The Conversion Bureau: Eleven

by General_H

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Human
Length: 7072

A story about the last eleven humans on Earth. (The Conversion Bureau)

The swift destruction of the Human Liberation Force has left the Human race demoralised and in ruins. But some will not stand for it. Daniel Skye, a thirty five year-old man who has lost everything, rallied the remains of the human race and formed the C.H.R, the Confederation of Human Resistance. Their goal: Safe living for the last humans and repopulation of the Earth. The story follows James, a fifteen year old boy who has yet to discover himself and his purpose within the world as well as why he is one of the last eleven humans on Earth.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-08 01:33:28 UTC

Prologue: Seattle (Pt. 1)

The Conversion Bureau: Eleven

By General_H

--Prologue--

CHR Camp, Lake Union, Seattle, USA. 15:42 Pm, Sunday 26 March, 2021.

“People, I ask for your attention.”

The babbling mush of people about the camp stopped and listened. It never took much from Daniel Skye to grab the attention of anyone.

“Today, we are here. The last of the Human race sits before me. Ten thousand individuals, with hopes and dreams, standing and listening gormlessly to a thirty-five year old man who never learnt how to fold laundry.”

There were some scattered laughs, but the crowd generally remained silent. Daniel continued.

“As you are aware, in the year 2014, an island rose out of the Atlantic Ocean. A green and lush island, with clear blue skies and greener grass. The governments of countries at the time were bewildered. They had witnessed the creation of a new island out of nothing, and they were expected to make come conclusion, some decision to inform the public of what was happening. The global superpowers such as China and the USA sent in spy planes to find out about the island, but none ever returned. A few days later, a meeting of the leader of all the countries on earth gathered in Helsinki. The meeting was a failure, with countries blaming each other for the disappearance of spy planes and other vessels bound for the new island. Less than a week later, a creature appeared to the President of the USA. A white creature with flowing hair, wings and a horn.”

“The creature introduced itself as Princess Celestia. She explained to the president, the guards and the television crew that she came in peace and that she was the ruler of the island that had risen from the sea, along with her sister, Luna. She explained about the loss of life in trying to discover more about the island; there was a forcefield around the island and its waters that Humans could not enter. Only a pony could enter the forcefield. She explained the current state of the world, what it would come to and offered a simple solution: Conversion. She asked the President to open up buildings in the USA to harbour people who wished to be converted into ponies and live out their lives in beautiful Equestria. The president agreed to this, and work began on a building in Philadelphia to harbour conversion. With this, ponies left Equestria and flocked to the countries of the world, telling them of the richness and beauty of Equestria.”

The crowd was completely silent.

“On October 25, 2014, the USA opened its first ponification clinic. Millions flocked to the building to undergo conversion, with thousands more coming every hour. More clinics opened up within a few months, quickly spreading throughout the world. As time passed, the clinics became completely global. This saw two massive changes: The drop of population from seven and a half billion individuals to just three and a half billion, and the beginning of what would become the Human Liberation Force.”

"The economy collapsed completely, with most businesses shutting down as leaders of massive corporations decided to be ponified. With this, the HLF began to grow and change drastically. Beginning with peaceful protests in Los Angeles, it quickly escalated into a huge group that hated the Equestrians and their converts, believing them to be ‘traitors.’ The HLF leader at the time, Markus O’Neill, was a cruel and calculating person. He organised small attacks on conversion bureaus, storming conversion bureaus through the USA.”

“The Human population of the earth was now only one and a half billion. Humans were a very rare sight on the streets, with groups of ponies flocking to see a human doing something as simple as having a walk in the park.”

“Then it happened. The mass genocide. Bombs, carefully hidden inside conversion bureaus throughout the world by inside agents, were detonated. 37,000 Human lives were lost and 19,000 Pony lives were lost. Princess Celestia’s descision was swift. The totally passive nature of the ponies changed. Conversion Bureaus were shut down, and ponies began to track humans across the planet. A year later, Conversion became mandatory. Tracked humans were captured and forcefully ponified using a new ponification serum that dissolved into the skin. Celestia declared that the human race was too violent to co-exist with the ponies. The small amount of humans left begged their governments for help, but none came. There were no governments left. The HLF leader Markus O’Neill cursed Celestia and Luna, and made a stand in Washington DC. He spoke of the revolutionary war and of the fight for independence. He rallied the HLF, and called princess Celestia to fight him. A small group of ponies arrived and quickly incapacitated the HLF, ponifying them in a matter of minutes. O’Neill shot himself rather than become a pony. The HLF was defeated, the human race scattered and demoralised.”

