Chapters The Conversion Bureau: Opening Week
Opening Week
EQUESTRIA IS NOT ALONE!
Today at exactly 8 o’clock Canterlot time, Princess Celestia held a press conference where she stated, “A startling new species has appeared just off our shores. It is a species that is as intelligent as us ponies, maybe even more so given their level of technology. However these creatures, these humans, they are in pain. I have seen with my own eyes devastation that no pony should ever see, and misery which Equestria has never known even in its darkest days. These humans need our help. I have spoken to their leaders and they have agreed to allow us to help them. I call now on you my fellow Equestrians, if you believe you are willing or able to leave your homes and loved ones behind to help a strange new people, then please, I implore you, go to the ship yards of Manehattan and prepare yourself.”
The Princess was unavailable for later comments as she has since cloistered herself inside Canterlot castle with her sister and the Elements of Harmony in preparation for a what is hoped to be a massive exodus to this mysterious land of the humans. Next to nothing is known about this new species, but it is believed that more information shall be revealed before the boats leave for their homeland in three days.
DAY 1
She paced back and forth on the bow of the ship, her mane billowing in the breeze and her steps filled with giddy excitement. “Finally,” she said to herself, “I’m going to be my own mare! No more, ‘Clean this up Shimmer Sprite,’ or, ‘Listen to me complain about my perfect life Shimmer Sprite!’ Ooohh no! Not anymore Madame Orange! This mare is finally free!”
She gazed out onto the rolling waves of the ocean as gulls flew high above in the clear blue sky. Taking in a deep breath, the yellow earth pony with the honey gold mane and shining compass cutie mark let the sea air fill her lungs. A wide smile crossed the mare’s face. Soon she would be doing what her heart had told her she needed to do, and no other feeling gave her more pleasure than the one she got when she followed her heart.
“I’m finally going to be where I belong,” she mused wistfully, “funny it’s nowhere near Equestria though.” Resting her head on the rail of the ship, the earth pony continued to let her mind wander, “I wonder what these humans are like...I hope I can help, the way the Princess made it sound, the poor things were half dead already.”
“Enjoying the view?” came a masculine voice from behind her, “I sure am.” Shimmer spun to see a light blue colored colt with a cornucopia as his Cutie Mark, and his ‘charming’ grin came off as more, ‘smarmy.’
Shimmer Sprite’s gut told her to get away from him. “I was until you showed up,” she replied harshly, making sure that this colt couldn’t misunderstand her intent.
He took a nervous step back, “Hey now pretty filly, that’s no way to introduce yourself. My name is Cobalt Blue, and I just wanted to say hello.”
The mare’s gut told her to run around to the colt’s left. “That’s nice,” she said, “now I have I name to tell the crew to keep away from my room.” As she finished she dashed to the blue pony’s left and dodged a clumsy attempt by Cobalt to try and get in her way.
His efforts left him tumbling to the deck in a heap, “Wait! Hold on! Let me start over, I didn’t mean to come off all creepy like that!” he called as he hastily tried to right himself.
Shimmer Sprite only stopped to look back and say, “Later creep!” before she blew her tongue at the colt and galloped into the interior of the ship.
Cobalt Blue finally rose to his hooves and rubbed a developing sore spot on his head, sighing heavily as he watched the mare disappear into the innards of the large boat. “That is the absolute last time I use a pick up line from a book.”
Shimmer Sprite’s eyes widened as she descended down the ramp and onto the hard concrete dock. There were humans there to greet her and the other passengers, and they were all cheering. Cheering for them. The humans were all so happy that other humans, ones in very sharp looking black suits, were holding back the exuberant crowds. However, that didn’t stop humans in the rear of the crowd from holding up bright and colorful signs.
Shimmer Sprite couldn’t read the human alphabet, but it seems that their two cultures had remarkably similar symbols. There was one sign with about a dozen bright red hearts surrounding the text. Another had cheerful smiling faces (with more hearts!) adorning every corner of the paper it was on. Her favorite by far however, had to be a sign held up by one of the human foals. It was a simple poster with a crude drawing of a human and a pony giving each other a hug.
The steps of the earth pony bounced with the joy of being so loved. Shimmer Sprite could only smile as bright as she could at all the humans she passed by, occasionally stopping to wave a hoof towards one of them. Sure the air tasted awful in her lungs, the streets could barely be called clean, there was a certain bitter smell that came off the water, and practically every human in the crowd looked thinner than she believed they should, but Shimmer Sprite did not care about any of that. All she cared about was that her gut told her that these poor creatures needed her help, and that she was going to do everything she could for them.
After a lavish dinner of strawberries, watermelons, fresh oats, and a wide assortment of sweets in a massive cafeteria, Shimmer Sprite flopped onto a bed that was much too big for a single pony. Despite the sheets smelling a bit dusty, the mattress and pillows were comfy as clouds, so Shimmer Sprite wasn’t complaining.
Tomorrow she and hundreds of other ponies would be making these poor humans’ lives better. The yellow earth pony’s thoughts swam with a hundred things she wanted to do to help them in a comforting dream-like haze. A haze that left the mare on the the precipice of sleep.
A knock from on her door roused the pony from her comforting thoughts followed by a voice she could barely remember, but recalled enough to dislike. “Hey!” came the voice of Cobalt Blue through the door, “Something is going down outside!”
“Go away you creep!” said Shimmer Sprite flatly.
“Creep?” replied the colt curiously, “AH HA! You’re the filly from earlier aren’t you?”
The mare rolled over in her bed and placed a pillow over her head. “Congratulations! You can leave me alone now!”
“Hey about earlier,” Cobalt said through the door, “I’m sorry. I got that line from a book that my brother got me. I...I don’t really know how to talk to girls.”
Sprite just harrumphed. ‘Oh Celestia, when is he going to leave ?’
“But I doubt I needed to really tell you that! Ha ha...hoo boy.” Cobalt shuffled awkwardly in the hallway before suddenly exclaiming, “Aw hay! Right, listen! I know you don’t like me or anything, but there’s this big crowd of humans outside and they look really angry about something. The ones in black suits are going around and telling everypony to stay inside their rooms, but not much else.”
Shimmer Sprite’s gut was acting up, subtly telling the mare in its own little way to hear out what the colt had to say. Her gut has never steered her wrong before, so she tumbled out of the over sized bed and opened the door to her room. There in the hallway stood the form of Cobalt Blue, smiling like a foal that had found a million bits. Shimmer was less excited and skipped any sort of pleasantries with him, “If the black suits are telling everypony to stay in their rooms, then why aren’t you in your room?”
Taken aback by her harsh tone, Cobalt meekly stammered, “W-well you see I, um well that is my Cutie Mark means...uh...wh-what I’m trying to say is-” Noting the mare’s growing expression of irritation, the colt cleared his throat and began again, “My talent is being a bountiful source of optimism, and I was hoping that I could help out in whatever is going on out side. I was also hoping that somepony would come with me.”
The mare just looked at him, deciding whether or not to slam the door in his face, or tell him he was nuts and then slam the door in his face. “Alright,” she said finally, “Let’s go.”
“What?” asked Cobalt honestly surprised. He was hoping she would say yes, but he never actually thought she would.
“I said let’s go,” she repeated moving past him, her honey colored locks bobbing up and down as she cantered down the hall. Noticing the colt wasn’t following, Shimmer Sprite looked back to call, “Coming?”
