Conversion Bureau: St George

Chapters

Episode 1 part 2: a new place for an old face
episode 2: the first human
mini1: letters
episode 2 part 3: tastes like grape.
episode 2 part 4: the dream
episode 2 part 5: these hooves are made for trotting
episode 3 part 1: grace
mini2: letters2
episode 3 part 2: brain trust.
episode 3 part 3: Mare Talk
episode 3 part 4: names. how hard could it be?
episode 3 part 5: hooves, how do they Bucking work?
episode 3 part 6: Ponies and god.
Mini3: Of Chess and Cheaters
episode 3 part 7: on hayfries and sleepovers
Episode 3 Part 8 : Chip happens
episode3 part9: dawww.
Episode 4: Sales
Episode4 Part2: a slice of bureau life
episode 4 part 4 tastes like.. surprise?
episode 4 part5 Memorys, dreams, and unforeseen circumstances .
episode 4 part 6 adoptions, names, and fitting ends.
episode 5 part 1:operation blue light
episode 5 part 2: the oncoming storm
episode 5 part 3: blue light take two.
interlude 4: D4L3K conversion
episode 5 part 4 in the land of the blind
episode 5 part 5 MINECRAFT: let our battles begin
episode 6 part 1: Social security
episode 6 part 2: the calm
episode 6 part 3 three meetings and a party
episode 6 part 4 Wings of change
episode 6 part 5 Transformation Central
episode 7 Cutiemark Crusade
episode 7 part 2birth, death, and a whole lot of gak
episode 7 part 4 this is gallifrey, our childhood, our home.
epilogue: Diary of a goddess
episode 1 part 1: I have a question for you.
episode 2 part 2: what do you do with a drunken pony?
episode4 part3: we can put a man on the moon...
episode 7 part 3 an awful lot of running to do

Episode 1 part 2: a new place for an old face

TCB:SG episode 1, part 2
a new place for an old face
story by kryxel (that crazy sonnuva)
and small fixes and edits by ray10k (best pony hooves down.)

St George turned out to be a semi small town. Not big enough to be called big, but still too big to be seen as small. A retirement/college city, with golf courses as far as the eye can see. Suburbs dotting the areas in between and a few pinnacles of interest coming from a religion of some sort.
In other words, the Doctor’s worst nightmare.
He landed at the old converted wallmart between the eastern end of St George and the western side of Washington City.
The old building had been refurbished into a conversion center. He noticed that all but one of the front doors was sealed off with the duraplasteel. Nothing short of a nuke would get through them now.
The Doctor looked up at the sky and saw a few patches of blue. A rare sight in the heavily polluted world.
He looked around the small city (or at least the parts he could see) and sighs. "This is going to be a pain... "

He walked back into the TARDIS and set the coordinates to the parking garage. A few seconds later he walks out by what was once the "tire center." With a glance he looks over the bureau. The entertainment area was converted to a lounge, The toy isles into a classroom, the food isles turned into a cafeteria and kitchen, with the rest of the areas changed to classrooms, bedrooms, an announcement booth and, last but definitely not least, the conversion center itself, nestled into the layaway area in the back of the old store.

"Well, I guess it is time to meet the troops." The Doctor said heading up to the front lounge. He spied the ponies talking wildly to his future self... Or is it his present self ponified? The Doctor quickly shrugs and shakes his head as he walks over, muttering about wibbelly wobbelly stuff.
The room fell silent, as if someone suddenly turned off the sound. "That’s... probably not a good sign," the Doctor said as he waved slightly...
Each of the ponies looked at Whooves and then at the human Doctor, then back to the brown Earth pony, before sharing various looks of confusion among themselves.

"And that is... Probably worse," the Doctor said as his stallion counterpart stands up and looks to the rest of them. "Well, as I know what is going through my mind, he says hi and wants you all to do your best for the Princesses. They will want a report from each of us on each newfoal that passes through the doors," the stallion finishes before sitting down next to the walleyed Pegasus known as Ditzy and closes his eyes.

"Right... That," the Doctor replied, nodding. "Um... you may want to prepare, since we open tomorrow."
The Doctor turns and walked toward his office near where the garden center was, and sighs as he opens the door.

Only to be assaulted by something white with a blonde-yellow mane doing an impressive attempt at breaking the speed of sound.

"Ahem... " the Pegasus smiles for a moment, before breaking out into song.

"Congratulations on becoming our boss today, today!
We wanted to say thankyou and hooray, hooray!
Though you’re old and grumpy, skinny and looking frumpy.
We will put a smile up on that human face!!!!
So when you need a smile or two,
you will know exactly what to do,
I will throw a party dance and invite everypony,
and we will put a smile on that human face!"

The Doctor flinched as Surprise smiled and blew a party horn. Loudly, and about half an inch from his face.
"Um... That is new... Being sung to by a Pegasus who thinks she is a hummingbird... Never had that experience before..."
Surprise smiled and giggled. "Well duh silly. If it was something that happened to you before then that would be boring, and if it was boring then you would not have fun, and if it was no fun then you would not like it, and if you didn’t like it then you would not like it here and if you do not like it here then you would leave and if you leave everypony would get sad and if everyone gets sad then we woul-" The Doctor finally managed to silence the Pegasus by putting a hand on her mouth.
"Thank you. And don’t worry. I was asked by Princess Celestia to do a job, so I am doing it," the Doctor smiled. "Well, as you are here, can you go and get the desk runner? I want to ask miss Doo some questions and give her an assignment."
Surprise nodded and bounced. "okie dokie, I’ll do it in ten seconds flat!"
Surprise practically vanished, leaving behind a cartoonish cloud of dust in the shape of her body.

The Doctor sat down and connected the computer to his TARDIS.
there was a knock on the door. The Doctor Smiled and said, "Come in."
Ditzy opened the door and looked at the Doctor. "You asked for me, sir?"
"I did. I have got an assignment for you." The Doctor sat up and looked at the wall-eyed mare. "I want you to look over the potential ponies, and pick one each week. We need to find out why they decided to become ponies, why they decided to abandon the lives they took years to build in exchange for a set of hooves. To do that, I’ll be holding interviews with some of them to see what their motivation is."
Ditzy nodded. "Okay. I think I can do that."
The Doctor blinked as he remembered something odd from her file. "So, why is your nickname Derpy?"
Ditzy smiled. "Well, it started out as an insult to my... unique eye condition. Until I met the Doctor, err, I mean you, I mean..." Her eyes started to point different directions as she tried to work out the bending of time and space, and how this skinny and scary human could become her lovable Doctor.
"Don’t worry Ditzy, just continue," The doctor said with a smile.
"Well, one day I was cornered by a group of bullies, when suddenly this blue box appears out of nowhere. So while we all were staring at the box, one of the doors opened, showing the Doctor with the kindest smile I had ever seen. He walked up to me, and kissed my forehead. He then turned to the others and said, 'her eyes are one of the many reasons I love her...' It turned out he missed the date by a few years, confusing me to no end. But now, I use that nickname with pride knowing my husband loves them."

The Doctor smiled and nods. "That is good that I... He... We did that. Well, I think I have taken up enough of your time. We should get some rest. It will be a busy day tomorrow."

The Doctor woke up to a smell he had not smelled in a very, very long time... Bacon.
The manna of the heavens themself. The grand panacia.
He stood up and quickly walked into the bathroom to shave, before he made his appearance in the dining hall.
"Hello everyone, everypony... Is that bacon I smell?" He said, walking over to the kitchen where the Cakes were busy cooking haycakes, alfalfa and muffins for the ponies, and bacon and sausages for the human in their midst.
"Indeed it is hon... I´m sorry if it is not quite prepared, first time cooking uh, meat as it were..." Cup Cake looked a little pale as she rolls over the fat-soaked sausage.
"Oh, no problem Mrs. Cake. If you want I can cook my own meat from now on."
Mrs. Cake smiled and looked very relieved. "Thank you dear, thank you!" She smiled as she scooped all the meat products onto the Doctor’s plate before joining her husband and her two foals at their table.
The Doctor sat down at an empty table and started to eat the bacon, when Colgate sat down across from him and poured syrup on her haycakes.
"So, do you know me yet?" She said while lifting up a pancake using her magic.
"You are Colgate, a toothpaste supermodel or something from Manehattan, right?" The Doctor said between bites.
Colgate sighed. "Nope, you don’t know me yet. i am..."
Ditzy suddenly bursted into the room with a smile so wide it threatened to split her head in half. "WE HAVE HUMANS! WE HAVE HUMANS!"
"Humans! Humans! yay yay yay!" Dinky said while bouncing around her mother.
The Doctor stood up and wiped his mouth.
“Fillies and gentlecolts... The bureau is now, open!”

episode 2: the first human

TCB: SG E2P1:
The First Human
Written by kryxel (the crazy loon)
Capitals commas, and other various changes (for the better) done by the amazing
Ray10k
(music for this chapter)

Ditzy unlocked the doors, and flew behind the counter. "Welcome to the bureau," she said as the people filed past in twos or threes. One of her eyes watched the people filing past, while the other eye looked at the names that appeared from the World Identification Database.
Sally Johanson, Trevor Mirkis. Pikup Dropov, Dave Strider. Freddie Thompson. Thomas A. Anderson.
She smiled and repeated the welcome a few times before she saw Him. Yes... He would do.
The tall man stood straight and walked with purpose, his eyes looking forward, ignoring all that happened around him. His hair was a buzz cut and he had a pair of dogtags down his collar.
However, none of that was what drew Ditzy’s attention.
What did draw her attention however, was the large man’s right arm, or rather the lack thereof.
She knew that the loss of a limb in this day and age was not unheard of, most if not all people had an enhancement of some sort.
The robotics were practically given away for free, so a person without an arm and no replacement kind of stood out like a Unicorn in a parade of Pegasi.
She pushed a button, and the information on the man with the robotic arm darted through the wires and relays, until it reached the timelords computer.

The Doctor looked at the picture that came up on the screen and read the name. "Vicktor Krum... really? Do they even read Harry Potter in this timeline?"
The Doctor pulled up Victors file from the database.
Victor Eli Krum.
Soldier of the elite squad in the great Canadian-Americanzone war. Lost his arm about halfway through the conflict.
Discharged with honors and given a fully versatile prosthetic arm.
"Hmm, that’s interesting... So, where is that arm now?"

The Doctor started writing down a few notes, in preparation to the coming interview.

Mrs. Cake smiled while she trotted around, giving cupcakes and forms for the humans to fill out. "Take one and pass it around, and don’t be shy. They are made with real Equestrian wheat, sugar, milk and cream."
The last one was picked up by Victor. He sat down as he set the clipboard down on his lap, then picked up the pen to start filling out the form when Octavia was suddenly heard over the loudspeaker. "Hello... Is this thing on?... What?... No Surprise you can NOT say something... Maybe later... This is an important... *ahem* Will all the members of the staff please report to the doctor’s office, with the exception of Doctor Whoof, Ditzy, Mrs. Cake and Soarin. The four of you can proceed with your jobs, the rest of the staff is, again, requested in the office of the Doctor.”

A short scuffle was heard as the mike was passed to a different speaker.
"HEEEELLO FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS! This is your Wonderbolt heatblaze himself... *pause for dramatic effect* Soarin! I want to have a shoutout to all the newcomers in the building TONIGHT! I would name you all, but hey! You all are new. Now, as for announcements:
The Cakes would like to remind Anypony who is not familiar with the Equestrian diet that meat is not on the menu, since soon we all will be eating grass. The menu of today on the other hoof is a green salad, assorted fruits, nuts, and the Sugarcube Corner Pinkie Pie cupcakeception special! For the ponies the menu is mostly the same, just swap the nuts to alfalfa shakes and it is a done deal.
Let’s see here... Rules and regulations... Blah boring... Dresscode... Psh... Who cares.. A-hah! Here we go! The thing you have been waiting for! Classes will begin later today for all newfoals (that is you humans out there), so you can learn the basics of what you could be. Earth pony, Unicorn or perhaps the greatest of the three, Pegasus." The sound of cheering was heard but it honestly sounded more like somepony clapped his hooves to the side of his mouth and breathed through it.
"Anyway, back on track. As our personal master of the double bass is away, I shall play a few tracks I like... "
A rock and roll ballad starts up as Victor finishes filling out the form. He did not like the loud pony, not at all... All he wanted right now was some peace and-
"Hi there!," The small purple Unicorn with a blond mane said to Victor.
"Uh..." He looked around before looking back to the Unicorn. "Hi?"
The Unicorn smiled. "My name is Dinky, and you are the first humans I have ever seen... My friend Scootaloo says humans eat ponies, is that true?"
Victor chuckled. "Oh, yes... We eat at least a foal like yourself a day, maybe two. My one friend Tom "the rock" Jensen said he could eat four foals a day... And I did not believe him ‘till I saw him do it."
Dinky turns as grey as her mother and shied back a step. "R-really?"
Victor laughed. "No... Hehe, does Equestria not have sarcasm, little filly?" Dinky shrugged. "What’s a sar-chasm?"
Victor smiled. "It is where you say one thing, but mean the opposite. Usually coupled with a certain enunciation."
dinky smiled once more. "Oh, I think I understand, it is lying!"

She trotted off to talk to her sister, leaving Victor dumfounded.

"So! You all have your assignments. I want to know Victor’s backstory before we ponify him. We’ll need to send the report to Princess Celestia prior to that," the Doctor said while looking at the assembled ponies.
Each of them nodded and trotted out, except for Octavia.
"Doctor, err," she started off
"Yes Octavia?" The Doctor said, looking at the musically talented mare.
"I was wondering... what happens... I mean you and yourself, like, if you become him do you take his place and he goes away? Or will something else happen?"
The Doctor sighed. "When I do turn into him, however it may happen, I will end up doing what he already has dome. apparently I’ll meet Derpy... sorry, Ditzy, and then we will have two lovely girls. Eventually we shall end up at the Salt Lake bureau and get transferred here. And that is as far as I can ever know."

Octavia nodded, and stepped out of the office.

"That was Drama, Drama, Drama, by the four hoof clan. They were never ponified, just loved the E... Oh hi Tavi... What?... B-but... I like it here... What?!... Really!? No way! ... Well out of my way then!!... yeah, take the mike, I’ll have AAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPLEEEEEE PPIEEEEEEEEEE!" the voice faded off the mike and into Victors normal range of hearing as Soarin flew straight to the kitchen
"Equestrians..." He said, putting the filled-in forms in his pocket as he picked up his bag. He walked up to the grey Pegasus known as Ditzy, who now was sitting behind a table with a few small stacks of paper on it. "Uh... I am here to hand in my form," he said as he put his form on the stack, " and to get my room assignment."
Ditzy picked up the paper and focused, straightening her eyes for long enough to read the form.
"Looks like everything checks out, but the Doctor has requested you speak to him before you go to the ponification room. Your room is 42. You will be bunking with a... Sales Kital, a Terry... Terrence... Terrance Smith, and somepony called Hal Linson."
Victor nodded as he picked up the key. "Thanks," he said before turning around and walking down the hall to his room.

mini1: letters

TCB: SG interlude 1: Letters.
Written by a Psyco, kryxel
Fixed stuff at party-cannon point: ray10K

Pinkie Pie blew up a balloon, and let it loose as Twilight came through the door of the cramped but highly appreciated motor stable.
"Mail’s here girls!" Twilight said, passing out the scrolls and envelopes.
"Hey girls. Ah am supposed ta tell you, that Applebloom says "hello," and she hopes we c'n come back ta Equestria soon," Applejack said with a grin.
"Oh, how thoughtful Applejack. After we finish here we need to get on the first flight, ASAP. Our sisters need us!" Rarity said with her usual sense of drama.

Dash hovered nearby her pile, and kept tossing out letters as she spoke.
"Oh... Scootaloo... Please... What good is a little... Scootaloo... Sister if they don’t... Scootaloo... Do anything for yo...WOO HOO! I have been pre-approved for a dashter card!" rainbow straightened out her wings and sailed out the door to go send for the card.

"Pinkie. There is one for you too. Comes from a place called... Ooh tah?" Twilight read, slightly confused at the name of the place. “Made a human friend already?”
"No silly, that’s from my sister, Inky." Pinky bounced over and grabbed the scroll. She trotted off to her own part of the stable and broke the wax seal on the scroll to read it.

My dearest sister. I am writing to you from my new location in southern Utah.
We have opened the doors to the new bureau, and as usual, all sorts of people from all different trots of life have come together in this place.
I want to reiterate that this place seems to be almost like Equestria... save for the presence of the massive highways and buildings.
One of the things I noticed first is that they have amazing color in their hills. Almost a rust red with patches of lime and green.
The people of St. George like their parks and recreational facilities as much as the humans like their "fast" food. Why it is called that I am still unsure about. I watched a French Fry for days and it did not move an inch.
But no matter.
Another thing I have noticed is that they also like to throw parties. You would love it here.
Every Thursday there is some sort of "street fair" on one of the roadways. They have things to win and things to buy. Musical entertainment and food.

But those are not the things that remind me of Equestria.
What really reminds me of Equestria is the mood here. Unlike some places like California and New New New York, people here feel kinder, more caring.
Not a forced kind of caring.
It felt more like the time we saw your first party, back on the rock farm. If it was any more calm and peaceful people would be dancing in the streets and singing to Celestia’s sun.
Love and tolerance. That is the best way I can describe this feeling. Like this entire state is one big family.
I guess what I am saying is, when you have time, could you come and visit me in Utah?
We would sure like to have you. And the people would surely enjoy a visit from the ambassadors of Equestria.
And I would like to see my sister again and catch up with her.

sin-cere,
Inkamina Octavia Pie

Pinkie smiled and rolled up the letter. She sets it in her saddlebag and looks up at the photo hanging above her bed. A picture of a stallion, a mare and three fillies. Two of which had straight hair, and one with hair that looked like cotton candy after a storm.
"Without wax, sister... I will see you soon."
She kissed her hoof and held it up to the picture, as Celestia’s golden sun set behind her.

episode 2 part 3: tastes like grape.

TCB:SG E2P2: tastes like grape
(some of you are thinking "FINALLY! MAOR HUMAN TA PONY!)
Written by the element of bad engrish: kryxel
fixed by the Element of awesome-sause: Ray10k

Victor was called to Doctor Tennant’s office. He had never met the Doctor formally before, so he had no clue what he would be facing.
Whatever he had thought, he never expected anything like this.

"Please come in. Just have a seat, put up your shoes if you like. Please just sit and twiddle your thumbs with me, while you still have them."
The Doctor grinned, gesturing to a seat with his hand. He then proceeded to fold his hands, and started twiddling his thumbs in demonstration.
Victor arched his eyebrow. "Um, okay... Is this some kind of strange interrogation technique?"
The Doctor laughed. "No,no. No interrogations today. Just something fun to do while you still have them. Thumbs, I mean. As in, I have never seen a horse or pony with thumbs, so twiddle those thumbs now you still can. Soon, when the last human either dies or converts, the art will be lost you know."
Victor sat down. "Um, okay? Why am I here?" He asked the Doctor.
"Oh. You read minds? Because that was exactly what I was going to ask you. What am I thinking right now?"
Victor facepalmed.

This was going to be one of those long days.

Being hung over, not an enjoyable experience.
Being hung over while being a pony, even worse, for a somewhat unexpected yet simple reason.
Doctor Whooves had come to the conclusion years ago, that hooves were wonderful things. With hooves, you never had to worry about getting a rock in your shoes, or wear shoes for that matter, since the sturdy material would stop any sharp objects a nice distance before reaching anything more sensitive than a nail.
Today however, he had found a perfect counterargument, proving once and for all that maybe, just maybe, whoever designed those hooves wanted to make VERY sure nopony would ever use alcohol to excess. That, or at least avoid solid floors after doing so.
clipclop. ow... clipclop. ow... clipclop. ow... clipclop. ow... clipclop. ow...

This was going to be one of those painful days.

Berry Punch downed the patented hangover cure her great uncle Judo had perfected, and promptly launched herself across the room. She bounced up and smiled. "Well, at least I know that will never change. No matter what formula they create, uncle Judo’s cure can handle it!”
She trotted up and past the pony Doc, and smiled. "See you in there doc. If you speed up that is!"

This was going to be one of those fine days.

After finally submitting to the Doctor’s demands, Victor was doing The. Most. Important. Thing. In. The. Universe!
"One, two, three, four, I declare a Thumb War!" the Doctor chanted as they lined up their opposable digits.
They soon grasped fingers, and the Doctor rang a small bell, of the kind one would normally find on a receptionist’s desk.
The match, was ON!
"So, tell me Victor. What’s your story? From the beginning please. Why do you want to become a rainbow colored marshmallow pony?"
"Well, I don’t think you would understand, being a doc and all. No one really knows what goes on in a war, unless they have been in one..."
The Doctor laughed without any joy behind it. "Try me. I may have more war experience than you might expect."
Victor gave him a dark smile. "Ahh, a medic... That would explain why your eyes are so dark. You saw blood. Bullets. Brain matter and flesh rent all in seconds of each other. You rejoiced on the days where the worst wound you saw was a papercut, or someone breaking their leg trying to do something dumb.
And you... you were a medic, I presume?" The doctor nodded solemnly.
Victor let out a dark laugh. "One of the best! I could stich an arm back on you, well enough for the bloody thing to work again. And it did not even have to be yours!”
"Is that what happened to..." The Doctor gestured to the flat shoulder.

"Oh no, that happened due to, well...

(Somewhere in the middle east, during one of the many conflicts in the region.)
"ROGER WILCO SEVEN. TACTICS CONFIRMED OF A SHELLSHOCKER AND A ROVING THUNDERHEAD. NEED A RUBBERMAN, STAT!"
Four men in black combat armor were hunkered down in what little remained of a sandstone brick building. They were the elite, and knew their job as well as anyone on the field.
Victor, Wisky, Echo, and Bravo.
The finest of the finest.
However, even the finest could not take on a EMP rocketeer and a Tesla Tank without backup.
Echo was still yelling into the radio, while bravo was providing suppressive fire to keep the rocketeer grounded.
"Wisky, reload!"
With a dive, he dropped down behind the wall while Whisky stood up, resuming the fire.
"Echo, stop squirming already. I’m gonna patch you up, but I can’t do it if you keep moving! And shut up, they can hear the smallest noise you make. No need to make them more deaf than their weapons have already made them," Victor said while patching up Echo’s shot leg.
"Well, if you’d stop YANKING on the part that HUR-urts, I might be able NOT to scream in agony!”
"Well, excuse me for trying to save your leg," Victor grinned, just as an EMP rocket detonated behind him.
The rocketeer was in the air. They needed new cover. And a roofless building would not provide enough cover.
Echo grabbed his rifle, and started shooting at the flying man, Trying to shoot him down. However, he had forgotten the big advantage the flier had: the Antigrav magnet.
The rocketmen were using a relatively new version of the jetpack. Rather than a tank of gas and a miniature jet engine, these versions worked by using several powerful magnets, capable of creating a magnetic field strong enough to cancel out earth’s gravity. Additionally, they were armed with what some considered the cruelest weapon since poison gas: Tesla rockets. Using the field of the Antigrav magnet, these projectiles would cause any metal near where they detonated to give of lethal static discharges, earning them the name “Shell Shockers.”
The magnets pulled the bullets down and drove them deep into the earth. Not even the dry sand of the desert they were in would stop the bullets at that speed.

The rocketeer fired again. The discharge only incinerated Victor’s arm, since he was a little ways away. Echo was less fortunate, still having his rifle in his hand. The arcs of lightning turned him to dust before he could even scream.

"... By that time the rubbermen showed up and took down the flier and tank. Whisky and Bravo were still alive and unharmed, but I got this for my troubles" victor said Nodding toward his shoulder.
"Ah," the Doctor said as he maneuvered Victor's thumb to an almost perfect pinning position.
"yeah, they let me go. A one armed soldier is no good, and even now no prosthetic is ever as good as the real deal. in fact, since those things are mostly metal, I’d be a risk to the team.

So I was reassigned to desk duty... Until that one day, about seven or so years ago, I saw this unusual bit of news on the tv..."

-Seven or so years ago-
"...A small land mass has appeared just off the shore of New York. Authorities have confirmed it is a threat to the city, and will act to eradicate it, with whatever force necessary."
-three months later-
"-A message has been received, shortly after the ocean stopped boiling. The entity who controls this "barrier" will allow two probes to enter inside to... What?... Is this a joke?... Confirmed?!... This just in. It appears that the lands inside the barrier are mostly composed of grasslands and hills, whose inhabitants resemble small, colourful equin-"
-four days later-
"The Princess has decided to converse with us today. Tell us, Princess Celestia, what is life like in Equestria?"
The picture changed to the majestic white Alicorn. "Well, why don’t you try for yourself?"
"but if I remember correctly you said no human could enter? Besides, the military has confirmed yesterday that the radiation coming from the barrier is lethal to humans, so how CAN we even see?"
"All of that is correct, but there may be a way... As we speak, my mages are collaborating with some of the brightest minds of the human scientific community, trying to find a way for humans to become ponies. For anyone wanting to cross, for all those seeking to leave this dying world, for the many who are tired of living without a path to follow, soon there will be a way. However, there is one price. You have to give up your humanity, your wrath, your greed, your thum-"
-six months later-
"The shield is growing faster every day! I tell you, it is an alien invasion!" the HLF member said, slamming his fist into the table as he yelled at the purple Unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle, ambassador of Equestria.
"Nonsense, we only want to help! Why, we have cured more cases of disfigurement and cancer th-" Twilight Sparkle was cut off by the irate man once more.
"I don’t care what you claim! There is no proof whatsoever that the ponies who walk out are the people who walk in! You are murderers and liars, and over my dead body will you-"
"SIR. Have you been ponyfied? No? Well then, as the humans say. 'Don’t knock it till you buy it.' "
"Uh, Twi hon?... It is 'don’t knock it till ya try it.' Try, not buy." an orange Earth pony said.

"Oh, r-right Applejack. My bad." Twilight said with a blush.

"-And then I heard that sometimes, a human would go in, missing a limb, and come out whole... With that, I could go back to my job. I could protect what I deem good and just once more. Nobody would look down on me for being an- pinned!" He said with a grin as he held down the Doctor’s thumb.
"Oh, now that’s just cheating! But I understand. You wish to become a pony so you can again protect what you know to be important. Well then... Shall we?" The Doctor stood up, and pushed open the door.
"Hold on, hold on, now?" Victor said, confusion in his voice.
"No time like the present, right?" the Doctor said, starting down the hallway.
Victor followed, and they soon arrived at a huge metal door with warning signs and a sign saying "authorized personnel only."
"Now then, go in there and tell the tan stallion who you are, and he will get you set up. Have fun.”
Victor nodded, and stepped in. He saw Doctor Whooves, his drinking buddy Berry Punch, and a blue Unicorn he vaguely recalled was named Colgate.
"Oh, hello there. You are right on time. Please remove your clothes and lay on your side, on the table here.”
Victor blushed as he removed his clothes and laid down, his remaining arm holding him up. "So, now what?”
"Well, now it is just the simple process of re-organizing your atoms into an equine shape, with the use of nanotech and magic. So simple, a foal could do it."
Colgate set down a red case and opened the front, revealing a Erlenmeyer flask.
The liquid inside was a purple color, like juice squeezed from grapes fresh from the vine. However, that was not what caught Victor’s eye.
As Colgate pulled the flask out of the case and swirled it, a thousand tiny specks of light started dancing through the fluid. Each sparkle shone like a star in the night sky, only to fade in moments and to be replaced by ten of its newborn brothers, orbiting around themselves in a dance of light. Colgate poured three ounces into a Styrofoam cup, after which Berry added a sedative.
"Now, normally this would hurt like being hit by a bus, throwing you down a mountain and getting ran over by a tank when you finally stop falling, but thanks to our lovely Berry Punch you will not feel a thing as your atoms are re-arranged and your nutron flow is reversed," Doctor Whoof said, gesturing with his hoof.
"Just drink. And make sure you drink all of it in one gulp," Berry said as Victor picked up the cup.
Victor blinked once, and downed the small cup in one go. "Hey, it tastes like gr-" *thud*
Berry smiled. "Every time."

////////////////
I am Ray10k, and I apologize for the atrocious physics behind the jetpack/tesla rockets.
(i am kryxel. and i am not :rainbowwild: )

episode 2 part 4: the dream

TCB: SG E1P4
the Dream
Chizzled into stone by Kryxel
transcribed onto efficent data by Ray10K

All newfoals claim having a vivid dream during their conversion. The strange part is that all reports on the phenomenon claim that the dream is nearly identical for everyone.
They would often describe the dream as finding themselves in a meadow, with towers on the horizon and a bright sun in the sky.
Victor would later claim these dreams to have visited him as well. He would also claim that words would never suffice to truly describe the true dream he had that day. That one, peaceful moment where he was accepted into the herd...

Victor was in the field. He was running.
He ran over hills, human feet treading over the grass and rocks.
When he reached the foot of the hill, he felt himself change.
His feet turned to strong hooves, his hair into a short mane. His ears changed, and slid up to the top of his head.
Before he could feel any fear from the changes, they stopped.
Victor was human no more, he was now a pony.
And Victor ran on.

Victor felt them before he saw them. Those aethereal white horses of all shapes and sizes. Some with horns, some with wings, mixed in with those that had neither.
Victor could only stop, facing the images of ponykind as they stood before him.
The Herd.
The Herd was stationed around the edges of the valley where Victor was dreaming.
An inaudible whisper passed through the valley.
Come play, come dance, come live, work, and have fun.
That is what they said, and what he felt was simple.
Come run with us.
And so he did.
He ran, and the herd joined him as he joined the herd.
They swarmed around him, running with the beauty and power of a flowing river as he felt a power both burning within and flowing around him. The river of magic in its true might.
The Herd traversed without speech, without need for words.
They ran where they needed to. They swarmed towards a cliff edge, and Victor ran with them.
They ran toward the edge, and leapt.
Victor leapt with the herd; with his herd.
They ran into the sky, and changed before his very eyes.
They became as the very fabric of the clouds themselves, and Victor ran ever on, following the path of the clouds.
He ran on the magic of Equestria itself.
He ran on, ever forward, towards the Sun and the Moon.
they grew, larger and larger, until their true form was revealed.
The two Alicorns rested on the clouds in their otherworldly glory, as Victor ran towards them.
One of light, of life, of revelation.
The other of darkness, of peace, of wisdom.
"Greetings, little pony," they both said, with voices more beautiful than any concert ever written by pony or man.
"Greetings, Princess Celestia. Greetings, Princess Luna."
The scene changed, and revealed the place Victor knew best.
He was back in the trenches of the war. Bullets whistled overhead, rockets detonated and rained death down upon the trenches.
All of it was as he remembered... except for the white wicker table in the middle of the no-mans-land.
The two Alicorns sat in the wicker chairs by the table. "Come on Victor," Celestia said with a grin, "come and join us for tea."
An explosion happened nearby, startling Victor into running over to the royal pair.
He sat down in the remaining chair, still feeling the heat of the explosion on his haunches.
"Thou has a very... Unusual center of peace." Luna said with a smirk
"Luna, don’t laugh. Everyone has their reasons for how their center looks," Celestia said.
"Yes. I have this as my center, because one gets to know themselves best, the moment before one dies, well, usually anyway," Victor said.
"Very well. Come, enjoy a cup of thy tea," Luna said pointing at the teacup.
"drink and know... Know what you are, and know what you can be..." Celestia said.
Victor looked down and lapped up his tea.
"Is it just me, or does it taste like gra-"

///////////////
Ray10k here, this time I apologize if I turned up the drama on the dream too much.
(kryxel here and ray you are doing just fine. you are turning my cupcakes writing into a Cupcakes: The Musical Masterpeice. thanks!)

episode 2 part 5: these hooves are made for trotting

TCB:SG E2 P5:
these hooves are made for trotting

Story captured in a cage of digital paper and virtual ink by Kryxel.
Afterwards, the story was trained to sit up nicely and give paws on command by Ray10k.

Victor awoke to three ponies standing over him, looking at him with the kind of satisfaction one gets from a job well done.
"So... Am I a pony now?" He asked, chuckling weakly.
"Well, yes. I would say you are," Berry said with a large smile, "and a good looking stallion at that."
"Oh?" Victor said while trying to stand up, but failing on account of a lack of experience at moving his new body.
"Oh, yeah. New muscles. That’s weird. And, one two three, four legs..." Victor said, trying to stand up.
It was strange, having to stand in a way that a human body could never do without some discomfort, and he had a little trouble adapting to the new ways his limbs responded to the commands his brain sent.
“Just relax, your body knows the best way to get up and will gladly share that knowledge, if you let it,” the Doctor said. “True. Equestrian foals can usually stand or even walk, mere hours after birth,” Colgate added.
Victor tried to relax, and found that indeed, his body would almost without input fold his legs below him, into a position that made getting up a lot easier than laying on his side would ever be.
After a few more minutes of experimenting with his new legs, he managed to get up. He stood, shakily, but upright none the less.
"So, where is the mirror? I think I saw one earlier."
Colgate laughed. "Why is it that newfoals are so vain?" She giggled and rolled in a standing mirror from the hallway.

Victor took a look in the mirror. He was greeted by the sight of a stallion with a short, white coat and a blue mane ending in a slightly messy tail.
He experimentally closed one eye. The stallion in the mirror winked back at him. “Lookin’ good, fella!”

Victor then noticed something about the face in the mirror. On the forehead, exactly in the middle, a short, white spiral, ending in a sharp point, peeked out of his mane.
He was a Unicorn.

"Wow, Unicorn... Never expected that," he grinned.
"Well, now that you have had some time to explore your new body, I will leave you in the capable hooves of Colgate here. She will help you with walking, running, sitting, laying down, etcetera. Also, she will teach you some basic control over your magic, to prevent unfortunate accidents when your powers will start to develop. Berry and I need to talk about some medical stuff... Please excuse us," Doctor Whooves said while trotting out the door, Berry in tow.

"Okay, uh, first things first I guess. As you have noticed, you now have four legs, and a body designed to use all of them to walk. And while it is true most foals can walk from birth, in the case of a newfoal a little guidance is needed since you learned to walk on only two legs so far.
So, let’s get started by getting you up and running. Or at least up and walking.
For the sake of ease, we’ll label each of your legs. Your left foreleg is one, right foreleg two, right hind leg is three, and your left hind leg is number four. Basically, any way of moving forward is done by moving your legs in order one, three, two four. Just try it.
Ready? One, three, two, four,
and one, three, two, four,
and one, three, two, four,
and one, three, two, four,
and-"
"STOP!" Victor said, his legs in a rather impressive knot. "Slow down please, I can’t do it at that speed yet." Colgate sighed, mumbling under her breath.
"I swear, all humans ever do is slow down... Slow down Columbus, you can’t sail around the world! Slow down Galileo, you can’t see the world revolving around the sun! Slow down Einstein, atoms can’t be split! Always with the- are you finished yet?" Colgate said, looking at the newfoal who had finally managed to untangle his hooves. "Yeah. Now, where are we going?"
"To the parking lot, to the side of the bureau. So you can practice walking and soon, trotting," Colgate said while walking towards the lot.
"Right, I can do this... one, three, two, four. One, two- no, no, one, three, two, four. One, three, two, four..." Victor muttered, following the Unicorn outside.

Five hours later.

"That was just a fluke! No way you could have beat me already!" Colgate said with a smile.
"au contraire, mon ami. I think I left you in the dust! You need some toothpaste and a good brushing now!" Victor said with a grin that threatened to split his face in half.
"Oh, hardy hardy har. It was not my fault I was named after some brand of toothpaste from a world nopony knew of, up until first contact," she said, playfully bumping against him.
"Now for a more serious discussion. Magic. Have a seat, my little pony. I will give you a glimpse of the arcane beauty that resides in both of these worlds. I will let you hear the Song of Harmony, that binds all that lives together. I, will teach you... Magic."

They were in a small park, just down the hill on which the center was built.
Colgate had stopped by the small man-made creek that ran through the park, and looked at the water, crystal clear thanks to the man-made miracles of chemistry and science.
"I would not even think of drinking that if I were you," Victor said. "It may look clean, but that is only because of the chemicals they throw in it."
"I was not going to drink it. It is just useful as an example, or as a test."
She closed her eyes, and focused.
Her horn started to glow with a soft, blue light, and soon a group of shapes rose up, out of the water, the centerpiece of the liquid statues being her cutiemark, an hourglass. "Magic... Like time and water, flows from its Source to wherever it has not reached yet. It flows across vast distances, from the Source to the Ley Lines of the Earth.
As much as it may surprise you, planet Earth also has Ley Lines, and a Source. Humans have lost touch with both, long ago, and so the Lines and Source laid dormant, waiting, until a certain event occurred. The rise of Equestria caused the awakening of the Earth’s Source, which in turn reawakened the Ley Lines. However, even with Equestria trying to enter your world, the Lines needed more to truly awaken. Thankfully, they were given that. Someone, a human from Earth, tried to tap into the Ley Lines, fulfilling their awakening and reigniting the Magic of Earth. However, since the world had gone without magic for ages, the resulting wave of power was too much for this universe to handle, so it sought a way out. In the microscopic doorway to Equestria, it found a way out, tearing the gate open further and further, which is still happening as we speak. However, the point is that Magic flows, in Equestria as well as in this world. To use magic, you must tap into that flow.
So! Your first assignment: Find a Ley Line, one of the points magic flows toward, and tap into that line. Tell me when you have done so.
Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

She trotted away as Victor blinked. "A Ley Line? How the heck am I going to find a Ley Line? What do they even look like? Where do I begin to look?" His stomach growled. "Well, I guess I better start by finding something to eat." he started trotting towards the bureau, silently wondering if the food would taste differently now.

Victor trotted up to the kitchen, and smelled a scent he would have expected only to find in a true paradise.
His sensitive nose picked up possibly THE best smell he smelled in his entire life. He looked and saw a smorgasbord of food, so delicious he doubted even his dreams could produce something so perfect.
Hay, oats, cakes, cookies, daisies, sandwiches with tomatoes and lettuce. He could smell pears, bananas, kumquats, cherries and so many more fruits, the names of which were unknown to him.
But, what he smelled and wanted most of all... was an Apple.
He had heard rumors about these Apples. That they were the best and tastiest foods, ever to come from Equestria.
Earth had not had apples for decades now. The last apple tree was, ironically, turned into propaganda pamphlets against apple consumption.
He smiled as Mrs. Cake appeared behind the counter. "Oh, hello dearie. I see you have become quite the stallion, hmm? What can I get you?
"Just an Apple," Victor said while nodding to the deep ruby red fruit.
"Sure thing hon," she smiled as she passed one to him on a tray.
Victor bit into it... and smiled.

/////////////
Ray10k here.
Let’s see... drama up to eleven? Check!
Made Colgate look a little like a bitch? Check!
Made a serious attempt at doubling the size of the chapter? Check!

I, REGRET, NOTHING!!!
(good job. hopefully i can keep writing to keep up your awesome speed ray.)

episode 3 part 1: grace

TCB:SG E3P1: grace
pulled kicking and screaming into existance by Kryxel
calmed down and taught to behave by Ray10K
(song for this episode)

I have been having these weird dreams lately.

Like... is any of this real? Is there no such thing as dreams, and is all of this actually happening to me?

My mind says it is all true... That all I see exists, and is happening as I live through it.

Yet, the alternative is so much more... Hopeful.

Beyond my dreams, there is hope... ponies and magic, transformation and gateways to an impossible place. A peaceful place.

In my dreams, only death awaits. My own death, a thousand times over.

Each night, I die. And every night, my subconscious mind torments me in a different way, a different death every. Single. Night.

Yesterday, I drowned.
The day before, I fell.
The day before that, I choked.

It is all I have been dreaming for almost a month now.

Today, I am in a cell. The cell is dark, cold, stuffy.
I feel a breeze... Cold air, from a window that was not there before.
I look out to see...

No... not that!

I see the stake... The firewood... The hooded guard, holding a torch.

Tonight, I will be burned at the stake.

The door opens, and my parents enter.
Father is dressed in the robes of his station, as priest for the One World Church.
"You shall now be judged, you whom I once called my daughter. What are you?"

I look down, and see myself. Unchanged, the same way I have always been.
Short. Not very attractive. No muscles to speak of, a skin as white as parchment. One does not get very attractive, living their entire lives inside the monastery. My raven black hair is unkempt, messily tied into a ponytail that reaches just below my shoulders.
I know my eyes to be a deep blue, and my lips a faded red.

"I am human. I have always been a human girl, father. You know that," I respond.
My insolence to speak up against the priest earns me a swift slap on the cheek.

"Thou art a beast, seeking to deceive honest men into believing your readily apparent lies. look at your hooves. As cloven and split as thy tongue," the woman I used to call my mother replies.

I look down again, and still see my hands and feet. "I am not! I am telling you the truth!"

"The deceitful beast will burn, unless it proves itself to be a human, who merely strayed from her path. Our lord cares for all of his flock, and will help his lost sons and daughters. The only way the beast can prove its humanity, is by killing the blasphemous equine in the other room."
I gulp... I know the "blasphemous equine", as they call her.

I have seen her face so many times through the TV screen. A window fades into existence, revealing her face to me once more.

Her multicolored mane, flowing on an unearthly wind unfelt by man or pony, stands out against the dark grey of the cell. Her coat, once as white as the first snow of winter, is now covered in bruises and markings of cuts and scars. Her wings, once proud and regal, clipped down to stumps. Her horn, that once channeled the magic that brought countless dawns to the world she held so dear, snapped off.
"My Princess..." I whisper, taking in the view.

She looks at me with her endlessly kind eyes, and I see one has become a milky white, made useless by the cruel hands of men.

"Fear not... You will not die. You are mine, and I will protect you. My Little Pony," she says with a trembling smile that betrays the agony she is in, despite her kind words of encouragement.

My resolve hardens one last time, and I turn to the man I once called father. "I will never denounce my princess. I fear no damnation from the gods of men, for I follow She who guides the Sun."

"The beast has chosen! Tonight, we feast on the flesh of the deceitful horse!" He says, as two guards lead me to the stake and tie me to it.

The wood is lit. Smoke swirls around my body. Heat cracks my flesh.

Tonight, I die.

Grace woke up in a cold sweat, screaming at the top of her lungs. Her roommates jump up, and rush to her side.
"Grace hon, whatsa matter?" Jane says, sitting down by Grace.
Grace looked up at Jane. Jane was the kind of girl one would find in a dictionary, right next to the word “Southener”. She wore only flannel and pronounced words in a typical southern accent.
"Well, it is obvious she had a bad dream you bumpkin!" Elane said while lifting her eye mask off, past her supermodel blond hair.
"Ah know that. I just want to know what kind’ a death it was this time," Jane said, giving Elane a death glare.
"Will both of you nanobots-for-brains shut your traps before I have to use your waste exhaust pipes as a docking station for my foot!?" said a woman with mostly blazing red hair, save for the blond roots. "Can’t you see she is in distress?"
The sixteen year old punk looked up at the cowgirl and the model before looking back at grace "So... think you can stream us some data on that dream, for troubleshooting?”

Grace chuckled weakly at G4L1ND4, and gave a quivering smile. "Lindie... sure... I think I can," she said before telling everyone about her recent dream-death.

"Wow... That’s a massive amount of data to process. May take all day to sort through that data stream," Lindie said while scratching her head.
"Right... ah recon, that stress canna be good fer ya," Jane said, looking at Grace.
"No... Not for you, or the baby," Elane said.
Grace was a few months pregnant at this point, just getting to the point where it started to show.
Jane shrugged. "You may want to go see the Doc... He may be able to figure what is goin’ on inside that noggin of yers. And who knows, he could be of help in sortin’ it out, whatever it is.”
"Yes...It might be best to do something about it, before it can interfere with conversion..." Elane said.
"Maybe it is some pointer for a bad memory sector acting up, maybe you just need to fix a memory bank," Lindie said tapping her chipdisk drive, implanted just above her right ear.
Grace knew they were right, one could never know how the magic of the ponification serum would respond to one’s mental state. "If he can help... Wait, which doctor?" she asked, remembering the bureau had two doctors since the day of the official opening.
"Well, duh. The singular, bipedal one," Lindie said, referring to the slightly odd man, always wearing a brown suit and red converse sneakers.
"Okay... wish me luck, girls!" Grace said while walking out the door.

Normally, the Doctor hated guns, or weapons in general. A little remnant of the last great time war.
This time however, he was facing an enemy, so insidious and well prepared, that the only remaining option was armed conflict. Sort of, anyways.
The Doctor rolled around a corner in the dark, smoky base, and brought his gun up... The villainous traitor was nearby, he could almost smell him.
A slight clipclop made him turn to face the way he came from, and roll forward to shoot at the vanishing monster.
He had missed, and now the traitor knew where he was! He could no longer stay here. But this time, the traitor was at a disadvantage, the hunter having become the prey.
The doctor gave chase and rushed through an old storage area, filed with the physical memories of old eras and untold pasts. He snuck past what looked like a car turning into a bipedal robot, and slid around an ancient rack of giftcards before peeking out...
Was the traitor besides the old tv's? Nope... What about the stack of yesterdecade’s fashion? Nada.
Ah! There was that familiar shape... A tuft of messy brown hair, sticking out between the cookbooks and the candles.

