The Conversion Bureau: The Palladium Wings

The Conversion Bureau: The Palladium Wings

Chapter 3

Unreliable Stars

The Pusher Gunner finished burying the pilot and gave one final salute. To mark the grave, the M1911 style pistol was buried, leaving the barrel pointing up to the skies.

The craft was badly. All those damn pegasi will pay for Marco’s death. Pulling out boxes, he opened them, finding a sack of platinum bits, a M1911 pistol chambered in 10mm Auto, rations of food, along with a cyanide pill.

Render your craft useless. Deny the Equestrians a chance to study our craft.

Packing the equipment, the Gunner pulled on a lever on the pilot’s seat.

As he walked away, the Pusher Interceptor exploded into a fiery inferno.  The gunpowder ignited, firing the bullets straight ahead into the horizon. The sun was setting, and the moon was slowly rising. All he hoped for was to get out to human lands. Remembering the map, he realized he was in Death Valley. The area was undergoing an extreme terraforming process to make the land habitable for the pony colonists. According to intelligence, there was a few settlements scattered around the desert along with railroads. Good… Marco will be avenged.

Nighttime hit the desert. Cold winds brushed against his face, but it could not cool down the feeling of dread, hatred, exhaustion, and revenge.  All he could think of was getting shot down and Marco’s sudden death… It all haunted him. Screaming, he dropped to his knees as the flashbacks came into full force. All he could do is lie on the sand and look into the night sky.  Feeling his eyes heavy, he closed them.

Somewhere in Canterlot

“Princess Luna.” A Unicorn Guard announced.

“We have received a message from your Sister. Due to her encounter with Sky Pirates, she won’t be able to return to Equestria.” A Earth Pony Guard said. “We regret to inform you that her wounds are in dire need of medical attention and she’s staying at Yucatan for a week.”

Luna dismissed the guards.

They bowed and left.

The Princess of the Night looked at the sky, patrolling airships along with pegasi guards were on their patrol duties. Equestria was in a time of paranoia, as the stories of the human pirates spread like a wildfire, burning everything in its path. Such stories of the humans attacking in the dark of night or the light of day, they didn’t discriminate when, where, or how they would attack. They came for valuables even the newborn to take for ransom, some say that they eat the newborns if the ransom isn’t paid and that they send the bones to the parents. Whatever it may be, they were for the first time, afraid of them.

Death Valley

Local Time: 1100 Hours

The sun was getting hotter and hotter as time fly by. The Pusher Gunner continued to walk across the scorching sands of Death Valley. Something inside of him told to give up, just aim at your head and pull the fucking trigger. Life ends like that, simple, you’ll put yourself out of your misery.

From above the Pegasus Corridor, several migration capsules began to hit the Valley. Sand was lifted to great distances. The man screamed as he covered his eyes from the dust that came into his direction. The air pushed him away into the far distance. The capsules continued to hit the sand, creating more sandstorms that spread out. The capsules opened up, revealing many of the pony colonists looking into the new world that they wanted to see.

“DAMN THE PONIES AND THEIR CONVERSION BUREAUS AND THE FUCKING MIGRATIONS!” The man fired a shot in the air. “DAMN THEM ALL!” Another shot fired.  Tears escaped from his eyes, he couldn’t take it anymore.  He dropped on his knees, and screamed into the heavens.

A scout pegasus ear’s twitched. Flying off to the direction of the sound, she gasped as she found a figure poking something into his head. She knew it was a gun. “NO! DON’T!” Increasing speed, the winged pony tackled the human. The pistol rolled into the sands.

“GET OFF ME YOU MONSTER!” The Gunner pulled out his survival knife.  “YOU FUCKING BASTARDS TOOK EVERYTHING FROM US AND NOW I GET TO TAKE YOUR LIFE!”

“Calm down!” The pegasus reasoned. “I’m a defector!”

“LIES!” The Gunner argued as he tried to lunge the knife into the pony’s gut. “IF YOU WERE ON OUR SIDE YOU’D KNOW THE MYSTERIES OF DEFECTION!”

“Go ahead…ask me.” The pegasus said calmly.

