The Conversion Bureau:
She was a Victim Too
I sigh mentally as I heard the chatter of approaching youths, and my body acted on it own and looked at the group appeared in my line of sight, and my body smiled in such a way that it would disturb any being who would get to close to me. Luckily for the on-coming group I was kept behind a small magically charged fence, like some caged animal that no one dares to get close to, unless you want to lose a limb.
“Now kids, can anyone tell me what today is?” a pony tour guide with blackish purple hair, a blue strap running down it, and a pair of purple eyes that shines brightly, asked kindly.
If it wasn’t for the textbook mark on her flank, I might have mistaken her for my ex-faithful student. Still, even though my face can’t do any other expression then that stupid smile, I’m always flabbergasted when I see the group; a mix of humans and ponies, coexisting like it was nothing, like being together was as natural as breathing.
Still I would cringe if I was capable to do so, as a young Pegasus colt raised his hoof as he hovered in the air. The guide gave the young pony a simple acknowledgement and the colt said with a beaming smile, “It’s the two-hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Conversion Wars!”
I would have winced if it wasn’t for this stupid spell that kept that smile plastered to my face. The child said that so simple, so excitedly, like it was nothing but words printed on a textbook. And to them it probably is just that, a simple passage in a history book, but to me, it would always be a slap in the face, a cold reminder of my biggest mistake.
The guide however just smiled and nodded, “Very good, young stallion.” the young pony beamed at being praised as the guide then address the group, her smile fading somewhat, “Now, can anyone tell me what started the Conversion Wars?”
The group fell silent as uncertainty was exchanged between the youths. Neither I nor the guide could really blame them, after all, what could someone of today’s world know of a war that occurred 250 years ago?
“If you ask me, it was started because of an impulsive act brought on by immature views.” a voice ringed out casually, causing the group to look to their right.
I even looked in that direction as a human male dressed in a navy blue suit walked up to the class, a casualness to his step. On the shoulders of his shirt sleeves were a glowing mark of a book with a clock half-hidden behind it. He joined the guide as she smiled at the newcomer.
“So glad you could join us, Mister Rollins,” she said kindly.
The man just smiled sheepishly as he said calmly, “Sorry about being late, my meeting ran later then I was expecting.”
The guide simply smiled before addressing the class, “kids, I would like to introduce Jacob Rollins, head of the history department of the local college, and this year’s guest lecturer. Please direct all questions to him for here are in.”
Jacob just smiled at the guide and then looked at her class with a natural face. “Now before we begin, I believe to understand why the former Princess Celestia started the Conversion Wars, we must look back on Equestrian history and see the three mistakes that led to the war and the near end of two races.”
If it wasn’t spell that kept my face locked I might had rolled my eyes at commit. Still, every time I hear this it’s always sent me spiraling into a deep depression, even if those around me can’t see it. Still, I found myself listening in as the history major began to talk.
“Celestia’s first mistake began when she was forced to banish her sister then called Nightmare Moon to the moon, and Equestria enjoyed a thousand years of uninterrupted peace. Even after the brief return of the Mare in Moon seem to tip the balance and allowed evil back into Equestria, things always seemed to work themselves out for the better, and the ponies involved in the conflict became stronger and more united.
“It’s during this time that Celestia began to see her subjects and the land they lived on as near perfect and fate always dealt them the winning hand. Of course, we can’t fault Celestia completely for this mindset; she was unaware of a group of overzealous ponies called the Hammers of the Sun working in the background. This group believed that Celestia’s work was something truly divine, and that her message of harmony should be followed without question. To this end, they put their members, which around out in near thousands, into towns, always watching the ponies for any sighs of defiance against the iron-clad law that they believed Celestia had secretly made.”
If I could scream my frustration I would. I had heard about this group, shortly after my sister’s return, but I foolishly believed them to be just a group of foals using a name they thought sounded cool. And as such I didn’t pay them much mind. It wasn’t until after the war did I learned just how horrible their actions were, and to make the matter worse, they did it because they believed they were doing it out of some secret desire of my to make the land I once ruled over truly prefect.