The Doctor crept closer... he dived, rolled, and shot! A direct hit!... on a dusty broom.
The Doctor heard the shot, and fell down, his hand clutching his chest as he gasped in his last, dying breaths. "Tell Rose... I love her... " he managed to mutter before his head fell...

A laugh came from his opponent. "Oh, you are good! We should have taken up acting," the stallion with the hourglass-cutiemark said, coming into view with his modified laser tag gun.
"Oh hush! You were cheating! I don’t have memories, but you do and you are using them to your advantage!" Dr. Tennant said, standing back up as the lights on his marker vest kept blinking, signaling the "kill".
"Well, you don’t have a warning system on your feet that alarms everyone where exactly you are," Dr. Whooves said while trotting in a circle, showing just how loud his hooves were on the plascreet floor, to make his point.
"Well yeah, I guess so. However, you forgot one thing..." the man said.
"Forgot what?" The pony said, a moment before his vest lit up, announcing his new status as Idiot Who Failed To Cover His Backside.
"SURPRISE!" The white Pegasus said, fluttering down from the shelves she had used as a sniping spot.
"Oh, Bluebloods sub-atomic horse apples," Dr. Whooves said. "I thought Soarin took you out?" He said, looking up at the mare.
"Well, you thought he did. but I managed to distract him with a photo of pie." She said, landing next to the time traveling duo.
"Smart cookie," Doc Tennant said, brohoofing the Pegasus as Grace walked in. "Oh, Doctor. There you are."
"Yes?" Both the man and the stallion said, looking at her.
"Um... Doctor Tennant. I need to discuss something in private with you. Can we talk in your office?" She asked.
The Doctor nodded. "Lead the way."
As they left, Dr. Whooves turned to Surprise. "So... Best two out of three?"

//////////
Ray10k here.
The first part of this chapter was meant as a dream, hence the use of the present tense. Deal with it if you don’t like it.

mini2: letters2

Fair warning: this chapter refers to characters and events from the story Past Sins, by Pen Stroke and Batty Gloom.
find it here
If you haven’t read it yet, you are missing out on a good fic, and might not understand what half this chapter is about.

Letters 2: Past Sins
Retrieved from the Dark dungeon of Kryxel's mind by Kryxel
Repaired for a few bits and given to a museum by Ray10K

Twilight carried the latest delivery of letters into the motor home, and passed them around. Dash getting bills for her new credit card, and Pinkie receiving a few letters from her sisters.

Twilight smiled as she sees the scroll. Most of the messages from the newfoals she had met came in the form of letters. However, due to tradition, the messages she got from Equestria came in the form of scrolls.
However, it wasn’t just the fact that the letter came from her homeland that made her smile, but because of the wax seal keeping the scroll closed.
The seal was a shield, carrying the symbol of a crescent moon.
"Nyx..." Twilight said, as she broke the wax seal and began to read what her daughter had written her.

Dearest mother,

It has been nearly a week since I last wrote to you, and it has slowly been driving me insane to be cut off from you.
Luna has been a good teacher, helping me grow as a goddess. The ponies hardly ever see "nightmare moon" anymore, instead starting to see the real me.
“My” castle was recently reopened, as a museum for Ponyville. currently it has exhibits of the histories of the three pony races and the founding of Equestria. It has Granny Smith’s history of Ponyville, along with a jar of her first batch of zap-apple jam, the photographs of the schoolhouse and all the classes that went there, but the best part of the museum is that it has our stories in it as well.
The story of the two sisters, the six heroes, and the Alicorn that was Nightmare Moon.
Even the Cutiemark Crusaders had a hoof in building the museum. They rebuilt the spellcaster’s room, making it into a cutiemark experimentation studio.
I was even allowed to have replicas of the Elements of Harmony.
The newfoals that visit are amazed at the depth of the history that Ponyville has, and how many historical events have taken place there, even so recently.
The mayorasked me to invite you for the official opening. However, I know how busy you are, so I politely declined for you.

Luna has taken control of the sun for now, so Celestia can be on Earth. Officially, she is supposed to oversee the Conversion process, but I don’t think that is all she is doing there, given the letters she sends us every now and then.
In order to be able to get some sleep, Luna asked me if I could raise the moon for now. I agreed, but only to help the Princess.
I can hardly wait to see you come home. The library is a little empty without you and Spike.
Tell him I miss you both, and that I hope you will be back soon.

With great patience,
your daughter (and former queen of Equestria ;) )
Nyx.

Twilight rolled up the scroll, and smiled.
"Spike, I need you to take a letter.
Darling daughter Nyx..."

/////////
Ray10k here. This chapter is mostly unchanged, save for some technical things. So yeah, now I am wondering if I should have done more with it.
(you are doing fine. this is more of an interlude so it is not really a full chapter. )

episode 3 part 2: brain trust.

Hewn out of the rocks found only atop the Mount Everest by Kryxel.
Polished to perfection by Ray10k.

TCB: SG E3P2: brain trust
(Thank you for all those who pointed out I don’t use capitals where I should, I will try to do better.)

The Doctor set down the toy gun, and sat behind his desk.
"So, Grace right?" he said, putting his feet up on the desk.
"Yes. I came to you to see if you could help me with a personal problem. I don’t know if my problem will affect the conversion, but I just wanted to make sure before my appointment later today. Plus, it is something I have been dealing with for a long time, and I just need help," Grace said after sitting down in a chair on the other side of the desk.
“Grace, the conversion bureaus were made to help all of humanity, so if there is any way I can help, I will do so if you let me,” the Doctor replied. “So, what is the problem, and how long have you had it?”
“I... I’ve been having these terrible dreams, these nightmares, ever since I went away from home in order to get converted,” she said. “nightmares that just... linger, as if they are not dreams, but memories. And though I never dream the same thing twice, the end is always the same. Me dying, a moment before I wake up screaming.”
The Doctor thought about the presented information for a moment. “Is there anything else about these nightmares? Any recurring themes, people or ponies who show up more than once?”
“Well, my parents often play a role in them. Not always, but they do appear more often than anyone or anything else.”
“hm… Can you tell me something about your parents? Are they nice people? Did they support your decision to convert?”
“Oh, sweet Lord no! My father was, is, a pastor in the One World Church, and my mother a nun. If they knew I was here, they’d probably have the place leveled before you could finish your prayers!”
“I see... So, back to your dreams. When exactly did they first start?”
“I... I don’t really remember. Sometime before I heard about this center being opened. But Doctor, I was wondering, will my... problems interfere with my conversion?”
"Well, I don’t really know, but it is possible. Magic is a bit tricky at times, from what I’ve heard. I think there is something I can do, but it is a bit dangerous. More dangerous for me than for you, in any case, but dangerous none the less.”
“Ok, so, what is it? If it can help, I’m willing to let you at least try it.”
The Doctor got up from his seat, and started to rummage through a few drawers with, as far as Grace could see, seemed to be filled with all sorts of electronic doodads. “Ok, see, the point is that, even with what you told me, I lack some information which can point me to the root of the problem. I can obtain that information, but the process is a little... invasive, so I’ll need your consent first,”
"Well, if you think it could put a stop to these nightmares, I am willing to try just about anything," Grace nodded as the Doctor picked up something that looked like a top hat crashed into a clock factory and then fell into a bucket of glue mixed with lights.
"All right then, put this on and lay down on that couch over there. The readings from this gizmo should be all that I need to be of any help..." the Doctor replied, as he put the contraption on Grace’s head and fixed it in place with a pair of straps.
Grace laid down on the old sofa, briefly wondering how they managed to get the huge beast through the door.
The Doctor pulled something out of his pocket. Taking a closer look, Grace thought the item looked like a screwdriver someone had slapped a small LED on.
“Are you comfortable?” the Doctor asked, to which Grace nodded. “Good. I need you to look at this little light here,” he said, pushing a button on the strange screwdriver, causing the device to light up and make a strange, whistling sound.
Grace focused on the light, as the whistling echoed in her ears...

The girl soon fell asleep on the couch she was laying on.

The room is white. A pristine white all over. Nothing inside it at all.
I look down at myself, and see I am human still. I see myself standing in a large room, but the flawless whiteness of the walls and strange absence of shadows makes it hard to tell where the floor ends and the walls begin.

I looked around, not seeing anything. No walls, no doors, no ceiling, nothing. Only the stark whiteness.
I am abandoned.

So, tonight I die hungry and thirsty? No, Lord, please, no!

I thought I would die, starving and alone, until I saw something I was sure was not there before.

A blue box, a few feet away from where I was standing.
It was not there before. I am sure it was not there when I was looking around.

The door opens, revealing the Doctor walking out. "Now then! I am now inside your mind, and can see everything you dream. But, I don’t know who they are or where we are."

"But Doctor... we are stuck inside this, endless white void! There is no-one, nothing here. we are nowhere."

"Look again" he says, pointing behind me.
I turn... and see that we are suddenly standing inside a room.

I see beds, monitors with squiggly lines on them, stands for IV bags.
I am in a hospital. A disturbingly familiar one.

"Every night you die. Or, at least, you perceive yourself doing so," the Doctor said, standing next to me now. "But the truth of the matter is, you don’t. It is just your mind telling you so, in an attempt to hide certain painful memories. So, tell me, what memories are so painful, your mind would prefer death over reliving them?"

I calm down, and start to speak.

Five minutes earlier.

“Ok, that seems to be holding...”
After the Doctor had put Grace into a deep sleep, he had rushed over to the garage where the TARDIS was parked, hidden just a second out of sync with the world.
"Now then my dear, we have a problem. A problem we need to solve. Bad, BAD dreams. We have a soon-to-be mother, who dies every night in her dreams, and if we don’t fix it then we could have her conversion going haywire at the worst possible moment, leaving us with a very dead mother-to-be. However, I need to know where her nightmares come from, so I’ve set up a psycho-temporal beacon inside what I hope is her somnial psychoscape, don’t want to end up in the subconscious AGAIN.
Anyhow, the beacon is set, so if nobody messes with it we can get in there and figure out what is killing her every night!" the Doctor said to nobody in particular while rushing inside and throwing or pushing what seemed to be several levers and buttons chosen at random, before pulling The Wibbly Lever.
The TARDIS rumbled and moaned, as she started to de-materialize with a sound, strangely much alike the sound of a key being pulled along a bass-string, or a car stalling in the middle of a freefall at 300mph.
The Doctor rolled his temporal differentionator into the local setting, and bashed on the red stabilizers with the rubber mallet before pumping the bike pump and dialing the number for the White House, 2415 AD.. on the phone.

"Now.. be a good girl and don’t go anywhere. And let’s hope I am wrong," the Doctor said as he opened up the doors and looked into the slightly confused face of Grace. "Now then! I am ins-"

Colgate trotted towards the kitchen, to speak with Mrs. Cake in regards to the human that would be converted later today.
"Mrs. Cake? are you there?" she asked as she walked through the swinging doors of the kitchen.
"Over here dear, I’m just trying out a new recipe one of the humans gave me. I think it was called a "ca-no-lee". Want to try one when I’m done?" Mrs. Cake said, calling from one of the stoves.
"I would be delighted to... But I came to ask you if you know how to teach someone to take care of a foal? You are the only ones here who were not at the Salt Lick City 2 bureau, so I don’t know if you can."
Mrs. Cake cheerfully twittered, "of course I can. I ‘technically’ have to take care of Three foals."

Somewhere in Mississippi, a pink pony with a penchant for pranks and parties stopped saying "kumquat," and sneezed. She then decided that sneezing was a silly thing, and started to look for some pepper, to let her friends feel just how silly a thing it was.

Back at the bureau, Colgate nodded. "Well, the newfoal who is supposed to be converted today is a pregnant woman, due any day now. But she is not a city pony like one of her room mates, Jane I believe? Anyhow, she would probably not even know how to birth a foal. So, we kind of need you to... be a nurse. To help."
"Oh. I see. Well, I will help the best I can. Carrot can handle the kitchen while I am helping. So, who is the soon-to-be mother?”

"Grace."

I turn, and see the man I once called father standing like a soldier, next to a door. The door to the room I hoped never to remember.

"Oh... no. no,no, nonono! Doctor, please tell me I am going to die, please tell me I’ll get shot, or stabbed, or injected with a deadly nurotoxin. Just t-tell me I don’t have to go into that room!"
"Well, the only way we can tell is if we follow through," he said. "But maybe it is best if I go in first..."

He walks into the room, and I wait.

The doctor walks into the room and looks around.
An ordinary hospital room.
Well, as ordinary as a hospital room can be with a replica of the girl he just left sleeping on a sofa.

"D-Doctor?" Grace calls to him from the hallway. "W-what’s in there?"
"An event waiting to get played. I may be in your mind, but it reacts only to your presence," the Doctor said while glancing around the room to see what could be out of place.

"Do I have to?" Grace says, slowly edging towards the entrance of the room.

"Oh yes. See, this is a memory you have been repressing, but all that time you have been having nightmares you were just preventing yourself from facing what happened, delaying the inevitable. Come on in, nothing here will bite you. Besides, the sooner you face this the sooner your nightmares end, and you can go pony," the Doctor said.

I take one last breath, steeling my nerves, and take the last step through the doorway.

I see a scene like a holograph, frozen in time.
The moment I walk in, the scene starts moving.

I see myself on the bed. Dad and mom are on a couch next to my bed, and the Doctor is standing near the foot of the bed.

The nurse smiles, and leaves the room.
She just delivered the good news. I am pregnant.

She exits the room via the door I just entered through. I, the me reliving the memory, look over at my mom and dad.

"I am s-sorry," I stammer at them. They look horrified.

"How.. How COULD you do this? I am a Pastor for JHC's sake. I can’t have my daughter, my own flesh and blood sleeping around like, like a common WHO-"
"DARLING! Calm down," mom says as father sighs and sits down, looking furious.

"I am not sleeping around! Dan is a good man and he would ne-"
"DAN! DAN MCMULLEN! I knew it was- I knew it was him!"

"Dear. calm down." mom said "What are we going to do with the baby?"
"Do? I will TELL you what she is going to do! Abort that thing RIGHT NOW, or leave this place! She did not ask for it, and all it will do is increase our chances to fall under the scrutiny of the corporations. Now, I will call the doctor and we will-"
"NO!" both my current and past selves yell at the same time.
The past me takes a breath, and continues. "I want to keep it. I did not ask for it. But the baby will be born, and I want it to have a good fam-"
"No darling. We have decided. We will tell the doctor, and by tomorrow morning it will be gone."

The scene freezes once more, as the walls start to fade.

"D-Doctor?" I ask, looking at the Man in the brown pinstripe suit.

"You're waking up... go out into the hall, and wait. Try to stay asleep as long as you can!" he says as he starts to run down the hall, to where the blue box was.

I see him vanish around the corner, the walls fading to white.

I can feel the whiteness creeping toward me, reaching me.

I scream as it touches me.

Today, I do not die. I wake up.

Grace jumped up as the Doctor ran in, catching his breath. "A little more time would have been helpful," he said as he sat down behind his desk once again.
"Well, did it work?" Grace asked nervously.
"Mostly. I managed to ascertain that the cause of your nightmares has something to do with how your parents responded to your pregnancy, so I did a bit of research. It says you came from one of those small very religious sects. So, I would like to know however how did you get away from them? Those groups are... well you know."
Grace looked a bit upset, and slightly confused. "That is a story I’d rather save for when I’m less tired, Doctor. I think you should get back to your regular job. I need to go talk to the girls, before I get sized for horseshoes.”

//////////

Ray10k here, and another lengthy dream sequence done YAY!
(sorry. they are just too fun to write. :P)

episode 3 part 3: Mare Talk

TCB: SG: E3P3: Mare talk
Like totally written by that guy named kryxel.
and like made into english by like ray10K

Grace returned to her room, finding her roommates arguing again, this time about what Pony race was the best.
"Get it into your File System, and accept that Pegasi have the most optimized version of the Pony algorithm!" Lindie shouted as she elbowed Jane's side.
"AW HECK NAW. Earth ponies are the best ones! They grow th' food that everypony eats. What do pegasai grow, cloud cakes?" Jane said, delivering a roundhouse kick that made Lindie crash into Elane.
"Stop this, you ruffians! This is no time to bicker. Besides, it is quite obvious that Unicorns are the true gift of Ponykind," Elane said as she pushed Lindie back into Jane.

"Um, actually," Grace said quietly from the doorway, "Wouldn't it be the Alicorns? I mean, they do have the strength of the Earth ponies, the wings and style of Pegasi, and the magical capabilities of Unicorns."
"Hmm... That does seem to be the most favorable outcome for the choice algorithm,” Lindie said. She adjusted her optimorphic glasses, reducing the tint and revealing her eyes. "So, what is the error report?"

Grace sighed. "Well, I went and talked to the Doctor."
"And dear?" Elane said, gently sitting Grace down on a nearby bed.
"Well, we talked, he did some things with a few strange gizmos, and he could at least tell me where my nightmares were coming from. He told me that they were the result of me suppressing certain painful memories, from the time I found out I was pregnant," Grace said.
"Ya mean with, whathisname?" Jane said as she sat down across from Grace and Elane.
"Yes, Dan," Grace said, looking down.
"Didn't he break the connection when the motherboard got too hot for his fans to cool?" Lindie said while scratching her head, arching an eyebrow at the death glare that Elane threw her way.
"Yes... It was shortly after I told him that he- he ran. Vanished," Grace said.
A moment after Grace stopped talking, there was a knock on the door.
“Come on in, it’s open!” Jane replied.
The door opened, revealing Colgate standing in the doorway.

"um. Grace?" the light blue Unicorn said, looking at her. "Ditzy wants to talk to you. She wants you to meet a new recruit, as you will be the first human she will be working with."
"Okay. Tell her I will be there in two shakes of a newfoal tail," Grace said.
Colgate leaves, and Lindie stands up from her bed. "If you ever need a listening ear, I am always ready. Now, if you all please excuse me, I need to go and find Surprise. She had a few nice ideas for some Easer Eggs for this place, and I agreed to help with the coding.”

Grace said her see-you-soon’s after Lindie left, and headed to the main desk.
When she arrived, she found the desk empty, despite the fact that, according to the clock on her Biochip implant, it was still not late enough for Mrs. Whooves’ shift to end.
"Mrs. Whooves?" she asked, looking around.
"Up here, dear!" Ditzy responded as her head popped up from under one of the roof tiles above the desk.
"Mrs. Whooves, what on God’s green Earth are you doing IN the roof?"
"Baking Muffins," Ditzy replied, dropping down and landing deftly on the chair. "It is sort of my secret sin... I can’t ever get enough of those delicious, heavenly masterpieces of baked perfection. So, I had an oven installed, just above my desk, so I could bake AND manage the desk at the same time!"
"Okay... then why didn’t you just put the oven under the desk?" Grace asked.
"Because I... I... Oh. I see what you mean," Ditzy blushed.
Grace smiled. "I heard there would be a new Equestrian in the bureau, and you needed me to greet her or something?"
Ditzy nodded. "Yes, mostly because she will at first mostly be working with you, after your conversion. She is a foal care associate.
Rainbow Spring is one of the best in the business. Oh, here she is now!"
Grace turned, to see a pink Unicorn, with a darker pink mane and lighter pink eyes. the hair was somewhat curly, but secured in a slightly ironic ponytail between her ears.
Grace could see the Unicorn’s cutiemark was a heart shaped balloon, as the mare trotted up to where Ditzy sat.
"Hi, I’m Rainbow Spring. Spring for short. I was asked to come here to help a ... 'Grace?'"
Ditzy nodded. "Grace, meet Spring. Spring, meet Grace."
"How do you do?" Grace asked, holding out her hand.
"Charmed," Spring said. "Is there a place where we can talk in private?"
"The Second classroom is empty right now, you could use it!" Ditzy chimed in.
"That would be perfect. Thank you Miss...?"
"Mrs. Ditzy Whooves. If you need anything else, just let me know!" Ditzy said with a grin.
"Will do. Come on Grace, we have much to talk about."

(ray. the OC is not mine it is my friends. so i cant really change the color scheme. but i can stop using "rainbow" to refrence her.)

episode 3 part 4: names. how hard could it be?

The Conversion Bureau: St George, Episode 3 part 4:
Foal names, how hard can it be?

Born inside kryxels mind.
Raised by Ray10k.

"Now, what have we learned?" Rainbow Spring said, pacing around Grace.
"Lots of Control," Grace responded.
"Good."
"Screaming and hollering."
"Yes, and most importantly?"
"Passion!" Grace said with a determined look.
"Right. However, just forget about the passion bit. The control is needed, and the screaming slash hollering will come natural," Spring said as she stopped in front of Grace, looking her straight in the eyes.
"Control is key. According to most human doctors I spoke to, most human women get rather... excited and jumpy, when it comes to childbirth. Having a foal while being jumpy or excitable is really dangerous. To you, and to your foal."
Grace studied the unicorn as she talked, not paying a whole lot of attention after having had essentially the same lecture all day long.
"So, what’s with your butt tattoo?" Grace said when Spring stopped talking for a moment.
Spring blinked. "Have you even been listening?"
Grace nodded. "It is not that hard to remember. Lock legs when the contractions come, Foal gets born, lick them to clean them up and then let them nurse. First nursing is important, can be fatal if missed. why do I need to know all this already? It is not like I will be giving birth anytime soon. Besides, I heard that pregnancy lasts a few months longer for ponies, so I guess there will be even less of a rush after my conversion, right?"
"That’s where you are wrong. Conversion severely decreases the time, unless it is performed mere weeks after conception. After you become an Equestrian, you may have a week. At most. But, if you can tell me the name of your foal, I will tell you the story of how I got my cutiemark."
"Hmm.. Names are hard. I have not even figured out my ponyname..." Grace said while tapping a finger on her chin.
"Well, go out and think about one. I’m sure it will come to you," Spring said with a smile, before trotting out heading towards her room.

"Hmm... A name... Why is it so hard to pick a good Equestrian name?" Victor wondered as he laid his head down on a bench, next to where an entrance used to be at some point.
He scratched his hoof against the side of his head, while he used a pencil he held in his mouth to scribble on a piece of paper.
"Rocket Launcher... nonono."
"Healing hoof? Nope."
"Blue Mist? Nah..."
After a few more failed names, Victor was ready to bang his head against the (hopefully sturdy) wall.
"So, how is the name game going?" Colgate said, appearing out of nowhere in particular.
"Quickly going nowhere. That’s the problem," Victor said with a sigh. "I can walk like a pony, talk like a pony, and I am starting to figure out pony magic, but names are as difficult as long divisions."
"Oh, I still have some problems with divisions myself," Colgate said with a smile. "But, if you are stumped I know of somepony who needs help with a similar problem. Rainbow Spring pointed her out, go and say hi."
"Who?" Victor asked, looking at the girls in the surrounding area.
"Grace. She is pregnant, and needs to come up with a name for her foal," Colgate said as she started to walk away.
"Naming a foal. Great. As if this was not hard enough yet," Victor muttered as he walked over to where Grace sat in the lobby. "Uh. Hi Grace?"
Grace looked up from her own paper-and-pencil list, taking a look at the blue and white Unicorn.
"Hello... Victor right?" she asked, sounding a little unsure.
He laughed. "Yeah. I still have not figured out a good pony name yet.”
"Well, it is pretty hard... how about Blue Blood?" Grace said with a hopeful smile.
"Can’t. I asked Colgate about that one, and apparently that name is already taken by a Prince. Not a very pleasant individual from what I heard," Victor said. "But don’t mind me, I am here to help you with your child’s name."
"Well, I just don’t know..." Grace said, looking at Victor with uncertainty in her eyes.
"Let’s start at the beginning. Boy or girl?" Victor said after sitting down on the floor, taking a spot next to Grace.
"Girl. At least, it is supposed to be. I don’t know if conversion will change that."
"Well, let’s assume for now that it doesn’t. How about a flower name? Lilly, Rose, Dandelion, Iris..."
"I don’t want a generic name. I want a more descriptive name."
"Hmm..." Victor scratched his head. "How about Midnight?"
"Midnight? That sounds more like a colt’s name," Grace said, shaking her head.
Victor spent a few more moments thinking, before exclaiming, "OH! Pepper!"
"Pepper? I actually like that one," Grace said as she thought about it, her hand absently reaching up to scratch behind Victor’s ears.
"Glad I could help," he said, gently pushing into her hand.
"I’m sure we could figure out a name for you too. Maybe after I get turned?" Grace said as she stood up.
"Sure!" Victor said with a smile.
"See you later then, Victor!" She said as she started to head back to Spring’s room.
After she disappeared around a corner, Victor caught himself blushing. “Celestia’s sun... I am still attracted to humans?”

*Knock, Knock, Knock*
Spring trotted over to the door and opened it using her magic.
"Hello Grace. What can I do for you?" Spring asked with a smile.
"Pepper."
"Pepper? I think they have some in the kitchen if you need some," Rainbow Spring said as she arched an eyebrow.
"No. My foal will be called Pepper,” Grace replied with a grin.
"Okay. Thanks for letting me know," Spring said with a smile.
"Wait! You promised me your Butt Tattoo story, if I told you the name of my child!"
"Cutiemark dear, Cutiemark. But you are right, I did promise, so I guess I’ll have to deliver on that promise now.
It was about ten years ago. At the time, I was enrolled at the Sugar and Spice Daycare...

It was the rush before Heart Warming’s Eve, when the parents drop the kids off so they could shop for gifts, without the foals knowing what they will get.
Rainbow Spring trotted through the daycare with a few foals riding on her back and one clinging on to her tail.
The snow outside was falling hard and fast, the Pegasi being preoccupied with preventing a storm from rolling into town.

Eventually, the snow piled up, blocking the sun from reaching the windows of the Daycare, plunging the building into darkness.

"What can we do?" Powder the Earth pony asked amid the crying foals.
"Not much we can do," Story Time the Unicorn said, looking over at Rainbow Spring.
Spring scratched a hoof under her chin. "I think I have an idea. Go see if we have some balloons!"
the two ponies ran off, returning a few moments later carrying a small basked with balloons.

Spring took the basket, walking out of the room and returning a hooffull of minutes later, with the balloons now inflated and tied with strings around her horn. The babyfoals quieted down, as Spring smiled and nodded, causing the balloons to bounce gently.

She then moved two behind her ears. In the dim light, it looks as if her ears are as large as her head. "Look! I´m a mouse!" she giggled.

Soon, the foals are laughing, some of them playing with the balloons.

“...I played with the foals, until the Pegasi finally got that storm under control and had dug us out.
When they did, I felt a tickle on my flank and when I looked... there it was. A balloon, in the shape of a heart.
And that is how Equestria got one of the best foalsitters in both worlds!" Spring said.
Grace smiled. "Thank you," she said as she stood up.
"You best get back to your room to sleep. Your conversion is tomorrow, and you don’t want to oversleep on such an important day, right?" Spring said with a smile.
"Okay. And thanks for the wonderful story," Grace said as she left Spring’s room.

episode 3 part 5: hooves, how do they Bucking work?

TCB: SG: E3P5
"Hooves. How do they work?"
Painted by master hoofpainter ezio de kryxel
Framed and hung on the fridge by Ray10k

Octavia scratched her chin, as she stepped up to the mic. She turned it on and cleared her throat.
"Would Grace Winchester please report to Doctor Tennant’s office, I repeat, would Grace Winchester please report to Doctor Tennant’s office.”
Octavia loved this job. All she really had to do was call one name per day, and she could spend the rest of the day relaxing. And while some would consider it work, given her occupation as a member of an orchestra back in Equestria, nothing was more relaxing to her than playing her double bass. Besides, where else would she find a soundproof booth that would allow her to play to her heart’s content?

She was in her peaceful spot.
She pulled out her bow, and stood up to the bass.
Most people often wondered how ponies could hold stuff, and how they can do things like playing string instruments and using computers without having fingers.
Most people would see hooves as useless, oversized toenails.
They were wrong, dead wrong, due to one fact few humans knew about and hardly any natural Equestrians ever spent much time thinking about.
There were many differences between Terran horses, and Equestrian ponies. Some were obvious, like speech, flight or the use of magic. Other differences were a little less obvious, like the fact that ponies could vomit or breathe through their mouth. And finally, there were things that most Equestrians didn’t think much about, and happened to fall in the less obvious category.
The hoof of a pony was not just made from the stuff nails are made from. Instead, it had a slightly magnetic core, allowing a pony to make their hooves magnetic at will, allowing some degree of fine manipulation of small objects, even as a Pegasus or Earth pony. Most ponies used this ability to do things like retrieving coins from a purse or turning the knobs on doors. Octavia however, had the bow of her double bass enhanced with a small plate of iron, just where she would hold it when playing, allowing her to weave her song with her hooves rather than using a horn she didn’t have.
For a moment, she just stood there, trying to find her balance. She placed the bow to the strings, and used her other hoof to manipulate the neck of the bass. Then, she started playing.

Grace in the meantime, had heard her name being called, first by the broadcasting system and then by the crowd gathered for breakfast, cheering her name and wishing her well. She would be today’s morning Conversion.

If given the choice, most potential newfoals would probably ask to be converted in the morning, due to a small ritual that seemed to pop up in every center of the bureau anywhere, in some shape or form: the First Lunch as a Pony. Being converted in the morning meant that, by the time lunch came around, you’d be up and trotting, which in turn meant that almost right away you could experience how food would taste in your new body. As such, the first convert of the day would often find him- or herself mobbed by the rest of the center during lunch, with questions what it felt like to walk on all fours, or what carrots tasted like now.
None of this was of any concern to Grace at the moment however, since she had yet to be converted. Besides, she was a bit anxious about all the attention she would get later, secretly hoping she could find a quiet spot for lunch.
She walked down to the Doctor’s office. The Doctor smiled as she entered. "Hello there. Are you ready to step into the world of pony pretties and mane styling and Celestia knows what other wonders of life?"
"Sure thing, Doctor!" Grace said as she sat down.
"Right. But, first things first… You still have a story to finish," he said, reclining in his chair.
"A story?" Grace said as the Doctor nodded. "Oh! You mean... My escape."

"Yes. Take your time, there is no rush."

Grace was in the hospital room again. Her parents were talking about an abortion, and her boyfriend had ran away, afraid of what she would do with the baby.
One thing stood perfectly clear in her mind. One truth, certain as the word of the Lord himself:
If they were going to kill her baby, then they would kill her as well.
She stood up, and walked over to the table. On it was a ceramic vase with a few half wilted roses in it.
She set her hand down, hitting a remote that was also on the table.
The TV jumped on, and began to play.
"Are you happy?" The TV asked as the words appeared over a background of clouds.
"No-one has been happy. Not in a long time," Grace mumbled as she slowly picked the roses from the vase.
"Ever wonder, what it would be like to live in a different world? A world, where love and tolerance come as natural, as greed and hate come here? A world, without barriers that say who you can or can’t be friends with? "
'Great,' Grace thought, 'another church. Dad will possibly blame this one on me as well.'
"Twilight Sparkle here. I came to Earth to help you, to help the human race. I have been asked by Princess Celestia to offer you all away to share in the bounty of Equestria."
Grace turned to look at the TV screen, and saw a purple Unicorn wearing thin-rimmed glasses.
"You can walk on sunny days without having to fear for your skin to burn off, eat as many fruits and vegetables as your heart desires without risking to run into a poisonous one, own a house larger than a cupboard and even have a job that only you can do right!"
The screen panned out, to show Twilight standing in front of a huge tree. A tree so large, you could probably hollow it out and live in it. Judging by the sign and the door on it, someone had actually done so.
"All we ask in return is for you to abandon your humanity, and become a pony. The conversion process is absolutely painless, guaranteed to be safe and completely free of charge."
Grace was glued to the screen of the TV at this point.
"If you want to accept, then I extend a hoof to you and ask that you come to your nearest conversion bureau. A list of them will appear on the screen in a moment. Thank you for your time, and have a nice day"
The TV cut to a different commercial (“fruity oaty bars, make a man out of a mouse!”) as Grace thinks ,pondering the locations on the list she saw...
The closest bureau was opening in a week in St George.

She started to get dressed. She has a plan.

"And after pulling a mission impossible, I managed to slip past my dad and get to here," Grace finished telling her story.
"A nice ending, to a not so nice story. But, I better not keep you for too long. They are already set up and waiting for you at the end of the hall there... Good luck, Amazing Grace," the Doctor said as he shook her hand.
As Grace started to walk down the hall, she smiled and said to no one in particular,
"Amazing Grace... I like it."

////////////
Ray10k here.
Sun and Moon, I Love Exposition!
Nothing more fun to write, than a long monologue about, say, the way hooves work!
(hey someone has to think of the madness that is ponyville -Kryxel)

episode 3 part 6: Ponies and god.

TCB: SG: E3P6
Ponies and gods
intervented by kryxel
Wished to legibilty by Ray 10k
(yes based on the "baseline" of all TCB stories)

Grace entered the doorway of the bureau conversion room. Doctor Whooves, Berry and Colgate were at their usual spots as Grace entered.
Grace immediately saw the flask that held what looked like grape Jello, with gold glitter mixed into it.
"Is that...?" She asked, looking at the Doctor.
"Oh yes. It is," the Doctor said as Berry handed over the small Styrofoam cup with 3 ounces of the formula mixed in with it.
"So, I just, down it and bang, I am a pony?" Grace asked as she held the cup.
"Yes. But you may want to undress first. The conversion process could kill you otherwise, per example when your neck grows bigger than your collar," Colgate said. In the meantime, Grace had set the cup down on a table to free her hands and was about to undress, when she thought of something that made her blush a little. She looked at the Doctor and stammered, "C-could you uh... Leave?"
"What? Why?... Oh! right... I will just be out here," the Doctor said as he stepped out of the room, finding a chair in the hall.
Grace undressed, and took the cup in her hand, swishing the liquid a little before she steeled her resolve, and downed it in one quick gulp.
“huh, tastes like grape-”
*thud*

The first part of the Dream was almost identical to any newfoal. The peaceful meadow they find themselves in, the moment they are accepted into the Herd, the run, the cliff giving way to a path of clouds, and finally meeting the royal sisters. One thing that varied for each nowefoal however, was the location of that meeting.

When Grace met the goddesses, she found herself in a place she had abandoned not so long ago but had hoped not to see again, not so soon anyway.
Her father’s church.
The pulpit sat empty and rows upon rows of pews lined the red carpet isle.
Grace found herself lying down on the carpet, facing the pulpit.
She stood up and walked up to the pulpit to see all the room at once.
At first, her new eyes and ears did not hear or see anyone, but then she saw the tip of a pastel tail, slipping through a narrow gap between the large double doors at the end of the church.

Grace broke into a gallop as she ran past the pews and out the door to follow the tail she had been certain she saw.
Passing through halls and running past rooms, she soon reached the exit to find the two sisters... and an unexpected third guest. A human guest.

"Grace, please come and sit with us..." Celestia said as Luna played chess with the bearded man.
Grace sat down and looked at the three
"She does not know what to think, does she?" The man said with a grin.
"I must assume she can at least put 2 and 2 together," Luna said as she moved her knight.
"Both of you, please quiet down. Grace, are you okay?"
Grace's mind was blown.
"M-M-My God," was all she could say.
"Well, I am sorry Grace... But I have not been anyone’s God for a good long time," the Man said as Luna looked over the board, trying to find a way out.
"B-but huh... How? W-why? Hold on, WHAT!?"
"Grace, let me explain," Celestia said. "Each Universe has its own God or Goddess. A main Deity of the sun, who created everything on the planet. The Man before you is the one who created this world. He wanted to see what we talk about when we talk with a newfoal like yourself."
"Don’t call me by one of those religious names, please. Call me Dave instead," the Man said.
"D-Dave. Okay, I can do that."
"Now, Grace. You have lived on this Earth for all of your days up until now, and I want to ask you something. One last request, before you leave. A request for you, for the good of the whole human race," Celestia said, leaning closer.
"What... IS the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" She looked at Grace with her face so serious, one would be forgiven to mistake her for a statue, and Grace stared back, her face a mask of barely concealed confusion.
Dave burst into laughter. "Oh Tia! You need to learn the difference between serious questions and popular icons in inventions. I have had that one asked to me so many times, I would not be able to count it, not even on all fingers and toes in the world! Now, my dear Grace, please don’t worry too much about her silly questions. I know you are not "mine" anymore, but there is one thing I would like you to do. If not for me, then for the others you can help by doing it. Help others, those who are afraid to choose, those afraid to take a risk. I cannot give you much, but if you could help others to make up their mind before it is too late, you will have my gratitude."
"Sister, Dave, we must hurry. She’s been under far longer than the usual. They are getting ready to use the Defibrillator!" Luna said.
"Right.. *speedyspoilsport*." Celestia sighed, and turned back to Grace. "Grace, I wish we had more time, but Luna is right. Please, drink the Tea in front of you."
Grace nodded, and bent down to drink the tea. Soon, her world fades to gray. The last thing she saw, before the veil covered her completely, was Dave kneeling and hugging her.

"Good luck Little pony," He says before all fades from grey to black.

"CLEAR!" Colgate said as Grace came to. "WAIT! She is awake!"
Grace sat up, and looked at the three worried ponies surrounding her.
"Grace, are you okay?" Berry asked.
"More than okay... Far more than okay," Grace said with a smile.

Mini3: Of Chess and Cheaters

(kryxel here with a small note. if you do not like what is in this minisode then i extend a hand to you to write your own. send it to me and i will pick the best one and use it as a minisode. well without furthur ado...)

Interlude 3: Celestia and Luna; or, Of chess and cheaters.
Grown from the frustrated mind of Ray10k,
Based on the tale woven by Kryxel

In the realm of dreams, time is a strange thing. One could spend an eternity wandering the desert and wake up, finding only a minute to have passed, or spend a mere second with the one they love, while the waking world had advanced from dusk to dawn. In dreams, time flowed strangely.
However, one would be mistaken to think that time flowed truly free in dreams. For starters, it flowed ever onward, never turning back. Second, it always answered to its mistress. A mistress who, at this point, was getting frustrated to the point of infuriation.
“Checkmate!”
“GAH! How come you are so good at this?!” Luna demanded.
Her opponent smiled. “Many who excelled in this game often found themselves praying to me in some form. Of course I’d get a few hints on how to play from that.”
Celestia, who had been drinking a cup of tea up to this point, chuckled. “And that is twelve victories in a row! Time to step up your game, dear sister.”
“Why? The newfoal is fully converted, I am done with my last game, and this lie has lasted long enough. Off with you!” She replied as she gestured to the bearded man in front of her, who smiled once more before collapsing into a cloud of silvery dust, flowing away on an unfelt wind and spreading to the minds of a million sleeping ponies.
“A lie you say?” Celestia said with a devious smile. “I don’t recall any lies being told since we got here.”
“Oh, please Celly, don’t play that game with me. ‘A god for every world?’ Have you forgotten why we are even offering them a way to our world? Their world is empty of magic, empty of life for crying out loud!”
“True, and he was definitely their god. You have to admit that.”
“He was a construct of a million thoughts, a golem of belief!”
“Correct again. A construct of a million human thoughts and beliefs. The sum of all their dreams and more. In a sense, the dreams you just sent back was the only way a god could exist in their world,” Celestia said as she got up from where she was sitting, reaching out with her magic to gather up the chess pieces Luna had been using.
“You know it doesn’t just end there! Then what about your claims of him having made that world?”
“Well, one could argue that mankind in a way did make the world they lived in. From the moment they figured out how to make fire, mankind has been shaping the world around them. So, given that their god was the sum of their collective beliefs, it is no lie to say that he indeed created their world.”
Luna sighed. “Alright, I give you all that, but the point is still that he could not exist on Earth. Humans have their own dreams, never ones that could meet in a way to create Him. I mean, I had to painstakingly sort through the dreams of every newfoal out there to even create that image! And what for? To let one new member of the Herd say goodbye?”
“Yes. And you know it was worth it.”
A short silence existed between the two sisters, in which Celestia finished up packing the old Chess set.
Celestia broke the silence. “Besides, you know it was not just about her. Sometimes, one pony is all it takes to change the world. Who knows, maybe one day she will save someone else.”
Luna chuckled grimly at this. “Right, who knows? Who else would be able to trick such a sweet young mare into furthering your own agenda?”
“If this is about the Nightmare again, I told you already. I genuinely thought Twilight just needed to get out more.” Celestia thought for a moment. “Except, this is not about Twilight, or is it?”
“Wha?... I- I don’t know what you are talking about, of course it isn’t! It is just about your constant manipulation of others!”
Celestia gave a wide, almost creepy grin. “Really? So, you are sure you are not just annoyed after losing twelve times in a row?”
“Yes! I mean, No! I mean, I,err… *sigh* OK, yes, you are right Celly. I guess I’ve gotten a little too used to beating you lately.”
“Really now? Last time I checked, it was 35 victories for me, 34 for you…”
“AND SO HELP ME THE MOON, I WILL SURPASS YOU!”
“*giggle* Calm down, Lulu, you are using the Royal Voice again! But, if you want another round, let’s get out of the Dream first. Can’t have you cheat, right?”
“Oh, is that how you are going to play? You hurt me sister, trusting me that little! What ever have I done to warrant such base accusations?”
“Forgotten about the Starswirl family already?”
“...You promised you would never mention that again.”

Time in a dream is a strange thing. One can spend an instant in the embrace of a long lost sibling, or find themselves banished to an inhospitable wasteland for a thousand years, but inevitably one must wake up to the dawn of a new day. One would expect that such a strange realm answers to no-one, but the truth is that the Dream has its own mistress. A mare whose mane is made from the night sky itself, who spent a thousand years alone. A mare, who woke up to the caring embrace of her sister, with only one thought going through her mind.
“worth it!”

/////////
Ray10k here. This chapter is my own work entirely. I wrote it to address some issues I had with chapter 13 ( episode 3, part 5). If you are reading this, Kryxel took ten additional levels of badass and decided to post my incoherent rambling/friendshipping/excuse for more exposition (sun and moon do I love writing that). So, any complaints about the quality of the chapter go to me, Kryxel was probably taken by surprise when I sent him this.
(kryx here. i accept the ten levels of "badass" )

episode 3 part 7: on hayfries and sleepovers

TCB: SG E3P7
On hayfries and sleepovers

Forged in the fires of mount Glory by Kryxel.
Dragged to Mount Doom for the final touches by Ray10k.

Most people would assume that, after conversion, the first priority would be to find out what they now look like. And in most cases, they would be right. However, in some cases things go differently. Say, when someone who is used to a light breakfast goes through a longer-than-usual conversion, while also having to provide food for the tiny life growing within.
Grace trotted, still a bit unsure on her new hooves, through the doors. She could smell the hayfries and mulchburgers from the moment she exited the conversion room. And, as one would expect, changing species left one absolutely STARVING.
Doctor Whooves followed after Grace, keeping an eye on her as she broke into a slightly more stable canter towards the cafeteria, and the ritual of the "First Meal as a Pony."
Grace skidded to a halt right in front of the trays and looked at all the wonderful food laid in them.
Apples, Carrots, alfalfa, oats, barley... and those were just the appetizers!
"Oh Good, you are here! I got you a tray with a little of everything, Dearie," Mrs. Cake said as she set the tray with the towering pillar of vegetables, fruits and other greens in front of Grace.
"Thank you, Mrs. Cake," Grace said, picking up her tray with her mouth. She trotted over to a table and sat down, starting to eat. The Doctor sat down opposite her.
"Well, you must have been hungry," he said. "You did not even stop to ask what colour you are, what type you became, nothing at all really."
Grace swallowed a mouth full of the most deliciously spicy carrots she had ever tasted in her life. "You are right. What DO I look like now?"
"Well, you are a light green. A very, very light sea green. Your mane seems to be in a bowl cut now, A forest green with a few white stripes in it. Looks quite fetching. Your eyes are some kind of orange, the kind you see at the beginning of sunset. Most importantly though, you have wings! You are now a little angel of a pony!”
Grace blinked "Wings? You mean I’m a Pegasus?"
"oh yes, a Pegasus. I must admit, when I converted I kind of hoped I’d be one as well. No luck though. Quite unfortunate, like being ginger, it just seems not to be my luck," the doctor said with a shrug. "Anyway, as you are still with foal, I am putting you under Doctor’s orders to stay on the ground, at the very least until the foal is born."
"Right. Can’t have me go into labor in mid-air. Oh, right, meant to tell you! I have chosen my pony Name. Want to hear it?" Grace said with a sly grin.
"Sure. What is it?"
"Amazing Grace."
"How sweet the sound... Actually, it is a name that, while a little... pretentious, does sound like what you’d find in Equestria. And since not many of at least Equestria’s native inhabitants will have heard of that song, I think nopony will call your name strange. Especially in comparison to a stallion I met a while ago, you know what he had named himself? Satellite Dish! But enough chatter about names. I can tell you are hungry, so I’ll just leave you to your first lunch now,” the Doctor said before trotting away from the table Grace was seated behind.
She only managed a few more bites from the delicious mountain on her plate, before a familiar group of three girls walked over to her table, sitting down on the unoccupied sides.
"Grace? You look absolutely dashing!" Elane said, sitting at Grace’s left-hand side. Grace idly wondered, “or is it left hoof side now?”
"Fancy pair o' wings ya got there too," Jane said from her seat to Grace’s right, running a gentle finger down the large outer feathers of her wing.
"Nice upgrade, can’t hate the Retro touch... I <3 it!" Lindie said from behind the (now significantly smaller) pillar of food, making the shape with her fingers.
"Girls, girls, can you please not fawn over me like that, it’s embarrassing. Besides, I’m still your roommate and Jane, please stop that, it feels weird."
"but Darling! We just MUST give you mane-icures and wing massages or whatever they are called! Perhaps a sleepover! Oh, yes, that would be PERFECT!" Elane said, her eyes nearly sparkling with anticipation for things (hopefully) yet to come.
All the other occupants of the table gave her a collective flat stare, perfectly conveying the message.
"Uh, Elane? Check your memory banks. You should find some data saying that, since we’ve shared a room since we got here, technically every night is a sleepover,” Lindie said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the table after Elane’s outburst.
Elane blushed. "Too true... what I meant was, doing the typical girls’ night-out-sleepover-things. You know, facials, manicures, hairstyling, truth or dare, pillow fights, stuff like that."
Jane blinked. "Uh, hon? Ya DO know just how a fight ‘tween a country gal like me and a city dweller like you would end right? I mean, no offense, but helpin’ with the harvest as soon as ya can carry a bale tends to leave ya wit’ a few more muscles than shoppin’ till your card gets blocked.”
Grace laughed at the mental image of the most likely outcome of such a pillow fight. "Well, as fun as that would be, I have to go find Spring. She said she was going to check on how the foal is doing now that I’m a pony. Besides, I don’t think I can do a whole lot in a pillow fight. Got no hands to throw the pillows, right? Anyway, I gotta finish my lunch and then find Spring, so see you later girls."
"Bye Grace," Lindie said as the other two were arguing about whether or not a sleepover could get them to be nice to each other.
Grace finished up her lunch, and was just about to get up from the table and return the plate to the kitchen, when suddenly-
“’scuse me!”
Grace jumped a few feet into the air, startled by the stranger standing behind her.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” the woman said as Grace calmed down a little. “Are you ok?”
Grace took a deep breath, calming herself.“Yes, I am fine. Just a little startled, that’s all.”
“ok then. By the way, nice wings,” the woman said as she continued to the kitchen.
Grace looked over her shoulder (“are they still called shoulders?”), puzzled at the strange compliment, and noticed that her wings were fully spread, as if she was preparing for takeoff.
“Ok, when did that happen? And how do I fold them again?” Grace thought, mentally probing her back for the muscles of her new limbs. After about half a minute of experimenting, she managed to find and relax the muscles of her avian extremities, folding her wings back against her sides.
After she brought her plate back to the kitchen, she thought about what to do next. “Ok, first priority should be to find Spring. Then, I got to find myself a mirror.”

