In everything he had said, it was clear the only
obscenity was that word. Ponified. Transformed. Converted.
A gentle
voice issued from the Threevee, coming from an unearthly and
beautiful creature, a being of fantasy and impossibility. Her
multicolored mane moved and rippled like a flag around her head,
sea-green, blue, and pink, her long unicorn horn jutting from her
milk-white face. She was Celestia, absolute monarch and literal
goddess of the emerging Equestria.
It
is with the utmost regret that we acknowledge the loss of the great
and magnificent human dwelling of 'Bakersfield' and also the many
other cities and locales that once graced your coastal regions. While
we cannot stop nor halt the progression of the expansion of our realm
into yours, we remind you that in this there is no threat. We welcome
you, willingly and with love, to join us, to enter into our land, our
lives, and our society. Everywhere are the Conversion centers, always
is the open hooves to greet you into a new and better life.
Dylan and
Liam looked at each other, neither could interpret the look on the
other's face. Celestia was speaking again.
You
have seen what exists beyond the great barrier of Equestria, a world
green and lush and beautiful. Beyond is a land where life is gentle,
kind and wondrous. I would not wish to be despairing of your
magnificent works, but surely there are among you those that can see
the verdant fields beyond the gray steel and blackened concrete, and
yearn for a better life. Please, please join us.
One of the
toothsome anchors was back That was Princess Celestia of
Equestria, responding to these scenes of the current state of the
Equestrian Expansion. We return now to... But by now the young
men were not listening, the sound tuned down, their faces solemn,
chairs facing each other, each trying to read the other.
I'll
go first. Liam spoke Then you can see what's what.
Mother.
Fuck. answered Dylan.
* * * * *
It had
been two weeks, roughly, since Liam had left their shared apartment.
Liam's bedroom door silent, no music behind it, no dirty dishes left
by the sink, no more games of SlaughterStrike 3. Dylan had been
practicing Liam's trick of tossing grenades from across the map, and
had managed to master it, he was eager to show his friend. They had
met playing the first iteration of SlaughterStrike, back before the
Mindsets came bundled with the system. Dylan had gone to the trouble
of ordering a pony-scale Mindset for Liam, as a gift. The device was
a custom job, bought over the hypernet, wide enough to fit the huge
skulls of the Equestrian ponies.
Dylan was
reconstituting some hot wings, sipping a beer, when he heard fumbling
at the door. The fumbling went on for some time, and he listened
intently; there had been attacks and robberies in the run-down
building lately, and he was alert for trouble.
DYLAN!
The voice sounded odd, yet also familiar. DYLAN! I... I need
your help. Could you open the door? Please? Dylan checked the
clock, it was earlier than Liam had said, but it must be him. Dylan
ran to the door.
He paused.
He paused for a long time. He knew what must be on the other side of
the door. That was nothing new, the ponies, transformed humans, were
everywhere now. There were more ponies than humans, the Conversion
Bureaus having served their function for the majority of the time
since Equestria rose from the sea. Both Dylan and Liam had met many
transformed humans, 'newfoals' as they were called, and dealt with
them on a daily basis. But always with a degree of separation, of distance.
It had
finally sunk in. The denial and suspension crumbling away as he stood
at the door. On the other side was Liam, but not Liam,
no-longer-human Liam, and this Liam, this creature, this alien, was
his roommate. It was going to live here now. With him. Every day.
Dylan?
The voice was plaintive Are you there? I can't work the
printlock. No fingerprints. Oh, please be there! I'm.. I'm a little
nervous out here. I want to come home. Dylan?
Dylan
snapped out of his emotion. Sorry, dude, I was... I had to get
here from the... Just a moment! Dylan was working the locks,
pulling back the three safety bolts and the hardlock. There we go!
The door
swung inward. Dylan held his breath, unsure of what to expect.
The
creature trotted swiftly in. It was dragging a sack with its teeth.
It stood on its four short legs, its long bright tail swiffing left
and right nervously. It was violet. Pale violet, the color of
designer sheets or girls underwear. A thick disheveled mane
surrounded its head, an amazingly beautiful, pale corn-husk yellow.
It was the only thing that reminded Dylan of Liam's sad, messy, murky
blond hair.
The
creature, the pony, looked up at Dylan with unnaturally green eyes.
It couldn't be four feet tall.
Dylan?
D...Dude.
Mother fuck. Shit, dude. I mean.... Man.
The pony
nervously looked down and pawed the carpet with one hoof.
Dylan's
heart was pounding. This was for real, this was someone he knew.
