The Conversion Bureau: The Palladium Wings

The Conversion Bureau: The Palladium Wings

Chapter 1

Origins and Privateers

That was several years ago. Several years ago, on December 21ST of the year 2012, we looked at the skies and those who said the Greeks were just making tales about a planet that was hidden on the other side of the sun were proven wrong.  It was real, Counter-Earth was real. We all mocked them endlessly, seeing that they writings. Geocentric theory? They  were right. Apparently, it’s Celestia who rises the sun and lowers it, her sister Luna is the one who brings the night to both our worlds.

The Earth and Counter-Earth became connected by the atmospheres, joining the planets into one. This made travel by air much easier. It is curious how one can go to Equestria or say Europe by flying so high up in the sky. To do that, one must brave a bottleneck-like storm. The winds there are violent, unpredictable, to them, crossing over is not a issue, they have mapped out the areas of calm air that make flight a possibility.

It happened that fateful day. It was broad daylight, the skies began to act strangely….a giant whirlpool composed of clouds appeared, spinning rapidly as it got wider. From the bowels of the whirlpool, there was a light, a light that shone beyond the sea of clouds. Several objects exited through, one large airship followed by what seemed escort vessels, said escort vessels launched small craft. From a distant sight, they have appeared to be jet fighters, wrong, it was Pegasi.

Contact between Earth and the biggest nation in Counter-Earth, Equestria has begun. Ponies began to migrate to the Earth, mostly as tourism and migrant workers while humans took airships to visit Equestria. As time went on, many humans went to Equestria as they felt attached to this mystical land above the skies. The Ponies developed a serum which could convert a human into a pony. They opened up centers dedicated to this task. They went by many names but where mostly known as Conversion Bureaus. One came to convert, spend a week to learn to be a pony, and then they were shipped off to Equestria in what was dubbed a Migration Capsule:  Large craft that were launched into the skies carrying the many converts away from their life on Earth, as their leader, Princess Celestia promised;  a new life away from all the lies, deceit, and corruption of the many human regimes.

This was met with a lot of resistance. Several people formed groups to try kick the ponies out and shut down the Bureaus. No one listened to the demands of these people, calling them close minded, racists, every name out there in the book. No government listened to the cries and rallies of these people, only to be ignored and many more converted. It was an alarming rate…something was wrong.

On the Fall of 2015, it finally happened.

People began to arm themselves with whatever they had available. Bureaus were stormed; the people who worked there and the recent converts were killed and maimed violently.  Pony immigrants were lynched brutally; the wind blew a putrid aroma of death and chaos as the riots spread.

Winter of 2015, Princess Celestia gives a speech, saying that the Equestrian Sky Fleet will enter the Earth‘s skies to protect Equestrian interests in every continent, the UN approved of this plan. The peoples did not.

By  early 2016, airships of massive size floated in the skies, blocking out the sun. To the many Equestrian immigrants and Newfoals, this was a sigh of relief. To the people, it was a sign of occupation. The Bureaus continued to convert people, some refused and extremist ponies began to forcefully convert innocents.

On March 12, 2016, a dozen dissidents of various nationalities hijacked the yacht of the Princesses during a diplomatic visit. The airship was rammed against a Migration Capsule that was preparing to leave for Equestria. Millions of converts were killed that day, the airship damaged beyond any repair…but they never found the hijackers.

June 21st, 2016, Celestia gave a speech demanding that all areas with a high pony to human ratio is a Equestrian colony and must leave in 24 hours. The response was a declaration of war against Equestria by every nation.

"Under the authority granted to me by Princess Celestia, I order the humans to leave Eastern Russia in 24 hours."

"Just try it!" A Russian villager pulled out a double barreled shotgun. "To Hell with Equestria! To Hell with Celestia! To Hell with you Ponies!"

There was violence against the newfoals and the Colonizers, ponies who came to Equestria to colonize the New World as it was known to them.

The war didn’t last long…the moment the Equestrian airships exited the cloud whirlpool, everything was over in a matter of hours. The airships bombarded serum all over the place, if bombing the area didn’t do the job, they’d deploy Pegasi and Unicorns to finish off the stragglers. This became known as the Human-Equestrian War or the Serum Wars, Colony Wars, the War of Equestrian Aggression, the War of Equestrian Imperialism, the 12 Hour War…you name it.