Cobalt snapped out of his daze and quickly trotted up next to her saying, “Sorry, it’s just that I couldn’t stop looking at your tail. It’s really pretty.” After realizing what he had said, he slapped a hoof to his forehead and began apologizing.
Sprite let out a sigh and renewed her trot with Cobalt in tow. He was nice enough she concluded, and was definitely not a liar. He was really bad at talking to fillies.
“So Miss, um...can I ask you something?” asked Cobalt as they turned yet another corner.
“What?” huffed Shimmer Sprite.
“How do you know which way to go?”
“My special talent is knowing what paths to take.” Rotating her ears slightly, she heard raised voices nearby making her doubly sure that they were heading the right way.
“Oh...that’s really cool. Sounds like a great talent actually. And it fits you ya’know? I mean it’s way better than a dumb ol’ cornucopia like mi-”
“For Celestia’s sake shut up!” snapped Shimmer Sprite as she turned to face him, “Do you want to get caught?”
Cobalt lowered his head apologetically and adverted his gaze. “Sorry,” he whispered sullenly.
A feeling of pity began to well up in the mare as she gazed at the rather pathetic display. She actually didn’t mind being hit on by the colt, it was just that she didn’t want to get in trouble with the humans. “I’m sorry I snapped at you Cobalt. Just remember that we are trying to sneak out.”
“Right,” he replied quietly as his previous demeanor returned with a great big smile.
Trying hard not to actually start liking Cobalt, Shimmer Sprite focused on navigating that dark halls of the human building. The shouting from outside were getting louder, and soon she and Cobalt found themselves one door away from the front lobby. Sprite gingerly opened the door and peeked through, hoping to see what the fuss was about and get back to her bed.
Several humans in black suits were frequently looking out the windows that boarded the front doors, and some had strange ‘L’ shaped things in their hands. One of them, a taller one with a short cut mane, was talking into a thin rectangle with his back turned to the eavesdropping ponies, “Yes Mr. President, the situation is under control...Yes it’s some of the civilian populace...No sir, they have not done anything violent yet, but the-...Yes sir...Yes sir I know, and we are doing everything we can to make sure the ponies are safe...I will, thank you sir.”
Pushing some unseen button on the device, the human placed the rectangle into his pocket and began to speak to the others, “Alright men, the President wants this crowd dispersed without bloodshed. Get your masks and prep the gas.”
Instantly, the humans burst into action. One of them put a finger to his wrist and spoke, “Hold your breath crowd control.” Others opened up a cabinet and extracted several black gas masks that struck Shimmer Sprite as down right scary. Two more, including the one who had been talking to Mr. President, moved to a chest and deftly passed around tube with handles on them.
“What the hay are they doing?” whispered Cobalt.
“Heck if I know,” replied Shimmer Sprite, “but my gut is telling me there might be a window in the next room.”
“You can talk to your gut? I thought your talent was...” Sprite shot a glare at the colt, making him rethink his train of thought. “...Riiiight. Sorry.”
Rolling her eyes, the honey colored mare trotted to a different doorway that lead to an adjacent room to the lobby, “Come on you dodo.”
The door creaked open letting a stream of light into the otherwise dark room. It was smaller than their bed rooms, but at least it had a window. Even from the door way, Shimmer Sprite could see the chaos unfolding outside. She and Cobalt both rushed to the window and gazed out worriedly, hoping that nothing serious was about to happen.
Outside, there was indeed a large angry mob of humans that were thankfully being held at bay by the humans in what appeared to be black armor with shields. It was a stark contrast to the cheering and happy faces Shimmer Sprite had seen that morning. These humans were shouting crude obscenities and all their faces were contorted with absolute rage.
The humans in black suits had put on their black masks and leveled the tubes at the crowd. One shouted into an amplifier, “CITIZENS, RETURN TO YOUR HOMES PEACEFULLY OR WE WILL USE FORCE. THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING.”
The crowd only pushed harder on the shield wall, and some bricks began to sail over the wall and hit the building. The men in black suits fired something from the tubes into the crowd. Soon, clouds of smoke began to rise up from the crowd and many of the rioters began coughing and wheezing. A great many of the mob broke and ran, but not after hurling one last brick or hurtful phrase.
Some of the angry humans made a charge at the shield wall however, but were quickly beaten down by the batons that the armored humans carried. One rioter lit a bottle of something on fire and threw it at the building. It sailed through the air, almost majestically, and right towards a window with to horrified pony faces.
“GET DOWN!” cried Shimmer Sprite tackling Cobalt ground, barely moving the colt out of harms way as a burning glass bottle crashed through the window and shattered on the carpeted floor. Fire seemed to spring from nowhere, and soon the two ponies found themselves cut off from their exit by a raging inferno.
“Tell me your gut knows a way to get past a wall of fire!” exclaimed Cobalt.
Shimmer Sprite turned to the colt, fear obvious in her features, “I got nothing.”
“Well,” he said chuckling slightly, “In that case, I’m sure one of the human guards will get here before we burn to death!”
It was getting extremely hot in the small room, and the two ponies were doing their best to not get anywhere near the flame. It proved futile however, as smoke began filling the air and choking them while the burning fire inched ever closer.
As smoke began to fill their lungs, the two ponies huddled in the farthest corner away from the fire and whimpered as the world around them grew woozy.
“I’m sorry,” groaned Cobalt as he struggled to stay conscious, “I just wanted...to get your name...”
“Shimmer Sprite,” she replied coughing. Her gut remained unhelpful.
Cobalt fell to the floor with a flurry of coughs and wheezes, and after failing to right himself moaned, “Pretty name for a...a pretty filly...”
“Hey! You stay with me!” shouted the mare to the prone colt. When he didn’t respond, Sprite’s chest began to tighten with worry. “No! No don’t you pass out on me! Tell you what, if you wake up I’ll go on a date with you! That’s what you want right?” The smoke was thick, and darkness began to encroach on her vision.
A great, hopeless weight dropped into her stomach. She was barely able to see through all the smoke and darkness, and her head was so light that she could barely make sense of anything she did see. A final wave of heat assaulted her and forced the mare to collapse on top of Cobalt’s unconscious form. Within a few short moments, Shimmer Sprite had blacked out with fire as the last thing she saw.
DUN DUN DUNNNN
The Conversion Bureau: Opening Week
Opening Week
A continuation of a speed-fic based on Blaze’s The Conversion Bureau
DAY 2
Shimmer Sprite woke up feeling like she was wrapped up in the kind of wholesome warmth that she always thought hugging Celestia would feel like. She knew after a few moments that she was just in a bed, but she didn’t want to open her eyes and ruin the pleasant fantasy. The mare with the golden locks instead curled into a tighter ball of comfort, letting out a satisfied moan as she pulled more of the soft blankets over her.
“So you like the bed too huh?” said a familiar voice.
Sprite opened her eyes with a groan as the sweet fantasy slipped away. There, laying in the next bed over was Cobalt Blue. His two front hooves were bandaged up, but that didn’t stop the colt from grinning at her like an idiot the more she looked at him. The mare admitted that it was nice to have a friendly face be the first thing she saw when she woke up, and Shimmer Sprite was genuinely relieved that Cobalt was alive. Enough so that she actually caught herself smiling right back at him. It was funny how surviving a near death experience with somepony could make them a sight for sore eyes, no matter how much they had gotten on one’s nerves previously.