The Gunner gulped. “From what land was humanity scattered?

”

“The land where the Great Tower was built and the tongues confused: Babylon.”

Maybe it was a lucky guess. Still doubting the pegasus, he continued. “What element does one come and return?”

“From the earth’s dust we came and as the earth’s dust we return.”  The pegasus recited.

“The path the Cherubs fly towards.”

“The path of monstrous winds: The Pegasus Corridor.”

“What fire can still burn when the elements turn against it?”

“The flame of life that burns a bright red:  The Flame of Hope.”

The Gunner blinked at the pegasus, she said all the Mysteries and knew the responses to all of them. His heart felt a weight being removed. “I…I am sorry for lashing out against you…I…”

“It happens.” She offered her hoof.

The man grabbed it and got back up. “So if you’re a defector… Aren’t you supposed to infiltrate pony society or sabotage it?”

“Most take different roles, I’ll explain it on the ship.”

“You have a ship?” The Gunner raised an eyebrow.

“I have one, follow me.”

The Gunner followed the pegasus across the desert.

“What sent you flying was the result of migration capsules hitting the desert.” The pegasus explained. “Princess Celestia is sending more and more into the New World, especially the Newfoals. Why?” She turned, a familiar expression on the human’s face. “You wonder why;  Celestia thought your world was in dire need of fixing, you can say she fixed it the

wrong way.Sure, millions of your kind converted to ponies and a few resisted but in the end it was pointless. Equestria had the numerical superiority and the humans lost a lot of their land.”

The gunner nodded but something entered his train of thought. “But…why did you defect? I mean, weren’t you happy living in Equestria or the Colonies?”

The pegasus continued. “I never swallowed the speeches of Humans are evil, they have damaged their worlds ecosystem… They enslaved their own kind, waged war against each other for having resources or for religious motives. My little ponies, I have offered the humans our friendship... Friendship? This isn’t friendship. This is what you call Genocide.”

The Gunner nodded. “I see.”

“And I wanted to see the other side, not all of you are bad. I was hooked into all the stuff humans like: Music, books, heck, even anime.”

“Anime?” The Gunner sighed. “I haven’t watched it in a long time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…the people involved in anime: Voice actors, producers, designers, even the creators went to the local Conversion Bureaus…”

There was an awkward silence between the two.

“So you mean… ?”

“They either ended before they were supposed to or the ending will never be known.” The Gunner said. “But have hope I hear a few Treasure Hunters and Merchants are scouring the Colonies for whatever relics left on the world.”

The pegasus smiled.

“And all this talk and we haven’t introduced ourselves. “My name’s Sebastian Whittaker.”

“Storm Chaser.”

Somewhere in Hungary

Nighttime

Rain sprinkled down across the mountainous area. If the intelligence was right, the storm would last the whole night and into the early morning. “Break time is over.” A voice in Polish said.

Several black-clad men flicked their cigarettes off while others checked their weapons.

“Alright, to make this short and brief you again: A defector has told us that right in this mountain range, the Equestrians have a factory dedicated to making the Ponification Serum, yes THE Ponification Serum used by the Bureaus long ago.  The objective is simple, blow them all to Hell. Any questions? No? Then move out.”

Entering through the ventilation duct, they crawled slowly to avoid any detection. Chattering voices were heard as  they moved. The leader, Alfons ordered the rest to stop. They did so. Pulling out his silenced P99, he aimed down the sights. A Earth Pony guard locked the door and sat on the toilet.  The Pole just groaned. “Is it me or do I have this urge to try that stunt from that Bond movie?”

“I say go for the stunt.”  Dawid  said. “Besides, you’ll give us all a cheap laugh.”

“Fine.”

The Earth Pony was taking deep breaths. “These hay fries are going to kill me.” Groaning, he tried to release it but only to feel failure.

A figure hanging upside down stared him in the eyes. “Beg your pardon.” It said on a Polish-accented English. “Forgot to knock.”

“INTRU-!”

A few well placed shots ended the pony’s life.

“How’s that for a cheap laugh?”