“It looked like the end of the Human race. Nothing left but ponification. The future seemed bleak and lost, and I made the descision to be ponified.

But I woke up the day after, and said one word, a word that would change everything.”

“No.”

“I rallied the humans throughout the world, asking them to come to the USA. I gathered the leaders of all Human liberation movements, and formed the C.H.R, the Confederation of Human Resistance. We created a new country.

There was cheering throughout the crowd.

We declared our land to start at the northernmost point of the Rockies, to Seattle, to San Francisco and to the southernmost point of the Rockies. And we sent a message to the Princesses.

“If one of your precious ponies places one hoof across the border, the fire will be in the fern.”

A larger cheer rippled through the crowd.

The Princess sent a message back to us a few days later. It consisted of

“We will leave you alone. For now.”

The crowd was mute.

“I finish my historical anecdote now, and I ask you this question. There are ten thousand of us here, in this country. Will you let some goddam horses take our Beautiful Planet?”

“NO!”

“Will you let yourselves be walked over?

"NO!”

“That is the correct answer, my friends. We will repopulate the Earth. We will push the ponies out of OUR land, and we will reclaim the Earth. We are the human race, the most adaptable species on the planet. God created us in his holy image. We will not disgrace ourselves and the father. We will not give our lives and souls to them. We will REPOPULATE!”

“REPOPULATE!”

“We will SURVIVE!”

“SURVIVE!”

“We will rise from the ashes!”

“RISE!”

“And found a greater and newer age for us and our descendants, a GOLDEN AGE!”

The crowd yelled, cheered and clapped, and fireworks burst into the sky, filling it with colour.

“SKYE! SKYE! SKYE!”

Daniel Skye smiled at the sight of the people before him, cheering and hugging one another. Memories flashed through his mind. His father congratulating him on learning to ride a bicycle. His mother tending to him after he was hurt in a game of soccer. Comforting his best friend after he was beaten up by a bully, then the rush as his fist connected with the face of the bully. He faced expulsion as a result, but was saved from that by a man in a suit that came to his house, spoke to his parents and then departed. As more flashed through his mind, he smiled once again, tears dripping down his face.

Love and Hope.

The best humanity had to offer.

Authors Note:

It will get darker and more exciting soon, I promise. In the meantime, criticise me constructively and don’t be too nitpicky for Celestia’s sake. This is the first piece of creative writing I have written in my own time, after all.

Prologue: Seattle (Pt. 2)

The Conversion Bureau: Eleven

By General_H

--Prologue, Part II--

Celestia paced along the steps, mane bristling as she thought about the current state of the humans. The destruction of the HLF had left the princess hopeful, but instead of forcing the remaining humans to accept conversion, it had strengthened them. From Pegasi reports, the CHR appeared to be an organised and armed community that would stop at nothing to survive, as oppose to the seemingly rabble-like fashion of the HLF and many other resistance forces that had once existed. This had frightened the population of Equestria and unnerved the princesses.

“Their desire to survive is uncanny. They would kill so many…”

But this was the human way. She knew that they would do anything to achieve survival, no matter the cost or repercussions on others. She turned towards the stain-glass window depicting the Elements of Harmony destroying Nightmare Moon and Discord. She saw all of these in humans, but they had never manifested. Did they manifest in humanity at all? Maybe they were just too evil. She did not know. She had hoped for the humans, but they had not changed. And now they waited for another attack, more prepared and bloodthirsty than ever before.

*

After Daniel’s speech, the festivities began. It began with a stand-up comedy from Victor, and now, two teenage boys occupied the stage. Groups of people chatted and listened to the music, bathed in moonlight. Every single person in the village seemed at least relaxed. This was what he wanted. People to be able to have a normal life.

Daniel was snapped out of his somewhat entranced state by a Sergeant taking the night drill.

“Sir, I would like you to see our training progress and…strategy.” The Sergeant said nervously.

“I’ll have a look.”

The Sergeant and Daniel walked over to the training ground, where privates were performing exercises. The Sergeant walked over to the largest group of soldiers, about eighty of them.

“Alright, PHALANX!”

The soldiers grabbed large wooden shields from beside a wall, and crouched, holding them over their head. The front group held their shields out front. Guns poked out of gaps in the shields.

The solid wall of shields would provide excellent protection against pegasi, with dive bombing being negated by bayonets sticking out the top and sides. Carpet bombing them would be almost ineffective. Earth ponies would be ridden into the ground and cut up by the longer bayonets held by the group in front.