That’s when an obvious, and yet profound, realization struck the yellow earth pony.
“The fire,” she said, “we’re alive.”
The colt’s grin widened as he nodded, “I know right? Isn’t it great?”
“We’re alive,” she repeated with a tremor in her words, “I thought we were dead.”
“If not for that unicorn healing magic, you would be,” came a cold voice from behind her.
The yellow earth pony rolled over to face the entrance of the room, eyeing a tall, thin human with sleek black hair and sunken eyes and wearing a sharp black suit. Shimmer Sprite nearly reeled back from how skeletal the man looked, but managed to retain her composure.
Cobalt Blue was less reserved in his reaction, and promptly let out a frightened yelp before pulling the blankets of his bed over his nose. The human, much to Sprite’s relief, seemed used to such a response and didn’t bat an eyelash from the abrupt shriek. Instead, he merely sighed and approached the yellow mare’s bedside, his eyes never breaking eye contact with her own.
The gaunt man took a seat at the foot of Shimmer Sprite’s bed and said with a neutral tone, “I am Agent Allan Graves, overseer of this bureau.”
“He-hello,” replied the mare with a trembling voice, “Can I help you with something?”
The man furrowed his brow and said with an edge to his voice, “It is usually good manners to introduce yourself when meeting someone, miss...?”
The young mare fumble with her reply under the stern gaze and intimidating tone of the human, “O-oh I’m so sorry, I-I’m, uh, Shimmer Sprite.”
“Miss Sprite,” he said looking down at the small pony, “were you or your friend aware that all Equestrians were to stay in their rooms last night?”
“I...uhh...well...Yes, I suppose we were.” Sprite felt like eyes were boring into her skull, and small beads of sweat started to form on her forehead from the human’s harsh gaze.
“Were you aware as to why?” Agent Graves asked with a rather annoyed look.
“Was it because of the angry mob?” Cobalt piped in from his bed.
The human responded with a very angry look which sent the colt back under his bedsheets with a small yelp. Turning back to the yellow mare, the agent continued, “Your friend is correct Ms. Sprite, and such riots can be very deadly. Next time we tell you to stay in your rooms, do not disobey.” The man stood to his feet and adjusted his tie, “You will begin your duties tomorrow, and perform a double shift to make up for what you have missed today.”
He walked to the exit and cast one last intimidating look at Shimmer Sprite, and almost sinisterly saying, “It may also interest you and your friend to know that, contrary to what you no doubt believe, my team and I are not here to make sure you ponies are safe. We are here to make sure you can perform your operations quickly and uninterrupted, so count your blessings that this facility couldn’t afford any loss in...ponypower.” He disappeared beyond the doorway an instant later, leaving the two ponies alone with the lingering feeling of dread.
Shimmer Sprite watched the door the man had left through, while her mind ran through what he had just told her. Apparently, she and her new friend were only alive because the bureau would have been understaffed if they had burned to death.
“Is he gone?” Cobalt asked quietly after a few minutes.
Shimmer Sprite tore her gaze away from the door and looked at the shivering, pony sized lump hiding in the bed next to her’s. She couldn’t really blame Cobalt Blue for the cowardly behavior. She was shaking too.
“Yeah...” she said regaining some strength in her voice, “yeah he’s gone. You can come out.”
Cobalt peeked his head out from under the covers, and after a glance around the room to confirm the gaunt human had indeed left, breathed a sigh of relief as he extracted more of himself from beneath his blankets. “What a spook,” he said with a weak chuckle, “I heard humans were scary from some of the other ponies, but, sheesh. I was hoping those were just rumors.”
Shimmer Sprite leaned back into her bed with a huff, “Tell me about it.”
The blue colt obliged, saying with renewed enthusiasm, “Well, this other colt on the boat, I think his name was Comet or something, told me that he had heard from a friend of his that-”
“I wasn’t speaking literally you dope,” Shimmer Sprite said as she rolled onto her side, facing away from the blue earth pony, if for no other reason than so he wouldn’t see the bemused grin that crossed her face.
Cobalt looked like somepony had just taken all the wind out of his sails, and he slumped into his bed, dejected. “Right, right...my bad. Dumb story anyway. I should probably just shut up and let you rest.”
Sprite rolled her eyes as she heard the colt quietly berate himself, and she turned over to face him before asking, “Are you always so down on yourself? I thought you were some sort of optimist.”
Cobalt Blue folded his ears back and averted his gaze from the mare. “Well I am...I mean, I got this thing after I realized I was good at making other people feel confident about themselves. In fact, the night I got my cutie mark I had just convinced my brother to ask his sweet heart to marry him.”
“Oh really?” Shimmer Sprite said smiling broadly as she got a bit more comfortable, “Do tell.” She happened to love tales about ponies finding their marks, and was a sucker for even a little romance.
Cobalt couldn’t help but notice the mare’s pleasant expression and his cheeks began to flush an embarrassed red as he continued, “I...uh...It’s not that interesting. I mean I’ve already told you the best part.” Sprite’s bright face dimmed a little, and upon seeing this, the colt quickly asked, “H-how about you tell a story instead? Mine aren’t all that exciting. Well I guess the one about last night is, what with all the fire and the almost dying and stuff, but you were there for that! Heh heh...”
The mare gave a small huff, “I suppose you got a point. What do you want to know?”
Cobalt Blue looked off with a thoughtful expression, and after some thought asked, “Why did you want to leave Equestria?”
The yellow and gold mare sighed heavily and looked away from the colt. “You just had to ask about that.”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“No, no it’s alright,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hoof, “I was probably going to tell somepony anyway, might as well be you.” Cobalt shifted into a comfortable position in his bed, his face eagerly awaiting her words. Smiling at the colt’s almost foal like behavior, Shimmer Sprite collected her thoughts and began, “I used to work as a maid for Mrs. Orange, a well to do Manehattenite that was so full of herself that if she fell down a flight of stairs her ego would cushion the fall.”
“Sounds rough.”
“It was unbearable,” Sprite continued with a small laugh. “Too many hours, not enough bits, and she constantly went on about how she was related to a national hero.”
“Really?” asked Cobalt raising an eyebrow.
The mare nodded, “Yeah. The orange earth pony named Applejack. Lady Orange wouldn’t shut up about how, as a filly, the young Ms. Applejack had come to live with her and that she had taught the young girl, ‘Proper Manehattan Culture.’ Of course she leaves off how the hero to be left two days later because living with the Oranges was, well, living with the Oranges.”
The two ponies shared in a hearty bout of laughter before the colt asked, “So why didn’t you go find another job?”
“Couldn’t find one. Living in Manehattan is tough, and a pony needs to take what she can get. All I had was a run down apartment that I had to share with a family of rats.”
“Rats?!”exclaimed Cobalt looking mortified.
“Oh they were gems those rats,” Sprite admitted, “they cleaned up after themselves, and they would give me any bits they found if I gave them some food. Heck, after sharing half a loaf of bread with them on Hearths Warming Eve, the father rat helped me with my taxes.” Shimmer Sprite looked over to Cobalt to find that his face was currently caught in a state of amazement and disbelief.
That was her favorite reaction to that particular story, and she couldn’t contain the grin that spread over her face as she went on. “But I’m getting off track. Once I learned of the plight of the humans, my gut started acting up whenever I heard anything about it. So naturally, I came to the the conclusion that I was needed over here in human lands, to do whatever I could to ease their suffering. Well, that and to finally get away from that insufferable nag. After saying goodbye to all my friends who worked there with me, I walked right up to Mrs. Orange and told her what exactly what I thought of her.”