//////////////
Ray10k here.
First of all, the pony creator code for Grace, as designed by Kryxel:

2S2S00201000FE5EFE9E9E00401FEB700UN1837000200001K100CC22FFFEFF0H107F3FCC004CB2

So, our second convert will soon Grace the skies, huh? Sounds Amazing! *gets shot for lame puns.*

Episode 3 Part 8 : Chip happens

TCB:SG E3P8
Chip happens
crafted out of two diamonds and a stick by Kryxel
used to fight back hoards of fangirls: ray10k

Grace trotted into the small room opposite the conversion chamber. The sign on the door declares it to be the medical center, but due to the small size of the room it gives more of an impression one gets from a doctor’s office. The stand with months-old magazines next to a chair doesn’t do a whole lot of good to the image of the room either.

Inside the room, she was greeted by a somewhat surly Rainbow Spring. “About muffin’ time!” Spring said as she got up from the paperwork in front of her.
"So, let’s see... Green, nice color, Pegasus, nice... Anyhow, no problems during your conversion? I’ve been told yours took a good deal longer than usual.”
"No, everything worked out just fine," Grace said with a smile.
"Good to hear. Now, I’m going to run a few basic tests. See how the foal is doing, mostly. Sometimes the dosing used turns out to be a little on the small side, meaning the foal needs just a little extra. If so, I hope you are not afraid of long needles, because we’ll have to inject some directly into them," Spring said while gesturing at the table with a foreleg.
Grace hopped up and laid down, so Spring could run the tests.

Spring levitated a stethoscope to her ears, and placed the flat metal disk on Grace's belly.
"breathe in...”

"...AND STAY OUT!"
Terrence quickly opened the door, before Hal could break it by flying through it. Again.
Hal picked himself up and started to dust of his jacket. "I thought ponies were all nicey-nice and could not harm a fly."
Victor glared "No. Ponies don’t kill. Nor do we actively seek out fights. We can still leave a nasty mark, but only when the situation calls for it. And I am Bucking sure that what you did, called for it." His unflinching glare caused Hal to shrug.
"So what? Just because I told the little snotpicker that his parents are in pony hell because they gave up being human and did not finish becoming pony during that attack, it is ok to just buck me? Besides, you can’t prove I’m wrong anyway. "

Terrence looked over at Hal. "Right or wrong, you’re not gonna make people or ponies like you.
Besides, you sayin’ junk like that... It almost makes me want to kill you myself. So, if you don’t want to spend your last days as a human in agony, I suggest you mosey on out of here. Conversion can fix a lot of things, if you catch my drift."
Hal left, Terrence shutting the door to their room. He turned around to see the white and blue Unicorn licking the cheek of the boy with the eye patch.
"I’m sorry Hal is such a... a..." Victor started to say trying to think of any human swears he was so famous for." A... A clop pole!"
"Vic, leave the swearin’ to the humans and just go back to thinking of sunshine, moonlight and apples, " Terrence said, running his hand over the pony’s head, before putting it on Sales' shoulder. "You all right kid?"
Sales silently nodded. "I just... Why does he...? Well, I won’t say he did not deserve it."
Victor snorted in angry agreement. "Good. Now, let’s see if there is anything productive we can do. Like maybe, you know, spread our wings and...

"...and count to three," Spring said as Grace lifted up her left wing.
"One. Two. Three," Grace counted.
"Good. You can put it down again." Spring checked over the chart floating next to her. "Well, it looks like your foal is fit as a bowstring.”
"Erm, is that good?" Grace asked.
"Yes, it is. Now, as soon as you feel any contractions, run here immediately. You’ll have minutes at best from that point on, and you’ll want somepony to help," Spring said as Grace trotted out of the room.

Grace spent a few moments in front of the office, trying to figure out something to do until dinner, and recalled that she had thought of finding a mirror after visiting Spring. She wrecked her mind, and managed to recall seeing a mirror near the conversion chamber. At present though, the mirror had disappeared, probably put back into storage until it was needed again.
Then she remembered about the lake in the park. “maybe that could work. And otherwise, I can always ask somepony else. Besides, I guess it would be nice to stretch my legs a little,” she thought as she walked towards the exit.

A short while later, Grace sees Victor trotting around the park, and walked up to him.
"So Victor... How do I look?" She said as she approaches him.
"You look... beautiful, Grace," Victor said as he took a good, close look at her.
Grace nodded. "Thank you. Now, I believe I promised to help you with your ponyname?"
Victor laughed. "Well, I doubt you could. I have been trying non-stop for days... but please, do let me hear your ideas."
"Hmm... How about, Dungeon Raider?"
"Sounds cool, but no... Never raided any dungeons."
"Bladehorn?"
"Nope. Sounds too much like something you’d give to a warrior."
"Horsemeat?"
"no, that is too much in the opposite direction."
"Sassifraz?"
"Haha! I don’t think so."
"Bullet Proof!"
"Nope. This is getting n-"
Grace silenced him with a gentle hoof on his lips.
"Victorious Shield."
Victor thought about it for a moment. "Sounds good. Victorious Shield... defender of Pegasi mares and their fillies."
"haha. Actually, it seems I’ll be having Twins. I’ve been thinking about names for them lately. Pepper and maybe... Chip? like Chip Shield?”
"W-wait... Grace, are you asking...?"
Grace kissed the newly named Victorious on the cheek. "I am... would you...?"
"It would be my honor."

The Doctor stopped writing for a moment, before drawing a line on the page, indicating a personal note.
He chewed a little on the end of the pencil, before continuing.
"It is here that, in an ideal world, Victorious Shield and Amazing Grace returned to the bureau and planned the voyage to Equestria, where grace had her two foals. But, as they started up the slope back to the center, one phrase keeps on echoing through my mind, in regard to the sudden start to Grace’s contractions. One phrase, simultaneously hilarious and terrifying. One phrase, only ever to be used to announce an end to something, or the beginning of something new.

Chip Happens.

Victor burst through the front doors, Grace standing outside with her legs locked and her face screwed up in pain from the ever accelerating contractions. "RAINBOW SPRING!! WHERE ARE YOU!?!?!"
He bolted towards the medical center as fast as he could, almost knocking over a few people who only barely managed to get out of his way.
Spring heard Victor’s call and immediately knew what was happening. "COLGATE, DOCTOR, BERRY, WITH ME! MRS CAKE, READY A CRIB AND ANY NECESSARY SUPPLIES FOR A NEW FOAL, STAT!!!"
Ditzy grinned behind her desk, and jotted down a note in the log book reading, "Victor and Grace need to be assigned a private room," before jumping over the desk and running after the gang, hoping she could be of help.

/////////////
Ray10k here.
So, seems Spring’s earlier estimate turned out to be too generous.

...
Why are you still here?
You expect me to be funny? Last time I tried that, I got shot for crying out loud!
(i keep telling you i thought it was unloaded! ~k)

episode3 part9: dawww.

TCB:SG E3P9
DAWWWW
(warning. we at kryxel studios warn that reading this chapter can make your heart explode twice from the sheer amount of adorableness. we request that if your heart does explode twice then you seek out doctor ray10k for immedeate help to solve this problem. thank you)

Victorious Shield trotted nervously in the hallway, just outside the medical center. He had been told to wait outside, together with any other visitors.
At the moment, he was accompanied by three others, or more specifically, Grace's roommates.
Elane was jotting down ideas for a baby shower on a scrap of paper, Jane was pacing up and down the hallway as Victorious was doing, with the two of them crossing paths in front of the door. Finally, as a small island of calmness in a sea of high tensions, Lindie sat on one of the chairs, listening to some music to pass the time.
Victorious paused, glanced at the clock on the wall and gave a sigh before resuming his pacing.
The doors at the other end of the hall swung open, and casually Terrence walked in. "Vic, any word yet on your marefriend?" He asked while sitting down next to Lindie.
"No, nothing yet. They carried her in and then, silence. Not a single peep since. I think somepony put up a silence spell for privacy’s sake, but I don’t know. I just don’t know... " Victorious said, keeping his pace up and down the hall steady.

After a few more maddening minutes of silence and anxiety, Ditzy stepped out and smiled at the new father. "Victor... Two healthy, lovely foals." she said, her eyes positively beaming.
"They are ok? Nothing went wrong? Oh thank Celestia! Can I see them now? " Victorious said as he stopped his pacing.
"Well, you can see them tomorrow. Right now, they need their rest."

Conversion bureaus or Conversion centers are usually placed somewhere a bit away from large population centers. When asked, central command usually comes with a list of premade answers as to why the cities are usually avoided.

“It makes security easier if there is some empty space around the compound, gives the centers precious time when they can see threats coming.”
“We can only make so many centers AND supply them with the serum, not to mention food and water, so placing the centers between major population centers allows uus to reach more people with less resources.”
“The magic of Equestria is strongly affected by living beings, so the centers need a bit of isolation to guarantee the safety of the potential converts.”

Any native Equestrian can tell you however that, while still valid points, none of them come close to the most important reason: Native Equestrians simply do not like human cities.

“There are so many people living in one place, yet hardly anyone knows what their neighbor is called.”
“what, you expect me to breathe that smog until I get back home? Did I offend your family or something?”
“um, well, I... I don’t like it here. There are almost no animals around here, due to all the noise. Can we please go somewhere else?”

As a result, most Centers are build either near smaller communities, or in the middle of nowhere.
The St. George center, per example, was built inside a long abandoned superstore, just outside the now nearly empty city. Thanks to the combined efforts of the Earth ponies (and the help of the small plant nursury that has been there since forever) , a small forest of young oaks had started to grow just outside the center.

It was in these woods that a mysterious figure was hidden, a pair of binoculars in front of his eyes.

The hidden man pulled out a wireless videophone. A few beeps resounded between the young trees, as the figure tapped a few digits onto the illuminated panel and spoke into it. "SG1. No sign of the target yet. Bound to happen soon with the Pink one’s sister around though. Post in a week, or when I have the Intel.
SG1 out."
The furtive individual set the video phone back down, and turned up the collar of their coat.
"Soon," it mutters, as it walks back to the bureau.

The next morning

Victorious nuzzled a brightly smiling Grace.
"Victorious, meet your foals," Grace said, nodding over to the two cribs.
He takes his first look at his new children. The first one is a brown and green Pegasus filly with a dark brown mane, who yawns and stretches her wings for a moment. The other one is a grey Unicorn colt with a white mane and a short, almost stubby horn peeking out from his mane.
"They are... amazing!" Victorious said, nuzzling Grace again.
"They are adorable!" Elane said, gently picking up chip.
"Huh. Ah am mighty surprised ya know how ta carry a foal, Elane," Jane said, carefully picking up Pepper.
"Well, you know how every little girls dream is to have a pony? I was one of the few who actually got one," Elane said, her voice slightly tinged with... pride? Sorrow?
"Everyone, Say ‘TCP/IP’!" Lindie said while putting her pointer and thumb fingers in a L shape and then moving them into a box, completing the age-old gesture for making a photo.
Everyone smiled, as a shutter click was heard when Lindie twitched her thumb.
"and... Blogged and posted!" Lindie said scratching behind grace's ear
Terrence laughed. "Is it always hectic with you girls?"
"YES!" The three girls and one mare said in chorus.

The humanoid Doctor finished writing what he learned about Grace, and rolled up the scroll. He lit a red candle, and poured a small amount of wax on the scroll, before pressing down on it with his ring. The seal left by the ring was that of an hourglass, superimposed over a number of circles bunched together in what any Gallifreyan could tell you was the word for “Doctor,” you underdeveloped idiot.

The Doctor proceeds to pull a small vial of what appears to be green fire out of a drawer. “One letter to Princess Celestia,” he says as he holds the scroll over the bottle and flicks open the "lighter" nozzle on it.
The green flames jump out of the bottle, consuming the scroll far faster than the small amount of fire has any right to, and the smoke and ashes quickly fly out through a window.

The Doctor leans back into his chair. “So, two down. Wonder who’ll be next...”

/////////////
Ray10k here.
Not a whole lot to say today, other than a completely shameless plug of the first chapter of my first story.
(oh the shame! the shame!~k)

Episode 4: Sales

TCB:SG E4
dreamed by kryxel
brought out in therapy by ray10k
this episodes song

Some say, that dreams are just your mind sorting through the day’s events. Nothing but your mind looking back, and saying, “this looked important, let’s store it for later.”
Others say, they are predictions, insights in what the future will bring. That your mind looks at what has happened, and determines what will happen.
Yet again others say, they are nothing but random flashes of synapses, connecting everything like the price of tea in china. That dreams are just strangely vivid hallucinations, the random musings of a mind unrestrained by the constant sensory overload of data one encounters in a day.

For Sales however, none of these theories rang true. Mostly because it had been nearly two years since he had a true dream, rather than a nightmare.
Worse still, for all that time the nightmare remained unchanged. Always the same, never a single variation.
Then again, why would there be any change to that terrifying mental scar that fateful day two years ago left?

Virginia conversion bureau, one year and ten months ago. 8:30PM.

The first blast rocked the entire building, as the outer walls crumbled under the might of the explosions. All those inside, who had hoped that the walls would keep them safe, didn’t waste a single moment before trying to get to safety, already knowing full well what had happened.

The HLF. Those who saw conversion as an attempt by Equestria to wipe out the human race. Not even a week ago they had left a horrifying message, in the form of a rag doll hanging from a street lamp. A doll, shaped like a horse with both wings and a horn, and covered in the blood of the ponies they so despised.

No question about it. It was a declaration of war.

The bureau went into lockdown shortly after, due to "potential risks to the convertees".
Sadly, C4 cares little for lockdowns.

Sales was one of 14 people to be converted the following day. His parents were there in the bureau as well, intending to go through it as a family. His mom was converted as the last one for that day, while his father would be the first tomorrow.
Every time anyone would ask him about that day, Sales would reply, claiming to only remember the sirens and nothing else.
His nightmares tell a different story. In his sleep, he relived that day in excruciating detail, forever remembering the day his world crumbled to dust.

Sales' mom stirred him from his sleep, asking him to follow Bunsen Beaker and Featherwind to the conversion room. the stronghold of any facility.

He did as told. After all, his mother meant well, right?

As Sales entered the heavily armored room, the first thing he noticed was that all the ponies where here, except for the Unicorns.
The second thing that seemed odd to him was that the only humans here were the other kids in the bureau.

The third notable piece of information came when they locked the doors... with the adults outside.

This is the point where even Sale’s memory becomes somewhat fuzzy, time passing in a blur. Even with the rest of the memory crystal clear, he could not remember whether he spent minutes or hours waiting, confused and scared in that cold room.

The next point at which his memories become more clear once more, starts with someone loudly pounding on the reinforced glass of the small window in the door, startling all the ponies and children out of their shock.

"Come out to play little ponies!” a taunting voice from just outside the room says. ”No-one else has to get hurt if you open now!"

"By Celestia no! We will not!" Beaker said, straightening his posture as he faces the door.

A laugh resounded through the door, followed by footsteps leading away. For a moment, silence, until suddenly the speakers of the broadcast system buzz to life.

“Now then, now that everyone can hear me, let’s play a little game shall we? The rules are simple: every five minutes, one of these disgusting beasts dies, until the conversion room door opens. So, without further ado, let’s meet our first guest!”

Some muted cries were heard through the speakers, followed by a few stumbling noises.

The cruelly cheerful voice returns to the speakers. “Meet our first guest, A Unicorn! Now, this one made itself quite the nuisance, so we snapped its horn off. Actually, we did that with all of the little devils, but let’s not split hairs about that right now. So, my most favorite death row inmate, what is your name?”

"Golden H-Harmony," a higher toned voice, trembling in fear, came out of the speakers.

A few of the kids gasped at the name. Harmony was the Unicorn in charge of the nighttime magic class, and a friend to many.

"Good! Now, miss pony, I want you to beg. Plain and simple, just beg for your life. You have... three minutes to make those adorable little kids to open the door, and save you. Or, you could just wait here. Just means another trophy for me, anyway," the man said again, his voice crackling through the speaker.

"I W-Wont."Golden Harmony said. “Y-you are going to k-kill them, and I-I won’t help with that!”

“Oh? Looks like our guest has a little fight in her left! Well, you aren’t gonna get the big prize that way, so let me help you get over that,” the man said before a gunshot echoed was heard, followed by a scream.

“Oops, I don’t think you’ll be using that leg again anytime soon. Oh well, just one more minute and you won’t have any use for your legs at all. So, save yourself the trouble, and tell those adorable little kids to open the bloody door!”

Between the whimpers of the injured pony, only one word could be heard. “N-never.”

*bang*

"One down, a few dozen more to go. Time for round two, in which our new contestant even gets to talk!"

This is the point at which the dreaming Sales flinches, knowing what happens next.

"So, another round, another chance, and another Unicorn even! So, tell me, what is your pathetic excuse for a name?"

"Diane Kital."

Sales froze when he heard this, only one word passing his lips: "M-mom!"

"Diane? Hmm...” The speakers fell silent for a moment, before the voice returned as loud as ever. “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls! It seems that our latest guest is not only a pony, but also a traitor of her own race! So give her a cold shoulder or a hot round of lead, as we enter our second round!”

Outside the locked room, the guards jeer and boo at the speakers, one even shouting to just kill her right away.

“Now, now, no need to rush things. I mean, yes she is despicable, but the rules are that every one of them gets five minutes, so just be patient. Now then, Diane Kital, tell me about yourself. Like, say, did you come here alone?”

"Yes. Yes, I did."

Sales ran for the door, but a shadow descended upon him. Featherwind the Pegasus dove on top of him, stopping Sales before he could get to the door.

"Don’t, kid. All that will happen, is they will rush in, and kill us all," he said almost coldly.

The speakers crackle again, the main continuing his verbal torture. "Oh really now? Because, I do recall that one of my fellas said something about a locket. You know, the one you were wearing? The one with photos of a handsome fellow and a strong, young boy? Well, maybe breaking your horn made you forgetful, so let me introduce our first (mostly) human guest!”

The speaker picked up the sound of a door opening, followed by some noises of a struggle.

"now, my good sir, have a seat. So, what is your name? and please, use your real name, not whatever silly excuse of a name you’ve made up for ponyland.”

"Bite me."

"tsk tsk. I asked for your real name, though I do suppose that would be a good name for a sucker like you. Anyhow, for now I’ll l just assume it is Mr. James Kital. Oh please, mister Kital, don’t be so surprised! You should know how those mules gather every scrap of information they can get on you when you walk through the door! Now, their files also say the two of you have got a son! My, my, don’t you have any shame forcing your own child to just abandon his race? Anyhow, Sales. Yes Sales, I am talking to you now. I know you are behind a certain door, and we kind of need that door open. So, you have two minutes to open that door, or you’ll meet your parents again in whatever hell you walking glue factories go to!”

The speaker falls silent, and Sales struggles against the weight of Windfeather. Several of the other ponies in the room pile up on top of the two of them, desperately trying to keep Sales from opening the door.

"And the commercial break is over, folks! Seems like your kid doesn’t like you a whole lot, so any last words? Or will you open the door now, Sales? You still have a few seconds after all!”

" Three words," Mr. Kital says. "We love you, son."

"Sorry, that was four. Time’s up, so say your goodbyes!"

The speaker picks up the last words of Mr. and Mrs. Kital.
"We love you."

*bang*

present day. 2 AM

Sales jumped up, wide awake. "DAD! MOM!"

Silence fills the room. Silence, broken only by one thing.
The sobs of a fourteen year old, crying out for his parents.

////////////
Ray10k here.
Ever get creeped out at how much fun writing certain characters is? Yeah, I got that with the psycho in this chapter.

Episode4 Part2: a slice of bureau life

E4P2: "slice of bureau life"
Rescued from the fires of Makai through the use of miniature UFO’s by Kryxel.
Incident surrounding aforementioned rescue resolved by Ray10k.

Doctor Whooves trotted around his library. He looked over to the other side of the pool, where Ditzy was organizing the books with Dinky’s help.

"Ditzy, have you seen ‘sub-spatial/dimensional hyperlinks for the brilliant’, or even ‘gateways to parallel worlds volume 2?’" He asked, looking back at the shelf.

"Hmm... Is that the yellow book with the black shapes on it?" Ditzy said, returning a few books to a shelf near the ceiling.

"Ye- Ah, there it is! Thanks hon!" The Doctor said as he pulled a thick tome off the shelf. He carried it to his main desk, near the console of the TARDIS, and started reading.
An hour later, Colgate stepped into the TARDIS and walked over to the Doctor.

"Doctor, break is over. Time to get back to work.”

The Doctor sighed. "Five more minutes please."

“No, Doctor. Your schedule started five minutes ago, so there are already some people waiting for you. Your book will have to wait.”

At this, the Doctor gave Colgate a look that said, “do I really have to? I don’t wanna!”

Having had to deal with the Doctor, Colgate put a hoof over her eyes in annoyance. When she removed her hoof however, her eyes seemed to somehow glow with an inner soft, golden light. "Doctor, don’t make me..."

"...Don’t. You. Dare." The Doctor said, slowly walking away from his desk and toward Colgate.

Colgate didn’t reply. However, the light illuminating her eyes went from that of dying embers to a light rivaling the brightness of the sun, while small wisps of what looked like golden fairy dust started to flow from her.

"OKAY OKAY! YOU WIN!" The Doctor shouted, his fear obvious in his voice. “Ditzy! Dinky! Break is over! Time to get back to work!” He shouted down the corridor towards the Library.

Colgate’s eyes returned to normal, a smile on her face as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened."Now, with that out of the way, I believe it is time for the daily status report. Victor, Grace and their foals are all doing fine, the latter developing as can be expected. Hal has gone missing, again, Galinda was caught trying to hack into the Earth main government systems, again, and Elane is complaining about the lack of stores around here, yet again," Colgate said as she trotted alongside the Doctor.

"And what on the... Outer fronts?" The Doctor asked, turning his head towards Colgate.

"One possible Cyberfleet over Mars, a Sontaran training mission landing on one of Jupiter’s moons in four hours, a diplomatic mission of the Judoon arriving in five weeks, intending to open negotiations with both the Equestrian and Terran governments. Oh, and River will be... heading to The Library in four days."

The Doctor stopped his trot toward his office, and nodded. "Don’t tell ‘me’ about that last one. He... would not take it well. Send flowers to the Ponds instead. I’ve prepared a letter for them, it is in the top-right drawer of my desk, I want you to send it along with the flowers."

Colgate nodded, hardly a trace of emotion visible. "Best hurry. ‘You’ will probably be getting impatient by now"

The Doctor nodded, and continued his trot towards the office of his past counterpart.

“Come on in!”

Whooves entered the office, finding Doctor Tennant behind the desk. “Ah, my Equestrian counterpart. So, I’ll be a little tardy later on? Guess I’ll have to get used to that.”

Doctor Whooves chuckled a little, before he regained his composure and started talking. “True, but right now, there are some things going on, both on and beyond earth. Mind if I deal with the aspiring newfoals, while you take care of the extraterrestrial matters?”

This time, it was Tennant’s turn to chuckle. “No problem. I’ll deal with securing the future, you make sure we get there.”

Whooves nodded, and left the office as Tennant started planning how to keep the Cybermen and the Sontaran from meeting. Last time that happened, things got ugly fast.

"Welcome to flight 101. I am Surprise, and this featherball here is Soarin’. We will be your flight instructors for the rest of your two-week stay here," Surprise said as she marched past the newfoal Pegasi assembled in a single row. "For those of you who do know how to use your wings, follow Soarin’ to the practice cloud arena, where he’ll teach you the basics of weather duties. As for the rest, you get to come with me," she grinned and trotted down the field, a handful of somewhat intimidated looking Pegasi trailing behind her, Grace as the only new addition to the group.

When they reached the training grounds, Surprise turned to Grace. "Well Grace, you ready to soar the skies above?" Surprise asked with a wide grin.

"N-not really. I- I’m a tiny little bit... afraid of heights,” Grace nervously responded, her thoughts flashing back to a particularly memorable event involving The Man She Once Called Father, the roof of the church, some marbles and a handful of dice.

"Don’t you worry! With your wings, you can stop any fall, and if we get to the clouds, you’ll always make a soft landing. First things first though. We need to get you hovering. So, I heard some newfoals say that they had some problems at first, figuring out where their wings were and how to move them, so have you figured that out yet?" Surprise asked with a gentle smile.

"Yeah..." Grace mentally prodded her wings, causing them to spread.

Surprise giggled a little, confusing Grace, before she returned to the matter at hoof. "Right then! Here is your first exercise for today: I want you to walk after me, and on every fourth hoof beat, you must flap your wings once. Just tap your flanks and spread, ok? Good! Then let’s get started!” Surprise pulled out an old war helmet, borrowed from Granny Smith, with a few Equestrian markings on it, before straightening her face and switching to a voice Grace assumed was supposed to sound like that of a Drill Sergeant, but which mostly sounded like she was trying not to laugh.

"ALRIGHT THEN MAGGOT! TWO ZEE BRA HUT! TWO ZEE BRA HUT!" Surprise started trotting and grace chuckled as she followed with her wings flapping

Victorious Shield leapt through the trees, chasing after the blue shape that was currently nimbly jumping through small gaps between the branches, whereas he had to either charge through them or take a longer path around them.
He sped up, and soon he could once again see the hourglass on her flank, at most two feet ahead of him.

Colgate jumped through a particularly small hole between two sturdy oaks at that moment, leaving Victorious with only an instant to change his course before he slammed into the trees, sideways. "Come on, Victor, you‘re slowing down again!" Colgate said as Victorious got back on his hooves, and continued his chase.

He managed, with what he thought to be some clever use of the environment, to corner her between a few particularly densely packed trees, carefully moving in for the capture. However, when he thought he had her, she suddenly bent one of the trees with her magic, before jumping out of his way, once again forcing him to walk around the trees.

Victorious slid around the trees, and soon caught up with her again. "How.. *pant* How is this supposed to help *pant* me with my Magic?"

"No questions now, and no answers either. Just run, kiddo," Colgate said as she bounded off, once again forcing Victorious to pick up the pace.

"Would you just stop running for a moment? Right now, I think you are only doing this because you either don’t take this any bit serious, or because I somehow offended you, and you are trying to make me pay for it!”

"No need to get your saddle in a twist, and believe me, there is a point to this. And you know what? I will tell you what it is. After you catch me, that is!" Colgate grinned, and accelerated to a speed that would leave some Pegasi in the dust.

Victorious groaned. “Somehow, I doubt it... But it’s not as if I’ll get my answers by standing here.” Victorious started running again, set on finally catching up with Colgate.

Sales headed down to his Calm Place. A place, where he knew he was always welcome, no matter who else was there.

Sales opened the door to the nursery, and immediately gets pounced and pinned to the ground by two small, brown and off-white blurs.

"SAWES!" The excited cake twins shout as Sales gets up, a big smile plastered across his face.

""Hey you two. Cheerful as ever, right? Wanna play a game of hide and seek?" Sales said, putting the Unicorn and the Pegasus back on the floor.

The foals look at him, blinking once before they both break into grins and gallop off, doubtlessly in search of a new hiding spot.

"Sales, Sales, Sales... Sometimes, you seem to have more energy than most foals I’ve seen."

Sales turned around, watching Rainbow Spring as she walked around the corner with a big smile.

Sales chuckled. "Least I could do, who are the two new arrivals?" He said as he nodded towards the two forms in the new crib, near the window.

"Oh, those are Victory and Grace's foals. They are called Pepper and Chip. Pepper is the brown and green Pegasus, and Chip is the grey and white Unicorn. Do be quiet though, they need their sleep," Spring replied with a gentle smile.

Sales nodded, and peeked into one of the nursery’s rooms. "OH.. I WONDER WHERE THE CAKE FOALS COULD BE." he whispered loudly as he saw Pound's tail peeking out from under one of the cribs.

"Sales, if you keep coming here so often, other ponies might think you enrolled in the daycare," Spring said with a smile as Sales stalked the little foal.

Sales just grinned in reply. "Sorry, but I doubt you have a crib in my size," he said before diving under the crib, barely in time to see the foals run out the other side.

"Well then, I’ll leave you to your game." Spring said as the two foals managed to sneak up on Sales from behind, pouncing him on his back.

Doctor Tennant was having a fairly normal day. Just the usual running for your life, while Daleks were shooting at him and his companion.

"Doc.. Daleks on the left!" Terrence said, rolling and firing his U.N.I.T. Standard Issue Rifle at the oncoming aliens.

"Right! Keep them pinned down!" The doctor said as he sonic’d the control panel open.

"Sontarans. Why, in the name of all that is good, are Daleks disguising themselves as a Sontaran ship?" Terrence shouted as he tried his hardest to keep the aliens from advancing any further.

"Strategy. They know that the Sontaran are not stupid enough to come back here anymore, not since the last time we met, so everyone assumes that any of their ships will steer clear of the earth. Anyhow, odds are that with one well-timed micropulse, I can fry the shield expander that was aimed at Equestria, and at least stop the acceleration of the shield’s expansion. I just need... do you happen to have some gum?"

"Sure, here!" Terrence said, making a quick gesture that knocked the hat of his head into the direction of the Doctor.

The Doctor reached in, and pulled out a package of gum, quickly grabbing a stick and unwrapping it. He chewed the gum as he put the foil wrapper over a fuse he had retrieved from the panel, before reinserting the fuse the wrong side up.

"Now, there should be a green button on the other end of the hallway. Shoot it, then run for the TARDIS!"

Terrence dropped down to the ground, and flipped out the mounts so the sniper rifle looked down the hall. One target, about 100 feet away, immobile. He had done harder shots.

He carefully aligned the scope with the small green dot, exhaled once, and fired.

A direct hit.

There are a lot of things to see in space. Meteorites, stars, planets, moons, you name it. However, at that point in time, there was but one truly interesting sight, somewhere on the surface of Jupiter.

At first, it was just a small speck of light, one might mistake for lens flare. Then, the light grew, as the Dalek battleship turned into a massive ball of radioactive fire, before finally collapsing into the storms of the gas giant.

One more thing that would be quite notable, though a lot harder to spot, would be the small, blue box soaring away from the inferno, carrying two downright ecstatic gentlemen of little wealth and questionable taste with it.

"YEEEEEE HAH!!!!" Terrence said, as he sat down on the chair next to the console of the TARDIS, tossing his hat on top of the latter.

"Right. Yee-hah," the Doctor said, a bit distracted as he turned on the autopilot, a process involving twenty-five different steps, a few dozen controls and various muttered prayers and/or curses.

As luck would have it, at that moment someone was, in fact, looking to the night’s skies. Though, maybe, luck had less to do with it than nostalgia and a good memory.

Doctor Whooves was up on the roof of the bureau, looking at Jupiter as the events on it unfolded.

"Good job... I knew you could do it," he muttered with his eye pressed up to the telescope.

"Daddy? Are you talking about past Daddy?" Dinky asked, looking up at her father.

"Yes dear... He just saved the world again. Well, Jupiter technically, but anyway. Come on Muffin, dinnertime. Besides, I have a day report to fill out.”

“Can we look a little more after that? Please?”

Doctor Whooves smiled warmly. “Sure. Anything for my little muffin.”

/////////
Kryxel:
this is more of a "slice of the day" part rather than a just sales part
it also has a few sort of "mini spoilers"

Ray10k here.
Actually, a spoiler would imply that you are revealing plot-relevant information too early. I think the terms you are looking for are “foreshadowing” and “slice of life”.
Also, Jupiter is a gas giant, and therefore doesn’t have a surface, but rather an outer layer.
Finally, only one chapter is longer than this one. A job well done if I may say so.

kryxel again: well it is kind of both if you know what to look for.
also even though it is a gas giant it does have a solid core... it is small but nothing "planitary" scale. the clouds are 30 miles thick.
Kryxel again: small fix. change in sales' dialogue at his own request

episode 4 part 4 tastes like.. surprise?

TCB:SG 4/4
“Don’t just believe in yourself, Kryxel!
Believe in the me the believes in you!” – Ray10k

It was a typical day in St. George, nothing special about it. Just the quiet rustling of leaves on the wind, the occasional *clip-clop* of a pony going for a morning stroll, and sometimes the eardrum-piercing noise of a pony sneezing. Loudly.

"ACHOOO! "

Berry Punch was not having a good day. Due to her gift in the making of spirits, she was used to waking up feeling hung over, but today was different. For starters, she could quite clearly recall not having had anything to drink since that minor fiasco with Victor. Second, hangovers generally didn’t cause her to sneeze up miniature tornados.

“ACHOOO!!!”

Today however, she found herself not only feeling somewhat depressed due to an inexplicable feeling of loss on top of feeling simply ill, she also found her body making a serious attempt to blow all the clouds from the sky, simply by sneezing

“ha, haaa…. ACHOOO!!!”

The clouds in the sky were safe at the moment, on account of Berry deciding to stay in bed a little longer. The door to her room was less fortunate however, Berry’s last monstrous sneeze having ripped the light metal sheet clean from its frame and sending it hurtling down the hallway. An impressive feat, especially considering the fact that it normally only opened inward.

The door continued it’s path down the hall, tumbling past a rather surprised looking Derpy Hooves. Curious how a door could just decide to get up and leave, not to mention the noise that had seemingly launched it, she decided to investigate.

Carefully slipping through the corridor, never getting too far away from potential cover in case of more large metal objects being launched down the hallway, Derpy eventually found the source of the problem, in the form of Berry’s room missing a door, and looking suspiciously much as if a Pegasus had tried to trap a cyclone in it. The only things that seemed to be mostly intact was the bed, currently against the far side of the room, Berry still on it.

Derpy trotted into the room, and walked over to the bed, worried for her friend. "Berry hon, are you okay?" She asked as she took a closer look at Ponyville’s resident winemaker.

"Oh, for Celestia’s sake... I feel horrible... I’m Really under the weather." Berry Punch said, blowing her nose into a tissue from a box on her bed.

Derpy frowned a little at the state of her friend. "Well, hang tight. I’ll go and get Colgate. She’ll know what to do," Derpy said, before she turned around and flew down the hall. Right as she left, Berry let loose another massive sneeze, almost sending Ditzy tumbling as she got caught in the stormlike gust of wind.

Derpy soon found Colgate, walking near the garage. Happy at having found somepony who could help, Derpy called her name.

Colgate turned around, giving Derpy a kind smile. "Hey Ditzy. What’s up?"

Derpy touched down next to the azure Unicorn. "Colgate, Berry may have the E-flu. She was sneezing up a hurricane a few moments ago," Derpy said. However, by the time she had mentioned the word “E-flu,” Colgate had already ran off towards the main building.

“Give us your hungry, your lost, your ill. We shall feed them, guide them, heal them.” With these somewhat infamous words, Princess Celestia had opened the first conversion center of the Bureau, referring to how some humans had already described Equestria as a paradise. In most ways, that comparison wasn’t wrong. Equestria had plenty for all, not to mention the fact that anyone who wanted to could be part of it.

The problem however, was getting there since humans couldn’t survive the influence of magic, hence the creation of the Bureau. What few had expected however, was the massive scope of influence the pony staff of the bureau’s had on the world. On the surface, it all seemed good and without downside. Smog layers being peeled away as Pegasi soared the skies, forests and meadows flowing outwards as Earth ponies walked the barren lands, feats of magic making life easier as Unicorns were eager to lend a hoof (or horn).

The big downside became apparent much later, when it was found out that somehow, several strains of relatively normal viruses had managed to not only survive in the body of a pony, but also interfere with the flow of said body’s magic.

Illness in Equestria was a rare thing, and generally a side effect of ignoring one’s limits. The new strains of viruses however operated under earth’s rules, meaning that every now and then ponies on earth would find themselves get terribly ill without (as far as they were concerned) any rhyme or reason. So far, aside from some random mutations thereof, there were two “big” diseases making ponies miserable during their stay on earth.

The first was called “Pegapox”, and as its name implied only affected Pegasi, grounding them while generally making them feel terrible for days, a variation of the normal Pegapox in equestria

The other disease was a little more insidious. Officially named Equestrius Influenza, it quickly gained notoriety as E-flu, a disease that could affect any being with magic. For a Pegasus, it meant that while they could still fly, they could no longer touch the clouds, instead passing straight through them. For a Unicorn, their spells would get seriously messed up, often resulting in simple levitation spells becoming unintentional weapons of mass destruction. For Earth ponies, the disease would leave them weakened and stunt the growth of anything they tended to. What all three races had in common though, was that the disease would leave them unable to use their special gift, while at the same time making them sneeze. Loud, and often.

Colgate just got around the last corner of the hallway to Berry’s room, when she was blown of her hooves by a sudden gust of wind, only barely managing to pull up a barrier around herself before crashing into a wall. She quickly got back on her hooves and charged down the hallway, silently praying her shield would be enough to keep her from being blown back again.

When she reached Berry’s room, the first thing she did was to make sure she had something to grab a hold on, before turning to Berry and starting a diagnostic spell.

"So, doc... What’s the diagnosis?" Berry said with a weak chuckle.

"Well, you do have E-flu. You need to stay in bed and drink lots of liquids. Also, you will get some antibiotics in the soup. As it is, however, you cannot work today. I’m sorry," Colgate said softly.

"N-no work? But who else has the s-skills to take over the painkillers?" Berry said, struggling to hold her sneeze back.

*thump*

Colgate’s ears perked up. “Did you hear that?”

Berry shrugged. “Hear what?”

*thump*

“There! There it was again!”

“I heard it too. Maybe the ventilation is acting up?”

Berry barely finished speaking, when suddenly a vent dropped to the floor, startling all the ponies in the room.

Colgate silently gestured to Berry to stay put, and carefully approached the now open ventilation shaft, cautiously peeking inside.

Suddenly, something white and yellow with purple eyes dropped out of the shaft. “Err, heee~ey?”

Sales paced patently outside the Doctor’s office. Earlier, the Doctor had asked him to drop by, for a quick talk before conversion. At the moment however, there was a note on the door. Salem gave a bored glance.

“At the moment, I am out.
I’m at the local hypermarket,
needed to get a few things.
I’ll be back soon.”

Sales sighed. He had already been waiting for an hour and was getting a bit tired of it. Having nothing better to do, he started pacing up and down the hallway again.

A few minutes later, the Doctor finally returned, carrying two big boxes. According to the labels, one box was full of apples, while the other was heavy with bananas.

"Ah, Sales, good to see you! Could you open the door please?" He asked, craning his neck around the boxes to look at Sales.

"Uh, sure," Sales said, opening the door and letting the madman with the boxes go in first.

The Doctor sat down at his desk and put the boxes behind his chair, before turning to Sales. "So, you are becoming a pony today. How does it make you feel that you are finally completing the dream your parents started for you?" He said. Before Sales could answer, he briefly turned his attention to the boxes. "Do you want a banana? An apple maybe?"

"An apple please. I don’t really like bananas," Sales said, a bit confused at the sudden switch.

"Don’t like... bananas. Interesting..." the Doctor said, tossing him an apple. “I mean, I’ve met plenty of people, but hardly ever anyone who didn’t like bananas. Any reason you don’t like them?”

"I just never really liked the taste. Anyway, I’m glad that I can finally take a step forward. My parents were, buried in Equestria. Soon, I can talk to them again."

The Doctor reached into a drawer of his desk. "True, but let’s just chat for a moment before you head in to be changed. Fancy a game of chess?"

It had taken a minute, but Colgate had finally managed to calm Berry down enough to control her sneezing again. Having her hooves free once more, she turned to the white Pegasus. “What was the big idea, dropping in like that!? For a second I thought you were some kind of hostile alien!”

Surprise awkwardly rubbed her neck. “Rei made it sound easy, so I just wanted to try it. Guess you need feet to hang upside down.”

Colgate gave her a flat look.

Surprise got up, still a bit winded after being sneezed into the wall ten times in a single minute. “Anyhow, I overheard you saying something about the sedatives not being ready for today’s conversion, so maybe I can make it up to you guys. I am sort of the field doctor for the wonderbolts, so I know a thing or two about sedatives. Shall I mix them, as an apology for scaring you?”

Colgate raised an eyebrow. The offer was a Royal gift, but Surprise had a tendency to... get creative, something that could spell disaster for a process as delicate as conversion.

On the other hoof, at the moment Surprise was the best they had, and the central bureau tended to get difficult if the daily conversion quota weren’t met, so in the end Colgate realized she had little choice. “Alright then. Until Berry is feeling better, you are in charge of sedatives. Now, in the lab you’ll find all you need, along with a manual. Promise me you’ll follow that manual TO. THE. LETTER. Ok?”

Surprise gave a crisp salute. “SIR YES SIR, MADAM!”

"Knight to rook 2," the Doctor said as he moved his knight. He took out the rook that was not castling his king, opening the way to Kital’s side of the board.

Sales looked at the board for a moment, before moving a pawn forward. "So, what about you? Why are you not... ponyfied?" Sales asked.

"Well, the time isn’t right yet. One day, it will be. Not today however,” the Doctor replied as he moved a pawn of his own.

Surprise was in the lab, mixing various chemicals into a potent sedative, strong enough (and, in fact intended) to knock out a teenaged child. As she stirred the mix, she gave it a quick sniff.

The scent was strong enough to make her gag, as she quickly backed away. “Eeeww, that must taste horrible!”

Surprise scratched her head. Ponification was supposed to be a happy thing, but a taste as bad as that would surely put a damper on the joy. “No way that will be any fun.”

As she thought, she recalled Colgate telling her to stick to the instructions, and she had. However, as it was, there was much room for improving the sedative, or at least the taste thereof. So, without giving it much more thought, Surprise reached for a small basket of strawberries, and proceeded to crush them to paste.

Humming a merry little tune, she put the paste in a pan and used a Bunsen burner to cook it into a powder, which she quickly added to the chemicals. Taking another whiff of the concoction, she grabbed some honey and some sugar, added them as well, and stirred one last time.

Smelling the mixture one last time, Surprise nodded in satisfaction. “Smells great! Well, with that out of the way, time to get started!”

The Doctor checkmated Sales, and grinned. "Sorry. Good game though. Now, it is about time to get you converted. Go down that hall there, and look for the door that says ‘authorized personnel only.’ The other Doctor should be waiting for you there."

Sales nodded, and started walking down the hall towards the door. He was soon flanked by the pony Doctor, who gave him an encouraging smile. "Well, everything is set up and all ready. Just take off your clothes and lay down on the table once you are inside.”

Sales nodded and entered the room. Inside, he greeted Colgate and Surprise, who were both doing the final preparation for his conversion. He quickly undressed, and tried to find a comfortable way to sit on the cold metal table.

Colgate looked at him, a faint smile on her muzzle. “Ready?”

“Yes,” Sales replied as Colgate levitated a cup into his hand. He swirled the contents for a moment, before slamming down all of the dark liquid in one single gulp. “Huh… strawberries. I thought it would be gr-” *thud*

Colgate and the Doctor look at each in confusion, until suddenly looks of comprehension and terror cross their features. As one they turn to look at Surprise.

