Seoul, South Korea, 2019 AD

“You can’t do this to us!!” a young female reporter screamed at Queen Celestia. She was clearly frightened for her life now, as anyone watching this event unfolding on TV could see.

And one of those people was Park Yon-Soo, model, pop-star and soap opera actor.

He and several of his costars were huddled around a single TV, helplessly seeing their colleague, and many others, get surrounded. Some tried to run away, but it was all in vain. Whether they were splashed or force fed it, the serum worked its magic on every one of those journalists, who screamed in pain as their bodies reshaped themselves into the mold of a pony, and the Queen herself just watching on with a dissonant and unsettling serenity and pride as this happened. The fresh Newfoals emerged, happily singing their new queen praises and thanks for showing them the light, and offering them a chance to live in the perfect paradise of Equestria.

And then the screen went black.

Everyone was stunned silent for a moment until one, an actress, whispered, “Dear God, poor Eun-Hee…”

The main studio executive, a rotund man in his 70s, shook in his seat, all color drained from his face. His voice shook as he said, “We’re at war now. How did this happen?”

Another actor shot up, “Well, we can’t just sit around and do nothing. If Queen Celestia wants to exterminate us all, we can’t just go down without a fight.”

That thought made Yon-Soo uncomfortable. Sure, he had some military experience, but it had been a very brief stint, the bare minimum he could serve under the law. He never wanted to make a career out of being in the armed forces. He was an artist and an entertainer by nature. He wasn’t a fighter.

The Korean DMZ, two weeks later…

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!” Yon-Soo kept saying to himself as he ran desperately for cover. He hadn’t expected anything like this.

After Queen Celestia essentially declared war against humanity, their first wave of attack was to ponify all of the world leaders, so as to crush any human resistance by getting rid of the heads of state. This right here was only one of what Yon-Soo knew were multiple simultaneous attacks.

And now, he was forced into the Demilitarized Zone, a small stretch of land that separated North and South Korea from each other. Ever since the end of the Korean War, the two countries maintained a very tenuous peace that everyone on both sides knew would not last forever. It was now serving as the closest thing to an underground railroad for defectors, refugees, and now, apparently, the North Koreans’ Dear Leader himself, as well as his family, and several influential military leaders were using the DMZ as a location for a secret bunker to keep themselves safe in case a scenario like this could happen. The civilians meanwhile were left to pretty much fend for themselves.

Yon-Soo had no idea why he had to be in this place. For the first time in his life, he now wished he had followed his father’s advice and just gone through medical or engineering school.

He also had no idea why he would have to help get the so-called Dear Leader over the DMZ. He understood that right now, international relations barely mattered when all of humanity was being targeted and under attack and old enmities would have to be set aside. But why he had to help clear the way for a ruthless dictator that didn’t care if his people were starving and poor made no sense to him personally.

And then they had to show up.

The PER, Ponification for Earth’s Rebirth. A bunch of misanthropic environmentalist whackjobs that believed the Equestrians’ arrival was proof enough that humanity didn’t deserve to go on existing as a species. Though they only came into the scene very recently, they had already claimed several victims. They worked side by side with Celestia’s troops and despite the fact that they were armed with only large stocks of the ponification serum, these agents were more dangerous than they appeared. They ponified all people they saw, and would force feed it to people if necessary.

And now Yon-Soo had realized too late that he and the rest of the troops he went here with were cannon fodder. The PER would try to convert him and the squadron as a distraction while that fat dictator would be able to escape safely. He could hear assorted gunshots in the air, the screams of people and ponies alike as they were either being shot at or converted. It was total chaos there and things were only getting worse.

He began to strongly consider just killing himself now. He didn’t want to get ponified and serve the Sun Tyrant; that was a fate worse than death in and of itself.

But at the same time, Yon-Soo didn’t want to take the coward’s way out. If those ponies would call his species monsters, then maybe he could show them what happened when that sleeping beast was awakened. He took a deep breath, made sure his rifle was fully loaded, and began to run out.

“Come on, you bastards!” Yon-Soo. “You want a war?! I’ll give you one!”

He was athletic enough to run fast and make some steady shots at the enemy with his rifle. A rain of bullets came down on the ponies, and despite their armor and his very bad aim, the bullets actually managed to kill Yon-Soo’s targets.

It was rather disgusting to watch. Apparently, the ponies’ bodies were quite delicate when it came to being shot at. Blood splattered all over the place, like they were paint filled balloons. This seemed to awaken something primal within Yon-Soo, as he kept shooting at them with everything he had. Killing those murdering aliens brought a sense of satisfaction to Yon-Soo. They were the soldiers working under the same murdering tyrant that ponified Eun-Hee and those reporters. And seeing them scream in pain as they bled out made him smile.

“Ponify him!” one of the PER agents yelled out.

