It didn't take as long as he had thought it would to take his Hilux home and drive the Evo back to the Ponification Camp. Michael leaned against the hood of his car. Even though he was the one who was early, he still didn't like having to wait. Parked right in front of the main doors, the engine of his classic red sports car was slowly ticking itself to sleep.

After about another half hour, the doors slid open and Twilight emerged, "This is what you wanted to show me? Your car?"

Michael flipped down his shades, "Means to an end, Twilight. Means to an end." He circled around the passenger side and opened the door for her, "C'mon, get in."

Twilight entered the car and sat down awkwardly in the hard bucket seat.

Michael set to work fastening the five-point safety harness, "Sorry if it's a bit awkward. These weren't exactly built with ponies in mind," he had her lean forward and put a pillow behind her, "How's that?"

She smiled, "Better, thanks."

Michael jogged around the car, got in, and fastened his harness.

Twilight looked around the inside and, although she had only been in a car a few times, this was so unlike any other that it seemed almost alien. There were three pedals instead of two, the back seats were gone, replaced with crossing pipes, there was a  strange lever sticking out from between the seats, and there were several gauges in the dashboard, instead of the usual two for speed and battery.

"This is the strangest car I've ever seen." she commented.

"Well, I guarantee you there isn't another like it in all of Jersey."

He put the key in the ignition and turned it. The engine started with a roar.

Twilight jumped, "Goodness! What in Equestria was that?"

"That," Michael said, pointing at the front of the car, "was a two litre, turbocharged, four cylinder engine putting out almost five-hundred and thirty... er, BHP."

"But it's so loud!"

"That's because all you've ever heard was electric cars. This is a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 12; Mitsubishi's last gasoline powered production car before the EPA put the kibosh on non-electrics. Their last stand in the name of tradition. It's nearly 20 years old. Anyways, let's get going."

Revving the engine, Michael dropped the clutch, and the car took off. As they cruised through the suburban neighborhoods, Twilight looked out the windows.

"You're an intelligent pony, Twilight," Michael said, "Tell me what you see."

"I see cars, trees, houses, a school..."

Michael rolled down the windows to let some air in, "Alright, now tell me what you don't see."

Twilight stared out the window, but turned back toward him.

"I don't understand. What do you mean 'what I don't see'? How am I supposed to tell you about something that isn't there?"

"An age old question," Michael said in his best "Wise old sensei” voice. "Okay, think of it like this: There's some cookie dough on the kitchen counter; it has a hole in it. You can smell freshly baked cookies and you can see a plate with crumbs on it. You can tell from the smell and the crumbs that there were cookies and they were eaten. But now you want to know what shape the cookies were. How would you find that out, presuming there was no one around to ask?"

Twilight thought for a few moments, "You look at the hole in the dough."

"Exactly. You look at the clues and infer the missing piece. Look at the clues, Twilight, and tell me what shape the cookie was."

Twilight stared out the window and looked intently. Michael smiled and remembered having to give the same analogy to one of his students.

Suddenly, she understood.

        "There are no people. Cars, homes, schools - everything for people, but there isn't anyone here. It's empty."

"Yes," Michael said somberly, "That's exactly right. Gold star."

Twilight instinctively smiled at the words "gold star", but then realized what it actually meant, "His whole world is falling apart..." She thought.

Michael sighed, "There's one more thing I'd like to show you. In the interest of time, I'm going to be driving a little fast. I realize it'll be difficult for you to hold onto anything, so just sit back in your seat, try to enjoy the ride, and let the harness do it's job."

"How fast can this thing possibly-"

Michael punched the throttle and Twilight was nailed into her seat as the car accelerated from 30 to 90 miles per hour in the span of a couple of seconds. As they moved from suburbia towards one of the nearby mountains, they began their way up the windy mountain roads. Although Michael had to slow down a bit, as they plowed through the turns, Twilight could feel the G forces. Finally, they arrived at a parking lot about mid-way up. Michael parked the car, got out, then helped Twilight out.

She was a little wobbly at first, but soon regained her balance.

She stared at the car in disbelief, "That car could give Rainbow Dash a run for her money."

Twilight looked around and saw Michael leaning on one of the guardrails. As she stood up on her hind legs and rested her two front legs on the railing, she could see that the parking lot actually overlooked most of Newark. She could even see the ocean in the far distance.

         "This is quite a lovely view, but what is it you wanted to show me?"

"Just take a look out there. Can you see it?"

Twilight stared at the city beneath them and remembered the car ride. The city of Newark was large, very large, and its suburban neighborhoods sprawled all around it.

   "Roads, buildings, parks, but..."

         "No people." she said in a half whisper.

"Well," He answered in a similarly quiet tone, "Not 'no people', but certainly not 'a lot of people'. What once was full of life is now nearly barren."

