The Sentinels: The Conversion Bureau

After what seemed like ages of walking through twisting corridors and other smaller courtyards, the group stopped in another large courtyard, in front of them towered a large ornate building. Its windows revealing eight floors to the structure, and tall spires raised from each of the buildings four corners. A solid wood door similar to the ones they passed through while entering the clock tower and the buildings entire front was covered in carvings of scrolls and books.

“Here we are. This library houses all of the knowledge gathered by the Sentinel council over the two hundred thousand years of our existence.” Raymond announced, he then said to Twilight, “You can select a few volumes to check out if you’d like, just remember to write down which ones you choose in the ledger on the front desk.”

“You mean I can take some home with me?” Twilight gasped, excitement washing over her features. This faded however as a thought came to her mind, “Wait, what language are the books written in? I doubt there is anything written in Equestrian, and I’m not very good at reading English yet.”

“Don’t worry; this library was once open to everyone in the world. Anyone who wanted to could come to read or borrow our books, so of course there would be some problems if they were written in only one language. Every book in the library is enchanted so they can be read by anyone no matter the language they speak. Additionally you won’t have to worry about any being missing; you see when a book is checked out and recorded in the ledger, it is magically transported to its original spot on the shelf after two weeks.”

Twilight was once again overtaken with joy, but she had one more question to ask before she lost herself in her studies. “How will I find any of you if I need anything? The castle is so large, there’s no way I could find you.”

“You probably noticed the slight pulsing warmth coming from the stone on our way here. Our home is, in some ways, alive. It will help you with transportation,” Becky interjected. “Once you enter the library you will probably see a large cabinet off to the side. If you open it, the Keep will provide you with what you need, you can use the glass orb you find inside to be instantly transported to wherever we are, or where the Princesses are if that’s what you’d prefer.

“One more thing, Fluttershy will be in the garden out back, so make sure you don’t leave without her. All you need to do is drop the glass orb at your fee—um… hooves, and the magic contained in it will bring both of you to us.”

Twilight looked at Fluttershy who nodded her head, failing to hide her eagerness. “So, can we go now? I mean, if it’s alright with you. I can’t wait to see what sorts of things live in this garden.”

“The garden is just through the doors strait back from the entrance,” Raymond instructed Fluttershy.

As disconcerting as it was that the Keep has a life of its own, the two ponies were not deterred from wanting to explore the library and garden.

“Have fun you two,” Becky said to the two friends as they ran into the library.

“Please, be careful!” Celestia shouted after them.

As the door closed behind the two, Raymond turned to the others, “Now I’ll show you to where we will conduct our test.”

Luna, Celestia and Becky followed Raymond back into the Keep.

“I still don’t see how this is going to earn us their trust Ray,” Becky sighed.

“We’ll cross that bridge soon enough, please be patient.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight stared in awe at the grand room she had just entered. Candles flared to life in their brackets at her presence, illuminating the walls; shelves full of books covered them completely from the stone floor all the way to the high vaulted ceiling where a large crystal chandelier hung from a chain. In the center of the room was a massive spiral staircase, presumably allowing access to every floor.

Twilight was so mesmerized by the sight that she didn’t notice Fluttershy slip away and out the back door of the library.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The garden was unlike anything Fluttershy had ever seen, just standing in the doorway she could make out hundreds of varieties of flowers each one more exotic and colourful than the next. Trees of all shapes and sizes were spread evenly out among the rest of the plants. Surprisingly, there were some plants here that Fluttershy knew to be native to Equestria. Fluttershy was trembling with excitement, all of this amazing plant life, most of it she had never seen or heard about, and the garden path continued onward and out of view.