Many flags were lowered and replaced with the Equestrian flag.

In the end, Humanity lost: Eastern Russia, Central Asia, parts of the Middle East, about 1/2 of Western Canada, 3/5ths of Eastern Europe, half of China, 1/3rd of Japan, almost all of Africa, the Southern portion of Mediterranean Europe, all of Brazil, the former Great Colombia of the past: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama . All of Southern Mexico was lost except for the Yucatan Peninsula, which became an Equestrian puppet state. America was forced to give up most of the West Coast along with parts of the Midwest. All these areas haven now become Equestrian colonies…those who refused conversion were kicked out of their countries… The Yucatanese, seeing this as a perfect chance made a pact with Celestia to gain their independence from a broken Mexico.

Hope was not lost as the remnants of humanity reformed their nations. The governments of the nations began to issue something that wasn’t seen in the history of the world: Letters of Marque. If anyone had a privately-owned airship and a crew willing to attack the Equestrian colonies and vessels, they were promised a great bounty along with rewards for their deeds.

Privateers were the heroes of this new world. Stories circulated about the brave men and women hijacking Equestrian ships, plundering entire towns and cities, robbing ponies of their valuables while others killed them for taking away their lands…

This is the story of the brave band of privateers who defied everything in the face of danger…this is the story of the Palladium Wings, a title given to privateers who pulled off the most hard of missions in the world to show Celestia a lesson on who she messed with.

Earth, 2025

Skies of Panama, Republic of Yucatan

A highly modified airship continued its cruise above what used to be Panama. If the intelligence was correct, an Equestrian cruise ship would be here in a matter of minutes. Months of planning were finally going to pay off. Time to make these horses that for every action there’s a reaction. A few conversations took place in Slavic tongues, mostly nostalgia about their former motherlands and the anger that burned up inside them. Most were excited about the acts that are about to committed. One mentioned about jewels and their bits, wondering if the ship was full of the typical pony snobs that were made such an easy prey.

The spotter saw something glimmer off in the distance. Focusing on the glimmer, he noticed a airship flying the flag of a sun and moon joint by halves with a angel white on the left with the blue on the right. The spotter turned, telling the communications officer to report this to the Captain.

The Captain gave a animalistic grin. Many of his crew respected him out of fear. Nikolaos Drakonakos …also known as the Dragon of the Skies went into the business not for the profit, but out of revenge. He is a Maniot Greek, piracy and bloodshed is in his blood, he had a blood feud against the one behind it all; Princess Celestia. She too will know what a man can do once the feud begins.  He was a man of average height, no muscles or anything grand. Green-eyed and of a sun-kissed skin.  His penchant was of seafood, poultry, and wine. He despised Equestrians since childhood after he and his fellow Maniots were kicked out of Greece to allow the Colonizers to settle in. His last decree was a vendetta against Princess Celestia for this crime.

Nikolaos heard the news. He began to gear up for the boarding. Grabbing the classic weapon favored by privateers, the AK-47. If there’s anything that these stinking ponies like to see, it’s this one. They have an unnatural fascination with the gun…seeing it as an object of awe and mystery.  The weapon was used by human hands since the War of Equestrian Imperialism.

The Equestrian airship was close.

The Observation Post looked at the ship. A cruiser carrying tourists from Equestria…he thought as he scanned the ship.

The XO barked the order, the ship’s guns fired out against the unsuspecting veesel. Grappling hooks anchored on the ships, followed by the whirrs of it being reeled in. A black flag with a white dragon spewing out fire with a pair of crossed pistols under it was raised into view.

“PIRATES!” A unicorn mare fainted.

“CHARGE!” The Maniot rallied as he jumped to the Equestrian ship.  He could hear the men full of energy as they followed his lead.  “If they refuse to cooperate with us kill them all!”  Blasting the door hinges, he entered, scanning his  corners with his rifle’s sights.  Kicking the door open, he fired his weapon into the air, ponies began to scream.