He turned around to face her, "Twilight, You asked me earlier if I had any questions for you. Well, I do. What do you ponies gain by offering ponification? I have my theories, but I'd like to hear it straight from the horse's mouth, no pun intended."

"Nothing. We just want to help you humans and share this world."

This annoyed Michael, "Oh come on Twilight, don't act like this is some big act of altruism. Are you forgetting your own orientation speech? Equestria is overpopulated and you need to expand it's borders to handle the growth. And to do that you need to convert humans into ponies because, apparently, we can't handle the magic."

"So just because we have something to gain makes us the bad guys? Michael, are you part of the Human Liberation Front?"

He scoffed, "No way, those guys are a bunch of Nazi's. They want to move into equestria and stay human -  To have their cake and eat it too, so to speak. And I don't even care if ponies keep moving into cities, I'd just like it if humans could stick around and try and fix their own messes!"

"So why are we the bad guys?!" Twilight said, exasperated. She was having a real hard time figuring him out.

Michael was equally frustrated. He was a scientist, not a spy. He couldn't keep up lies while still telling the truth. He decided it was time to come clean.

Twilight's stomach growled; the loudest growl Michael had ever heard and his face showed it. He burst into a fit of laughter.

   She blushed, "I'm sorry, I didn't know what you were going to show me so I didn't eat lunch. And this arguing isn't helping either..."

Michael managed to regain his composure, "No, It's my fault. Look, I know this place with a great salad bar. Why don't we continue this discussion over some food."

He helped her back into the car and sat down behind the wheel.

"Complete non-sequiter, but how much have you read on human cultural history?" he asked her.

"Not very much, I'm afraid."

"Well then, since we have to drive back down anyway," Michael smiled knowingly, "let me introduce you to 'drifting'."

Twilight screamed as Michael peeled out of the parking lot and raced down the mountain side, "Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this!"

   Michael's barbecue bacon burger arrived at the booth only a little before Twilight returned from the salad bar, hovering a plate full of salad in front of her. As she lowered the plate onto the table, she noticed the steaming hot burger across from her.

"Is that meat?! Ugh, how can you even eat that?"

"Hey, see these?" he pointed at two slightly pointed teeth near the sides of his mouth, "Canines. That means I'm supposed to eat meat as part of my diet. All you've got are molars and incisors, perfect for plants and fruit, but useless for meats. 'swhy you're vegetarian."

"I still think it's disgusting."

"Well, I'd say 'don't knock it 'till you try it', but I'm pretty sure any amount of meat would give you serious indigestion. So just enjoy your salad and let me have my peace."

They each ate a little bit of their food before Michael broached the topic.

"So, I guess it's time for me to lay my cards out on the table."

Twilight cocked an eyebrow, "So you mean you haven't been completely forward and upfront?" Sarcasam dripped off the sentence with molasses-like thickness.

"Look, are you going to be snarky or are you going to hear me out?"

"Alright, I'm sorry. Please, continue."

Michael let out a sigh, "I- oh how do I say this, I came to the Conversion Bureau under false pretenses. Jack told me he was going to get ponified, so I forced him to let me come along so I could gather intel."

Twilight forked a cherry tomato into her mouth, "But why?"

"Because I didn't trust you. Everything I had heard about ponification either seemed too good to be true or created more questions than it answered. But, having finally met some ponies, like you and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, I understand that you're just like anyone else.

"So, do you trust us now?"

Michael took a drink of his soda, "Honestly, no, not completely. But, I don't think you're misleading us; not intentionally, anyway."

"What did you think was going on; some big anti-human conspiracy?" she asked sarcastically.

Michael took a bite of his burger, avoiding eye contact.

     She waited.

He ate some fries.

Twilight stared at him in disbelief, "Really?"

   He took another bite.

   "Oh I can't believe this..."

"Well what do you expect?" Michael answered, a little embarrassed, "Humanity, no longer the dominant species on the earth, is scrambling to pick up the pieces of the planet we broke. Then you guys come in and offer us a veritable paradise for free!" Michael put on his most condescending voice, "We get whisked away to a magical far away land where everything is peaceful and happy. We can forget about our worries and live out the rest of our lives as ponies, following our dreams and frolicking with cute little woodland creatures!"

Twilight crossed her legs over her chest, "Honestly, You make it sound like some sort of fairytale."

"Isn't it though? I mean, what you guys are basically offering is the chance to fix all the problems we caused, absolve us of any and all responsibility, and let us start anew. And all you want in return is to make the whole world just like the magical place you live in."

"But isn't that the most beneficial thing for all of us? You humans get a second chance and we solve our over-population problem. It's a win-win solution for everyone."