“Now,” Jacob’s voice said, bringing my attention back to him even if my eyes never left him, “Can you imagine, by some sort of freak accident, the nation you have watched for countless years suddenly appearing in a strange place, and you knew it was instantly wrong after gathering your wit. This is what most historians believe what happened when Equestria landed on Earth. Celestia was so scared when she saw that her subjects were in a foreign land that she unknowing tip into the magic of the spell that brought Equestria to Earth, creating the barrier that only allowed ponies to come and go through it.
“In the beginning things were rocky, but also peacefully, ponies were amazed by the things they seen, and in turn tried to help the humans clear their world with their magic. While the ponies lived on earth, Celestia learn about humans, and after learning much of our history was covered in war and death, she came to the collision that humans were brutes and savages that would eventually do harm to her subjects.
“Instead of submitting to her fears and pulling her subjects back to Equestria, she instead childishly believed she could save humanity, and what better way to save them then to change them into beings that she believed to be prefect and could do no wrong. And that’s where the second mistake was made.”
If I could chuckle, even bitterly I would, as the kids gave the historian awkward stares, clearly lost on what the man was trying to say. Luckily for the young minds Jacob seem to understand they confusion and continued without a question being asked.
“As you know, Celestia created a potion to convert a human into a pony, both in body and mind. But it was the changed to the mind where she faltered, and it started from three words…my…little…ponies,” Jacob said, his voice getting very low at end.
I wanted nothing more to scream, to turn my head and press hooves tightly against my ear. I knew what was coming next and I really, REALLY didn’t want to hear it. But because of this stupid spell all I did was title my head slightly to the right, giving the idea that I was curious as what was going to be said next.
And like clockwork the ice broke as a pony, a plain blonde coat and a gray mane Pegasus filly, rose into with her right leg out. The guide nodded in the filly’s direction, telling her it was okay to ask the question that was on her mind.
“But why are those words so important?” the filly asked curiously.
Jacob looked at the filly, his face becoming a little sorrowful. He suddenly looked at me and his eyes, which were normally a cobalt blue, flashed gold for a quick second. If I was able to I think I would kick myself in the flank. How I not notice it before, who this “Jacob Rollins” truly was, and why he was here in the first place.
But I couldn’t do that action anymore, so I just continue to listen as Jacob turned his attention back to the class.
“Today and no doubt all of those years ago most would have taken this phase as either a harmless nickname or an insult, but to Celestia the phase was how she viewed her subjects. You see, she didn’t see adults with hidden insecurities or doubts. Instead, she saw her subject as children and their only concern was to have fun and play all day. Even though most ponies had jobs, she didn’t see them as jobs, but chores and the bits they gain were their allowance.
“It was this very image that went into mind changes of the potion, and when a human was converted into a pony, they became happy, smiling ponies with only one thing on their mind; being good little ponies for their princess. And for a time all seem to be well, disable humans were going pony to fix their bodies without ever realizing what was happening to their minds.
“But, once again, can we fault the former princess’s narrow-minded view on her subjects, when the Hammers of the Sun were keeping most towns in check without their ruler even being aware of it?”
A young girl wearing a pink dress and with star incased in a circle raised her hand, and spoke when the guide gave her the okay. “Where these ponies really that bad?”
The question was innocent enough, but it still caused me to wince mentally. Where the ponies that followed my ideas blindly, bad ponies? In a way, yes and no! All they were doing was following what they believed to be true. Could they have done it better then the brutal ways they employed, without a doubt!
Still, I was unable to say that, but I was lucky as Jacob looked at the girl with a deep frown and said, “I could stand here all day and tell you about the methods the hammers use on creatures that disturbed the peace even a little, but that would grantee you nightmares for the next two years. But, I do believe we’re getting off topic here, so let continue onto the third mistake Celestia made that lead to her eventual downfall.”
What Jacob wasn’t telling the younglings were how the hammers “taught” offenders. My mental body shuddered as I thought about the poor griffin whose was sent back to her home land with her wings cut off and nearly no supplies for the journey home, all because she made a fuss over a few pranks pulled at her at a welcome party. Or the Minotaur who’s indirectly led one of my subjects to causing trouble around her town. The hammers kept the poor creature in a prison starving for untold days until his muscles were nothing more then jelly and his voice beyond recovery.
But, probably the vilest thing these ponies did came during the war. They had put their members into my army’s ranks and gleefully carried out my orders to convert humans into ponies by any means necessary. I winced within my mind as I remembered when I heard that a pony, later learn to be a member of the hammers, killed a human in cold blood. Some pony historians believed that the hammers somehow modified the potion so the converted humans would act violently towards their former race.