Someone he lived with. They had isolated themselves from the world as
long as they could, insulated themselves, in their apartment,
watching as if from another planet altogether, the madness of a
fairyland rising from the sea, the insanity of the human race being
converted into an alien, magical species. They had made it a show to
themselves, an amusement. A fiction.
But now
this fiction was fact, and it was digging at his carpet, in his
apartment, and it lived there. Liam was home.
* * * * *
They had
eaten dinner, Dylan offering Liam a chicken wing. That was
interesting; everyone knew Equestrians were vegetarians, and both
were curious how this new Earth Pony equinoid body would react to
meat if it were presented. Meat was available, but somewhat frowned
upon in the Conversion Bureaus themselves, so this was Liam's first
re-acquaintance with a favored staple. The little stallion tried, but
even the smell was too much. It... it smells like death
was how he put it.
Dylan,
tried some of the food Liam had brought home in the sack. The sack
was filled with hay -lots of hay- some alfalfa, some unusually large
and colorful flowers, some amazing apples, and, of all things,
muffins in a box. The hay tasted awful, like trying to eat a broom,
and the flowers just tasted of chlorophyll and nothing. The muffins
were pretty good. The apples were like nothing Dylan had ever tasted.
They didn't look real; they were some shade of perfect, and the taste
and smell sang to him of something long forgotten in his childhood,
something sweet, and pure. The apples made him sad, too, though he
did not understand why.
They
talked nervously to each other through this, Liam the Pony exclaiming
the rich deliciousness of the hay, the unbelievable savor of the
flowers. That's one thing that has changed, dude. Your sense of
taste is way fucked up!
Pony Liam
visibly shrank at that. What had Dylan said? You alright dude?
Liam? The pony brightened Yuppers! I'm fine! I am very
happy to be home with you!
That
struck Dylan. You never say 'YUPPERS', dude. And that prissy 'I
am very happy' crap. Fuck, man. 'You are very happy to be home with
me?' What kind of shit is that? Are you OK?
The pony
shrank again. It was instant. As though he had been hit by an
invisible fist. Then he was back, all gigantic eyes and pony smile
I must have said 'yup' sometime. Everyone says 'Yup'. And I am
happy to be home. Those huge eyes they seemed the size
of soccer balls to Dylan stared back with unnerving innocence.
You
didn't say 'yup', motherfucker, you said 'YUPPERS'. Dylan intoned the
word in a musical, flaming way. Again, Pony Liam shrank.
FUCK!
SHIT! PISS! COCKSUCKER! yelled Dylan at the little violet
pony. Each time it jerked, subtly, but definitely. Dylan leaned close
and softly whispered Motherfuckercocksucker. Pony Liam
shuddered. He. Shuddered.
Time
passed. Pony and human had retreated to opposite sides of their space
in the apartment, out of mutual necessity. Dylan could hear the pony
in the Other Bedroom clumsily knocking about, probably trying to
manipulate his possessions with mouth and hoof. Dylan stared out the
grimy window, at the deep, dim red disk of the sun staring out of the
gray smog of Los Angeles. The bubble of Equestria was coming. Already
it was at the edge of the city, Bakersfield was now a hilly meadow
within an invading universe. Parts of the city were already dangerous
to be in, the magical radiation too dense to remain in for long. In
time, within another year, this apartment would be... Equestria.
The smog
was clearing. Bright rays struck Dylan's eyes, shocking him. The gray
blanket was being peeled back, faster and faster. He could no longer
stare at the disk of the sun, it was too bright. Yellow and pink and
deep blue sunset, something he had never seen outside of media,
dazzled his vision. The sky really was blue.
Dylan made
out what was causing this impossible change. Pegasuses... Pegasai he
corrected himself, hundreds of them, in every color he could imagine,
swept as one round and round the Los Angeles sky. They dissolved the
smog, battered it, swirled it up like cotton candy, dragging it
behind them, on into and past the now-visible bubble that loomed and
shone beyond. When the smog trail entered the curving Equestrian
expanse, it vanished. Purified, he imagined. Cleansed.
The
Barrier was so close. It was so impossibly vast. It shimmered like a
soap bubble. The smog had hidden it all this time. He had no idea it
was so close and so incredibly huge.
The sun
finally set, and for the first time in his life, Dylan saw stars. Not
many, for there were many lights in the city, but some. Stars. Stars
in a sky that was not gray.
* * * * *
Shopping
with Liam The Pony was a strange new world for Dylan. They had
gradually come to an understanding of how to deal with each other,
and this first week, though rough, was increasingly feeling more
acceptable to Dylan. He wasn't sure how much of the pony was still
Liam exactly.
