The Conversion Bureau: Immunity

As the sun rose once more over a quiet earth, the princess of the sun, Princess Celestia, oversaw this event in silence. Normally, she would be busy raising it herself, but this was not her domain. It was one of her pet peeves, not having control over the sun on this world. No matter how hard she tried, the sun would always move on it's own, refusing to submit to Celestia's power.

Turning away from the balcony, she trotted further into her bedroom, before flopping onto her bed in annoyance.

The interrogation with Kayden hadn't gone well. Luna had lost her composure while questioning Kayden, and Lyra....well, she wasn't in the best mood either.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted, however, by a heavy knock on the door.

"Princess Luna is requesting an audience with you in the meeting room." the deep voice of a royal guard echoed.

"Tell her I'm on my way." she replied softly.

Rousing herself up, she ran her comb through her mane a few times before being on her way.

..............

Luna was tired. She had stayed up all night, wondering if she had handled the situation correctly. She eventually came to the conclusion that she hadn't, and owed her sister an apology.  Her ears perked up at the sound of her sisters hoofsteps. The princess of the moon quickly straightened herself out as Celestia descended the staircase. Luna was the first to speak.

"Good morning, sister." she said in the most cheerful voice she could muster.

Celestia was quick to return the greeting.

"Likewise, sister" she responded.

They both sat down at their respective seats.

The silence that followed was unbearable.

Celestia took this time to reflect. Ever since she had begun the conversion of earth's inhabitants into ponies, they both seemed to be growing farther and farther apart. Celestia decided to break the silence with some small talk.

"Tulips....how did you know these are my favorite?" she lied. She hated tulips.

Luna didn't bother answering the question and got right to the point.

"Sister, I didn't handle the interrogation with Kayden in the correct manner. I apologize. I-

"Thank you for your apology." Celestia interrupted.

"However, at this point, I don't think that an apology is really necessary." she continued.

Luna nodded in agreement, although she didn't feel comfortable with the situation.

The two of them finished there breakfast in silence. Luna went of to rest, as she always did during the day, and Celestia went to her quarters to carry out the days activities.

...........

"Are they seriously planning on keeping me chained to a freakin' wall forever?" he thought.

He heard some murmuring outside of the cell, followed by the door creaking open to reveal....Lyra?

"You bitch!" he exclaimed. "You got me captured!" he said angrily, uselessly struggling against his chains.

Lyra was distraught. She knew that this wasn't her fault, but how could she convince Kayden of that?

"Listen." she started. "I know you hate me, and that will probably never change, but give me a chance to explain myself."

Kayden sat in an angry silence.

Closing the door behind her, the mare continued. "I was sent to earth to study the anatomy of humans." she said, pulling the sketchbook out of her saddlebag.

She flipped through the sketchbook and showed Kayden the drawings. They were mostly sketches of his head, hands, and even feet.

"I never wanted to you see you captured and caged like an animal. I've always been interested in humans, even before I came here. When I was given the opportunity to come here, I jumped on the chance to see humans firsthand." she finished.

"It's good to here that." he said simply. "But that doesn't help the fact that I'm stuck here, probably forever."

Lyra couldn't take it anymore. Shuffling around in here saddlebag for a few seconds, she tossed a small, shiny object at him, which landed squarely between his feet. A key. Looking up, the embittered soldier saw that Lyra was gone.

Kayden glanced at the key, then at the keyholes in the cuffs binding him to the wall, and smiled. Picking up the key, he was about to unlock his manacles when the door began to screech open again. "Wow, I am just the center of attention today. he grumbled.

Instead of a figure, he was met with a blinding light. After the light subsided, he saw Princess Celestia standing in the doorway.

"Nice light show, Princess." he mocked.

"Indeed." she responded curtly.

Kayden remained silent.

Celestia decided to continue. "In light of recent.....events, I've decided to go easy on you, despite your crimes. If you divulge the location of this "base", then both you and the inhabitants of that base will be spared.

"Your a terrible liar. I would've thought a thousand years of experience would have given you time to hone that skill."

"That's because I'm not lying, Kayden." as she said this, she reached for the contents of her saddlebag.

She tossed him a golden necklace, with a dark crystal encased in the center.

"Infused within that necklace is my sister's life force. Destroying it would mean destroying her."

"And why don't I just kill her right now?"

"If you value your existence, you won't." she responded through gritted teeth. She knew she was being reckless, but it was the only way. "Consider it a token of my trust. If you lead me to the your friends base and they are converted for whatever reason, feel free to destroy the necklace and inflict an even greater pain upon me.

Kayden wasn't convinced. "How do I know it isn't just some random necklace?

Tears were beginning to well up in Celestia's eyes. "I'm so, so sorry sister....." Using her magic, she lifted the necklace from the ground,before enveloping it in her magic. A few moments later, one of Luna's royal guards came running to the cell.

"My princess, Princess Luna is in pain!"

"I'll be their in a moment." she responded, trying to hide the sadness from her voice.

The guard went away.

I get a free ticket out of here AND power over Luna's life? Sounds downright fantastic to me!"

Kayden grinned at the floor before responding. "Sounds good to me, Princess."