Dawid faked laughter. “Iwo, you wonderful human being…”

“Alright, at this point, we go loud in reaching our objective.” Iwo cocked his AK-74. “We kill a few of them, plant C4 and we get the hell out of here.”

The sounds of rifles being cocked were music to their ears.

As they left the restroom, the team checked their corners. They didn’t want any surprises coming for them.  Iwo opened the door, two ponies were talking about their patrol duties in the next shift. Removing a pin from the grenade, he released it to their direction.

“What’s that?” The Pegasus Guard looked at the object stop.

“It looks like some sort of fruit.”

The grenade detonated, killing the two instantly.

“Move out!” Iwo ordered.

The team began to move out. If it was a pony, they fired on it. If one didn’t know they were there, they’d slash its throat open. If they tried to call for reinforcements, a spray of rifle fire silenced them. The 5 man team was getting closer to the heart of the facility.

The sounds of pumps and other machinery rang in their ears. As they opened the door, they lowered their guns. “Mother of God!” Dawid exclaimed. “There’s enough serum here to cover the last countries standing.”

“Krakowski! Calculate!” Iwo ordered.

The soldier totting the PM-63 looked at the tanks. His blue eyes scanned the machinery and the transparent tanks that held all the serum. “Iwo, this may come as a huge shocker, but from what I calculated in my mind, this facility has 100,000 gallons of the serum. Enough to cover the rest of Europe.”

Everyone in the team gasped.

“Then we’ll blow this to hell.” Iwo pulled out an explosive charge. “Krakowski, plant the explosives and prepare the detonator. Dawid, Damian, and Krol, keep an eye on the door. If it’s a pony, shoot it.”

The three got into position.

Krakowski planted an explosive under the main pump.

Blasts of gunfire were heard.

A Pegasus Guard dropped dead.

“There!”  Iwo planted the last explosive.

The sounds of hooves sent a chill down the Polish’s spine.  “Dawid!? Damian? Krol?”

“Iwo! We’re surrounded!” Krol answered.

“Humans! Put your weapons down and your hands in the air!” A strong feminine voice commanded. “If you do not so! We will use force against you!”

Dawid, Damian, and Krol aimed their weapons at the surrounding ponies. A lot of unicorns along with pegasi.

Iwo took a peek. “Krakowski, any ideas?”

“We can detonate the explosives about now and flood the room with the serum. We’ll drown them but we’ll get ponified.” Krakowski thought.

“Too risky, and I don’t want to give up my humanity.” Iwo said. “Any other ideas?”

“Flashbangs.” Krakowski pulled one out. “We hurl our flashbangs, once they are stunned by the blasts, we open fire on them and we escape.”

“Dawid! Damian! Krol! Get your flashbangs ready! On my mark, throw them. Cover your eyes and ears.”

“I will say it again humans! Surrender and we will show leniency.” The feminine voice barked.

“3…2…1… NOW!”

Several grenades were hurled at the ponies.

The ponies screamed as their eyes began to burn followed by a stinging sensation on their ears. Automatic fire brought them down except for a lone female pegasus in front of the unicorns. The team began to sprint towards the extraction zone.

The pegasus commander groaned. Spreading her wings, she took off.  “Blasted humans.”

“Keep moving you guys!” Krakowski fired his rifle at a Unicorn Guard.

They saw the entrance of the factory.  Blasting the doors open, the five men exited and into the forest.

Captain Lightning Orb chuckled as the five humans fled to the forest. “Oh no you don’t!”

Iwo pulled on the detonator.

The factory began to collapse on itself. Explosions escaped from all corners of installation. Lightning Orb turned around, gasping as a fiery inferno brought the whole place down.  Getting angry,  she increased speed, the humans were still running, but not for long.  Tackling one, she tried to stomp her hooves into him.

Krol raised his rifle and smacked Lightning Orb’s head brutally. The pegasus blacked out. “Damian? You alright?”

“I thought I was a goner.” Damian got up. “Thanks Krol.” He aimed his rifle at the pegasus’ head.

