Conversion Beraeu

    Chapter 6: The Effects of ADHD on Equines

    Ethan and Rainbow Dash trotted out to the open field the next day to begin Ethan's pegasus training. Ethan, still getting used to walking, let alone using his wings at all, was still apprehensive.

    "Oh, jeez." Ethan said out loud. He looked at his wings, twitching at the thought of flying, then looking up at the clear sky above them. He could feel the pit in his stomach growing more and more upset with him, the more he thought about flying.

"So, you ready for your first lesson on flying?" Rainbow said, seeing the fear in Ethan's eyes.

    "Uh, y-yeah. S-sure." Talking about it didn't seem to help the situation at all, much to Ethan's dismay. Fluttershy not being there for moral support didn't help either, since she had to run off and care for her baby animals.

    "Okay, to start things off, open your wings. You kinda need them open in order to fly, you see." Rainbow said, pretending to be her least favorite flight school instructor in the process.

    Ethan stared at his wings as they instinctively opened, showing their full feathered glory. He looked at Rainbow with a toothy smile, now a little more confident he won't crash.

    "Good. Now, this next part is hard to explain." Rainbow thought for a second. "Just start running as fast as you can, flap those wings of yours, and jump. Honestly, that's as simple as I can put it."

    Seeing Ethan's fearful look returning, Rainbow decided to tease the new pegasus. "Hey, you ain't nervous, are ya?"

    "N-no! Not at all! It'll be like r-riding a b-bike!" Ethan stammered back, pulling off the most fake-sounding laugh Rainbow had ever heard.

    Rainbow Dash put her hooves on the sides of her head, massaging her temples, "This is going to be a long day..."

*******

    If Twilight read another word from one of her books, she was pretty sure she would explode. Spending all of last night reading up on humans seemed to have put her mind up in a bunch, and her bed seemed to beckon to her like a muffin to Derpy.

    Twilight closed The Egghead's Guide to Primates and piled it up with the other books to her right. Seeing the desk this empty was a rare sight, so she decided to cease the opportunity by putting her head down on it in frustration, drawing an audible groan as she did so.

    Spike walked in, very much awake, having returned from his morning stroll to Rarity's boutique.

    "Is something wrong, Twilight?" Spike asked, more curious than concerned.

    "Ugh. I can't read anymore." Twilight replied from the desk bluntly.

    Spike gasped, "What?! This is inconceivable! Sound the alarm! Call a hospital!" He shouted, before falling into a heap of laughter. Twilight got up from her seat and magiked Spike up to a standing position again and waited for him to finish.

    "Yeah, yeah, I know. But listen, Spike. This reading is integral to the safety of the pony race. I need to put as much effort as I can to helping Equestria."

    "I still don't see the problem here. Humans don't seem that bad to me. Those two guys seem nice."

    "They are, Spike. But the people we're up against aren't."

    "And who are they?"

    "I...I'm not sure. I know that it isn't just all humans. It doesn't seem right."

    "But, that's what it seemed like you were saying to everyone last night. You were pretty excited about it, too."

    "That was just to get people riled up. I was tired, I didn't know what I was saying."

    Spike could see Twilight was looking for excuses. "Are you sure?"

    Twilight surrendered, and gave a heavy sigh. "I don't know, Spike. That job at the camp really got me thinking. With the amount of people willing to just out and abandon their former lives like that, you can't help but feel bad for them, you know?"

    "I...think I know what you're saying."

    "I mean...humans aren't all bad. Some just need to be pointed in the right direction, is all. Whatever that direction is, I'm not sure. But I think I need some time to think about this on my own."

    A loud, heavy object slammed into the frame of the library. The crash shook the door open, revealing a disoriented Ethan laying near the doorstep. He wobbled to get up.

    "Did I do it?" Ethan shouted, clearly very dizzy.

    "Almost! Just work on the steering!" Rainbow Dash shouted back, holding back laughter.

    "Got it!" He replied, and flew off.

    Spike walked over to the door to shut it, but was interrupted by a distressed Rarity who galloped up to the doorway faster than either of them have seen the unicorn gallop in their lives. She looked frazzled and annoyed, but at the same time very worried.

    "I've lost Barry!" She shrieked, before collapsing onto the library floor.

    "What?!" Twilight said in disbelief. "What happened?"