Yon-Soo screamed, “Like hell I will let you!!”

He kept trying to shoot at them, reloading when he had to. And when his rifle ran out, he reached for his pistol.

“Die!” Yon-Soo screamed as he kept shooting at them. He managed get some, but they clearly had him outnumbered.

And soon, naturally, Yon-Soo ran out of bullets. He felt rather stupid that he didn’t leave one for himself.

The PER group was made up of a small number of traitorous humans and ponies. Yon-Soo could tell most of those ponies were newfoals. They managed to restrain him, keeping him pinned down to the ground. Yon-Soo sure as hell did not want to make it easy for them. He kept thrashing, and screaming curse words that made the newfoals gasp. Apparently, they were so delicate by nature that they couldn’t hear a swear word without cringing like oversensitive children.

“Now, now,” one of the PER agents said in a tone that would’ve been soothing in any other circumstance, “you shouldn’t be so angry or resistant. We’re just trying to help you leave behind your old life on this terrible world and live in harmony with nature, in a perfect blissful paradise.”

She was carrying a bottle full of a purple liquid that was very clearly supposed to be ponification serum. Yon-Soo angrily retorted, “My life was perfectly fine before you pieces of dog shit showed up here!”

It was then that another PER agent suddenly said, “Wait, I know this guy! He was in that Korean soap opera!”

A newfoal smiled and added, “Don’t worry, once he drinks this potion, he will be humbled and no longer an arrogant celebrity that thinks he’s above everyone. Before I was shown the light, I arrogantly placed myself above others because of my financial status. But now that I have seen the light, my life is perfect as I am now a but a humble servant for our Queen. Open wide now.”

Yon-Soo’s mouth was sealed tightly shut, even as his captors tried to pry it open and force feed him potion.

‘It can’t end like this!’ he thought to himself desperately. ‘God, please, please don’t let it end like this! I don’t want to be like those Newfoal freaks!’

What happened next was something Yon-Soo still wasn’t sure if it was God really listening to him, or fate, or pure luck. But it happened.

“Get away from him, you bastards!!” a voice completely unrecognizable to Yon-Soo yelled out from the distance.

Gunshots rang through the air as the PER agents screamed, some of them getting hit, blood spraying all over him. Yon-Soo noticed the bottle of potion fall to the ground next to his head, the thick purple liquid spilling into the dirt. He also noticed a couple of the newfoals began running at the soldier, carrying their own bottles full of potion, hoping to subdue and ponify him as well.

Big mistake. He shot at them, quickly disposing of them as they fell to the ground, blood quickly leaking from their gunshot wounds.

“Retreat!!” a PER agent screamed in horror as he desperately tried to run away. Apparently, even survival instinct was stronger than their desire to ponify all of humanity. But before he could run, he was shot in the leg, incapacitating him.

Yon-Soo looked out at his rescuer. Judging from his uniform and weapons and the fact that he spoke perfect English, he was likely an American. He was also far better at handling his weapon, judging from how much better he was at handling his rifle’s recoil and his shots being more precise. He made rather quick work of those PER scumbags before walking up to Yon-Soo.

The American was a tall man with lightly tanned skin and green eyes. His hair was covered up by his helmet, so Yon-Soo couldn't quite see much more. It was hard to tell how old he was; he had a rather youthful face that made him look almost like a man in his twenties, but that look in his eyes made him seem older than that. He was fully armed and loaded, and Yon-Soo was glad this guy was the one who helped out.

However, the American soldier didn’t seem quite as easy going as he glared at Yon-Soo, pointing his gun at him.

“Are you from the North or South?” the American asked him in Korean. “Either way, I don’t care much at this point, but if I’m bringing you with me, I need to know that you’re trustworthy.”

Yon-Soo tried not to be scared as he stammered, “I’m from the South! For crying out loud, stop pointing that thing in my face! I’ll come with you! It’s not like I have any reason to shoot the person who helped me!”

The soldier’s face softened slightly and he lowered his gun. He grabbed Yon-Soo’s arm and helped him up, asking, “Are you alright?”

Yon-Soo’s voice shook as he answered, “Yes, I’ll be okay. I really thought that was the end for me.”

The man snorted and remarked, “Well, it’s like that for everyone. I got separated from my squadron when a bunch of pegasi flew down trying to throw potion on us. I don’t know how many survived or if I’m even the last one.”

Yon-Soo was shocked at how he was being so casual with this. Why?

“Are there any other survivors?”

Yon-Soo got up and dusted himself off, replying, “I’m not sure. I had to help out in this escort mission to evacuate refugees from North Korea, but then the PER showed up. The North Korean soldiers were really bad-tempered I suppose, because they immediately started shooting. There were more of them than we thought would come, and it just escalated from there.”