The rest of the privateers entered.

“ALL YOUR BELONGINGS! HAND THEM OVER!” A privateer rifleman yelled as many pulled out sacks. “HAND THEM OVER OR YOU DIE!”

Many started filling the sacks, fearful of the raiders and their weapons.

Nikolaos began to head upstairs. With a grin, he kicked the door with brutal force. The captain and the crew, mostly Earth ponies and Unicorns looked at the black-clad figure. The horns began to glow, but the man knew that this was futile.

Spraying the contents of the magazine into the crew, he approached the captain, stepping over the spent bullet casings.

The Earth Pony Captain began to tremble in fear. “P-please!” He started to sob. “Don’t kill me! I’ll do everything you ask!” He performed a kowtow as the man stopped.

The man pulled the pony by the mane, bringing him to eye level. “The ship’s manifests and schedules, now!”

The Earth Pony quickly opened the safe, the man stuffed them in his pockets.  “Are you going to kill me? He continued to tremble.

A TT-33 was pulled out. Firing 4 bullets into the legs of the pony, he gave it a twirl. “No.” The pistol went back to its holster. Dropping the AK-47 to the agonized pony, he walked to the lower levels. “Tell your Princess that the Dragon Nikolaos did this.”

As the sacks were filled with loot, they all heard the door open. They were happy to see the Captain. “Captain! We have all the loot the sacks can hold.”

Nikolaos looked at the ponies, all scared, shaking…perfect.

“No hostages?” A rifleman asked.

“No…not this day…next time, there will be hostages.”  Nikolaos said as he exited the ship with the raiders.

The grappling hooks were removed; the pirate airship took off for the horizon.

Days later

Reports were coming in about the human sky pirates that attacked several Equestrian airships, most of the ships attacked were cruise ships, along with cargo freighters, military ships were valued by them. In the past month, 3 Alicorn-class Battleships, 6 Luna-class Frigates, and 1 Canterlot-class carrier were hijacked by them. By the photos, the humans modified the airships by fixing their weak spots, adding weaponry, along with making the ships more durable to attacks.  She had credit the humans with persistence and failure, they are only delaying the inevitable she thought to herself. But she was curious about the pirates and their motives…

The island of Bermuda used to be known as a grand tourist spot , with a beauty unmatched that could rival any  Equestrian landscape. The island was once famous for being the many hideouts of the pirates of the old days, that fame came back when the mighty privateer ships would dock to do business or nurse spirits back to good health. A highly modified Luna-class Frigate entered a dock, the crew happily exiting the airship, sans a few members who stayed behind to keep an eye on the ship and watch over it.  They knew of the artificial reefs that surrounded the island with all those AA guns…but even that is not enough to stop them from coming and ponifying anything with a pulse.

Nikolaos entered a tavern, he scanned around for his contact. Spotting him, he walked over to the table and sat down. “Benjamin.” He said to the man.

The Israeli smiled and shook his hand. “Nikolaos, how did the raid go?”

The Maniot smiled. “Good, we got loot without much resistance and I got the ship manifests and records.” Pulling them out, he placed them on the table for his eyes.

The Israeli’s eyes scanned the documents. “Good…” He looked at the privateer captain. “The governments of the enclaves will be pleased, and of course, Israel has a mission for you that may be interesting.”

“I’m all ears.” He said with a devilish grin.

The Israeli pulled out several photos of a ship in construction, along with maps of the Congo. Circling the southern portion of the country, he wrote a few notes. “The New Celestia Governate AKA Congo has become the main Equestrian shipyards…what you see here is a new Alicorn-class Battleship being built, it’s being finished, from what my sources tell me, next week will be its maiden flight. We want you to hijack this ship and deliver it to the Tel Aviv Port.”

“No bonuses?”

“Blow up the shipyard and you’ll cripple their entire fleet for a time, without any chance to make repairs, they’ll be an easy target.”

This was good enough for the Maniot. More places to plunder, perhaps take a few hostages for the occasional ransom.  After shaking his hand, he left the tavern.

Skies of Eastern Russia

It was nighttime,  most of the ponies were in bed…little did they know that tonight was going to be the one thing they will learn to fear.