Sometimes,
in the dark, watching the new, regularly cleaned sky out the big
window, they would talk and for a while it seemed, in the dark, that
nothing had changed. Just Liam. But then Dylan would say something or
make a joke, and the reaction was Not Liam. It's just that,
well, I don't feel angry enough to use those kind of words, to talk
about... things like that. I... I just feel too happy, too...
light... to go there. I'm sorry, Dylan. I don't mean to be...
frustrating. Dylan didn't feel frustrated, he felt scared, somehow.
Pony Liam
was social. That was new. Old human Liam was, like Dylan,
uncomfortable around people. People were a danger, they were always
up to something, they always had an angle, they always wanted a piece
of you. You had to be on your toes in the city, you had to know when
to talk and who you could talk to, and above all, who to not even
look in the eye.
The new
pony market had been a gas station, once. Now it was a space covered
with open bins of fresh produce, hay and oats and alfalfa, flowers
and vegetables. There was a bakery area, with pies and cakes and
other treats. There was a very small human section. It was
increasingly hard to find human-food markets, since the large
supermarts had pulled out of town. Dylan longed for the days of
processed meats and burger stands.
Dylan
chose a stack of instant meals beef stroganoff, cup noodle,
mexi-rice with beans, dehydrated jobs that could be reconstituted
quickly. It was what was available; most humans had fled Los Angeles
long ago, or become ponies. The Barrier meant nothing to the ponies.
They could freely walk through it, and often did.
A pony
family ran the market, and Liam was always so friendly with them. He
was friendly from the first moment they found the market, and dealt
with the couple and their two foals as if they had always been
friends. This was Not-Liam in action. Not-Liam always came out
grinning and friendly when meeting anyone.
Have
you two stallions been enjoying yourselves? Mister Whitemane
was carefully packing up their purchases, he had already put Liam's
favorite muffins into their shopping sack. Mister Whitemane was a
newfoal, as was his family, and they were transformed humans that
continued to live on human land. Dylan did not know Mister
Whitemane's real name, his human name. He had changed his name to
something more Equestrian, as best he could, because 'It sounded better!'.
Oh
yes, Mister Whitemane! Dylan and I have lots of fun. Yesterday we
went to see the Shield! It was beautiful! Have you been there?
Dylan had touched the bubble, a flat wall extending to infinity,
dividing earth from Equestria. There was a place, one of a few nearby
locations, where the magical radiation somehow was not strong,
perhaps like a faded radio signal, or perhaps where waves of magic
canceled themselves out, a safe-for-humans spot where both he and
Liam could visit the barrier without ill effect.
Dylan had
run his hand over the iridescent wall, it felt hard as diamond,
frictionless, and neither warm nor cold. It was just there,
impossible to pass, impenetrable. Liam had happily trotted across the
magical wall, it was but air to him, and Dylan saw Liam's violet
hooves press upon the most perfect, bright, splendid grass he had
ever seen. Looking across into that colorful land had moved Dylan in
some fashion he could not say. He had turned away. He didn't want
Liam to see. The fucker would probably make a big deal out of it, try
to comfort him like some fucking pussy. He couldn't deal with that crap.
Oh
you are so going to enjoy this weeks' alfalfa, Liam. It comes
straight from Equestria itself! We will be getting shipments from
there regularly now. A taste of the homeland! Liam cantered
with joy Yay! Sometimes -no, all the time Liam was
like a child now. He was like an innocent, loving child. A part of
Dylan had begun to hate this. Despise this. It burned.
Have
you thought of a new name, Liam? A proper pony name? Sayyyy....
something like 'Violet Fetlocks? Oh! That sounds nice!
That was
the last straw. That was it. That was the shit. The fucking shit.
Dylan turned and strode away. He walked and walked. He couldn't go
home. This motherfucking prissy pony shit.
* * * * *
Dylan was
in a bad part of town, but it didn't matter much, what with the only
threat, other humans, evacuated for the most part. There were still
dangers, of course, a few, rare roving bands of punk shitheads, gang
fucktards that stayed around to partake of the last days of Los
Angeles, but this was not on Dylan's mind.
Pony or
flee. These were his options. He could become like Liam, or he could
flee. Somewhere. Anywhere. There would be ponies wherever he went, of
course, but he could get away from the expanding Bubble, the growing
magical field, and ultimately, Liam.
