Jack climbed out of Michael's electric converted '88 Hilux and stepped onto the parking lot of the ponification camp. Michael stood in the flatbed of the old pickup and tossed him his suitcase.

"Look at how many cars there are!" Jack noted, looking around at the sea of parked sedans, trucks, and coupes. "There's gotta be at least a five or six hundred of them here. I didn't think so many people could fit in that building."

"They don't," Michael said, jumping off the flatbed with his own suitcase. The two began their trek to the building itself, a good football fields length away.

Michael continued, "People drive here to go get ponified but, once they're ponies, they can't drive human cars anymore. Some of them can even fly, so why would they want to? So, they just leave their cars here and go to Equestria. And what's the point of towing them away? No one is going to pick them up. Banks aren't calling in their loans anymore or repossessing them for the same reason."

Jack hadn’t realized any of this before.

"Wow... but then what happens to them?" he asked.

"That's the thing: Nothing happens to them. At some of the early ponification centers, you can find cars that were there since they opened. Some even brand new. It's actually a pretty big problem," Michael sighed, "or it would be, if anyone cared."

Jack stopped and looked at the hood of one of the cars and Michael immediately picked up on what he was looking at.

"Red X. That means the engine was salvaged."

"'Salvaged'? You mean people come here and take parts from these cars?"

"Why not? Society has decided to abandon these perfectly fine working machines. It'd be a crime to just let them sit here forever. Think of it as... recycling."

The two began walking again.

Jack cocked an eyebrow, "Have you ever 'recycled'?"

"You remember when the engine died on my Hilux?"

"...You didn’t."

Michael couldn't help but laugh, "Let's just say there's a Nissan 450z somewhere out there with a red X on its hood."

"So the world is going to Mad Max?"

"Hey, at least we don't have to wear pleather."

As they stepped through the automatic sliding doors of the ponification center, Michael noticed how much it looked and smelled like a hospital.

"Now remember," he told Jack under his breath, "You want me here with you through the whole process."

"Is this absolutely necessary?"

"This is a once in a lifetime chance for me to get some hard data. So, yes, absolutely."

They approached the front desk where a pink pony with matching poofy mane and tail sat. A little picture of balloons adorned her flank.

This was the first time Michael had seen a pony up close.

The little pink mare gave a great big smile "Hi there! Welcome to the Ponification Center! I'm Pinkie Pie!"

Michael jumped a bit, "How can such a loud voice come out of such a little thing..."

She continued, "Are both of you here to become ponies?"

Jack spoke up, "Um, no. Just me. My friend is just here..." he looked at Michael who gave him a look as if to say "c'mon, say it..."

He sighed, "because I'm scared."

"Awww! It's okay! You don't need to be scared! I've got a friend who's scared of EVERYTHING, but even she's not afraid of this place!" She turned her attention to Michael, "And you! You're so nice to be here for your friend! You two must be the bestest besty best buddies in the whole wide world!"

Michael put his arm around Jack's shoulder and plastered on a smile, "Yep! Like brothers!"

"Awww, that's great!" She stood up on her chair, put her hooves around the both of them in a hug, then sat back down. She looked at Michael, "So how come you don't wanna become a pony?"

"Oh, I've just got some things to deal with. Some loose ends to wrap up. That sort of thing. But I wanna stick with my friend here the whole way, start to finish."

"Oh of COURSE! I just need you to fill out some forms and we'll get you to your rooms." She pushed over two clipboards; one was for ponification, the other was a visitor's pass.

The two sat down in one of the rows of grey plastic and metal chairs. Michael's form was short, but Jack's was a monster. Michael looked it over. It asked about everything from medical history and diet to hobbies and skills, but not a line of legalese. No boiler plate, warnings, or liability waivers.

This bothered Michael; not in that it made him worry, but it was very strange.

He handed the forms back to Jack and got up, his own clipboard under his arm, "I'm gonna go take a look around. If they want to move you before I get back, stall them and call me."

Michael took out his 3DS-3, put in a custom memory cartridge made to look like a game, and put it back into his belt holster. The holster had holes in it for the two cameras on the handheld, as well as a hole for the ultrasonic range finder. When the system came out, the sensor was used to detect the distance between one DS and another for games like "Move!: Pong". It was largely a gimmick that never caught on, but now, along with the 3d cameras, it was serving to make an accurate map of the building as Michael moved around.

As he walked back to the triage center to hand in his form, he looked at all the other people sitting in the waiting area. There was no set demographic for the people waiting to get ponified. Some were old, some young, most were healthy looking, but many obviously weren't.

"All of these people... here to become ponies. Each of them has a story, a life they've started, and they're just giving it up. Giving up their humanity: Why?"

Michael put his clipboard on the counter and pushed it over to Pinkie Pie. She looked it over.

"Ooh, 'Michael Frost'. That's a cool name! Bet'cha must get pretty chilly!" She giggled at her own joke and even Michael chuckled a little bit. He had heard that one at least a dozen times, but she seemed so genuinely pleased with herself that he couldn't help but laugh.

"So, Pinkie Pie, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure!"

"The pictures on your flanks, they're called 'cutie marks', right?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Well, I read that, for ponies, they appear once you find your talent. But what about humans who go through ponification? Where does their cutie mark come from?"

She thought for a moment, "Well, gee, I don't know! But Twilight would know!"

"Who's Twilight?" Michael liked the name. It was his favorite time of day to break open a bottle of hard cider.

"Oh, you'll meet her reeeally soon! She's does the orientation seminar!"

"Great!" Michael said, keeping a smile.

Pinkie Pie gave him a lanyard with a laminated visitors pass attached to it and a red rubber nose. Michael held up the nose and gave her a quizzical look.

She motioned for him to come closer and whispered to him, "I know you're sad that your friend is becoming a pony without you, but if you're sad then he'll be sad, so don't be sad, be glad!"

Michael laughed, "Thanks, I am happy for him. But he's been my best friend since we were kids; we even went to college together. I'm gonna miss him." He realized then just how far down he had let his guard drop.

"Aw, don't worry, He's not going anywhere. Just because he'll be a pony on the outside doesn't mean he won't still be your best buddy on the inside. He'll still be your friend, only a leeeettle tiny itsy witsy bit different."

That was exactly what Michael was afraid of. Next Chapter: Chapter 3 Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 49 Minutes