Shimmer Sprite closed her eyes as she reminisced on the memory, “Long story short: she went ballistic. Especially once I told her where I was going. I didn’t stick around long after that, mostly because she shoved me out the door. I didn’t care though. I went home, packed, said goodbye to the rats, and started on my new life by stepping on that boat.”
She again looked at the colt, finishing with, “The end. Now you.”
“What?” asked the blue colt with surprise, “What do you mean, ‘now me?’”
Shimmer Sprite rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. “What do you think it means? I told you why I came, now you tell me why you did.”
“O-oh”, said Cobalt as he cleared his throat, his demeanor shifting from comfortable listener to nervous wreck. He opened his mouth to speak but nervousness got the better of his voice. His words became stuck in his throat, coming out as more of a croak than any actual language. Shimmer Sprite failed to contain an amused giggle at the poor colt’s expense, but much to her surprise, the sound of her laughter somehow seemed to ease his panicked state of mind.
Confidence apparently renewed, Cobalt spoke again with far more successful results. “I come from Trottingham originally, and I work...I mean...used to work in my family’s restaurant. When I first heard about humans from the newspaper, I was already on my way before I gave any real thought to the decision.”
“Trottingham’s quite a long ways away from Manehattan,” said the mare sounding impressed.
“Yeah I know,” Cobalt replied with a nervous chuckle, “but from the way the papers made it out, the humans sounded like they really needed somepony’s help. After saying goodbye to the family, I hopped on a train and went straight to the Manehattan docks. It felt weird leaving everything behind at first, but I got over that pretty fast.” Cobalt’s cheeks turned a deep shade of red as he added, “Especially when I saw you for the first time.”
Shimmer Sprite felt an awkward twinge in her stomach as she remembered her first meeting with the colt. “Yeah,” said the mare quietly, “Not the best thing to say to a lady the first time you see her.”
The colt gave her a bashful look as he replied, “No, that was the first time I spoke to you. I had been following you since you first boarded the ship, and spent practically all of that time trying to work up the nerve to speak to you.”
He locked eyes with Shimmer Sprite, and for a time the two sat in silence as the words hung in the air. Cobalt Blue grew tense as the prolonged quiet dragged on, especially when the mare’s face took on a rather blank expression, like she was still processing that last sentence.
“What?” asked the mare bluntly.
Cobalt flinched, and whatever confidence the colt had crumbled under the tone of the mare’s response. “I-I said that I w-was...”
“You were stalking me?” Shimmer Sprite asked with a growing note of anger in her voice.
“I-I...” Cobalt stammered as he shrunk deeper under the cover of his blanket, “n-not exactly. I mean, I...”
The mare sat up in her bed and glared at the cowering colt, “Did you also follow me to my room last night? It wasn’t just luck that lead you to my room was it?” The blue colt averted his gaze, and the ashamed expression that covered his face was all the answer Shimmer Sprite needed from him. Her face contorted into a furious kind of look that Cobalt could feel bearing down on him. “You...you...CREEP!” she shouted as she rolled onto her side with her back towards him. “I can’t believe I was actually beginning to like you!” she said just loud enough for the colt to hear.
Cobalt Blue sat on his bed looking rather pathetic. After a minute of silence, he mirrored Sprite’s movements so that the two ponies now looked away from one another. With a barely audible voice, the colt said mournfully, “I’m sorry.”
Despite how softly the colt had said those two words, Shimmer Sprite heard him. She felt a bubble of guilt welling up in her stomach, but she forced it back down. ‘That colt has seriously crossed a line. The bad pick up lines I can forgive, and the fire wasn’t really his fault, but stalking me? No. Absolutely not. No amount of mopey looks or pouting lips will make me let him off for being that creepy. I am never, ever, speaking to Cobalt again .’
A sudden feeling in her gut bid the mare to look at the sorry colt.
The mare with honey gold locks didn’t want to, but she had learned a long time ago that not following her gut instinct often led to tragedy. She took a quick glance over her shoulder and saw that Cobalt had pulled his blanket over his head, obscuring her vision of him completely. He seemed to be making some sort of soft noise that she couldn’t quite make out. She rolled back over with a small harrumph, feeling just as angry as she had before.
The feeling to look at the colt did not recede however, and soon the mare found herself rolling over to face the shrouded form of the colt. ‘I can’t believe I let myself get so...so... cozy with that creep! What was I thinking?! ’ With noting to look at but the blanket that covered Cobalt’s form, she instead focused on the sounds the sorrowful colt was making. It was like he was breathing, but all his breaths were very short, and seemed to have a pained tone to them.
It took almost a minute of listening before Shimmer Sprite could tell what the sound was. Cobalt was crying.
The pocket of guilt she had pushed down before resurfaced with a vengeance. ‘Oh Celestia, what have I done? ’ she thought as her once furious glare melted to an expression of shame. She rolled over with her stomach feeling akin to a sack of rocks. ‘I wasn’t that harsh, was I? Even if I was, I didn’t think he would cry! ’ Sprite glanced over her shoulder again before continuing her line of thought. ‘He isn’t a bad colt, even if he has a lot to learn about NOT being a total weirdo. I have known worse ponies now that I think about it... ’ The mare sighed out her frustrations as she rested her head on her pillows.
Her stomach was having a fit, and the mare knew what the tempestuous organ wanted her to do. That didn’t mean she had to admit to liking it of course. Cobalt was still a bit of a creep after all.
“Daisies,” she said with a heavy sigh.
There was a sniffle and a shuffling from the other bed as the colt pulled the blanket down from his face, revealing his moist and puffy eyes. “What?” he asked between sniffs.
“My favorite flowers are daisies. If you bring some on our date tomorrow, I’ll forgive you for the stalking me thing.”
“D-date?” Cobalt asked utterly confused, “What are you...”
Shimmer Sprite rolled over to look at the colt, stating, “My memory is still a bit hazy from all that smoke, but I think I remember saying that if you woke up I would go on a date with you.”
Cobalt Blue looked astounded to say the least, and he quickly wiped away the tears from his eyes he excitedly asked, “Really?”
She flashed a pleasant smile at the sorry looking colt as she replied, “Yes, really. We’re going to be working double shifts anyway, so we might as well try to enjoy ourselves, right?” The mare’s expression turned deathly serious as she added, “But no creepy stuff, or the date’s off. Like, no more stalking me or any of that kind of nonsense, and if you start sniffing my mane, or, I don’t know, writing really weird love poetry, then this will be the absolute last time we talk. Got it?”
“Yes ma’am!” Cobalt said with a ridiculously happy expression and crisp salute, only to wince in pain as his still sore hooves hit his forehead a bit too hard.
“And absolutely no pet names,” said Sprite with a glare.
The blue earth pony nodded his head resolutely, saying, “Wouldn’t dream of it!”
“Good,” said Shimmer Sprite rolling back over and closing her eyes, “Now get some sleep Blue, we’re going to have a long day tomorrow.”
And that’s Day 2 of this little romp
The Conversion Bureau: Opening Week
Opening Week A continuation of a speed-fic based on Blaze’s The Conversion Bureau which itself was a fanfiction of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic By Anonsi(Bringing new lows to literature)
It was seven o’clock in the morning when Shimmer Sprite awoke. ‘An ungodly hour if ever there was one ,’ her mind groaned as the young mare sluggishly rolled over in her bed.