How I wish that was true, I how I truly do wish that was true.
“So what was the third mistake?” a child, I couldn’t tell if it was a human or pony, asked innocently.
Though the question was innocent enough, Jacob reacted negatively to it; his body slumping slightly and his eyes went to the ground. I knew what he was thinking. He was probably collecting his thoughts, thinking about the best way to word things so I didn’t sound like a monster but more like a child who didn’t think things through.
Jacob sighed after a few seconds and looked up at the class, his face betraying nothing. “I guess you say Celestia’s third mistake happened in three different stages. Stage one were, ironically, natural-born ponies. Since she viewed them as children, she could not understand why they felt so disturbed by the “new foals” as they were called. After all, her little ponies were getting loads of new playmates and soon their playground was about to get bigger.
“As you know from your history lessons, when more then 30% of the human race were converted into ponies she openly declared war on the remaining humans. Now, if one look at things from the view of an Equestrian pony, one could say that image of their prefect princess began to break around the time the new foals began to appear and was completely shattered when she started the Conversion Wars. And while the numbers that defect to the other side wouldn’t have been anything to worry about, the simple act should have at least told the former princess that something wasn’t right.”
Jacob paused in his speech and turned to face me. Though his face was stoic I could tell he was looking at me with regret, the kind of regret that a parent shown to their child when they done something wrong when they know shouldn’t had done it in the first place. I wanted to shy away from that look, to turn my head away and close my eyes until he wasn’t looking at me. But I couldn’t, so all I could do was offer up silent apologizes to the man in front of me.
With a mute sigh, the historian turned back to the patient class and continued on with his lecture. “But, Celestia didn’t see fault with her plan, her ideas or her subjects. Instead, she blamed the humans saying that they have corrupted her little ponies, and she became more determined to clean humanity of their sins before anymore of her ponies could be lost to the corruption.
“It was also this view on her ponies that influenced the barrier and cause it to begin to extend, causing the barrier to destroy everything in it path that didn‘t fit the former princess‘s ideal world. Like a child, she believed this to be a sigh that she was doing the right thing, and continued with her plans to “purify” humanity. And this lead to the second stage…humanity itself.”
I felt like chuckling for possibly the third time this day, as the group gave the historian awkward stares. I bet the group couldn’t understand why humans themselves would be considered a factor in my downfall. Still, before anyone in the crowd could make a remark, Jacob straightened his posture and folded his arms behind back.
“Much like the ponies that joined their side, Celestia couldn’t understand why humans refused her “gifts”. After all, she was giving them what she thought they wanted; peace and freedom from their bloody ways. It was because she couldn’t see past her own views that she didn’t understand that she was doing something far worse then killing off species that have lived and made a culture for themselves for thousands of years. She was basically wiping them from their place in the universe.
“It can be argued that Humans saw this and fought back, but it all seems in vain, as the ponies greatly outnumbered the humans and their time in the universe was coming to a close. But in the end, the humans brought enough time for the biggest player in this little game of control to enter…the earth itself, the final stage in the former princess’s third mistake.”
The class and the guide gave the historian the awkward stare to end all awkward stares. I might have stared as well, if it wasn’t for the spell on me, and the fact that I witness what should have been impossible. Jacob seems to sense the class doubts, chuckled slightly, and bent at the knees, lowering himself to the ground so he could run his left palm across the unpaved ground.
“I know what you’re thinking,” the historian said without looking up at the class, “How can a planet be considered be anything but a planet. But that’s the thing; it can grow and nurture others, so it must be alive.” Jacob straightened up and looked at the class with an unreadable expression, “I know how far-fetched this sounds, but there are many video documents on the events, some even records from the event. But again, we’re starting to get off topic.”
Though Jacob can be considered the world’s best poker player, with his voice and face betraying nothing to the crowd in front of him, I was still able to detect something, something hidden deep within. It was remorse, the kind of remorse a parent gets when their disappointment in their children reach it peak. And I wanted nothing more then to run up to him and hug him, to tell how sorry I truly was.
But I couldn’t, all I can do and set and listen as the historian began to tell the part that I hate the most.