    Ethan, hearing the distressed Rarity from outside, galloped inside to listen in.

    Rarity regained her composure, "Well, we were practicing magic near my boutique, and I had mentioned how simply horrifying the Everfree Forest can be. I told him not to go there, because it was filled with horrid, disgusting creatures, and it's far too dangerous for a beginner unicorn such as himself. And then...and then..."

    "Then what?" Twilight said, desperate for an answer.

    "Then he ran into the forest!" Rarity said, having difficulty comprehending the situation at hand. "He said something about 'fighting all of the cool monsters in there', and just...stormed off! He was rather rude about it, too!"

    Ethan chimed in. "'Cool monsters'? That definitely sounds like something Barry would enjoy. He loves putting his life at risk like that." He then turned to Twilight. "What's so dangerous about this forest?"

    "Everything. The creatures in there are unimaginably violent and dangerous, and the forest itself is so dark and big, it's incredibly easy to get lost in."

    Before anyone could say anything else, the group set off into the Everfree Forest. They didn't want to waste any time, because another minute wasted could be another mile deep Barry could be in the forest.

    The forest, compared to the other sights and sounds of Equestria he had seen, was very different. The plant life was overgrown and unkempt, and seemed to want to block off the easiest ways out of the forest. There also was a perpetual fog around the area, and no matter how bright and sunny it was outside the forest, it was dark and spooky inside.

    Twilight, Rarity, and Spike were on foot, trudging through the thorny bushes and tall grass, while Rainbow Dash and Ethan stayed in the air. Ethan was just barely keeping up, but he seemed to be getting the hang of flying.

    Ethan, for one, was elated. While hovering carefully above the ground, flapping his wings slowly like Rainbow showed him, he pictured the potential things he could be doing with these wings. He can soar through the clouds, and travel anywhere faster than most anything else. Ethan loved this feeling of freedom flowing through him, but he was still iffy about the lack of thumbs. Just something else to get used to, he thought.

    "GUYS! CHECK THIS OUT!"

    The group immediately heard the enthusiastic shouting of a certain unicorn coming a short distance ahead of them, and they ran towards the noise.

    Barry was standing near a tall, endlessly steep cliff, and using his magic to fire sparks into the air.

    "Look at what I can do! Now when those weirdo animals come after me, I can zap them with this magic stuff! Isn't this awesome?"

    "Barry, what are you doing?! Let's get out of here before you get yourself killed!" Twilight said, sounding like an overprotective mother.

    "But isn't this cool?" Barry said, totally oblivious. Every sentence he said sounded like famous last words to Ethan, and the thought of Barry falling to his death made him cringe.

    Soon, his visions came to a reality. Barry fired a particularly large bolt of magic onto a nearby tree, causing two massive branches to fall from it. The bigger of the two hit Rainbow Dash, pinning her to the ground. The other hit Barry, whacking him off the cliff.

    Ethan's mind was racing. He just learned to fly an hour ago. Does he have the kind of skill needed to save his friend from dying? Can he still save him in time? What if he doesn't save him? What will happen then? Ethan looked to his new friends quickly, but they were watching Barry falling down the seemingly bottomless ravine, and didn't notice Rainbow Dash at all. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Barry falling, Rainbow Dash struggling to get out from under the branch pinning her down, and Ethan just standing there, watching his friend fall to his doom, all because he wasn't there for him in the first place...

    What happened next was a blur. He felt like he wasn't in control of his body anymore, and the only thing that kept him going was his gut. Ethan hopped off the edge of the cliff and spread his wings. Soaring like a professional would, Ethan put his hooves at his sides, like a bullet, and shot down to Barry. At the speed he was going, he was sure he couldn't have possibly been able to grab his friend in time, but somehow he did, catching him just before he hit the ground below. As he carefully flew back up, friend in tow, he realized that they both had been screaming the entire time. Ethan was just as afraid for his friend's life as Barry himself was. The ponies cheered as the hyperventilating pegasus carried his friend to safety in the grass.

    "I...I d-did it!" Ethan finally said, taking short, staggered breaths. He set Barry onto the ground.

    Barry slowly opened his eyes and looked up at his savior.

    "You alright, buddy?" Ethan said nonchalantly.

    "...I can be such an idiot sometimes." Barry joked.

