As I looked between the two sides, it reminded me of the Appleloosians and the Buffalo, except they weren't actually arguing FOR anything. They just seemed to like arguing at each other. Both of them made references to invisible things and how they should deal with them, and seemed to like pointing at us as an example of how they were right and the other side was wrong.

Aiko shook her head. "Neither of them will get us where we want to be, spiritually or otherwise." She snorted softly. "I like a good shinto or christian holiday as much as the next person, but they're not who I would turn to in a crisis."

Hiro tapped his claws against the pavement. "Who would you turn towards then? They look agitated, and I don't want to incite a riot just trying to get past them. Even if we did manage to squeeze past, it would be horribly irresponsible."

Aiko smiled. "Those aren't the only two religions." She trotted forward and veered to the right, approaching a golden wheel that three people were holding up quietly. "Excuse me, are you a follow of Shingon?" One of them nodded to her with a curious expression.

A woman pushed to her feet and approached Aiko with a smile. "You are a strange but welcome sight. Most of those taken with this sickness abandon most thought and civility with it."

Aiko dipped her head towards them. "We want to help, but to do that, we must reach the hospital." She shuffled on her new hooves a little. "There they will examine us, and hopefully learn. Time is important in this, even if I know patience is more the usual way."

The woman nodded. "This is a time of crisis. We can't caution patience and understanding too much. Tell us, are you still a human?"

Aiko took a half-step back. "I should hope so..." She slowly reclaimed the step. "But what is it to be a human?" She shook her snout left to right in a roll, sending her mane waving. "I don't believe in jealous gods or vengeful spirits, but this certainly feels like a test..." She raised a hoof to point directly at me. "I thought she was a trickster spirit at first, come to life to torment me."

Many eyes turned to look at me, so I waved back at them with a grin. A man shook his head. "She looks more harmless than many we've seen from afar."

"Attack!" came a cry from up ahead and to the left. The One Godders broke file and many pulled out pointy things like kitchen knives and others had bats, but I couldn't see what they were fighting. They weren't coming towards us at least, so that was good, but what was it? The Stick Shaker led his people in with it, wading together in a huge noisy mess. It would have been fun, if they were fighting with pies and cakes instead of those things.

The woman Aiko was speaking to shied away from it. "The sick have lost the way, and lash out at those who can even be aware of its existence. If you have survived this emptiness and come out the other side, then you are risen, to be celebrated, not scorned, or treated as lost children." She held out a hand and Aiko met it with a hoof. "Bring your people forward into our ranks and we'll try to see them through."

Hiro lept into action and began shepherding the ponies towards the helpful people. With the others distracted by--oh. A huge pony hydra came into view as it knocked a dozen humans aside with a sweep of one of its necks. It snatched up a few of the fallen and... swallowed them. It didn't even chew, it just gulped them up like little candies. The idea of somepony just... I felt a little sick all of a sudden. The people were battering it with everything they had, but its hunger seemed to drive it forward into the crowd.

A loud report echoed through the air as one of its heads exploded in a terrible display of red and little... little bits. I couldn't take it. I shoved my head off to the side and lost what was left of breakfast. I could hear more awful noises, and the crash of what I assumed was the hydra. More death. It wasn't knocked out or driven away. It was dead. It didn't deserve it. The people it gobbled up didn't deserve it. It really wasn't fair to anypony.

Homer nuzzled into my side. "Come on. We have to go!" I followed numbly after him into the crowd. We began to push through, with the helpful people serving as our shield to get us through. That mare that had tried a few times before tried her luck again, offering her rump towards a human stallion with a suggestive brow waggle.

The man smiled patiently. "You are a creature of the earth, still, but I will not be tempted."

One of the others was near me and gently tapped me on the withers. "Excuse me. Is it true you were the source of her suffering?"

I perked an ear. "Sort of? I gave her the pony. I didn't mean to, but I did." Talking with him felt better than thinking about what I had just seen. "I know better now, so you're safe."

He smiled. "That's good. The strictest reading of our teaching would imply it wouldn't matter what we physically became, so long as our spirit and mind remained pure and ready to divest itself of ego. Perhaps it is a sign of my imperfection that I would prefer to remain as I am, for now." He smiled like he just said a good joke, and it made me feel better. It was nice to see people who could smile, and mean it. "Where are you from, Miss...?"

I pointed at myself. "Pie Pinkie, nice to meet you. I'm from Equestria, uh, which is another world away."

He raised a brow. "Are you saying you are a space alien?"

I nodded quickly. "I floated through space. That wasn't a lot of fun at all. I couldn't breathe and it felt hot and cold and yuck. I'm happy I got here in one piece."