“I’m impressed.”

“Don’t call me a genius. Call the Major a genius.” The Sergeant grinned.

A short, stocky man rose out of a tent and walked towards the two of them.

“That’s the Major.”

“Greetings, Skye.”

“Major.”

“You have seen the strategy.”

“Yes, the Sergeant showed me. The Romans had the right idea after all.”

“They certainly did. I’m not a fan of the crude shields, but they will do for now.”

“The wood will protect from the Earth pony Tazer-thingummywuts, it’s not conductive.”

“That’s a good idea. We’ll have to put a wooden back onto them.”

The two men chatted as the Sergeant disbanded the soldiers and sent them to their quarters.

“Good to meet you, Major.”

“Call me Oscar; you’re the boss around here after all. Nice meeting you too, Skye.”

The two men shook hands and left the training ground.

*

“Daniel. Daniel!”

“Wha… What?”

“We have Pegasi inbound. They have crossed the border!”

Daniel was instantly awake.

“WHAT?!”

“Everyone is readying now! You should be too!”

Daniel grabbed his carbine from his firearms case and burst out the tent. People were all over the place. Children were being ushered into buildings with their mothers. Everyone else was handed weapons and ordered to a spot on the ramparts. The Sergeant was marching two groups consisting of at least two hundred soldiers slightly outside of the camp entrance. Daniel took up a place in the makeshift ramparts next to one of the boys who had been playing the night earlier.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“James.” The boy sounded extremely nervous.

“Alright kid, looks like you’re with me. If they break through, don’t panic. Worst possible thing you could do. And also, do

what I say.”

“Okay…”

The Sergeant took his position, the last person to do so. All was silent. Then the tell-tale humming noise appeared, escalating in pitch, it was muffled until they rounded the bend. A huge flock of armoured pegasi rounded the bend and flew towards the groups of soldiers in the open.

“Get ready.”

The Pegasi were almost upon them.

“PHALANX!”

The two groups assumed their position. The dive bombing pegasi were faced with rows of bristling bayonets and shields instead of gun barrels and horrified faces. The pegasi, going too fast to stop, plunged onto the bayonets. The phalanx then began to fire. The new dive bombers were torn to shreds to fall limply upon the shields. The Pegasi became more timid each time, their attacks more concentrated and less damaging until they had petered out to nothing.

But just as the soldiers were wiping the sweat off their brows, the Earth Ponies and Unicorns arrived. The Earth Ponies were bulky powerhouses; they had tazers on their muzzles and hooves that could easily incapacitate a human so that the Unicorns could ponify them. But this was negated. The charging Earth ponies were run into the ground with the bayonets. Unicorns were torn up by gunfire. The potions fired by the Unicorns were mostly ineffective, with very few victims. The result of the battle was a field of dead ponies and only twenty-two humans lost. The humans had won the battle in just half of an hour. Cheering began, soldiers and civilians alike slapping each other on the back and congratulating one another for their courage. Daniel could not believe his eyes. He had witnessed, along with his comrades and people, with the first ever mass human victory against the might of Princess Celestia.

Victory.

Daniel tasted the word, savoured it. It tasted good.

*

Celestia stood alone in her chamber, and stared. She thought about all the ponies who had died today at the cruel hands of the humans. She had sent them in to deliver their friendship and new lives to the stubborn and protective humans, and the result had been the loss of five hundred ponies, with families and friends. They had been met with, instead of sparsely placed soldiers in sheltered positions as expected, an invincible wall of soldiers who had heartlessly killed them.

“What have I done…”

The door creaked and a dark figure cantered towards Celestia.

“Sister, is everything alright?”

“Some things are not alright, sister. We lost many today.”

“That is true. But we cannot linger in the past. We must look to the future, and find a means to end violence and death.”

“Maybe we should leave them alone?”

“They would eventually attack us. They want revenge.”

Celestia and Luna pondered in the royal chamber for hours, occasionally speaking to one another.

“I have made my decision,” Celestia said calmly.

“Go on.”

“We will spray them. We have enough of the serum to do so. I want our best Unicorns to be ready to produce a spell powerful enough to incapacitate their box-formation. Then we will flush out the rest of them. I want no more death.”

“I will inform the Captain of the Guard, unless you wish to do so yourself.”

“I will stay here. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, sister.”

“Likewise.”

*

The CHR village and camp was back into a normal routine. Daniel wolfed down his oatmeal, chatting to the military officers who he had begun to spend time with.