    Twilight and Rarity worked together to magik the branch off of Rainbow Dash, who looked particularly relieved to finally be able to move. She then looked at Ethan with the biggest smile he's seen her give him all day.

    "You know, I thought you were pathetic when you were learning to fly this morning."

    "I thought so. I'm still pathetic, I just got lucky." Ethan said humbly.

    "No! Don't say that! Listen, you have the potential to be a great flier, you just need some practice."

    "I'm sure. Thanks for teaching me, Rainbow."

    Twilight trotted up to the two pegasi with a smile, "Alright, everypony. We need to get back soon. It's getting late, and I don't want to get attacked by the Everfree Forest's nighttime creatures."

    As Twilight and the gang trotted back, Ethan couldn't help but realize how much more peaceful it was in Equestria. Living 17 years in the hustle and bustle of a suburban ghetto he called home, he wasn't used to the hushed silence that fell upon Ponyville when night time started setting in. The environment around them was much cleaner, and it felt like one of the few places Ethan had known of that he wasn't afraid to drink the tap water. In town, the ponies were talking calmly about the events of the day, making idle chit-chat with their friends, and there wasn't a frown in sight. While some may see it as inhuman, Ethan saw it as perfect.

    Barry could see Ethan drifting off into space, as he always did. "Earth to Ethan! Do you read?" He said, putting his hooves up to his mouth to put a walkie-talkie effect on his voice.

    Ethan didn't reply. He was too busy staring at the moon.

*******

    Princess Luna sat at her balcony, concentrating on raising the moon with her magic. As the moon casually listed it's way into the sky to begin the night, Princess Celestia watched as her younger sister performed her duties as she had done many nights before.

    "Another job well done, Luna."

    "Thanks, sister. I'm glad you like it." Luna said, proud of her work.

    "I love your nights. No matter how many times I had raised the moon, I could never have done it quite like you did."

    "I think the same way with your days. Whenever I see you raise the sun in the mornings, I could never imagine me doing your job the way you do it. Your days are perfect."

    Celestia smiled. Suddenly, breaking the silence between them, the door to the balcony opened with a start to a castle guard.

    "Princess Celestia, there is a visitor from the United States. She says that talking to you now is urgent."

    "The United States? How did they get into Equestria?" Celestia said, remembering the magical border separating the humans from the ponies.

    "She didn't. She wishes to communicate through magic." The guard replied.

    The princess paused, only to think about what to say, "Very well. I will talk to her. Thank you." And sent the guard away.

    Luna looked up at Celestia with a nervous look on her face. "You are going to talk to the humans?"

    "I have to. I think I know what she wants now."

    Using the magic emanating from her magnificent horn, Celestia formed a glowing blue ball in the center of the balcony, glowing with a magical aura. After a few seconds, an image appeared on the other side, acting much like a television being turned on. The figure on the other end of the line was an imposing female human. Her features were hard to make out, and it was as if the lights were turned down on purpose for the sake of her identity being revealed.

    "I thought I told you not to call from this number anymore." Celestia greeted the figure, half-joking.

    "Yeah, well, I just couldn't resist." The figure replied, in a strikingly un-feminine voice. It sounded very dry, cold, and strict, but also very sinister.

    "What do you want?" Celestia said immediately.

    "Listen, Princess. This ponification stuff isn't going to last forever. I know you Equestrians started that whole campaign, but not everyone wants to be a pony."

    "Okay." Celestia said, taken a little aback by the simplicity of the solution, "I never said they had to be a pony. Let them stay where they are."

    "I think you misunderstand, Princess. We still want in. We just don't want to be ponies. I mean, four legs? No fingers? Who wants that?"

    Celestia could tell that the figure had better reasons than that. "You've already done enough damage to the Equestrians, why must you be so persistent?"

    "Because, the human world is dying. We can't go on the way we are now. And the only way we can is to move into your place for a while."

    "What makes you think we'll greet you so easily like that? Your mixed messages a couple years ago made me believe that all humans are evil, and now most of Equestria believes that for a fact." Celestia lowered her guard, remembering her stupidity, "I know better now, and that's why I opened the ponification camps. So that the supporters of ponykind can finally be with their brethren in Equestria."

    "Ah, but your ponies still think we're bad. That is quite a conundrum. That would mean they wouldn't like us invading your territory unannounced like this."