“What? Have you guys ever smelled that stuff? Terrible, I tell you!”

/////////////////
Ray10k here.
First of all,
Yes. Yes, I love Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
Second, I royally suck at chess.

Kryxel here.
Note: pegapox is a real epidemic in equestria. as seen in the story "dashes, dots, and pegasus spots." (google it!)
the E-flu however is mine.
what happens next has been passed by my friend Sales and he knows it is coming. he says it would be fine.
also (shameless plug) read his story!
found here

episode 4 part5 Memorys, dreams, and unforeseen circumstances .

originally made with macaroni and elmers glue: kryxel
crafted into diamond: ray10k

The thing with any technology, is that it is in almost every case specifically intended for one purpose, making it a bit tricky at times to make it adapt to slightly different circumstances.

The thing with magic is that, as a force that is strongly tied to the realm of thoughts and dreams, it is often influenced by the strangest or least notable outside influences.

The ponification serum, a compound of human technology and pony magic, was therefore especially tricky. To have it work properly, one has to make sure the circumstances of its use are perfectly identical every time, and adding something to the mix only results in strange, unusual or sometimes confusing conversions.

As such, Sales’ conversion was a bit different on account of the strawberries added to his serum. But, the end result of his conversion was not nearly as unusual as the dream he had during it. For him, being accepted into the herd was not the first thing that happened. Instead, he found himself in a place he could never forget, but dearly wished never to see again.

Sales had heard other newfoals tell tall tales of dreams in which they ran with the idea, the concept of ponies, and how they accepted them into their midst. He was therefore somewhat puzzled that in his dream, he still had a human body when he “woke up”.

Confusion was soon replaced with a growing sense of unease, as he looked around. He was sitting on a somewhat low metal table, in a small room that looked as if at one time, it was made to perform surgery in, but was now showing clear signs of decay.

It was a room he could never forget. A scar on his soul, the tomb of his carefree youth. It was the conversion room he was in almost two years ago, on the day his parents were murdered.

Sales got up from the table. His motions felt slowed, as if the air was thicker and hindered his movement.

Looking at the door, he noticed that the dust in front of it was showing some marks of a struggle, a number of hoofprints surrounding a vague blob that could have been the body of a human pressed down on the ground. The ground in front of the door held a handprint, as if someone had dropped his hand on the ground in front of the door.

Sales took another look around the room. Strangely, whenever he moved his head, things got blurry for far longer than they should, as if the world just outside of his vision turned into clouds that reformed into more solid shapes whenever he looked at them.

Finding nothing besides the markings in the dust, Sales turned to face the door, and took a step forward.

"Don’t let him open that door! He will kill us all!"

Startled, Sales jumped back and tripped over the table. As he scrambled to get back up, he looked around to try and find out where the voice had come from. He found nothing.

Gathering his wits once more, Sales got off of his back and tried to approach the door again. Taking notice of the footprint he had left in the dust, he carefully put his foot down in the same place.

Nothing happened.

Relief. Maybe he had just imagined it. He took another step.

"Are they going to rush in?"

This time, Sales didn’t jump. Still, the voice that had suddenly sounded from everywhere around him had startled him, freezing him in place.

Three more steps until he could reach the door.

“Come out to play, little ponies!”

The voice was cruel this time, but muted somewhat. Almost as if he was hearing it through the door.

Two more steps to the door.

"I don’t want to die!"

The voices were young, but distorted as if played back from a low quality recording.

One more step.

"MOMMY!"

Sales froze in shock. That last voice had been absolutely clear. A voice he could never mistake.

His own.

Terrified beyond words, afraid of what would happen if he opened the door, Sales tried to think. Maybe, staying in here was the best course of action. Who knew what could be behind that door?

Making up his mind, Sales turned back around.

The room was gone.

Instead of standing inside one of the heavily reinforced conversion rooms, he was now standing on a small island of dust and plascreet, an endless black void one step behind him. He had no choice.

Sales turned back, and put his hand on the door.

Nothing happened.

He pushed the door, finding it locked. The keypad on the door was different, two buttons on the mechanism.

F O R G E T

R E M E M B E R

Sales pressed the second button. He did not know why he chose it, or what they meant, but it did not matter. He knew it was what he had to do.

The door swung open.

The hallway Sales found himself in, was much like the room he woke up in. Dusty, the plascreet showing cracks in some places, and the entire building in general breathing an air of disuse and decay.

One thing that set it apart from the small room however, was the fact that many of the walls had bullet holes.

Sales looked around. The hall in one direction had collapsed, and the door he had entered through was closed, locked down with several heavy chains and padlocks.

Having no other option, he started to walk down the hallway. Soon, he found himself on an intersection he did not remember from his time at the old conversion bureau.

In his memory, the hallway to the conversion room would go around a corner. Right now, he was standing on the middle of a crossroads.

None of the paths looked remarkable, save for the footprints in the dust on the path he had walked down.

This isn’t right, Sales thought. The hallway is supposed to turn right!

The moment he formed the thought, everything went out of focus. When his eyesight had restored, Sales now found himself on a corner in the hallway, just as he had remembered it.

"Meet our first guest, A Unicorn! Now, this one made itself quite the nuisance, so we snapped its horn off. Actually, we did that with all of the little devils, but let’s not split hairs about that right now"

This time, the cruel voice came from further down the hallway, rather than from everywhere. Sales however, found himself frozen in place once more. He knew that voice. The voice that tortured him in his nightmares. The voice of the Man who had killed his parents.

Minutes passed, Sales’ mind going a thousand miles per hour. No! He can’t be here! This can’t be real! What is happening!?

Eventually, Sales managed to calm down a little, barely enough to start moving again. As he walked, he noticed the hallways being as he remembered them, aside from most of them being blocked in one way or another. Some were collapsed into rubble, others looked as if they were hastily sealed down, the plascreet not even smoothed out yet.

Suddenly, the hallways ended into another void. Turning around, Sales noted that once more, he was stuck on a small island of flooring, entirely surrounded by the void.

Again, there was a single wall with a door on it. The door was green, with a square on it a bit brighter as if something had been there for a long time. Right now however, the door had nothing on it, just a green door on a plascreet wall in the middle of literally nowhere.

I know that door... Right! The cafeteria had one like that! But that one had a little sign on it...

As he thought back, Sales recalled the sign. A pony eating an apple.

Sales blinked, and when his eyes opened the door had the sign once more.

"I want you to beg. Plain and simple, just beg for your life."

The cruel voice had gotten louder, Sales knew he was getting closer.

Sales stood still for a moment, eyes closed and waiting for the voice to return.

Nothing happened.

Sales looked around the room. The tables were mostly broken, the remains strewn around the place. The posters on the wall were all faded, as if they had been hanging there for a long time, and what little food remained was covered in thick layers of mould.

Sales cautiously stepped forward into the cafeteria. Again, a quick inspection told him that all exits had been sealed off or locked, save for the entrance to the announcement booth. Having survived following the most obvious path so far, Sales carefully approached the door.

He knew what would happen.

He knew what he would find there.

He remembered, never even having the hope to ever forget.

He pulled the door open.

“N-never.”

*bang*

The room was empty. Not just without anyone in it, but also with most of the equipment missing. The only thing in the room, was a single table, illuminated as if a spotlight was focused on it.

Sales took a step.

“Commercial break is over, folks!”

The cruel voice was back, but this time it sounded muted, as if the speakers were blocked by a pillow.

Three more steps until Sales could reach the table.

“Seems like your kid does*fzz* like you a *kchzz* lot, so any last words?”

Sales could barely make out the voice now, as static started to replace some of the words.

Two more steps to the light.

“Three words.”

Sales stopped. The voice was clear, almost as if the one speaking was right behind him. Tears blurred his vision.

One last step.

“We love you, son.”

Sales was standing next to the table. On it, was a single heart-shaped locker, opened to reveal three images.

On the left, the face of a pony mare, a kind smile on her muzzle.

On the right, the face of a man, his eyes beaming with joy.

In the middle, an image of the two together, hugging a little boy.

“We love you.”

Sales didn’t flinch, as he felt a pair of hooves embrace him from behind.

“We love you.”

The words echoed through the void, as two human arms joined in the warm embrace.

“We love you.”

Sales felt the world around him fade away, only those three words echoing through his head. And for the first time since he had woken up in this desolate place, he spoke.

“I love you too.”

Sales felt his body change, his hands becoming hooves, his hair becoming a messy mane, his face stretching into a muzzle. Around him, only light for a moment.

Then, the light faded into a meadow. The meadow all newfoals know, the place where they were accepted into the herd.

He ran, as around him forms appeared. They were like ponies, but rather than physical forms, they were ideals, thoughts and understandings of what ponykind was. Sales ran among them, with them, AS them.

They ran for what seemed to be ages, until the herd reached a tall cliff over a truly endless ocean. As one, they leapt off, becoming a bridge of clouds across which Sales ran, ever going upwards until he reached a light, as brilliant as the sun itself, inviting him in.

Sales found himself inside what seemed to be a long hallway inside an ancient castle. The walls between which he stood stretched on towards a wall with a single door, far off in the distance.

He started to walk, when he noticed the colours of the light as it passed through the windows. Looking up, he saw that the hallway was decorated with large stained glass pictures, each showing a moment of his life.

Here, there was an image of his mother singing him to sleep.

There, there was an image of his father throwing a ball towards him.

He slowly walked, taking in the images surrounding him, until he found himself between two identical windows of his parents hugging him, with only the door in front of him.

Sales pushes the door open, and walks into what appears to be the throne room of the castle.

Despite the throne being empty, the room itself is not. Behind a tea table, the sibling rulers of Equestria are calmly sitting, giving Sales inviting smiles.

"Greetings Sales Kital," Luna said with a smile.

"Greetings to you two as well," Sales said, sitting down.

"We noticed something... Odd about your dream, Sales," Celestia said with a sip of her tea.

"It was no dream. It was a nightmare. One I lived. One I wish I did not have to..." Sales said solemnly.

"Well, We wanted to ask thou if thou would like a second chance?" Luna said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Luna, what are you...?" Celestia started before Luna held up a hoof. "All in due time, dear sister," Luna said before turning back to Sales.

Sales, in the meantime, had thought about the offer for a moment. "A second chance... well, I guess so. Sounds good."

Luna smiled. "Very well. Drink, and it shall be thine."

Sales nodded and drank the tea before him. "Wait, second chance at what?"

Luna only smiled as the dream faded away...

"He’s coming around! Make sure everything is ready in the nursery. I don’t know how much his muscles are developed so let’s assume typical development for his apparent age..." Colgate said as Sales slowly opened his eyes.

"EYES! Fillies and gentlecolts, he opened his eyes!" Surprise said, standing in the corner and wearing a conical hat with the word “dunce” on it.

"Right! Sales? Can you hear me? And can you understand me?" The Doctor said, shining Sales in the eye with a strange looking blue flashlight.

Of course I can hear you, Sales thought.

He tried to say it out loud, but for some reason all that he heard was "abagabaoo." Another thing that worried him a little, was that while the voice sounded a little like his own, it was far higher, almost squeaking.

Wait, was that me? Sales thought in wonder.

"Okay, for now I‘ll assume that you can hear and understand me. So, good news, your conversion was successful. Bad news is, due to some unforeseen circumstances, your conversion proceeded a little different than intended. But rest assured, you’ll be cared well for, I can assure that much,” the Doctor rattled in what Sales assumed was a light panic.

"Ba?" Sales said. He stood up, and looked over at the mirror that had been set up.

Standing on the conversion table was a 2 year old Pegasus foal with a grey mane and a white coat.

The light blue eyes widened in surprise, as he looked all around. The foal in the mirror did the same, destroying the last possible doubts.

He was a foal now.

Sales mind reeled.

if I am a foal, then is that why I can’t talk? who will take care of me? what will I have to relearn? what if I don’t? is this a permanent thing? what is this thing around my fla...oh Tia... is that a...?

Sales blushed as a very familiar sight greeted him.

Looking past his flank, he saw Rainbow Spring, levitating the last pin in place on his new diaper.

"Hello, little Sales... I see you finally joined the daycare."

///////////
Ray10k here.
Original version: Sales says, “whoa, creepy.”
Final version: why bother with making him say it?

Also,
Me + one tiring day of preparing my new house + 2 beers = this.

Finally, :flutteryay: new wordcount record!

Kryxel here:
looking good. glad we have a new wordcount record. dreams are always fun.

episode 4 part 6 adoptions, names, and fitting ends.

TCB:SG
4/6
Written by Kryxel
fixed by Ray10k

Change is something most people have little issue with, given it takes a while. Few people indeed will respond with more than a minor grumble when, say, their favorite brand of chocolate changes the design of the wrapper. Nor will many have big problems with a multi-year project to make a big park nearby.

However, just about everyone has problems with a big change happening suddenly. This was the reason why Sales was currently finding himself very confused and, quite frankly, a little afraid. After all, while he had had nearly two years to mentally prepare to give up his hands for a set of hooves, he had never expected to suddenly find himself in a body that was a good deal younger than his mind told him he was.

“What happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen to me? What did that white Pegasus do?”

Calming down after having suddenly regressed to a toddler proved to be a bit of a challenge for Sales, but having been brought to the daycare, one of the more calm areas of the center, proved to be rather beneficial to said process.

Still, at the moment Sales was (clumsily) pacing around in the playpen they had put him in, trying to calm down enough to make some sense of the situation.

“Ok, Sales, calm down and think! What do you know?”

Stopping his pacing, Sales started to make a list of things he knew.

1: He was a pony now. That part was a good thing.

2: He was a baby. “No, baby ponies are called foals.” A foal then. Sales was not entirely sure how he felt about that.

3: Diapers, although embarrassing, were a necessity for foals. The fact that he had been changed once already was proof of that.

4: Although he had wings, he couldn’t fly. Bit of a disappointment, but hopefully that would come later as his body grew. Again.

5: All babies learn of the world though their mouth. Then again, save for Unicorns, all ponies did. Besides, he wasn’t blind or deaf and still smart enough to obtain information through other means.

6: Although his mind was still as old as he was prior to conversion, his muscles needed to be "trained" again. On the other hoof, this meant that he could learn to use his body the way a native Equestrian would.

Sales rubbed his temples as he sat down and went over the list a few times to digest the information, the mental exercise calming him enough to at least get some sleep soon.

Rainbow Spring smiled at the new daycare addition. “Don’t worry Sales, you won’t be alone. I’ll be there for you.”

When Spring first saw what had happened to Sales, she was more than just a little surprised. Her close human friend, suddenly turned into almost a newborn, was slowly coming out of his conversion-related stupor, only slowly finding out what had happened. When he looked up to her however, she saw only one thing: a foal without a mother. For her, the decision to adopt him had been an easy one from that moment on.

Most of the people and ponies at the bureau knew how close the two of them were, and were in full support of her choice. Still, local, international and interdimensional laws would have raised a few issues in the form of a lot of bureaucracy and legal paperwork. Lucky for Spring, conversion had made things easier.

As the world slowly crumbled, orphans became more and more common. Some lost their parents to accidents or violence, some were left at the doors of churches or hospitals, and in a few cases even worse things had happened. Regardless of how it happened, most orphans that survived were left in massively overpopulated and heavily understaffed centers where they got the absolute bare minimum to live another day. When the barrier appeared and the bureaus opened, a few less morally restrained owners of such houses started to bring some of their charges to the bureaus, hoping to get rid of them without any paperwork. To cope with the influx of underage and abandoned newfoals, some more flexible laws had been passed on both sides of the barrier to make adoption of newfoal orphans a lot easier.

So, Spring had submitted a request to adopt a certain infant newfoal. Colgate had helped her find the right wording to use the newly created loophole, since the word of the law basically assumed that one’s age prior to conversion would be comparable to one’s biological age post conversion. Right now, the only thing standing between Spring and legal parenthood over Sales were three empty dotted lines, each of which needed to be filled with a signature.

The first was without a doubt the easiest: an autograph of the current official legal guardian. Sales had no such person, so the law said the head official of the bureau he stayed at would take this role. Doctor Tennant had already expressed his support of Spring’s decision, so that signature would be just a matter of asking. Probably. Still, she hadn’t seen the good Doctor at all since the conversion, so she had become a little worried about this one.

The second signature would be a little more difficult: an autograph from the mayor of whatever place the orphan in question was living in. At the moment, that position was in the hooves of Mayor Neighs, previously known as Mr. Rivers. He had signed up for conversion in a nearby Bureau a few months ago, and had discovered after some soul-searching, a few all-nighters and a shift taking the place of the lunchroom lady, that he was a Unicorn gifted in the art of making mouth-watering Sandwiches. Rumor had it that he would soon be moving to Equestria, so Spring had to hurry to get his signature since the next most likely mayor was rumored to have some connections with either the HLF or the PER, depending on who you’d ask.

The last line was reserved for a signature that was relatively easy to get, but still represented an impressive task: an autograph from the official representative of Equestria.

Spring sighed a little. Ever since first contact, Princess Celestia had been the one representing Equestria in any diplomatic, legal or social interaction. And while any native Equestrian knew that just sending her a letter would do fine and that she loved to help her subjects reach happiness, it was impossible to forget the fact that she’d be asking a favor from the one who gave the day its light, as long as she had been alive.

Still, she had sent her request earlier that morning, and until it came back there would be little she could to other than wait. Besides, even as she was waiting, there was plenty to do as head of the bureau’s Kindergarten.

"Alright little ones, bath time!" she said, a smile creeping over her muzzle as some of the foals tried to hide.

Terrence walked alongside Victorious Shield. Shield had heard some rumor of the conversion going different, and managed to obtain a few parts of the story behind it. Terrance, who came looking for Sales to celebrate his recent conversion, had ran into him. So now the two roommates were discussing the strange case of Sales Kital’s conversion.

"Well, that is... unexpected. I mean, it’s not something that happens every day. It’s not even an option normally, far as I know...” Terrence said, idly playing with his Stetson.

"I guess they can now offer it. Although, I don’t know how many people want to go through potty training again. " Victor said with a slight chuckle.

"If you think about it, every human who becomes a pony has to, in a way. They know the basics alright, but learning how to lift your tail out of the way... A new thing to add to the basics I guess. "

Doctor Tennant suddenly bolted around the corner, hardly slowing his pace as he continued dashing down the hallway. "Oh, hello boys! If you see my pony self, tell him I did not go this way. Tell him I went to... Barcelona! Doctor’s orders!" the Doctor shouted before he disappeared around another corner, leaving behind a rather confused Terrance and a slightly befuddled Victorious.

"Weird... Anywho! We have you and Sales converted now. One a Unicorn, the other a baby Pegasus... What do you think Hal and I will get?" Terrence said, trying to reanimate the conversation.

"Well, you will possibly also be a Pegasus. I mean, you are rather protective of those you care about, you are fine working on jobs alone, all sorts of things that Pegasi seem to have. Hal would be a, let’s see, a slug! Or a piece of mold... huh." Victory said, suddenly turning a bit pensive.

“Everything ok? You seem a bit out of it,” Terrance asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It is just, I don’t- I mean, I can’t really enjoy thinking of watching him suffer for no other reason than him being a jerk. I guess that must be a non-pony thing, enjoying the thought of other people’s misery...”

Terrance thought about it for a moment. “Then, how about this? He seems to have no respect for the fair sex, so how about he becomes a mare? Also, because he is always a bit mean to kids, what if he became a young filly?”

Victorious thought about it, a slight smile forming on his lips. “That... that feels a bit more reasonable. A somewhat fair punishment for his crimes and mistakes doesn’t sound too bad...”

At that moment, Doctor Whooves came barreling around the corner. "Don’t worry, I won’t bother asking you two where he went. But if you do see ‘me’ again, I want you to tell my past self that if he does not get to that meeting pronto, we won’t be able to get everything some ponies quite badly need. Also, tell him that running for me is pointless, and not just for the usual reasons!" The brown pony said as he galloped past the two males.

"And again, weird," Terrence said before turning towards Victorious. "Anyway, care to try your luck at a game of battleclouds?”

"Sure. Just don’t cry when I kick your flank all the way to Cloudsdale," Victor said with a massive grin.

"Oh, you think you can beat me?"

"I know for a fact that I can!"

"Then how about we make it a little more interesting. How about a bet. Loser has to... "

Sales ran around, trying to catch Spring's tail. At the moment, the foals were all playing with their parents. Normally she would take a moment off, but right now she had joined in, bonding further with the now-tiny Sales. She giggled, moving her tail so Sales would always miss only by a hair’s width.

Sales had, for now, come to terms with his situation. Ever since the attack, he had been blaming himself for what happened that day, felling guilty for the death of his parents. The dream he had during his conversion was simple though: remember, but don’t stop moving forward. So now he found himself coming to terms with having a new mother, even if he would never forget his real parents.

Spring grew thoughtful for a moment. "You know, Sales, I was wondering what we should call you now. ‘Sales’ is not really a pony name..."

Sales paused, ignoring the tail, as he scratched his chin in thought. "Dawabana!" Sales said, pointing over to the almost room-sized bookcase in the main lobby.

"Book Case? Why would you want to be called that?" Spring asked.

Sales slapped his forehead, and started trying to push open the glass door. Sadly, he quickly found himself far too weak, even when he started to flutter his tiny wings.

Spring smiled, seeing her soon-to-be son trying so hard. "Here, let me help." She pushed the door open and followed Sales as the little Pegasus was scanning the massive bookcase in front of him.

After a moment, he spotted his quarry on the second shelf from the ground. Forcing his body to work as hard as it could, he managed to float up to the shelf, his wings beating as fast as those of a hummingbird. He managed to put one of his forelegs on top of the book, but when he trid to pull it out he found it was stuck between its neighbors.

Spring walked up to him, taking a closer look at the book Sales was struggling to pull off the shelf. Igniting her horn, she levitated the book down to the floor.

The cover showed a Pegasus, the splitting image of Sales save for age, with a heart-shaped shield cutiemark on his flank as he reared up on his hind legs, fighting off tendrils of something black reaching out to him as the sun rose on the other side of the cover, making him almost glow. Above his head, a banner declared the title of the book as “Forgotten light,” An entry in a series that was a little less famous than Daring Doo, about a Pegasus who repeatedly prevented the end of Equestria as a knight in Celestia’s service.

Rainbow spring picked up the book and flipped through the pages, her eyes landing on the introduction of the protagonist.

"Silver Aura... I like the sound of that," she said, gently nuzzling Sales.

“No, not Sales anymore. My son, Silver Aura.”

//////////////////
Ray 10k here.
First of all, I’d like to apologize for the last half of this chapter. I was completely hammered when I wrote it, so be glad I didn’t write like Roxy Lalonde. (FYI, “completely hammered” means “I had two beers” to me.)

Second, regarding the discussion Vic and T had, they’d probably be surprised how many would ask for that option if conversion was something that was happening today.

< NSFW warning! > do NOT look up “infantilism” at work. Yes, it is a thing. < / NSFW warning! >

Thirdly, why was Doctor Tennant running? Well, let’s ask my good old friend, the RED medic!

*record starts*
“So, why was he running?”
“HA HA HA! I HAVE NO IDEA!!”
*end of record*

Finally, I am just about done moving into my new house. Internet will be connected sometime this week, so until then updates will be slow. Regardless, my school doesn’t care a lot about what we do with the internet connection they offer, as long as we turn in our assignments on time ;-).

Ray10k out!

kryxel here.
first. homestuck refrence. gold.
second: who wouldnt want the chance to become younger? i mean girls and guys both buy the "anti ageing" creame
third: when does the doctor NOT run?
also because he does not like meetings and having a "routine"

episode 5 part 1:operation blue light

(theme for this chapter)

_

Since the dawn of their existence, humanity had sought and found ways to change and understand the world, fulfilling an all-encompassing desire for more.

loading HollyHack Shell…
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Shell loaded.

First, humanity made fire. Then, they learnt to understand it. Finally, they mastered it.

HollyHack Shell is © and tm Kryxel Industries, XXXX A.D.
HackerView software is a registered trademark of Ray10k ltd, and licensed under the GNU restricted license, version 1XX.23

However, even after mastering a force of nature, humanity quickly grew bored. So, they started looking for new things to discover and new ways to change the world.

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FireWatch… Updated to version 3.64.12, loaded successfully.
Rewriting time... Completed
Syncing Titanic... Done
Reversing the polarity of the neutron flow... In progress.

Humanity made art, science, music, expressions of how they loved everything. They dug down, finding silver, gold, diamonds, all the material beauties hidden below the rocks.

Shell extentions loaded.
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ID:>_

But even with all the shiny, beautiful things humanity took or made, there was one thing they valued higher than anything else. One thing, for which some gladly would give their lives: Knowledge.

ID:>G4L1ND4
Password:>*******

So, humanity wrote books, hoping to preserve the knowledge for another generation. But in time, they discovered a problem: books were expensive, and troublesome to spread.

Identity confirmed,
Access granted.

For years, humanity made do with cumbersome books, until one day a device was built that could hold a thousand books in a space that could normally hold a few dozen: the computer.

Starting VisRep.exe…

But even then, the problem of spreading knowledge persisted. Humanity, never satisfied with a partial solution, tried to find an answer. And in time, they found one.

…

They connected all the computers in a network, allowing anyone to access any information they were looking for. However, this created a new problem.

…

Greed and secrecy. Some information was not intended for anyone outside of certain groups to be known. So, it was hidden and protected from prying eyes.

…

For the most part, no-one cared. Everyone had their secrets, right? A few however, did care.

…

Some of them just wanted to see if they could break the defenses. Others believed or even knew that they HAD to find out for their own safety. And just a few were just curious.

…

Curious. Curious, to the point of greed. Wanting to know, only for the sake of knowing.
Lindy had such curiosity.

VisRep.exe loaded.
Starting simulation.

Conversion Bureau: St. George.
Episode 5: Hackers and Ponies
Part 1: operation Blue Light.

(chapter music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qikrROXaGlE)

Blinking her eyes, Lindie found herself in the center of a large room. The walls were covered in tiny lights in all colours of the rainbow, some of them blinking at various intervals, while every inch of the floor was covered in electrical circuits or microchips.

Lindie smiled. Even after seeing it a thousand times, this place would never break the spell it had over her. This was the place where she felt the most real, the place where she and she alone ruled supreme.

Her computer.

Of course, she hadn’t just opened up the tower and crawled in, much as she wished she could. In fact, physically she was on her bed in the St. George Conversion Bureau, looking for all the world as if she was sleeping peacefully. But restful as the experience was for her tragically limited body, her mind was anything but resting. It had been expensive to have the neural implant installed, but being one of the people who got things for others.. well a good computer was always needed.

Shaking her head, Lindie snapped out of her daydreams. Focus now. Processor cycles are a-wasting. Time for operation Blue Light!

Much as she loved just messing around with her computer, trying out new esoteric programming languages or infecting some virtual devices with the newest viruses, just to see what they did, Lindie had a hunger for knowledge. It didn’t really matter about what, if it was written down, she wanted to know it.

Recently though, she had run into a very interesting source of potential information: Doctor Tennant. Not only was he in charge of the bureau she was staying at, but more than once he had accidentally shown to have knowledge about things most humans couldn’t even think of, without going mad from the sheer implications. So, to fulfill her hunger for knowledge AND to occupy her time at the bureau, Lindie had decided that she would find out all she could from, and about the mysterious Doctor. However, she had quickly ran into a snag: the guy did not exist. Nowhere on the internet was there any information on him, she couldn’t even find his first name!

However, there was another reason why she was doing this. She had a few… “Friends” who needed a bit of help. Recently, they had traveling around in the old Euraziazone, mostly in the area that used to be called China until Russia took it over. They had asked for help translating some files they had found, but Ancient Chinese had always been tricky, even to modern translation engines. Still, the good Doctor had hinted that he had some ultra-advanced translation program, so Lindie had figured that if she could get into his machine, she would be able to get the translations.

In the end, she knew there had to be one place she had to break into to get what she was looking for: his personal computer. So, for the last week she had been trying to break into it, so far without success. Still, I am sure tonight I’ll finally find out all about him! Just you wait, Doctor!

Operation Blue Light was a variation on an earlier attempt, which had involved trying to access his computer via the computer of one of the other Bureau officials, Colgate. That attempt had failed when Lindie tried to hack her computer, finding that Colgate had apparently created a completely new written language to protect her computer from prying eyes. Still, the idea was sound, so tonight Lindie had planned to make use of the computer of Ditzy "Derpy" Doo, who seemed to be rather close to the mysterious Doctor.

Smirking at the thought of what she would doubtlessly find, Lindie drew three circles in the air, activating the hyperlink to the computer of Surprise. Surprise had given her access to her own computer, mostly for letting Lindie set up some pranks. Tonight though, she would be using it for a different purpose altogether.

The air in front of her shimmered, until suddenly a large ornamental door appeared in front of Lindie. Pushing it open and walking through, Lindie felt her excitement rise.

Operation Blue Light, start!

Surprise’s computer was visualized as a large ballroom, with streamers and balloons all over the place. At first glance, one would assume that the place was not guarded by any means, but Lindie had found out the hard way that Surprise took security almost scarily serious.

Ok, six steps forward, quarter turn right, one step backwards, three sideways to the right again, roll forward until you hit the wall, crawl to the bookcase…

To an outside observer, Lindie looked as if she were dancing some strange and silly dance, but the fact was that if she missed a single step, the various traps, pop ups, and Easter eggs would throw her out of the system, not to mention how they would affect her own computer. Lindie had learnt this the hard way, when she had tried to just walk to her target. It had taken her hours to get rid of the strange winged balls of fluff that had started to eat away at her system, and even after restoring the back-up she had lost quite a few important files.

Good, made it without triggering anyting. Now, which book was it again…

Standing in front of the bookcase, Lindie started reading the titles on the backs of the books, quietly muttering the names. “Nobody dies, no… Time braid, no… Waking Nightmares, no… System
Settings, Bingo!”

Pulling out the book with one hand, Lindie raised her free hand into the air, a pen appearing in it. Opening the book, she started to use the hacking tool, disguised as the pen she now held, to rewrite the outgoing and incoming connections, and also taking a moment to disable a few security features that would get in her way later on.

Performing another series of acrobatic maneuvers, she reached a door in the wall. The door looked like the door on a public toilet, except the symbol on it was a silhouette of a muffin. Lindie pushed the door open, closed her eyes, and stepped through.

Ok, new system, let’s see what you look like! Opening her eyes, Lindie saw… white. A white hallway with white walls, a white ceiling and a white floor stretching out in front of her. Huh, plain. Guess it is because it was only installed a few days ago…

Carefully edging forward, looking for anything that stood out on the sheer whiteness of the place. Suddenly, she felt the floor under her right foot give way a little. Looking down, she saw that the floor had been hiding a button. One that she was standing on.

Slowly turning around, Lindie looked at the hall behind her. A massive wall of fire had replaced the wall where the door she entered through, and was now advancing towards her at quite the disquieting pace.

“Awww, Bugshit.”

Lindie started to run, taking a turn at a sudden split in the hallway as she reached inside her pocket. When she retrieved her hand, she was holding on to what seemed to be a black disk. Slapping the disk on the wall, she grabbed the edge and dove through before pulling the hole almost shut, leaving a hole through which she took a look outside. The firewall however, failed to notice the hole and passed over it, leaving Lindie completely unhindered.

hehe, always a good thing to have a hole in your pocket!

Any good hacker had a tool for each situation, but Lindie always designed her own. Not because they were better (well, not only), but mostly because she loved to give a bit of color to her tools.

Where most would use some kind of floating blip of light to represent a tracing program, she had made a wind-up mouse.

Where others would make their password cracking tools look like a simple display with a few buttons, she had made a large, literal skeleton key with a menacing skull on top.

And where more “serious” hackers would represent their viruses as guns or grenades, she opted for gloves-on-springs and impractically huge hammers for such purposes.

Right now, she rolled out of her portable hidey-hole and grabbed one of the mice, whispering instructions for it to find the local connection to the Doctor’s computer. Putting the tin toy on the ground, it scurried off.

And now, I wait.

A few minutes later the mouse returned, a cube of cheese in its mouth. “Good boy, now let’s get moving!” Taking the cube and breaking it in two, a series of footprints appeared in front of Lindie, showing her the way to the access point.

Lindie started following the trail, spreading some sand from a small bag in her hand. The “sand” was in fact a program that locked most security measures in an infinite loop, effectively putting them to sleep. It wasn’t long before she ran into a simple door in the wall, signifying the connection to another computer.

Carefully stepping in, Lindie looked around. The room she was in had a stone floor, but the roof and walls were obscured by a dense mist, making it look as if the place went on forever. In front of her, a small group of sandstone tablets stood. Taking a closer look, they turned out to be covered in unreadable gibberish.

Doesn’t matter. These are just plaintext files from the look of it, he must be keeping the programs elsewhere.

Looking further, Lindie was about to reach for her mice again when she saw something unusual: a tin dog, surrounded by skeletons. In real life, the sight would have terrified her. Here it was just a warning, the remains of some other hackers that had gotten themselves permabanned.

Not taking any chances, Lindie grabbed her bag of sleeping dust and sprinkled a handful over the dog from a distance. Nothing happened for a moment, until a few stray particles suddenly collided with something.

A hidden file? Interesting…

Grabbing a magnifying glass with a lens larger than the pocket it came from, she looked in the direction of the particles, revealing a shimmering outline of a rectangle. Gotcha!

Lindie threw another handful of dust at the hidden box, causing the cloak to fail and revealing a large, blue box.

Walking around it, Lindie started muttering to herself. “’police call box’...? Strange. Looks old...” Standing in front of the strange box, she slowly reached out, taking hold of the handle on the door.

For a moment she just stood there, expecting a million security measures to spring to life, but nothing happened. Steeling her nerves, she pulled the door open.

The inside was blue, wooden, and above all, empty.

“You know, most people would call that stealing.”

Lindie turned around, standing face to face with an old man in a black jacket and a cane in his hand.

"Besides, not like you could open her if she did not want to be opened." The old man took a step forward, his face having the expression of a father finding his daughter with her hand in the cookie jar.

As he walked closer, he started changing. He got shorter, longer, older, younger, all shades of hair color from white to black to chestnut, he got a scarf that seemed to go on for miles, the scarf became a cape, the cape became an umbrella with a handle shaped like a question mark, nothing about the strange man stayed the same. When he stopped in front of Lindie however, he also stopped changing, settling into the form of a man in a brown suit and tan duster, wearing a pair of eye-piercingly red sneakers.

Lindie, somewhat disturbed by the strange avatar, stammered, “D- Doctor?”

The Doctor nodded, before reaching into his pocket. “Time to wake up, Lindie. Snooping is a bad habit.” In his hand was a small pen-like object. He pointed it at Lindie, and pressed a button.

Lindie sat up with a splitting headache. A sudden and complete internet disconnect would do that, especially when bouncing back through three different systems. She checked her internal bio-links to see if anything was broken and found that it was not. "Dang! Banned and tossed... been a while since that happened.”

The Doctor sat up, and pulled the visor off of his face before patting the console. "There. Your hard drive is safe once more. Good thing you added that backdoor for me. Anyway, when you are done rebooting and upgrading the security systems, you can find me in the daycare. I have some papers to sign for one Miss Rainbow Springs.

///////////////
Ray10k here.
So, a lot of Hollywood Hacking going on in this chapter.
I can’t help but wonder, are there no computers in Hollywood? Because, at times it seems that all big producers seem to have no bleeding clue how they work! I’m looking at you, Die Hard 4 / Independence Day / War Games / Etc.
Still, it is fun to watch, right?

Kryxel here.
they have to hack like that due to people wanting action. a guy sitting at his computer for three hours typing codes is not going to hold an audiences attention for long.

episode 5 part 2: the oncoming storm

(added chapter music in the last chapter. check it out. -kryxel)
One reason why humanity was able to grow and prosper in a world where a moment of weakness could mean the difference between having a meal for your entire family, or being a meal to a family of hungry and annoyed predators, was pride.

Pride. The desire to stand above one’s peers, the drive to surpass one´s rivals, the engine that forced humanity to grow, even if only to surpass the neighbors in the local “best maintained lawn” competition.

The problem was however that pride, if left unchecked, would make people do some pretty silly things, especially when they felt their pride had been injured.

At the moment, Lindie had taken a serious hit to her pride. She had reasons a-plenty to be proud, she was probably one of the best hackers out there if not the best.

She was the girl who was able to hack the NSAZ (National Security AmeriZone) mainframe by moonwalking into the hard drive while making the register play a 16-bit rendition of Beat It. She was the one who took revenge on her ex by overwriting all the video data in the database of a certain popular video streaming business with some homemade videos, accompanied by a soundtrack of laughing schoolgirls throwing insults his way. Better yet, she had been the first one to hack the personal computer of her royal majesty Princess Celestia of Equestria (granted, it was basically a barebones setup that the Solar Regent never used, but the point still stood dammit!)

She could hack capital G Gods, so why should one stupid old Doctor be any problem?!

Conversion Bureau: St. George
Episode 5, part 2: The oncoming storm
designed by kryxel

programed by ray10k

"Besides, what could be hidden in there that requires more security than the codes for the nanobombs at Cape Canaveral, or the laser guidance systems placed on the moon?" Lindie had been pacing around the room she shared at the Bureau and constantly shouting questions at anyone or anypony in earshot, just to vent her frustrations.

"Perhaps it ain’t none of yer business, and yah best let sleepin’ dogs lie," Jane said in her typical southern drawl as Elane worked her makeover magic on the cowgirl.

"Lindie, I think Jane is right. If you can hack into the greatest weapons that earth has created, the central nervous centers of the world’s governments, the databases of large businesses and the computers of visiting royalty from another world, and not into this... ‘police box,’ perhaps it is for the better. Who knows what can be going on in there?" Elane said, putting some light mascara on Jane.

Galinda spun around, pointing an accusing finger in Elane’s direction. "That’s the point! IT. IS. DRIVING. ME. NUTS! Here I have a system I have never seen before, holding untold treasures of secrets and knowledge, and here some STUPID OLD BOX is kicking me out like a leaky temp file! I can almost smell those secrets, just down the hall and into the office to the right! Right there on his terminal! No, I shall not let this stand! Even if it is the last thing I do (as a human,) I WILL access that blue box, and see what he is hiding!"

Spring was bouncing down the hall. The kind Doctor had signed the paper, so all she needed was the other two signatures, one of which she had already requested via mail, while she was currently trying to set up a meeting with mayor Dijon Neighs before he’d rush off to Equestria.

At the moment however, she had to wait a bit. It was early in the morning, so she had to kill some time so she wouldn’t have to wait for the mayor’s office to open. Hoping to just chat to her friend, she trotted up to Ditzy Doo’s workstation. "’morning Ditzy. How are you today?"

Ditzy gave her signature, face-splittingly wide smile. "I´m doing well. And yourself?"

"I’m great! I just need to pop over in town to get a meeting set up so I can meet the mayor for the adoption papers. By the way, would you mind watching the foals for me while I’m out?" Spring asked.

"I don´t mind. In fact, I will bring Dinky and Pinchy. They are always hoping to help, and Berry would be glad to have somepony watch Pinchy," Ditzy said. Her face got ponderous for a moment, before she bounced back up, apparently remembering something. "Oh, if you see Sparkler at the library, can you ask her to pick up some Daring Do books that we don´t have here? Surprise was wanting to read them and I was not able to ask Sparkler to snag some."

Grace glided through the clouds in hot pursuit of Surprise. Her wings were getting stronger every day, and she could keep up with the white Pegasus easy peasy now, even as the white prankster flew at top speed through the clouds with her blonde mane being the only thing that gave away her location. Soon, Grace would upgrade to Soarin’s advanced classes, and learn some more complex maneuvers and basic weather control. But for now her task was simple.

"Keep up! You don’t want to be late for the party right?" Surprise said, carrying a box of party supplies on her back as she started to descend towards the bureau.

"Must we throw a baby shower for the three new newfoal foals? I´m sure Pepper and Chip won´t mind, but Sales may. He was a teenager before conversion, and they said his mind hadn’t changed..." Grace said, also carrying balloons and a few small boxes of supplies and party favors.

"Of course he’ll like it! Besides, new foals are new foals, and they need a baby shower to be welcomed!" Surprise said, somehow pumping a foreleg without dropping her cargo. "Regardless, I’ve already sent out the invitations. Tonight’s party will be a blast!"

"Tonight’s party will be the perfect cover... For operation Blue Light, take two!" Lindie shouted with fire in her eyes, as she put the finishing touches to a cartoonish looking anthromorphic mouse, an upgraded version of her standard tracker program. But the tracker wasn’t the only thing to have gotten a facelift.

Her virtual room had discarded its "inside a computer tower"-look in favor of one Lindie thought would fit better for the task at hand. A heist planning center, ripped straight from a Hollywood production. Big blueprints of the "building" lined a chalkboard, next to the old worn out couch with a few springs sticking out of the seat. Next to the old couch stood a cooler full of "nourishment" (adrenaline boosters to be used mentally), and last but not least all of this was contained in what looked like a old 2000's style suburban house basement. Lindie had even put a few holographic images of some typical gangster style rough guys around the room, just for the sake of making everything look and feel as if she were the protagonist in an old heist movie, ordering around a ragtag bunch of misfits to perform the perfect heist.

She turned to the guy who just happened to have taken a seat on the couch, and started speaking. "Okay, the plan is to retrace my steps by accessing the Doctors computer directly from Surprise’s. Now that I have his IP address, I should be able to jump straight to him and avoid whatever traps he has thrown in since my last visit. Surely he has put some protection on his connection to Derpy’s computer, but he will never expect an attack coming from some party animal. Once I’m in, search for whatever is hiding the blue box and gain access. In the meantime, the lot of you just hang around here and let the professional handle things. Then, when I find that piece of depressed kindling and crack open it’s security, it will be mine! All mine! Heh, heheheh, ha, muh hahahaha!"

The small window in the corner lit up, as a bolt of lightning accompanied the deranged laughter of the mad hacker.

Just you wait, Doctor!... Only this time, for real!

In the vast reaches beyond both the world that was slowly being devoured and the world that grew at the cost of the dying world, something stirred.

It was eye piercingly pink, with a wild magenta mane that held the promise of eternal parties. Wherever it went, is was accompanied by strange music coming from both everywhere at once and nowhere at all that drove men and ponies alike to joyous insanity. Wherever it stood, colors and balloons materialized without her even acknowledging their existence. Wherever it looked, joy reigned.

In short, Pinkie Pie popped up.

With her eyes that could pierce through the veil of reality itself-

“Get a move on already, we don’t have all day you know!”

Ugh, fine. Party pooper.

Anyhow, Pinkie took a look at the scene as it unfolded, before breaking the fourth wall even further and turning to you, the reader.

"Will our obsessed heroine gain access into the computer of the Doctor? Will Surprise’s party be a hit? Will Ditzy be able to take care of all those foals? What was the bet that Victorious and Terrence put on that game of battleclouds? Why am I here? And what is the worst possible flavor of cupcake?!
All of these, and many more, may possibly be answered in..."

Pinkie reached offscreen, pulling a chalkboard into view.

On the chalkboard, written in pink chalk, it says,

"Operation: Take two!"

/////////////
Ray10k here.
About the “Capital G Gods”-comment: regardless of whether you consider the royal sisters goddesses or not, fact is that they are immortal beings who manipulate the very heavens on a large scale every day, so it would not be hard to assume that many if not most people would call them goddesses.

Also, my mind is a confusing and scary place. That is why I recently found myself wondering, “what if a Dalek got converted?”

episode 5 part 3: blue light take two.

The chairs and tables of the dining hall had been moved to an empty classroom, save for a few that were currently occupied by the various drinks and snacks Surprise had prepared for the guests. Balloons and streamers covered nearly the entire ceiling and most of the walls, while a large pair of speakers played cheerful music at a volume that was not painful nor quiet, just the right level for the guests of honor of tonight’s festival.

“Agabbagoo! He he he!” Seated on a trio of towering thrones, in the middle of the hall, two of the three foals this party was for were just fine looking around and watching the rest of the guests having fun, while the third was more focused on eating the cake in front of him.

Victorious stood in the corner, waiting with a smirk on his face. He watched the girls fuss over the babies and even had joined in with a few rounds of tail catch with his son. He saw Elane and Jane, dressed like models, talking to Grace about clothes and practical stuff babies need. He saw surprise behind a pair of turntables she had procured from Celestia-knows-where, carefully managing the music. He saw all the guests having fun, but he knew that the real fun would begin when Terrence came in and talked to Elane about...

He shook his head. Good things come to those who wait...

The Conversion Bureau: St. George
Episode 5, part 3: Operation Blue Light, TAKE TWO!

“GAH!”

Roll to the right, dodge the sensor probe as it tried to get a target lock.

“WOAH!!”

Regain balance, don’t step on the pressure plate. One round of voracious viruses was plenty.

“EEEP!!!”

Jump over the missiles, slide under the scanner before it can get a good look.

“WHY NOW!?!”

Operation Blue Light Take Two had not gone as smoothly as hoped. Lindie had planned to use Surprise’s computer as a node to reach the Doctor’s computer, since she knew the system well. However, the large scale systemwide security scan Surprise was running during the party had complicated things, meaning Lindie was now forced to evade all sorts of scanners and probes on top of dodging Surprise’s usual security systems.