“No.” Iwo put the safety on Damian’s AK. “We’ll take her for interrogation. By that armor, I can tell she’s of a higher rank. She may know something about the rest of the facilities or the Sky Fleet.”

“But…”

“Iwo’s right.” Krakowski interrupted. “We need all information we have. Heck, we might convince her to defect.”

Damian sighted as he lowered his rifle. “You guys are making hard it for me…I thought I’d kill ponies, not take them as prisoners.”

“Damian…” Dawid chuckled. “There’s more than killing ponies. Information is valuable in this war. The more we have, the more prepared we will be. Heck, I know how anxious you are when it comes to the ponies. We’ll go to Canterlot and burn it to the ground. I can’t say when but that day my friend will come.”

“It’s just that…”

“I know how much you want to avenge Matylda’s death under the hands of the ponies and their conversion bureaus.  But now, focus on what we do now rather than on what you want to do.”

Iwo pulled out his radio. Punching a code, he called for extraction.

One hour later, a V-22 Osprey took off for the skies.

Damian looked at the unconscious pony. “All calm and not giving a care. Yet you come here and convert many of us into you. You say we are the monsters for all the things we did. That the world needs to be fixed…  You took everything we loved and cared for. Peace? Friendship? Nothing but simple words to disguise a full colonization and genocide…”

Skies of Death Valley

Afternoon

Sebastian was looking at the glowing construct that gave a near-musical rhythm.  It had a lot of levers, pulleys, and valves.  Pipes of all sorts were connected through what seemed an exterior chamber. Walking towards it, he entered the inner chamber. The middle of the construct had several clock hands that moved every second or so.  A rainbow glow could be seen behind the ‘clock’.  Putting his hand around the construct, he felt nothing but a cold sensation.  “This is…”

“I see you discovered our Star Swirl Unit.” A voice said.

Sebastian turned to find a middle aged unicorn wearing a strange white-and-black jumpsuit with tribal designs on it. “Interesting isn’t it? What allows our ships to float and fly across the sky.”

“Unit? I thought they’re called Generators.”

“The terms are exchangeable.” The Unicorn replied.

“I see...” The human continued to stare at it.  “The science behind it is interesting, I read once that these use Lunastium to power the ship, provide lift and thrust.”

“Correct.” The Unicorn nodded. “Lunastium crystals are inserted, which then through a complex chemical process the rocks which are converted into a liquid state which is then converted into energy. This energy gives the ship lift and thrust.”

Sebastian looked at the many clock hands move.

“And Celestia controls these… wicked little shrew. Who can imagine how many plunged to their deaths…”

“What?” Sebastian turned.

“Back home, the Griffins and Diamond Dogs have their own airships. Celestia made a pact with them; she will generously lend them the Units. One part of the pact is that their vessels cannot be turned against Equestria. If any ship tries to do so, Celestia orders the Star Swirl Unit to be detached. Imagine the deaths of many flying on a pair of wings that can suddenly leave you.”

“That’s horrible!  How can she be so heartless!?”

“It’s how she keeps the enemies of Equestria in check. The Griffins and Diamond Dogs fear to rebel against Celestia, doing so will have every Unit out there detached.”

The human gasped, then a thought entered. “What’s the 2nd part of the pact?”

“No Griffin or Diamond Dog is allowed to enter the New World. If any of their ships tries to do so, the Unit automatically detaches as they near the Pegasus Corridor.”

Sebastian turned pale upon hearing that. “Dear God…”

“Luckily for the pirates on this side of the world, Equestrian ships have them attached which makes them such easy prey. But for a Diamond Dog or Griffin, you worry that your Unit detaches in the middle of a flight, even if you didn’t break any of Celestia’s terms. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes. They cry out for help, to be let in.  They bang against the outer chamber, begging for mercy. I tried to let them in but my friends refused as they followed orders.”

The Unicorn sighed sadly as he continued.  “As I look down, I see a ship that cries out for help. It slowly plunges to the land below. After that, the ship either crashes against something or explodes with all those crews. Mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, sons, daughters, nephews…  How many families were torn apart?”

“Maybe thousands….” Sebastian answered with a stutter.

