The Conversion Bureau: Thus Saith The Lord

Chapters

Prologue: Playing in the Big Girls' League
Chapter I: Face of the Waters
Chapter II: I Send the Swarm, I Send the Horde!
Chapter III: Until You Break, Until You Yield!
Chapter IV: I Send the Thunder From the Sky, I Send the Fire Raining Down!
Chapter V: I Send the Locusts on the Wind, Such as the World has never Seen!
Chapter VI: The Curse of Babel
Chapter VII: Never Mind How High The Cost May Grow
Chapter VIII: The Shadow of Wrath
Chapter IX: The Greatest Cry
Chapter X: The Final Chastisement

Prologue: Playing in the Big Girls' League

A/N: Inspired by one too many times listening to 'The Plagues' from The Prince of Egypt while reading about The Conversion Bureau, and first posted by me on Spacebattles.com.

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Prologue: Playing in the Big Girls' League

I could have stretched forth My hand and stricken you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been effaced from the earth. Nevertheless I have spared you for this purpose: in order to show you My power and in order that My fame may resound throughout the world.
- Exodus 9:15-16

New York, March 2013

The blonde woman walked through the nigh-deserted streets of the city, hearing the distant horn of a siren. About two years since Equestria had arrived, and the Barrier's relentless advance had almost reached New York. Her boyfriend had vanished two weeks ago - it looked like he was one of the ponies now. It was a wonder she had been missed in either the evacuation or the Conversion Bureau sweeps, but still-

-A straggling bush was in the way. She paused, because she knew it hadn't been there before. It suddenly burst into white, ethereal flame as transcendent harmonies rushed through her brain. Instinctively she postrated herself before the burning bush, after a while turning her head to look at it.

'Who...who are you?' she asked. It seemed an insane question, but the words flew from her mouth so naturally she was barely aware she was speaking them.

I Am That I Am.

The words filled her mind, and she felt a transcendent, inexplicable Power sweeping her heart and soul clean. She felt a peace she had never thought possible, and knew instantly what...or rather Who, this thing was. She saw, for an instant, three circles, together and separate at the same time, and she understood wordlessly how this could be so, in a sudden flash of truth.

A staff made of silver was before her.

Take This Staff, And Strike Down That Idol And Her Lies With All My Wonders.

She picked it up and rose to her feet, filled with purpose. She was having words with Celestia.

~*~

Canterlot, Equestria

The castle of Canterlot stood in the centre of Equestria, near what had been Chicago before the Translation. Princess Celestia was thinking hard, surrounded by her most skilled and powerful unicorn magicians. For some reason the Barrier's expansion had slowed to a crawl these past three days, now less than a tenth of what it once was. Could it be meeting...resistance? Celestia dismissed the idea, after all it couldn't be possible.

Three knocks came, striking the door of her throne room. The whole castle shook each time, then suddenly, the great door exploded inwards, its reliefs melted to slag. Walking through the smoking rubble was a...human?, carrying a metal staff.

Celestia glanced again, it was a female, one of their pathetic little musicians that used their stupid metal discs to store their works. She was dressed all over in white, with the cruciform symbol of one of their silly little religions on a pendant hanging from her neck.

She spoke first.

'Princess Celestia, I give you a choice,' she said. 'I do not like to see my Father's children slain needlessly. Leave humanity in peace and restore those you converted to their original shapes and minds, or I will be the instrument of His judgement and the enforcer of His sentence. Do you want to see first-hand what His wonders can achieve?'

The walls of Canterlot shook and a tower crumbled to rubble as she finished speaking.

Celestia went into a rage. A human was speaking with authority over her! How dare the impudent wretch presume to judge her! How dare she exist and bring her human filth here, in the heart of Equestria!

Celestia channeled all her power at the creature, then suddenly-

-Well, it was hard to describe. Everything seemed to happen at once. The human seemed to grow, a massive six-winged creature made of radiant energy and scorching fire appearing around her. The blast of energy that would have cooked a human a thousand times over stopped and fell into itself, as Celestia felt a scorching wave of heat drive her back, tearing at her very being. The walls of Canterlot began to shake massively, the windows exploding outwards all at once as towers suddenly shattered and crumbled like sandcastles.

The wave of power dissipated and Celestia looked around. Canterlot had been massively damaged, and worst of all, the unicorns that had been meeting with her could not be seen. She then realised what had happened - the unicorns had been turned to salt, which was now scattered around the scorched floor.

She fumed and raged, for her strongest attack hadn't hurt the human at all, and worse, she had been fundamentally, incurably weakened by the backblast.

But the human simply looked at her, her face unreadable.

'You chose poorly,' she said simply, and then casually left through the still-smoking wreckage of her strongest door.

Chapter I: Face of the Waters

This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink and thus the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.
- Exodus 7:17-18

Manehattan, Equestria

Equestria was abuzz with rumour and fear. Just yesterday one of the dirty humans had tried to kill Princess Celestia, attacking her in Canterlot itself. The Princess was refusing audiences, and no pony knew exactly what had happened, but they knew it was bad. Some entertained the thought she was sick or something, though the idea was self-evidently preposterous.

Steffy was an Earth Pony who was one of Manehattan’s million inhabitants, fed by a swift, clear river of good, pure Equestrian water. She suddenly noticed a commotion in a riverside district, and rushed to see what it was. The newfoals were especially agitated, and as she moved closer and looked she saw what it was. A human standing at the river edge, on Equestrian soil itself! How dare she defile it with her presence! Worse, she didn’t seem to be sick, and she was standing tall, holding a silver staff in her right hand.

Carefully and measuredlu, the human walked forward, on to the water, and held her staff high in her hand.

‘You think you are going to win, wipe out humanity with the power of your almighty Celestia,’ she said. ‘Think again, pony. You have not seen the wonders my Father will send upon you, make you see with your own eyes. Your magic will fail. Your goddess will surrender. You will break and you will yield.’

‘Thus saith the Lord.’

Her hand and the staff moved downward, breaking the water. The water swiftly became brackish and black, tiny wisps of smoke rising where it touched the riverbank. The acid spread over the water until the whole river was made of it.

‘This is the first of the judgements you will face for the pride of your false goddess. And it will be the very least as well.’

She walked barefoot off the water-turned-acid and turned away from Manehattan.

~*~

Canterlot

Kathy was a unicorn who was favoured by Celestia. Luckily, she hadn’t been so favoured that she was at the dreadful meeting in Canterlot, but she had been sent to replace the ponies now being cleaned out from between the flagstones.

She looked at her goddess in the throne room with the most respect she could muster, but now...Celestia looked tired, but that couldn’t be possible, could it?

‘Attend to the newfoals,’ the princess ordered, the unicorn obeying. She moved as quickly as possible to a camp within sight of Canterlot where most of the newly-Purified humans were being kept while they waited for an audience with Celestia. But the guards were writhing in agony, screaming and rolling around as if trying to put out a fire burning inside them.