Liam and
he used to be friends. They could shoot the shit with each other into
the morning. They shot the hell out of opponents online. Liam was a
great fighter. He was fucking awesome online. They had not played
together since the first night. Liam couldn't take all the blood. He
couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. He didn't feel good
hurting anything.
And that
was it. That was what had been lost. That part of Liam, that part of
his humanity was gone. The killer ape, the murderous primate. It was
gone. The anger, the force inside that made a man tough, the rush of
domination. Gone. Dead. Liam just wanted to be...
What was
it that Liam wanted? To be a friend. That hurt Dylan the most. He
couldn't get mad at Liam. He couldn't even swear at Liam. He couldn't
because no matter what he did, Liam just tried harder to be a good
friend. Liam was ...nice. He was so fucking nice. And Dylan was not.
Not like that.
He never
thought of himself as a bad person. He felt he was an OK guy. He was
a good friend. The time human Liam, old Liam couldn't make rent AND
food, he spotted him. He never even expected to see the money back.
That's being a friend, isn't it? It wasn't like he was evil.
It's just
that, dammit, where was the fucking fire? What had happened to Liam?
And if he went pony, what would happen to him? What would he be? Who
would he be? What the fuck did conversion steal from humans? Was it
gone forever?
Dylan
slept in an abandoned hotel. He picked the fanciest room, he deserved
it. He did not feel like watching the Pegasai colorfully sweep the
horizon. He pulled the drapes shut. He kept the room dark. He felt dark.
I'm
sorry, Dylan The huge, shining green eyes seemed deeply
concerned I really wanted to play, and I really appreciate the
wonderful mindset - it is a fantastic gift but... pale
violet hooves pawed the carpet again ..Maybe we could try
playing something else? Something a little less, well, violent. I
can't help it. It just... makes me feel sad, I guess.
Sad. It
made him feel sad. The pretty pony feels sad. Not scared. Not
disturbed. Not disgusted. Maybe a little. Yes, disgusted. It was on
his face. His muzzle. Whatever. But the bottom line was that he was sad.
Like it
was somehow wrong. Like a good round of killing the shit out of
people was indicative of... a lesser status. That fucking pony was
acting superior! Superior! That was the problem! Liam the precious
pony princess was Better Than Everyone. Better than....
Better
than human.
That
thought startled Dylan. All of his life he had been angry, angry at
people, because they fucking sucked. People were mean and selfish and
cruel, and the world was mean and selfish and cruel, and there was no
end of assholes. Fucktards on the net, asshats on the street,
sociopaths in the government, and raping pirate cocksuckers ripping
up the planet for profit everywhere. Every fucking man for himself.
Every
fucking man. For himself.
Every pony
for... each other. For everyone.
Dylan
tossed and turned for hours before he finally fell asleep.
Dylan
was six. He was at some kind of street festival. It was in the Latino
part of town. There was music and men in fancy outfits playing horns.
His mommy had taken him there. It was so bright, and everyone was so
happy. A plump elderly woman squatted down and patted him on the
head. She said something to his mommy he couldn't understand. Then
she gave him candy. He beamed at her. Without thinking he grabbed her
leg in his arms and held her. She stroked his hair and said things he
couldn't make out. He waved to the nice lady. He waved to the band.
People waved back. And all he knew in all the world was that life was pretty.
* * * * *
Liam
trotted to the kitchen. Turning his head sideways he gripped the
refrigerator door in his mouth and pulled it open. He pulled out his
bag of alfalfa. Mister Whitemane had been right, real Equestrian
produce was unbelievably good. For the past three weeks, since Dylan
had disappeared, Liam had made a point of getting the imported grains
and flowers. It was something cheery, and he needed that, because he
couldn't help but worry about his best friend.
And Dylan
was his best friend, he had realized that the moment he woke up after
his conversion. Even while he had been first learning to walk with
his new legs, he had been thinking, in the back, about whether he
would one day impress his friend with how well he could trot.
He had felt shame that he had never told Dylan how much he
appreciated him. How he had basically just taken him for granted.
Every day,
Liam had gone out to try to find Dylan. He had asked some of his new
pegasus friends to keep an eye out for a dark haired human. He had
even consulted a local unicorn, in the hopes that some work of magic
could find Dylan. But while the unicorn was an early convert, she had
no means of helping him.
Liam, by
now, had many friends among the ponies of 'Los Pegasus' as everypony
was starting to call the city. Occasionally he had heard rumors of
sightings of a man, or men, but so far, nopony had definitively found Dylan.