Just then she cringed at a strange sound, it seemed to be the call of some kind of bird. The sound was unique, but Fluttershy was certain she heard it before. Curiosity overriding caution, she trotted down the garden path.

~~~~~~~~~~~

In the middle of a large structure that appeared to be a sort of stadium, Celestia and Luna stood side by side facing Raymond and Becky, the two of whom were situated several feet away.

Luna spoke, “To clarify, this shall be a test to determine whether thou art strong enough to do as thou wish in protecting the pony race. We will do battle here so thou can prove thyself.”

“This probably won’t earn you our trust, but if you can show us that you have what it takes to protect everypony then we won’t try to stop you from doing so. Unless of course, you give us reason to stop you.” Celestia finished.

“That sounds just about right,” Becky smiled getting into a ready stance.

“First things first,” Raymond stated receiving a dull look from Becky. “To avoid having an incredibly unfair advantage, Becky will not use her mind magic to bind you or hinder your fighting abilities in any way, but she will still be able to use it to attack.”

“Fine…” Becky said while pouting.

Raymond continued, “Also, I want you two to come at us with everything you have, don’t hold back. We want you to have complete faith in our abilities to work as protectors. And finally, I have absolutely no authority over Becky’s decision in this matter but…” Raymond paused before he finished, and what he said shocked everyone including Becky. “If you find that our abilities are, inadequate, I want you to kill me.”

Everyone was speechless. No one knew what to say, that is until Princess Celestia stuttered, “We… I… I cannot do such a thing.”

“I need you to promise me, promise that if I cannot prove my worth you will kill me!”

“But Ray… Why? Surely you don’t mean it.” Becky questioned, she was trying to hide her shaking.

Raymond just gave her a sad smile, “I think you know well enough my reasoning by now.” He then addressed the Princesses, “What I want to do, no… what I need to do, is protect everyone that I possibly can. If I cannot do that, then my life has no purpose. How cruel would that be, to leave me alive with no purpose? Unable to die from times passage… unable to kill myself… you need to promise me this, please.”

The Princesses were quiet; they looked at each other with similar sorrowful expressions. Luna nodded slowly to her sister; Celestia hung her head and sighed.

“Very well then, I promise.” Celestia said grudgingly.

Raymond smiled, “Thank you, I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

“Well then Ray, we’d better make sure that we don’t disappoint them then.” Becky stated with a grin.

With a magically amplified voice, Luna announced, “Let the testing begin!”

Right away, Becky got down into a crouch. She began to draw large circles in the air with her hands, and as she did two glowing orbs materialized in front of her. As they increased in size the two sisters readied themselves for whatever attack was coming.

Becky rapidly thrust her arms forward and a beam of violet light shot out of each orb toward the Princesses. Celestia took to the sky while Luna jumped to the side in an attempt to avoid the beams, however even as they dodged the rays of violet curved through the air, each striking their target and, to the surprise of both Celestia and Luna, continued right through them and disappeared.

“Analysis completed!” Becky called to Raymond with a giggle and a grin. “Both have incredibly powerful offensive magic and they’ve had loads of fighting experience in the past.” She continued more quietly so only Raymond could hear, “I’m also detecting a foreign source of magic inside Luna. It’s very faint, but I can tell it was once extraordinarily powerful and it has a malevolent nature to it.”

“We’ll have to keep an eye on that then won’t we?” Raymond replied.

“What dost thou mean in saying analysis?” Luna questioned.

“Exactly that,” Becky chirped, “You don’t go into battle without first understanding your opponent.”

“Commendable tactic,” Luna complimented, “But do not think that thou have changed anything.”

With that Luna charged at Becky, horn lowered and sparking with energy. She stopped just a few paces from her target and thrust her horn forward releasing her magic in the form of a lightning bolt. Becky immediately threw her hand up in front of her and projected a shield in the path of the oncoming lightning. The shield shattered and Becky was sent flying head over heels.

Her robe seemed to shimmer for a moment as her momentum slowed; she stopped spinning and began to float gently to the ground. She grinned and begun to waggle her fingers. A mass of roots exploded to the surface directly underneath Luna, twisting and reaching to grab hold of the dark blue equine.

Luna flapped her wings and jumped out of the way, “Ha, thou cannot best me with such traps!” but when Luna looked to where Becky had been a moment before she was surprised to see that her opponent had vanished.

Luna felt a sharp pain in her back as Becky’s foot slammed into her back, kicking her back to the ground with magically enhanced strength. Luna was flung back down towards the grasping roots where she was immediately ensnared. Becky touched down before her and said quite smugly “Ha, thou have been bested.” She turned to regard Raymond, thinking her duel over.

