The Conversion Bureau: Waking From a Nightmare

A/N: It begins...

Chapter 5: A Living Nightmare

Rainbow Dash lead me back to the large room with the computers, completely silent the entire way. She didn't fly up next to me, grin at me, or crack any jokes. The cyan mare was completely silent, staring straight ahead as the M4 shifted back and forth on her back. I looked down at her, worry creeping into me. She had gone from cheerful to zero miles per hour the second the announcement had been made over the intercom.

"Dash... you okay?"

"Fine." She didn't sound angry, just blunt.

As we entered the server room I saw Twilight Sparkle behind the table, and a few humans already decked out in gear standing on the other side of her. The atmosphere felt... cold. The feelings I got from working at the bureau were returning, and I realized just how deadly serious this entire thing was. I had stumbled into the middle of a war I wanted no part in.

'Just lay down and die.'

It would have been so easy to do just that, work at the Conversion Bureau until my days were numbered.

I would have drudged on from one morning to the next, never really knowing what life was outside of my little bubble.

"Welcome everypony," said Twilight, "Let's begin the briefing."

It was then that I realized it.

I looked down at Dash and grabbed her helmet.

She didn't glare at me when she looked up; instead, her features softened a bit.

I ruffled her mane a bit and reapplied the helmet.

"Thanks," she said softly.

Twilight continued to the five of us, "At twenty-two hundred Seattle's local Conversion Bureau is closing its doors for the night. After the attack in Colorado you can expect it to be heavily guarded."

"How many ecks are we lookin' at?" asked the first human.

Twilight's determined gaze softened, "We don't know. All we know is that they'll be ready for us when we get there, so move in fast and quiet."

The third human nodded, "Rules of engagement?"

"Fire on hostiles only. Royal guard is to be presumed armed. If you encounter a civilian, human or otherwise, get them out of the Conversion Bureau and back to the rendezvous before leaving. I leave it up to your discretion on how to split the team should we take a POW."

"Any humans?"

"No, all guard."

Dash stepped forward, "Twi, if Celestia knows what we're up to, doesn't that mean... he'll be there?"

Twilight faltered for a split second, then set her jaw, "The rules of engagement stand."

Dash nodded softly, "Alright..."

After I had my brand new vest on Dash lead the squad through the winding halls of the underground. It was a solid ten minutes before the concrete floor started ramping up, and when we emerged we were greeted with what appeared to be a small military base in the middle of a plains field. Directly in front of the entrance, and where we were headed, was a large military transport truck, painted green

Its bottom stood at least five feet off the ground, and the tires were huge. The cab itself had openable shutters, which I assumed were to guard against gunfire. The back of the truck was capped in a metal arc, and at the edge was a large turret.

We hopped in and one of the soldiers adjusted his M4 to his side before he took the .50 CAL turret in his grasp.

Dash and I hopped in the back and sat against the sides, while the other two soldiers took to the cab.

The truck roared to life, and we were off.

Dash's melancholy face was back. I leaned over and yelled over the roar of the engine, "This seems kinda big for a secret rebellion! You guys have an above ground base right outside of Seattle!"

Dash nodded, "What better place to hide than right under their noses! The equipment above ground is new, as soon as this operation is done we pack up and move! The unicorns use magic to help build the underground tunnels, so it's never too much of a hassle to go from one place to the next!"

"How long have you all been planning this op?!"

"Three months! The last step was getting your sorry ass underground with us!"

"What if I didn't agree to it?!"

Dash smirked, "Everyone agrees! Unless they've already been turned!"

I fell silent and leaned back, taking a few deep breaths to calm my frayed nerves.

"Stay with the group!" shouted Dash, "If you get seperated from the unit we can't protect you, and we won't be able to find the serum we need!"

By the time we got within the city limits the sun had already gone down. Curfew was already in effect, and nobody dared exit their homes for fear of retribution from the Royal Guard. We parked the truck at the edge of the city, tucked in between two buildings in an alley just big enough for it. "Alright," said Dash, "Huddle up."

We jumped from the truck and gathered around Dash.

It was clear she was squad leader.

Dash's eyes narrowed, "Just to make sure, everybody know their RoEs?"

The three soldiers nodded.

"Awesome," she said, "Fredericks, you're on point. Kelvin, take up the rear. Wilcox, you're with me and the big guy. We move fast and quiet, no radios, avoid firefights. In and out, got it?"

Then, without another word, we started moving. It was pretty tough to keep up considering how out of shape I was, but I managed somehow.

There were a scarce few Royal Guards on patrol in the city streets, and when we got to the Conversion building I saw why. We were emerging from an alley across the street when I saw the building I used to work in. There were a ton of them posted just in the alleys at the sides of the building. Two at the front door, and when I looked up the seven stories I saw at least six figures on the roof top.