“Comrades!”  A uniformed old man said, many others turned to him. “What we are about to do is for the glory of all Mother Russia! Many years ago, these ponies came when the traitors outnumbered us and we will NOT let this go by! The cover of night gives us the element of surprise! We will head down and raid their settlements! Bring all the loot you can carry, stuff every pocket until you cannot fill it anymore. Let it be known that today, we show them the hearts of true Russians. FOR MOTHER RUSSIA!”

Several AKs were raised into the air, followed by cheers.

The airship, a highly modified Pegasus-class Cruiser continued its course to the settlement.  The cannons swiveled to the direction of the town. “MAIN GUNS READY CAPTAIN!”

"Commence firing!"

The cannons fired.

The shells exploded on the town hall.

Lights began to turn on. Rapid fire began to rain down on the town, ponies panicking as they tried to find a way to escape the violence.  The airship landed, opening a ramp. Several men began to fire their rifles against everypony. Others kicked doors, followed by screams of panic that were silenced by gunfire. The gunmen began to stuff their pockets with anything of value.

The town was engulfed in flames as the shells continued to rain down.  One raider blasted the door of a house, kicked it and entered. Opening many drawers, he found objects of value and stuffed his pockets. Hearing clops, the assault rifle was cocked. As the unicorn mare saw her door opened, she rushed down. Two bullets took away her life. The man moved upstairs, searching for more valuables.

Fillies and colts were carried away by the raiders, thinking of the ransoms they would get out of them. Their parents would try to reclaim them, but rifle bullets brought them to the ground. All they could do is watch as they were taken by them.

A raider ordered a unicorn to hand her belongings to him. The unicorn refused, her horn glowing with a green aura. The man squeezed the trigger, the unicorn was dead seconds later.

The airship landed, the raiders boarded the ship with their loot and hostages.  The ship took off for the skies while the wounded could only see it fly away…

One Week Later…

Princess Celestia was fuming, her eyes slowly turning red. Her blood was boiling. First a cruise ship and now a settlement? As she read through the report, she felt an urge to vomit. Fillies and colts were taken by the raiders to be held for ransom. According to the scroll, the raiders demanded 10,000 bits per head, if they refused to pay the ransom, they would be executed…Monsters…they are the monsters for their barbaric acts of piracy.

The Pony Princess decreed that all Fleet airships could now bombard the human enclaves with the serum. It was all for the greater good. She offered them salvation from themselves, they had polluted the world, damaged the ecosystem,  slavery, war,  genocide…all these evils must be purged and ponification was the only way to achieve salvation.

Skies of Congo

15:00 Hours Local Time

The pirate airship began to approach the shipyard at high speed. In the insides of the ship, several small jet fighters were being prepared to launch.  As they got closer, the planes exited the airship. As they zoomed across the skies, their machine guns fired at the docks. Pegasi saw the threat and began to engage in combat.

Ball lightning fired out against the incoming fighters, but they moved out of the way. Splitting up, they performed several maneuvers only known to man. The Pegasi just watched in awe as the flying machines performed moves that would put too much blood in their head.  Machine guns fired out in bursts. Several Pegasi became red mists as the bullets tore them to shreds.

The pirate ship was getting into sight. The crew members grabbed their weapons while Nikolaos watched the action from the bridge. The helmsman confirmed that they’ll reach the shipyard in 5 minutes. “I want the AA guns manned…we’ll be the target of the Pegasi soon enough.”

Several machine guns on the deck were manned. The sights were calibrated to hit a moving target, the gunners began to move the machine guns scanning the skies for the winged horses. Spotting one, the bullet cases began to hit the deck as the tracer shots left the barrels.  Smoke exited out from the main guns, explosions dotted the skies.

The Pegasi dropped their jaws in shock. The Chimera has arrived into the fray.  Rumors and legends about this airship came into their minds…about a ship manned by agents of chaos themselves that came to bring destruction under the name of Discord. Others said the ship was crewed by angry spirits of this world, demanding pony blood to satisfy them, whatever they believed about the ship…it was here to rain hell on them.