She suddenly realised, they had been drinking acid...but how? Why? The unicorn moved over to a trough and began to drink. Her mouth burned and she recoiled. The newfoals drinking at the same trough were ignoring her pain; in fact they didn’t seem to even notice what had happened.

Across Equestria, ponies screamed in agony.

~*~

Washington D.C.

The American President was praying in the White House chapel. He did not consider himself overly religious, but throughout the duration of the Equestria Crisis he had taken to prayer. How else could he stand a chance?

An aide rushed in.

‘I – I’m dreadfully sorry Mr. President, but the Equestrian ambassador requests your presence,’ he said. ‘She says it’s urgent.’

The President moved over to the Oval Office, and bade the pony to go in.

The ambassador was not in a good mood.

‘How dare you!’ the pegasus screeched. ‘You tried to kill Celestia. You hit Canterlot with one of your bombs, and now you’ve poisoned our water, stopped the Barrier! You cowardly, insolent-‘

The President bade the pony keep quiet, cutting short her rant.

‘I am not aware of any of the things you’ve accused us of,’ he said calmly. ‘In fact, how could we? You do know, humans sicken and die on Equestrian soil. As for your latter accusation, we are not a magical species in any sense, and not even Celestia could stop the Barrier’s advance, so you said many times.’

‘You liar!’

‘Diplomatic immunity only goes so far. If you are going to keep on screeching your insults in my face as you’ve done so many times, I am going to ban you from stepping hoof on, or flying over as it may be, American territory ever again. Do you understand?’

The pony stormed out contemptuously. The President shook his head in response.

'You know,' he said. 'I don't think she should have ranted quite so much.'

Chapter II: I Send the Swarm, I Send the Horde!

This is what the great LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.
- Exodus, 4:1-4

London, England

A nondescript building near the city centre of the United Kingdom's capital was hit by a large explosion, shaking the streets. When firefighters arrived an hour later, the delay caused by the filing of half a dozen completely unnecessary forms and a lengthy detour through traffic, they decided not to look for survivors. Too far gone, obviously. Then, when the police made the investigation, the cause was put down to a gas leak. It was only a matter of time, they said.

Of course, everybody knew the real reason. The building had been a Conversion Bureau location, and now that Celestia had summoned all her ponies back to Equestria four days ago, people were on the lookout to get rid of so-called 'species traitors', particularly in places where they tended to bunch up. The same type of incident had taken place in Frankfurt and Shanghai, and even the reputedly harsh police force of the PRC had turned a blind eye. Not after New York had been evacuated, Celestia's ponies snatching up stragglers for 'Purification'.

The reason behind Celestia's bizarre action had been explained in the papers a day after, by journalists working with information from a confidential source called 'Sunset'. Apparently Equestria's water supply, from the greatest river to the smallest pond, had been tainted by some kind of acid. It wasn't usually enough to kill, but it was so painful it made ponies wish it had for up to twelve hours. Not even Celestia herself could deal with the pain it caused or purify the water, and as a result she had in her panic recalled the ponies from their Conversion Bureaus around the world.

Which caused another problem for the Bureaus other than being shot or blown to bits by vigilantes eager to take out their desire for vengeance. For reasons of security the ponification serum was always made on-site and wasn't kept in large amounts, no more than what would be needed to use on a week's worth of people. Furthermore, Equestrian magic was a critical ingredient in making more.

To get to the point, the Bureaus were running urgently short of serum, and had no way to replace it.

It almost looked as if it had been planned, and then another odd thing came in. Sunset maintained that the 'newfoals' - the humans 'Purified', now living in Equestria - were completely immune to the acid. In fact, they didn't notice they were drinking anything other than water.

Curious thing, that.

~*~

Canterlot, Equestria

Celestia was frustrated. It had been working like clockwork, so perfectly. Nobody but her knew the reason for the abnormal weather patterns and crop failures after Equestria had arrived, why it had been spreading, or why standing on its soil made humans sicken and die. She was using the country of Equestria to vampirise the human world, draining the life energy of the planet to enhance her own power. Then she had provided a 'solution' for the manufactured crisis, turning humans into ponies through a serum she had clearly had a hoof in making.

The thing was, the serum she had so generously provided had a niggling flaw, or rather a bonus feature solely for herself. Capacity for negative emotions was massively reduced, and love for being human became love for Celestia. The humans couldn't tell because their scientific instruments were right now unable to detect Equestrian magic, and if she had her way, never would be. And if they asked why their Purified brothers and sisters were behaving so strangely, Celestia and her mouthpieces just said that it was the natural state of ponyhood - it wasn't like they knew anything about Equestria that didn't ultimately spring from her. Besides, wasn't she just helping them rise above their miserable ape natures? Didn't she have the right to help them, by any means necessary? Didn't she have a burden? Hadn't she, ever since she first looked at their miserable existences, a year before the Translation?

Until that damn dirty impudent ape had ruined the plan. If this went the best way possible for her, she estimated her schedule would slip by three decades. That was unacceptable. But her unicorns, when not trying to hunt those rebels or stop the poison that her waters had become, were scouring Equestria high and low for that filthy ape.

They hadn't found hide or hair.

She wondered if this was anything to do with her sister. She knew she should never have let her back from the moon - Luna had rejected her wonderful plan to civilise the humans after she had proposed it (but not in such terms) at their 'United Nations' a few months after the Translation, and had been cast out of Canterlot for her insolence. She was thought to be in the Everfree Forest somewhere, but her unicorns and pegasi had been unable to find her, or the six ponies bearing the Elements of Harmony thought to be helping her.

A pegasus rushed into the audience chamber, carefully avoiding the massive scorch mark burnt into the floor in front of the throne.

'Celestia,' the pegasus said. 'We have good news.'

~*~

Manehattan

The river that fed Manehatten had been restored to its crystal-clear state after a week of drought. Steffy felt relief, after all, what could be worse than what had happened the last week? She scratched her brown mane against a wall, then scratched her piano cutie mark.

She turned her face to the river and saw the woman again, with the same staff in her hand. She didn't speak as she had last time, but struck the staff on the stones by the bank. Suddenly, countless frogs began to pour from the waters, rabidly croaking, swarming over everything as a limitless army.

~*~

Ponyville

It had been two days since the frogs had come upon Equestria in their endless hordes. They croaked night and day, and stopped all concentration with their constant chorus of 'ribbit, ribbit'. To sleep in such a din was beyond impossible, and the frogs did far worse than stop concentration. If ovens were opened the frogs threw themselves into them to spoil the food, and they covered every flat surface. Worst of all was their endless number. No matter how many were gotten rid of, there were always more - even if they were blown to pieces the remnants grew into fully-grown frogs themselves.

They came in all sizes, some even large enough to threaten a fully-grown filly, or so some traumatised ponies said. The worst was that the newfoals didn't seem to notice the frogs everywhere. It was unnatural, the Equestrians knew. The ponies in Ponyville generally tended to trust and respect Celestia, but she and her unicorns couldn't do a thing against the infestation. But still, there wasn't much talk directed against the Princess. She tended to take displeasure at that.