“Refugees? You mean Kim Jong-Un?” the American asked as he observed the bodies lying around them. He then said, “Geeze Louise, I thought the day North Koreans and South Koreans would work together would be the day hell froze over. I guess that’s a sign the shit’s really hit the fan.”

He then noticed one of the human PER members was still moving, twitching as he bled out. He was crawling weakly. The American walked up towards the man, scowling at him. The PER agent spat at his boots.

“You think you’re some kind of noble warrior?” he asked through clenched teeth. “Some kind of dashing knight? Because you aren’t! You’re just a tool of a corrupt government, forced to kill and fight other people in the same situation, and then live a life of constant emotional and psychological trauma. We were trying to free you, everyone from that! Queen Celestia promised us all a perfect peaceful life in Equestria! Why resist the perfect gift?”

The soldier just snorted and said, “I’m not going to act noble, and I will admit the government I serve isn’t perfect, but at least I’m not a traitor like you.”

He then pointed the gun at the agent’s head, and the man’s eyes widened.

“No, please don’t kill me! I’m sorry! I don’t want to die! Just let me go, I’ll do anything!”

The American’s eyes darkened and he viciously snarled, “Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you sold out our species to the invaders. I’ll see you in hell, traitor.”

The American pulled the trigger, and shot the man right in the head, blood splattering all over the ground. Yon-Soo had to resist the urge to vomit. Even after shooting up a decent number of ponies and agents, he still couldn’t get used to this sort of thing.

The American blew the smoke off of the barrel’s end, and began examining the surrounding area. He then said, “We’re going to have to start moving if we want to get to Seoul within a few days. It’s at least safer there than here, that’s for certain.”

Yon-Soo sighed. “This really is not how I ever expected things would go. A bunch of cute little candy colored ponies, attempting to exterminate us all. Who would have thought it?”

The American let out a slight dark chuckle at that and said, “No one did. I’ll admit, so far, I like you. My name’s Porter Stanley. How about yours?”

“I’m Yon-Soo. Yon-Soo Park. I have to say, Porter, your Korean’s pretty good.”

Porter gave a small smile and said, “Thanks. I learned it for a girl I liked.”

Yon-Soo raised an eyebrow at that and asked, “Did she like you back?”

Porter looked down at the ground. He seemed hesitant to answer, and his expression darkened again. Yon-Soo had to admit that Porter was pretty scary looking when he was angry.

Yon-Soo quickly said, “I’m sorry I asked! You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Porter shook his head and replied, “No, it’s okay, Yon-Soo. You had no idea. Yes, she did like me back, and we did start dating before Equestria arrived.”

Yon-Soo wasn’t sure whether to give into his curiosity or not, but he just felt like he had to know.

“So what happened to her?”

Porter then angrily snarled, “She was ponified. That reporter who spoke up against the queen on TV? That was her. When I saw what happened, I swore I would take down as many of those bastards as I could, for her. Eun-Hee fought until the end, and I will do the same.”

Yon-Soo’s eyes widened as he exclaimed, “Wait, what?! I knew her too! She was an anchorwoman at the broadcast company I worked for!”

Porter looked shocked as he mused at that irony. Six degrees of separation probably wasn’t so farfetched anymore now. But now wasn’t the time to muse on ironic meetings possibly orchestrated by fate or coincidence. Night was going to come soon, and he knew that this wave of attackers was only the first of many more likely to come. They wouldn’t be safe for much longer staying here, and Yon-Soo likely knew that too.

“Well,” Porter said, “like I said, we can’t stay here much longer. More PER agents will likely show up here to see what happened, and we can’t take any risks if the Sun Tyrant’s going to send out her royal guards.”

Yon-Soo wasn’t about to argue with that. Porter seemed like the kind of guy that knew what he was doing, and as of now, was the only person Yon-Soo could trust with helping him stay alive. Hey, maybe Porter could even train him better than that crash course boot camp instructor too. And Seoul did sound like it would be safer than out here in the middle of nowhere. And so, they began walking.

Author's Notes:

First chapter! Yon-Soo has had his first taste of battle, and it didn't exactly go perfectly. But with Porter at his side, he's bound to get better.

I'm still not totally sure which actor I visualize as the closest physical representation of Porter. I will describe him a bit more in detail once he takes his helmet off though. I'm not too big on physical descriptions for characters, but I know it's necessary.

Redskin's been a great help as always (largely his part is helping me with the action scenes, the depictions of the newfoals, and and I am definitely getting the hang of writing this story. Next up will be some guy bonding, survival, some encounters with North Koreans and human sympathizing ponies, some fleshing out of what is going on in Seoul now that the whole world is at war against a common enemy, and eventually, in later chapters, I'm hoping to get to what became of China and Russia with the barrier's expansion.

Leaving reviews is always nice as well! Never be scared to leave constructive criticism either! I look forward to getting this story rolling!

Love from yours truly, Kizuna.