She took a few seconds to yawn and ungracefully scratch her stomach with a hoof before exiting the warmth of the bed. She instantly regretted leaving behind the warmth of the blankets and sheets as she found the medical room to be very cold this morning despite of the murky rays of sunlight that shined in through the dirty windows. Sprite grumbled a few choice words under her breath before looking to the bed of her fellow patient.
To her surprise, the young blue stallion wasn’t there. In fact, his bed had been stripped of its sheets and now laid ominously bare. Pushing slightly paranoid thoughts out of her mind, Shimmer Sprite drowsily made her way out through the clinic doors she had seen Agent Graves use yesterday. The hallway beyond had no windows, making it as dark as it was cold. Despite the gloom, the yellow mare was able to spot a few hungry looking rats scurry into their holes. Though these rodents weren’t nearly as friendly looking as the ones from her old apartment.
A look of revulsion crossed her face as she whispered, “Holey horse-apples, what a mess.”
Shimmer Sprite hesitated before taking her first steps into the dark hallway. Once she arrived about halfway, the door on the far end opened up and flooded the dingy passage with light from the room beyond. Two ponies stood in the doorway. She recognized one of them as Cobalt Blue by the dumb smile that lit up his face when he saw her. The other was a older looking painted mare that had an auburn mane tied up in a bun, and wore two saddle bags marked with red crosses. Cobalt had what appeared to be a tray of food held around his neck by a leather strap, while the other pony carried saddle bags with a big red cross on them.
“Good morning!” the young blue stallion said happily as he trotted over to Shimmer Sprite, minding not to get to close to the small rat holes as he approached. “I got you some breakfast! It’s not as good as that dinner we had when we first got here, but hey! Nothing wrong with some oats and o.j. for breakfast is there?”
Sprite cast sleepy glances between the smiling colt and the food on the tray, eventually remembering her manners and replying, “Thanks Blue. You can put it down in the clinic, I guess...”
“Right,” said Cobalt with a nod as he trotted past her. “Oh, Shimmer Sprite, this is Nurse Peanut Brittle. She’ll be telling us about our duties today!”
Shimmer Sprite regarded the older mare warmly and said, somewhat more sarcastically than she intended, “I can’t wait.”
Nurse Peanut Brittle let go a guffaw and motioned for Sprite to go back into the clinic, “It’s not all that bad dear. Just have a seat and we can get started while you eat.”
After crawling back into bed and wrapping herself in the blankets, Cobalt gingerly placed the tray onto her lap and returned to his own cot looking as cheerful as ever.
“You know, you two caused quite a stir for us,” said the nurse as she extracted two official looking forms from her saddle bags and placed them in front of Sprite and Cobalt, “it was all us old biddies could talk about yesterday. Can’t say the Black Suits cared for it as much as we did, but I suppose they aren’t much for gossip.”
Shimmer Sprite gave a snort at the mention of the Black Suits, and swallowing a mouth full of oats stated, “From what I’ve seen of them, they don’t care much for ponies either. That Graves guy even said me and Blue here were only alive because they’d be ‘understaffed’ if we died.”
“It’s true,” said Cobalt from his bed, “they’re not very nice.”
Nurse Peanut Brittle gave a sympathetic look at the pair. “I know dearies, but what they lack in manners they make up for in efficiency. That’s something good to say about them I suppose...” The elderly painted mare shook her head a bit and continued, “Anyway, those charts I’ve given you are your schedules. The number at the top right is what room you’ll be working in, the first column on the left is who you’re seeing, and the columns after that are where you write what type of pony they turn into, mane and coat color, if they have a cutie mark or not, etcetera.”
“Why do they want to know all that?” asked Sprite after downing half her orange juice.
The old nurse just rolled her eyes and replied, “I can only guess dearie. Humans just seem to like lists.”
Shimmer Sprite shrugged off the question and refocused on the last remnants of her breakfast. She only half listened to Nurse Peanut Brittle as the older mare continued to talk about the proper procedure for administering the ponification potion to the human patients. The nurse made sure that both Sprite and Cobalt knew the steps by heart, and several times stopped mid speech to quiz the two of them about it. According to Nurse Brittle, even though the process was simple, one tiny screw up could do far worse than merely kill the unlucky patient.
Once the briefing was over, the elderly mare cleared her throat and said, “Alright you lazy bones, get yourselves ready for some work. We’ve got humans lining up around seven blocks, and we can’t keep them waiting.”
Shimmer Sprite and Cobalt Blue grabbed their forms and climbed out of their beds. The yellow mare was again beset upon by the cold air and couldn’t help but shiver as the almost freezing temperature surrounded her.
“Why’s it so damn cold?” asked the honey gold pony, “Wasn’t it summer when we left Equestria?”
“This is summer for the humans,” said Peanut Brittle as she lead the two young ponies down the dark hallways of the bureau. “At some point the humans had a really big fight and they used bomb so powerful that it turned an entire country into one big hole in the ground.”
Shimmer Sprite and Cobalt Blue both reeled at thought of something so terrible. “Why on Earth would they use something like that?” asked Sprite with a horrified tone.
“They didn’t say,” replied the elderly nurse with a sigh, “but for whatever reason, they’re paying for it now.It’s always winter here in human lands, but it never snows. According to them it hasn’t so much as rained in fourteen years. It just gets cold now, and things just freeze.” With a shudder the old mare added, “Just freeze and die.”
Cobalt and Sprite exchanged looks, the blue colt taking a gulp as he forced a smile and said, “Well we’re here for them now, right? No more worries?” With a nervous glance towards Shimmer Sprite, he added, “A-and if you’re cold, I could...uh...maybe...get c-close to you? O-only to keep you warm of course! Nothing creepy!”
Sprite gave him a flat look and stated, “Don’t push your luck. I’m still not over the whole almost burning to death thing.”
He gave a weak laugh as he replied, “I guess it would be too much to hope you’ll forget about that one day wouldn’t it?”
The honey gold mare tried her very hardest to glare at him, but her face cracked into a smile while a small, but none the less genuine, bout of laughter escaped from her lips.
Cobalt looked at her like he had just won a million bits.
“Are you two love birds done?” interrupted Nurse Peanut Brittle with possibly the most amused expression Shimmer Sprite had ever seen on a pony, “We’re here, in case you two were too busy looking deep into eachother’s eyes to notice.”
Sprite blushed profusely and focused her attention to the newest hallway the elderly nurse had led her and Cobalt to, while also doing her best to squash down those pesky butterflies in her stomach. They all stood in a busy hallway with grungy white walls and a tiled floor that was in desperate need of mopping. The floors were marked with lines of various colors that lead in different directions. Doors lined the both walls of the long hallway, and each one had an ‘A’ followed by a number painted onto it. The young mare assumed that this was another way the humans organized things, and began to wonder just how big a place had to be to warrant such measures.
“Okay love birds, I’ve got my own chores to attend to, so I’m going to leave you here,” said Peanut Brittle as she trotted away from the pair of them. With one last wry smile at Shimmer Sprite she added, “And don’t go finding any burning closets to share your passions in!”