~*~

Seattle, Washington

Marilyn was a journalist for a rather prominent local newspaper, and was the writer for the Foreign Affairs section. The primary reason for this was her confidential source located in Equestria itself, sending reports of the situation there under the name 'Sunset'. She definitely didn't like Celestia, but still-

-Marilyn looked over the latest report. It was a detailed description of what was happening, this time with photos. She took one look and recoiled in surprise. The whole country was completely overrun with frogs. She generally considered herself Christian, hadn't read the Bible in years, but this, after the poisoning of the water-

-What was this, The Prince of Egypt?

She was equal parts scared and pleased - the Barrier had stopped at the Rocky Mountains, but she didn't want to turn into one of the ponies, not even to save her life. But the idea of God sending down His vengeance, even if it was on Celestia, was a terrifying idea.

~*~

Live on Vatican Radio

"The Church, in light of recent events, stands by its stern opposition to the 'Purification' scheme of Princess Celestia, and its rejection of the racially intolerant and misanthropic rhetoric of her supporters..."

"...The recent protest in Baltimore by Equestrian supremacists has led the Pope to issue a bull of mass excommunication on all Catholics who are members of any organisation in sympathy with or enacting the ideas of the 'Purification', effective immediately, until they repent and end all involvement in such organisations..."

Chapter III: Until You Break, Until You Yield!

Chapter III: Until You Break, Until You Yield

This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground where they are.
- Exodus 8:20-21

Ponyville, Equestria

Sunset was approaching.

Ponyville, and all Equestria, was breathing a sigh of relief. The frogs had vanished - not died or gone away, but vanished completely even as far away as Appleoosa, after a week of chaos. The general assumption was that Celestia, who never left Canterlot now, had done something to get rid of them, and for that the pegasi and unicorns, never mind the earth ponies, were thankful indeed. Ponyville was preparing a celebration in honour of the Princess when the woman walked into the town, her expression stern. The ponies backed away nervously, not knowing what would happen.

'Did you think my chastisements would stop or let up after a few weeks?' she asked rhetorically. 'Did you think you would be forgiven, after you did nothing? You should have driven out Celestia before the week was up, but you did not. You should have tried to stop her Conversion Bureaus, but you did nothing. You should have tried to resist, but you were cowards.'

'Your magic protects you,' she continued. 'You manage nature like a garden. You think you're the masters of it. Well, I suppose you're about to be proven wrong. You should read up on survival of the fittest, because before long, you'll be living it.'

She struck her staff on the ground once.

The ponies had no idea what was going to happen.

Away, in a small forest on the outskirts of town, a wildcat growled.

~*~

Appleoosa

It was a little more than a day since the woman had come to Ponyville, and already the ponies knew what was happening. Lions and bears stalked the streets, wolves circling the lights of houses in the dark of early morning. The first thing the ponies had learned was constant vigilance. The animals hunting them ignored both the effects of magic and their own natural enmities. If ponies slept with locked doors, apes and monkeys sneaked in through windows and unlocked the doors from inside. If ponies tried to run, wolves and jackals came after them with unnatural persistence. If they kept going, all they did was die tired. If ponies barred their windows, strong animals like bears broke through the walls like living battering rams, letting the others in.

Worse, flight was impossible too. Eagles, other birds of prey, bats and pterodactyls ruled the air in large flights, which would descend on anypony trying to fly and shred their flesh with beak and claw. Hiding had been tried, but failed when snakes sniffed out ponies trying to stay hidden. The animals were in all the cities and towns too, even in the halls of Canterlot, they said. There were cobras in the grass and pythons in the forests. The one thing they seemed to ignore were the newfoals, but that simply meant they only hunted regular ponies.

And the worst part was that of all the ponies they killed, they didn't even take one bite of flesh.

~*~

The lizard-kings of the Cretaceous reigned again. Tyrannosaurus Rex had, before the dinosaurs were struck dead by a meteor, been the apex predator of what would become North America. And now they were the same for Equestria. The ponies had quickly learned to travel in large groups, but even those weren't enough to properly defend against one of those creatures. Not when the animals were, perversely, completely untouchable by any magic the ponies possessed.

It wasn't just the large dinosaurs that had been ressurected. Utahraptors hunted in packs through the Manehattan streets, while Smilodons and cave bears lurked in dark spaces and the great pteranodons patrolled the skies. Massive insects, centipedes and arachnids last seen when Earth had much more oxygen in its air lurked in tunnels and sewers, infesting even the corridors of Canterlot.

The ponies knew, for perhaps the first time in their history, total and absolute fear of the creatures that lurked in the shadows.

~*~

Oxford, England

The scientific community was a-twitter over the events in Equestria. The first reports of the poisoned water and the endless armies of frogs had been able to be dismissed as the result of a collusion of panicked hysteria and confused rumour, but with the latest evidence and photos, it was impossible to dismiss. The animals plagueing the country were working together and using tactics to ravage the ponies, while photos showed dinosaurs walking in broad daylight. The first was hard enough to explain, but the second was impossible by any reasonable standard. Some scientists had converted to various monotheistic religions as a result, and various commentators were comparing it to the destruction of Sennacherib's army.

Celestia was helpless to do anything, the news clearly showed. The general consensus was that eventually the ponies would depose her. It wasn't usually the newspapers' job to speculate on Equestrian politics, but now they were asking pointed questions to do with her sister, who had been in Canterlot when Equestria appeared but had disappeared from the castle shortly after Celestia had proposed her solution to the Equestria Crisis.

The lack of answers only emboldened them.

~*~

Everfree Forest, Equestria

'Rarity, we have to go.'

'Where to?' the unicorn asked.

'Applejack's farm,' Luna replied. 'I don't know exactly what's happening, but it sounds safe there.'

'Sure.'

They were sneaking out of Everfree Forest, under the light of the full moon (no longer controlled by Luna, since the Translation), trying to avoid Celestia's unicorns and pegasi, who would certainly be looking for them. But there were no pegasi, no unicorns to be seen. Luna wondered why, wouldn't Celestia know where she was if she ever got out of the forest?

A pack of wolves howled at the full moon, before running in the direction of Ponyville. Luna didn't think they looked friendly.

~*~

Canterlot

She walked through the corridors, unheeding of the wild animals stalking through it, Celestia's guards shying away as she walked past them.

She stepped on to the balcony where the Princess was overlooking her territory by the light of the full moon, carrying a staff of iron now, her clothes the colour of freshly spilled blood.

'Celestia,' she said, the Princess turning round to meet her face.

'What have you to say now?' Celestia spat.

'I would be more polite if I were you,' she said. 'But that is no concern at this moment. What I'm saying is that I'm quite willing to let bygones be bygones, if you accept the terms.'

'What terms?'

'The terms I gave you in your throne room, Princess Celestia.'