“Sebastian!” A voice on the PA called. “Our Captain wishes to speak to you in the bridge.”

“It was nice talking to you.” The Unicorn said. “It feels lonely being down here all the time.”

Sebastian walked upstairs.

There was a knock on the door.

“Enter.”

Sebastian opened the door. A peach colored Earth pony with a red mane and a cutie mark with a olive branch crossing thirteen arrows sat in the middle of the well decorated room. Maps of the world which displayed the colonized Earth and the last human nations, next to it was a map of Counter-Earth and its nations. Next to it was satellite photos, showing the two planets united by a bottleneck cloud between the atmospheres.

“Terra and Contra.”  Para Bellum said to the human eyeing the photos. “Two worlds becoming One, joined in a hourglass-like shape.”

The human eyed the Earth pony. “Yes… The union of our worlds came with disastrous consequences for us. But one question gets to me: Why did you defect?”

Para Bellum chuckled. “Boy how I get that question from you humans. It’s still a new thing to you, ponies that defect.” He gave a long sigh. “My answer is this:  I once served the Sky Fleet, I was a Captain of my own ship, I still believed in orders from my superiors. One day in the year of 2018 in the Human Calendar, Princess Celestia ordered the 125th, the 501st, and the 650th fleets to bombard Africa with the Serum, leading to the forceful conversion of many.”

Sebastian wondered about the three fleets. “What fleet did your ship serve?”

“650th Fleet, the worst of worst, the one that attacked South Africa under the cover of night.” Para Bellum sighed. “And after those days, I started to question my orders. Why were we doing this? Was force really that necessary? The Bureaus were opened up for a willing conversion, not force it into everybody. So I did the right thing, I hijacked my very own battle cruiser and gave it to the humans.”

“But if you gave it to the humans, why didn’t you become a privateer?”

Para Bellum looked at the human. “Piracy isn’t my forte, but rescuing your kind here is. See, this ship is under orders from both the Mexican Republic and the American Federation to rescue pilots and other personnel that find their way here.”

“I see...”

The merchant airship continued its trek across the skies. Into the horizon it went.

Two Weeks Later

“Princess Celestia,” Gold Scroll spoke, fear overwhelming him. “We have received a report on the Serum factory in the Eastern European Colonies. A human team destroyed it all.”

Celestia started to fume. “Filthy humans! We offer them friendship and salvation and this is how they react?! We are not invaders, we are saving them from themselves. Humans have no real meaning of friendship or tolerance. Their entire world suffers from the effects of their greed, their ambitions, the ground is so tainted with blood, it refuses to grow crops. They have over-fished their seas, over-mined the land, and when one human nation lacks resources, they invade the other. Their religions promote nothing but intolerance and hatred for one another if, they kill if they refuse to follow their faiths or deviate from them. But worse of all, wars. Wars motivated by their greed, their jealousy, and their false faiths.”

“Aunt, you are gravely mistaken on that.” Cadence protested.  “Not all humans are violent or destructive. I have visited their lands long before the Colonization. I have seen masterpieces of the arts, culinary delicacies that did not involve meat, and the many ruins of the past civilizations: Babylon, Egypt, Persia, the Mayas and Aztecs of Mexico and Central America, the Coliseum of Rome.  You can’t put the blame on all of them for the actions of a few.”

Celestia turned, giving the soft pink alicorn a glare. “Have you ever read their history my dear niece? All they have done is nothing but damage to themselves and the ecosystem.  Or when the Europeans colonized the Americas, Africa, and Asia, treating the natives like they’re below them, destroyed their cultures, their integrities, their honor. All for what they thought they were doing the work of their God.”

“But the humans did good for their world. They overthrew tyrants, fought for their beliefs and way of life, their religion inspired them to create music and art, they pondered and probed the mysteries of life itself, they may lack magic but they compensated it with ingenuity.” Cadence continued. “What we are doing there is destroying their achievements, their legacies.”

“Said legacies were built on blood, slavery, and destruction.” Celestia countered.  “What we are doing is saving the humans from themselves. Equestria is all they need for as Equestria everything that they always wanted and needed. Equestria is law. Equestria is order. Equestria is stability.”