“Th-that’s not what happened!” Sprite stammered at the retreating nurse, “We weren’t going to...” By the time the mare with the honey gold locks could think of a good rebuttal, Peanut Brittle had already disappeared into one of the doors. Shimmer Sprite let go a frustrated huff and glared at the sheepishly smiling Cobalt. “If ponies start thinking we’re together, I’m going to buck you into next Sunday.”
Cobalt Blue’s grin faded and a was replaced with a thoughtful stare, “Can you really do that?”
The yellow mare tried to glare at him, but just couldn’t come up with enough willpower to do it. She instead settled on a flat look and a shake of her head. Wishing to just get the day over with, Sprite looked over her chart and saw that she would be working in room ‘C6’ today. Glancing around the hall, she spotted an arrow painted on the far wall pointing left and marked with a big yellow C.
“Where are you working today Blue?” Sprite asked aloud.
“Uh...” replied the colt as he fumbled with his own form, “...I’m in B2.”
The yellow mare grinned at the fact that she would be spending a great deal of time away from the rather emotional stallion, and would have a chance to appreciate giving Celestia’s gift to the humans without worrying about Cobalt doing something creepy.
With a nod, Sprite pranced down the hall. “I’ll meet you there when it’s time for our second shift then! See ya!” she called back to the colt. ‘No need for him to hover outside my door...again .’
Her mind was swimming with thoughts of her first real encounter with the people she’d be converting today. Her excitement was almost palpable as she stood in front of a door marked C6, and after taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she pushed her way into the stark white operating room.
It was a small square room, and there wasn’t much room for movement between the operating chair that dominated the center and the cabinets full of sterilized supplies that lined the walls. A tangerine unicorn stallion with a vibrant red mane stood next to the leftmost cabinet with a large red box in front of him. From where Sprite stood, he seemed to be counting out vials of a purplish liquid one by one.
‘Don’t lurk in doorways Shimmer Sprite, it’s dreadfully impolite ,’ said the ethereal voice of Madame Orange in the yellow mare’s mind. Sprite shook her head clear of the irritating voice of her previous mistress, and after giving herself a few knocks to the noggin to make sure it would stay gone, decided the best way to announce herself would be by clearing her throat. “Ah-hem.”
The reddish orange unicorn didn’t look away from the small bottles he was hovering out of the box, but merely stated, “Glad you could join us Ms.Sprite, how are you feeling?”
Moving to stand next to the unicorn, Shimmer Sprite dutifully replied, “I’m feeling fine sir.”
“Good,” said the unicorn as he placed the last vile of the purple liquid down on the shelf. Turning to face the mare, he extended a hoof and continued, “I’m Doctor Tourniquet, and if I’m not mistaken, you’ll be helping me administer the ponification potion today.Yes?”
The young mare took the doctor’s hoof and shook it, “Yes I am.”
The unicorn doctor smiled pleasantly and continued, “Did Nurse Peanut Brittle also give you the rundown of the ponification procedure?”
“Yes doctor.”
“Good, we can skip all the boring parts then and get right to the good stuff. This is your first time converting a human yes?” he asked glancing back to the small vials of potions.
Shimmer Sprite failed to hide her excitement as she quickly answered, “Yes it is.”
“Then you’re in for a treat,” he said moving towards the entrance of the room. Doctor Tourniquet pushed a small button to the left of the door that caused sharp sounds of static to fill the air. “Nurse Broadway? This is Doctor Tourniquet, we’re ready in room C6. Send down...uhh...” The doctor looked at Shimmer Sprite and whispered, “Who’s up first?”
Sprite extracted the chart she had gotten earlier and read the first name, “Amelia H. Roe.”
“...Amelia Roe please.”
“Sure thing Doc,” crackled a nasally voice from the button.
‘This is it ,’ thought Shimmer Sprite as her excitement grew, ‘I finally get to do what I came here to do. I’m finally going to help someone! ’
Seconds turned to minutes as the young mare waited to hopefully meet her first nice human. She barely noticed the silence that hung in the room for close to ten full minutes before the door to the small operating room swung open.
There in the doorway stood Sprite’s first patient. Amelia Roe was a tall woman with pale skin and a very short black mane that didn’t get past her ears. Judging from how thin she was, Shimmer Sprite could only assume that the poor woman hadn’t eaten in days. Perhaps even weeks. Despite all this however, Amelia was all smiles. She had the sort of expression Sprite could only describe as pure joy.
After a moment of sizing up her very first human convert, Shimmer Sprite stepped forward and cleared her throat. “Hello there Amelia,” she said with a shining smile, “I’m Shimmer Sprite and that’s Doctor Tourniquet.”
“Hello,” added the doctor, “are you ready to become a pony Ms. Roe?”
The human grinned right back at the yellow and gold pony, her malnourished features apparently able to still make one of the happiest looking faces the yellow earth pony had ever seen. “God yes.”
“Take a seat then madame,” said the doctor as he uncorked the bottle holding the miraculous serum, “and do you have any last questions or concerns before we do this?”
“Just one,” said Amelia as she quickly eased into the chair. Looking up at the doctor she asked in complete seriousness, “When do I get to go to Equestria?”
“The boats to and from Equestria leave every two days, so you’ll be spending a night here in the dorms before the boat departs tomorrow afternoon.”
Amelia stared up at the ceiling as a content look came across her face. Relaxing into the chair she said, “I’m ready.”
Doctor Tourniquet gave a nod to Shimmer Sprite. Returning it, the mare walked over the the shelves and scanned them until she found a rack of needles filled with a power sleeping drug. Taking one in her mouth, she carefully plucked Amelia in the side of the arm with the needle and administered the powerful sedative.
The tangerine doctor levitated the potion over to Amelia and eased it into her mouth. Tourniquet and Sprite threw away their empty utensils and watched patiently as the human woman closed her eyes, falling into a deep slumber just as her skin began to ripple from the effects of the ponification potion. It took fifteen minutes for the ponification process to finish, replacing the once starving Amelia with a healthy unicorn with a vibrant green coat and dazzling blue mane.
Shimmer Sprite looked on in awe, knowing that she had never felt more proud in anything else she had done. This is what she was meant to do with her life. She knew it was.
Shimmer Sprite learned that most converts remained unconscious for at least half a day after being turned, so the yellow and gold earth pony didn’t have the opportunity to talk to the newfoals like she wanted. So she made up for this by talking to the incoming patients as much as she could before they ingested the miracle potion, something that revealed several startling things to the young mare.
Foremost was just how terrible things had gotten for the humans since they dropped that bomb. Plant life was dying all over their world from the eternal winter that they were trapped in, and save for cockroaches and rats, all the animals had long ago died from either radiation poisoning or the cold. Starvation was everywhere, and only a select few humans had the means of getting a decent meal. A young human male called Bradley told Sprite that the mob that attacked the bureau two days ago was actually a food riot that was angry at the ponies for getting to eat a banquet while they starved out in the streets.
By the end of her first shift, Shimmer Sprite and Doctor Tourniquet had converted forty seven humans. It wasn’t physically demanding work, it was just giving the human a small bottle and telling them to drink after all, but the golden mare still felt exhausted. Talking to the humans and hearing about their lives had sent her on a roller coaster of emotions, which was much more exposure to her feelings than she was used to.
“What a day,” said the doctor as he packed up the empty potion bottles, “I could really go for a hay and barely malt right now.”
Shimmer Sprite sat on her haunches and massaged her temples, wearily adding, “Tell me about it. I still got the night shift to go through.”
