My Little Download: Spreading the Friendship Chapter 1 (Preview)

Looking around, Will was at least happy and content for once. There were no ponies at all in his favorite place, the pool. The weather had finally gotten warm enough for the public pool to reopen, and he jumped at the chance to visit. He always liked to go for a swim when possible. It helped him clear his mind of things that troubled him.

Just a few dives and laps are what I need. He hummed to himself, starting to pull his shirt off. Just a nice, long swim on a beautiful day. How can it-

Bzzzzzzt. Hmm? His side pocket in his swim trunks vibrated once. Somebody text or something? Ugh, hope it’s not work. I took this day off to relax.

Pulling out his phone and tapping on it, he didn't see any icons or symbols. It didn't look like there were any notifications. What? What was that about th-

Putting in his code, the phone opened to his home screen. His heart felt like it stopped.

Nestled between his Twitter and Chrome app, there was a certain icon. It was pink with the silhouette of a pony. It was MLP-ified.

How… how did it get there?! Will heard the stories. Some people downloaded the app by accident from an email or link that was spammed. Some entered a website by accident and got it. Some had it sent to them by friends or family.

Nothing like that happened to him. He had been filtering all his email, avoiding going to any website he didn't know, and hadn't been texted any sort of link from family or friends since the whole mess began. Perhaps the news was right, and the app could truly appear at random?

The thought gave him a chill. The sheer randomness of it unnerved him.

Look, let's relax here. Will took a deep breath and released it. Let's think this over. He looked at the app again. Just because I have it now doesn't mean I have to press it. I can just ignore it, right?

The man nodded and thought. He remembered some of his friends mentioning that they had the app themselves. Nothing changed for them because they never pressed it. The solution was so simple, so novel.

I can deal with this. Will nodded again, his heart starting to lift. I can just ignore this and everything will turn out just fine. Don't need to fret about this or anything.

Will smiled and started to turn his screen off.

THUMP. “OH! Sorry, mister!” The entire pool chair was jostled, a sharp jolt and shake running through it and rocking him.

It was a kid who was running far ahead of his mom. He wasn't looking where he was going as he hurried along and collided into the chair. His leg slammed against the end of the seat, sending Will's heart racing and phone nearly tumbling out of his grasp.

“Uuughh…” Will groaned, clutching his chest. That didn’t feel great.

“I'm sorry!” The mom hurried up, taking her child by the shoulder. “Kids, they can be-”

“You will do well to watch your child, ma'am.” Will snapped. His words were venomous and sharp, even giving him a bit of a chill. “Children shouldn't be running by the pool. You don't want him to get hurt, do you?”

He shot daggers with his eyes, his brow furrowing harshly. The woman and kid both flinched, feeling a chill themselves. They turned and hurried for the exit near the changing rooms. Will smiled, feeling a bit better. They took off fast. Wonder what their problem was?

It wasn't their problem. It was his.

Unknown to him, when the kid charged and ran into his pool chair, the bump did more than just shake him. His phone nearly slipped out and when grabbing to hold onto it, one of his fingers tapped a certain app on the screen.

A blank, white window had opened up. Several images began flashing across it as an eerie green aura began to pulse off the phone.

Will never noticed a thing, more annoyed and shocked by the kid bumping him. He stared him and the mom down. However, that stare turned more into a vicious, piercing death glare. His eyes turned green, his irises blazing a neon green that seemed to glow as he glared.

Once they left, his eyes dimmed down to a less fierce shade of green. He shook his head after thinking a bit, deciding whatever their issue was, it wasn't his. Without even looking, he turned the screen off and chucked it into the bag he brought.