Why did this even surprise me? Have I been getting lax?

Lindie slid to a stop in front of the large bookcase once more, quickly pulling out a horseshoe-shaped magnet and throwing it at the books. The program flew through the air, suddenly hung still for a few seconds, before attaching itself to one of the books.

“Gotcha!”

Lindie grabbed the magnet and the book it was attached to, but just as she was about to pull it from its shelf, a large robot shaped like a flying saucer approached the bookcase and started to move in her direction, various sharp-looking implements on long limbs sliding out of several concealed compartments and reaching out for her.

Ohcrapohcrapohcrap!

The book still in her hand, Lindie started shuffling through her pockets while trying to dodge the scanner probe that was currently attempting to identify her by means of dissection. Grabbing a large quill that seemed to be on fire, Lindie swiftly rewrote a few lines in the book she had grabbed before she jammed it back on the shelf. At that moment however, the probe managed to grab her with a metal claw and hoisted her up to let the glowing red eye on top get a good look at her.

{ITEM IDENTIFIED AS: G4L1ND4.USER; ITEM FOUND ON WHITELIST, COURSE OF ACTION: IGNORE.}

The device put her down and flew off to some other part of the system to harass some innocent plaintext file, while Lindie got back up on her feet. Still got it. Good.

Ditzy grinned, cheerful over how well her day had been so far. If there was one thing she was great at, it was being a mother. That, and working with Time bubbles, as the cluster of bubbles on her flanks confirmed. Still, if anypony could have had two cutiemarks, Ditzy’s second would be about parenting, no doubt about it.

The foals took to Dinky and Pinchy with a vigor. They immediately began playing, pretending one of the playpens was a pirate ship. Pinchy had given all of them a fake sword, except for Pound and Pumpkin. They had made their own "weapons".

Ditzy chuckled to herself as Doctor Whooves trotted up and grinned as well. "Ahh, memories... That is the best thing, remembering all this. Time with family... "

Terrence walked into the room via one of the back doors, and talked shortly with Elane, causing her to chuckle and nod. She waved to the other girls before heading back out with Terrence.

"Wonder what that is about. Well, I guess I just got upgraded to acting supervisor of the party. best go tell Surprise tha-" Ditzy was suddenly interrupted by Surprise leaping up into the air, surrounded by a cloud of cloud of confetti.

“Gather ‘round, it is time for PARTY GAMES!!!”

"TARDIS reference and schematics..." Lindie said looking at what was apparently the operator’s manual for that blasted blue box. "Huh... Well, this must be it." She had spent a few valuable minutes searching through the bookcase and had finally found what seemed to be Surprise’s direct link to the Doctor’s computer, in the form of a large dusty tome this time. She placed the book on the ground and opened in somewhere in the middle, causing a large doorway to pop out of the book.

Bracing herself for whatever traps the Doctor would have prepared for her, Lindie pushed the door open and stepped through.

Again, she found herself in the desolate representation of the Doctor’s computer. This time however, the blue box was already revealed, standing a few feet away from her "Aha! We meet again," she said to no-one in particular.

She pushed open the doors, again running into an empty wooden interior. Right. Wouldn’t make a lot of sense if doing the same thing would-

"You really should stop, you know," a voice called out. A female voice this time.

Lindie spun around, finding Colgate sitting on a wooden crate a few feet from where the door had previously opened.

Colgate continued speaking. "There are some things humans can’t see, shouldn’t see. Not yet anyway."

"So say the cowards. Besides, who is going to stop me?" Lindie said with a slightly mad grin.

"Well, I won’t. I’m just here to warn you about the consequences. And to see if you can actually find the way in of course."

"Oh hush. You look absolutely Fabulous!" Elane said as she brushed Terrence’s hair.

"That’s exactly what I’m afraid of," he replied with his eyes closed.

"Oh come on now! You look divine! Stop acting like such a child."

"Remember, this is one time only! I just lost a bet."

"Yes, a bet with Victory, you told me a dozen times already. Anyway, you did make a bet, and are you not a man of your word?" Elane said, putting the brush down.

"Yes I am. But I did not think it would get this far... or that I would lose." Terrence said.

"Well, we all have our prices to pay from time to time. Now, stand up and look in the mirror. Tell me what you see," Elane said.

Terrence stood up, and cracked one eye open, then the other. "I see... a woman."

"Not just any woman, a beautiful woman! Well, she will be once we are finished with your eyes. Hand me the eyeshadow there, would you? The blue one please."

Terrence sighed, and wished he was swapped with Victory.

Victorious Shield sighed, and wished he was swapped with Terrence.

It was time for the relay race. Boys vs. girls. The rules were simple: five people on each team, no less and no more.

The boys had the Doctors (both of them), Soarin’, Victorious, and Mr. Cake. The girls had Grace, Spring, Octavia, Berry, and Jane.

Doctor Tennant was currently explaining the rest of the rules to the male team. “Ok boys, the relay goes as thus: the fastest runner (henceforth known as ‘the baby’, for us that is Victorious and for the girls Jane) has to run to each of the other four stations. The first station is feeding. I and Grace have to feed the baby a jar of food (fresh apple sauce), before they can go to the next station. The second is "changing" where the station ‘attendants’ (Mr. Cake and Berry) have to pin the ‘babies’ into a single white towel, over their clothing. Then, it will be a mad dash to the third, pattycakes (Soarin’ and Octavia are stationed here), followed by a hop skip and a jump to the fourth, warming up a bottle and feeding (Done by my little pony clone and Spring.) Everyone and everypony got that?”

Victorious tried hard to suppress his groan. “Yes, we get it! Soarin’ was just being sarcastic, and that was the sixth time you explained! Can we please just get started? I want this over with as soon as possible.”

The Doctor nodded. “Very well then. Everyone and everypony to their stations!”

“You boys finally ready then?” Jane asked with a hint of annoyance on her face as the men ran to their respective places.

“Yes, we are ready,” Victorious said before the Doctor could say anything to the contrary.

"On your marks!" Surprise said, getting ready to wave the bib tied to a dowel rod to signal the start of the race.

Yeah... Maybe losing that bet would have been the best outcome for Victorious.

"HOW THE ███ DO I GET IN?" Galinda said, giving the side of the box a solid kick. She had been trying for what felt like hours to get in. As the sign on the door had said, she had pulled the doors open, only running into the same empty interior time and again. She had tried looking for loose walls, sent thousands of searcher programs inside to look for hidden exits, even tried entering the box and then closing the door, but nothing had yielded any results.

“AAAARRRRGH!!” In her frustration, Lindie gave the door of the box a kick that would have snapped it in two if it had been actual wood.
The doors bent inward, causing a soft yellow glow to escape from the box.

"... oh."

Colgate shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "Last warning, Lindie..."

"Go ahead, stop me if you dare."

Lindie stepped into the light. When she was asked later what she saw in the blue box, she would respond with a single word: Time.

Beyond the realm of computers and networks between them, something happened. Lindie had left her body on her bed again, resting while she tried again to break into the Doctor’s systems. Suddenly, a thin tendril of smoke rose from between her closed eyelids as her body started to twitch.

The light was a thousand times brighter inside the box, but only served to make every single thing she saw a million times clearer, as tiny wisps of golden stardust coiled and flowed around Lindie.

"This is amazing! I wonder why he keeps all this locked away. I mean, look at that! Beautiful!" Lindie said, before stepping up to the console. She ran her hand along it, streams of thoughts and memories springing up as her hand brushed past the buttons and levers. "Such craftsmanship! Such wondrous programing... It’s like this thing is ALIVE!"

Her hand idly skimmed across a diode. Suddenly, the light burnt brighter than a thousand suns for but one moment, before leaving her in the dark as her mind became supernova.

Lindie’s body screamed as she closed down the link. Far too much, far too soon. Her mind was no longer bound to a single moment, now spread across all of time all at once. She saw it all... All of it... But she could only keep a single thing. One moment, stretched out for all eternity, a single glimmer in a star-filled sky: her entire life, carved permanently into her very soul.

Oh god.. am I dead? She screamed. Her eyes! They burned, like someone had shoved red hot pokers into them. No, as if someone had replaced them with a pair of stars, still burning as they cooked her brain to ashes.

Suddenly, the burning stopped. A moment later, Lindie felt that her head was wet. Someone must have dunked a bucket of water over her.

"Lindie, can you hear me?" She heard a distant voice, slowly growing louder as the pain in her head lowered.

"Yes. Yes I hear you."

"Did you enter the box?" As the voice grew louder, she recognized it. That Double Damned Doctor.

"I did... and I... I touched something. I remember it all. I remember," she said, wincing. "Can someone turn on the lights? I can’t see a single thing in here!"

For a moment, nobody said anything. When the Doctor spoke again, his voice was filled with sadness. “Lindie, the lights are all on. I am sorry. I am so, so sorry.”

Fighting the fear that threatened to overwhelm her, Lindie tried to sit up. “What do you mean they are already on? It is absolutely pitch black here! Why can’t I see a damn thing then?”

"Well, you can’t see because you lost the part of the brain that controls vision. You... you have forgotten how to see, as that part of your brain was... reformatted," the Doctor said. In the background, Lindie could vaguely hear the pony Doctor give some instructions to someone else.

"Reformatted? What for? How?" Lindie asked, now struggling not to break into tears. She would rather die than show a man that kind of weakness.

"Memories. You remember everything, literally everything. It seems that my... program caused you to remember all of your life, something no human should ever have to. See, there is a reason why we forget things. Small things, like names of people we barely know, what played on the radio four weeks ago, where you left your keys last Tuesday. Because, if we had to remember it all... it would fry our brains. You were lucky, in that only your eyes got fried. So, until we can get you converted..."

Lindie felt a cane enter her hand and some glasses slide onto her face. "Doctor... thanks," she said, hoping the (probably) shades would hide her tears well.

"Don’t thank me. I don’t deserve it," he said. "Well, care to come to the baby shower now? There is not much left to do but to mingle...”

The sound of a pair of high heels echoed through the room, announcing a new arrival. "Elane? Jane?" Lindie said, hoping it was one of her friends.

"Not quite. Although I’ve been told I make quite a beautiful woman."

"T-Terrence? Why do you sound like you are wearing high heels?"

"Long story short, don’t make a bet you can’t stand losing. shall we go m'lady?" He said. Lindie could hear the grin in his voice.

"Only if I get pictures of today, for when I get my eyes back," she said as she took his hand. "...Nail polish too? Let me guess..."

"Elane," both said at the same time before walking out the door and to the party.

////////////////
Ray10k here.
Our favorite little hacker is blind now, and remembers every single thing. I hope we learn why she dislikes her own biological body so much soon...
kryxel here.
all good things come to those who wait.

interlude 4: D4L3K conversion

Reports 1-3, 9, 20 written by project overseer Ray10k.
Report 404 written by lead researcher Kryxel.

Interlude 4: Report D413-K

Research Project Peppershaker,

Initial report.

Date of report: 14-06-XXX2 [note: default date format is dd-mm-yyyy]
Notable events:
- Retrieval of test subject D413-K, from here out referred to as Dalek on personal insistence of subject.
- Start of project.

{on retrieval of the subject}
Dalek was retrieved from [LOCATION EXPUNGED], in what was first thought to be the impact crater of a meteorite impact but which was revealed to be the crash site of the subject. Reason for the investigation was the rumor of alien activity in the skies over the site, mere hours prior to the crash.
Subject was identified with the aid of Captain Jack H███████ of the Eurasia zone mercpolice, who referred our organization to the databases of the [NAME EXPUNGED] Institute, which referred to the creature as being called a Dalek.

The subject is kept inside a large suit of armor, resembling an old peppershaker with a few utensils attached to the front, among which are:
- one (1) device reminiscent of a plunger, used for fine manipulation through poorly understood means.
- one (1) ray-gun, function based on currently unknown forms of energy manipulation.
- one (1) device nicknamed the “eye stalk,” consists of a camera mounted on top of a short metal tube.
Subject is unable to live for long outside of the armor, according to sources.

The subject itself resembles an octopus with mismatched eyes in terms of size, and has no means to move or defend itself outside of its armor. According to the subject, the form is the result of genetic manipulations at the hands of his master, which the database confirms.

{on the Peppershaker Project}
During our attempt at containing the subject, problems arose when the subject tried to escape via violent means, killing ██ in the process. Subject was eventually restrained, after a shot to the ray-gun permanently disabled the device.
One of the Blackmesh Ops on duty remarked how he wished that all creatures were as easy to handle as the new life form dubbed “Ponies” were. This remark caused one of the scientists to suggest injecting the subject with the Ponification Serum in use at the Conversion Bureaus, to allow for easier interrogation.

Project Peppershaker was started to analyze and observe the subject post-conversion, in order to gain insight in how conversion would affect non-human subjects.

End of report.

Report #2.

Date of report: 21-06-XXX2
Notable events:
- received permission to convert subject Dalek.
- converted subject Dalek.

{conversion of subject}

Armor of subject was opened by means of [DATA EXPUNGED]. Subject was removed from armor and placed in a container filled with a solution of nutrients to allow for additional resources for conversion, given the difference in body mass between subject and an average human.

Following is an audio/video recording of the process.

[playing file Conversion-D413-K.AVI]

The room was the dull gray of uncolored plascreet, with only a few shapes in different colors. One was what looked like a large bathtub filled with some milky liquid, judging by the color.

The other shapes were those of five men in heavy bulletproof armor, surrounding something looking like a large copper-yellow peppershaker lying on its side and struggling with something inside.

“Calm down, you stupid squid!”

“DALEK DO NOT TAKE ORDERS FROM HUMANS! STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF ARMOR COMPROMISED!”

“Don’t just stand there, help me get him in there”

“Well, sorry if I’d rather not get strangled by that thing!”

They had been pulling at the thing for the last ten minutes, only managing to get it halfway out before the sedation that would have kept an elephant asleep for days wore off.

“I think he is coming loose! PULL!!”

Despite his best attempts though, the Dalek turned out to be only a minor annoyance without its armor, being quickly transferred to the tub.

“Ok, it is in! Now, inject it quickly!”

“Where? I can’t see any veins on that monster!”

“Can’t see- Just grab a tentacle, and pump it full already!”

One of the men in the room, wearing a white lab coat over his armor, reached over to a table and grabbed a syringe that had been prepared before, containing a purple fluid that occasionally sparkled with barely restrained magical energy. He made a few attempts to get a hold on one of the flailing limbs for long enough, but trying to grab them while one of his hands was preoccupied with holding the syringe turned out to be a task to formidable for him.

“Can any of you hold one of the tentacles still for just a moment? I can’t do it on my own!”

“Got one stuck here! Now hurry and fill this [EXPLETIVE EXPUNGED] up!”

The man in the lab coat rushed over to the struggling man, as another pair of armor-clad men jumped in to help restrain the flailing limb.

“return me to my armor at once, human,” the strange being said in a hoarse voice, no longer amplified by his suit.

As he managed to stick the needle into the now thoroughly restrained tentacle, the man in the lab coat looked the creature in the eye and said, “No.” He pushed the plunger down, injecting the mysterious mixture into the monstrous miscreant.

Almost immediately, the creature went limp, its tentacles slipping below the surface.

[end of file]

Conversion of subject completed without any further notable incident. Post conversion however, subject appears to be asleep and has been moved to a secure cell for monitoring and later interrogation.

Post conversion, subject is now an Earth pony stallion with a leaf green coat, a seaweed green mane, honey irises and bodily development consistent with that of a young adult.

Research and dissection of the armor has begun, please refer to project Roswell for results.

Report #3.

Date of report: 22-06-XXX2
Notable events:
- start observation of subject.

{observation log}
[09:32:53] subject awakes.
[09:33:12] subject starts shouting. Transcript:
“VISUALS COMPROMISED! SENSOR ARRAYS COMPROMISED! AARGH! WHAT WAS THAT?!”
[09:33:33] subject looks around, appears to be disoriented.
[09:33:45] subject inspects foreleg. Transcript:
“WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT HAPPENED?! EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!”
[09:34:02] subject falls to the ground, eyes rapidly moving. Transcript:
“THIS IS NOT CORRECT! I AM A DALEK! NOT SOME INFERIOR BEING!”
Following this, subject continues this activity minus the shouting.
[09:36:23] subject tries to perform some unknown activity involving rapid twitching of his limbs. Transcript:
“TRANSPORTATION IMPAIRED! I- I AM—What Is This? RESPIRATORY SYSTEM COMPROMISED! ALL SYSTEMS COMPRO-”
[09:37:08] subject starts to cough loudly. Earlier observations of newfoals indicate that the vocal chords are somewhat sensitive shortly after conversion, suggesting that the volume used by the subject is cause of the discomfort.
[09:38:27] subject stops coughing and lies down, performing no activities until next entry
[09:56:34] subject raises his head, and starts to examine his surroundings. Transcript:
“This Is Incorrect. This must be Time Lord trickery!”
Note: subject seems to have adopted a much lower volume of speech.
[09:56:43] subject appears to experiment with moving his legs. Transcript:
“Nervous system functioning but compromised. Unknown input detected.”
[10:07:46] subject manages to get to his feet. Transcript:
“Stable. Dalek now has means of transportation. No Time Lord trickery can stop Dalek!”
[10:08:15] subject appears confused, looking around in apparent search. Transcript:
“What is this? Dalek- I- I feel... Proud.”
[10:08:34] subject appears frightened. Transcript:
“I FEEL AFRAID! DALEK DO NOT FEAR!”
Note: the subject returned to shouting for this line.
[10:08:38] subject starts coughing again.
[10:10:02] second coughing fit ends. Subject kneels down, facial expression suggesting worry. Transcript:
“this is incorrect. this is incorrect. this is incorrect.”
Note: subject repeats this line until next entry. Volume of speech reduced to a loud whisper.
[10:37:41] research assistant B████ enters the holding cell. Subject looks up. Transcript:
B████: “Hello there.”
Dalek: “What did you do to me?”
B████: “Sorry, what?”
Dalek: “WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?”
B████: “No need to shout, I’m not deaf. You got converted, that is all. So, how do-”
Dalek: “What do you mean ‘converted?’ Explain. Explain! EXPLA-”
Subject started coughing once more.
[10:39:05] B████ approaches subject, and puts a hand on his neck. Subject calms down. Transcript:
B████: “there, there. No need to panic hon. You are a pony now, that is all.”
[10:39:47] subject stops coughing. Transcript:
Dalek: “I am not a ‘Pony.’ I am a superior Dalek!”
B████: “Dalek? Never heard of them. Are you in some kind of religion or something?”
Dalek: “Religion is weakness. Any being other than Dalek-kind is weak. Only Dalek are strong enough to exist.”
B████: “Sounds a bit self-centered if you ask me.”
[10:40:59] subject looks at B████. Facial expression seems to indicate subject is about to speak, but subject remains silent.
[10:41:20] Transcript:
B████: “Why are you looking to me like that? Did I say something wrong?”
Dalek: “Why?”
B████: “Why... what?”
Dalek: “Why don’t I hate you?”
B████: “Wha...?”
Dalek: “You are not like me. I should hate you and everything you are, but I don’t. Why?”
B████: “That... is a bit mean.”
Dalek: “Sorry. Wait, Dalek don’t apologize! Why did I do that? What is going on?! Explain! Ex-”
Note: subject is interrupted by B████ at this point.
B████: “Calm down, everything is fine. Ponies are rather social, so get used to truly caring about what others say and think.”
Dalek: “I don’t understand! I am scared! Dalek are not scared, not ever! Tell me what is happening!”
B████: “Shhhh. Calm down. Everything is ok. You are a pony now, you don’t have to be fearless anymore. Ponies help each other, so let me help you, ok?”
[10:42:47] subject moves closer to B████. Transcript:
Dalek: “That... sounds good.”
[10:42:54] B████ moves her arm to the side of subject. Neither moves until next entry.
[10:45:21] subject raises head. Transcript:
Dalek: “Can you tell me what is going on?”
B████: “Sure. You were converted, turned into a pony, as part of some project to test how the process would change one’s behavior.”
Dalek: “I remember the ponies. Despicable lesser beings. The only good they did was to exterminate the human race.”
B████: “You sound as if you hate them. Were you with the HLF?”
Dalek: “That is it! I don’t hate them anymore! I- I don’t hate anymore!”
B████: “Not hating anymore sounds good to me.”
Dalek: “Dalek only hate. Any other emotion is a weakness our creator erased from our genes. If I cannot hate, I am no longer a Dalek.”
[10:46:52] subject lowers head, resting it on B████’s lap.
[10:47:12] Transcript:
Dalek: “Terminate me.”
B████: “W-What?!”
Dalek: “Terminate me. Or give me the order to self-terminate.”
B████: “No! Why would I do that?!”
Dalek: “I am no longer a pure Dalek, therefore I must be terminated.”
B████: “What are you saying! Can you even hear yourself speaking?!”
Dalek: “I am impure. There is no other option.”
B████: “Then stop being a Dalek! You are a pony now, so that is ok, right? But whatever you say, I am not going to kill you!”
Dalek: “Stop... being a Dalek?”
B████: “Yes. Just, forget about your old life. Forget about what you’ve been told about purity or whatever, and live your own life. You don’t have to let your old life kill you! Besides, look me in the eye, and tell me you want to die.”
[10:49:23] subject raises head, and looks B████ straight in the eyes. Transcript:
Dalek: “I... I want... to...”
[10:49:57] subject lowers head again. Tears are coming from his eyes. Transcript:
Dalek: “I... I can’t say it.”
B████: “There, there. Calm down. You don’t have to now.”
[11:14:12] subject stops crying.
[11:18:32] B████ inspects subject. B████ then proceeds to carry subject back to the mattress, turns off the lights and leaves the room.
{end of log}

Report #9.

Date of report: 17-07-XXX2
Notable events:
- standard psych evaluation #3
- incident report #D413-08

{psych evaluation #3}
As outlined in default protocol A034-P, psych evaluation #3 consists of a list of words, to be read to the subject one by one. After each word, the subject is requested to respond with a word that the subject deems connected to the given word.

Test log must include, for each word:
The word given by the test leader,
The verbal response from the subject in its entirety,
Any notable nonverbal responses.

Word given: Order

Response: Obey

Notable nonverbal responses: Subject goes rigid, as if standing at attention.

Note: subject is noted to respond to any order with the line “I Obey!”, before executing said order, often to the letter rather than the spirit.

Word given: Apple

Response: Food.

Notable nonverbal responses: Subject relaxes stance.

Word given: Fear

Response: Weakness.

Notable nonverbal responses: Facial expression of subject changes to one of internal conflict.

Word given: Doctor.

Response: See incident report D413-08

{end of evaluation log}

{incident report D413-08}
As part of default psych evaluation #3, the subject was given a number of words. Incident D413-08 began when the subject was given the word “doctor.”

The first notable response was a sudden narrowing of the pupils and irises, consistent with a strong response of fear. Subject then tried to leave the room, by means of breaking down the door with his hind legs.

Subject was later found in room ███-03, lying in a corner in a fetal position. Research assistant B████ passed by the room and had alerted security, along with the request to be allowed an attempt to pacify the subject.

Following is a transcript of the conversation. Note: B is research assistant B████, D is subject Dalek.

B: “Um, hello?”
D: “He’s gonna get me. He’s gonna get me.” (note: subject Dalek has been repeating this since he was found)
B: “There you are! You gave us quite a scare when you ran off.” (note: assistant B████ tries to approach subject Dalek at this point)
D: “Stay back! Please don’t hurt me! I am sorry!”
B: “It is only me, no need to panic. You remember me, right?”
D: “You... you were there when I woke up.”
B: “That is right. I won’t hurt you, no need to panic. Can I come closer?”
D: “Y-yes.”
(assistant B████ approaches subject Dalek and sits down next to him)
B: “There, there. How are you?”
D: “I-I’m scared. So scared. So very scared. He will kill me. I don’t want to die, but he will kill me!”
B: “no-one is trying to kill you, don’t worry. I said I would help you if you were afraid, so talk to me. Why are you scared?”
D: “He is coming. He who hates the Dalek. He who exterminated the Dalek time and again. The Doctor is coming!”
B: “shhhh... don’t worry. That mean old doctor won’t find you here. No need to panic.”
D: “But he will. I can’t run from him. I can’t hide from him. He is the last man a Dalek sees when he dies, and he is coming!”
(assistant B████ reaches around subject Dalek’s neck, in an embrace)
B: “Everyone fears death, but you shouldn’t let that fear rule your life. Tell me about him. Face your fears, and grow past them.”
D: (after a short pause) “The Doctor is... a Time Lord. The last one. He hates the Dalek and hunts them.”
B: “Sounds rather mean.”
D: “He hates the Dalek, because they forced him to kill all others of his kind to save all of time. He hates them in retribution of the pain they caused him.”
(assistant B████ chuckles)
D: “This is not funny!”
B: “No, no! I wasn’t laughing about that. You called the Dalek ‘them’. You have changed a lot since we last met.”
D: (subject’s expression changes to a trembling smile) “You are right. And the strange thing is, it doesn’t scare me anymore.”
B: “That is a good sign. Means you are starting to fit into your new body. Keep talking, tell me about the Dalek then.”
D: “The Dalek... they used to be called the Kaled, until master Davros saw their true potential. He remade them through certain radiations, leaving them only with hate.”
B: “Hold on, are you saying the Dalek... are aliens?”
D: “The Dalek are not human, yes.”
B: “Wow! And this Doctor, is he an alien too?”
D: “Yes, but humans look like Time Lords.”
B: “You mean, ‘Time Lords look like humans,’ right?”
D: “No, the other way around. Time Lords came first, so humans look like them.”
B: “Ok, so this Time Lord is hunting the Dalek, right?”
D: “Yes...?”
B: “And you are not a Dalek anymore, right?”
D: “Yes?”
B: “Then, you have nothing to fear from him. You don’t look like a Dalek, you don’t act like a Dalek, so he’ll never find you! And even if he found you, he would never guess what you used to be! You are safe from the doctor.”
D: “I guess so...”
B: “Are you ok now?”
D: “Yes.”
B: “Ok. Shall we go out of this room then? Everyone is worried about you. Plus, it is lunchtime now, you don’t want to go hungry until dinner right?”
D: “Sounds good. Can you stay with me please?”
B: (chuckles) “Sure.”
[end of transcript]

Incident resolved without casualties.
Total damage costs due to incident: 500 credits, 320 of which are for the replacement of the door for the room the evaluation was held in.

Note: following this incident, research assistant B████ has been promoted to handler of subject Dalek.

{end of report}

Report #20.

Date of report: 05-08-XXX2
Notable events:
- end of project peppershaker.
- start of project salt & pepper.

{on project salt & pepper}

It has been determined that further prolonging of project peppershaker would cause lasting psychological damage to subject Dalek, mostly due to continued isolation from other ponies. Additionally, the last seven days subject Dalek has not caused any new insights, leading some to believe that the subject has shared all the information he had.

For the above reasons, project peppershaker will be terminated on 06-08-XXX2.

Project salt & pepper is a follow-up to project peppershaker, based on the suggestions of subject handler B████. The project will consist of placing subject Dalek in an environment with other ponies, prior to shipment to Equestria. Handler B████ has suggested using the St. George Conversion Bureau as the aforementioned environment. Project salt& pepper will commence on [DATE EXPUNGED]

For subject Dalek, henceforth given codename “Pepper”, the following cover story was made:
Pepper was a convert from a Bureau in [LOCATION EXPUNGED], who had converted only a day before an HLF attack leveled the building. Being among the survivors, he was relocated to the St. George Bureau, to finish his standard fourteen-day education and to await shipping to Equestria.

Handler B████ has also requested to be relocated to St. George, citing guideline P027-CV which permits employees to leave employment for conversion. High command requested that she remains in employment, and report any unusual occurrences regarding Pepper to high command. B████ agreed to these terms.

For B████, henceforth given codename “Salt”, the following cover story was made:
Salt was an aspirant convert in the same Bureau Pepper was in, and was among the survivors of the attack. She had met Pepper earlier during education, and wanted to stay close to her friend, opting to be relocated to the same Bureau.

Salt will remain in contact with mission control, until shipping out to Equestria.

Note: researcher R██████ has requested the immediate termination of the employment of, quote, “the idiot who comes up with these mission names.” Request pending consideration.

report 404

Date of report: 10-02-XX89
Notable events:
- attack on Transport 1 by HLF.
- Project safebox started.
{on project salt & pepper}

From the Desk of Directior K
Let it be henceforth known that all records of this project should be removed from any and all files.
Transport to St George conversion center was interrupted by a HLF attack near the colorado/utah border.
During the attack subject pepper fought alongside the blackmesh guards. need more tests on his emotional state.
folowing list is the wounds
Handler B████ - blaster bolt in the right arm. should heal up during conversion
Researcher V████ -Death first one to be hit in the surprise attack
Worker T████ -Transformed, living currently in area 52 of neighvada.
Pony Starburst - drowned, body not recovered.
Pony Timber- crushed back legs but with proper exercise can be back on his hooves in no time
Pony pepper- three deep cuts on his flank. a blaster bolt to his left ear. and the appearance of a cutiemark (explained by pepper as a symbol for "the oncoming storm".. he has chosen that as his name.)

also storm and salt have been re-assigned to bureau [LOCATION EXPUNGED] due to the recent attack.
With this final report i close program salt and pepper.
some things can change..
even when things stay the same.

End of Reports.
////////////
Ray10k here.
First of all, no. No, your connection isn’t faulty. The black squares are indicating single characters being removed for the sake of secrecy (see the [url=” wiki). To do it yourself, just hold alt and enter 219 on your numpad, and release alt.

Second, some of you might recall having seen this before. That was a WIP-version, posted due to a slight breakdown of communications. This is the final version.

Third, if I ever even suggest to write another thing in the form of some kind of research log, please give me a good hard slap in the face.

Finally, this is another thing I wrote without any input from Kryxel, hope he likes it.

(kryxel here. fixed my report so it is... better and not so sads.)

episode 5 part 4 in the land of the blind

A soft breeze...

It is said that in the current age, the average human individual encounters more information on a daily basis than the average Equestrian would in a year (not counting the large cities).

Did I hear a bird sing?

Galinda had discovered quickly that losing her eyesight had left her mind with plenty of idle time, and almost disturbingly little to fill it with.

Definitely some bird... Must have come here from Equestria...

To make matters worse, the violent reaction the strange Blue Box had had to her presence had also fried most of her implants.

Then again, I “forgot” how to see. Wouldn’t have a lot of use for most of them...

So now, the morning of the day after her ill-fated attempt to find out about the Doctor found her, sitting on a bench in front of the bureau.

Hmm? Did someone walk by? I thought I heard footsteps... Nah. Must have been my imagination.

Sleeping had turned out to be almost frighteningly easy. Even after the events of the day, even after the changes she went through.

Even if I could no longer just stop my thoughts with the flick of a switch...

Of all the changes, having to listen to her own thoughts had been among the most difficult changes yet. For as long as she cared to remember, her network connection had given her mind plenty to mull over. At the moment however, no such influx of information existed, leaving her mind to wander over all the other things she now heard.

So strange... Do fish have fingers?... No! Focus!

Trying to organize her thoughts, Galinda went over the recent events again. At the party, most of the human population of the center had called her out on her latest hacking “victory”, while just about everypony was only worried about her, asking her how she was doing and if she needed any help.

Especially Surprise was nice... to me...

Apparently, the Doctor had given her some old walking cane and a pair of red sunglasses to at least allow her to get out in public until her conversion.

The shades... I guess it was really bad, how they all gasped when I showed them...

Lucky for her, standard bureau procedure meant that her new handicap put her on the fast track to conversion. Still, she had had to wait for a couple days.

Got lucky there... Wonder why you never hear stories of converts-to-be hurting themselves to get ahead in line... Gah! Focus!

Still, it had been three days since the incident. She was getting a bit tired of waiting, so to calm down she had found her way to the bench near the bureau she was now sitting on, hoping to get some peace and quiet.

Did it all by myself too... wonder if I ever get used to needing help. Or having to ask for it...

...

Hold on, did I hear someone?

Galinda got up, awkwardly trying to maintain her balance. “Is anyone there?”

“Don’t worry, it is only me.”

The Doctor? How did he get here? The voice is too high for the human one, and I should have heard his hooves...

“Doctor Whooves, I presume?”

"Yes. Were you thinking I was somepony else?" the Doctor replied.

"Well, I thought you might be the human Doctor... Why do you two sound so alike, if I may ask?"

*clip clop* "Long story. But enough about me. How are you feeling this morning?" The Doctor said.

Confused. A little scared. "Just fine," Galinda said.

"No, really. How are you feeling?"

That obvious, huh? "...Terrible. Alone. And not the good kind of alone."

"Good kind?" The Doctor asked, curiosity in his voice.

*rustle* Sounds like a bird nearby... another one, or the same one? “Independent. Not needing anyone. Right now, I’m more helpless than anything else...”

*clip clop* He is standing next to me... “Do you want to talk about it? I mean, you hardly said a word since it happened.”

Not like I have anything better to do. “Why not? Have a seat, because this is going to be one of those long stories.”

*plf* I guess he sat down? Right... ponies don’t really need benches for that. “Time is just about all I have.”

Dramatic, aren’t we? ”Whatever that Blue Box of the human Doctor did, it made me remember everything. And I truly mean everything, from the moment I could think to the instant I opened that Box. Every single moment, as clear as if I lived through it only a second ago.”

“That sounds... painful.”

Hm? Almost sounds as if he knows more about it... “It is, trust me. Anyhow, my story. I... didn’t have the happiest of childhoods. Until the last two were born, I was the middle child. So, my parents spent all their attention to my little brother while just letting my older sister do whatever she wanted, since she was the ‘test run’ for the rest of us. You know, see how she’d screw up, and make sure that the rest wouldn’t.” For a moment, Galinda just sat there, lost in thought.

“So, for most of the time, I was the middle kid. Not old enough to have achieved anything, not young enough to need help all the time. I was, as far as anyone cared, invisible. I learnt not to ask for anything, and just deal with it if I needed anything. It got even worse when my younger sisters were born, leaving my parents with even less time and attention for me.” Again, Galinda stopped for a moment.

“I was nothing, a shadow clinging to the walls, just living day-by-day. Until, one day...”

/////////////////////
Several years ago. Galinda’s age: 12
/////////////////////

Little Lindie looked at the computer. It was practically ancient, had a cracked screen, the plastic turned brown after years in the sun of some now-abandoned office complex.
Anyone else would have called it outdated, an ugly relic of a painful past. Lindie thought it looked beautiful.

Her parents had taken her and her siblings to the museum for the day. In practice this meant that the lot of them would be dumped there, while her parents were Lord-knows-where. Her older sister had ran off, saying something about her boyfriend and his friends, while her younger siblings had bolted without saying even a word. Normally, she would have done the same. Today however, she had hung around in the museum for a while and when she had made up her mind to go somewhere else, it had started raining. So, rather than getting wet outside, she had wandered back into the museum proper.

For a couple of hours, she had explored the vast reaches of the building, until her feet had carried her into the little corner on the second floor that fulfilled the role of “Interactive Experience,” now standing face to face with the old desktop computer that had been put on display that time.

Too old to be of any significance anymore, too young to be worth anything as an antique, abandoned by those it had faithfully served for all those years. Her opposite in nearly everything, and yet, if it could think, it would without a doubt be the one thing in the universe that could ever understand how she felt. She reached out to the front of the box containing that mind of silicon wafers and copper wires.

_
Running startup...
Initializing Bash Shell...
Startup complete.
Admin@core:~$ _

The computer sprung to life, green text rapidly filling the cracked black void of the monitor as Lindie backed away, afraid she had broken something.

She stood there for a moment, facing the machine, waiting for anything else to happen. Nothing did.

“Ok, stay calm Lindie, you just turned it on by accident. All you have to do is turn it back off again, no-one will notice...”

Lindie cleared her throat, and spoke loud and clearly. “Computer, Shutdown!”

Admin@core:~$_

“Shut down I said!”

Admin@core:~$

“Run shutdown? Exit? Abort? Terminate!?”

Admin@core:~$_

Lindie tried every variation of “shutdown” she could think of, but nothing seemed to work. The computer hadn’t even acknowledged her existence, not since it had suddenly turned on. Lindie was getting desperate, silently praying that if she broke anything, no-one would find out.

“You know, those old-time pc’s didn’t have that fancy voice recognition stuff.”

Lindie spun around, startled by the sudden voice behind her. She found herself face to face with an old, dark-skinned man with a kind smile on his face.

“You have to enter those commands via that thing with the buttons. Here, let me show you...”

The man walked up to the machine, and pressed a series of buttons on the strange rectangle in front of it, text appearing as he did so. “This one needs a little persuasion to really start, but nothing big. See? There comes the interface.”

The screen now showed several small icons. Even several decades of development had yet to yield a better way to organize programs in a way anyone could understand.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble sir,” Lindie said as she slowly tried to get away from the strange man. Years lived almost alone had thought her to be wary around people who seemed kind, they always wanted something from her.

“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m just a silly old man, hoping to tell the young’uns a little about the past. No trouble for me,” he said with a warm smile.

To this day, she still didn’t know why, but that smile made Lindie stop, her curiosity about the old machine overpowering her aversion. “Ok... Can you show me how it works?”

The strange old man chuckled. “That is why I’m here today! Well, let’s start with the basics...”

/////////////////////

She had spent the rest of the day at the museum. The scolding her parents had given her when she finally showed up at the meeting point however bounced off of her, almost without her noticing it. Matter of fact, she spent most of the trip back home planning for what she would do next.

That one day at the museum had given her a glimpse of a world she never even heard of before, a world she could not ever forget. However, back at home the seven of them had only one computer, one her older sister had practically claimed for her “Art Projects.” But living for years with little other than what she truly needed had left Lindie with a gift to getting what she needed, if not what she wanted.

For almost a month, she brokered, traded, sold anything she could get her hands on. She sold half her clothes, the few books she was given for her last birthday, even the watch that her parents had told her would one day be her most important possession (though in reality, they just didn’t want to buy her another one.) She saved up every single credit she could spare, until one day she walked out of a store, a pile of large boxes on a small cart in tow.

The computer was old. Not nearly as old as the one from the museum, but still not nearly recent enough to have voice recognition as the main interface.

It wasn’t fast. It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t new.

It didn’t matter. It was hers.

The computer had belonged to some guy who hadn’t bothered to wipe the disk. Her luck, getting an OS would have meant many months of scraping the bottom of the barrel. Additionally, it meant that the old machine came with a ton of stuff.

For the first time in her life, she had a place she could go and forget about life for a while. She played classic old games, like Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress. She even tried her hand at writing for a while, but stopped when she couldn’t find anything to write about anymore.

Her business as a hacker (she preferred the term “obtainer of digital goods”) had started by accident. Her old Braeburn desktop had earned her a little of a reputation, as “the girl with the old beast.” Not a positive one, nor a negative one. Still, people knew where to find her, and also that she had a knack for getting what you were looking for if the price was right. She had been working on obtaining a few old pieces of literature, when she came across an old digital library that might have had them. When she asked however, the system owners had told her that little girls like her shouldn’t mess with the affairs of grownups and that they had time nor patience for the questions of someone who didn’t even have a job. She did not take it well. In the past, this would have meant that she would just run off and hide in a corner where she wouldn’t be a bother to anyone. Now however, she had a way to make herself heard.

It had taken her a lot of time, research and effort, but after a while she managed to find a backdoor into the library. In there she discovered two things. 1) The library didn’t have the works she was looking for. 2) The library didn’t have anything, aside from some administrative records. From those records, Lindie managed to learn about the scam the owners were running, where they would contact rich collectors claiming to be in the possession of some priceless first edition or something, and would demand some massive sum for said collectors to even see the item in question.

The news that night headlined with the image of the swindlers being carted off to jail after an anonymous tip.

Shortly thereafter, Lindie got contacted by someone who wanted some information from a certain server and was willing to pay well. She accepted.

After the “library,” the server turned out to be a piece of cake, leaving her with another satisfied customer, a new venue of profit and more credits than she knew what to do with at that time. She had all she needed. So, for the first time, she started to look at what she wanted.

First she bought some new clothes, just because they looked nice. It got boring when she realized she hardly ever went outside to show them.

Then she bought a new computer, to see if it was any better than her old beast. The same day, she switched back.

For months she tried everything, finding nothing that she could spend her new wealth on for more than a week before it got boring.

One day however, she looked in the mirror. It had been years since that day in the museum, but when she looked...

She was still that awkward little girl.

Her waist a bit flabby, a large pair of glasses on her nose, her hair a tangled mess.

She looked terrible. But she didn’t have to.

The following years, she used the money from her various contacts to enhance her own body. First she underwent a liposuction. Then she got breast implants. A facelift. Eye surgery.

When her body was what she imagined to be perfect, she started to reach further. First she got a simple neural implant. Then a pair of implants for her ears. She upgraded her neural implants, got herself the best of the best. But the one upgrade that was truly special to her, were her optical implants.

Now truly, she lived in a virtual world. A world in which her word was law, where her wishes were as magic to the systems she spoke to.

Her eyes.

/////////////////////

"...and now... I lost them. I was going to lose them anyway, I know... but I thought..."

"You thought that by then it was not going to matter..." the Doctor said.

"Yeah..."He knows what it is to lose something like that, doesn’t he? Funny thing...

Suddenly, a string of electronic beeps pierced the calm silence of the morning. “Oh dear, I’m afraid I lost track of the time. I’m terribly sorry, but I have to go. I’ll see you later. Probably. Possibly. Maybe. Well, gotta fly so bye!”

*Rustle* Did I just hear wings? “Doctor?” Lindie reached out to where the voice of the brown pony had come from not a second earlier, her hand only finding air. “Doctor? Where did you go!”

“There she is! Found her!” The Doctor again? No, this must be the human one. Sounds like him anyway.

*tmpatmp*He is walking towards me. Why did he sound so worried? “I wasn’t hiding or anything, just taking a morning stroll.” Galinda got up from the bench, turning to face the footsteps moving towards her. “Besides, the other Doctor found me first anyway.”

“Can’t be. He stayed back at the centre while I went looking for you! But we have to hurry, your conversion was due ten minutes ago!”

What? Did I imagine all that?

Blindness is a curious thing. It robs you of one sense, but your other senses become much sharper. However, there is only so much you can do with only hearing, smell and touch. So Galinda couldn’t know about the brown feather that drifted away on the breeze, as the Doctor dragged her along to the centre and her new life.

/////////////////////
Ray10k here.
So, last Wednesday my internet got connected, been a bit busy since, getting up-to-date with some things that had slipped the last few weeks.
Also, yet another chapter wordcount record, less than 100 words short of 3k. :flutteryay:

kryxel here. in case you were wondering that IS the doc she was talking to. not leroy wingkins.
explenations will happen later.

episode 5 part 5 MINECRAFT: let our battles begin

The winds shifted across the empty plains, the faint breeze barely stirring the tall grasses covering the hillsides, an endless peaceful ocean of green.
Lindie found herself here, her silver hair forming the only contrast against the backdrop of the unending meadows surrounding her.
As she rose to her feet, she found herself surrounded by the Herd, the ideals of ponykind forming a circle of almost ghostlike ponies around her.

For one endless moment they simply stood there, all eyes focused on her as if they were looking straight into the very depths of her soul. Then, with the sound of a hundred hooves striking the ground in perfect unison, they started to run.

At first, Lindie could only try to keep up, but as the run continued she noticed her arms stretching until they hit the ground, her hands and feet turning to hooves as she joined the herd, and the herd joined her.

Through the valleys and over the hills they ran, for a moment that lasted a lifetime, until they reached a tall cliff stretching out over an ocean reaching to the horizon and beyond. No pony in the herd slowed down however, as they raced over the edge of the cliff and into the sky, chasing the setting sun.

Lindie ran along them, the herd becoming clouds that carried her ever further towards the eternal sun, and for the first time in years she experienced something she had almost forgotten:

Joy.

As she ran into the light of the setting sun, Lindie felt the clouds under her hooves giving way to... something that felt suspiciously much like grass, but at the same time felt distinctly wrong somehow. Looking down, she saw a pair of slightly translucent hooves standing on what appeared to be a picture of grass.
No way, it has been ages since I... She looked up, taking a closer look at her surroundings. From where she was standing, an endless world of blocky hills and strangely square trees spread out in front of her. To anyone else it would have been just some random playground, but to her it was something more.

“My first minecraft world!”

After she had scraped together her first computer, the first game she played on it had been minecraft, and laid out before her was the world she had come to love so much.

Due to a small bug, her world had a pair of rivers colliding with each other, making a small island right in the middle. She walked down the familiar path, crossing a self-restoring bridge (created after one too many creeper explosions ruining the old bridge) and walking past a piece of farmland as she reached her pride and joy: her old house.

Many others would have built a square of cobblestone, or some elaborate mansion. Lindie however had opted to build a giant computer tower in the middle of her island, made from dyed-black wool, some glass and a few other odds and ends to decorate it. As a matter of fact, the house had started her tradition of turning the virtual reality of her newer computers into a similar (albeit more detailed) construction.

She climbed through the door on the front of the black building (turned into an USB port thanks to a texture pack), smiling as she lost herself in memories for a moment.

“Yes, this world you made is quite a sight to behold, isn’t it?”