Tourniquet winced, “Ouch.”
“That’s what I said,” Sprite sighed, “...but at least I’ll have the humans to talk to.”
The tangerine doctor looked over to her with a pained expression, “I wouldn’t count on that Ms. Sprite.”
The yellow earth pony stared at him confused, “What do you mean by that Doc?”
Tourniquet averted his gaze to some suddenly very interesting things on the shelves as he replied, “Night shift is janitorial duty...”
“That’s not so bad. I used to be a maid,” the mare responded with relief. She didn’t mind cleaning at all, and it might even prove somewhat relaxing considering Cobalt Blue would no doubt be well within her comfort zone the entire time.
The mare was feeling pretty good about it, and had already begun moving towards the exit with a small spring in her step before the doctor added, “...under the supervision of the Black Suits.”
Shimmer Sprite froze in place. Dipping her head, she turned back to look at Tourniquet with a pitiful expression, “Is this going to be as bad as I think it will be?”
“Depends,” replied the tangerine unicorn in all seriousness. “One of the regular janitors went near the office of the human that’s in charge of the Black Suits and was yelled at so bad that he refuses to go anywhere near the place again. My guess is that if you avoid them you should have an easier time of it.”
‘Getting yelled at huh? At least I have some experience with that, ’ mused Shimmer Sprite as she looked back out into the hallway with a groan. “Thanks for the warning Doc,” she said as she left the room, “see you tomorrow!”
“Let’s hope so!” he called after her.
The mare snorted in frustration as she made her way down the hallways. She had hoped to get away from being under the heel of an oppressive boss when she had gotten on that boat two days ago. Apparently life had other plans. Plans that kept her from being anything but a maid.
Shimmer Sprite was in such a foul mood by the time she arrived in the hallway marked with a big blue B, that she felt genuinely relieved to see Cobalt Blue patiently waiting on his haunches outside an operating room. He hadn’t seen her yet, and seemed to be staring off into space with a vapidly content expression.
‘Right, let’s go get Cobalt’s head out of the clouds ,’ she sighed inwardly as she approached the daydreaming colt. “Cobalt,” she said when she finally stood next to him.
“Yes darling?” he responded still dazed.
Shimmer Sprite reeled back before rolling her eyes and repeating louder, “Cobalt. Wake up.”
“But I don’t have work today, and the foals are at school. Can’t we just stay in bed and cuddle?”
‘Wow. Barely know him for two days and he’s already thinking of starting a family. You sure can pick’em Sprite. ’ Grimacing, Shimmer Sprite prodded the blue colt in the side with a hoof and said with a very stern voice, “Wake up Blue.”
The poke seemed to have done the trick as Cobalt yelped in surprise and quite nearly toppled to the ground. He looked around wildly for the pony that knocked him out of his trance, only to stare wide eyed at the looming form of Shimmer Sprite. “O-oh! H-hey there beautiful!” he stammered. The mare’s look of irritation only intensified. “I-I-I mean,” he said backpedaling, “Shim-Shimmer Sprite! I didn’t mean to call you beautiful! I mean, you ARE, but you keep glaring at me, and I should probably stop shouldn’t I?”
“Yes,” came her stern reply.
The young blue stallion rose to his hooves and straightened out his mane and coat, clearing his throat before nervously asking, “S-so...ready to get started on that second shift?”
The golden locked mare shook her head and began walking down what felt like the millionth hallway in this damn bureau. “It’s only three o’clock Blue, out second shift doesn’t start until six.”
The colt hastily trotted up next to her with a confused look, “So then, where are we going?”
“Lunch,” she said as her stern voice softened to a merely neutral tone. “After that I am going to my room to get a nap in before tonight.”
Cobalt gazed off down the hallway like the gears in his head were turning in overdrive. After a short silence he finally said with a bright expression, “Would it be okay if I meet you at your room? Later I mean. When it’s time for our shift.”
Shimmer Sprite gave the question a once over in her mind before deciding that there wouldn’t be any harm in it. She gave a dismissive nod and said, “Sure, but don’t think this is an invitation for you to just wait outside my door everynight.”
“Oh no,” he said smiling at her, “I think I’ve figured out what constitutes being a creep by now, and I want to turn over a new leaf.”
It wasn’t much of a joke, but the statement did somehow made a bemused grin etch itself across the yellow mare’s face. “Come on,” she said increasing her pace, “our lunch is probably getting stale.”
She saw a stallion, hot pink with stark white mane and matching tail, standing in front of her inside of their old apartment. Then there were dozens of other ponies, and they all started laughing. Then it was just him again, and he was yelling at her for some reason. He was so angry. Then the other ponies returned. They were all laughing again, even him. But she wasn’t because she knew. They were laughing at her. Then there was a knock on the door.
“Hello? Shimmer Sprite? Are you awake in there?”
The earth pony mare with honey gold locks woke up with a start from the mess of heavy blankets and sheets that had once been her bed. “Star Dust?” she asked half asleep, “What do you want?”
“Uh...No, it’s me Cobalt,” said the voice, “It’s time for our second shift.”
She blinked a few times before her brain turned back on, the dream she was having fading quickly into oblivion as she became aware of the time. “Oh hayseed! I’ll be right there Blue! I just need to tidy up a bit first!” she called to the waiting colt.
After a few minutes of fixing her bed and fixing her mane and tail into something she could take in public, the Shimmer Sprite opened the door to her room and beheld Cobalt Blue. The young stallion had obviously taken a shower before coming here, and Sprite could smell the shampoo he had used. She had to admit the floral scent was rather nice. Cobalt had also combed his mane for the occasion and decided to wear a fetching red bow tie around his neck. The yellow mare was on the verge of giving him an incredulous look before she saw the single daisy in his mouth.
Instead, Shimmer Sprite gave the colt a pleasant smile and simply stated, “You certainly went all out to do janitor duty.”
He smiled as widely as he could at her with the flower still clenched in his teeth. “One of the humans I converted today said the first date has to be memorable, so I’m going to make sure this will be the best night shift you ever had!” he replied.
Sprite couldn’t hold back an amused giggle. Approaching the young blue stallion, she inspected the flower that was clenched in his teeth. “I would have preferred a bouquet we could munch on, but I think it’ll do.”
“It’s all I could find in three hours,” Cobalt said dejected. “I would have gotten more, but-”
“I love it,” the yellow mare interrupted with a quick smile to the colt. Seeing a look of euphoric bliss cross the colt’s face, Sprite leaned her head next to his and waited. Cobalt Blue blushed and fidgeted with increasing severity the closer she got, until after a few seconds the mare threw him a bone and said, “Go on.”
“G-g-go on and w-what?” asked the colt with a confused quiver in his voice, “are we a-about to...you know...k-kiss?
It was with a quick glare that Sprite immediately instructed, “Put the daisy in my mane you dope.”
“Oh! R-right!” he responded with palpable mix of relief and mild disappointment.
Possibly more nervous than before, Cobalt Blue very carefully angled the flower’s stem behind Shimmer Sprite’s ear. She could feel his warm, minty, breath on her neck, and couldn’t resist getting small goosebumps. After the daisy was nice and secure, Cobalt’s kept his head close to Sprite’s for a short time more before the mare moved away, her own cheeks flushing an embarrassed red as she awkwardly looked at the ground.
Shimmer Sprite’s heart was beating like a drum. It hadn’t made a rhythm like this for the mare in a long time. “I...um, thank you Cobalt.”