Raymond was standing still, having one massive fireball thrown at him after another. Each one exploded in the air in front of him, yet the flames never reached him. “I told you Celestia, my defenses cannot be penetrated!” He shouted to the Princess of the sun over the roar of the flames. Another fireball flew his way but instead of exploding, it was engulfed by a blue aura extending from the air in front of Raymond.

Celestia paused in her assault, her instincts warning her that he was about to attack. Suddenly the fireball that had been consumed reappeared, though this time it was doubled in size and flying straight towards her. “And you should know that you cannot use fire against me, I guide the sun across the sky after all!” Celestia’s horn glowed with a brilliant golden light, and the monstrous flame simply dispersed. She smiled defiantly at Raymond, at least where he used to be. Celestia whirled around upon hearing him directly behind her.

“I figured as much. Still, it did prove to be a nice distraction,” he said as his eyes began to glow.

Celestia threw up her own magical barrier in defense, Raymond just chuckled.

“You forget that barriers are my specialty, there is no barrier that can stop me.” He leaned his head forward, and as his horn made contact with the thin golden membrane Celestia’s shield shattered. He flared up his magic and released it in the form of a shockwave, sending Celestia sprawling. “I thought I told you not to hold back, I cannot prove anything this way.”

“Like your friend said earlier, you shouldn’t fight until you understand what your opponent can do,” was Celestia’s reply as she climbed to a standing position. Her eyes and horn began to glow. Raymond could feel the massive amount of energy she was gathering, he braced himself. Celestia threw her head back and flames erupted outward, sending Raymond flying. Fire spread across the ground searing everything it touched. Raymond, mane singed and with a particularly nasty burn extending down the right side of his face all the way to his shoulder and upper foreleg, quickly corrected himself and put up his own protective shield, staggering as pain shot up his leg when he landed. The spreading fire surrounded him and even through his protective magic he could feel the intense heat.

From where she was watching Becky could see that Raymond was in a bit of trouble. “Barriers aren’t the only magic you can use bonehead!” Becky called.

Raymond heard Becky and looked over to see her watching with a worried look, behind her Luna was struggling in a large tangle of roots. “I think I know what I’m capable of doing thank you, but don’t you think you should be focusing more on your fight?” He hollered back.

Becky regarded him curiously, ‘Finish? I’ve already won. I have Luna-’ She lost her train of thought as a surge of magic from behind made her fall forwards on her face. She pushed herself off the ground and turned around to see Luna standing behind her free from the now destroyed roots, her eyes and horn glowing brightly. “Trapped… oh,” she concluded aloud.

Celestia regarded Raymond, “She seemed rather worried about your safety. Perhaps you are not as powerful as you claim to be?” she stated more than questioned.

Raymond shook his head, “She’s my friend, and all she was doing was making fun of me. She’s made quite a habit out of it over the years.”

Celestia was about to voice another remark before she was cut off by Raymond, “Trust me, I am more than able to deal with this.”

As he spoke an icy glow enveloped his hooves, and Celestia could see the space around Raymond begin to waver like the air when you open the door to a heated house on a cool winter day.

Celestia raised an eyebrow at this, “I know this isn’t the best of times, but I can’t help but notice how your hooves glow with magic instead of your horn when you cast a spell.”

Raymond chuckled, “I may have mentioned it to your sister earlier but I’ll say it again, I don’t know how to weave spells like you do in Equestria. Human spell casting is the only spell casting I am practiced in, and humans never needed to use catalysts for every spell in the past. Only certain kinds of magic needed one.”

She shook her head and braced herself for what was to come next. Despite his explanation it still didn’t seem right that he didn't have to focus magic through his horn now that he was a pony.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight was prancing happily around the library, a pile of books in tow. Mostly they were volumes regarding the use of magic or its history, though there were a few others that also caught her attention. One book in particular caught her eye quite early in her search; it was incredibly old, easily the oldest book she found yet. Its cover was made out of what Twilight believed to be dragon skin and it was titled, ‘Histories of Magical Races: The Dragonkin’. She picked it up mainly because she thought Spike back at home in Ponyville might be interested in looking at it, but also because she wanted to learn more about the magical past of humans.