'Why should you presume to judge the leader of the superior race, you jumped-up ape?'

'Because I have been given the authority,' came the reply. 'Besides, it's such a short jump from "superior" to "master", don't you think?'

'What are you talking about?'

'Read up on your history? About seventy years ago, we had a man who killed a hundred million people for the sake of his "master race".'

'Your words condemn humanity as unfit to exist.'

'That wasn't my point. My point is, he was defeated by more powerful people he made enemies of, and destroyed himself in the end. If I dare say so, you're headed the same way. Of course, you could still accept the terms and live in peace.'

'Enough!'

'You have one last chance. After that, my Father's sentence is final.'

She left without another word.

Chapter IV: I Send the Thunder From the Sky, I Send the Fire Raining Down!

Chapter IV: I Send the Thunder from the Sky, I Send the Fire Raining Down!

And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 9:22

Canterlot, Equestria

Celestia looked over her land by the light of morning. She had no power over this world's sun, but she saw no need to tell her subjects that. The wild animals had vanished, like the frogs before them, and she knew the ponies would take it as proof of her victory. No matter what struck her land next, she knew she would never give in to that woman's terms. After all, how could it get worse?

She felt a dim presence in her mind - Luna, her sister. Let her try and stop the Conversion, after all. Nothing would.

~*~

Cloudsdale

The town of Cloudsdale was built in the sky, and had thus endured the plagues better than the rest of Equestria - but it had suffered from the frogs and the animals as well. The pegasi that made up most of its citizens had not met the woman calling down chastisements on Celestia, and by extension, the ponies that supported her, and thus they didn't know what to do when she showed up at the gates.

Not to be deterred, she broke them with a single strike of her hand and walked unbarred to the centre of town.

'You are cowards,' she said. 'You had power over the weather, yet have not made an action or spoken a word against Celestia.'

'You think you rule over the skies and the weather. I will disabuse you of this notion. I will send the storm upon the land you help, and with it I will hurl down the fire and the hail and the lightning. I will stretch forth my hand over all Equestria and you will know despair and fear. Celestia will not save you. Nothing will, unless she accepts the terms I have offered her before she loses her last chance. So be it.'

She struck her staff on the plaza, then left without a word.

From the borders of Equestria, from the furthest reaches of the territory it had spread over like a cancer, the storm-clouds came. Inky-black, they blotted out the sun, covering the whole country in a veil of night. For about half an hour, they seemed to wait.

Then the fire came down.

~*~

Equestria

All over the country, fire rained from the sky. Trees became torches, and ponies huddled in living rooms, basements, the corners of streets, seeking what shelter there was from the merciless flame. Canterlot was hit many times, blasts taking out balconies and blasting holes in roofs and walls. The skyscrapers of Manehattan soon became pitted, cracked by fireballs shattering walls and exploding rooms. The eldest of them, the Stonehoof Building, briefly became a tower of flame, then crashed to the ground with all the ponies inside, burying one of the city's largest avenues in rubble.

Pegasi flying were struck with gale-force winds and bolts of lightning, and for a few hours dead ponies smelling of cooked meat fell from the sky. Occasionally the lightning was more powerful, as when a single bolt completely destroyed the highest floors of Manehattan's tallest building. Massive hailstones smashed into trees and crops, hitting buildings with enough force to smash right through windows. The tallest tree in all Equestria exploded when it was struck by a single bolt of lightning, sending splinters of burning wood all over a large town.

The ponies almost expected it when not a single newfoal was hurt.

Celestia tried to affect the storm with her magic from Canterlot, working together with all the pegasi she could muster, but nothing happened. She knew she was missing something, but what was it?

Appleoosa

Luna was going into the town of Appleoosa under the cover of the largest and most terrible storm any pony, living or dead, had ever seen. She looked over the streets, the ponies huddling in panic everywhere that offered shelter, houses and trees burning around her as fire rained from the black clouds, suffusing the scene in an eerie orange glow.

Right in the town square was a human woman, dressed in blood-red clothes and carrying an iron staff, the ponies not seeming to notice her as the gales blasted through their town.

'Who are you?' she asked.

'I use lots of names,' the woman said. 'But they're not remotely relevant right now. Why do you ask?'

'Did you...cause this?' Luna asked, trying to change the subject.

The woman's face gave a stern expression.

'I'm dreadfully sorry, Princess Luna,' she said. 'But I told Celestia to stop her little scheme and...she wouldn't listen. My job is to stop her plan. I don't know how many more will have to suffer before she lets go of her stubbornness and pride. If you're looking for shelter, head for Applejack's farm. It should be protected from this and from whatever comes next.'

'Oh, and let me deal with Celestia.'

Cloudsdale

The town was helpless. From its position in the sky, the pegasi living in it could see all the fury being rained down on Equestria. The fires burning in Ponyville, Manehattan and Appleoosa. The devastation around Canterlot. They couldn't fly down to the ground, the lightning and the impossibly strong winds blowing through Equestria would kill any pegasus who tried.

So they were left with no choice but to watch Equestria be devastated.

Canterlot

Celestia was in such a rage it was unimaginable, watching the fire and hail from the balcony. Something was striking, killing her ponies and there was nothing she could do. It was worse even than Discord - at least with him she had had an opponent. But with this, there was quite simply nothing she could fight. She could waste her power fruitlessly trying to hold back the storm, but whatever lay behind it she couldn't begin to even see, let alone fight in any meaningful way.

But she would not submit. She gritted her teeth and hardened her heart. Nothing would stop her.

Vatican City

The Pope listened to the news of the events in Equestria with fascination. He was going to give a mass today and well, this was quite unexpected. At least the wild animals had been somewhat explicable, but this, this was obviously a miracle. The papers, the radio channels, the televisions were now explicitly equating the events with the Ten Plagues of Egypt. The main Bible verses quoted this week were from Exodus. Quite irreligious people were practically queueing up for conversion.

Well, if God had judged Celestia and found her wanting, it was not his place to question that judgement. The least he could do was point it out.

Chapter V: I Send the Locusts on the Wind, Such as the World has never Seen!

Chapter V: I Send The Locusts on the Wind, Such as the World Has Never Seen!

This is what the LORD,the God of the Hebrews, says: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians—something neither your fathers nor your forefathers have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.
- Exodus 10:3-6

Manehattan, Equestria]

Steffy looked around the streets of Manehattan, on her way to the recording studio - she had a career as a musician, and the studio had miraculously been through the storm unscathed. After a whole week of the fire and hail raining down on all Equestria, the sky had finally cleared. However, the sun seemed dimmer now, for a reason she couldn't discern. Emergency construction workers were rushing around, trying to ascertain the immense level of damage. There were scorched trees in the parks and craters in the streets, while the rubble of a collapsed skyscraper had blocked 3rd Avenue lengthwise. Ponies were looking upward, nervous that the worst storm in all Equestrian history would start again. Smoke rose from many buildings, and the tallest building in all Equestria, inaugurated 3 years ago, was heavily damaged, its facade pitted and torn while its top floors had simply ceased to exist.

