TCB: Not Without My Cat

Chapters

Prelude
A Wasted Trip
A Celestial Visit
The Final Conversions
Arrival in Equestria

Prelude

Over the past several years, what was once thought of as a mere anomaly in the South Atlantic Ocean had begun to grow, consuming everything in its path. Many people across the world had begun to realize that this was no mere anomaly in the magnetic field, it was a pocket universe expanding. It was a year or so after it formed, that the inhabitants of this pocket universe made themselves known.

Those who made themselves known were the ponies of Equestria. The ones who let themselves be known were two Alicorns, a large white one that went by the name of Princess Celestia and a somewhat smaller dark blue one named Princess Luna. Much of the world was stunned that such creatures existed. For some people, when they learned that the universe of the ponies would consume the earth and the only way to survive would be to become "ponified," they were intrigued and bought into it easily.

Soon the conversion bureaus would begin to open across the world and people began to go and "get converted" as those in the media called it. One thing that the princesses let be known was that there would be a little less than eight years for everyone to convert after the anomaly first appeared. Those who failed to convert would die. One thing that the princesses and what became known as the world government continued to pound home, "convert and live as a pony or die as a human."

Not everyone believed this and some even believed that it was all some sort of ploy for what some called "The New World Order" to control them. Those people believed that the whole ponification thing was fake despite newly transformed people, known as newfoals, being shown on TV. There were two groups who thought this way the most. There were those who had rational mindsets and believed that such things could not exist and the other group were the politically conservative types who bought heavily into religion who thought it was the work of demons.

Storm, a man in Rock Springs, Wyoming, was in the former group. Throughout his life, he had always been fascinated by science and laughed at the idea of things such as talking ponies and pocket universes. To him, those were the products of science fiction and children's cartoons. He was one of those types that had to see it to believe it. While the princesses had made addresses over television, he didn't believe such things were real. He knew how far technology had advanced and figured that it was just the government trying to scare people into getting chipped.

He knew pets had been being chipped for quite some time so if they got lost, they could be returned to their owners. He knew this because his cat had one of those chips. While he thought such chips were great for pets, he was strongly opposed to chipping humans. While he was a scientific minded person, he did have his concerns that this would wind up being something similar to how the Nazis would tattoo people in the concentration camps back before and during World War II.

One thing that Storm noticed was happening, especially after it had been seven years after the anomaly first appeared. He noticed that the global population drop had begun to increase dramatically and that the availability of many products had begun to decline and when it came to some products, they declined significantly. As a welder, this had harmed his business as getting the proper materials was becoming increasingly difficult, costly and the demand for his services were also in decline.

One thing about the area where he lived though was that while the population was in decline, it was not quite as bad as it was in other areas. This caused him to become even more suspicious of the government but soon his views would begin to change when what was known as "the barrier" had finally reached North America. His whole family was much like him and when the barrier moved across Florida and took his brother along with his wife and kids, he finally began to put stock into what he had always viewed as the work of an out of control global government.

He then began to do research on the conversion bureaus, the conversion process and Equestria and while everything seemed to sound good, there was one thing that he did not see anything about and it was something vital to him. He did not see anything about whether the process works with pets because he was not about to leave his beloved cat behind to die while he would be transformed to a pony and be able to survive.

He then thought to himself, "Well I may as well go and see if I can take my cat with me to Equestria. If I can, that will be great. If I can't, I will stay behind and die as a human."

A Wasted Trip

Another morning had arrived in the city of Rock Springs and Storm woke up. After so many years of doubt over everything involving the barrier, Equestria, the conversion bureaus and the princesses, he finally broke down and realized that, after extensive studying, that it was all true. Most mornings he would be getting ready to go to work but given that what had yet to be destroyed of the earth, the area where he lived was predicted to have one week left. With that being the case, he decided the time had come to grab Shadow, his cat, and head to the nearest bureau in Salt Lake.

As he got on the interstate and headed west, he couldn't help but notice that the traffic was much less than it was in the old days. In the old days, prior to the population declines, I-80 always had a great amount of truck traffic. Now all that remained were a few trucks carrying gasoline to the few gas stations that remained open. As he continued his trek west, everything seemed creepy to him. It reminded him almost of the desolation that one would see in a post-apocalyptic world, one where only the most necessary traffic still traveled down the highways.