“As you know the event happened in the closing days of the war, where more then 79% of the human race had been converted into ponies. The end seems near, but that’s when a young boy just a few years older then you prayed. But he didn’t pray to a god or any other religion figure, but to a fictional movie monster, and the earth decided to heed the boy’s pray.
“Taking on the shape of the movie monster, the Earth confronted Celestia and called her out, telling she was nothing more then child trying to force her views on others. Celestia didn’t like this, and even pointed out that she was helping the earth by riding it of the items that was causing it pain. The former princess was shocked when the Earth revealed that it didn’t need help in healing itself, as it has magic to do the deed, the very magic that it had taken from the humans when it thought humans were becoming to reckless with it.”
Jacob paused to let all he just said sank in and all the class time to think about this new development, as he looked in my direction. His eyes flashed gold, and I finally realized he wasn’t looking at me but through the spell that kept me a prisoner in my own body. I wondered what he was looking for and for what reason he was even looking. I didn’t get a chance to find out as he looked back at the class.
“As you no doubt know from your history lessons, Celestia wasn’t too thrilled when the Earth demanded the freedom of the humans she had converted and the immediate surrender of her forces. The former princess lost her composure for the first time-since who-knows-how-long and angrily refused the earth’s demands.
“But the outburst was nothing more then an act; she had magically contacted her sister and told her to gather the Elements of Harmony to defeat the creature. Unfortunately for the princess, she wasn’t aware of one thing…the Earth was billions of years old, and when you compared that to a creature only a couple thousand years old, the outcome was clear.
“In the end, the Earth egged on the former princess so she would use the elements on him, so he could summon the spirit of the world where Equestria once rested on. It turns out that the elements were actually a small sliver of the power that spirit had, and was given to the princesses long ago to help free the land from the rule of Discord.”
Jacob paused one more, to allow his words to sink in as the group talked among themselves. Thank to my hearing I was able to pick up on some of what the group was saying, and I wasn’t surprised by what I heard. Some where in disbelief, other was just curious. Thankfully the group didn’t get a chance to say anything as Jacob began to speak again.
“Equestria, for a better lack of name for the planet where the nation once lived, was even madder at the former princess for reasons only she knew. Can you imagine the Earth, which had a form that nearly towered over most buildings, shying away from a creature barely taller then the former princess? I bet that would have been funny,” Jacob chuckled dryly at his joke, only to stop when no one laughed with him.
The historian cough to clear his throat and look back at the group as he continued, “Anyways, working together, the two spirits brought down the barrier. Seeing that she was clearly outmatch the former princess surrendered.” Jacob’s voice suddenly fell, and his voice barely hearable, “But the damage was done. The humans that were converted couldn’t be cure, they minds were eventually restored, but not their bodies.”
The historian fill silent as the group absorb what they just learn. The historian kept silent as he let the young humans and ponies think things over. He also used this time to look at me and I saw his eyes flashed gold once more. He looked at the group, his eyes once more back to their natural coloring.
“Before you leave to enjoy the rest your day at this lovely celebration fair, doesn’t anyone have a question they would like to ask?” Jacob asked lightly.
Immediately I saw a hoof go up, and I had a strong feeling of what was coming next. Jacob simply nodded in the direction of the hoof, and an earth pony stepped from the crowds. The colt looked at me with a look of anger before looking at the historian.
“Why is she is like that and why is she in a cage?” the colt asked spitefully, “Why isn’t she locked away?”
The second those words left the colt’s mouth I knew where he comes from. He was no doubt descended from a New Foal, and even now, these born to a New Foal’s family are taught to hate me for what I did to their family long ago, and part of me, a large part couldn’t fault child for his hatred.
Jacob had thankfully got between the colt and myself, and gave him a glare that caused the child to shrink away from him. Once the colt was back among the crowd, the historian once again addressed the group.
“As you’re no doubt learning about, when the war ended, the worlds passed their judgment on Celestia. Earth just wanted to punish the former princess for a hundred year, one half of her sentence carried out as an earth pony and the other half as a human, to learn it what it meant to truly walk on the ground.
“Equestria had other ideas. Due to crimes that Celestia committed before the war she wanted to submit the former princess the torture that she was putting the humans through. It was believed that the two planets want back and forth for days, but in the end the earth gave in, but he convinced Equestria to allow for a parole hearing in five-hundred years, instead of the one-thousands-years sentence that his counterpart wanted to do. This earth pony with the pink mane and tail you see before you is the end results.”