Still, it stood defiant over a city trying and utterly determined to recover. After all, many said, how could things get worse than what had already happened? But still, the attitude toward Celestia was notably different than a few weeks ago. While ponies weren't making there thoughts clear, there was a general feeling of discontent tinged with fear.

~*~

Appleoosa

Applejack had not been driven into Everfree Forest along with Luna and the five other bearers of the Elements of Harmony after the altercation in Canterlot. She had fled to her own farm that day, and had sold her apples quite happily for the past two years or so. Which meant that she had happily given Luna and the others, including Twilight Sparkle, a place to live.

Twilight was quite fascinated by humans (not so much as Pinkie Pie, though), and it had taken Celestia's trickery for her to create the formula for the ponification serum. The humans just had so many new books for her to read. She was quite intently perusing one of these books when suddenly she rushed to Luna.

'What is it?'

'I was reading one of the humans' religious books,' she said. 'You know, the ones they write because they don't have Celestia or you to follow. And...and...'

'What?'

'There's a story in this book where one of the human gods punishes a country with ten terrible plagues because they were enslaving his people. It was thousands of years before where the humans are today, really long ago, and...oh no. The punishments in this book, they're happening right now - to Equestria.'

There was a long silence.

'I think,' Twilight said. 'That Celestia provoked somebody she couldn't fight back against.'

~*~

Appleoosa was a peaceful farming town. Its people were generally not violent, and so, when the woman walked into their town centre, they began to back away. It wasn't like they thought attacking her would help, and they knew when she came to a town something bad would follow in all Equestria.

The crops and apple trees were damaged by the hail, and several houses were now charred husks. The sun shone dimmer now, the smoke from the fires burning that terrible week had absorbed some of its life-giving light.

She began to speak and a dreadful silence filled the town as the ponies awaited whatever terrible pronouncement would follow.

'You have given food to Celestia,' she said. 'You could have starved out Canterlot by denying it its food supply. You might even have made her reconsider her "Purification". Well, that will be repaid a thousandfold. The locusts will come, in such numbers as will blot out the sun over all your land. All Equestria will be punished by the swarm I will send upon you. You will cry out for food and it will not come. You will beg for something to fill your bellies, and your cries will fall on deaf ears. The chastisement begins.'

She raised her staff and struck it on the ground, then left. Some minutes later, the ponies of Appleoosa looked to the west, and saw a black cloud on the horizon, followed by a loud and terrible buzzing.

~*~

Equestria

There had been bad years on Celestia's watch, but Equestria had never been in any serious danger of starving. That time was past. The swarms of iron-wrought locusts blocked out the sun for hundreds of miles wherever they went. When part of a storm descended on a farm, in less than an hour there was nothing but bare earth. Where corn was stored in barns, the locusts ate both the wood the barn was made of and the corn kept inside. Apple trees were strippd clean by the hundreds by the endless swarms.

In times of desperate need a pony could perform the dreadfully barbarous act of grazing, but even that was stripped away by the locusts, who completely denuded massive areas of soil in hours. Equestria had expanded to cover much of the rich Midwestern farmland, but now the locusts were stripping much of that territory bare as an utterly relentless swarm.

The gardens of Canterlot were swept bare by the locusts as well, and with the locusts stripping away the soil's protection came what Oklahoma had known in the Great Depression but which Equestria had never heard of. The dust bowl. Strong winds blew the dust as far as Manehattan, blotting out sight and forcing whole towns to flee for the protection of Ponyville and Canterlot.

Only one farm stood amongst the sea of dust: Applejack's. Something made the locusts completely avoid it, an island of green in an endless sea of red-brown.

In two days Equestria had begun one of the most extensive famines in both worlds' history. Everypony was suffering, except for the newfoals, who always seemed to be well-fed. There were empty stomachs even in Canterlot, where Celestia still stubbornly tried to do something to defy the punishment she had been given.

Four days into the week, Equestria sent its first ambassador to the United Nations in months.

Geneva, Switzerland

The United Nations was located in Geneva now, New York was still too close to the current limit of Equestria's borders.

The pegasus walked into the General Assembly hall, and spoke.

'Our people are starving,' she said. 'The locusts have devoured our entire food stocks, and Celestia-'

'Is getting what she very well deserves,' the American representative said. 'We have a degree of circumstantial evidence that the Barrier is not a natural phenomenon, and its expansion was related to Princess Celestia's activity.'

The pegasus lost her cool then. She was screaming insults at the human delegates, ranting and raving quite dramatically.

'A fine example of Princess Celestia's idea of diplomacy,' the German delegate said. 'Given that she has been so consistently disrespectful and antagonistic to all our countries, the UN, and humanity as a whole, Germany proposes this item. No UN member will give any food, medicine, or other aid to Equestria while Celestia still holds power. Not even if she offers all the contents of her treasury for a single ear of corn. Furthermore, the UN member countries will endeavour to close all Conversion Bureaus still open, through force if necessary. Furthermore, the member countries will endeavour to stop any aid by private organisations or individuals to Celestia or her genocide plan.'

'France is in favour.'

'India.'

'China.'

'America.'

'Great Britain.'

'Israel!'

'Russia.'

'Korea.'

'Portugal.'

'Brazil.'

'South Africa!'

The pegasus had stopped ranting - she looked around silently, uncomprehending. It was one of the only completely unanimous votes ever in the UN. Celestia would be furious when she heard of this.

The ambassador Celestia sent to the UN never came back to her.

Chapter VI: The Curse of Babel

A/N: At least you can't call this plague ridiculously violent, seeing as it doesn't do anything physical. At all. But what comes next will be much worse, for both Equestria and Celestia's mental health.

Chapter VI: The Curse of Babel

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
- Genesis 11:7

Manehattan, Equestria

Manehattan was silent. There were still some meagre stocks of food left untouched by the locusts, and long bread queues had been formed. In any case, the ponies were scared. First the rain of fire had come, then this, the endless swarm of locusts and the famine it sent.

Some ponies had come to the conclusion that the newfoals were responsible for the events, and had started forming gangs to attack them. That such attacks on newfoals always failed (due to strange, inexplicable coincidences) was not a concern of theirs, and their ability to spot a newfoal was shaky at best, so the attacks that succeeded ended up hurting native Equestrians only.

The woman walked into the central square of Manehattan coolly and surveyed the damage, waiting for the ponies to congregate around her.

'I bring the sixth judgement the LORD has sent to smite you,' she said. 'Let your tongues be divided and your language confounded, for you could have spoken out against Celestia and did not care enough to tell her she was wrong!'

She struck her staff on the ground and all over Equestria, communication ceased. Where ponies had heard their own language being spoken, now their ears found only gibberish. Where their eyes had seen writing, now they beheld random, illegible symbols.