“…and he said ‘Vampires don’t burn, they just sparkle. Only frigging ponies sparkle, and they never sparkle for long, not long after I’ve squashed their pretty little muzzles into the dirt.”

“Hey, have I told you guys my favourite joke? It goes like this: Three guys walk into a bar.”

“And?”

“I’ve heard all of these.”

“Yeah, an Englishman, and Irishman and a Scotsman.”

“What about a Welshman?”

“There’s never a Welshman. So racist.”

“Don’t you get it?”

“Yes we get it. You have the weirdest sense of humour.”

“Oh, I get it! Hah!”

Daniel grinned. He finished his oatmeal and left the table, feeling warm inside. Spirits were extremely high in the camp, with the Victory over the ponies few days ago along with the birth of a boy and a girl. Things were on the up and up. Daniel left the mess hall and walked around the camp, overseeing education, military training and supply management. The village was always full of things to do. Being a teacher once himself, Daniel spent a little more time at the schools than the other parts of the village, assisting in teaching things like English and Maths, which the students would need when human life returned to the way it was twenty years ago.

A Guard suddenly burst in.

“Sir, we have mass movement near our borders. We believe it to be another army of at least nine thousand ponies as well as some sort of giant artillery piece.”

“Well fuck. Is everyone alerted?”

“The Lieutenant is doing so now. Grab your firearms and such; we need everyone who can fight manning the ramparts and redoubts. I don’t think just our Phalanxes will be enough this time.”

“Okay, thank you Sergeant.”

*

Daniel crouched inside a rampart, his eyes on the horizon. Everyone could hear them now, the flapping of wings and the thundering of hooves. He was with the same kid as last time, James.

“Alright kiddo, we’re going to be fine. We’re going to win this.”

“I know. But you told me it was going to be more difficult the next time there was an attack.”

“Maybe you’ll actually have to aim and fire that pop gun of yours. Dan gestured to the small AUG the boy held. But you’ll probably be safe.”

Daniel was silent as the ponies rounded the bend, and you could hear every single human in the ramparts gasp.

The ponies had constructed something resembling a humungous horn.

“Holy crap.”

“That’s a shitload of ponies.

The ponies came slightly closer, and then they stopped. A light green unicorn emerged from the ranks.

“Humans, we beckon you to a greater and sweeter life in Equestria! Your friends and families await your arrival with open arms. Simply lay down your arms, and you will be delivered peacefully into new lives.

A few yells echoed through the landscape

“LIAR!”

“We’ll burn in hell first!”

“Leave us alone!”

“Very well, said the Unicorn, sounding dejected.

“PHALANX!”

“Open fire!”

The humans ripped the front line of ponies to shreds. Pegasi took off from the ranks, their formation so dense that they obscured the clouds. Each pegasi held a unicorn, throwing vast amounts of potions at the Phalanx and the ramparts. But the human defences held firm. Shell after shell was fired into the Earth pony line. Snipers picked off key figures with ease, their shots echoing across the battlefield. Soldiers in the ramparts sat hunched, firing at ponies within range. The Phalanx was undaunted. Many more ponies were dying than humans being converted. The central flag still stood tall, and the humans had the upper hand.

But, out of the blue, a sound resonated across the land.

It was the sound of Equestria.

The beautiful sounds of paradise filled the minds of the humans. Some completely succumbed to the sound, and ran out to the ponies, begging for conversion. The more determined struggled against the musical spell. The ponies now advanced, mostly unimpeded. The Earth ponies broke through the ramparts, swiftly disabling humans so that they could be converted. Dan watched in horror as his friends were transformed, helpless to stop the tide. The potion rain created by the pegasi made it impossible to run up any small passes; they were confined to the ramparts. The human defences began to collapse.

“Fuck this,” Someone said, running out to join the ever-growing number of ponies.

Dan began to feel despair. His dream or recreating humanity was turning to ashes in his mouth. The remaining humans kept firing, moving back ramparts and downing as many ponies as they could manage.

The Phalanxes had been destroyed, and the enemy had full access to the camp. More and more ponies pushed into the defences, stamping out resistance with ease.

“This is fruitless! Dan yelled, stabbing an over-exited pony in the haunch. Fall back!”

Then the flag fell, severed by a bolt of magic. It was over.

The remaining Humans retreated. The slower were captured and converted. More and more ponies gave chase until the small group of humans remaining were pushed out of the camp and forced to make a break for the ruins of the city. Potions rained down on the running humans.

“AAAGH NOO! My hands, I’ll never become an author now!” The man began to sob, but as the fur spread he laughed crazily.