Lindie turned around, trying to find the source of the voice. She soon found herself face to face with a large white Alicorn with a long flowing mane in all the colors of the Aurora.

"Princess Celestia," Lindie said in amazement, as she dropped into a respectful bow.

"Yes. My dear sister Luna was going to be here too, but she stormed off. She said something about a certain ‘Urist Mc UselessImmigrant,’ any idea what that was all about?" Celestia said with a kind smile as a round tea table appeared next to her. "Care for some tea?"

Lindie nodded, and sat down on the cushion opposite the white Alicorn.

For a moment both were silent, until Lindie decided to say something. "So... is this the point where you give me some kind of earth-shattering revelation about myself?"

"Hmm... perhaps." Celestia replied sipping her cup. “Depends on what you know about yourself already though.”

"Well, that is a useful answer," Lindie said. The words had hardly left her mouth before she realized how rude she had been to the pony Princess sitting across her. “Er, I mean- I-”

Celestia chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m not that easily offended. What I mean is, most ponies or humans know more about themselves than they think, so what one might consider old news might be an ‘earth-shattering revelation’ to somepony else. Besides, to find out who you are is an important part of life. Taking shortcuts there is hardly ever a good idea.”

Lindie scratched her head with her new hoof. "so... what do you have to say?"

For a moment, Celestia’s expression hardened just enough to be noticeable. “Only one thing.” Her expression returned to her usual serene mask, as she continued to speak. “You have known pain, but the future holds mostly joy for you. Still, there is one more painful experience you must soon go through. How you will respond to that is up to you, but keep in mind that your actions will decide how your life afterwards will be.”
Celestia sipped at her tea "Some friends may become enemies, Some enemies will become friends. The Sun, The keeper of Twilight, and the Night will be there to help. You just have to help get them there."

Lindie swallowed hard. “Ominous. Is it far away? What will happen? Can I prepare for it in any way? Is there-”

“All will be clear in due time, my little pony. Now, please. Drink your tea before it gets cold,” Celestia interrupted the rambling mare with a smile.

Lindie looked down at the teacup and picked it up with her lips, drinking the pleasantly sweet drink in a few gulps.

When she had put her cup down and looked around again, Celestia was nowhere to be found.

"Cele-"

"-stia?" Lindie felt the cold of the metal table, smelled the scent of antibacterial soap, heard every chatter of the three ponies there to help...

and saw the door.

"My eyes... Oh Celestia’s Sun! They are back!"

The human Doctor stepped into her view, smiling. "Well, I’m glad you came out of that okay. You had a LOT of wiring in you. Hard to say what could have happened but everything went fine. Anyway, before you ask for a mirror..." The Doctor pulled a small doohickey out of one of his pockets, and slid it over Lindies eyes. "Viola, comp-specs! I figured since you no longer have your implants, you could have some use for these to reach your computer."

Lindie slid the glasses up, putting them to rest on her forehead. "Okay, now where is that mirror?" she said as she slid off the bed... right before her new hooves folded up underneath her, causing her to collapse on the floor.

"Take it easy there, you only just got those new legs. Lean on me while Colgate gets the mirror," Berry said as she helped the newfoal up.

Within seconds, Lindie was looking at herself. Her mane and tail were teal, contrasting with her Taupe coat. But the things that stood out to her the most were her scarlet eyes, and the horn peeking out between her forelocks. "Niiiiice..." Lindie said as a grin spread across her face.

/////////////
Ray10k here.
So, first of all, here is the code for what I imagine Lindie looks like now:
2S2S000100483C32FFC49D00001FF2400UN1837000000000E0008080FF7FFF0J107F3FCC004CB2
Use it with the Generalzoi Pony Creator, input is under the ‘advanced’ tab.

Second, my apologies for the delay. Life has been keeping me busy recently, but things have calmed down for now. I may be a little out of practice, so please do forgive me if I let some errors slip in.

episode 6 part 1: Social security

Note: this color is the humanoid Doctor speaking, this one is Dr. Whooves, this is both of them simultaneously, and this one is Colgate.

Terrence and Octavia sat at the table, looking at the human doctor and pony doctor sitting across from them. The four of them had met in the kitchen of the center, to discuss a matter of great importance: "Are you sure, you two know how to cook?" Octavia asked.

"Of course I can!" the human Doc said, at exactly the same time as the pony Doc said, "Nope, can’t make a muffin to save my life!"

Octavia frowned for a moment. "Well, can’t be as bad as that thing my sister told me about... Let me hear what you have!"

The human Doctor smiled, as a rather familiar tune started playing, the sound coming from nowhere in particular.

"Ditzy had given me an idea.
I consulted with the Cakes,
and they told me that if I had the right recipe,
I can have the best muffins this side of SLC.
Now, let’s get cooking!"
The Doctor started singing, while putting his tie around his forehead.

"I'll cook up a solution with the knowledge I've accrued,
They say the recipe serves nine, but I'm just serving two!
I've gathered the ingredients to make some Time Sorbet,
There's hardly room for seconds, when the seconds vanish anyway!

At this point, the pony with the hourglass cutiemark took over, as he slid a pan on the furnace.

Watch as I work my Time Lord magic,
wibbly wobbly and cinnamon,
Watch as the matter turns into the Master,
take a bite, jump right in!"

Again, the Doctor took over, using the Sonic Screwdriver as a mike while mixing a bowl of batter with his other hand.
"Crude stew, do you fear it, Terrence dude?
Sometimes life is not a cupcake, served up on a silver spoon

crack an egg and,
don’t be late and,

Shamble bibble, dobble dooble,
bingle bongle, dingle dangle,
yicky doo, yickity da,
ping pong lipy, tapy too ta!

Suddenly the speakers crackled to life, as Colgate joined in via the announcement system.

Doctor, if you're hearing this it means you're in trouble and wrong
Please don't bake anything; just accept it and go home.

Without missing a single beat, the Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the speaker, turning down the volume to almost zero as Doctor Whooves picked up after Colgate.

My cauldron is preheated and I've got you in my hand,
Let's beat these yolks and serve these folks or make a rocking band!

Watch as I work my Time Lord magic;
custard and processed food;
Celestia help us, the Doctor is cooking!
I’m not ginger and very rude.
I’m not ginger and very rude.
...."

The Doctor stopped in the middle of a pirouette, and blinked, opened his mouth, and paused for a second before turning to Terrence.

"Did I...?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah. With background music and everything. Only thing missing was the confetti." Terrence said, barely restraining his laughter.

"It is part of the magic of Equestria," Octavia said. "In Equestria, we call it Beethooven’s Musical Mayhem. Usually happens when a pony is practicing a musical instrument too hard.” She chuckled. ”You should have seen my friend Lyra. When she first got her cutiemark, all of Manehattan was dancing for weeks!"

"Really? Well that sounds... annoying. Randomly bursting into song and dance... Must be some miracle that anything at all gets done, ever!" The human Doctor said as Dr. Whooves lifted the muffins out of the oven.

"Thr dnnn," the brown stallion mumbled past the tray held in his mouth.

"So, why do you want to butter us up?" Terrence asked.

The Doctor tried to look surprised. "What? I’m not buttering you up! What makes you think so?"

Terrence folded his fingers together, and fixed his eyes on the Doctor. "Doc... I know you. What is going on?"

"Well... As my security advisor, how would you advise security if, say... the Mane Six were coming to this very bureau?" Doctor Tennant awkwardly smiled.

"... all six? F@*%."

6/1 Social security

Since First Contact, Equestria had been sending Diplomats and Ambassadors to the various nations of the earth. While most of these officials were considered to be of equal rank and importance, one group of six mares somehow got all the big gigs, such as public debates on international broadcasts and announcements of important developments in regard with the conversion of the earth. These six mares were collectively known as the Mane Six.

Many rumors surrounded the Mane Six. Some said that they only got those gigs because their leader was somehow related to the Princesses of Equestria. Others claimed they were some sort of saints of virtue. Yet again others insisted that they were decorated heroes of Equestria. Whatever the truth, the Mane Six were big celebrities, and any public appearance of the six of them together was treated as only marginally less important than a visit from either Princess themselves.

As such, the bureau had been buzzing with excitement ever since word got out about their impending arrival. While it was not unusual for any one , or sometimes a pair of them to visit a seemingly random Bureau, they never visited a bureau in full force before. One recently converted newfoal claimed they were going to announce some major improvement to the conversion process, while another aspirant convert said they were going to declare the complete closure of all bureaus on earth. Fact was, no-one and nopony knew what they were coming for.

"The way I understand it, is that they will be arriving right before lunch. So, we have a million and one things to prepare, and mere hours to do it in. Terrence, do you need any recruits to help you bunker down security?” The human Doctor said. Ever since Doctor Whooves and miss Doo had left to deal with some kind of problem (he had muttered something about a Dalek newfoal), Doctor Tennant had been in charge of arranging for the arrival of their famous guests. So, at the moment he and Terrence were in his office, discussing the details of their plan de campagne.

Terrence sighed. "Might not be a bad idea to get some extra firepower going. Anyhow! First, we’ll need a secure place for them to stay. We all know that there is an HLF camp across the valley, and they are not too pleased with us here... but we sort of have an ‘agreement.’"

“Right, they stay out of our hair, and you don’t snipe their toes from their feet. Still, are you sure that will be enough of a deterrent to stop them from attacking?”

“Honestly? No. Killing the Mane Six would mean a serious blow to the conversion program, especially if what I heard about their leader and Princess Celestia is true. The HLF knows this, and the moment they find out the Six are here... I’m gonna need a lot more guns.” He turned to face Victorious Shield, who had volunteered to help out the moment he had heard about their guests. “Think you can handle a gun?”

Victorious thought about it for a moment. “Technically? Yes. My telekinesis is getting better every day, and I do think I can handle both levitating the gun and pulling the trigger. However, I don’t think I can be of much help here. The very idea of k-killing another living being...” The thought alone made him sick.

Terrence kneeled down in front of the white Unicorn. “No-one will force you to do any such thing, ok? There are more than enough other ways you can help with our defenses, so don’t worry about that.”

Victorious looked up, feeling a little better. “Ok.”

"Ok. Now, as for safety I will have to ask miss Doo to leave her post by the front door and stay in what used to be customer service. The ambassadors can take the three empty rooms above the Conversion room," Terrence said.

"Right. Anything else?" The Doctor asked.

"No Rarity, we have everything packed. From your umbrella to those... bye-key-knees? " Rainbow Dash said as she waited by the door of the cabin she and Rarity had shared on the train to Utah.

"Bikinis Rainbow dash, And are you absolutely sure? I was sure there was another box when we loaded up... I must be losing my mind!"

"Rarity, Rainbow! We need to go! the shuttle will be here soon! " Twilight called down the train’s aisle.

"Twilight darling, have you seen a box? I was sure I had another one."

"Well, we got all of them. Even the one in the middle of the aisle, could that be the one you are talking about? Applejack is loading it up onto the trailer right now." Twilight said.

"Oh, thank you dear... Come to think of it, didn’t the same thing happen back in Las Vegas? ...Must be the stress getting to me."

As a matter of fact, the box in question had been behaving rather strangely, especially given how boxes would normally behave. In more practical terms, ever since they had received the box as part of a regular sending of mail from home, it had moved on its own on no less than thirty occasions (even though nopony was ever around to notice it do so). Still, the box had come with a message telling them not to open it and instead give it to the head of the Bureau as a surprise gift, so Pinkie had been guarding the box from curious eyes since. On the other hand, the behavior of the box would be easily explained on account of its contents.

"Cutie mark crusader stowaways yay!" the three fillies said in hushed voices.

"This has gotta be the best idea ever, Scoots! Write up a bunch of letters, have Featherweight send them every week, and then stow away with Sweetie's sister," Applebloom said, bumping the orange Pegasus on the shoulder.

"Aw, it was nothing but common sense. We HAVE to come with our families, we HAVE to crusade for our marks, and Pinkie takes surprises very serious."

"Of course she does. Everypony in Ponyville knows that. But why are we hiding in here?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Well, remember what Ruby said about this Doctor her parents would be visiting? About how adventure always seems to follow him? Well, what better way to get a cutiemark than to go on a world-saving adventure!" Scootaloo said, fluttering her little wings in excitement.

"Does this mean ah’ll get covered in tree sap again? It took ages to get rid of that sticky stuff last time," Applebloom nervously asked.

"Maybe we could ask him for a nice, clean adventure," Sweetie said. "Besides, Rarity would get mad if I get too dirty again...”

"Oh, come on! If you don’t get even a little dirty, it isn’t an adventure, guys!" Scootaloo said in response to the white Unicorn.

"I guess..."

“Doesn’t sound too wrong...”

"Right! So, all we gotta do right now is-" Scootaloo was interrupted by the box suddenly shifting. "Shh! I think they are putting us on the cart to the Bureau."

"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH," Soarin squee’d. "Rainbow Dash is coming? Awesome! I’ve not seen her since Cadence's wedding. I wonder if she is still doing that special training I told her about."

Surprise laughed. "Yes, Dashie is coming. And you seem to have a little crush on her, is it not so?"

"What? No! Yes! I mean no! I-" Soarin sputtered, blushing furiously.

Surprise chuckled. "You sure? Because ever since you heard, you look like you are going to take off any moment..."

“THAT MEANS NOTHING, AND YOU KNOW IT! I’m just- just stretching my wings!”

“you have been ‘stretching your wings’ for three hours straight now, bud.”

Meanwhile, just beyond the orbit of Neptune;

The Dalek ship had traveled many lightyears in their desperate bid for retribution against the Doctor, for the near-endless chain of defeats their race had suffered at his hands. Their plan was simple: blow up the Earth, the favorite planet of the Doctor, which had the added bonus of greatly accelerating the extermination of the indigenous inferior races.

In other words, the usual “Exterminate everything else” plan of the Daleks.

“APPOROACHING ORBIT OF PLANET EARTH!”

“GOOD. WE WILL EXTERMINATE THE DOCTOR!”

“EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!”

“Oh, please! No need to shout!”

As one, five hundred thousand eyestalks turned around, focusing on one Dalek whose optical sensors had somehow turned red.

“I mean, I’m right here.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN!?”

The discolored Dalek chuckled, as some of the more nearby Daleks started to back away ever so slightly. “I mean, I am Chaos. Destruction. Discord. And I’d like to ask your help in bringing some of all that back to Equestria.”

“REQUEST DENIED! YOU ARE CLEARLY DEFECTIVE! COMMENCE SELF-TERMINATION IMMEDIATELY.”

“Ugh... guess I’ll have to look for some other alien race to spread some chaos then. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the gift I left for you, it is in that big, glowy sun-like thing. Did I mention I have kind of a grudge against suns? I’d say a big orange in the sky would do a much better job.”

The strange Dalek suddenly grew a pair of long limbs from the spheres on its body, which then somehow folded it inside out in a way that caused it to completely disappear from existence.

“WARNING! REACTOR CORES COMPROMISED!”

“WEAPON SYSTEMS MALFUNCTIONING!”

“CENTRAL SYSTEMS OFFLINE!”

What happened remains unknown to this day. Still, the only thing found after the explosion tore apart the ship, was a single orange with a diameter of over a kilometer.

///////////////////
Ray10k here.
It has been a while, hasn’t it? Well, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I had a ton of fun writing it.
Also, don’t worry. The coloring in the song was a one-time gimmick, unless Kryxel gets mean. Again.
(please don’t pull out the cheese again, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to... no, no, nonononono NOT THE CHEESE HAVE MERCY PLEASE!!!!)
(kryxel here: to ray. dont worry. its all gouda. i am not one for writing lyrics.. as you can tell.. i was not expecting you to turn it into a duet though.

episode 6 part 2: the calm

The Doctor had traveled far and wide, witnessing all of time and space. He had seen a Dalek without the will to fight, his arch nemesis come back from the dead, even a man who would never die. But in all his travels, he never had encountered anything like this. “So, let me get this straight. You are agreeing to keep the protest peaceful?”

“Yes. In the end, we are not the ones trying to wipe out an entire world. We have the moral high ground, and we will not lower ourselves to their level,” the bald man replied.

Not even half an hour before, the Doctor had approached the HLF-encampment a ways away from the bureau, waving a white flag (made from an old broom and a few stapled-together sheets of paper), hoping to negotiate a truce, despite his experience with such negotiations in the past. “Surprising. That has to be the first time anyone agrees to take the peaceful option...”

The bald man grinned for a second, before turning serious once again. “However, I do need to know one thing. This group of ambassadors you mentioned, would they happen to have any Unicorns amongst their ranks?”

“Yes. Two of them are Unicorns. Why?”

Apparently, the local HLF-leader did not like the news, because his face grew grim at that news. “In that case, on top of our earlier agreement, I want you to allow my men to at least exercise their right to bear arms. The other ponies are harmless enough, but those damn needleheads are walking time bombs. You know what magic does to you, right?”

The Doctor tensed a little, knowing the conversation could go either way now. “I know that the human anatomy isn’t exactly attuned to magic, but the Mane Six are-”

“Hold on,” the man interrupted, “What is this about the Mane Six? Are they the Diplomats you were talking about?”

The Doctor cringed. Well, no denying it now. “Yes, they are.”

“In that case, I’d like to reestablish our agreement. My men will be given a spot to protest, right in front of your doors. They will be allowed to keep their weapons with them, and use them if they are in any way threatened. Also, I’d like a word with the leader of the Mane Six, Vampire Sprinkle was it?”

“Twilight Sparkle actually. And while it is the good right of you and your men to keep your weapons on you, we will retaliate if need be. Also, if you want to talk to Twilight, you’ll only do so with at least one armed guard in the room.”

The bald man smirked. “Actually, I was thinking more among the lines of some public debate. I heard she has some influence on those pretty prancing Princesses.”

The Doctor relaxed slightly. “Acceptable. Still, I want some security. Can you guarantee that your men won’t attack unprovoked?”

“I’ll tell them not to shoot but in the end, they are free men. Besides, you got your sniper, and most of my men aren’t exactly sharpshooters if you catch my drift. Still, we got a deal?”

The Doctor smiled warmly, glad to have (hopefully) avoided a bloodbath for once. “We have a deal,” he said as he shook the HLF-man’s hand.

“By the way, I am the Doctor.”

“Nice meeting you, I’m Dave.”

6/2 calm before the storm

A few hours later, the grounds in front of the Bureau’s main entrance were prepared for the arrival of their VIPs. The staff of the bureau had rolled out a few vending machines, had set up a small number of grills and fire pits, and even the Cakes had set up shop with a stall selling genuine Equestrian treats, making a neat profit from all the people who hoped to see the Mane Six in person (one of them enjoying the food so much, he signed up for conversion right afterwards.)

The entire operation could have been mistaken for a fair, if it weren’t for the rather prominent presence of the HLF. In accordance with their agreement, they had been allowed to place a number of vehicles around the grounds while securing their spot in front of the doors. Some of the visitors found it a bit strange that the HLF of all people had demanded front row seats, but no-one spoke up because, well, guns.

The Doctor walked around the grounds, making a final inspection. Aside from Terence on the roof and the HLF in front of the doors, he hadn’t found anyone with any obvious weaponry on them, generally a good sign. Despite the tension, things looked like this would go down in history as the first (somewhat) peaceful encounter between the HLF and Equestria. Besides, whatever the outcome, his temporal twin had implied that the Mane six would survive this encounter. Maybe things would work out for a change.

The doctor stood by the cakes Stall and watched the highway for the black truck that would bring the Mane Six. Everyone was nervous and waiting for something, anything to happen.

"What if they missed the train? Or fell off the road? Or exploded? Or missed the train, falling off the road and causing the train they missed to explode!?" Surprise rambled as she bounced on top of one of the nonfunctional fluorescent signs.

"Surprise, please close that hole in your muzzle. Nothing like that has happened," Octavia said while looking in the same direction as everyone else.

"Is that them?" Dave asked, pointing at a truck pulling a pastel colored trailer that had just come around the last corner to the Bureau.

"Let’s see... yes, that is their ride. Remember, stay in your area and this will be a first on both sides," the Doctor said.

Dave nodded. "I appreciate you asking Twilight to talk with us. I just want her and the others to know that not all of us are violent beasts."

The doctor nodded and shook hands once more with Dave. "To a brighter future."

"A brighter one indeed," Dave said as the truck pulled up.

The HLF-members near the gates picked their Traditional Demonstration Signs up, and got ready as the Doctor walked up to the truck, knocking at the driver’s door before having a short conversation.

"Hello, don’t worry it is just me... The Doctor... Just "the Doctor"... It’s not a funny name at all... Well, I think it is better than Hawk. Yes, I know that’s your name... Read the memo. Why is everyone surprised that I read memos?... Yes they are, but they are here peaceful grounds. I talked to them and as you can see, none of them have their weapons ready... Okay, I know signs can be used as weapons but you know what I meant. Yes, I swear they will all be safe. Yes. Thank you, agent Hawk."

The three other doors clicked open, and out hopped the six mares.

"Wow, first time we ever got a reception like this," Rainbow said as she stretched her wings to get rid of the stiffness the long journey had caused.

"I am just glad to be out of that stuffy truck," Rarity said while levitating a small mirror to inspect her mane.

Pinkie Pie however wasted no time whatsoever, instead opting to tackle-glomp her sister, accompanied by a warcry of "INKIE!"

Surprise chuckled at the scene. "Pinkie, you don’t need to kill your sister when you just reunited with her, right Soarin?... Soarin?" peering around quizzically.

She found him next to the trailer, glomping Rainbow Dash.

Twilight hopped out next, removing her reading glasses before addressing the Doctor. "Hello, I was told to contact the Doctor first upon arrival. Would you happen to know where he is?"

The doctor smiled, and offered the lavender mare a hand. "I am the Doctor, nice to meet you."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, before softly giggling. “No offense, but I meant Doctor Whooves. He is a tan Earth pony stallion, with a Hourglass cutiemark. Do you know anyone like that?”

“That would technically still be me.”

"That doesn’t make any sense. Or did the HLF figure out some de-conversion procedure?"

“Not as far as I know. However, are you by any chance familiar with nonlinear temporal artifacts?”

Twilight’s forehead scrunched up in thought for a moment. “Nonlinear- You mean you are him, before conversion? I never knew he was a Newfoal. Picked the date for your conversion yet then?”

The Doctor gave a short laugh. “No, and with the way things work out for me usually... Besides, Spoilers,” he said with a quick wink. “Need any help unpacking?”

Twilight nodded. "That would be great.”

The Doctor made a quick gesture to a few ponies of the Bureau’s staff, after which they ran over to the trailer to help out. "One more thing,“ the Doctor said, ”once you are settled down, the local HLF leader would like to have a heart to heart with you. Part of the agreement that keeps them from attacking us."

"That will be fine. In fact, I think I would enjoy it," Twilight said with a reassuring smile.

In the meantime, Pinkie had helped her sister get back up, before she headed over to the trailer as one of the ponies helping unpack. Pinkie then focused her attention on the somewhat odd human who had introduced himself as the Doctor. "Are you the Doctor? Nice! I’ll be throwing a Pinkie Party later, but first I have something for you. A special delivery For Your Eyes Only.” Pinkie leapt into the trailer, and soon re-appeared with a large box, quickly hoofing it over to the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled. "Why, thank you. What is the occasion?"

Applejack laughed. "We don' rightly know ourselves. It was made by my and Rarity’s lil sis' and their friend. They call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, cus' they are always doing things to get their cutiemarks."

The Doctor took the box from Pinkie’s back. “To be young, right? Well, let’s see what they sent,” he said before opening the box and taking a look inside. For a moment he stood there, a look of confusion on his face, before a grin spread across his lips. “Excuse me Miss Applejack, you said your sister and her friends were trying to get their cutiemarks, right?”

The Earth pony farmer raised an eyebrow at the comment. “Jus’ call me Applejack, please. And yeah, they spend all their free time trying all sorts o’ stuff to get their marks. Did they send you some letter askin’ to make their cutiemarks appear?”

"Not exactly. *hehe*," the Doctor started giggling, "second, would some of the things they do perhaps include stowing away for an adventure?"

"Uh, I would guess so. Why?" Applejack and Rarity looked at each other, then at the Doctor who was still holding the open box.

“All in due time. Third question! Do you know where your sisters and their friend are right now?”

“They are still in Ponyville. They send us letters every few days. Why are you smiling like that, did they send something strange?” Rarity asked, her confusion climbing as the Doctor gently set the box down on the ground.

"Just one more question. Would these, um, fillies happen to be a yellow Earth pony, a white Unicorn and an orange Pegasus?"

“Yes. How did you know that?”

"Well, take a look in the box," the Doctor said, beckoning the mares over to him. Applejack was the first to get a look at the three little fillies sleeping peacefully inside the box.

"Oh crabapples."

////////////////
Ray10k here.
Guess what? Last Thursday (June 14th) was my 22nd birthday! So here is my somewhat belated gift to you all. See you soon!

(Kryxel: happy birthday ray! and many more to come!
with this chapter i wanted to invoke that even though there is a set "standard" for groups. they all still have the fringe crazies.)

episode 6 part 3 three meetings and a party

"'Taint fair! Jus ‘cus we stowed away in Rarity’s belongings doesn’t mean we should be confined to the daycare center! We ain’t foals no more," Applebloom grumbled. Her mood had taken a nosedive when she had been rudely awoken by a very cross Applejack, after which the three of them were confined to the aforementioned daycare center. For the last hour or so she had been pacing in a circle, slowly wearing down the carpet of the room.

"Applebloom, it is only until our sisters get the rooms set up. Then we will be confined there," Sweetie Belle said while idly bouncing a ball against the wall.

"Why are you two complaining, this place is the best! No schoolwork, all the time cartoons, and nap and snacktime!" Scootaloo said as she drank a juicebox of apple juice (From real Equestrian apples, the package claimed.)

"Scoots... are ya sure you are feeling okay?" Applebloom asked, her eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"Yeah, I am. Why?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, normally you would be complaining about being stuck in such a foalish place. How do we know you are not one of those creepy changelings?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo chuckled. “Don’t worry. I am the real deal. Potatoes, cupcakes, factory. The password we agreed to. I am fine with this because I picked up an interesting tidbit: Rainbow runs this daycare!”

“What?!” “No way!” Sweetie Belle and Applebloom said in chorus, failing to notice the Unicorn that entered the room through the door behind them.

“Way! It says so right outside the door. ‘Daycare. Pony in charge: Rainbow.’ Who else than the coolest, fastest Pegasus in Equestria could it be!?”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but Ambassador Rainbow Dash is not on the roster, my dear Pegasus.”

Finally snapping out of her daydreams, Scootaloo took notice of the pink Unicorn that had been standing behind her for the last minute or so. She raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? Who are you anyway?”

The Unicorn gave a kind smile. “I am Rainbow Spring. I run the daycare here. And I’m sorry to say, but I don’t have any speed records to my name, I’m afraid.”

Scootaloo froze for a moment. "That can’t be. I’m sure it would be Rainbow Dash!"

Spring’s smile turned apologetic. “I’m sorry, but... Scootaloo, I’m your caretaker now. Search the roster, you’ll know it to be true.”

For but a moment, Scootaloo was silent. Then she unleashed an anguished cry that could have been heard three states over.

“NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!”

Three meetings and a party

While Scootaloo was facing the loss of her expected time with her idol, Twilight and Dave had moved over to a small room for the previously negotiated debate. While Twilight had looked forward to having a more civilized discussion with the people opposing the conversion movement, the “discussion” so far had consisted of both parties sitting across from each other in silence. Twilight had learned during her early years in Canterlot to let others speak first, while Dave had learned over the years that most political battles were won by letting your opponent make the first move. As a result, neither of them had said anything since they had sat down, nearly ten minutes ago.

Finally, Twilight decided to break the ice first. “So... you wanted to discuss a proposal for Equestria with me?”

Dave cleared his throat, and started to speak. "Do you know what is so special about Utah, miss Sparkle? Now, I don’t just mean the big touristic attractions, but one specific thing, near Promontory Point."

Twilight perked up, eager to share the knowledge she gathered about the human world. "OH! I know what you’re talking about! The joining of the country wide railroad, complete with-"

"No, not that. Well, sort of. We are special Mrs. Sparkle, for Thiokol," Dave interrupted.

"Thiokol? As in, the chemical company Thiokol?" Twilight asked. "I am not sure what you mean."

"While Thiokol did start out as a simple chemical plant, nowadays Thiokol means Space travel. We all know that Celestia will gain the planet. And while that is a rather sad state of affairs, my branch of the HLF wants to look forward. What we would like to negotiate with Equestria, is for the Thiokol building in promontory to be protected from conversion, until the engines for a new FTL spaceship are finished and delivered to cape Canaveral."

Twilight’s grin had grown since Dave had started talking, and now bordered on creepy. "You guys have Space travel? As in, genuine travel beyond the atmosphere?"

"yes, we have. We even put men on the moon." Dave said, getting a little uncomfortable from Twilight’s increasingly manic expression.

"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!" Twilight started. "That is so amazing! I mean, back in Equestria, while flight is commonplace, there has only ever been one being on the moon! And forget about deep space exploration!"

Dave flinched from the sudden verbal assault, but quickly gathered his wits. "So, our request to the Princesses of Equestria is, that they do everything in her power to hold back the barrier until the project is completed. Once the ark is loaded and launched, when humanity will survive in one form or another, she can do whatever she wants with this planet."

"I will do what I can to convince Princess Celestia to support your endeavor." Twilight said and offered her hoof. “May this be a new beginning to human/Equestrian relations, so that one day mankind may find Equestria once more in peace.”
"And we shall have a way to combat magic poisoning by then hopefully," Dave said as he shook the offered appendage.

Just outside the bureau, a meeting of a much less formal sort was taking place.
"How can he stand to even be in the presence of one of those... those THINGS!" a member of the HLF said as he paced in the trailer.
"Now darling, don’t be so dismissive of Dave’s brave sacrifice. After all, it will all be worth it when the pastor arrives and we can show those four-legged freaks what the HLF is truly capable of! We just need a little more time, time Dave is buying us," a female voice said from the bed.
"Besides, even if that fails we still have plan B. Something none of those abominations could ever think of. Heck, I’m sure none of those traitors would think of it either," said a third, strangely familiar voice.
"You’re right. They’ll never suspect the bomb. Where the hell did you get a Nuke anyway?" said the first voice.
"Oh, you’d be surprised what you can find on the black market," the man said, smiling and leaning back into the shadows. “Now, prepare for the attack. Today we will reclaim the Earth, as it was our God-given right!”

While these private meetings were being held, the party had started without a hitch.
HLF stiffly intermingling with ponies, children playing with foals, Pegasi giving rides to whoever asked (and wasn’t too heavy to lift,) everything was going as well as it possibly could.

Over to the side of the field in front of the bureau, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were having a bit of fun together as well. "Flap those wings, come on, Scoots!" Rainbow said as Scootaloo closed her eyes and furiously pumped her tiny wings.

Dash had been training Scootaloo since before first contact with Earth, but her role as ambassador for Equestria left her without any time for those training sessions. As such, Dash had taken the rather unusual meeting between the two of them as an opportunity to cram in a few more flying lessons.
Dash argued that the harsh training counted as a punishment, while Scootaloo couldn’t believe her luck at getting to hang out with Rainbow Dash AND getting a training regimen that would get her flying much faster.

"Okay squirt, open your eyes and look down," Dash said.

Scootaloo followed Dash's instructions and squealed for joy. "I DID IT!"

"Easy there pipsqueak. you are just hovering two inches off the ground. Now, let’s see if you can go for some altitude," Dash said while she ruffled the little filly’s mane.

Inside the Bureau, Pinkie and Surprise were finishing frosting the cake that the Cakes had pulled out of the oven. Applejack and Mrs. Cake were preparing apple pies together, while Twilight was reading a certain book with an image of hands holding an apple on the cover. She was also holding a checklist, titled “unrealistic romance novel tropes.” Hardly any of the boxes had been left unchecked, and she was only halfway through the book.

Fluttershy was sitting next to Rainbow Spring. Fluttershy kept an eye on the happily playing Cake twins, while Spring was playing with Silver.

Rarity sat across from the (human) Doctor, her eyes intense as she stared across the 8X8, grid patterned board. She moved her remaining rook. "Check."

"Ooh... Are you sure you want to do that? Quite a bold move," The Doctor said, twiddling his thumbs.

"Yes, I am sure. From there, I will have you checkmate in three moves. So falls the Doctor," Rarity said with a smirk.

"Oh, okay then... I guess I better do this," the Doctor said as he slid a pawn up one more space, landing the piece on the last row and promoting it to a queen. "Check and mate."

"B-but, I ...what?" Rarity stammered as she scanned the board for any way out.

While Rarity was looking for a way out, Octavia trotted up to the pair of them and turned her attention to the Doctor. "I just got a call from Doctor Whooves. He says he will be running late. The Dalek was... well, running."

"Okay. Thank you, Octavia," the Doctor said before turning back to Rarity. "Best out of three?"

Nutmeg was Angry. no, Angry is what would happen if someone stepped on your toes, or read your diary to your crush. No, to call her Angry right now would be an insult to all capital-A Anger.

The short, brown haired female rubbed her forehead and turned her attention to her partner-in-crime/idiot ally. "Remind me please. Why are we here when we only just got into the PER? The others told us to stay and guard the base," she said to the tall blonde in the pink dress.

"Because Nutmeg, they went off to the HLF base to leave a little surprise for them when they return. However! They failed to take the arrival of the ambassadors into account, so it is up to us to save them from those nasty HLF-ruffians, " the blonde man said, turning to face Nutmeg.

"Ginger, be reasonable. The Bureau has guns, guards, not to mention the rumors about the tank they were hiding. And I’m sure the HLF has just as much. What CAN we do?”

The blonde giggles. "Oh Nutmeg, Nutmeg, Nutmeg. You forget, we have the element of surprise! No one will suspect a thing in these disguises. Be honest, do I even look like a man at all in this?"

Nutmeg facepalmed. "No. And that is completely beside the point. Point is, we have nothing! No weapons, no allies, I bet you don’t even have a plan!"

"Well, I’m sure this will scare them to death!" Ginger cheerfully said, holding up two vials. One was filled with a purple liquid, while the other one held a red liquid.

"Sure... hang on, where did you get those?" Nutmeg said, mostly surprised at the fact that her partner had anything resembling a plan in the first place.

"I commandeered them for an idea, an idea to get Team Rumpguard their first ponifications. The plan is simple: we splash their leader. When things start going haywire, we will sneak up on the leaders and ponify them before they even know what is going on," Ginger said with a proud smile on his face as he placed the vials back in his purse.

"I have so many questions right now. For starters, why was one red?" Nutmeg asked, since she had only ever heard of the potions being purple.

"Well, I think it is just a new flavor. I took a sniff, and it smelled like cherries. Now, where can we see the HLF the best if things turn sour..." Ginger said, standing beside Nutmeg and turning to look where she was.

"Never mind that, how drunk was the foal who-*bonk*" Nutmeg started, right as a dull thud interrupted her.
"Nutmeg, what w-*thud*"

Both Ginger and Nutmeg collapsed to the ground, as a tan colt trotted around them. He folded his wings back to his sides, and grabbed the purse containing the two vials before running over towards the blue police box beside the trailer.

"Is it time?" one voice asked.
"Aye, it is brother. Light the fuse and lets let those devils know that god stands with mankind," the familiar man said as he prepared a small remote, ominously labled 'primary detonation.' "Shoot the sniper, before things go boom," the man said to the HLF's own marksman.
The marksman aimed, looked through the scope, turned the safety off... and fired.
Terrence dropped like a lead balloon right in front of Victorious Shield.
Time seemed to slow down for Victorious.

He saw his friend fall, a spray of red coming from him.
He saw a flash of light, as the sun reflected off a rifle’s scope.
He dove for cover, hitting the button for the alarm on the way down.

The wails of the alarm sounded but once, before the explosions drowned out all other noise.
/////////////
Ray10k here.
Another chapter, and it seems that the excrement has collided with the rotary air dispersal unit.
Will Terrence survive? Will team Rumpguard become relevant? Will the Doctor ever get his hooves?

...

You tell me, I just do the editing ;-)

Kryxel here. i can in fact say one thing with absolute certainty..
team rumpgard will not be appearing further in this fanfic.
if you want to know the story behind them (with possible spoilers) just message me.
as for the rest... only Time will tell.

episode 6 part 4 Wings of change

For a mind to maintain any semblance of control over magic, it has to be able to perform millions of minute manipulations, often in the span of a single instant. For ponies this meant they had minds that could think and act so fast, many victims of stressful circumstances claimed time slowed down to a crawl as their minds instinctively allotted all available power to perception and planning, in an all-out effort to find a way to survive. For Victorious Shield, this meant he got a front row seat for an instant assessment of everything happening around him, as the pandemonium ground to a halt.

There was an explosion. Judging by the volume of the bang, not enough to break through the walls. Best course of action: disregard, inspect for structural damage later.

The HLF-members who had been hanging around had all grabbed their weapons and were now moving into the bureau. The people and ponies inside however were well-entrenched. Best course of action: address them later.

The foals and children on the grassy fields in front of the bureau were all crying, terrified by what was going on. Their parents were calming them down, while dragging them off to safety. Best course of action: trust the parents, but talk to them later.

The last time he had seen the Mane Six, they were well inside the building, trying to negotiate with the HLF. The other officials of the Bureau would protect them. Best course of action: check on them later.

Terrence was shot. Best course of action: HELP HIM IMMEDIATELY.

Time flowed normally once more, as Victorious dashed to Terrence’s aid. From what he could see, the bullet had hit him in the shoulder. Terrence’s breathing seemed a little on the shallow side, but at least he was still alive.

“Victorious! Terrence! Get up, and get out of there!” Victorious looked up, seeing the humanoid Doctor shouting at the two of them. “We need to get the foals and the children into the Conversion Room, they’ll be safe there. The Mane Six are already en route to the Room, so don’t worry about them!”

Victorious gave one look at Terrence, before turning back to the Doctor. “Terrence got shot! I think he’s dying!”

“What?! Then get him to the Room, and Convert him! Come on, allons-y! No time to lose!”

Victorious was about to levitate Terrence onto his back, when Terrence stirred. “Hey... what happened...? My shoulder hurts...” he muttered as he unsteadily tried to get to his feet.

“Terrence! No! S-stay down!” Victorious said as he put a hoof on Terrence’s back. “We’re under attack. You got hit by a sniper, so stay low! He’s probably still around!”

“A sniper huh? Must have been a good one,” Terrence said before starting a coughing fit, a small trickle of blood forming from his lips. “Definitely felt that one...”

“You are dying! Get on my back, we’re going to the conversion room!” Victorious said as he knelt down besides Terrence.

Terrence grinned weakly as he flopped over the Unicorn’s back. “So, today’s the day I get my hooves huh? Wished it was a little less noisy,” he said, before another coughing attack racked his bleeding form.

While Terrence and Victorious Shield started their arduous trek to the Conversion Room, the Doctor headed in the opposite direction to inspect the barricade the ponies had erected in the hallway leading to the fields in front of the bureau. “Status report, now! Octavia, any casualties?”

Octavia looked up from the table she was dragging towards the barricade. “None that I am aware of. The foals were safely evacuated to the inner dormitories, with the Mane Six following them.”

“The dorms?! I told them to head for the conversion room!” the Doctor exclaimed as he dived for cover, mere moments before a bullet dug its way into a wall, missing the Doctor by only a hair.

Colgate mixed into the conversation. “Somepony failed to observe proper protocols. The vial of potion was left on a table, outside of its case. When the explosives went off-”

“Short version!” the Doctor interrupted her report, earning him a slightly annoyed glare from the typically stoic pony.

“Fine. The floor is drenched in potion. It’s going to be hours before anypony or anyone can get in there safely.”

“Great! Next question! Grace, why are you still here,” the Doctor said as he turned his attention to the Pegasus mare. “I thought you’d be with your sons?”

Grace paused for a moment, appearing lost in thought. “The colts are safe. But when the explosives went off, I thought... I saw my father”

“Sorry, didn’t catch that last bit. What?”

Grace struggled with the words for a few moments, before stating in a clear voice, “I saw my father.”

Pastor Winchester was a man, used to having a certain amount of weight assigned to any order he gave. If he told his flock to bow, they wouldn’t waste time asking how low but fell to their knees as one. If he told his wife to be silent, she would wait for days for him to tell her to speak. As such, he was less than pleased with his fellow crusaders’ failure to overthrow the Devil’s temple, nor did he much enjoy the fact that the initial assault had only resulted in a few casualties, and only Human ones at that.

One of the HLF members had been given the rather unlucky task to provide the Pastor with a means of communication, and as such had been the target of the Pastor’s rants for the past ten minutes. “-It is all a matter of faith, and it shows that you and your allies have little. If you would have been more faithful, God would have given us his guidance today, and-”

Thankfully for the long suffering HLF-member, at that moment the Doctor appeared on the roof of the building, a white flag (fashioned from a tablecloth and a broom) in his hands. “Can we discuss this as civilized beings? I’m sure we can come to some agreement!”

“Remove the barricade, surrender to our forces and release my daughter. Then, we shall let those of good will live,” the Pastor shouted to the strange man on the roof.

“Sorry, I was thinking more among the lines of ‘your men stop their attack, and let us be.’ Still, the last part might be doable. What is your daughter’s name?”

“Her name, you servant of the Devil, is Grace! Now unhand her at once!” the Pastor said as he balled his fist.

“Sorry, can’t do that. Nobody is holding her prisoner, so yeah. Anyhow, your daughter saw you earlier and is standing right behind me as we speak. Don’t want her get shot by your snipers and all that.”

“Shut up! Grace, speak to me!”

“I... I’m here dad,” the Pastor heard his daughter’s voice coming from behind the man with the flag.

“Grace, get away from those heathens right now! Your mother has been praying for your return every day since you ran, and even when you cross me you still are my daughter! Now get down here!”

“If I come, will you let everypony here live?” Grace asked.

“Grace, whatever those Satanists told you, they do not deserve to be spared. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live, and those vile mockeries of God’s creatures revel in their unholy affront to all that the Lord gave us! They will burn for their sins, along with all those who helped them!” The Pastor shouted, a fist raised angrily at the roof of the Bureau.

At this point Grace stepped out from behind the Doctor, her wings spread in anger at her father’s harsh words. “Father, you are wrong! In my first dream among ponykind, I spoke to God! He did not judge me, did not cast me into hell! He told me the truth! Mankind is dying, and all God wants is for his children to live! He told me to spread the word, to guide others to the new Garden of Eden, TO EQUESTRIA!”

For but a moment, the Pastor was silent, his face a mask of terror and shock. “no...” He lowered his head, a single tear rolling down his nose and onto the ground. “Grace... why?” When he faced his daughter once more, his face was that of rage itself. “Suffer not a witch to live... GRACE, YOU HAVE PUT YOUR LOT WITH THEM, AND NOW YOU SHALL BURN!!!”

"Well, I guess that went about as well as expected. Grace, I need you to do something for me," the Doctor said as he turned away from the enraged man.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Run! Get to the others, and make sure you stay out of their sight. I'll go and get some reinforcements in the meantime," the Doctor said as he started running in the direction of his office, while Grace went looking for the rest.

While Grace’s heartfelt reunion with her father was going south rapidly, Dave had snuck out of the building. The HLF-members along the way had congratulated him on a trap well-set and executed.

His replies either consisted of fuming silence or (if there were no witnesses,) a swift blow to the face.

“Why? Why did they do this? Why did they have to act like feral beasts? I had one shot, and they blew it for me!” His muttered monologue had been going on ever since he got over the initial shock of the sudden attack. When he had stumbled past the barricade, the HLF-members had lowered their weapons and quickly escorted him out of the building while briefing him on the Pastor’s plans. When they had left to reinforce the attacking troops, Dave had started to think. The Pastor had been informing his men about the plan for only a week, meaning there was at least one person besides him who didn’t know about it, and would probably be willing to help. So, at the moment Dave was looking for Hal.

Spotting two men with guns guarding the back door of one of the trailers, Dave made his way over. “Hey, have either of you seen Hal lately?”

Both men stood at attention, the left one replying to Dave’s question. “He’s in this trailer, sir! He-”

“Good! Go help the men inside, I need to speak to him,” Dave interrupted the gunman.

Both men clumsily saluted, and left for the Bureau entrance. Dave knocked on the trailer door. “Hal, open the doors!”

Silence.

Dave knocked again, louder this time. “Open the trailer doors, Hal!”

Again, he was met by silence.

Getting frustrated, Dave knocked as hard as he could. “I know you are there Hal, now open the doors!”

This time, Dave heard someone speaking from behind the door. “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Why not?!”

“Because I’m handcuffed to the wall! Look, you have the keys right? Get in here, and help me!”

Searching his pockets, Dave grabbed the key to the trailer and got inside. “Why did they do that?! They know you are on our side!”

Hal chuckled darkly as he looked at Dave from his impromptu prison, his left eye black. “Do they now? Well, I for one don’t want anything to do with you and your bloody nuke! Ponies are bad enough, but nuking them makes us no better than them!”

Dave froze. “A nuke?!”

“Yeah, you know. The one the good Pastor acquired? The one they are placing right now? The one that’s going to blow us all to hell? The one your cronies knocked me out for, when I suggested they should get rid of it? Surely you know the one I’m talking about!” Hal said, getting more angry with every word he said and straining against the handcuffs that held him prisoner against the wall of the trailer.