"Here's the thing, there haven't been many win-win endings in human history. And, in most of those, it was either later found out to be a win-lose situation or it involved a dominant party and a submissive one, so really it was 'win-well, here's the most we could hope for, let's be glad we got this much'. Past experience as a species is screaming at those who know their history to look for the rub; the advantage on the other side of the deal. On top of that, when I attended the orientation seminar, you nearly scared me out of my skin."

Twilight was shocked, "What do you mean I scared you? What did I say?"

"Oh, how about this little gem?" Michael pulled out his DS, rewinded the recording to the orientation seminar, and pushed play.

"Our plan is to ponify you, the sooner the better. Expect this to happen when you least expect it." Twilight heard her own voice coming from the small device.

Twilight protested, "That's taken completely out of context-"

"You'll get used to our culture, our food, and our lack of thumbs. Trust me, it's easier than it looks. Because humans can't handle the magic radiating from Equestrian borders, becoming a pony is crucial to expanding the peaceful, friendly aura that surrounds Equestria every day of every month of every year. Thank you."

   Twilight, both Twilights, stopped talking.

Michael grabbed a french fry, and used it to point at Twilight, "You know what that sounded like to me? Indoctrination followed by an invasion and a forced takeover of our land." He ate the fry.

"But that isn't what it was supposed to sound like at all."

"Well then I think we can both agree that your speech needs more than a little work. After I heard it, I was so overwhelmed I couldn't even think straight. I ended up grabbing a few bottles of apple cider and heading over to the garden to relax and try and wrap my head around the whole thing. That was when I met Fluttershy."

"I see..."

"And then," Michael let out a deep breath, "then there's the whole ponification thing..."

"What about ponification?"

"The whole thing, really. Human to Pony; overnight? I know it works. I've seen people go in as humans and come out as ponies. But, how does it even work? The most detailed answer I've gotten is that it's a combination of medical science and magic, but that's not exactly a chilton's guide." he munched on another fry, "I dunno, maybe you can shed some light on the subject. And, remember, I'm a scientist, so please don't spare any details."

Twilight liked giving details, "Gladly! When humans go in to get ponified, they drink a cup of a powerful general anesthetic."

"That much I knew."

"Ah, but what you probably didn't know was that the anesthetic also contains a genetic therapy serum that fits some of the human's genetic traits into a pony template."

"So why are their skin and hair colors different after ponification?"

Twilight sighed, "Well, nopony is perfect, so it was decided to make humans who are converted as varied as we are in order to prevent discrimination. Only their original eye color is kept."

"And what about whether they become unicorns or pegasi or regular ponies?"

"That's also based on the human's DNA, but that part is more complicated than I can grasp," she said, levitating a few baby carrots into her mouth.

Michael absorbed all the new information and thought about it as Twilight ate some more of her salad.

"Wait a minute," Michael said, hitting an epiphany, "Now, I'm not a doctor, but wouldn't gene therapy like that take months to complete? And wouldn't it necessitate decimating the human's immune system?"

"That's where magic comes into play. We use magic to eliminate any pain and to speed up the process dramatically. The actual conversion process only takes about fifteen minutes."

"But about the person's consciousness? You ponies may be intelligent but, physically, your brains are smaller than ours and the layout is different. How does the human's consciousness stay intact?"

"Magic."

Michael paused, waiting for further explanation.

"'Magic'? Just 'magic'?"

Twilight shrugged, "I can't give you a better explanation than that. There's no real scientific analog; none that I know of."

Michael sighed, "Alright, fine."

Now it was Twilight who waited for the other shoe to drop.

"That's it?" she asked.

"That's it."

Twilight smiled, genuinely pleased with how the discussion turned out, "So do you trust me now?"

        "All of your answers to my questions seemed reasonable enough, given the circumstances, so, yeah, I trust you." Michael shrugged, "Either way, I can't really confirm it one way or the other. So either you've been telling me the truth or you've been lying to me. At this point, I've just gotta take you at your word." Michael's face lit up, "Oh, I just thought of two more questions: One short, one long. Which one do you want first?"

"Short one."

"Alright, can you see color?"

"Yes, we can see color just as well as you can."

"Okay, here comes the long one. You ready?"

"Ready."

         "Okay," Michael cleared his throat, "It's pretty well known that ponies think humans are proud, greedy, mean creatures, but now that you've been here for more than a month, what do you think of us?"

Twilight thought for a while, hoof to chin.

"You're not all bad."

Michael put his hand over his chest and put on a pained expression, "Ouch, that hurts right here."

She rolled her eyes, "What I mean is that humans are generally nice people, but you have your faults."

"Who doesn't?"

Twilight smiled, "Exactly." Next Chapter: Chapter 7 Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 19 Minutes