He shook his head. "You are either making a wild tale, or are living one. I wish you good fortune either way. Do you understand our ways? Does your Equestria know of the eightfold path?"

I glanced around. "Does it involve more invisible things?"

He put a hand to his chest. "Only our spirit. Life is inherently suffering. We hunger, we thirst, we grow cold, or hot. We grow bored. We want and desire many things, and the pursuit of them causes more suffering. That is the way of things."

That confused me. "So you get a cupcake, a glass of water, or maybe a hot cup of coacoa if it's cold out. You hang out with friends and then neither of you are bored. How is that bad?"

He pet me gently on the head. "And if you are out of cupcakes or there is only rice? Will having rice instead of cupcakes make you sad?"

I pouted a little. "Well, yeah, a little."

"And if your friends are busy, or away?"

I shrank a little. "That would make me sad, sure. But why would you call all of life suffering? That sounds super sad! Life is terrific and full of wonderful things."

He smiled. "It can be. We say that suffering comes from desire. The stronger and more specific the desire, the greater sadness it can cause. If you are hungry, you should eat, but why does it matter what you eat? The rice will fill you as well as the cupcake, why be sad that you have rice?"

I considered that with a frown. These were big thoughts. A part of me giggled internally. It was kind of nice that this person had just wandered up and talked big things with me. He didn't assume I wouldn't understand. He didn't assume I was stupid just because I like being happy. "I guess I can understand that. If you don't have a cupcake, you should be happy with whatever you have, even if it's just a carrot."

"Exactly." He gently pet over an ear. "You look better now. Are you feeling better?"

I considered that. The image of the death of the hydra wasn't as strong. I didn't feel as lonely and horrified. I nodded at him. "I think so, thank you. You gave me a friend right when I needed one." I almost reached to give him one of my remaining cupcakes before I remembered it would make him a pony. That would be some thank you! Well, I could ask? "Hey, do you want to be a pony?"

He shook his head. "I hope that if I catch the disease, I will hold the teachings close enough to not draw suffering from it, but I don't seek it. Why do you ask?"

Emma popped out of the crowd beside me. "I hope you're not considering sharing."

I gave a little nervous giggle. "Asking doesn't hurt."

Suddenly a terrifying group of monsters sprang out of the crowd and surrounded me. They had the heads of dragons and bodies of humans. They wore drums that they beat in some pattern together as they danced around me. The man with the stick with the things hanging off popped out a moment later and shook it at me as the dragons capered around. They weren't eating me... What were they doing?

Emma asked the question out loud as she was shoved away from me. "What are you doing to her? Leave her alone!"

The one in charge shook his stick at her. "You'll get your turn, horse. This is the foul spirit at the heart of our troubles. We will cleanse her and send her away."

Hiro shoved his way back through the crowd of ponies and people to get to me. "She is a living creature, not a spirit. Leave her be." But they didn't stop dancing.

I wasn't being hurt by the dance. I mean, now that I knew they were just doing a funny dance, it was actually kind of nice. "Leave them alone, Hiro. If dancing makes them happy, then they should dance." I started to dance with them in the center, thrusting my hips left and right as I swayed my forehooves to the beat. That was actually kind of fun.

It was all in good fun until I felt something actually lift up and out of me. Suddenly, I stopped being part stallion. I fell to all four in surprise and squeaked. What happened?!

Emma whinnied in fury and charged into one of the drummers, knocking him aside. Hiro frowned at the others and flexed his claws against the pavement purposefully. "I am still a police officer. This is your final warning to cease this assault and remove yourself, or be removed forcefully if need be."

The one in charge shook his stick at Hiro. "Go to your hospital, but everyone can see the cleansing she needs is at our hands, not that of a doctor." They withdrew back into the crowd with all the dignity they could muster.

Hiro slide up beside me. "Are you alright, Pinkie? You suddenly looked sick a moment."

Emma rejoined us. "Didn't you see? Pinkie's just a mare now." She looked back at her own rump. "How are we going to... you know?"

Aiko moved to walk ahead of us. "Is that really all you can think of, Emma? I thought better of you."

Emma scowled at Aiko. "I thought we were going to be married."

Married? I flushed through my pink fur. "I'm not ready for marriage yet! We can be friends though. Mare or stallion." I leaned over to nuzzle her, but I could feel she wasn't entirely into it.

Hiro pointed ahead with a claw. "We're reaching where the military control zone begins. The buddhists are going to have to withdraw." We emerged from them as they stopped at a bright yellow line.

The woman that originally spoke to Aiko found her again. "Good luck. Tell me, are you a follower, or did you simply decide we were most reasonable?"