Twilight was wandering the seventh floor looking for a place to start reading. Eventually she came across a side room with a sign above the doorway saying ‘Study’. ‘What a perfect place for reading,’ Twilight chuckled silently to herself as she stepped in.

Upon entering the Study, a fire roared to life in the stone fireplace and torches mounted on the walls lit up as well. It was a cozy room, a couple shelves with stacks of parchment, quills and inkpots were also in plentiful supply. A large window overlooking the garden occupied the far wall. Cushions and chairs were spread about, and a desk was positioned opposite the fireplace.

Twilight set her books down beside the fire and pulled over a cushion, just before she sat down to lose herself in the wonderful world of literature she noticed a single small leather bound book lay open on the desk beside a quill and half used inkpot. On top of the book rested a miniature copy of a lifelike painting of two individuals, one she immediately recognized as Raymond when he was human, and the other was a woman Twilight did not recognize. She wore the same robe as Raymond so Twilight assumed that she must have been another Sentinel; she was a slender woman with raven black hair and hazel eyes. The two of them were smiling and wrapped in each other’s arms while seated at the bow of a boat. Behind them was an island on which rested a massive city of pristine white marble. In the painting the island appeared to be shimmering and it’s only connection to the continent in the background was a marble bridge spearing into the distance.

Turning her attention away from the captivating painting, she closed the book to look at its cover, a single word was written, ‘Journal’.

‘This must belong to either Raymond or that other woman in the picture,’ Twilight thought to herself while flipping open to a later entry in hopes of finding out more about their enigmatic friend.

“My dearly beloved Caroline, all the years we’ve spent together, the countless sunsets we’ve gazed upon, the many trials we’ve endured side by side. All this time I was there to protect you, but not once have I told you just how much your presence, you being there beside me, helped me continue moving forward all these long years. But I failed; I failed in the single most important task of my cursed long life, now you’re gone and it’s entirely my fault. I became lost without your guidance, your constant support, and even now I cannot bring myself to write about the atrocities I’ve committed. To try to make amends, I’ve decided to save every single individual life that I possibly can. I know that I will not succeed, and I know even more will die at my hands before my life finally comes to a close; but above all else, I know that once I pass on I will never be able to look you in the eye. Nothing I do will ever be able to make up for what I’ve done…”

The rest of the page was unreadable, the text smudged and faded beyond comprehension by the stains of ancient tears.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The strange birds call could be heard from somewhere ahead, and Fluttershy was certain she had heard it before but just couldn’t remember where.

Eagerly following the garden path before her, Fluttershy stumbled to a halt as she turned a corner. On the path in front of her was a small pile of ash. She knew what this was but for the life of her she couldn’t remember what it meant, that is until a large red and gold bird swooped down between her and the ash pile, flames trailing the bird’s wings. Fluttershy panicked and jumped headfirst into the bushes. A moment later she sprung out of her hiding place, the realization suddenly dawning on her.

“Oh! Was that what I think it was?” She looked at the ash pile to see the majestic bird gazing lovingly down at a newly reborn chick just poking its head out of the ash pile.

“Phoenixes!” Fluttershy exclaimed with glee as she watched the large bird help the newly reborn clean itself off. She looked up when she heard more of the same calls that led her there in the first place, and saw five others perched in a nearby tree. “A family of them!”

Fluttershy was overjoyed, she was in the midst of a family of incredibly rare birds, and better yet she just witnessed the rebirth of one of them. The only other phoenix Fluttershy had seen was Princess Celestia’s pet Philomena, but that was only for a short time and the bird was sick nearly the entire time they were together.

Fluttershy stepped towards the phoenix that stood guard over the little one. “Could I hold the little guy please, that is, if it’s alright with you?”

The phoenix turned to face Fluttershy; it looked as though it were pondering something, then the phoenix nodded its head and hopped back a couple steps. Fluttershy stepped closer and tenderly picked up the baby and held it close. The bird chirped and wrapped itself up in Fluttershy’s mane, Fluttershy smiled contently as the family of magical birds gathered around her and the little one.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A strong gust of icy wind assaulted Celestia, the surrounding flames were quelled and ice began to form on her coat and wings.

The wind stopped as suddenly as it formed, and there stood Raymond, his hooves glowing blue as a thin veils of frozen vapor floated around them. He held his right eye closed, the skin around it severely blistered.