Fredericks signaled for the group to halt movement, and we all stopped and went low.

"There's a shit ton of 'em boss," whispered Kelvin, "What do you wanna do?"

Dash looked thoughtful for a moment, then grinned, "Alright, I think I've got a plan. Wilcox, give the big guy your side arm."

Wilcox turned to Dash and raised an eyebrow, "You're joking, right? He hasn't even been..."

Dash stepped forward and jabbed a hoof into Wilcox's shoulder, "You think I don't know that? He'll be fine, trust me. Now give him your sidearm, that's an order."

"Yes Ma'am." Wilcox reached behind his belt and pulled the M9 before handing it to me.

"You know how to use one of those?" asked Dash.

"Safety, rack it, pull the trigger."

Dash nodded, "Good enough, if everything goes how I want it to you won't be needing that anyways."

"So why give it to me?"

"Insurance, I don't want you to die out here ya big lug."

"Alright," hissed Kelvin, "Enough of the mushy stuff, can we do this?"

Dash leaned towards me and smiled, "Okay, here's what I want you to do."

I stumbled my way out of the alley, blood dripping from my nose. I screamed at the top of my lungs, "HELP! HELP ME!" The guards at the front door of the Conversion Bureau looked shocked. The both of them seemed to argue under their breath about something, then they started to gallop over to me, "Please help me!" When they got close enough I turned tail and ran back into the alley.

I turned back around just in time to see Dash slide on the ground under the first guard with a combat knife in her teeth. She shoved it through a weak point in the armor and the guard gasped when the knife pierced his chest.

The second one was taken down by Wilcox, who simply jumped on top of the stallion and wrapped his arm around the neck.

There was a sickening snap, and not even a minute later both the guards were dead.

I felt bile rise through my chest.

Dash sheathed the knife and waved me over with her hoof, "C'mon, we need to move before they notice they're gone."

Move we did, hustling to the front door.

Dash reached in one of her pouches with her wing and dug around a bit as we ran. When we approached the door she flung her wing out, tossing a small square object onto the locking area of the door.

"Breaching on three," she whispered, standing against the wall to the right of the door. I got behind Dash and two more soldiers went to the other side, leaving Wilcox to post in front of the door aiming down his sights.

Dash raised a hoof and brought it down once.

The soldier's grips tightened around their weapons.

She brought her hoof down twice.

Their feet dug into the concrete, getting them a solid grip.

They were predators ready to pounce.

On the third and final time Dash slapped a hoof into her shoulder, where she had strapped her detonator, apparently.

With a small crack the lock was destroyed.

Wilcox stepped forward and nudged the door open slowly and silently. He went in, followed by Kelvin and Dash.

After what seemed like an eternity, I heard a whisper of, "Clear."

Then we started moving again.

Down the halls, past the reception desk, through the identity roster area where I used to work, and down halls further still.

There were no guards inside...

Strange.

We made our way through the former hospital quickly, our boots squeaking on the linoleum tiled floor. We had no time to stop and look at our surroundings, or at least I didn't.

Before I knew it we were in the conversion area.

When I saw them the bile from earlier rose up again, and I puked right in the doorway.

No one said anything about it, hell, they'd probably done the same thing when they first saw it.

It felt like my world had been destroyed. I had known it was bad, but...

The room was a high one, and had obviously been used as some sort of communal area before the ponies got their hooves on it. Lining the walls were beds, and hooked to these beds were humans, or at least... what used to be humans.

They were all awake... every last one of them, eyes wide open in fear and pain.

Wanting to scream but not being able to.

Tubes invaded their mouths, nostrils, and arms; those tubes lead to packets upon packets of red serum by their bedsides.

Most of them were already halfway transformed, muzzles forming in place of their faces and hooves replacing feet and hands.

Fingers, toes, and organs fusing together.

The one thing they had in common was the blood leaking from their bodies and onto the white sheets.

Their bodies were madhouses, and the ponies were their caretakers.

"God..." I choked back a sob.

Dash looked up at me, sympathy and sadness in her eyes, "This is why they never let you back here. Anypony who saw this and wasn't a monster... they would never think something this horrible was right."

I stumbled forward, falling onto my hands and knees.

The squad watched as I crawled to the nearest bed, tears falling from my eyes as I looked at the person laying there. His eyes were bloodshot, and they locked with mine; he knew I was there.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, "I'm so sorry."

I heard the clopping of hooves, and then felt something warm on my back.

Dash's forehooves wrapped around my neck and she pushed her head into my shoulder, "This is why I fight every day. This is what we're trying to stop."

There was a long moment where we just sat there.

Then, slowly, she let go, "C'mon Kyle, we need to grab a sample and get out of here."

I nodded, still not able to find any words.

Even with these words I cannot do it justice.

It was a living Nightmare.