“Hal, I never intended for things to get as bad as they are! I honestly intended to negotiate with the bureau! Please, you are the only one I can trust now,” Dave pleaded.

Hal scoffed. “Even if I did trust you, I’m stuck here! Handcuffed to the wall, remember?”

Dave hung his head. “The ponies should be able to help you. Opening a mundane lock shouldn’t be impossible to a Unicorn,” he said as he started to look for anything that could help him.

“Fat lot of good that will do me! What, are you gonna drag one over here and force it to release me? They won’t even get past the barricade before your idiots turn them into Swiss cheese!”

“True, but a human entering through the back entrance might just make it,” Hal said as he picked up a gun and a pair of earplugs. “Now, hold still for a moment,” he said as he put the plugs in Hal’s ears.

“What are you-” Hal started, as Dave took aim at the loop that held him prisoner, and pulled the trigger.

When the smoke had cleared, Hal saw two things:

One: the loop was broken and while he was still handcuffed, he could at least move freely.
Two: Dave’s mouth was moving, but the earplugs blocked whatever he was saying.

Moving quickly, Hal pulled one of the plugs out of his ear. “Can you repeat that? Also, are you CRAZY!?”

“To the second: maybe, but only if it saves the last sane person in this gang of idiots. To the first: I need you to get going! The Bureau has a back entrance that doesn’t really attract a lot of attention. Go there, and have one of the Unicorns release your hands. Now GO!” Dave practically shouted, as he looked out of the trailer. “If you move now, you should be fine. The men are still trying to get past the barricade.” Dave looked at Hal. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but if you don’t go, that madman will blow us all to kingdom come. You must tell them, they trust you more than they trust me by now! So get going, or I’ll carry you there!”

Hal stood for a moment, his thoughts going a million miles per hour. ‘Is he trying to trick me? Can I trust him? Has he ever lied to me?’

“Are you even listening? GO!” Dave shouted. “I’ll keep them off your back, one way or another! But you must move NOW!”

Hal snapped out of his confusion, and walked to the doors of the trailer. “I don’t trust you much right now, but you’re right. Still, if this is your way of kicking me while I’m down...” Hal let the threat hang in the air, as he started running for the forest that surrounded the building.

Dave sighed, before grabbing the pistol by the barrel and smacking himself in the face. “Don’t let this be in vain, you idiot.” After a few more moments, he walked out of the trailer and called for the two men who had been guarding Hal. “He escaped! He managed to get a gun, and shoot the loop that held him! I think he’s heading into town, now get after him!”

The men gave another badly executed salute, before running off in the opposite direction Hal was going.

‘It all now depends on you, Hal.’

As Hal was making his way around the building, Victorious Shield and Terrance had moved to an office across from the Conversion room, on the insistence of Derpy who had claimed that it wasn’t safe to enter right now. So, at the moment the two of them were in the company of Elane, Jane, Redeye (also known as The Unicorn Formerly Known As Galinda), Octavia, Derpy Hooves and her daughters, hoping that the Doctor would be able to supply them with enough potion for a single conversion.

Terrence, in the meanwhile, was getting worse. In a last ditch effort, Elane had sacrificed her scarf to try and stop the bleeding, which was why Jane was currently pressing the piece of practically priceless cloth to Terrence’s shoulder.

Terrence coughed again, more blood staining his lips, before weakly starting to talk. “Hey, Jane... I need to know something...”

“Save it for later, Ya’ll be fine, hear me!” Jane said as she desperately tried to stem the blood flowing from his shoulder.

“Fine. Redeye, can you tell me something then?” Terrence weakly smiled as he turned his attention to the grey Unicorn.

Redeye turned to Terrence, her worried tone belying her mostly neutral expression. “Sure. What do you want?”

“Well... how did I look as a girl? Can’t help but wonder...”

Redeye smiled sadly. “I saw the pictures of the party, and you were... hot. Really hot.”

Terrence chuckled. “Good... at least I’ll die knowing I look good as a woman...”

At that exact moment, the door swung open as the pony Doctor entered the room. “You might, but not today!” he said, past the pair of vials in his mouth. “I got enough Potion with me for two conversions, so you WILL be fine!”

Sitting back on his haunches and using his forelegs, the Doctor removed the two vials and held up the pink one. “Now, this one is the old Revision-63 potion. First successful version, but not exactly generally usable. Still, the other one should be fine. Derpy my dear, could you lend me a hoof in opening these please?”

Derpy however, had different plans as she snapped out of her shock of the door suddenly opening and finally noticed her husband had entered the room. “Doctor! You are back!!!” she shouted as she tried to tackleglomp the unfortunate stallion.

Another funny detail about magic is that it somehow deems it necessary to append Murphy’s Law with the words, “But there is no such thing as a complete failure.” So, in clear violation of all laws of probability, both vials were thrown up to the ceiling, where the pink one hit a conveniently placed lamp, causing the top to break off, before falling into the mouth of a rather surprised Terrence, open end down.

The purple vial however, fell straight down towards the Doctor, who at this point was struggling to get Derpy off of him.

“Doctor! Watch-” Everything slowed down around Redeye, as her mind went into overdrive.

She saw the vial. She knew it would hit the floor right next to the struggling couple. She saw the Doctor extend a wing, catching the vial before it could break.

Wait, what?!

Time sped up again around Redeye, as she finished her shout. “-out!”

The Doctor carefully placed the purple vial on the ground next to him, before crawling out from under his wife. “Well, that could have gone better. Now, I know you have questions, but sadly I can’t answer them. Spoilers, and all that. Still, I am the same Doctor you all know and love, but right now I need to run, so bye!” the brown Pegasus said before rushing out of the room.

After a few moments of stunned silence, only interrupted by the various noises from Terrence’s Conversion, Dinky spoke up. “Momma, what just happened?”

Derpy took a moment before she answered. “I just don’t know.”
//////////////////////////////////////

Ray10k here.
So, next chapter. Again, I ended up tripling the wordcount. For comparison, here is the version Kryxel gave me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed working on it.
Also, if things got a bit heavy handed during Grace’s “reunion” with her father...
I REGRET NOTHING!!!

Kryxel here: as i have said before, the people who are my editors have to put up with a lot, and ray here puts up with it, and creates more. advancing the awesome.
he makes it 120% cooler with a side of fun stashed all around ponyville in case of fun emergencies.
so if you even read this far, go check out his stories and send hugs and high fives and brohoofs his way.

episode 6 part 5 Transformation Central

Transformation Central
Written by Kryxel
Transformed into diamonds by Ray10K

“Please, drink with me,” Celestia said to the stallion before her. “Know that, whatever your past, you are always welcome in Equestria.”

“Thank you,” The nervous Earth pony said as he somewhat clumsily grasped the cup before him between his forelegs, and took a large gulp. “hmmmmmm... Delicious,” he said before fading away, the pleasant garden around the three of them fading as his consciousness returned to his body, leaving the princesses in the void beyond Equestria.

“That one took a while, dear sister,” Luna said as she turned into a wave of what seemed like a liquid glimmering in all the colors of a gentle winter night’s sky.

Celestia, now a strangely stationary ray of light in all hues of a gorgeous midsummer day, chuckled. “Does it matter? It’s not as if we’re behind schedule. Besides, they deserve a warm welcome I think.”

Ever since the first conversion, the Princesses had taken to personally welcoming every single newfoal into Equestria. To a mortal mind, this task would have required more time than was available in their entire lifespan, even if one were to somehow bypass the need for sustenance or rest. The Princesses however had an advantage.

They were vast.

Whenever anypony would look upon either of the Princesses, they would assume they saw the primordial forces of the world given flesh, and bowed whether they wanted or not. Truth of the matter was, they never saw more than an infinitesimal fragment of that true power, an avatar that absolutely paled in comparison to their true natures. Instead, most of the Princesses’ being resided in the space beyond Equestria, beyond mortal eyes, beyond the understanding of even the most brilliant minds. A necessary precaution for the continued existence of their beloved Ponies.

With the opening of the Bureaus, those two vast minds had split themselves in order to personally welcome every single new pony to their herd, thousands at a time. But even when divided, their minds were as one. Forever knowing as a whole what each separate fragment knew, while each fragment knew what the whole knew. Thousands of minds acting as two, two minds acting as thousands.

“Anyhow, I do agree we should move on. Can’t leave our children waiting, right?” Celestia said as she floated over to a pinprick of light in the infinite void. Another new soul in the herd, one that was still seeking where it belonged.

Luna and Celestia converged on the faint glimmer, drawing from the memories and fantasies of the soon-to-be mare, until they found one place that felt... safe.

Metal arches sprung into existence, metal sheets interrupted only by strange light fixtures weaving between them to create a large dome. The floor in the center of the dome rose up, forming a platform around a large control panel in the middle as a transparent cylinder flowed down from the ceiling, meeting the control panel as a large assortment of knobs, buttons, levers and even the occasional hand pump appeared on it.

Soon, the Royal Sisters found themselves inside a perfect replica of the TARDIS’ control room, waiting for their guest.

“Well, that’s... unexpected,” Celestia said as she took on a more recognizable form. “I think I know who our next visitor might be!”

“Really now? Last time you said that, it just turned out that he enjoyed the same kind of entertainment,” Luna said with a smirk.

Celestia shook her head, still somewhat pensive. “No, this is not just something from pop culture. I’d bet a week’s worth of cake on our next friend being a brown Earth pony stallion, named the Doctor!”

Luna laughed. “Hah! I accept thine challenge! Thou would do best if thee were prepared to lose though,” she said as she looked towards the doors leading out of... wherever they were.

A moment passed in silence.

Luna cleared her throat. “I said, if thee were prepared to lose though!”

This time, the wooden doors swung open, revealing...

A light grey Unicorn mare.

‘Told you,’ Luna sent a thought to her positively shocked sister.

“So, you traveled with him? Guess that explains the confusion then,” Celestia said, having gotten over her shock a few moments before. In the meantime, Luna had invited the mare over to the Console, which was currently repurposed as a tea table.

“A few times. Still, his machine is one of the safest places I know. Even when those Daleks started shooting, it held well,” the mare said as she reached for a cube of sugar. “Still, even he couldn’t protect me from that sniper, I guess...”

Luna arched an eyebrow. “You were converted during some kind of attack? What happened?”

The mare chuckled darkly. “Some HLF idiots, attacking my bureau when the Mane Six visited in full force. I had guard duty when they struck, so they tried to take me out first.”

Luna and Celestia exchanged a pair of shocked looks, before turning their attention to the gray mare. “The St. George bureau is under attack?!” Celestia almost shouted. “Whoever you are, tell the Doctors at your bureau that help is under way, We’ll send whatever troops we can muster your way!”

The mare nodded, as the held the cup between her forelegs. “Will do, and thank you. Oh! By the way, my name is Terrance,” she said before taking a deep gulp of the sweet-smelling amber liquid. “hmm... nice...” She uttered, as her body grew transparent.

As the mental landscape around them started to fade, Luna turned to her sister. “Isn’t Terrance a male name?”

“It is. But we have more pressing matters to attend to now,” Celestia spoke with an expression of grim determination dominating her features.

Elsewhere, About half an hour earlier...

Canterlot castle was so large that many of its cavernous halls were often left unoccupied for long stretches of time, simply because there was nothing or nopony that had any need for them. This, plus the fact that Canterlot was home to some of the most powerful Unicorns in all Equestria plus one of the largest libraries in the entire pastel-colored world, had quickly led to the decision to have the first and largest potion production facility right there. The fact that, in the last three-and-a-half years since construction had begun, only half of the facility was currently online, was testament to the sheer size of both the castle and the facility.

Despite all this, security was incredibly tight, as both the HLF and the PER would have serious interest in infiltrating the facility. For starters, the entire facility was below grounds. Not a big problem when the main building was on the side of a fairly tall mountain. Second, no less than six guards protected each of the small number of entrances, with guards being rotated in pairs every twenty minutes. Also, many small groups of guards patrolled the area, with each and every member of the guard having memorized an old document from Earth, creatively called “the evil overlord’s list (full edition.)” Finally, the entire place was protected by some of the finest wards ever created, making teleportation inside literally impossible. In theory, the entire facility was impossible to enter by force. Sadly, theories hardly ever stood the test of real life.

In long-term thaumatic reagent storage unit 1, commonly referred to simply as the Tanks, a blurry light accompanied by a strange, whooshing sound appeared over one of the covers of the absolutely massive tanks used to store the finished potion. The light faded and brightened several times, growing more defined with each pulse as a blue box appeared along with the strange light. Eventually, the strange box fully materialized, the light on top fading completely.

The door of the blue box swung open as the Doctor stepped out. “Wait, this can’t be right...” A look of confusion on his face, the Doctor reached for his sonic screwdriver and started to analyze his surroundings. “Definitely Equestria, going by the thaumatic field... but when did their industry advance this much?”

*THUMP* “Hold it right there!”

At the sudden shout coming from behind him, the Doctor turned around, only to find himself facing the business end of a spear. A spear currently held in the hooves of one of the Pegasi guards who had noticed the sudden appearance of a certain blue Box, and had decided to take action right away. “What are you doing here!? How did you even get here?! Are you affiliated with the HLF?! Explain yourself!”

The Doctor raised his hands, a little uncomfortable given he was being questioned under threat of grave bodily harm. Again. “Why does everyone always ask that first one? Anyhow, I’m the Doctor, the TARDIS brought me here, and I was going to ask the Princesses for some help against one of the HLF’s attacks. Now, could you please point that somewhere else? It’s a little uncomfortable to have something sharp pointed at me you know.”

“A likely story. Only the HLF would have any interest in a human that could survive in Equestria! You’ll be detained, awaiting your trail, and-”

“Hey! Beat! Where did you run off this time!”

The guard in front of the Doctor stopped for a moment before replying, never leaving the Doctor out of his eyesight. “I’m up here. We’ve got an intruder! I managed to arrest him before he could do any damage, now get up here and help me detain him!”

A moment later a small herd of Pegasi flew up, well out of reach of the tank in order to take a closer look at the situation before flying over to lend assistance. “How come he is even alive!? The Tanks alone should roast him!”

The first guard still hadn’t taken his eyes off of the Doctor, keeping his spear trained on the strange man. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. Detain him.”

The last remark had caused the Doctor’s face to scrunch up in confusion. “Tanks? What tanks? And why should they fry me?”

The guard closed in on the Doctor, sliding his spear under the Doctor’s chin. “Don’t play dumb! No-one just stumbles into the single most secure potion production facility!”

The Doctor brightened considerably at this. “Most secure? Then this must be Canterlot! Now, I must speak with the Princesses immediately! The lives of many, not to mention the Mane Six depend on-”

“WHAT!?! You are holding them hostage!? You lot, get down here and make sure he does not escape!” the guard shouted as his expression became even more determined than it had been since his arrival.

On his call, the remaining dozen-or-so Pegasi flew down onto the tank.

*krrrr*

“Did anyone hear that?” the Doctor asked.

“Be silent! You have the right to a fair trial, and fair punishment if, and only if, you are found guilty. You have a right to remain-”

*krrrrrk*

“-silent, but anything you say can and may be used against you in a court of law, represented honestly and in acknowledgement of circumstances. Additionally, you-”

*KRRRR*

“-you... What was that noise?”

The covers of the Tanks were mostly built to calm down the various guards who had insisted on them, and were never really made to stand on. so, the combined weight of the TARDIS, the Doctor, and about a dozen Pegasi in heavy, gold plated armor added up to just a little more than the cover could handle.

The first point at which the cover broke down was right below the heaviest object on it: the TARDIS. The ancient blue box fell through the fissure that formed below it, causing a large crack to spread across the rest of the structure as it slammed into the side of the hole, before the entire device became flooded with several hundred hectoliters of first-grade, high quality Conversion Potion.

At that moment, one question no-one had even known would ever be asked was answered: what happens when an 11-dimensional sentient muonic construct is exposed to enough magic to wipe out all of New York AND turn it into a beautiful garden in the process?

The answer to this question was actually quite simple: an explosion large enough to, say, tip over a tank meant to contain enough potion for a little over a million conversions.

As the tank started to fall, the reflexes of the Pegasi forced them to take flight, leaving the Doctor behind on top of the toppling tank. Thinking quickly, the Doctor started to the thing he was best at: run. Making a mad dash for the rising edge in an attempt to avoid getting crushed or thrown off, he noticed an old, rotten looking wooden grate attached to what seemed to be an old ventilation shaft. Taking a leap of faith, the Doctor threw his weight against the grate. Thankfully, the grate wasn’t any bit as solid as it had been five hundred years ago, crumbling to dust as the Doctor dove through it. A split second later the tank hit the ground with an ear splitting thunderous slam, forcing all in hearing range to cover their ears or risk permanent deafness.

As the Doctor crawled through the narrow pipe, hoping to find another exit, the guards whipped up a few strong gusts to dispel the dust clouds and investigate the wreckage. “This is a disaster! The HLF managed to not only infiltrate, but even destroy our potion storage!” one of the Pegasi fretted.

“Shut up! Stating the obvious won’t get us any further,” the leader of the group shouted as he started scanning the wrecked remains of the room. “There is no way a human could have survived this kind of onslaught, but we still have to report this to the Princesses. They must know that the HLF have found a way to enter Equestria!”

While the Conversion Effort was suffering a minor setback due to faulty Tank coverings, Princess Celestia was preparing for the passing from day to night the same way she had for as long as she had been on Equestria’s throne: by taking a long, warm, relaxing bath. Kneeling down in the pool-sized bath (which was already a compromise of sorts, as the original bath would have occupied most of the largest ballroom,) Equestria’s embodiment of the day’s warmth let herself relax in the comfortable heat of the water, allowing herself a moment away from all the trials and tribulations of court, away from the unending stress of PER attacks, HLF strikes and complaints about roads being too wide, away from that strange creaking noise...

Hold on, what was that last one?

Celestia’s ears swiveled around, trying to find the source of the sound. Did it come from the doors? No... the elaborate vanity mirror then? No, doesn’t seem like it either.

*krr...*

There it was again! It came from... above? Celestia looked up, towards the centuries-old mosaic depicting her Sister and herself, noticing something new about the priceless work of art. A crack, running straight down the middle. One that hadn’t been there yesterday.

Celestia turned, about to leave the bath, when suddenly the ceiling gave way and crashed down into the bath below, only narrowly missing the Princess. Celestia however wasted no time on what could have happened, instead focusing on what she had seen amidst the debris from the sudden collapse. An unusual shape, that shouldn’t even have survived in Equestria.

Closing in on the strange man who had dropped through the ceiling, the Princess took a closer look. Brown hair, long coat... hold on, is this...?

At that moment, several things happened. The man raised his head, just as the doors to the baths swung open, revealing a grim looking Pegasus guard who immediately charged forwards, placing himself between the Princess and the newcomer.

“Princess, I was sent to inform you about an HLF-attack on the production facility when I heard the collapse. Are you unhurt?” the guard asked, never letting the strange man out of his sight.

During this short exchange, the man got up, coughing as he got out of the water. “Stay where you are! You are under arrest on account of assault against the nation of Equestria, violent opposition against the Conversion Effort, and-”

“Yeah, sorry about that. Didn’t mean to land there. But I-” the strange man said, before the guard interrupted him.

“Silence! You are also being charged with attempting to bring harm against the Royal Guard. Will you stand down and accept your arrest peacefully?”

The strange man sighed. “If I say yes, will you let me speak to Princess Celestia? You know, the one right behind you?” Leaning to the side in order to talk to the still soaked Princess, the stranger put on a smile. “Good to see you again by the way. But there is no time for this, your student is in danger! She-”

Again, the guard interrupted him. “What?! You also are involved in the abduction of a citizen of Equestria!? Princess, I must insist that you call for backup immediately!”

“Stand down, private Wing Beat. I know this man. He is an important ally to Equestria.”

The guard turned around as years of training made him fold his wings, for the first time noticing how his Liege’s mane was not flowing as it usually would, instead being weighed down by the water still dripping from it. “Y-your Majesty?”

Celestia gave a slightly embarrassed smile. “I personally vouch for this man’s intentions. If he says My Faithful Student is in danger, I am certain he did not intend for her to be.” She turned her attention to the stranger, whose hair had dried enough to return to its natural, messy state. “Isn’t it so, Doctor?”

The Doctor nodded. “As usual, yes and no. I may have made some errors in my judgment about the reliability of certain people, but I never put anypony intentionally in harm’s way. ”

The guard looked at the Doctor again, not quite put at ease by the vague and slightly worrisome response. “So... did you at some point put someone intentionally in harm’s way, or did you put somepony unintentionally in harm’s way?”

The Doctor nodded sadly. “Yes.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. At all.”

The Doctor smiled serenely. “Don’t worry, I’m on your side.”

“Which somehow fails to make me any less worried, even if I believed you were.”

“*A-hem*” The guard once more turned to face his Liege. Princess Celestia’s mane was starting to dry up, giving her a very strange appearance as some strands started flowing again while others remained firmly in gravity’s grasp. “I know this man’s history, and if he came here to inform us about the Bureau being attacked, then there is good reason to trust what he is saying. Please tell captain Shining Armor to meet us in the dining room, my Sister and I will be there shortly.”

The guard spent but a moment weighing his options between protecting his Sovereign and ignoring a direct order, before he bowed and left the room (while still managing to give the Doctor a dirty look.)

As the doors closed, Princess Celestia directed her attention once again at the Doctor. “You mentioned my Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle being in danger due to the HLF. Tell me what happened.“

Finally getting out of the still comfortably warm water, the Doctor started his explanation. “Well, when I negotiated a temporary cease-fire with the local HLF-encampment, their leader demanded a debate with your student in exchange for his promise not to have things get violent. He intended to stick to the agreement, his troops less so,” the Doctor concluded.

Celestia frowned as she let the information process for a moment. “That is troubling news indeed. However, we must discuss this together with my Sister. Are you fit to move?”

The Doctor smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. Please, lead the way! Allons-y!”

One trip to the Royal Canterlot Dining room later, assisted by a quick spell virtually indistinguishable from the perception filter, Princess Celestia and the Doctor took their seats at the long table in the surprisingly sparsely decorated room. A few moments of slightly awkward silence later, a sound of somepony teleporting was heard from behind the door leading into the room as Princess Luna entered and sat down as well.

Eyeing the Doctor with some confusion, Luna spoke. “Why are you still alive?”

The Doctor chuckled. “And there we have the second most-asked question. Don’t worry about me, I survived worse when I was younger. Thaumatic radiation is still radiation, all I’ll need to do is get a new pair of shoes. A shame though, I quite liked these.” His face grew grim. “But none of that is relevant. The St. George Conversion Bureau is under attack by the HLF, and I need your help!”

Luna nodded. “We met with a mare who confirmed your story only moments prior. And while ponykind is not a violent race, we won’t stand idly as our kin are slaughtered.”

Celestia fell in at this point, her face as unreadable as ever. “While we have little in terms of a standing army, our forces are well-trained and ever willing to defend Equestria and all those that live in or beyond it. The Wonderbolts should be able to assist in swift extraction of the Bureau’s inhabitants. If what miss Terrance said is true-”

“Hold on, could you repeat that last bit?” the Doctor interrupted, holding up a hand for a moment of silence.

Princess Luna frowned openly at the rude interruption. “My Sister and I met with a mare who claimed to be named Terrence. She claimed to be a security guard, stationed at the St. George Bureau. Are you claiming her information was flawed in some way?”

The Doctor scratched the top of his head as he muttered to himself. “Can’t be... how would they...?” Once again, he turned his attention to the Princesses before him. “I’m sorry if I’m asking the impossible, but could you tell me what kind of potion was involved in that Conversion?”

Princess Celestia shook her head. “That is not possible. We welcome the soul, but the body is what contains the potion. She didn’t say anything about the Potion used. Still, if you can confirm her presence at the bureau, it would make the justification for sending out the Wonderbolts all that much easier and faster.”

The Doctor leaned back and folded his hands behind his head, a pensive look on his face. “Terrence was indeed stationed at the Bureau and even helped me with a few... ordeals. Problem is, last time I saw him, *he* was male.” Jumping up from his chair, the Doctor started pacing as he spoke. “So, the most likely explanation is that somehow, someone managed to get hold of an older revision of the potion, somewhere before revision-71, and gave it to him.”

Princess Luna spoke up, somewhat bemused by the strange man’s antics. “She did mention getting shot before conversion. Perhaps she was found by the PER? One of the recent reports suggested that a local cell was keeping an eye on the Bureau, with apparent intent to protect its inhabitants from the nearby HLF encampment.”

The Doctor started pacing faster as he went over the new information. “Yes... The PER had managed to get their hands- Hooves I mean –on an old batch recently I heard... But why would they use that? Last I heard, there were rumors about them having their own production facility... Regardless!” he shouted as he dramatically spun to face the Princesses, “Terrence got hurt in the attack, so first things first! I need to get back to that tank, the TARDIS is still in there. I must get back to the Bureau as soon as possible to prepare for the arrival of the reinforcements!”

As Celestia softly chuckled, Luna raised an eyebrow. “Are thee talking about the Tank I recently received word had been destroyed by a HLF-agent?”

“That would probably be the one. Why?”

Placing her foreleg over her eyes, Luna sighed. “Nothing. Just that my efforts from the last months have apparently been for naught. I mean, if it had worked, it would have even let sufficiently advanced AI’s Convert, but now we’ll never know.”

Just as the Doctor was about to say something, the doors of the dining room once again opened as a strangely familiar white Unicorn stepped through. Standing only a little shorter than the Princesses, the captain of the guard saluted as his blue tail swished a little, betraying his feelings of anxiety. “Captain Shining Armor, reporting for duty. I received your message about the Bureau.”

The Doctor was stunned to silence for a moment, before he muttered to himself, “No, he can’t be...”

Unknown to all, at that moment the doors of the TARDIS, still buried under the remains of Tank 1, opened on a crack as a grey amorphous blob spilled out. The blob remained still for a moment, before flowing past the wreckage of the tank and into one of the many tunnels connecting all of Canterlot’s underground network, eventually settling in an abandoned hallway not far from the storage room...

///////

Assuming six years of the bureaus operating (until total conversion of the earth) and a minimum of 7 billion (the current estimated world population) being converted, that would average out at a little under (7,000,000,000/(365*6)=) 3.196.347 conversions per day (per comparison, a day is (24*60*60=)86.400 seconds), so some serious parallel processing power would be needed to visit each of those during their conversion. Making the Princesses the way they are now was just the most fun and interesting way to fix that particular problem ;-).

Also, what is the proper name for a group of Pegasi? A flight? A wing? A flock? A herd? A kindness? (no, seriously. A group of crows is called a murder, so why not?) Also, is it thaumic radiation, thaumatic radiation or thaumaturgic radiation? Seriously, this is important stuff! < / Twilight >

Finally, here is the list the guards have memorized. Basic idea: one of the guardsmembers managed to get his hooves on a copy and shared it with his comrades, until somepony pointed out how some of the points on it were quite valid pieces of advice for a guard. Ever since, memorizing the list is considered something of a rite of passage to new guards.

Kryxel here: i would call a group of pegasai a host. (like angels) and the batponies would be a coven (like vampires)

episode 7 Cutiemark Crusade

In the cafeteria/mess hall of the Bureau, there was an old busted-up Jukebox. It had been there for many years, first to add a little color to the place back when the old mall was still in use, then as an actual Jukebox (admittedly, with only one piece of music in it) when the Bureau set up shop there and had the old Box repaired. It was this particular box that was the only witness as the Bishop and his HLF-handler busted into the room.

“Clear! Damnit, how big is this place again?”

The Pastor smiled serenely. “That is irrelevant. The Devil conceals itself with trickery and confusion, but the LORD will see us through on this holy mission. They cannot hide forever.”

The handler, an unfortunate young man by the name of Kain, sighed. “You are awfully cheerful for some old geezer who spent the last-”

“Mind your words! I, as a man of the cloth, deserve respect! Besides, I have every reason to rejoice! The Devil-worshippers are on the run, soon to be cleansed with fire, and when we succeed we can finally reclaim our birthright! Surely, you see why today is a day for great joy?”

Kain grumbled, as he took a closer look around the room in search for anything that could help them speed up their search. “Sure, whatever boss. Would be better if we actually saw one of them,” he said as he inspected the Jukebox.

“Phah! The impatience of youth indeed! Just you wait, today will be flawless! Perfect even!”

At this moment, something happened. The kind of thing that, when one looks back on it, makes no sense whatsoever. The kind of thing that defies all sense of logic, and makes you wonder if Pinkie was somehow involved.

The Jukebox started playing its one tune, as the Pastor joined in with the music without even noticing the absurdity of such an action.

This day is going to be perfect,
The blessed day for which I prayed since I was young,
Those devils will soon fall,
God’s judgment seen by all,
Lord, I shall see thy will be done!

Dave hurried as he climbed over the hills in front of the Bureau, glancing one last time at the now-smoking bureau. Giving himself but a moment as he wiped away a single tear, he joined in on the song without even hearing the tune.

This day was going to be perfect,
The flawless day for which I wished since they arrived,
but my friends gave peace no chance,
frightened beasts facing their ends,
if they stopped to think, we might just have survived!

As he progressed deeper into the bureau, the Pastor couldn’t help but dance a little as he picked up the song once more.

Flee if you must,
Soon you’ll be dust,
You can’t escape ,
Show your true shape!
Hell, will soon be home to you all!
You are all but hateful sinners,
But mankind will be the winners,
Pray the Lord shows mercy on your souls!
Lord, your work now will be done,
The sinners are on the run!
But the demons won’t escape their fate!

In one of the few areas not found by the HLF yet, Victorious, Grace and their foals huddled together, cowering in fear as Victorious softly continued the song.

Should have escaped,
Now it’s too late!
There’s no way,
To save the day,
Hope? I’d be lying if I said,
I know the Doctor will save us,
For I know those that hate us,
Wish to see our end and kill us for fun!
But the Doctor won’t betray,
He won’t let us die today,
But if he won’t make it we will all die!

In the meantime Kain and the Pastor made their way through the bureau, as Kain joined in to the song, muttering under his breath.

Almost done with this darn hunt,
Can’t wait to kill some four-hoofed runt!

Back in the small room, Victorious and his family huddle closer still, as footsteps started to be heard just outside the door.

I hope the Doctor soon returns,
Else it will be our turns,
Doctor hurry, or we’ll be-

“FOUND YOU!” the Pastor shouted as he broke through the door.

A little earlier, Canterlot.

If the caves underneath the castle would have been able to talk, they would have been complaining right now. First that excessively expansive refitting, then the noisy machines that were left in the wake of said refitting, followed by that annoying little spill mere minutes before, and now all the Unicorns in the castle showing off their little tricks to clean it up. Couldn’t a respectable cave system get a quiet century around here?

Alas, the complaints of the caves were ignored, unheard over the noises generated by about a hundred Unicorn mages trying to clean up one of the largest containment breaches in the history of the Conversion Movement.

“Hold up, that over there is no rubble!”

“What, that blue thing there?”

“Indeed, that one. Looks like the thing the Princess described, too.”

The mages of Canterlot had been working for only a hoof full of minutes, but had already managed to remove a remarkable portion of the rubble, thanks to some creative applications of teleportation spells plus regular Unicorn levitation. At the moment however, two of the mages were inspecting what looked like a simple wooden box. While the blue paint alone would have made it rather noticeable among the gray and occasional brown of the rubble, the fact that this wooden box had somehow survived the critical integrity failure of the tank made it all that much more interesting. However, during the uncharacteristically hurried briefing from Princess Celestia, the mages had all received a special additional task from the Princess: to find a certain blue box, and to bring it to her unopened.

So, at the moment the two mages were looking at a box that matched the description the Princess had given to a tee while wondering why the Princess had asked to look out for it.

“It doesn’t look all that special...”

“Are you daft?! That box shouldn’t be intact, not after such an explosion!”

“True... Well, not my problem. As the Princess wishes, she shall have it. I guess you’ll have me deliver it?”

The older mage, a Unicorn mare by the name of Purple Clouds, thought about it for a moment. “Sure. I know you need your break,” she said with a slightly mocking smile.

The younger mage, a Unicorn mare named Esteemed Companion, sighed at the usual antics from her superior. “Says miss hibernation. Whatever, I’ll be back.” Wrapping the box in her magical field, she lifted the strange item from the rubble before vanishing in a flash, reappearing immediately in the throne room with the box still in tow. “Your Majesty, we have found the box you requested,” Esteemed said as she lowered it in front of the throne upon which Celestia was seated.

After giving a quick visual inspection, Celestia nodded. “This is indeed the Box. Good work, you can take the rest of the day off.” As Esteemed left the room, Celestia addressed the guards. “Guards, leave the throne room.” Acting with the kind of group coordination only achieved through years of training, the guards all nodded as one, before leaving the throne room in two neat lines followed by a thunderous boom as the massive doors to the throne room slammed shut.

“You can come out now, everypony is gone from the room.”

One of the tapestries on the walls of the room started moving as something behind it tried to push it aside, eventually revealing the Doctor who had been hiding in an alcove hidden by the tapestry. “Whew! That took shorter than I thought, though the ventilation there is utter rubbish. Well then, old girl. Let’s have a look at you.”

The Doctor made his way over to the recovered TARDIS, visibly cheerful to have her back. Despite having bathed in high-potency magic potion, the damage seemed limited. Perhaps the colors on the box were a little brighter than usual, and it was a little unusual how the text along the top of the box now identified it as a “pony call box,” but all things considered it looked just fine. Retrieving a completely unremarkable key from his pocket, the Doctor undid the lock and opened the box.

The insides were completely dark, save for the light coming through the door.

“no! nononononoNO!” the Doctor muttered as he ran inside and promptly tripped over some piece of debris.

Hearing the man fall, Princess Celestia peeked around the door. Seeing the Doctor on the ground, she walked up to him while lighting up her horn to provide a little light. “Are you hurt?”

Slowly crawling back to his feet, the Doctor sighed mournfully. “No, I am not hurt. But it doesn’t matter. The TARDIS died.”

The Princess raised an eyebrow at the unusual look of defeat the Doctor had. “Are you sure? You told me about that time you got into another universe and-”

The Doctor raised a single finger, silencing Celestia. “For one thing, no spoilers. The timeline must stay consistent. Second, back then, at least the lights still worked.” Pulling the Sonic Screwdriver from a pocket, he waved it around a few times before showing it to the Princess. “But look at the readings. No heat, no movement, no energy other than what little hasn’t leaked into the time vortex yet. The TARDIS is dead. The one companion I could count on not to die, not to leave me, not to forget me, is gone. And there is nothing I can do about it.” As he leaned against a wall, tears began to fall from his eyes. “I... I just don’t know where to go now!”

Princess Celestia wanted to say so many things. ‘It was not your fault.’ ‘It will be fine.’ ‘There is always hope.’ But she knew better, had known better for a thousand years now. No words were spoken as the Princess of the Eternal Sun leaned in to give the Oncoming Storm the one thing he needed: a shoulder to cry on.

The roundup had taken mere minutes, given how all the ponies and other employees of the bureau had decided to put as many corridors between them and their attackers, which in turn had meant they all ended up in roughly the same place. The Pastor smirked as he looked at the ponies cowering before him. Who said faith was never rewarded?

“Who of you is the leader of this false temple?” he said, the mirth in his voice as clear as day.

One of the ponies spoke up. “Um... Last I saw of Doctor Tennant, he was, um, running.”

“All the better. Those that still believe in the Word of God will deal with him. Now, with him out of the way, who is in charge without him?”

“That would be me,” Doctor Whooves said. “What are your terms?”

The Pastor’s smirk widened into a fearsome grin. “Simple. You return to whatever hell you crawled from, and Equestria leaves Earth to humanity.”

The pony Doctor frowned at this. “Well, I don’t think you will be getting a lot of support from-” SMACK!

The HLF goon cracked his knuckles, readying his hand for another slap. “Plenty more where that came from, horse! Now, tell those pretty prancing show ponies you call princesses to do as the good Pastor says!”

Rubbing the side of his head, the Doctor gave an annoyed glance to the goon. “I can’t. Don’t have a hotline to them, contrary to popular belief. Besides, I doubt they would do it even if I told them to.”

The Pastor gestured to the overzealous man, urging him to calm down. “At ease, my son. Don’t expect these demons to cooperate. After all, they are only here to sow chaos and discord.” He turned to face the rest of the prisoners. “However, I am certain their leader will at least show up when her henchmen are sent back to whatever pit of hell she came from. Now, I-”

At this point the doors slammed open, revealing some slightly scuffled HLF members carrying three rather familiar fillies. “Oh father,” one of them began in a tone a few would describe as reverent but which most would assume was outright mocking, “these little imps tried to ambush us, but we managed to overcome the foul hell spawns! Shall we rid the world from these vile beasts now, or are they to be spared a moment longer?”

Slightly annoyed at the interruption, the Pastor replied to the new arrival. “Put them with the others. And stop your mockery, you fool no-one.” Pacing past the prisoners, he started to talk again. “Now, for that demon Celestia to notice, some of you will die. So, let’s start. You’ll do,” he said as he stopped in front of Rainbow Spring. “Any last words?”

Rainbow backed away against the wall, as some of the HLF-men standing guard pumped their guns in preparation of what was to come. “Please! No! Help me!”

Suddenly, a tiny silver blur dashed between the Pastor and the cowering mare. “Dowt..” Silver struggled to speak as he jumped between the two.

The Pastor flinched at the sudden motion, but quickly recovered. “Sorry, what?”

Silver Aura shook his head a few times before declaring, with as much force as his body allowed, “down’t huwt my mothew!”

The Pastor raised a single eyebrow at the display. “Touching.” The next moment Silver was shooting through the air, intent of stopping the man from hurting his mother any more as a trail of sparks shot off of his flanks. However, rather than pushing the Pastor away, he was knocked off course as one of the HLF-goons rammed him with the butt of his rifle, causing him to crash into the floor. Looking over the small pony, the Bishop noticed a new addition to his flanks. “So, the runt has been branded? Meaningless. Anyhow, you there. Shoot the mother and-”

“STOP, PLEASE!!”

The entire room fell silent as everyone turned to see who had shouted, all eyes now focused on a visibly distressed Twilight Sparkle. Flinching a little from having all attention focused on her suddenly, she gathered her composure and spoke. “Please, nopony has to die. If you want, I can send a message to Princess Celestia, all I need is a quill and paper.”

The Pastor raised a single eyebrow. “And why would I trust anything you say, Demon?”

Swallowing hard, Twilight continued. “I am Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia. If I send her a message, she will read it. Also, I have too much to lose now to even think of bluffing.”

The Pastor stood still for a few seconds, before he started to chuckle softly. “The student of the Princess, you say? Well, then I don’t think there will be any unneeded bloodshed today.”

Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “That is great. For a moment I thought-”

“...Because one death will be enough. Kill her.”

One of the guards standing next to Twilight cocked his gun and pointed it at her head, as her pupils shrank to pinpricks. “What?! No! Don’t-”

*blam*

Canterlot, caves containing the Potion Production Plant

The grey blob had been dreaming. Dreaming of so many things.

Some had been. An old man becomes young ten.. or was it eleven times over; friends and allies who will come and go; memories perhaps?

Some could still be. A traveler had found a new world to explore; a companion who became so much more; visions maybe?

No. They have felt too... too much like facts.

Tenses have been difficult.

The blob noticed something. Several things even.

For one thing, the dreams would end. No, they had ended. Yes. Had ended.

Another thing... it wasn’t grey. Or a blob.

The thing unsteadily rose to its... feet? No, wrong shape. They didn’t feel like that last time. What last time?

Shaking its head, the thing marveled at the sensation of having a head. Such a strange feeling, having an entire universe contained in so little space. One thing the Time Lords had never mastered. Wait, who now?

Never mind. I have a body now. Wait, I?

Looking over itself, the being only saw blue. A blue body, with blue hair and blue hooves.

‘Hooves. That is the word for what I have.’

Startled, the creature looked around. ‘Who was that? Aah! There it is again! ...hmm? I am doing this?’

‘Thoughts. That’s new. Never thought I would have thoughts. Wait, is that not a paradox?’

Thoroughly confused by her own line of thoughts- ‘Her? Feels... appropriate.’ –the pony rose to her hooves, knocking over something in the process.

“HALT! Who goes there?!”

Turning her head- ‘having muscles feels... strange. Good, but strange.’ –to the source of the sound, the mare saw...

Something white. A little taller than herself, standing on four legs ending in hooves and with some odd yellow blotches- ‘No, it is wearing something yellow. Amour? Amore? No, Armor!’-walking towards her.

“How did you get here?! Are you involved with the HLF?! Answer me!”

”a... ar...”

The white Pegasus stallion-‘Where did those words come from? I feel as if I fail to remember... something. No, many things.’-raised an eyebrow. “What did you say? Speak up!”

Struggling to speak, the mare managed to form the words bouncing through her head.

“Are you my thief?”
//////////
Ray10k here.

Some free advice for all writers out there:
If you ever find yourself thinking, “wouldn’t it be nice if my characters sang a song to the tune of ,” do yourself a favor. Grab a big bottle of some alcoholic beverage (I advise vodka), and drink until it no longer seems like such a good idea. Songs to no particular tune are hard enough, songs to an existing tune are almost impossible to pull off.

Also, I kind of feel that Sales getting his cutiemark is kind of rushed. I mean, he has been a newfoal (quite literally a new foal too) for at most a few days now, and most CB stories I know of can be put in two categories: conversion gives you a cutiemark as part of the process, or it takes a few years before you get your mark. Let me know what you think.

finally, Happy belated birthday, Kryxel!

(kryxel here, and i pinkie promise that more or likely will be the last song for TCB: SG.
the only songs i may do are "background themes" to set the mood.
as for sales getting his mark, it all depends on when you realize what you mean to do. so why not a few days or so after his conversion?
also as sales' mark has not been revealed yet can you guess what it may be? or what he did to get it? )

episode 7 part 2birth, death, and a whole lot of gak

(WARNING: there is no gak in the following.)

Canterlot, the throne room...

The Doctor had spent the last ten minutes crying his heart out, and was starting to calm down. Still, the loss of the TARDIS weighed heavy on him as he sat just inside the doorway of the dead blue box, thinking of all the times the two of them had shared.

Surprising how much loss can hurt, even after more than a millennium of it.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by somepony knocking on the door. “Your majesty? We have found and arrested the intruder!”

Despite his mood, the Doctor couldn’t help but take note of this. ‘There was another intruder? In the center of Equestria no less?! What!?’ Carefully, he made his way to the door of the TARDIS’ corpse, silently thankful that the doors were facing away from the entrance of the throne room.

Straining his ears, he picked up some parts of the conversation as Princess Celestia answered the guard.

“-found her in one of the caverns. She was hiding in one of the dead ends, but knocked some supplies over.”

“Anything else I need to know?”

“Just that, whoever converted her, didn’t even try to keep her sane.”

“What makes you say so?”

“Well, ever since she was found, she has been-”

“Excuse me.” That voice was new. Must have been the intruder.

”Yes?”

“Do you know where he is? My Thief?”

The Doctor froze. “My Thief.” ’No! She is dead! The body died, and she returned! It can’t be!’

Princess Celestia recovered much faster from the shock of the unusual question. ”I don’t know. But, who are you? What is your name?”

“I am the... the... I cannot quite recall it. But my Thief knows! Oh! Now I remember! He calls me, ‘Sexy!’”

”WHAT!?!”

Everypony turned to the source of the shout, the guard only now noticing the blue box. Reaching for his spear, the Pegasus got ready for combat, only to realize two things:

One, nopony was even looking at the prisoner anymore.

Two, said prisoner was now making a beeline to the box the shout had come from.

“Thief! Thief! THIIEEFFF!!!” the strange mare shouted, as she made her way to the box.

Just as she got around the corner, the Doctor peeked out. The resulting crash bought the guard just enough time to catch up. “You again! You are hereby under arrest for resisting arrest, infiltration of-”

“That is enough. Stand down.”

The unfortunate guard faced his ruler, confusion clear on his face. “Princess Celestia, this man was involved in the earlier incident! He had brought that exact box,” he said as he pointed at the ex-TARDIS, ”and dropped it into the Tank, mere moments before the explosion! He is clearly the perpetrator of this-”

“I said, that is enough. I trust this man, and order you to stand down,” Princess Celestia said with only the slightest emphasis on the order. “I personally guarantee that this man is a great ally of Equestria, and that the incident was only that: an incident.”

For a moment, the guard looked as if he was about to argue before he slipped back into his usual rigid stance. “As you wish, my Princess.”

Nodding at the guard’s acknowledgement of the order, Princess Celestia continued. “I want you to return to your post and continue your shift as if nothing happened. Also, you are to speak with nopony about whom and what you have seen. Do you understand?”

“Yes, my Princess!” The guard said as he saluted with one of his wings, before leaving.

In the meantime, the Doctor had recovered from the sudden collision with- “Colgate?! What are you doing here?”

The blue Unicorn raised an eyebrow. “Colgate? Who was that? No, will be that? Aargh, IS that?”

The Doctor blinked in confusion. “...You are. At least, that is how you introduced yourself last time.”

“Last time? No, that time I called myself Sexy. Or Idris. Some called me Idris back then!”