~*~

Canterlot

Princess Celestia was definitely not amused. She had asked her mages what was happening now, and they had responded in total gibberish. Worse, the writing in the damage reports being sent from all over Equestria was the same nonsense. She couldn't tell what was happening, couldn't even guess at the extent of what was happening. This was definitely worse than Discord, at least he hadn't abolished language, even at the height of the sick games he played before Celestia vanquished him.

Celestia knew she would never give in to whatever was causing this upon her. It would have to unleash much worse than whatever was happening now before she even began to consider it. She reigned over Equestria, nothing and no-one would take that right from.

~*~

Los Angeles, California

The Los Angeles Conversion Bureau, one of the few not destroyed by terrorists, was being closed. Forcibly. The receptionist, a blonde-haired human woman, was handcuffed and led into a police van. She was followed by several other people, those humans who had been involved in making the serum, under heavy guard. The same scene was taking place in Berlin and Lyon, the people who had worked for the Purification jeered at and insulted as they were led away.

Several Equestrian-supremacist human groups (including one sick enough to forcibly 'Purify' children in a terrorist attack disguised as a party) were being arrested en masse in sting operations. Take PETA. Once it had been the 'moderate' wing of the animal rights movement - after Equestria arrived, it had turned into another organ of Celestia's pro-Equestria propaganda machine, and now...it was gone. Members were being processed by the justice system even now.

A curious thing had developed on the internet as well. Fiction had been written - but this stuff was misanthropic pony-supremacism thinly veiled as fiction. It had been tolerated, but now that the world's governments wanted to give the strongest possible statement to Celestia the sites and blogs where it had accumulated had been wiped completely off the internet. Not even archives remained.

~*~

Appleoosa, Equestria

Ponies were pouring in to Applejack's farm, hoping it would be a refuge. Most were turned away by Luna as they were just hoping for safety but some managed to be admitted. Most of these ponies admitted were dissidents against Celestia, having turned against her because she couldn't seem to help them or herself. Some were newfoals, but the majority were native-born Equestrians.

Outside the farm, confusion reigned over all Equestria. And those observant enough began to wonder what would come next. If this was a breather, what new horror would come down on Equestria after?

Chapter VII: Never Mind How High The Cost May Grow

Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.

Job 9:6

Canterlot, Equestria

The woman had returned to Princess Celestia's throne room, noting that the shattered doors had not yet been repaired or even moved out of the way, dressed in black now. Celestia stood on her throne as the woman halted just beyond the doorway, right in front of the flagstones still scorched. She looked around at the shattered windows, the holes in roof and walls, and then to the throne where the Princess still proudly reigned.

'This is your last chance, Celestia,' she said. 'I am dreadfully sorry that I have to do this, and I wish it had never come to this. Surrender to the terms I have sent or you will only cause more innocents to suffer for the sake of your pride. God makes no mistakes, but Equestria has suffered for many of yours.'

'I will not surrender to these attacks,' the alicorn replied. 'I am the morning and the evening star, and I will not be spoken to by a filthy human!'

'Celestia,' she said. 'You must-'

'I have had ENOUGH OF THIS PRATTLE! I will not SURRENDER! THE CONVERSION WILL NOT END! I WILL NEVER BE JUDGED BY SUCH A WITLESS, STUPID, DIRTY, DISGUSTING, WRETCHED HUMAN FREAK!'

The woman began to simmer with barely-contained rage.

'No human, pony, pegasus, unicorn or alicorn calls me a freak. So be it. Celestia, you just lost your last chance to save Equestria the consequences of your actions. There will be no appeal or clemency now. So comes my seventh chastisement. The LORD makes the earth itself destroy your castle, your cities and towns. He has sent fire and locusts, but now he begins the final punishments!'

She struck her staff heavily on the ground. Suddenly, Canterlot began to shake, the roof collapsed as the woman casually walked out of the castle.

~*~

Equestria

The earth of Equestria began to rebel. Before long, it was rolling and rippling like a storm-tossed sea. Acres of ruined farmland fell into chasms. Avalanches swept forests and villages away before them. From Cloudsdale the pegasi saw the devastation at the truly immense scale it was taking place in. Cavern systems caved in, obliterating the Diamond Dogs and causing whole stretches of land to collapse into massive sinkholes. The changelings with their Queen Chrysalis were utterly wiped out in the mighty earthquake.

Canterlot fell in on itself like a child's sandcastle as the earth continued to shake. Rivers burst their banks and changed their courses. Rockslides fell down mountain-slopes. Animals in Everfree Forest poured out as the quakes struck it over and over again.

All Equestria was trembling in fear.

~*~

Manehattan

The city of Manehattan was disintegrating around Steffy. Ponies were running out of the city in a massive rush, which she had joined. The Mayor's Office had been flooded by the river, skyscrapers were falling down like match-sticks and whole blocks were collapsing, being swallowed by the earth. Debris rained, hitting the streets like the burning hail from before. A newfoal had miraculously managed to avoid the falling debris and buildings, but many other ponies had not.

Steffy had trusted Celestia at first, but now she didn't. The only thing left to do was find safety, which was said to be in Appleoosa.

~*~

Edge of Equestria

The outside world didn't feel a single tremor for the six complete hours the massive earthquake lasted. And now...it looked like the Barrier, the massive dome of energy which marked the limit of Equestria's growth, had weakened quite drastically in that time. Radiation readings were down 75 percent now on all parts of the Barrier - perhaps soon humanity could get a group into Equestria to get rid of the Princess.

~*~

Ruins of Canterlot

The unicorns had been working hard for almost three days digging for survivors. Many in Canterlot had been killed instantly when it collapsed, but Kathy the unicorn, still doggedly loyal to Celestia, was leading the effort in searching for survivors. It was early morning when they hauled the Princess herself out of the rubble. She was in a state of almost total exhaustion, and looked heavily weakened by what had happened. Her outside injuries were soon healed, but she retained a curious lethargy which none of them could explain.

It was hoped that this was the climax of the whole affair.

Chapter VIII: The Shadow of Wrath

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days.

Exodus 10:21-23

What-was-Ponyville, Equestria

The mountain had once been a small spur of rock on the outskirts of what had once been the town of Ponyville, but was now uplifted by the quake until from its peak one could see much of Equestria. The woman reached the pinnacle, seeing by the light of high noon the full scale of the devastation. The land, once green and fertile, was now barren, an earth-brown, sun-blasted wilderness in which only thorns and weeds were beginning to grow again, while to her left a river, its course changed wildly by the quake, flooded what had been a peaceful valley. She turned her gaze in the direction of Appleoosa, and saw with magnified sight Applejack's farm, a small, peaceful island of green in a sea of tortured and sterile earth.

Near Appleoosa, a railroad had miraculously survived, and was dropping off ponies fleeing the destruction of Manehattan, still smoking on the horizon.

But now was not the time to contemplate the suffering caused by Celestia's stubborn obstinacy. Now was the time to bring down the darkness.

She spoke, her voice spread by the air so that it could be heard throughout Equestria.