“M-my pleasure.”
Awkward silence filled the hallway, and it was Shimmer Sprite who finally suggested, “We should probably go report to the front desk for our shift.”
Cobalt nodded his head and replied, “Y-yeah. Let’s go.”
Shimmer Sprite avoided making eye contact with Cobalt Blue as they escorted each other down the many dimly lit hallways towards the front desk, fearing that looking at the young blue stallion might make her admit that he was actually somewhat...charming.
It was close to midnight when Shimmer Sprite finally put down her mop. She and Cobalt Blue stood in the newly cleaned cafeteria, both of them proudly gazing at what seven hours of hard scrubbing and mopping could accomplish. She and Cobalt had been able to clean the floors from the front of the bureau complex all the way to the back. It was a difficult task considering how labyrinthine the building was, a fact Sprite hadn’t quite come to grips with until she was mopping the hundredth or so hallway. Navigating the building and avoiding the Black Suits wasn’t much of a problem for her thanks to her special talent, but Cobalt had nearly gotten lost or stumbled into a wandering pair of the intimidating humans once or twice.
Much to her surprise, Cobalt had been more helpful in the chore than she had thought he would be. The colt knew his way around a mop and broom well enough, and had only accidentally tripped over his bucket of cleaning water three times during the grueling process.
“So...” Cobalt spoke in an effort to fill the silence, “...uh, what do you want to do now?”
The colt had tried several dozen times to strike up a conversation during the cleaning, but Shimmer Sprite had ended them all prematurely with various dismissive replies. Thinking back, she had blamed the disinterest in chatting on a desire to focus on the task at hoof, but now that they were done, she found herself without a suitable excuse to avoid talking with the young blue stallion.
“Sleep,” she responded with a tired yawn, “though I think I’ll be seeing mops in my dreams tonight.”
“Well at least you can make dream mops sing and dance,” he said with a smirk towards Sprite.
The mare’s reply was a neutral, “Yeah.” The blue pony’s optimism was admirable, but Shimmer Sprite was just too tired for it.
The two of them spent a few more moments in silence before finally collecting their cleaning buckets and walking side by side through the dark and winding hallways of the bureau. The squeaky wheels of the bright yellow buckets only added to the eeriness of the late night atmosphere. It took several minutes for them to reach their destination, but it was thankfully without incident. Shimmer Sprite put her bucket and mop to the side and set about unlocking and opening the storage room, while being careful to not dislodge the daisy tucked into her mane in the process.
“Shimmer Sprite,” began Cobalt with a twinge of his trademark nervousness, “Can I ask you a question?”
The yellow and gold mare was in the process of opening the storage room door with her teeth, and could only respond to the colt with an affirmative, “Hm?”
“Who’s Star Dust?”
Sprite gave Cobalt a look. “What?”
“Star Dust,” he repeated, “When I knocked on your door to pick you up tonight I heard you call out for somepony named Star Dust.”
At first, the look appeared to turn into one of panic, but it quickly shifted to a glare that looked directly into the colt’s eyes. Releasing the doorknob, the mare faced him and warned, “Not somepony I want to talk about.”
Cobalt went silent and averted his gaze from the mare’s, while she went back to trying to open the door. After a few moments he asked, “Would it be better if I ask you about it in the morning?”
With a growl, Shimmer Sprite glared at the colt and snapped, “No it would not! Are you trying to be this thick, or are you touched in the head?! Just...” The mare realized that she had started to yell, and judging from the pain stricken face of the colt that stood in front of her, her tone was less than friendly. Taking a deep breath, Sprite calmed her nerves and very calmly said, “Just drop it, okay?” She refocused on the door knob, this time going at it a bit more ferociously.
The colt nodded his head and went back to being silent. The mare at last opened the door and bucked her bucket into it, causing a loud and sloppy sounding crash from within. Sprite just glared at the interior and motioned for Cobalt to put his supplies away while she held the door open for him. After he carefully placed his own bucket inside the small storage room, the two ponies trotted towards the staff housing area.
Shimmer Sprite wasn’t angry with the colt, as he probably thought she was, but was in fact just...frustrated. Cobalt’s question had touched on a very old memory that Sprite would rather have forgotten and thoughts about a pony that she had long ago left in the dust. Or so she had thought. Quickly glancing back at the young blue stallion that lagged slightly behind her, the mare wanted nothing more than to at least apologize for screaming at him. As much as she hated to admit it, right now Cobalt Blue was the closest pony she had to a friend in human lands and she couldn’t shove him away because he asked a question.
As the two of them reached Shimmer Sprite’s door, the yellow mare paused her gait. Cobalt followed suit and looked at her with a warily curious expression. She turned to face him with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry for what I did back there Blue. I really didn’t mean to explode like that, it’s just...that name carries a lot of baggage for me.”
To his credit, Cobalt Blue had the tact to not immediately ask what sort of baggage. He instead nodded his understanding and appeared as though he were about to say something, but apparently reconsidered it. The following pause in conversation lasted a good half minute as the two of them shifted uncomfortably in silence, both unsure what to say to the other.
‘What are you doing Shimmer Sprite? ’ rang the hoity voice of Madame Orange in Shimmer Sprite’s skull, ‘Your manners are dreadful! Bid our guest goodnight! I swear, fillies these days... ’
The thought trailed off into memory as the mare’s thoughts returned to the present. Shimmer Sprite cleared her throat and readjusted her posture, wishing to at least end the night on a high note with the young stallion. “Well good night Cobalt,” she said pleasantly, “thank you for the daisy and walking me back to my door. You made tonight, um...memorable.”
The young blue stallion beamed at her as he simply replied, “You're welcome.”
Sprite cocked an eyebrow.
A second later he realised the faux pas he had made and hastily stammered out, “I mean, uh, you were very...welcoming in your, uh...” Sprite could see Cobalt scanning his brain for a suitable compliment, and patiently waited for him to find the right words. The best he could come up with was, “Your flank looked great tonight!”
She just stared at the colt, shaking her head slightly as she turned away from him. “Goodnight Cobalt,” she said pushing her door open with a hoof.
“Y-yeah, goodnight!” he said waving a hoof back, attempting to cover up the embarrassment in his voice as best he could.
‘Not exactly the high note I was hoping for ,’ Sprite thought to herself when she was halfway through the door, ‘So I mights as well throw him another bone .’ “Cobalt,” she said turning to look back at the colt. The move had clearly caught him by surprise as he had already begun a mournful walk back to his door.
Stopping mid sulk, his expression took on a hopeful tone as he asked, “Yes?”
“Want to go with me to watch the boats leave tomorrow?”
“Really? Yes! I’d love you-I MEAN TO. I’d love TO. ”
Shimmer Sprite gave a bemused huff as she shot the eccentric colt one last farewell smile before retreating into her room. From outside she heard a small cheer burst from the odd stallion. Once again shaking her head, she climbed into her oversized bed and tried to get as comfortable as she possibly could.
‘Another date with the creep. I must be either completely insane or really desperate. ’ she mused. After some careful examination of the past three days she added, ‘Nope, not desperate, just insane. ’ Shimmer Sprite’s mind begin to wander into her dreams, and had one last coherent thought echo in her head before her senses faded completely, ‘At least he’s better than Star Dust. ’
The clock struck midnight as the mare fell into a deep sleep.
HE CAN’T WRITE