Aiko smiled a little awkwardly. "I'm not a very good one..."

The woman nodded. "We understand. It's a difficult path, and many stumble along the way. But if it were simple, we would have all transcended long ago, would we not? Walk with wisdom." She gestured for her fellows to go, and they headed back towards the other groups.

Hiro began collecting all the ponies back into formation. "No panicking, no shouting, and for the love of any god you hold dear, no running. We walk in a nice organized file until we're inside. Anyone who acts oddly is inviting themselves to violent reaction. We're almost there, so let's not fumble this at the doorstep of the hospital." The calm authority of his voice seemed to get the others in line and nodding. He invited me to walk beside him and we started the walk, not even a trot, towards the hospital. I felt like I was being watched. I felt like I could be hurt at any moment. I couldn't put a hoof on what, exactly, but there was a palpable malice in the air all around us.

Emma strode on the other side of me and whispered, "They have snipers. If one of us gives them a reason, they'll make our heads explode like that hydra's."

A loud voice boomed out from the direction of the hospital, "Cease your movement. Remain where you are for inspection. Disobedience is a breech of the law. Due to current circumstances, we are authorized for lethal reaction."

Hiro tensed. "Bloody military. The police would never stoop this low. To shoot unarmed civilians..." He raised his head and spoke more clearly and loudly. "Remain in place. I want us all getting there intact."

The colt began to sniffle and shake like a leaf, but his parents closed ranks with him and surrounded him in wings and barrels. That loud bang rang out. One of his parents collapsed to the ground. The colt wailed in horror. I wanted to wail too. "Stay still," harshly whispered Hiro. "No movement, none."

Six humans approached wielding long sticks that I assumed were dangerous. Were they the things they killed with? They surrounded us and began poking and prodding with the sticks, not getting any closer than the stick's length. "Is Sasaki Hiro here?"

Hiro nodded. "Present. I've arrived with the subjects, safely, minus one." He said the last with acid, a low hissing noise in his throat.

"Dead," announced one of them, prodding the fallen body of the colt's parent. With a loud bang, he shot the fallen pony again. If they were dead, why were they shooting them again?! The colt shrieked and threw himself on top of the fallen pony. "Leave my father alone!" The man brought down his stick and bashed the colt across the snout, knocking him free of his father's body to whimper and cry in pain, blood splattering on the pavement.

Hiro's teeth clenched so hard I could see the muscles in his neck bulge out through the fur. The colt's mother's wings fell and hid the colt from sight, but she remained otherwise completely still, her eyes full of fear and horror. Every sniffle and cry her colt made, I knew she was crying on the inside.

The one of them that seemed in charge moved around to be in front of Hiro. "Sasaki, lead your 'unit'--" He smirked as he said the word. "--inside. Nice and slow. No surprises."

We continued our slow walk. The colt's father was left there to just... Just nothing. They didn't care about it, and they wouldn't let us take it, so the colt cried softly from under his mother's wing. I felt my mane sagging. It was hard to focus on the good parts of life right then. Maybe life was suffering...

We arrived at the front door and were led into a small room to the side, which was barely big enough to even hold us all, but at least they left. As soon as the last of the terrible men left, the Colt broke into full wails. Another pony frowned at the colt and his mother. "Quiet him. I don't want to be shot today."

The mother frowned back as she gathered up her colt and kissed his broken snout. "Shhh..."

Things became tense and quiet for what felt like forever until the door opened and a man poked his head in only to stop at the sight of us. "Huh?" He pulled his head back and closed the door, but his shout was audible, "Why are there a bunch of horses in here?"

Another man entered shortly. "Sorry for the wait." He paused as his eyes fell on the abused colt and he threw open the door. "Get a pediatric unit in here." It became a short flurry of activity as men charged in with a stretcher, loaded up the colt and rushed away. They let the mother follow along, provided she promised to stay out of the way and to wait where they told her to wait.

The man that had originally apologized pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did that happen in the city?"

One of the other ponies angrily shouted. "He was bashed for trying to protect his father from being shot for the crime of being shot."

He shook his head. "We have no control over them. I'm sorry, truly." He bowed towards all of us. "Welcome to City Hospital. When I heard a group of intact survivors of the disease was coming, I wanted to greet you warmly, not... this. Please, this is not how we feel."

Hiro nudged his way through the crowd. "Teach men how to kill, and they will kill. You're a doctor, are you not?" The man nodded. "Then let's get to healing our nation. I'm Sasaki Hiro, police officer. These people are my responsibility."