Liam put
some of the alfalfa into his big bowl. It was his favorite bowl,
because it was wide and brightly colored. He went back to the fridge
for some carrots. Carrots were now spicy-sweet treats to Liam, they
tasted nothing like he remembered from his old days as a human.
He carried
his meal, when he had finished preparing it, gripped tightly in his
teeth, over to the table by the threevee. He liked eating
there, it reminded him of days with Dylan, and it was nice and low so
that he could eat comfortably, sitting on his haunches.
He dipped
his muzzle into the bowl, the cool fragrance of Equestria filling his
nostrils. It sang softly of rolling green hills perfect for galloping
over, of crystal streams and green -so green- shading trees. Breezes
so pure they almost sparkled, and vast fields of colorful, delicious flowers.
There was
a knock at the door. For a moment, Liam was excited, but his keen
ears knew the difference in sound between a human knuckle and a pony
hoof. Liam stood up, licked the last savory strand of alfalfa from
the edge of his muzzle, and trotted over to the door.
There was
no need for locks anymore, everyone in Los Pegasus' was Pony now
(except, he dearly hoped, for one special human) and that made
opening the door much less of a chore. Carefully gripping the handle
in his mouth, the little violet Earth Pony flipped the latch with a
strong tongue, and pulled the door open.
Hello...
he began, May I help you?
Outside
the door was a bright yellow stallion, with a dramatic midnight black
mane and tail. He had a simple cloth bag in his teeth, which Liam
recognized as a release bag, often offered to the converted as they
left the Conversion Bureaus, providing them with an initial supply of
food and essentials to assist them in their new lives. Liam had been
given one. He still had it, for sentimental reasons.
Iffl
Mffl, Fyffm! the yellow pony tried to say around the bag.
Oh!
You must be looking for somepony for company, being new and all? No
place to go? I'm glad you found me! Please, come in, come in
friend! Liam backed up to allow the new pony to enter the
apartment. The yellow Earth Pony trotted in, a little unsteadily, and
sat in the middle of the room. He finally dropped the bag from his teeth.
The cup
was filled with a purple fluid. It was sometimes referred to as
'Potion', short for something like 'Ponification Transformation
Solution' or some such term. He swirled it with his fingers, and it
shone like something metallic, which it might well have been. It had
been explained to him that it was a suspension of nanotechnology
infused with some astonishing form of Equestrian magic - real magic
a combination of earth and Equestrian technology. He supposed
magic could be called technology. It did stuff, after all.
It
tasted... like grape. Artificial grape. Like a bad brand of jelly, or
perhaps cool-aid. He was finally 'drinking the cool-aid'. The joke
made him laugh. The stainless steel platform was cold under his naked
buttocks. He downed the rest in a single gulp. A strange feeling
spread through him, even as his consciousness left. He did not know
for sure if he only imagined his head hitting the platform with a thud.
He was
in some timeless space, floating, a dream that was not a dream, or
perhaps it was. The shining form of Celestia and her sister goddess
Luna were before him. Troubled one, what is it that you seek in
Equestrian life? The question was kind, loving, almost motherly.
I
want.. the words formed in his mind, for he had no body with
which to speak I want kindness. I want to be... innocent.
And he
was filled with light, and laughter, and he became six again, and he
knew, beyond any doubt or any fear, that life was pretty. And then
the colors sang to him.
Dylan was
hugging back, as best he could with his new legs, and Liam was all
violet coat and cornsilk mane surrounding him, and Liam was crying
pony tears of gladness, because his new friend was his best friend,
and the hug went on for a long, long time, until the sniffles
stopped. It was all very emotional, and very raw, and very sappy, and
very honest.
And Dylan
found that he didn't mind. No, he didn't mind it at all. In fact, he
loved it.
THE END
Return
To TCB Story Index
Return
To Jenniverse
Index
The
Lost In The Herd Series:
One: The
Big Respawn,
Two: Euphrosyne
Unchained,
Three: Letters
From Home,
Four:
Four: Teacup, Down On The Farm
The
Conversion Bureau Novels:
27
Ounces: A story of eight and one half ponies
The Taste
Of Grass
The
Conversion Bureau: Code Majeste
The
Conversion Bureau: The 800 Year Promise
The
Conversion Bureau: Going Pony
The Novellas:
The PER:
Michelson and Morely
The
Reasonably Adamant Down With Celestia Newfoal Society!
The
Short Stories:
Her Last Possession
The
Conversion Bureau: PER Equitum
The
Conversion Bureau: Brand New Universe
Tales Of
Los Pegasus
The
Non-Conversion Bureau Fanfics:
The Ice
Cream Pony Summer
Around The Bend
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