'Celestia,' she said. 'You claim dominion over the Sun in your vainglory and pride. You will see the darkness I bring over all your land, and the people you have led astray will see your falsehood and emptiness in its depths!'

She struck her staff on the peak of the mountain.

~*~

Equestria

Celestia was being escorted along the road from Canterlot to Ponyville by her unicorn mages and the remnants of her royal guard when the Darkness came. It started as a slight dimming of the sky, but before long it became pitch-black, the sun vanishing as the land lay under night. Then the tendrils of shadow came down from the sky and began striking the earth. Then everything went black and all over Equestria, a panic worse than ever before struck.

In the Darkness, nothing, not even magic, could provide light at all. Ponies were paralysed as they couldn't see, trusting desperately in touch and sound. Not that it helped them much. Several ponies became so overtaken by terror that their hearts stopped, for the Darkness was far more than mere shadow. Moving through it was like wading through thick molasses, and it brought with it a kind of fear worse than any the ponies had ever experienced before. Panic and terror and paranoia were enhanced by its presence beyond even what the sudden onset of absolutely total darkness could bring, so that groups of stern friends devolved into bickering and fighting where once they had eagerly shared the meagre scraps of food left.

The newfoals were of course, completely unaffected by the shadow and terror the Darkness brought, but it also left another group unaffected. Those who had turned their hearts away from Celestia, a small but quickly-growing minority, were not touched by it. Some Celestia-loyal ponies managed to escape the Darkness when they passed the edge of Equestria, but panicked and fled back into its shade when they saw that it was high noon in a cloudless sky outside Celestia's country.

After three continuous days and nights of absolute terror made worse by a strange inability to sleep while it was in effect, the Darkness finally ceased and light returned to Celestia's country.

~*~

Vatican City

The Pope had heard of the Darkness over Equestria along with most of the other world leaders, who were even now discussing what was almost certainly bound to happen next. They weren't particularly the type to gamble, but it was clear to everybody who knew the slightest bit about either religion or statecraft that Celestia surrendering or being deposed was a certainty after the next plague came.

The clear divine punishment of Equestria had brought a massive upsurge in religious feeling for followers of the Abrahamic faiths. People were holding prayer vigils in practically every church, mosque and synagogue, praying for the punishment of Celestia and the restoration of those 'Purified' by her serum. The response from other religions was almost universally the claim that their deities, not the Abrahamic god, were bringing the punishment to Celestia.

The scientists who had helped make the Conversion serum had their own feelings on the matter. They were mostly under trial in their home countries for treason, and not even the most heartless lawyers were bothering to try and defend them.

~*~

What-was-Ponyville, Equestria

Celestia knew that evening was approaching as she reached the high mountain now standing over the wreck of Ponyville. She bade her guards leave her to reach the newborn mountain's peak by herself. She would confront this usurper in her domain personally, without help. She knew that this jumped-up plains ape had almost certainly done all she could to chastise her by now. She had made the sun rise in the mornings, how dare that creature interfere with her domain?

With mad determination driven by self-delusion and wilful blindness, she climbed up to the peak, and as the sun began to set, the woman who had brought all this devastation turned to face her.

Chapter IX: The Greatest Cry

This is what the LORD says: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again.'
- Exodus 11:4-6

Mount Ponyville, Equestria

Celestia looked at the woman, silhouetted against the setting sun. Her face was stern, harsh. There seemed to be pity in it, sorrow at what had happened and what was going to, but it warred with a cold contempt for Celestia and what she had done, as her eyes seemed to silently analyse her soul. Celestia spoke.

'What judgement do you presume to bring on me now?' she demanded. 'How will you chastise your superior this time, filthy human wretch? What will you do that'll be worse than what has come before?'

'You know,' the woman replied. 'You still are conceited. But after tomorrow, no more. Because this night, as the sun rises, the greatest, most mournful and dreadful cry ever heard in all Equestria will be heard in all the land. They will turn away from you, Celestia. They will ask the question that has been echoing in their souls all this time out loud - how could this happen, why couldn't you save them? And they will turn against you. This night, the penultimate chastisement will come, and the morning after, you will be judged and sentenced. Because Equestria will have suffered for your pride and conceit enough, and there will be none left to punish but you yourself.'

'The Elements of Harmony left you when you began thoughts of the Purification, when you concieved it in your mind to destroy those different from you because of that difference. Your command of the sun left you when you merged Equestria with this world. The full capability of your power left you when you attacked a messenger telling you to change your ways or meet the consequences of your actions. All that is now left to take from you is your conceit.'

'Now go from this place and wait at the bottom of this mountain. You will know what my punishment for you is at noon on the morrow.'

Celestia left in fear, and the woman turned back to look at the setting sun, tears streaming down her gold-framed face from the dreadful foreknowledge of what would inevitably happen next.

~*~

It was seconds before midnight, and there was no moon to mar the cloudless star-streaked sky. Somehow it was fitting that the moon should turn her silver face from the slaughter about to happen. At the exact second of midnight, the very moment that one day became the next, the sky twisted over what had been Canterlot, above even the sky-built town of Cloudsdale, and a hole opened in it. A kind of glowing silver mist snaked out from it, dividing into multiple tendrils that forked in the directions of various remaining towns and concentrations of refugees.

Time seemed to halt as the tendrils forked, subdividing again and again as they ran through unnaturally quiet streets, running like a silent wind through Equestria. The wind stole breath and took life, its presence extinguishing lights and torches near whatever it passed. Meanwhile, jackals dug fervently, digging up corpses and dragging them to places unseen. The woman overlooking the silent tableau of massacre hid her face so as not to look on that which she could not bear, until the destroying angel had passed, the cold and silent wind returning to its place in the Empyrean, the hole in the firmament sealing behind it.

~*~

An hour before dawn Equestria awoke to grief. Mothers and fathers looked at the cooling bodies of their firstborn and wept, while others looked at bodies dragged back to their families by dogs and felt renewed pain and devastation. Curiously, when the firstborn were not the most loved children, they were spared and the favourite child taken instead. If the family had no children, a favoured pet or other much-loved thing was taken instead - a family picture smashed, a mage's familiar killed, even a spouse struck dead in the cold, uncaring night. Every native Equestrian either knew somebody killed or somebody struck by the heartbreak of their passing. Statistics amassed later would describe the amount of deaths as a quarter of the population, eclipsing all the other plagues combined, but this was an attempt to put failing words on the level of mortality.

And they asked questions. How could Celestia have power, when she couldn't protect those loyal to her from this? If she did, how could this be allowed to happen by her?

The newfoals and those who had taken sanctuary with Luna were untouched, and the latter came up with a plan. She and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony would go to challenge Celestia, try and stop whatever dreadful thing came next.

Chapter X: The Final Chastisement

A/N: There's a two part epilogue to cap this off, but this ends the main story.