After nearly three hours, he reached Salt Lake. This was when the near absence of traffic was a relief. Prior to things going downhill, the traffic in the city was horrible and the roads were filled with the rudest drivers he had ever ran across. Getting off the highway and onto State Street was easy and it wasn't hard for him to find his way to the bureau as there were plenty of signs directing people towards it.

As he approached the bureau, the traffic began to increase but still, nothing compared to what was a normal day in Utah's capitol city. When he finally arrived, he couldn't help but notice that some people were excited and were talking about how wonderful life in Equestria would be and others were frustrated, frustrated that it was either become a pony or die. There was some arguing among the people who had different mindsets but Storm could see things from both perspectives.

When he got in line, he got behind what appeared to be a rather pious family. The woman in front of him looked back and said, "So what is your opinion on this? What is your opinion on this whole 'either become a pony or die thing?'"

Storm replied, "Well for many, many years I denied everything. I believed that such things were scientifically impossible until I lost family when the barrier hit Miami."

The woman's husband commented, "Well I still think this is the work of demons but at this point, what have we got to lose? We may as well go through with this 'ponification'"

Storm couldn't help but laugh over the comment, "Demons? You actually believe in that kind of stuff?"

The man took offense to his comment, "Yes, I do. Demons are just as real as those winged unicorns." He paused before continuing, "To be honest, I can't help but wonder if they aren't demons!"

Storm again laughed, "I don't know what those ponies are all about but at least they exist." Storm had never been the religious type and threw in one additional snide comment, "At least they're real! At least we have scientific proof they exist, unlike your alleged demons!"

That caused the man and his family to fall silent. To Storm, this was a good thing as the one type of people he had never done anything but argue with were religious people. The line seemed to move excruciatingly slow for him but it wasn't just him that he worried about, he worried about Shadow and him either having to use the restroom or eat or drink. After four hours, Storm finally got to the front of the line he would be less than pleased by his initial interaction.

When he set Shadow's carrier up on the counter, the receptionist immediately reacted, "I'm sorry sir but pets can not be given the serum, it won't work on anything but human tissue."

Storm asked, "So does that mean that people, after they are ponified, can not take their pets with them across the barrier?"

The receptionist replied, "No sir, they can not. I am sorry but you will have to leave your pet behind or go home with him and die as a human."

The receptionist's comment didn't sit well with him but he wasn't about to make a scene. "Very well then, I would rather die with my cat than leave him behind to die all alone."

Storm took Shadow and got back into his vehicle. He was not thrilled that he had spent quite a bit of money to travel to the bureau only to discover that he couldn't take Shadow with him. As he was fueling up his pick-up, he couldn't help but think about how a good part of the day had been wasted, a day that he could have been giving all his attention to his cat.

After another three hour drive, Storm returned home. Once he got in his house, he let Shadow out and he immediately went to do his business. He couldn't help but sigh in frustration knowing that there were only six days left, six days left to enjoy with his cat before the barrier would move into the city and consume everything in its path, including him and Shadow.

A Celestial Visit

Three days had passed since his wasted trip to the Salt Lake bureau and Storm had been doing his best to not think about the ever approaching barrier. As he was watching the news and saw that only a small swath of the nation remained, he knew the time was coming soon. He knew that the time he and Shadow had left was running very short. He began to think about his interaction down at the Salt Lake bureau and didn't regret his decision to return home one bit. He knew that coming home to die was the right decision.

That evening went by as most other evenings had since he knew things would be ending soon. He ate a larger than normal supper and Shadow got more food than normal. He figured that since so little time remained, that both him and his cat may as well get spoiled with large meals. Storm had not been wanting to sleep too much so he could cherish every moment he had left with his cat but that night when the two headed to their bedroom to try and get a few hours of sleep, he noticed that his mirror was glowing white.

"What the.....?" he gasped as he saw something actually come out of it.

What came out of it was something that he never expected, it was the large white winged unicorn he had seen on the TV, Princess Celestia. He could hardly believe his eyes when he saw her. He figured that she would take the time to address all of humanity but for her to come to speak with him personally was shocking. He bowed and asked, "Princess Celestia, is that really you?"

Celestia replied, "Yes Storm, it is me." She gave him a look of concern and continued, "Why do you remain here when certain death is all that awaits you? Why haven't you went to a conversion bureau to be ponified?"