“I want the port guns to fire harpoon cables when we get near the battleship on my signal.  All fighter craft are to keep the Pegasi away from us, should a few land on the deck, attack the infiltrators, extreme force authorized.” Nikolaos ordered.

The XO repeated the orders.

“Beta Squadron, keep the enemy fighters engaged. Omicron Squadron, engage the enemy battleship. Omega Squadron, provide backup for Omicron Squadron.” A Unicorn said over a glowing crystal, overseeing the battle from the shipyard’s tallest tower.

Several Pegasi began to flock around the attacking ship. The AA fire began to get intense as they tried to land. A Pegasus screamed as bullets tore him to shreds, the others gasped and in a range landed on the deck of the airship. A crewman saw the pony land. A loud blast was heard, the Pegasus dropped to the floor with a pool of blood forming as it seeped out of its head.  More began to land into the deck of the ship, bucking the hull. Pistol fire flew towards them, annihilating them.

Several Pegasi broke in through the starboard side of the ship.

“ENEMY INFILTRATION IN CREW’S QUARTERS  B16!” The PA bursted. “WE GOT ANOTHER INFILTRATION IN THE GALLEY!”

The Pegasus saw the crews aim their guns.  With a battle cry, the charged towards them at full speed. The VZ.58s cracked in full auto, sending lead to their bodies, dead before they hit the floor.

The fighters continued to engage the Pegasi, their machine guns making short work of them.

The Chimera got close to the prized vessel. The cannons fired, as the smoke cleared, several harpoons with steel cables sticking out of them were attached to the Alicorn-class battleship. “Sir! The enemy ship is now ours!”

“Hard to port, we’re leaving! Call all fighters to provide escort and mop off the stragglers that have infiltrated. Starboard guns, fire Armor Piercing High Explosive Shells at the shipyards.”

The starboard guns turned towards the shipyards. Shells were loaded into the barrels of the cannons. The lights went red to green, a sharp buzz indicated the gunners to fire. Smoke hissed out of the breech as the casing was ejected from the bore of the gun. Loud blasts could be heard from the outside.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” The ponies around the shipyard began to run away from the explosions that were consuming the whole place. The raging fires caught to a unicorn, and then everything collapsed.

A huge cloud of dust and debris was lifted into the air.

The Maniot sat on his Captain’s Throne with a smile of satisfaction. “Set course for Tel Aviv!” He ordered. “We got a ship to deliver.”

“Captain!” A voice from the PA called. “We have succeeded in killing off the infiltrators.”

“One huge insult to Celestia and her Sky Fleet, without her precious shipyards in the Congo they are nothing but weaklings.”  He said to the crew. “Even if they do cross the Pegasus Corridor to get here, their ships will be battered by the violent winds that they alone created. Once we possess the maps for the Corridor, the dream of raiding Equestria itself will be closer to reality.”

Canterlot

One Week Later

“Your Majesty,” Gold Scroll the Equestrian Prime Minister said. “A pony who survived the attack on the E.C.S Firebird wishes to have an audience with you. He brings an object left by the pirate who attacked the vessel.”

Celestia nodded.

“You may proceed.” The auburn pony’s ears began to twitch.

“Princess Celestia…” The pony said. “The attacker was the Dragon Nikolaos.”

Celestia silently cursed that name.

The earth pony pulled out something then pushed it with his hooves. “It was left  as he took his leave.”

Celestia’s horn began to glow as the weapon began to hover in the air. She examined it side by side. It was a human weapon, they called this one the AK-47, she never understood why the humans gave their weapons strange names.  Putting the weapon on the floor, she thanked the earth pony.

The visitor left.

“Prime Minister…” Celestia said with a serious tone. “I want the flagship prepared for the hunting of Nikolaos, I will personally see that he is captured and brought to Equestria to be interrogated.”

“Anything else?”  Gold Scroll bowed.

“Shining Armor is to become my Vice-Captain  during the hunt.” Celestia added.

“Yes Your Majesty, as you wish.” The auburn pony left the throne room.

This was going to be interesting, hunting for a single pirate that did all this damage. It would be her ship against his. So be it! Let the games begin.