More and more were being struck down behind him, but Daniel kept running.

“This feels…beautiful…”

“I can see my family, in Equestria!”

Dan’s face began to burn. Humans, people, friends; their lives, their minds and their opposable thumbs stolen from them, for what? Dan began to feel true hatred. Hatred for the Princess who snatched his family, friends and comrades from his fingertips. Hatred for each and every pony that existed.

He ducked through an alley and down a sewer. The stench was unbearable, but he kept running. Up some stairs, through another manhole and he was back on the road. Dan felt his legs begin to give way, his vision blurred and hazy from fatigue. He forced himself to keep running, but his body caught up with him. He collapsed into a gutter and blacked out.

*

“….He’s in a right state, all bruised and mangled...”

“We all are.”

Dan felt himself coming to, the voices of others echoing through his ears.

“Oh thank god, he’s awake.”

Dan shot up and tried to grab his pistol to discover that it was not there.

“Who are you?!”

“We’re survivors, Daniel. Drink this.”

Daniel stared at the clear liquid in the mug.

“What the hell is this stuff… smells like nothing… I Might as well drink it.” He thought.

Dan drank the clear liquid.

“Stop staring at it, it’s water. You’re extremely dehydrated.”

“So… where are we?”

“In a basement. We have been here for almost 2 days.”

“And we haven’t found any humans.”

“Well, that’s not so good.”

“Not so good is right. We’re the only people in this whole place. There’s nowhere else safe to go. The lake and most of the city is crawling with ponies.

Dan sat up against the wall, chest heaving.

"Right then. Let’s get moving.”

“Whoa, just calm down! We need to stay safe. There are still loads out there.”

“We can only stay safe by moving. Eleven humans in a basement versus billions of ponies?”

“Honestly, I think Dan’s right. Movement is our best bet.”

“Get out quick and travel inside buildings until we can find some kind of off-road vehicle or something.”

“We’ll travel to Russia.”

“That’s ages away!”

“Want to survive, kid? Deal with it. We’re going to have to deal with shit if we are the last eleven humans on Earth.”

“What? No, there must be some around.”

“Let’s face it. We must have been at the front of the escaping group. People barely a metre behind be were being hit. The chance of other humans being around is nil.”

“You aren’t Daniel Skye.”

“Daniel Skye is a human with hopes and dreams. Those hopes and dreams are shattered, Daniel said coldly. Let’s move.”

The group of humans left the building, dejected by Daniel’s harsh words.

“We can’t be the last eleven, Thought James, staring at Daniel’s emotionless face as he walked. That’s impossible.” But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He resigned to the hypothesis and kept walking, thinking of the journey ahead and what it would bring.

End of Prologue.

Author’s Note:

This one was somewhat rushed due to upcoming exams. Expect a while until the next one. Feel free to be nitpicky and tell me about huge mistakes or inconsistencies or not enough bananas or whatever as long as you tell me how I can improve; otherwise it just hinders my progress. Haters and Cynical people will be killed with trays.

Chapter 1

The Conversion Bureau: Eleven

By General_H

Chapter 1

“COME ON, MOVE!” Yelled Daniel.

“There’s no need to yell Dan, we are way away from any kind of danger.”

“Shut up and get on the boat, kid.”

“Don’t bother the chief Jimmy. He has a lot on his hands trying to sort us all out. Just have a seat.”

James took a seat next to one of the few windows. Buried just next to the waterline, the crew’s quarters, according to Rob, would provide excellent protection against potions and projectiles as well as small amounts of magic.

“God bless whoever built this boat.” Said Victor wistfully, sprawling over a seat.

“Come on guys, we all have work to do!” Boomed Daniel as he checked over all the supplies.

“Dan, lighten up a little. Let’s be grateful we are here.”

“That doesn’t mean we don’t have to do anything Kath.”

James smiled as he listened to the babble of the crew. Tethering the boom quietly, he felt happy for the first time since Seattle. He was doing the same things, and with the same people, after all.  James, being quick and light, was in charge of all things knots. Keeping the sail and the wiggly bits of the boat working at their best was his top priority. He had little other things to do, for the constant array of knots to tie with left little room for else. But he had done all he needed to do for the hour.

The hustle and bustle went on for another few minutes, and then the crew assembled in the ‘living room’ of the ship.

“Alright guys, just shut up for a bit. When I have finished this goddam speech we will depart from where we are now, which is Avacha bay, Kamchatka. We are going to travel the length of the Okhotsk into Russia, hopefully confusing the ponies for some time. We will then travel across Siberia, stopping at villages and cities along the way to find supplies. We’re then going to grab a chopper or something from Murmansk and then fly to Station Nord in Greenland. We should be able to establish a safe place to live there. Any questions?”