Chapter X: The Final Chastisement

"What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

Genesis 4:10-12

Equestria

Luna's group was moving on one of the only undamaged roads to Ponyville, where she sensed the presence of her sister, faintly and weakly. The general mood in Equestria was now stubborn opposition to Celestia, and on the road they often met ponies willing to join what Luna was planning. However, the journey from Appleoosa to Ponyville seemed to have been massively shortened, the familiar landmarks on the way, now often damaged and shattered, passing by much quicker, as if space itself was being manipulated to shorten their travels. They reached Ponyville about ten minutes before midday, reaching a boulder on the slopes of a newborn mountain that Celestia now tried her best to stand proudly on.

But now, she just looked worn out, looking like she could barely stand. Luna's heart burst out in pity for the alicorn, despite her actions against the humans and their dreadful consequences for all Equestria. The mages still loyal to her and the royal guards looked worn out as well, though not so much as the Princess. Luna wondered what tenacity they had to still stand by her side after what had happened.

Luna's group of ponies, about a hundred and fifty strong, moved to Celestia.

'What are you here for, my Sister?' Celestia asked. 'You want to take my throne, my right?! I should have expected that when you and your cat's-paws sympathised with the filthy humans.'

'Cel-' Luna tried to say. The alicorn was totally deranged now, and she hoped she wouldn't get to hurt anyone else.

'You will never talk back to your Queen, human-loving wretch! KNEEL BEFORE THE QUEEN OF ALL EQUESTRIA!'

A bolt of energy went from Celestia's horn, subdividing and hitting Luna and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, but they stood firm, unbowed.

'Celestia,' Luna said through gritted teeth. 'I challenge you to a contest of magic, for leadership of Equest-'

'What are you thinking, Lun-'

Celestia was cut short as a pillar of fire burst from a ledge above her. Several of her unicorn mages still loyal were blasted into salt by its appearance, and all eyes turned from her to it, a feeling of combined awe and fear striking all present. And there were things in that pillar of flame. Some saw wheels within wheels spinning around and within each other in an endless dance. Others saw the infinite cosmos, with its skeleton of dark matter filaments and galactic superclusters, its planets and stars in precarious orbits and its wildly dancing electrons in the structure of atoms, held firmly and unshakeably in the hollow of a single protective hand. Still others saw an endless explosion of light and fire and energy, making the Sun whose light the humans lived by look like a tiny spark. Many saw a mighty Figure veiled in incense, his throne guarded and borne aloft by four living creatures on a vast pyramid of jasper and carnelian, four and twenty elders obeisant before it.

Out of the pillar of fire came a mighty, terrible Voice, each word a singular proclamation not heard but felt as it was graven into the universe.

Celestia. You Have Tried To Exterminate The Humans, Who Are My Creatures And Children So Much As You And All Your Race.

Before, I Was Willing To Let Them Learn At Their Own Pace, But Your Twisted Actions Forced Me To Save Them From You.

All Your Power Can Be Held In The Tip Of My Fingernail, Yet You Dared Try And Usurp My Authority Over Them.

So I Have Punished You, And Equestria, Because Its People, When They Saw Your Behaviour, Did Not Say, "No, I Will Not Allow This, And I Will Not Partake Of What You Have Done".

I Have Sent The Woman I Crowned With Laurels To Give My Message, And Gave Her A Rod Of Iron To Let Equestria See How Empty Your Declarations Of Goodness And Power Are.

So I Send Her Now To The Bottom Of This Mountain I Raised, To Execute My Final Punishment.

This Was Your Choice Alone, Celestia.

I Dearly Hope You Are Willing To Live With It.

The swirling pillar of fire vanished as it collapsed in on itself. Celestia was clearly shaking. Then the woman went down to the ledge where it had been, in her black clothes. Twilight Sparkle knew that the humans had once dressed their executioners in black, and wondered what was going to happen.

'Celestia,' the woman said. 'I think Somebody has already stated His opinion of you pretty firmly, and nothing I have can add to that. But let me state the nature of your punishment. For one, you will lose all the shreds of power you have left. All your works will be destroyed and made vain. Finally, you will see, clearly and totally, the consequences of your actions. Now, let it be done.'

She struck her staff on the ledge and several notable things happened. For one, Celestia transformed. Her cutie mark vanished, and she suddenly became a young human woman, falling down on the ground. The same thing happened to several newfoals, who became their old (and very confused) human selves.

At the same time, Celestia saw the evil of what she had done and planned for the first time in her life. She saw the consequences, the storm, the locusts, the earthquake and the death of so many last night. She saw everything good about humanity, and everything evil and twisted about herself. Finally, she saw what humans thought of her - as a brainwashing, controlling, wicked monster.

At first, she thought only of how they could have rejected her, her brain still trying to process the knowledge thrust into it. Instants later, this defence mechanism collapsed - she was now a filthy human, and her power, the magic that was the core of her self-worth, had gone, leaving a gnawing void.

How could this be allowed to happen? The answer came unbidden.

Her psyche, unable to handle the immense dissonance, collapsed totally.

Finally, on her forehead a Mark appeared in letters weeping blood. It read 'CELESTIA', and all who looked at it would know at a glance who they were seeing, as it would always appear in their native writing system.

'Well, I guess I'm in charge now,' Luna said, dumbfounded.

History would record it as the Equestrian Civil War, but in fact it had lasted just twelve minutes.

~*~

Washington D.C.

The President knew nothing of what had happened. His only understanding was that at 12:02, the Barrier had suddenly collapsed in its entirety.

He looked at the Vice President and spoke.

'Send in the troops,' he said. 'We need to find Celestia and make her pay.'

~*~

Equestria, Seven Days Later

The tank lurched over the damaged road. The Equestrian landscape, which had enticed many recipients of the Conversion process, now looked like it had been involved in a particularly devastating nuclear apocalypse. Since the tank had entered Equestria, its crew had encountered little resistance. Some ponies had tried to attack them with magic or from the sky, but most simply threw themselves on the ground and begged for mercy.

Eventually they reached the lowest slopes of a mountain, where Princess Luna and several others were. There was also a human woman in a black dress standing imperiously.

The sergeant got out the tank and looked at the woman. In a flash it came - the blonde hair, the eyes, the face, it had to be-

'Hey!' The sergeant cried. 'La-'

'I prefer not to be called that,' the woman said. 'You have a beer? I could murder for a good drink right now.'

'Er, not with me, but-'

'No worries. You have a cell phone?'

The sergeant produced his.

'Very well,' she said, punched in some numbers, and put it to her ear.

'Mom - you there? Yes, yes, it's your daughter. I'm fine, really, yes. I haven't been in contact for a while and I'm in Equestria...this is going to be hard to explain, isn't it?...'

'Anyway,' she said when the call was finished. 'Here's Celestia.'

She pointed to a pink-haired woman whimpering and vacantly drooling on the ground, her modesty preserved by a black leather jacket. The sergeant looked at the mark on her forehead, and saw in an instant that the woman could not be lying.

'Now,' the sergeant said to Luna. 'Since Celestia can't do much of anything right now, can you please sign the instruments of surrender?'