Jacob looked at me again, and I saw his eyes flash once more. I knew each time those eyes flash gold Jacob is looking into my mind, looking for what I still don’t know.
“But why is she in that fence?” a young girl asked curiously.
Jacob sighed and looked back at the group, his face calm and unreadable. “Some believed that when the spell was being put on Celestia she sub-consciously fought back, even tried to counter the spell. It was because of her resistance, the spell was changed, altered somehow, and what happened wasn’t pretty. The end results left her mind somewhat wrapped and she takes things to literal. She had injured a number of people and ponies because of the orders that has been given to her. More unfortunate is that this state is a double edge sword, and she had also hurt herself with the tasks she has been given.
“So, on this day when the entire world celebrates the end of the Conversion wars, Celestia is kept away from the festival goers so she doesn’t hurt them nor have they hurt her. Now if anyone else doesn’t have a question-yes you, in the back! Do you have something on your mind?” Jacob said gesturing for the person in the back to step forward.
If I had the ability to do a double take I think I would, as a human with pink hair in an eerie familiar style walked toward the front of the group. Though she walked with a shy and timid demeanor, there was certain lightness to her steps, like she could jump into the air and never come back down. She also didn’t have these glowing marks on her bare shoulders, and I had some of member of the group mattered something about “smooth skin”.
Jacob wanted patiently as he silently encouraged the timid girl to speak. The girl took a moment to gather her courage and spoke in an--all-to-familiar style.
“C-Can humans and ponies really live together, in true harmony?”
That was…unexpected. I don’t think in the 250 years I have been imprisoned in my own body did I hear that asked before. Even Jacob was caught off-guard by the question, if he slightly opened mouth and slightly wide eyes were any sort of sign. He regained his composure a few seconds later, and looked at the girl with a soft yet sad smile.
“That’s a hard question to answer and there‘s really is no clear-cut answer either. Can humans and ponies coexisted…yes they can. Can they live together in true harmony; unfortunately no, because in the end, there is no such thing as true harmony. There will always been conflict, but hopefully they weren’t get to the point where another war will break out.
“But we can’t deny the progress that had been made in these last 250 years. Thanks to the ponies, we have cleaned up the earth, sea and air greatly. They even helped to greatly improve our technology, allowing for more environment-friendly machines. And in turn we told them how to create, not only technology, but many other things, things that helped ponykind.”
Jacob paused for a second and allowed the group to once again absorb the information they just got. Even the tour guide, who has been silent during the entire lecture, was giving the historian her full attention. Even I found myself listening in, curious as to what the man was going to say.
“But as you know, humans as also gained so much from simply interacting with ponies. I wonder what people reactions were when children began jumping higher then they should be able to or standing on the clouds. Then there was the first farmer who sensed when the ground was going bad due to a prison that accidentally got into his land. And then there was a girl who used magic to save her brother from falling off a building.”
Jacob smiled slightly as he pointed to the mark on his right shoulder. “But I believed this, a Talent Brand otherwise known to a pony as a Cutie Mark, is proof that humans and ponies can live together. As you know, the first person to gain a brand was a young man who did the unthinkable and stand up to a hammer of the sun, sixty years after war ended.
“As you are aware, talent brands appears on a human shoulders when their discovered a talent that truly their own, much like a pony’s cutie mark. But just because it’s helps us to discover talents that sent us on the right path, it’s not just a solid method to determined one’s future, unlike what the former princess thought at the time of her rule.”
The historian paused in his lecture to look at me, and if could, I would glare at him with the force of a thousand suns. His eyes didn’t flash this time, but then again, they didn’t need to. He turned back to the group, his expression once again once again unreadable.
“Here a little bit of information you’re no doubt going to be learning about soon. As you know, Twilight Sparkle is known for her effect after the war, by creating the Department for Ethical Science and Magic, and is regarded today as the grandmother of magi-tech. But before the war, Princess Celestia was actually grooming her former student to become a princess.
“When Twilight found this out after the war, she had very mixed feelings about her mentor’s goals, especially when she learned that she wasn’t going to made into a princess because of her abilities in the magical arts or her outstanding mind, but because of her cutie mark, which was a star, was a rare thing for a pony to have.