“That place is so cold! How are we going to survive, especially without Electricity and such?”

“We’ll find a way Chris. We can take extremes that those prissy little ponies can’t, even with their magic. And plus, they are probably expecting us to go southwards to Australia or New Zealand.”

“How long will this trip take?”

“Dunno James. Not a clue. Now, let’s get moving!”

James smiled. “That was the first time he had ever called me by name.” Dan was always a serious, no-nonsense person.  “I had no Idea he would ever regard me as a member of the crew, let alone call me by name.” He was snapped back to reality by Dan barking instructions to the crew as the boat left the shore.

“Alright chaps, we’re going to disappear in a couple of minutes. When I push this beautiful button, No damn pony will be able to touch us with their blasted magic or potions.” Said Chris, a tad smugly.

“What does it do?”

“It makes it bloody hard to breathe, Alice. I’d stay down here if I were you.”

“All below decks! James, slip the knots now!”

“I’m on it Dan.”

James raced up the stairs to the surface of the boat and began to slip the knots that held the mast, the boom and other sailing apparatus. Slipping the knots allowed one to do them up in less than half the time then if it had been done from scratch whilst basically undoing them.

“Disappear in 30 seconds.”

James was working furiously, green eyes alight, slipping knots up and down the mast and keeping out of the way of the now berserk boom.

“Hurry up!”

“Sorry Dan.”

“Don’t be sorry, it never did anyone good.”

James doubted that was true, but no-one argued with Dan. He slipped the last knot and ran below, closing the hatch & improvised airlock.

“Alright chaps, let’s disappear before those ponies get us eh?

Chris pushed the blue button. There was a creaking sound and then a whooshing as the boat drifted downward.

“Engine going?”

“Engine is fine, Dan.”

“Nitrogen levels at 76.3%, Oxygen at 22.7%”

“Can’t do much better than that, Kath”

“We are now 200 metres below sea level.”

“Let’s see those bastards try to catch us now.”

As if on cue the boat made a gargantuan noise.

“What the bloody hell was that?”

“What’s going on?”

The crew was aghast, except for Trent.

“Relax, it’s just pressure. 250 metres below sea level now. Speed of 45 kilometres per hour.”

The crew milled about their business, performing their jobs when needed. James was staring out of a porthole when Victor came and sat next to him.

“You can’t see much out there Jimmy, the sea is too cold.”

“Why does that make it hard to see then?”

“Because it’s shivering you dim wit. All the vibrations make the image hazy.” He then burst into laughter, his high pitched cackle bouncing around the ship. The crew sniggered. No-one could keep a straight face when Victor laughed, it was contagious.

“Really witty Vic.” James said dryly.

“I know. I’m going to become a comedian when we get to Nord.”

James snorted. It was going to be a long trip…

Chapter 2

The Conversion Bureau: Eleven

By General_H

Chapter 3

“What do you mean; they just disappeared off the face of the Earth?”

“It seems so.”

“They fled Seattle, crossed Canada and the Aleutian Islands while fending us off, travelled across Kamchatka and now they are GONE?”

“Yes, just the eleven of them. They killed ten times their own number in pegasi.”

Luna rubbed at her eyes with her forehooves. “There is only eleven of them!” Yet Luna knew that it was enough to be worried about. This tiny band would likely stop at nothing to enact some form of fruitless revenge.

“Luna, your sister is here to see you and progress.”

Princess Celestia glided gracefully across the room to Luna, mane waving.

“Have you found any leads?”

“No sister, they were last seen in the old human settlement, Provideniya. We lost track of them after that.”

“That’s very strange. We last saw them a few days ago.”

“That’s what’s bothering me.”

The two sisters pondered for a time, thinking of something to do about the disappearance of the eleven humans.

“I have no idea else, but to explore the area. I want thirty-two pegasi ready for a scouting mission by this afternoon.

Celestia, having exhausted her time for tactical thought, left for her chamber.

*

“James, you are the worst at Blackjack.”

“I bet I could beat you at Table Tennis.”

“No you couldn’t”

Victor Gestured to himself.

“You clearly don’t stand a chance.”

The crew enjoyed the daily banter between Victor and James. It provided amusement in the most grey and boring of times.