Storm was unsure as to whether Celestia knew about his failed visit to the bureau but figured that in the event she did and this was her way of maybe seeing if he was worthy of Equestria, that he would tell her the truth. "Well a few days back I traveled to the conversion bureau in Salt Lake City but when they told me that I couldn't take Shadow with me, I decided that I would rather die as a human with my cat than survive and leave my cat behind to die."

Celestia could tell that Storm did hold his cat very dear and the fact that he would be willing to sacrifice himself to stay with Shadow, that he possessed many of the qualities that some Equestrians already had. She gave him a warm smile and replied, "Well it is quite obvious that you love your cat a lot and Equestria is a land full of love."

"But if that is the case," Storm questioned, "why did they tell me I couldn't take Shadow with me? Certainly that love would spread beyond just a love for other ponies, certainly that love would extend to one's pets." He paused for a brief moment before bringing up what the receptionist told him, "And when I asked about why I couldn't take him, they said that the serum doesn't work on animals, just humans."

There had been problems with the people working at the Salt Lake bureau, problems that Princess Celestia knew about. She sighed, "I have had multiple people report similar things regarding that bureau. Here is one thing they are forgetting to tell people, they are forgetting to tell people that as of now, the barrier will no longer kill domesticated pets. During these final days, cats and dogs will survive the arrival of the barrier and be taken to Equestria."

Storm was curious about one thing, "Why me? Why did you come directly to me?"

Celestia replied, "I get these feelings about people who go to the bureaus and don't convert and I come to let you know that there is one final chance to survive. Every bureau on the planet has closed except one. The conversion bureau in Denver has one final day of operation but to get in you will have to have this."

Celestia used her magic to create a note with her cutie mark on it. She wrote,

"To whom it may concern,

I, Princess Celestia, do hereby grant permission for this individual, Storm Lewis to receive the special serum for the final humans that will be converted. His cat will be allowed to be present after conversion as the barrier passes through Denver and fully destroys the earth.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia"

Storm read the note and was shocked by how it read. He asked, "Princess Celestia, you bring up a special serum for the final humans to be converted. What is different about it compared to the standard serum?"

Celestia replied, "With the standard serum, newly converted newfoals have to learn how to use their limbs and go through a process known as 'conversion euphoria.' There will be very little time remaining when the final three, you, the doctor and the receptionist drink the serum. With this serum, I have made it myself and after conversion, you will be like a native Equestrian. You will be able to use your limbs right away, there will be no euphoria and if upon conversion, you wind up as a unicorn, learning how to use your magic will be much easier than standard newfoal unicorns."

Storm was curious about one thing, "So what kind of pony will I become?"

Celestia replied, "That is something that even I can not determine. It is generally completely random but normally half of all newfoals are earth ponies, thirty percent become unicorns and twenty percent become pegasi. It is based off of the needs of Equestria."

While Storm was secretly hoping that he would become a unicorn because of the magic, he didn't react negatively of the higher chances of becoming an earth pony. He replied, "Alright, I was just curious."

Celestia replied, "Very well. Right now though I would strongly advise that you go to Denver." On another note she wrote down the directions to the Denver Metro bureau in the event he had never been there before. She continued, "There are the directions. Now go, time is running short."

Storm nodded and then Celestia headed back through the mirror. He then put the note in his wallet and put the directions in his coat pocket. He grabbed Shadow, put him in his carrier and said, "Alright Shadow, the time has come. The time has come for us to escape certain death."

As he left his house one last time, he did know that he would likely miss his earthly life but had a strong feeling that life in Equestria, regardless of what kind of pony he became and regardless of what he would do for a living, would be better. Once he got his pick-up fueled up, he hit the highway and headed on a trip that for so many years he never imagined he would be taking, a trip to become a pony.

The Final Conversions

As Storm headed east towards Denver, things just didn't seem right. While the highway to Salt Lake seemed eerily quiet, the roads to Denver were completely empty. There was absolutely no traffic at all. He was wanting to drive faster than what the speed limit would allow but he knew that knowing his luck, that there would likely be a highway patrolman out that would pull him over and delay him from reaching his destination.

It was a bit after noon when he finally got to Denver and got the directions out. Celestia's writing was a bit hard to read but he was able to make it out. The directions instructed him to remain on I-25 until he reached the Colfax exit and then turn left. Once he got off the interstate, there were signs directing people towards the bureau. After traveling two miles, he saw the building that was clearly marked "Denver Metro Conversion Bureau." There were two lone vehicles in the parking lot and he had a feeling that those may be the last people still living in Denver.