He nodded back at Hiro. "Good attitude. I am Doctor Maki. Let us put this unfortunate start aside and do what we can. We were told of your coming. You should be commended if you only lost one. The city's in chaos. The whole country doesn't look much better." He gestured over the crowd. "Before we begin, a few things we have found. Infection is primarily fluid based. Casual bare skinned contact will not transmit. Being around the infected is harmless." He gestured to his face. "No mask, as you can see. We have set aside a special lavatory for your use. Please use it and only it." He pushed open the door and gestured for us to come with him, and we poured out of that little room into the main hall of the hospital.

"Your wing is here." He led us to a hallway. "Men on the left, women on the right. If you are a family, bed together if you prefer. Breakfast at 8, lunch at 1, dinner at 8. Follow the direction of the doctors, please, it's for your own and everyone else's benefit. Are you all terminal?"

One mare tilted her head. "Dying?"

He shook his head. "No, I mean, are you all complete in your transition?"

There was some murmuring and mostly everyone agreed. We were as pony as we were going to get. "A shame. I'd love to have a still transitioning, but coherent, subject."

I bounced up towards the man. "Excuse me!" He looked at me curiously. "Hi! I'm Pie Pinkie, and I'm a pony, as in really a pony. I was always a pony."

He raised a brow. "You're the 'alien' they spoke of? Pardon for asking, but could you turn around for me, Miss Pie?"

I did a slow turn for him. "If you're looking for the extra parts, I kinda lost those in a drum circle. Don't ask me how that worked because I don't know."

Aiko coughed softly. "It defies logic, but she was literally exorcised of her male parts."

The doctor frowned with confusion and I think disbelief. "I see, well. Mister Sasaki, can you confirm this is the same horse?"

Hiro nodded firmly. "This is her, without a doubt. She has some infectious artifacts you might be interested in."

Oh yeah! I dug out my cooking supplies and set them out in a neat row. "Here ya go. Don't eat them though, they'll make you a pony, unless you want to be a pony?"

Doctor Maki crouched down to look at them before pulling out a plastic baggie for each one to put in carefully without touching them. "This could be very useful, perhaps. We have a few psychiatrists on staff. I must insist you speak with one, Miss Pie. Others will visit the rest of you at times, to make sure you're settling in properly and are still mentally stable." He rose up with his samples to find the mare that had tried so many times before standing before him with a smile. She waved her flank at him lightly and hiked her tail in invitation.

Maki raised a brow. "What is your name?" She seemed excited that he was talking to her and gave it quickly. "Expect one to visit you this afternoon." He clicked his pen back into place and walked off. I guessed that was a no, thanks.

Hiro sagged against a wall with a sigh. "At least we made it. Relax, everyone." With permission given, everyone started wandering around, checking out their new quarters. Either side of the hall had many rooms, with bare little beds inside. It was a hospital, after all, not a hotel, but it was better than sleeping on the street, and they promised three meals.

Aiko's coltfriend claimed one of the rooms and gently nuzzled Aiko into it. His horn began to glow as he painted the walls with a crazy-good drawing of a forest all around them, with a painted sun and some clouds in the sky of the ceiling. He was really getting into it. Aiko burst into merry laughter. "You haven't lost your touch with painting at all! It's fantastic, and lovely, thank you."

I saw something else and began to clap my hooves together. "It's your special talent! Look!" I pointed at his flank, where a gathering of messy splotches had appeared. He peered at it with confusion, along with most everyone else in the area, so I explained, "It's a cutie mark. It shows our special talent. When you find what you're really good at doing and what makes you happy, it shows up there. Congratulations! This calls for a party!" I began to root around for supplies. If only they hadn't just taken my baking supplies.

Aiko nuzzled her coltfriend gently. "You always were a special girl."

He giggled. "Man, now, but thank you." He wrapped his forelegs around her and hugged gently. "Maybe I can make things a little less sad around here." He rose to his hooves and started visiting the other rooms, offering magic paintings for everypony one at a time, until the whole hallway was a riot of colors and images.

It wasn't as good as a Pinkie Party, but it was pretty close. I gave him a hug in thanks. Just seeing all those pictures, each one a little something somepony really wanted to see. It made me remember life really could be good too sometimes. We'd make it through the bad parts.

Author's Notes:

They made it, mostly, yay!

But what angle will turn up fruit first?
1: Psychiatric
2: Chemical analysis of the Equestrian artifacts
3: Biological study of the aware ponies
4: No time for that, something's busy going wrong! Why is the whole building shaking like that?
5: Complete debriefing of one Pie Pinkie.

Vote! The next chapter comes in 2 days, which is how long you have to vote.

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