The crew were of mixed ethnicity. James was a New Zealand immigrant to the USA. Victor was Mandarin Chinese. Alice, Dan,

Kathy and Jackson were American. Chris and Trent were from the UK. Rajeev was a Bangladeshi. Ahmet was from Turkey.

Beatrice was Polish. Most of the group that were not from the USA were in the USA because they had at one time wished to be converted or were living there.

“Hey Big A, want to join us?”

“Maybe, once I have finished my meal, Victor.”

“You always say that.”

“Just leave everyone alone, Vic,” Said Dan, entering the room with some ropes. They have better things to do than play silly card games with you and Monkey-boy.”

“Like what? Stare out the window gormlessly?”

Beatrice sighed and found something of great interest in the ceiling.

“Come on guys, it’s getting late. We need our sleep,” Jackson said, yawning.

“You’re no fun.” Said James.

The crew laughed, and after some supper steadily left the living area for the cabins. Soon only James was left in the room, staring out through one of the portholes. The odd clank next door reminded him of Dan and Trent’s presence next door. It was only ten o’clock. James sighed with exasperation. Back at home, he stayed up until at least ten thirty most nights. He would read or play video games, sometimes after his parents told him to turn his lights out and go to sleep. Sometimes he would sneak out into the kitchen with Kyle and have small midnight feasts on the couches.

As he became sleepier He became aware of a tugging at his mind, gradually getting stronger. He attempted to find the source of the tugging, but it evaded him easily. He felt himself drifting off to sleep...

*

James’ eyes drifted open. He was not on the ship, but on lush green grass. There was no-one in sight. He turned around see one of his most hated enemies in front of him.

Princess Celestia.

James yelled and scrambled backwards, but her voice transfixed him.

“Be calm, Human-foal.”

“Stay away from me.”

“There is nothing to be afraid of.  I am not going to hurt you”

“You will convert me if I give you the chance.”

“You have already given me a thousand chances. And it is nothing to be afraid of.”

“Yes it is! All my friends, my family, taken from me—

“No. We have given them a new–

“Don’t spit your bloody propaganda at me!"”

James ran at the Princess, and found him trapped in a bubble of magic, restraining him.

“Be calm, James. Struggling is not going to do anything.”

“You’re scared,” James spat.

“Why would I be scared of you? I trapped you to protect you more than myself. Now, may I continue speaking to you?”

“Fine, Princess. James spat. Speak.”

I want to ask you. Why are you running? Why are you with these people, James? You are barely fifteen years old, a foal. You have no herd…

“They harboured me when I was separated from my family. They taught me to fight. They gave me a chance to stay human, to stay as I am. To find out who I am rather than be converted into a pony, and run off to Equestria to live happily ever bloody after. And the crew. They are my new family! We all depend on each other to survive and live.”

“Fighting seems to be what humans do best. It saddens me. Yet I see so much kindness in you, James.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t want to kill, do you James? Do you?”

“I made a choice. I knew that I would have to kill, but I still made that choice. So I killed ponies, and I am not afraid to kill more.”

“The ponies that you killed had families, James. Lives. Dreams. They wished to spread their gift to all!”

“They’re all BRAINWASHED! James yelled. They had lives and dreams before, but you stole them and stuffed them full of shit! It’s all FAKE!”

“Open your eyes, James! Is this what you really want? To be forever separated from your family, who are living in Equestria and waiting for your return?”

“Yeah, they probably don’t care.  They’ll be full of Rainbows and false happiness.”

“You seem adamant in your opinion. But I will show you one thing before you leave.”

James felt himself float through the air as Celestia flew from the sunny meadow to a small village. He saw three ponies waiting on the ground.

“Who are they?”

“You will see James.”

Celestia landed near the three ponies, and released James. He fell to the ground with a bump.

The three ponies eyes widened as they saw him. They galloped over to him.

“Sweet Celestia boy, when did you get so tall?”

“Dad? Mum? Kyle?”

“It’s so good to see you James. We have been so worried about you, out there.”

“Yeah Big Bro. You look pretty bad too.”

James leant out to hug his family, but stopped.

“What’s wrong, son?” his father said, padding closer.

James turned away.

“They aren’t my family. They’re just ponies. Brainwashed ponies.” James thought.

He turned towards them.

“You aren’t my family. You’re just brainwashed slaves to her!” he pointed to Celestia.

He expected anger from his father, but only saw sadness and disappointment, as with his mother and brother.

“You aren’t my family,” James said.

“They love you, James. Much more than you know.”

James looked at his family once again. They looked pleadingly at him.

“We love you, James. Come and live with us. Please,” His mother said.