Once he got out of his pickup, he grabbed Shadow and headed towards the entrance. When he tried to open the door, he tried to open the door but it was locked. He saw a button for a doorbell and rang it. Very quickly a woman headed to open it but first she would ask a question over the intercom, "Are you Storm Lewis?"

Storm pulled the note out of his wallet and showed it to the woman. Upon seeing it, her mood changed and she quickly let him in before locking the door again. She gave him a smile and asked, "Are you ready for this?"

"Yes, I am very ready." replied Storm.

The woman ordered him to follow her into the back and after what seemed to be a long walk, he saw a large door that read, "Ponification Room." She pointed towards it and said, "Here we go."

She led him in and not only was the doctor there, but so was Princess Celestia. He first read the name tags of the two remaining people, Amy Johnson and Dr. James Jorgensen. He gave the two a smile and said, "Hi Amy, Hi Dr. Jorgensen." He then turned to Celestia, bowed and added, "Hello Your Majesty."

In the ponification room he saw three beds. By each one was a table with a syringe and then a glass of purple liquid. He turned to Celestia and asked, "What is that stuff?"

Celestia replied, "In the syringe is a strong sedative and in the glass is the serum."

The doctor saw a look of confusion in Storm's eyes and said, "I'm guessing you're wondering why there is a syringe full of sedative there." Storm nodded and the doctor continued, "People must be given a strong sedative for this process. After the injection, roughly one minute, people then drink the serum."

Amy added, "Trust me, you don't want to try and go through the conversion process without this sedative. One fellow demanded to try it out and things didn't go so well."

Dr. Jorgensen added, "It was an experience of unfathomable pain."

Celestia finished, "That poor stallion has one of the most severe cases of PTSD anypony has ever seen."

Storm asked, "Alright, so when do we do this?"

Celestia cast her gaze at the three and ordered, "Undress so we may do this. The barrier will be here in six hours."

The three undressed and then sat on the beds, ready to get their injections first. With this being the final people who were willing to go through the conversion process, Celestia administered the sedatives herself. The three began to get tired rather quickly and after a minute Celestia ordered, "Hurry up and drink the serum. I would rather you drink it than me have to inject it."

The three followed orders and almost immediately, they lost consciousness and fell backwards. Celestia watched with a smile as they began their transformations. One individual would be not so happy though, Shadow. Shadow could see what was happening to Storm through his carrier and began to yowl loudly. Celestia had a feeling as to what was going on and addressed the cat, "It's ok, your owner will be ok. Give him an hour and he'll be fine."

Shadow continued to yowl loudly, wondering what was going on. Celestia sighed, "I probably should have brought Fluttershy to calm his cat down but once he sees Storm is ok, he'll calm down."

Shadow continued to yowl throughout the whole process but after an hour, Storm, Amy and Dr. Jorgensen had finished the conversion process, they were now ponies. When Storm opened his eyes and raised his legs up, he saw that no longer did he have hands, he had hooves.

He gasped, "I'll be honest, up until now I was never 100% sure you could become a pony!"

Celestia gave him a smile, "Try and get up on your hooves."

Storm got off the bed but would fall as he tried to walk on all fours for the very first time. After he got up, he was able to walk more easily and then saw himself in the mirror and was pleased by what he saw. He saw a gray pony with a short black mane and when he looked back, he saw a short black tail that sort of resembled the short hair he had as a human. After taking a second look, he was thrilled to see that he had been transformed into a unicorn.

He exclaimed, "Yes, I'm a unicorn just like I hoped!"

Celestia gave him a smile, "Take a look at your cutie mark."

Storm turned his head back and saw two pieces of metal being welded together with what appeared to be unicorn magic. Celestia continued, "Given your line of work as a human, I had a feeling that you would become a unicorn but I didn't want to say anything."

Celestia then turned to Amy and the doctor and both of them had also turned out as unicorns. When the two saw this, they too were happy over the end result. Celestia then decided to admit to something she had hid from them. She broke into a smile and added, "There was something I never told you three. I decided to add something to this final batch of serum, I added a special mix that would result in you becoming unicorns since" she pointed towards the doctor and the receptionist and continued, "since you stayed here to run this bureau until the final moments."

She then turned to Storm and continued, "And I allowed you to have this serum for two reasons. First, doing the job you did as a human will be far easier as a unicorn and second it was because of the fact that you were willing to sacrifice your life to remain with your cat."