“By converting them and then colonizing their world?” Cadence shot.

“We are fixing their world. Repairing it from the damage they caused millennia ago.” Celestia said. “But seeing that you are somehow…sympathizing with the barbaric beasts, I have to question your loyalty.”

“My loyalty is always to Equestria. But what you Aunt are doing is wrong, it goes against our national morals! Please Aunt! Rethink of what you’re doing! Give back the humans their lands and all ponies to return to Equestria. The humans are like wounded animals now, continuing this will make them aggressive against us. We don’t know when they will cross the Corridor to this side of the world. Please reconsider.”

Celestia gave a silent growl. “Just moments ago…  I ordered for a would-be defector to be sentenced to death.”

Cadence gasped at such thought.

“But now amongst my little ponies there are sympathizers, and I will make an example out of you.” Celestia gave a cold hiss. “I order that you be placed in house arrest.”

“AUNT! WAIT!” Cadence pleaded as two unicorn guards dragged her out.

Nighttime fell on Equestria. Celestia was looking at the night sky from the balcony. As Luna landed on the balcony, she noticed her sister’s face full of concern, fear, and paranoia. “Sister…”

“Luna dear…” Celestia said with a fearful voice. “I now doubt that our little ponies are with us… that they are sympathizing with the savage humans.”

Luna could feel the distress in her sister. “Sister, concern yourself with your matters. We would hate to see a purge of thy subjects who are loyal to us.  Calm thyself sister, there is no enemy to worry about. The only enemies one has to avoid is imaginary ones. The humans are too afraid to cross the Corridor, we are safe from them.”

“Despite all the reassuring words dear sister, I now fear that our ponies will try to defect or sympathize  with them:  Supporting them with words, money, or even our ships.” She took a heavy sigh. “I may sound insane, but I suspect the nobility helping out the humans.”

“Sister!” Luna shot. “There is no way to prove that they are guilty of that. We cannot accuse them without evidence.”

“Evidence or not, the nobility is a threat to our power. Some may be conspiring to rebel or defect to them, while others are sympathizing…  And I mentioned I will make an example of Cadence. Starting with her, the Inquisition begins.”

It was 5 AM in Canterlot, Cadence escaped from her room in the castle along with several defectors. Large travel bags were filled with what they wanted, maps and intelligence. “CADENCE!” Shining Armor called.

She turned, giving him a stern but warm face.

“What…who are they and why the bags?”

“Didn’t you hear?” Cadence said. “Aunt has decided to purge the nobility. She sent you to kill me from what I can see.”

“W-what? Me doing what!? The Princess would never do that!” Shining countered. “She can’t do this! She can’t!

“Princess, we must leave!” A Unicorn urged.

“Why all the bags… ?”

“I am defecting to the humans.” Cadence answered. “The bags carry what they sought after the most.”

“Y-you can’t be serious.” Shining Armor shook his head.

“Princess.” A pegasus stallion wearing a jumpsuit with tribal patterns stepped in. “Is he coming with us?”

Cadence turned to the jumpsuit-clad pegasus and then to Shining. “It will be his choice if he wants to join.” Her eyes locked on Shining.  “We got married months ago and Celestia would have made you a widow by force. She knew of how strong our love is…and she knew as Captain of the Guard, you must put those feelings aside and execute her orders.”

“I…”

“Your choice my love. Stay here and purge Equestria of its nobility and my Aunt has all the power in the military and government. Or come with us and give the humans the chance to reclaim what was stolen from them.”

The jumpsuit-clad pegasus whistled, a modified yacht came into view.

“I am going.” Shining said. “From the good days to the bad, I’ll be with you always.”

Cadence kissed her husband’s lips.

The yacht took off for the skies. A giant cloud whirlpool was within sight. “Brace yourselves!” The Helmspony barked. “We are about to enter the Pegasus Corridor!”

The yacht began to shake as it entered the cloud. Thunder boomed every minute as the winds blew, air currents moving in a spiral pattern at different speeds.