    A silence fell between the two. Celestia thought about what the figure had just said. Would she invade? How would she do it? Can we fight back?

    The figure reached for something off-camera, "We'll discuss this later." And the transmission ended with static, the blue aura faded away. Celestia gave a heavy sigh and turned to the silent Luna, still stunned from what she saw.

    "...now what, sister?" Luna said nervously.

    "I don't know, Luna."

    While Celestia looked like she just wanted to end the conversation there, Luna still had more questions. "Why is she so hurtful to us? Why does she have to be this way?"

    Celestia turned away from her glassy-eyed sister, looking for the right words to say. Turning towards the door, she left the room solemnly, leaving Luna to tend to the moon. Celestia had a lot to think about.

Chapter 7: The Thick Plottens

    The rain fell hard the next day. Pegasi ponies had scheduled the storm, and the citizens of Ponyville were more than ready for the torrent. Twilight sat at her desk, as she always did, skimming through a book about human nature. Spike noticed this, and walked up to her.

    "More about the humans? Are you ever not reading about them?" Spike said, starting to get annoyed at his friend's constant research.

    "Oh, Spike, calm down. What's so bad about it? I'm just...curious is all."

    The dragon looked at the pile of books next to Twilight's desk, then gave her a bewildered look, "There can't be that many books about one species. At least, not any species I've seen."

    "Exactly, Spike. You should have came with me to the camp, you would have learned alot. Human history is very interesting, indeed."

    Spike leaned over to look at the book that Twilight was looking at, The Second World War - A Guide. He noticed a grainy, black-and-white picture of a rather greasy, mean-looking human holding his arm straight out, as if he was giving some form of salute.

    "One thing I have noticed," Twilight continued, "was that humans seemed to have much more battles and conflicts in their time than the Equestrians have had."

    "Well, it just shows how mean they can be." Spike pointed out.

    "Yes, but also...how mean they don't need to be." Twilight added, drifting into her thoughts halfway through saying it.

    Ethan was sitting on his guest bed, staring out at the rainy day through his second floor window. The rain reminded him of home, and of how he likes taking walks on rainy days. Today, however, it would be a trot, and that's what kept him inside.

    Despite his heroic efforts the other day, and his successful flying lessons, he couldn't shake off the fact that he wasn't a human anymore. He loved his new friends, and he was glad Barry was along for the ride, but he missed his human friends. His classmates. His family. He wondered where they were, and if they had even been ponified yet. All of these thoughts were rushing in his head at once, and taking the cue, he decided to take a nap. Slumping over on his bed with a muffled thud, and resting his head on the soft pillow, Ethan fell asleep instantly.

*******

    "BUURRRP!!"

    Ethan shot up from his bed, now hovering above it with his wings, and looked around to see where the loud belch had come from.

    Barry, apparently having arrived during Ethan's slumber, was laughing his flank off, "Good out, Spike!" He shouted, congratulating the dragon, who was now holding a scroll in his previously empty hands.

    "Twilight! It's a letter from Princess Celestia!" Spike said excitedly as the unicorn rose from her desk to where Spike had been standing. Ethan flew down to join them, touching down next to Barry.

    Spike cleared his throat, and read from the scroll.

    My faithful student Twilight,

    It would seem that Equestria is on the brink of an attack from the humans. I plan to come to your library in Ponyville to we can discuss this further, because I'm sure you and your friends must have many questions about the task at hand. No need to reply, I will be there before you know it.

    ~Princess Celestia

    Immediately after finishing the letter, Twilight got into her authoritative mode. She stood up straighter, and she seemed much more serious.

    "Barry, I need you to get everypony else and come back here in 20 minutes. Ethan, stay here, and help Spike and I clean up. This may be a last-minute, informal visit, but that doesn't mean we can greet the Princess in a dirty library."

    Barry stormed out the door, quick as a flash. He may be reckless, Ethan thought, but he's reliable given the circumstances, I guess. Ethan soon began picking up the heavy books, and flying them into appropriate shelves. The bookshelves seemed to have been labeled pretty obviously, so organizing them was easier than it had looked for him.

    "Twilight?" Ethan asked from across the room.

    "Yeah, Ethan? Is something wrong?" Twilight could hear the nervousness in his voice.