Shadow was still yowling and Storm asked, "Speaking of Shadow, is it ok for him to come out of his carrier now."

Celestia nodded and let the cat out. He immediately headed to Storm. At first he was apprehensive to approach him but once he picked up on Storm's scent, he jumped up on his back and began to meow happily. Celestia looked up at the clock on the wall and suggested, "Well how about we go outside, the barrier will be moving through in three hours and for those who wait for the barrier, they must be outside."

The three followed Celestia outside and readied themselves for the barrier to move through and for them to be taken off to Equestria. Storm was a bit nervous as to whether it would burn when it moved through but given the energy that seemed to radiate from Celestia, he knew that even if there was a bit of pain involved, it would be worth it.

Arrival in Equestria

Once the three got outside, Celestia pointed her wing to the west and said, "Alright, to get there we are going to have to run...." she paused for a minute, grabbed them in her aura, took flight and continued, "actually to get to where I want us to go, we will have to fly."

Storm asked, "Why do we have to fly?"

Celestia pointed towards the tallest building in the city and said, "You see that building, it is known as the cash register building. That is where the barrier will close." She noticed that they were about to ask something else and continued, "There is no particular reason but I think it would be best if we were all in the same place when it closes, that way we'll all wind up in the same place in Equestria."

They all nodded and Celestia grabbed them in her aura and took off. Out of all of them Shadow seemed to be the most distraught and began to meow loudly. This did concern Storm as he did not want his cat bolting when they landed on the top of the building. When they landed and Celestia released them. Almost immediately Shadow got off of his back and began to bolt. Storm yelled, "Shadow, no!"

He began to panic and despite never having used it or even knowing how to use it, Storm grabbed him in his aura and levitated him onto his back. He turned back to him and said, "Shadow, you can't do that. You could have fell to your death."

After releasing him from his hold, Shadow began to rub his face against his neck and meow happily. When Celestia saw this, she was in a state of shock. She gasped, "Storm, how did you do that? You've never even had a chance to study using magic, much less actually use it!"

Storm replied, "Well I went into a panic and envisioned grabbing him in an aura and saving him. I don't know why but that is what my instincts told me to do."

Celestia gave him a smile and said, "You know, I have a feeling that magic school isn't going to be all that difficult for you. I have a feeling you'll probably get those metal working spells down pretty quick."

Dr. Jorgensen then asked, "What about me and Amy, do you think we'll get what we need to know down rather quickly?"

Celestia replied, "We'll see. Magic for typing is rather easy and basic medical magic isn't hard but surgical magic is much more difficult although I'm sure you'll all get everything down since you had the special serum I created."

The three began to cheer before going silent. They then began to look at their surroundings for one last time before they would be transported to their new home. Nearly three hours later, they saw a circular formation that was black and yellow in color approaching. The first thing they saw vanish were the mountains to the west. Storm asked, "Is that it, is that the barrier moving in?"

Celestia looked around and saw the same thing approaching from all around them and replied, "Yes, your time is almost here. The earth is now in its final moments."

The three newfoals watched in anticipation as they began to see the city being consumed by the barrier and when it began to move faster as there was only one mile in each direction remaining, they began to cheer. It wasn't even twenty seconds after that until the barriers met. When they did, a great shock wave radiated out and destroyed the earth.

The next thing Celestia, the newfoals and Shadow knew, they were in the throne room in Canterlot. Storm looked around and asked, "Princess Celestia, I take it this is where you rule from?"

Celestia replied, "Yes, it is. This is my throne room."

Amy asked, "So now what? Are you going to give us instructions on what to do next?"

Dr. Jorgensen added, "And where are we going to live?"

Storm finished, "And most importantly, is Shadow going to be able to stay with me? Him being able to come to Equestria is the only reason I agreed to conversion after all."

Celestia gave them a smile and replied, "Don't worry. I will take the three of you to the magic school where you will be assigned dorms for the students" she then turned to Storm and added, "And yes Shadow can stay with you! You're not the only unicorn that brought a pet!" Celestia headed towards the exit and finished, "Follow me, the time has come for you to begin your new lives as Equestrians."

For so long, when Storm very first heard about the anomaly, the barrier and even saw Princess Celestia on the TV, he thought it was all nothing more than computer generated material created by the government to control people and now here he was, a unicorn in Equestria heading off to start his new life. One thing he did know though was that life would likely be easier. As they were exiting the throne room he thought to himself, "Having magic is going to make life so much easier!"