The Navigator Pony pulled out a map of the Corridor and set it on the table. “Terra and Contra.” She said as her eyes looked at the major continents of Earth and Counter Earth, along with the nations and oceans. “Princess Cadence,” She pointed a hoof on what seemed a sector of the Corridor.  “We are currently in Sector One of the Corridor. From here, we have 7 routes that we  can take.”

“Which one can get us to Terra the fastest?” Cadence asked

.

“We can take Route 1 and perform a bypass across Routes 2 and 5, from there, we’ll take Route 6 and be in Terra in 2 days.”

“Then we’ll go by that plan.” Cadence said.

The winds howled as the yacht continued its path across the Corridor. They all looked at an American Federation airship passing by them.  Shining Armor gulped, seeing the destroyed vessel still flying in the air. The Helmspony shivered, feeling the dead passing by him, giving their last screams as they all were swallowed by the winds. “Nothing but scrap metal to be toyed by the air currents.”  Shining commented.

Time went by as the yacht cruised around the Corridor.  It was Day 2, according to the Helmspony, they’d reach Terra in thirty minutes. Up ahead, a light shone. “Follow the light! Full speed ahead!” Cadence ordered.

The yacht exited the Corridor.  The ponies gasped as they looked the skies. So high up in the skies of Terra, the human world. Below them was the lands that humans lived for millennia, which is being colonized by ponies. Above them in the entrance to the storm that connects both worlds.

“So this must be… Terra.” The Navigator Pony said.  Looking down into the map, he nodded  as he looked at the Gobi Desert. “Princess Cadence , we must head to the Gobi Desert Special Economic Zone. Our human contact wishes to meet us and arrange a meeting with potential benefactors.”

Cadence nodded. “Helmspony, set course for the Gobi Desert.”

“Aye-aye! Plotting a course for the Gobi and keeping her steady as she goes.” The Helmspony moved the ship’s wheel to the left and then to the right.

Canterlot

Celestia breathed heavily in victory. At last, all Canterlot nobility has been purged from existence. Nopony will be able to speak out against her or rebel against her. The homefront enemies have been silenced.  All their assets seized in the name of the Crown. “This world is mine…” The Sun Princess said to herself. “I can go wherever I want whenever I want…” A laugh escaped . “All mine… And no human or pony will tell me otherwise.”

Luna’s ears twitched as she heard Celestia speak. Was this her way to cope with the purging of the nobility two days ago? By proclaiming the world to be hers and doing what she pleases? Releasing a concerned sigh, she trotted away to her business.

Several large hovering crystals materialized into the throne room. With a small blast of magic, the jewels lit up, showing live feeds from all over the world. The two Griffin nations, the Kingdom of Skiri and the Scylas Federation were going through a ecological crisis; The once plentiful farm land refused to grow crops, fresh water was becoming scarce, and many began to migrate to other parts of the world to find a better living.  The Diamond Dog Confederation extended a hand of friendship, sending airships with supplies to help them out.

Celestia eyed a Diamond Dog ship hovering above a Skirian town. “Gold Scroll!” Celestia called.

The golden pony came in as fast as he could.

“Gold Scroll, what is that ship doing?”

“Your Highness, I believe that Diamond Dog ship is delivering water to the drought stricken areas.”

“I want its Unit recalled.”

“But Majesty, they have broken no laws or part of our agreement.”

Celestia gave a soul-piercing glare.

“I’ll see to it.”

Ruby Claw Town, Kingdom of Skiri

The gryphons were relieved as they say the airship preparing to land. Buckets were prepared to receive the valuable water they desperately needed.

The airship began to shake.

“WHAT THE!?” The Diamond Dog at the helm exclaimed.

“OUR UNIT IS DETACHING!” The Captain barked.

“THOSE PONY DEMONS!”

The smiles turned into panic as the Star Swirl Unit detached from the airship. All they could see was the ship slowly plunge to its doom.

“They’ve gone too far now!” A Griffin growled. “They have doomed us all while Celestia is eating and drinking to her heart’s desire and here we are… living through this crisis that we did not ask for! WE HAD ENOUGH!"