    "No, no. I was just wondering something..." Ethan searched for the proper words to say, without trying to sound offending. "From the sound of things, you're the Princess's prized pupil, right?"

    "Well, I wouldn't say that..." Twilight blushed, "But she counts on me to help her research the magic of friendship."

    "Right, right. What I'm trying to say is..." Ethan now noticed that Twilight is paying full attention to him, "Is the Princess nice?"

    Twilight laughed a little, "Oh, yeah. Of course she is. You don't need to worry at all about that. She'll greet you with open hooves."

    "Okay, good. Sorry if that sounded stupid." Ethan said, picking up The Human Anthology and putting it in it's place.

    "No, you're entitled to ask that. You haven't met the Princess yet. You've only been in Equestria a couple days."

    Ethan was a little surprised, to say the least. It had seemed like weeks since he was called down to the ponification room, and given that purple fluid that afternoon. It was amazing how much he had learned, and how much he had done in the past few days. He had probably done more as a pony in a few days than he had done in a few weeks as a human. Somehow, Ethan felt achieved because of that.

    As soon as Twilight had put Broadway Musicals of the 1940s in its place under 'Human Culture', the door knocked.

    Twilight looked at Ethan curiously, and Ethan returned the look. Twilight said, "Barry...wouldn't knock, would he?"

    "No. I wonder who it is?" Ethan paced himself and trotted to the door. The only other noise besides his hoofsteps was the rain rapping against the windows, and that only made the suspense worse for him.

    On the other end of the doorway was a rain-soaked white mare. Her mane was cotton-candy pink, much like Pinkie Pie's, but this mare's coat was a very pale white, much like a ghost's.

    "C-can I come in?" The mare said, in the most innocent, adorable voice Ethan had ever heard. Twilight shoved Ethan out of the way, staring at the mare with a bewildered look on her face.

    "Sure! Of course you can! Come in, have a seat!" Twilight said happily, but almost fake-sounding.

    The mare trotted in slowly. "Th-thank you, miss..." And she sat down quietly at the table in the corner. Ethan was still confused as ever, but soon paid no attention, because the door burst open again seconds later.

    "WE'RE BACK!" Barry shouted over the pouring rain, startling everypony already present, especially the new mare. The excitable unicorn trotted in confidently, with Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack following, all soaked from the rain. Rarity was in a fashionable purple raincoat, and she seemed pleased that she didn't get as wet as the other ponies. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew in through the upstairs window.

    The moment that the ponies gathered in the main room of the library, they all began bowing in the general direction of Ethan. Ethan looked behind him, and noticed that the mare from earlier had disappeared, and had been replaced by a magnificently large pony with a multi-colored wavy mane. Her coat was the same color, but her head was adorned with a massive unicorn horn, and two intimidating pegasus wings were on her side. Noticing the crown, Ethan assumed that this was Princess Celestia, and awkwardly bowed with the others.

    "Hello, everypony."

    Twilight approached the Princess, who was nearly twice her height, and spoke. "Princess Celestia, this is Ethan and Barry," she said as she gestured to the two timid ponies looking at her wide-eyed, "They're the humans I wanted to help us."

    "Well, it's very nice to finally meet you two. Welcome to Equestria." Celestia said, greeting Ethan and Barry in a very motherly, amicable way. Now a little less nervous, Barry stammered for a greeting. "H-hi, your majesty."

    "Please, just call me Princess, or Celestia. A friend of Twilight Sparkle's is a friend of mine."

    Twilight giggled at Barry, then turned back to Celestia. "They've already met my friends, and we've agreed to go on with our plan."

    "And that is...?" Applejack chimed in.

    "That's why the Princess is here. We need to discuss what to do."

    "Well, hang on, Twilight. There is something I need to mention before we go any further." Celestia said, a little less imposing and authoritative than expected.

    "What's that, Princess?" Twilight asked.

    "Listen. We can't just go on living thinking all humans are bad."

    "Why not? I don't see the problem with that at all!" Rainbow arrogantly put in, only to be elbowed in the side by Applejack.

    "I understand your sentiments, Rainbow Dash, but it simply isn't true. Humans are normally very kind people, and these two here are the prime examples of it."

    Everypony looked over at Ethan and Barry, who were blushing at all of the positive attention.