“Pony historian had come to believed that the former princess decided on this course of action because her former student’s mark was so rare, nearly as rare as a sun or a crystal heart cutie mark. This goes without saying, but Twilight Sparkle was very disappointed, not angry, in the path a pony she considered a second mother was leading her on. “
This once again showed just how limited her views truly were. She didn’t want to make her former into a princess because she had something outstanding, but because of a simple mark that a few other ponies also had”
Jacob once more paused to look at me, and let the group absorbed the latest information he had just given to them. His eyes did flash gold this time, and this time I truly felt as the supposed human’s began piercing through the spell that kept me a prisoner in my own body. Why he did that, I wouldn’t understand. He knows what he would find each and every time.
The historian turned back to the group, his body relaxing for the first time since he approached the group, as he casually stuck his hand into his pants pockets.
“I guess what I have been trying to say this entire time is that Celestia was also a victim, the first victim of a war that was started because of her limited view on her subjects and the mistrust of a species she barely understood. Should we be mad for the mistake she made? Probably at one time we should have been, but now we should only pity her,” Jacob said with a slight solemn tone, and smiled, “but I do believe I kept you here long enough. Go on and enjoy the fair, kids.”
The kids were more then eager to leave, though some did linger as they look at me one last time before they left the area that was design to tell about the events from the war. The guide assigned to give tours around the area smiled at historian before returning to her waiting spot, for more eager youths who wanted to learn about the war.
Once he was sure he was alone with me, Jacob turned and face him, his eyes turning gold. For the first time since he had approached my pen, I felt myself regain control slightly, and I frown as I looked into the human’s gold eyes. I hope he see the deep regret I felt at the moment, as he glazed deeply my eyes.
“Just two-hundred and fifty more years to go, my child,” Jacob said, speaking in a soft, feminine voice that sounded like it came from the heavens.
With his peace said, the historian turned and walked away, probably to wait for the next bunch of kids to come. When he was out of eyesight, I felt the spell on me reinforced and that stupid smile came back as my body hummed and it began to look around the pen, trying to find something to do. My mind, however, was a different story. I was screaming my figurative head off, venting both my frustration and depression.
‘Why, why Equestria…? Why do you feel the need to shove my mistakes in my face on this day? Were the crimes I committed on you so bad that you need to remain me every single time we meet? Even Earth doesn’t do that and I did far worse then to him then I ever did to you!!’
I continued like this for nearly ten minutes, screaming my mental head off. As my temper began to cool, my mind began to whir. I realized that Equestria doesn’t approach me ever signal year on this day. She only visits me once every 50 years, and most of the time it only to check on me. And when she talks she speaks without malice or anger, just parental disappointment.
I mentally sighed as my body looked to the right of the pen and spied a small triple-lay fudge cake, no doubt a small present that Equestria left for me. I felt some of my self-awareness returned to me as my body approached the cake. My body began to happily eat the cake, and through the bit of awareness I gained I could taste the sweet favor of the cake as it slid down my throat.
I didn’t enjoy it in the way Equestria thought I probably would, my mind was too focused on past events to truly enjoy the taste.
In the end, Equestria was right. Because of my views on my own subjects I acted more like an overprotected mother then an actual ruler. How many times were my subjects put in danger because of my overprotected nature got the best of me? More times then I would care to admit. I mentally shuddered as I remembered, nine hundred and fifty years after banishing my sister to the moon, that I nearly started a war between the Griffin Empire and my former nation, all because I overacted and seriously injured the daughter of the Griffin King.
I hurt the young cub because I never got past the thought that griffins were horrid creatures due to their appearance, and that they would hurt my own little ponies without a second thought, and because it looked like she was going to hurt a maid. It is no surprise that griffins had come to regard ponies as nothing more then bigots who thought that anyone different then them were something to fear or worse…hate. I bet having their youngest princess defiled in such manner didn’t help matters either.
Yes, in the end, I was a victim…a victim of my own making. And I could only pray…pray in the next 250 years when my hearing comes, I’m allowed freedom from this prison so I can make up for my childish mistakes. And that the family of those I have wronged would forgive me from what I did to them, and this world they live on.
That’s all I can hope for.