Celestia brought fourth another surge of flames, melting the icicles that now hung from her feathers. As the inferno approached Raymond he front hooves into the ground, flinching as the blistered skin on his shoulder stretched. The fire was met with a wall of ice that solidified between the two combatants. The fire began melting the ice with a loud hiss and steam clouds were cast into the air, as the last of the wall vaporized and the remaining flames burst through, they were dispelled with another light stomp from Raymond.

“Winter always was my favourite season, and I am quite fond of using elemental ice spells,” Raymond said from behind Celestia.

Celestia spun around; the drifting steam clouds prevented kept her from noticing Raymond’s movement. “Impressive strategy,” she complimented. “Is that another ability of yours like those barriers?”

Raymond shook his head, the glow fading from his hooves and the veil of ice crystals falling away, “No, it’s just the only other type of magic that I ever really practiced using.”

Becky wasn’t faring as well in her fight with Luna as Raymond was in his against Celestia. She was running back and forth, jumping over small craters as Luna flew above firing bolts of lightning and other magical projectiles at the Sentinel desperately avoiding the attacks below.

“Thou cannot continue dodging forever!” Luna called in an attempt to provoke her. “I thought thou would put up a better fight.

Becky was about to reply, but a stray lightning bolt struck her chest and she fell to the ground convulsing, smoke drifting from her hair and robe. After her body stopped shaking it remained motionless, void of any sign of life as the rise and fall of her breast ceased.

Luna stopped and hung in the air. Clearly shocked she stared in horror at the lifeless corpse below her, “Surely this is another trick. Thou could not have died from such a strike. Thou cannot be dead.”

Just before Luna began to descend however, Becky’s body faded away. Luna froze for a moment; ‘A trick, I knew it!’ a moment was all that was needed. Luna’s head jerked around, the air began to vibrate as a massive glowing white blade of pure magic shot towards her, the volume of its howl growing as it sliced through the air getting closer and closer. Behind it on the ground stood Becky with a mischievous grin plastered on her face.

Luna didn’t have time to dodge. The blade made contact at the base of her wing, continuing through and severing both of the appendages from her body. She howled in agonizing pain as she plummeted towards the ground, landing painfully in a heap. Writhing in agony, she noticed Becky walking slowly towards her, all mirth drained from her features, her face hooded and cast in shadow. She now held a wicked curved sword in her hand. Becky bent down and grabbing Luna’s midnight sky mane violently yanked her head up so she could whisper into the Princesses ear.

“If the mind is weak… A simple illusion is enough to kill.” With that Becky threw Luna’s head to the ground and raised the sword above her head.

Luna cringed as the blade began its arcing descent to her neck. She wasn’t scared; she was disgusted with herself, disgusted by the fact that she didn’t see this coming. Two complete strangers boasting powerful magic appearing out of nowhere and claiming to want to help, if this was the case then why didn’t they show up sooner when the HLF first started causing trouble? It all seemed too good to be true, and now Luna could see that it was exactly that. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

Luna waited. She waited and waited, and then she felt a hand on her side. Opening her eyes, she saw Becky sitting beside her gently rubbing the area below her wing. Luna’s head popped off the ground in surprise, both her wings were still attached to her body, and not a scratch was on them, nor was a single feather out of place.

“Glad to see that you have a strong mind,” Becky said with a kind smile.

“W-what did thou do to me?” Luna stammered, not understanding what had just transpired.

“I showed you an illusion, one that was real enough to trick your mind into thinking it was reality. Sorry, but I just can’t resist testing the strength of someone’s mind.” She gave a sheepish grin.

It took Luna a moment to digest this, but when she did she was furious.

“Thou had the nerve to test me whilst we test thine strength? And thou had almost killed me in the process!” Luna’s eyes were glowing darkly, and Becky could sense that something was off.

A shudder racked her body as Luna’s mane began to wrap itself around her, becoming a wall of dark ethereal mist; her temper rising as she continued, “I have never been so insulted and humiliated!”

Worried, Becky called to Raymond who was too busy with Celestia to notice what was happening to Luna, “Um… Ray? Remember that dark magic I said I felt in Luna?”

Raymond had just deflected another vicious attack from Celestia, both of them were panting from the effort they were exerting. “Yea!” he called back before turning his head, “By Aldrich, what’s happening to her?”

Celestia froze in horror at what she saw happening to her beloved sister. A single disbelieving word escaped her lips as her knees buckled beneath her.

“…No…”