    "I supported the construction of the Conversion Bureaus, or 'ponification camps', as they are sometimes called, because I wanted humans to see the world through our eyes, and to help them get out of their dying world. It's clear that the human society simply cannot go on the way it is now, and that's why we encourage the integration."

    "So, who has a problem with it?" Rainbow asked, a little more concerned after hearing the other side of the story.

    "That's who we're up against. They call themselves the Human Liberation Front, and believe solely in the survival of the human race. They formed when we started the ponification campaign, as a way to prevent the humans from moving to Equestria."

    Twilight suddenly turned to Ethan. "Ethan, did you know anything about this? Surely the humans had been talking about it before you left."

    Ethan remembered reading about this in the paper he had clipped out mentioning the camps. "...the Human Liberation Front refuses to give up hope in the human race, even though the American human population as dropped 30% since the opening of the ponification camps two years ago..."

    "I read about it a little in the weeks before I went to the camp. They threatened to bomb the Conversion Bureau in Wisconsin once, but I'm sure it was just an empty threat. I know you ponies probably don't get the news we do, but it was a serious crisis for the pony supporters in the area."

    "Oh, yeah! I remember that!" Barry said, apparently proud he recalled the event, "That was a serious fiasco. I was vacationing near there during spring break, and the townspeople were going mad with protests on the streets."

    "Er, Princess," Applejack said, changing the subject, "So when ya said last year that all the humans were bein' bad, was that just a load of hooey?"

    "Well, yes, Applejack." Celestia replied, "The boss of the HLF had told me that, and I quote, 'the ponies have the entire human race to deal with'." She used hoof-quotes to emphasize the comment, "I mistook this as humans being 100% anti-pony, and announced this to you ponyfolk. I had learned since then that , and I apologize for any confusion."

    "Oh, it's fine, Princess." Fluttershy added, "We know how nice humans are. There are a lot of wonderful new ponies moving in, and they are so kind to us..."

    "I'm going to have to agree with Fluttershy on this one." Rarity said, "I have a few new helpers working for me at the boutique now, and I simply could not go on without them."

    Rainbow Dash surrendered her former views, "It's just...it's hard to imagine such nice ponies can come from where humans come from."

    "Well, Rainbow, I don't think you should be one to talk. Walk a mile in a human's shoes, and you'll see why some are so cynical and mean all the time." Ethan said, being oddly protective. Even Rainbow was surprised from Ethan's sudden defensive manner.

    "I guess you're right, Ethan." Rainbow said.

    "So, what do we do to stop this, Human-uh, whatever thingy?" Pinkie Pie asked Princess Celestia.

    "I was just getting to that. Ponies are very pacifist, as you all know, so we will not be fighting back. We will begin with defending our territory. I want to strengthen the magical barrier around Equestria that has kept it from humans for so long. The magic has been worn from decades of being there, and it's time we update the system. I want you ponies to look for the book that holds the spells we need to strengthen the shield."

    "I guess it's not in the library..." Twilight joked.

    "No, it's not. You will need to go to The Ruins of the Ancient Pony Sisters, and search there. The spells should be in a book of forbidden magic hidden deep in the ruins themselves. I will give you a couple of days to prepare, but only a couple of days. The HLF's attack could happen at any time."

    "Got it." Twilight replied bluntly. And with that, the Princess teleported away in a flash of blinding magic.

    Pinkie Pie shook with excitement, before beginning to jump around the room, "YAY! ADVENTURE!"

    "Listen up, everypony! Only pack what you absolutely need. This will be a much harder trek than we are used to, and we need to pack lightly to survive. Spend these next couple of days resting up, you'll need plenty of energy."

    The other ponies began to leave, including Barry. Twilight then tapped Barry on his back.

    "Barry? Where have you been staying the past couple of days?"

    "Oh, I've been staying at Fluttershy's. Why?"

    "I will need you to come over tomorrow. I need to teach you some advanced magic, and fast. Lessons begin as soon as you get up tomorrow."

    "Alright, alright." Barry said, pretending to sound nonchalant about the ordeal, but was actually very ecstatic.

    Ethan had flown up to his bed, which was still as messy as he left it. The sky was pitch black now, but the rain pattered on the window incessantly. Liking the white noise while he slept, Ethan waited for everypony to leave, then drifted softly into a deep slumber.