Memories flashed through James’ head.

“Come on, quick! We have to escape!”

“James, Kyle, get into the sewers and follow the red line. We’ll be just after you.”

“AAGH!”

“DAD!”

“MUM”

“RUN!”

“KYLE! NOOO!”

“James Flint, we know you’re in there. Your family has been ponified. Join the herd and you can live with your family in peace.”

No! Leave me alone….

Tears were falling down his face. He cast his eyes down. His family and Celestia looked at him. James ran at Celestia.

“YOU BITCH! YOU BASTARD! ROT IN HELL!”

Again James felt the bubble of magic encase him. He struggled, but it did nothing. His parents cantered away, saying nothing. Celestia looked at him, eyes full of wisdom and he felt himself drifting away. The image became hazy, and he felt himself coming to…

Chapter 3

The Conversion Bureau: Eleven

By General_H

Chapter 3

“Whoa, buddy! How'd ya fall asleep on that?”

“Not sure, but I slept well.”

“That’s good. I would have difficulty sleeping on a bench that narrow.”

“Surely you remember being able to sleep anywhere when you were my age, Jackson?

“Not really.”

“Hey Dan, how far away are we.”

“About an hour, Chris.”

The crew were overjoyed by this statement, even though it was only the first leg in a tramp across some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth.

“Keep your heads on guys, we still have a ship to steer.”

The crew worked quickly and with renewed vigour with the knowledge that they were on their way to sanctuary.

*

“Celestia, you hath spoken to the Human-foal?”

“Yes Luna. I made little progress. He is loyal and driven. But we have found a lead on where they are going.”

A guard brought in two pieces of jagged metal, along with some other small pieces.

“Our Unicorn researchers have analysed the Kamchatka peninsula. We found one piece of evidence.

These two pieces of metal from a boat that was anchored in the harbour just a week ago had scratching going in the general direction of north, which means that they have migrated south-west."

“But we have scouted the Sea of Japan and its surroundings, and we have seen nothing!”  Exclaimed Luna

“This metal is classic of a hybrid sea vehicle, suggesting that it functioned as a submarine as well as a yacht. That is why you could not find them.

“But where are they heading?”

“We think that they are heading to the other side of the globe, as Twilight Sparkle predicted they would. But something tells me otherwise. I think they are trying to fool us.

“You can’t go running around Kamchatka again, it would be a waste of time. They have already gone. We should search the seas for a vessel, and Australasia any evidence of their existence.

*

“So this is Ayan.”

“Sure is, kid. Looks like heaven.”

The town was snow covered and looked slightly worn. Some houses windows were boarded up. The wind whistling through the city gave it an eerie feeling.

“We can’t hang around for long. Search the buildings in groups of two or three. Don’t stray too far from the boat, or I’ll personally hang you.”

“Dan, just calm down. Nothing is going to happen, this place is deserted! No ponies are here.”

“Kath, it’s for the safety of all of us. Now, get going.”

The crew split into groups. I was with Victor and Alice. We decided to explore an old dock building first. The wharf was covered in ice, too dangerous to venture out onto. We instead broke into a storage room with what looked like an office above.

“Look at all these boxes! I hope they have something we can use.”

The boxes turned out to be mostly junk, but Victor found some boxes of smoked fish.

“This must be preserved pretty well,” James said.

“

Yep, let’s grab it and bring it back to the boat.”

It turned out there were only four boxes, but the three of them still took all of it to the boat.

“That’ll feed us pretty well for a while.”

A yell echoed from further inside the village.

“Who is that? Victor said.”

“It can’t be good.”

“You’re right James, let’s find out what’s going on.

The three of them ran to the source of the noise, to discover that everyone else was there.

“There was a ponification trap,” Said Beatrice, shaking.

“Yeah, scared the shit out of all of us!” Trent exclaimed.

“Alright, we’re leaving now. This place is fucking rigged. Did anyone find anything of use?”

“Yep, Vic, James and I found some smoked fish.  It should be preserved if it’s not rotten by now.”

“Good enough. Have we taken all we need from the boat?”

“I think so,” Said Ahmet, sounding slightly unsure.

“Okay, fine. I’m sick of waiting here. Let’s get going before those four-legged fiends catch up with us.

The eleven humans began their trek across Siberia to the other end of the Earth.

“Our next port of call is Aldan. Hopefully that place isn’t rigged full of traps. We need to keep following this ridge.” Kathy said, studying the map as she walked.

“Right, follow this ridge guys. Be a bit quicker, we have eight thousand kilometres to cover.”