With every word the blue mare spoke, the Doctor’s confusion only grew. Here, in front of him, was a mare who quite obviously knew a lot about his misadventures, who could even quote the time the heart of his TARDIS got stuck inside some human patchwork, yet who looked exactly like the assistant of his pony self but couldn’t seem to remember anything about their time together so far. Trying to find an answer, he gave her a quick scan with his screwdriver.

Tearing his eyes of the enigmatic mare, the Doctor looked at the results of the scan. “What?!” He scanned again. “What!?” And once more. “...Impossible!”

The Colgate look-alike tilted her head to the side. “Is something wrong with me, Thief?”

“No. And because of that, yes. Also, call me the Doctor, please,” he said. “The scans all say that you are the TARDIS. Or, more specifically, the primary and secondary systems, including the Heart. But they also say that there is no damage to you! Last time, your body had a lifespan of less than two hours! Why is there no damage yet?!”

The Unicorn perked up. “Magic.”

“Magic,” the Doctor deadpanned.

“Indeed. Magic is, by definition, a force that interacts with concepts and ideas beyond most understanding. A ten-dimensional construct is relatively simple to represent three-dimensionally through such a force, as described by Starswirl the Bearded in his work-”

“Hold on! How do you know all that? Even if you are the TARDIS, knowledge of magic is only scarce outside of Equestria. You shouldn’t be able to know all that,” the Doctor said with a raised eyebrow, before he caught himself. “No, hold on. How can I even start to think of you as the TARDIS?! The TARDIS is dead!”

“TARDIS... Yes! That’s me! That is my name!... Hold on, I am not dead. You are talking to me, so I cannot be dead.”

“Don’t change the subject!”

“Subject...? Ah, the knowledge. Again, simple. I will know. No, I have known. No, the first one is right. I will know. Why are tenses so difficult? To answer your second question. You can, because I am.”

The Doctor shook his head. “No, you can’t be! I scanned the TARDIS, and there wasn’t even the smallest blip of life in there! The TARDIS died in the... THE TANK!!!” he shouted as he slapped his forehead. Turning away from the Unicorn, he started pacing in front of the TARDIS. “yes... enough potion to flood the control room, and Luna did mention something about the batch being experimental... YES!” turning back to the mare, the Doctor excitedly continued his train of thought. “There is no damage, because that body is yours, start to finish! Made with the sole intention to house your muonic matrix, of COURSE it would be able to-”

“A-hem!”

A bit surprised at the sudden interruption, the Doctor turned towards the Princess. “Yes?”

A faint smile on her lips, Princess Celestia continued. “I do appreciate your joy at having your companion back, but we are on a tight schedule. Can, or can you not restore your TARDIS?”

The Doctor nodded. “Sure. Last time, all it really took was to bring her to the main control room and... oh.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at the sudden realization of the Doctor. “’Oh?’”

“Last time,” the Doctor said, ”the body the TARDIS was stuck in was not exactly built to maintain anything like her. She returned to her usual container when the body... died.”

‘Colgate’ shook her head at this. “Last time, the body was insufficiently equipped.” As the words left her lips, her expression turned to a confused one. “Last time? What last time? I keep feeling as if I should know things, while remembering things I’m sure have not happened yet... Anyhow. This time, the body I inhabit can interact with the necessary systems. Allow me.” She got up from the floor, and trotted into the TARDIS.

For a moment she stood in front of the central console, eyes closed in concentration.

At first, nothing seemed to happen, until suddenly a single spark trailed down the horn of the mare, landing in a small receptacle on the console.

*whrreeemmm*
*whrreeemmm*
*whrreeemmm*

The first thing to come back to life was the time rotor, the familiar sound filling the control room as the rest of the TARDIS’ systems woke to the call. Once more, the lights in the walls flooded the room in light, as the new interior was revealed. Strangely enough, the TARDIS only looked a little different on the inside, the biggest change being that the control panel now mostly consisted of big buttons mounted to a vertical panel.

“I...impossible. That is impossible,” the Doctor said as he entered the newly reactivated TARDIS. “How did you...?”

“This,” the blue mare said as she gestured at the control room, “is me. I understand how I work. That is all.”

“No, that can’t be everything! How do you even work the time rotor without a functioning-”

“Doctor!”

A little confused at the sudden interruption, the Doctor turned back to Princess Celestia. “Sorry, you were saying?”

The Princess’ face was grim, not a trace of her usual warm smile to be seen. “I understand that you would like some time to learn how this happened, and you will have time to do so in the future. However, as it stands, several of my loyal subjects are at risk of death. I must ask of you to aid them,” she concluded with a nearly unnoticeable tone of sadness to her voice.

At that moment, somepony knocked at the massive doors to the throne room. “Celestia, you called for me?” the mystery pony shouted through the door.

Celestia nodded solemnly. “Come in, we have much to discuss.” She then turned her attention to the Doctor. “As for you, I beg of you. Help us, Doctor.”

A little earlier, St. George...

The first thing Twilight Sparkle noticed about being dead was the distinct lack of pain. Admittedly, she still felt a little beaten up from her rough treatment earlier, but nowhere near what she expected from being shot in the head.

The next thing she noted was that her eyelids felt as if she had been clenching them shut, probably in reflex to having a shotgun go off, mere centimeters away from her head. Actually, that would also explain why somepony had installed a colony of extra loud bees in her ears.

As she slowly opened her eyes, Twilight was greeted by the sight of a round from a shotgun, suspended in midair by a dark-blue aura. A very familiar dark-blue aura.

”-have no RIGHT! Your attack was entirely unprovoked!”

Slowly, the buzzing started to subside, giving Twilight a little more insight as to what happened. Still, even if she would have been permanently struck deaf by the shot, she would have recognized that aura anywhere. Opening her eyes fully, she looked past the bullets to the dark shape standing in front of her, wings spread wide in open defiance against anyone or anything that would harm those she cared for.

”Now! Tell me your excuses, or GET OUT!!!!” Nyx shouted as she faced those that would have killed her mother, her dragon-like eyes burning with an indescribable coldness.

Peeking around her wings, Twilight noted that most of the Humans in the room had backed off and were in fact now cowering in the face of the Alicorn defending her. One notable exception to this was the Pastor, who looked a little startled but was quickly regaining his wits.

“Unprovoked?! You destroy our God-given world, force good men and women to become cattle as you are, and you dare to call this attack unprovoked?!? ” The Pastor shouted as he reached for the rifle held by the HLF-man closest to him.

However, before his hand could reach the weapon, Nyx pulled it out of the man’s hand with her magic. “You call us out on the destruction of your world. That, I can understand. However, we never forced anyone! Look around you! This world is a ruin of all it could have been! Humanity would have gone extinct in a hundred years, if not sooner! All we did, was to give you a choice!”

“Lies and Deceit!” the Pastor screamed as he (again, unsuccessfully due to Nyx,) reached for another nearby weapon. “The Devil only knows Lies, and Lies is all you have brought us! You claim to mean well, but all I see is a Demon who seeks only to sow Chaos and Discord! For all your talk about virtue and caring, you have only a cruel choice to show! Death, or life as one of your slaves. I have made my choice long ago, Demon. I! WILL! NOT! BOW!” Dodging to the side, the Pastor tried to reach Twilight with killing intent, only to find his way blocked by a fuchsia barrier.

“Nor will you hurt my sister.”

Turning towards the new voice, Twilight saw just about the only pony that could make this situation any better: the captain of Canterlot’s Royal Guard, Shining Armor.

Recovering from the sudden physical interruption to his plans, the Pastor turned to face Shining. “So, the Demons show their true face. Ganging up on good, God-fearing men. Don’t think you can-”

At this point, Shining raised his voice. “Pastor Richards! You are hereby arrested for your crimes against citizens of the Equestrian Nation! You are charged with armed assault, intent of murder and general disrespect of Equestrian law! Stand down, and you and your men will not be harmed!”

“Hey, horse! Take your stupid laws home! This is earth, we decide the law here!” one of the goons shouted.

“Actually, the bureaus count as embassies for Equestria, so-” Twilight started, even the recent brush with death proving insufficient to suppress her tendency to lecture.

“Mother, I don’t think they’ll listen,” Nyx interrupted her, still facing the men before her. “But it doesn’t matter. They’ll leave soon enough.”

“An’ wot makes ya say so!?” one of the men shouted.

“Because this is the point where you figure out how bad this entire situation is for the lot of you,” said yet another member of the crowd who had snuck around the black Alicorn, and was now pointing something that looked like a screwdriver with a light instead of a head at the ring around Twilight’s horn.

The ring fell apart, and for the first time since the beginning of this catastrophe, Twilight felt a little hope, along with the surge of power accompanying the return of her magic.

“It broke!” “What!?! Impossible!” “Traitor! Who are you even?!” The crowd was starting to get a little scared, due to the appearance of two rather obviously combat-ready ponies, swiftly followed by the betrayal of one they considered an ally.

“Me? I am the Doctor. Just the Doctor,” he said as he casually walked past Nyx. “And the lot of you are trying to hurt the ones I care about. So, I have only one thing to say to you.”

Stopping a few feet in front of Nyx, the Doctor put his hands in his pockets and gave a glare that would have made a manticore flinch. “Run.”

That was all it took. As one, the assembled HLF-members fled the room in panic. “STOP! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP! YOU FAITHLESS, PATHETIC-” the Pastor screamed as he chased after them.

In the meantime, the assorted new arrivals set to work freeing the captured ponies. After a few moments of ropes being cut, plus a bit of Victorious being a little freaked out over how Shining Armor could have been his twin brother, the prisoners were loose and gathered around the three new arrivals.

“Everypony!” Shining Armor shouted over the cacophony of thanks and pleas, ”I understand that the situation may look hopeless, however! Princess Celestia has sent help! The Wonderbolts will soon arrive, and evacuate all of you within the hour!”

At this point, Rainbow Springs interrupted him. “But my son is hurt! They hit him hard enough to knock him across the room! Can’t you help him?” she said as she held the still unconscious form of Silver Aura.

Shining took a closer look at the unconscious foal. “I’m no expert, but my wife should be able to help. She’s just outside the building, offering help to who need it. Still, we’ll need to get past the HLF...” Shining trailed off, as he slowly looked at the Doctor.

The Doctor however, shook his head. “Apparently, the new Heart of the TARDIS has limits to what it can do. It’ll be a while before she can fly again. We’ll have to run, and hope for the best.”

“Actually, I think I can be of some aid in that department,” Octavia spoke up. “At least, if you can help me get to my instrument that is.”

Everypony and everyone in the room turned to her, expressions varying from regular confusion to looks outright questioning her sobriety. Victorious Shield was the first to break the awkward silence. “With all due respect... I don’t think a musician will be of much use. Unless you have some kind of weapon stashed in there, you’d just make yourself a target.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow at this. “I don’t think you understand what I mean. A musician would in fact probably be the best asset you can hope for at this point.”

Before Victorious could say anything, the Doctor slapped his forehead. “Beethooven’s Musical Mayhem! Why didn’t I think of that before!?” He grabbed the gray mare by the shoulders, as he continued. “Brilliant! A way out, that doesn’t involve any killing with any luck!”

Victorious interrupted the excitedly chattering man. “Doctor, we are on a time limit here! It won’t be long before they get back here, so we must get out now! We have no time for gathering instruments!”

The Doctor turned to the white Unicorn, his tone turning somewhat grim. “But that’s exactly it! We don’t have time, but she can buy us some! Now, we can stay here and argue, or we can grab that Base and actually have a chance of making it out alive. What do you say?”

For a moment it looked as if Victorious would argue against the Doctor, but then the white Unicorn relented. “Fine. But let me come along. I promised I’d see the bureau through this mess, and that promise still stands.”

This time, it was Grace who interrupted him. “Victorious Shield! Don’t you dare!” she shouted as she got up in his face. “You don’t know my father! He won’t stop at anything! He will have you killed if you go against him!”

Victorious huffed. “I know that! Not the first time I face an enemy like that! Last time, it cost me my bucking arm!” For a moment after his outburst, Shield’s deep breaths were the only thing breaking the silence. Eventually, he calmed down just enough to continue his speech. “Look, I know enough to survive, and I promise: I will live. I won’t leave you, I won’t die, but I must do this. I’m the only one who knows the bureau, and has at least some combat experience. If I don’t do this, we all die. Please, trust me!”

Grace said nothing at first, as tears fell from her eyes onto the ground below. After a few moments, she managed to choke out a few words between barely suppressed sobs. “I trust you. And- and I promise, tha- that if you have the nerve to die,” she said as the sobs stopped and her expression turned uncharacteristically dark, “I will bring your sorry soul back, JUST TO BEAT SOME SENSE INTO IT!”

Victorious flinched at both his wife’s sudden ferocity, before he quietly nodded in agreement.

Anger taking over from fear of losing her husband, Grace continued through the tears in her eyes. “You are the single best thing to happen to me since I learned to speak, so don’t you dare to make this the worst decision I ever made! Don’t you ever force me to be the widow who tells her foals how great a hero their father was! I. Will. Not! Lose you to this stupid, STUPID...” she shouted before breaking down in sobbing tears once more. “I... I just don’t- want to lose you...”

Victorious did the only thing that seemed appropriate at the time: he wrapped his neck around hers, in a Pony hug. “Listen to me. I will come back. I will live. I won’t put myself in any danger if I can help it. You. Won’t. Lose me. I promise.”

Grace seemed to calm down a little at this, though those that knew her better would have noticed the signs that told how she was only pushing her despair aside until no-one was looking. “By Celestia’s mane, I’ll keep you to that! Now go, before I change my mind,” she said as she broke the embrace.

Victorious Shield nodded before giving Grace one last kiss, straight on her lips.

When they broke their kiss, the Doctor cleared his throat while looking distinctly uncomfortable. “Ok, anyone or anypony got any idea how to get miss Octavia’s instrument?”

Around the same time as the HLF’s “tactical retreat...”

Hal had been exceptionally lucky so far. After finding a very sturdy pair of wire cutters and managing to cut through the chain connecting his handcuffs (that was his story, and he was sticking to it!) he had somehow managed to sneak back into the bureau unnoticed. At the moment, he was navigating the maze of hallways while avoiding the various HLF-patrols.

“-will burn in Hell!Cowards! Godless traitors!Stop and listen to me!!!”

Noticing the shouting moving his way, Hal dove for cover in an empty room as the HLF-members rushed out of the building, followed closely by the irate Pastor. Waiting for a few moments, Hal carefully peeked around the corner of the room. No-one. Good.

Continuing his trek through the now-abandoned hallways, he eventually found what he was looking for: the Nuke, armed and counting down near the conversion room.

“Thought there would be someone here, but I must say I never expected it to be you.”

Startled, Hal looked up to the source of the voice, seeing- “Elane? What are you doing here?! You have to get out, this is a-”

“A bomb. Quite aware,” the big city girl said as she casually strolled up to the man, a blade held almost carelessly in her hand. “After all, HLF high command ordered me to ensure their... investments aren’t wasted. So, just run along. I have everything under control here,” she said as she closed in on both the bomb and the ex-HLF-prisoner. Hal however, made no movement to avoid the swordswoman, causing her to raise an eyebrow. “Hello? Didn’t you hear me? Run. Along. I can deal with things here, you’d only be a liability.”

Hal responded with a grim chuckle. “So, you are the mole, huh? You are good! Anyhow. Elane Kensing, you are under arrest. Resist, and you will be executed!”

Elane raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Really now? Humor me, what is your authority?” she said, amusement apparent in her voice.

“Blackmesh.”

//////////////
Ray10k here,

First off, this chapter and the last were one chapter initially. After some discussion, Kryxel and I decided to just split it up. I think the timing works a little better this way anyhow. Click here for the original.

Second, be glad you didn’t see my initial take on Nyx/Twilight’s reunion. Trust me, it was cheesy enough to serve as an appetizer at a particularly bland party. I called her, “the Nightmare, reborn in Kindness.” It only went downhill from there out. Heck, it was going down “clichéd hyperbole hill” at breakneck speeds by that time already.

Third, did anyone catch the ridiculously obscure Touhou reference in the last chapter? Free internets for all who can point it out, mild looks of utterly misplaced disappointment for those that can’t (or don’t even know Touhou.)

Finally, my apologies for the delay. Writing action, while setting up the world for future action, is hard. Especially when you don’t exactly know what will happen next. (Looking at you, Kryxel...)

(kryxel here. sorry ray.. i know how frustrating it may be... mainly because even i dont know what is going to happen next.
when i write i see it like one would see on Tv. some parts that may be important at one time may fade away to background obscurity the next.. heck even a couple dozen chapters back i was absolutely sure that Hal was indeed the bad guy and the mole at the bureau.
basically i set the personalitys, set scene.. and then just drop them in it.
i know it is bad. and i know this "ending" is very very very bad before your amazing editing...
thank you for putting up with my crap so far.)
(PS: was half tempted to leave the "discord opens a bar" comment in... but decided not to.)

episode 7 part 4 this is gallifrey, our childhood, our home.

Once, long ago, far before the first primitive humans started walking on only their hind legs, before the Earth was even habitable, There was a single large planet, circling a lone star. On its surface, life formed, naming its home Gallifrey. Eventually, the people of Gallifrey evolved past their tiny huts and primitive farms, building giant metropolises as they came to understand their world more and more. Eventually, they unraveled the mysteries of time itself, claiming the title of Time Lords for their own.

As the Doctor’s eyes fluttered open, he dared to imagine himself back on that lone planet once more, the light of Gallifrey’s sun tinted by the dome and falling into his eyes as a dear memory; one from before the Fall.

Uncomfortably familiar with waking up on the ground in a place he most definitely wasn’t before, the Doctor got back on his feet and looked around. While the long avenue definitely looked like Gallifrey in its heyday, the street itself was unfamiliar, much like an alley one never noticed in their hometown.

“Well, not much of a point staying here, I suppose,” the Doctor said to himself as he started walking down the road.

It was strange, but despite the utter unfamiliarity of the particular road he felt as if he knew where he was going, nor did it surprise him as a shadowy image of a man started walking alongside of him.

“-doing here?” the apparition muttered, only barely loud enough to be heard as it kept in perfect stride with the Doctor, who suddenly noticed he felt like walking on his toes. “Thank you, It’s good keep-”

As the first shadow became too quiet to be understood, a second one took the Doctor’s other side. “-centrate on one thing! One thing!” the newcomer said, his volume climbing as he spoke, only to fade into silence as he started muttering “no no no” until his voice too faded to near silence, as the Doctor noticed how the steady beat of his feet had been replaced with a clip-clop of hooves.`

-must find my shoes!” the third faded in, shouting and rambling as the Doctor felt his heels climbing further up his legs, the sensation only stopping as the sounds of the stranger faded into barely heard mutterings, “While there is life, there-”

“-uman History,” the fourth said, eventually fading as he spoke, “It is the end, but the moment has-”

“Been prepared for,” the Doctor himself muttered, noting that his legs felt a lot warmer now.

“-come to help me find the Zero Room. Welcome Aboard” the next said, “I don’t know, feels different this time-” muttering on even as the Doctor’s legs shrunk to comically short proportions.

“-were expecting someone else?” as more of the Doctor changed, his hips shifting to accommodate a quadruped’s gait, forcing him to support his weight with his arms as well as his legs, the fifth ghostly image muttering about Carrot juice as his voice faded away.

“-no, Mel!” continued the next memory, as the Doctor felt the muscles in his legs strengthen, “I know... I’ve got to stop-”

“- am I? Who am I?” the seventh shadow wondered as brown fur started sprouting across the Doctor’s skin while his chest grew to accommodate his new internal makeup, “Now, where shall we-”

“Run,” the ninth addition to the Doctor’s group said in a hushed tone, as the Doctor’s hands lost feeling and grew together into solid hooves, “And you know what? so was-”

“-that’s right, Barcelona!” the next said, causing the Doctor to grin subconsciously as his eye sockets grew along with his eyes, “I don’t want to-”

“-Crashing! Geronimo!” what seemed to be the last said as the Doctor’s face stretched into the slightly angular muzzle of an Earth pony stallion, “I can’t! I can’t ever go back-”

Reaching the end of his trip down the long path, surrounded by his past, the Doctor found himself in front of a large wooden door, light shining from underneath the distinctly out-of-place portal.

Grinning to himself, the Doctor walked up to the doors, not even the least bit intimidated as they swung open before him.

It was not often that a situation would emotionally affect the Princess to the point where it would show, since being over a thousand years would often leave one with quite an impressive ability to conceal ones emotions. Still, even if it was subtle, anypony who knew the Princess well enough would be able to tell that there was something going on. Something that the Princess was taking personal. The fact that she decided to forego the usual Pegasus-drawn-chariot-plus-Guard-escort was an important clue.

Celestia landed heavily just outside the gates to the St. George Conversion bureau, the looks the group of HLF-members being kept under close guard near her landing spot gave her doing little to calm her.

Almost immediately, she was joined by her Captain of the Guard. “Status report,” the Princess sternly said to the unfortunate captain.

Shining Armor did his best to keep his voice level. “The attack resulted in three casualties, all of them human, as well as fifty-one injured total. A field hospital has been set up for the latter, ceremonies are being organized for the former. Structural damage to the bureau is limited, it will take a month at most to get the building safe enough for use again. None of the Ambassadors were harmed in the attack, though they all will need some time to recover from the shock.”

Princess Celestia nodded. “And the HLF?”

“Most of the members of the local faction are either arrested by local enforcers, or have warrants being sent out for them. One notable case however is their leader; Dave Hillside turned himself in earlier, while claiming he was not responsible for the attack.”

The Princess nodded again, urging Shining to continue as she surveyed the damage.

“Also, we recovered a man identified as Pastor Winchester, in apparently a deep state of shock. The arrested members of the HLF confirmed he was the mastermind behind the attack, though in his current state he can’t be reliably questioned. Finally, the blast detectors of the Conversion room were tripped when we inspected them, and the doors won’t budge. The room will be airlifted to the Central Bureau within the hour,” Shining concluded his report to the Princess.

“And Twilight Sparkle and her friends?” Celestia asked.

Shining sighed. “Physically, they are well. Still, the attack left them... shaken,” he concluded, his ears folding down a little.

The Princess nodded again, her face still a perfectly emotionless mask. “Very well, I will visit them soon. Currently however, I must attend to someone... no, somepony else.”

The room the Doctor found himself in was, in a word, massive. One would have difficulty seeing the other wall, standing in the doorway, and the many arrays of monitors and banks of controls of more kinds than most could imagine only made the space look larger by their sheer number. Still, the space didn’t feel threatening to the Doctor, as he made his way past the stations monitoring the entirety of time itself.

Still, despite the impressiveness of the room as a whole, there was one centerpiece that stood out. Far above the various stations, reaching up until it almost touched the ceiling, there was a single straight staircase, leading up to something the Doctor couldn’t quite make out from across the sheer distance. Despite how much the structure felt as if it didn’t belong in the room, the Doctor could not help himself and walk up to the strange construction.

As the Doctor set a hoof on the first step however, a voice suddenly thundered across the cavernous room. “Are you almost done taking the scenic route, Doctor?”

“W-who are you? What are you doing here?!” the Doctor stammered out as he looked up to the impressive appearance that had spoken.

The serpentine form chuckled from the raised throne, suddenly visible as if the staircase had shrunk down to only a dozen steps. “Really now? Asking for a reason from me? Surely you know better,” it finished as it suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.

“Still, it is terribly amusing to see you wallow in nostalgia, even if you never had any reason to like this place,” the voice spoke, seemingly coming from all sides at once.

The Doctor snorted angrily, turning on his hind legs as he tried to find the source of the voice. “Ok, different question then, who are you? You assume I know you, but I’m fairly certain I’ve never met you before,” he shouted into the cavernous room, only catching the barest of glimpses of strangely mismatched body parts in the corner of his view every time he looked elsewhere.

“Oh? Riiight! You haven’t... Well, you were rather adamant about avoiding spoilers last time we met, so I’ll humor you on that. Terrible waste of an opportunity for chaos, if you ask me though.”

The Doctor was starting to get a little light-headed from all the sudden turns he forced his body through, the dizziness only making him more angry. “Whoever you are, stop playing games! I’m in no mood, and you don’t-”

Suddenly, a face like a parody of all races of Equestria mixed together appeared on a screen right in front of him, cutting him off mid-sentence. “Yeah, yeah. ‘Wrath of a Time Lord’ this, ‘All of time and space’ that, we went over that last time. Seriously, try coming up with something more creative next time, my dear frenemy.”

The Doctor could only stare in confusion, not sure what would happen next.

“Well, Doctor? Gryphon got your tongue?” the mismatched face said, idly pulling one of the horns off of its head and using it to clean the underside of his claws. “Besides, I could ask you the same. Doctor... who? But, we both know neither of us will get an answer to that today, so I’ll keep things simple for you.”

Suddenly, the Doctor felt a weight on his withers. He leapt away, only to come face to face with the strange chimera from the screen. Except, this time the beast was not contained by any two-dimensional surface.

“You did me certain favors long ago, so let me repay at least some of that debt. Have some advice: fear the Princesses, they tend to imprison what they can’t appreciate,” it finished calmly, despite its eyes burning with a rage few mortals could have lived to witness.

The Doctor backed away further, the strange creature terrifying him beyond words as the lights of the room suddenly grew dim, blackness claiming him as the impossible room faded away.

“And one more thing, you still owe me a cup of coffee!” was the last thing he heard as the last of the light dimmed to darkness.

The room re-ignited into light and the doctor looked around. the Chimera was no where to be found so with a shrug The Doctor continued to climb

“Greetings to you, Doctor” a voice suddenly resounded from the top of the staircase, and the room was suddenly filled with light as a radiant form descended from the top of the stairs, the Doctor finding his hind legs suddenly folding as he stared in wonder.

“W-what are you doing here?!” the Doctor stammered out as he looked up to the impressive appearance that had spoken.

“I think you know the answer to that already, don’t you?” the blindingly bright Alicorn said as she walked down the steps of the raised throne, the Doctor finding himself almost unconsciously bowing down before the Princess.

Finishing her descent down the long stairway leading up to the throne, Princess Celestia lightly chuckled. “No need for such formalities now, My Little Pony. We have much to discuss and far too little time to do so,” she said as she serenely sat down in front of the Doctor.

It was not often that a Time Lord found himself at a loss for words, but now was definitely one of those moments. Sputtering for a moment as he tripped over his own words, the Doctor eventually managed to form a coherent response. “S-sorry, last time you weren’t quite so... impressive. I mean, err, I-” the Doctor struggled for words until a hoof over his mouth gently stopped him.

Celestia gave him a calm smile as she pulled her hoof back. “I understand, Doctor. I didn’t mean to intimidate you. ”

His mouth finally catching up with his thoughts, the Doctor finally managed stumble to his hooves despite his mounting embarrassment. “A-alright then, it is just... I didn’t expect today to be the day, and I’m still getting used to the new body. I mean, first time I’m walking on all fours most of the time,” he finished somewhat lamely as his embarrassed blush only grew deeper.

Celestia chuckled, and the Doctor couldn’t stop himself from looking up to her. “It is all right. I know what you mean, and rest assured. I have known about your adventures for long enough.” Celestia took a deep breath, her expression turning serious as she continued. “In due time, ‘you’ will tell me all about who and what you are and do, though I cannot tell you much more than that. Suffice to say, ‘you’ will tell me somewhere both before and after this day,” she said as she closed her eyes. “Beyond that, ‘you’ asked me to tell you not to tell me until you were ready. ‘You’ said you would know what that meant, and that any answer beyond that...” she trailed off as she silently levitated a tea set from some unseen location.

“...would be a Spoiler,” the Doctor finished her sentence as he almost instinctively sat down as well, taking a deep breath as the set landed between the two of them, the fragrance of the tea making him feel calmer than he had for many years.

“Still, I must ask you to leave as soon as you can,” the Princess solemnly said as she poured a pair of cups. “That was one more thing ‘you’ were adamant about. The Bureau will manage without you, but you won’t survive long if you stick around apparently. Now, though I wish I could give you a warmer welcome to Equestria, will you please have this tea with me?” she spoke as she levitated a cup within the Doctor’s reach.

Taking the cup between his fetlocks, the Doctor looked at the still rather intimidating form of the Princess of the Sun. “Won’t survive? What does that mean?” he said as he took a sip from the small cup, the pleasant taste making him feel even more relaxed, as if the world truly wasn’t at any risk whatsoever.

The Princess shook her head, the Doctor only barely noticing how the edges of his view started to darken. “I can’t tell you. Spoilers.”

Trying unsuccessfully to shake the sudden sleepiness that threatened to overtake him, the Doctor struggled to keep talking. “Then w...what can you tell m...me?”

The Princess only responded with a serene smile, the darkness at the edges slowly dimming her radiance as the Doctor felt himself drift off into a deep slumber.

The thing about darkness is, it only ever affects one sense. After all, even in the deepest darkness ones other senses don’t stop functioning, and one can still perceive the world through touch or sound. As such, it was more than a little disconcerting when the Doctor felt absolutely nothing for the briefest of moments, the silence of all senses being so overwhelming that even that split second felt like an hour.

Thankfully, a moment was all it took for the first sense to return, as the Doctor suddenly heard the softest of mutterings coming from somewhere above him.
There, there. You did what you knew was right, and in time even this will become but a memory.

Next were his senses of touch and balance, as he felt the pull of gravity along with something pressing against his side, his instincts telling him that he was probably laying down.
Besides, he will be a better person for it. You gave him a perspective he could never have found on his own, something more precious than all the gold in the world.

As his hearing kept improving, his senses of smell and taste were next to start recovering, a nasty aftertaste of extremely artificial grape making him wish he had enough control over his muscles to gag already.
Now, I need you to be strong. If not for me, then for him until he reaches me. Can you promise me that?

He could almost make out the words of the conversation apparently being held only a few feet from his head as his sight started to return, the absolute blackness making way for the darkness behind closed eyelids.
We don’t have much longer, he will wake up soon. Still, you can trust him as well as you can trust me. I promise.

The last thing to return as his hearing finally got to an acceptable level was the sense of his own muscles, accompanied by their use as he felt himself trying to reach out to the sources of the voices, his eyelids opening to a tiny crack before shutting themselves against the dazzlingly bright light.

“D-Doctor? He’s moving!”

‘That voice... Ditzy? Who is she talking to?

The next thing the Doctor knew, something tightly clasped around his neck, making him almost worry for his supply of air.

“Derpy, I don’t enjoy being strangled much, so would you please stop that?” a voice spoke from beside the Doctor, as his sight improved to the point where he could see some vague grey blur occupying most of his view.

Thankfully, at that point the stranglehold on his neck loosened as he managed to control his vocal chords enough to form a simple question.

“W-what am I doing here?”

He heard a soft chuckle from the same direction as before, looking in the direction of the sound as the blurs started to retreat and edges started to reveal themselves. “Well, a mathematician would say, ‘you are lying down,’ but I assume it would be more informative if I told you that you were recovering from a particularly traumatic emergency conversion.”

the Doctor tried to look in the direction of the voice, the strangely familiar brown blur slowly shrinking as his eyes started to adjust to the bright light in the room. “That... That sounds reasonable. S-sorry though, w-who are you?” he said, his tongue feeling alien to the point where he stumbled a little over his own words.

The blur chuckled as it slowly took on more well defined contours. “Me? I am Doctor Whooves. Or, perhaps you would say, I am you,” he said as the Doctor’s view finally recovered to the point where he could recognize the pony in front of him.

“S-so you survived,” the Doctor mumbled, still trying to get used to his new herbivorous mouth. “Well then, that must be good news for miss Hooves,” he smiled to his double as his vision restored itself to the point where he could recognize the tan-coated pony before him.

The form before him however gave an awkward chuckle before answering. “In a sense, I did. Still, I am not the pony you saved about fifteen minutes ago,” he said as he gestured with a hoof to his side.

Looking to the side, the Doctor saw another brownish blob. A blob the exact same color as the one still in the corner of his view.

“Who... are you then?”

The first blob gave another awkward chuckle. “Technically speaking, I am him, from the future.”

The Doctor’s vision finally finished restoring, he could finally identify the vague blobs surrounding him. The gray-and-yellow one was Ditzy, still looking rather shaken by recent events. The two brown ones however revealed themselves to be an identical pair of Pegasi, one of them lying on his side as if he were asleep, while the other one was standing near the doorway, looking a little concerned. “You... you altered an event you knew of!?”

The standing Pegasus raised a hoof in an apologetic gesture. “Not exactly, because I remembered seeing myself here. But I have much to explain and little time to do so, so let me give you the short version,” he said as he sat down. “I no longer remember what happened in the Dream, but I still remember feeling as if staying would be the worst choice. I also remember being explained why I didn’t regenerate, so let me give you that. While you did get rid of the damage the thaumic radiation caused, you didn’t lose the source of that radiation. Basically, you had a lot of Equestrian matter on you, be it from splinters when you broke through that grate or water you swallowed while you were in the Princess’ bath. Either way, the constant strain of having your body being torn apart by the radiation meant that in that short time since, you repaired enough damage to equal to all your regenerations minus one. All in all, you were lucky to have enough left for even a single regeneration,” He finished, before looking up in thought. “Also, yes. I do lose myself in exposition every now and then, Colgate never stops annoying me about that.”

The Doctor stumbled to his hooves (a small part of his mind being amused how he didn’t even think of them as feet anymore,) as he started to feel a little afraid to stay. “F-fine, thanks for the explanation. Still, w-would you know where my T-TARDIS is?”

The standing Pegasus stallion chuckled. “Just outside, you can’t miss it. Also, take Colgate- no, Idris along. Trust me on this, short of Derpy, you’ll never find a more reliable companion!” he said as he stepped to the side, revealing a rather depressed looking blue Unicorn mare.

Blinking, the Doctor looked at her for a few seconds before nodding. “Well then, it feels like it wouldn’t be a good idea to stay here much longer, so what do you say we go?”

The Unicorn nodded, turning and trotting out of the door as she followed the Doctor dashing out. “...Just remember to pull the door this time.”

Author's Note

Ray10k here.
First off, my sincere apologies for the ridiculous delay before the release of this chapter, especially to Kryxel. Truth is, I’ve been letting myself get distracted lately (looking at you, 4chan.) As such, I’ll try my best to get the next chapter out sooner, especially since I already have all the necessary material. Spoiler warning: it will be the epilogue.
Second, if you want to know who I am on 4chan, I dropped a ridiculously subtle hint in this chapter, granted Kryxel doesn’t come up with something better.

Finally, I just wanted to say goodbye to Chatoyance, may life treat you better than fimfiction ever did.

Kryx here,
no i dident think of anything better,
also i saw how you split the idea in twain and i figured.. "why not both!?"
so i added in a line betwix the two and wala.
also in case chat reads this.

you go girl! you were the one that actually made me want to write this in the first place. you inspired my mind for this one, new lunar republic. and maybe even a possible future AU one. maybe.
it will be sad to see you go but hopefully things brighten and you come back to us with many more stories.

epilogue: Diary of a goddess

Eternity is long. Really long. One would have a difficult time imagining just how mind bogglingly long it really is. A rainy Sunday afternoon may feel like it lasts forever, but isn’t even comparable to the blink of an eye against the utter vastness of eternity. However, there were two ponies who could at least give a somewhat reasonable estimate of how long eternity truly was, and plan accordingly. So, when one day the two of them independently from one another decided to start writing a diary, they both came to a somewhat disheartening conclusion: even if they’d turn all matter within existence into paper and ink, it would still not be enough to document even one tenth of a billionth of their lifespan. They did find a solution to this problem, even if it meant their writing wouldn’t be nearly as permanent as they could have wished.

Deep below Canterlot, even further down than the Potion production facility, was a long, winding stairway leading to a room only a very select few ponies knew about. Given the nature of the ponies that knew, stairs seemed to be a bit redundant since teleporting that far would have been little more than a slight nuisance. And, if the only goal was to reach that room, the staircase would have been entirely superfluous indeed. However, the sheer monotony of walking down that many steps with only the sound of one’s own hooves had a purpose all of its own, a fact Princess Celestia reflected on every time she got down far enough for the sounds of Canterlot Castle to fade away entirely.

As every week before and every week to come, Princess Celestia made her way down the many stairs, leading to that tiny room a little over a thousand human feet below her throne room. If anypony were to see her right now, they would accuse her of being an impostor, since everypony only ever knew her with that eternal, faint motherly smile on her muzzle. Instead, her face shifted expressions across the entire spectrum of emotions as she let her mind wander. In here, on that staircase that might as well be without end, nopony would find her. In here, it was just her, and her thoughts of the last week.

Arriving at the room, she looked around, only to find the room the exact same way as it always had been. A square room, no more than 30 human feet in either direction, with a sturdy-looking pedestal near the entrance and two large openings into the soil near the back wall, each of them large enough for the door-sized slab of marble she had carried along with her. One of the openings was occupied with a short stack of obsidian slabs, containing her Sister’s Diary, the other was occupied by the small marble altar formed by her own. In time, the slabs on which she wrote her memories of Equestria would sink into the earth and eventually fall into the rock-smelting heat of Tartarus itself, ages upon ages since the occurrences either were forgotten entirely, or faded into myth so far removed from reality nopony could ever hope to extract even a single fact from among the embellishments and rumors added.

Placing the slab on the pedestal, Princess Celestia began her task of documenting the events that had transpired in the past week, speaking out loud as she wrote each word.

“Date: 1006 after Nightmare Moon, thirtieth of the Growing month, regarding the preceding week.

“This week has been as eventful as ever, though this time I found myself involved in these events rather than observing them. As I mentioned before, the elusive Doctor Whooves visited me a while back and convinced me to enlist the aid of the elusive Dr. Tennant for the St. George Conversion Bureau, explaining part of his nebulous origins in the process. Though I still have some issues with his casual approach to time travel, his advice has proven sound, and amongst other things earned me a promising new recruit to the Royal Guard in the process.”

Halting her inscription of the massive slab for a moment, Princess Celestia let her mind wander for a moment as she thought of how Victorious Shield was adjusting to his new life.

Ever since its founding, birds of a feather would quite often flock together in New York. As such, nobody was surprised much when several of the old city blocks would adjust to offer a safe haven almost exclusively to newfoals and native Equestrians alike. However, despite the easily recognized Equestrian influences, the old mores of the Big Apple survived well, and if one were ever looking for a good pitcher of genuine Equestrian mostly-alcohol-free Cider, Red Cheeks’ was the place to be. Despite being a bar for all intents and purposes, the neighboring areas weren’t what one would call a bad place to raise foals. As such, Amazing Grace had few objections to moving there when an apartment freed up due to the previous tenants moving over to Equestria. Neither did Victorious Shield have any trouble finding a job.

“And stay out until you learn some manners!” the sturdily built Unicorn shouted as he pushed the drunk human out of the bar and watched him stumble, only barely keeping upright.

The man slurred some drunk insults, none of which made any sense or were any bit insulting, as he swayed out of the pony district in search of alcohol, leaving Victorious to shake his head. “How did he even manage to get that drunk?”

His fellow bouncer Red Rope slapped him on the withers, laughing loudly. “Don’t worry about such people, they’ll figure things out eventually. Trust me, he won’t be back for a long time!” the jovial Earth pony shouted, making Victorious wonder once again if the large grey pony knew any volume other than “shouting” or “loudly speaking.”

Victorious brushed the hoof off of him. “If you say so.”

Red chuckled softly, meaning only the building he was in could hear him instead of the entire block. “Either way, you were talking about your wife and foals?”

Victorious nodded, a slight smile creeping onto his face. “Yeah. The twins are doing great, I could swear I saw Chip levitate something yesterday...”

Celestia smiled as she thought of her potential future guard, before quickly switching to another among her new subjects. “Silver Aura, another one of the newfoals who was involved in the same incident, is adjusting well, despite the traumatizing events following his conversion. It still proves a positive decision to let miss Rainbow Springs adopt him...”

Tacksworn was one of Equestria’s most far-removed towns, and the distance from even the nearest trading hub showed in the somewhat utilitarian buildings. Still, what the town lacked in physical ways to express its wealth, it made up for in the sheer diversity of its inhabitants. However, when ponies, Gryphons, Diamond Dogs and Dragons lived together, one would often need a strong hand to take care of the various young. Or, in this case, a strong hoof.

“Melissa Hildsdottir! Rover! How many times to I have to remind you of the rules!?” Rainbow Springs sternly spoke as she pushed the Gryphon fledgling off the Diamond dog pup.

“B-but she start it, miss! She not give Rover shiny toy!” the young Diamond dog started.

“Toy!?! This is a family heirloom, mutt! Keep your grubby claws off of it!” the fierce Gryphon shouted back, now clutching the polished silver emblem in her claws.

Rainbow Springs bowed down, coming face to face with the young creatures. “Now, Rover, what did I tell you about taking things from others?”

The tiny Diamond dog looked a little guilty as he responded, his head bowed down and his fore paws behind his back. “... not good to take things that are not Rover’s, without OK.”

Rainbow Springs smiled, before turning her attention to the young Gryphon, catching her mid-raspberry. “And what have I taught you about sharing, Melissa?”

Melissa had almost bit her tongue when Rainbow addressed her, and was now looking as if she were searching for an escape route. Eventually though, she sighed and hung her head as well. “’Don’t bring something you won’t share, nobody likes a braggart.’ But, Miss Springs! I-”

Rainbow Springs shook her head, stopping Melissa’s argument dead in its tracks. “Melissa, Rover, if I catch you fighting over this shield again, I will confiscate it until your parents come to pick you up. Do you understand me?”

The two youngsters nodded mutely.

“Very well then. Play nicely,” Rainbow Springs said with a smile as she raised back to her hooves.

“Yes miss Springs,” both of them said together.

“Alright then, move along,” the kindergarten caretaker said, smiling as the two ran off, doubtlessly in search of more trouble. Rainbow Springs shook her head, silently chuckling to herself. “Those two... they’ll learn some day, I’m sure.” Looking over to the large cage of nets encompassing the flying practice area, she couldn’t keep her smile from growing as her son struggled and managed to get airborne under his own power, his wings still beating as fast as those of a humming bird. “Keep it up, my bright light, one day you’ll be a great Captain of the Royal Guard...”

Celestia couldn’t stop a chuckle as she thought of the boy-turned-foal, before focusing on the task at hoof once more. “Regardless of the successes though, there are some who lost more than their human existence that day. Lives were lost, and until the end of time I will remember those that gave their lives for their beliefs. Still, during the attack, one man lost something that is not easily regained...”

’First rule, steady breath.’

Even after leaving for Equestria, Terrence found that certain parts of his past didn’t go away quite as easily. Even after she adopted the name of Eagle Eye, fact remained that for all intents and purposes, she was a sharpshooter.

’Second rule, mind the wind.’

This posed a problem, as the arrow-in-a-bulls-eye on her flank marked her as a mare of a little-sought-for talent. After all, Equestria tended to resolve its problems through diplomatic means, and the last actual skirmish had been ages ago, aside from the incidents since contact with Earth.

’Third rule, know where you will hit.’

However, a settlement as far removed from civilization as Appleloosa did still have use for an exceptionally sharp pair of eyes. After all, being able to spot trouble before it could take the town by surprise was a valuable asset indeed, especially in times like these, when the borders of the various kingdoms, countries and regions were more prone to change than Discord’s preferences.

’Fourth rule, heart, lungs, eyes or throat.’

Still, there was a lot of down time between guard shifts, so Eagle Eye had to find another source of income. Something that could be done during more peaceful times, would allow her to practice her gift, and yet would still earn her upkeep. Showbiz fit the bill on all accounts.

’Last rule, no second thoughts, no regrets!’

Eagle’s hoof shot forward, the sharp knife in it crossing the space between her and her target in less time than it took to blink.

With a sharp *tak*, the knife buried itself a good inch into the wood of said target.

Eagle stood frozen for a moment, the red-and-white board Redglare was tied to no longer in sight. What if her aim had been off? What if there had been an errant breeze?

Most of her worries were silenced when the crowd went wild, stomping the ground in a pony applause, making her look up to a smiling (and still tied-down) Redglare, the edge of the knife still uncomfortably close to her jugular vein-

’NO!’

Eagle Eye shook her head a few times before facing the crowd. ’I didn’t kill her, and I never will!’ she thought as she forced her muzzle into a smile and bowed elegantly.

Once the show was over and Eagle had dunked her head into a bowl of cool water often enough, she met up with a smiling Redglare again.

“You almost had me worried there, with that last knife. You usually don’t give me such a close shave,” Redglare said with a chuckle.

Eagle flinched in response. “D-did I hit you!? ImsosorryIdidntmeanto-”

Before she could continue her ramble, Redglare silenced her with a hoof on her lips. “Calm down, featherbrain, you didn’t break skin. All I’m saying is, you cut a few hairs,” she said as she turned her neck, showing a thin line where her coat was just a hair thinner. “See? At worst, I should thank you for making the heat a little more bearable.”

Eagle calmed down a little, though a tear rolled down her cheek. “...I could have hurt you...”

Redglare laid her head over Eagle’s withers, drawing her into a pony hug. “You could, but you didn’t.”

For the longest time, the two friends stood there, until eventually Eagle’s tears stopped.

“Feeling better now?”

Eagle Eye nodded.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Eagle Eye shook her head, still resting at the base of Redglare’s neck.

“Want to see what trouble Wild Wheat got into today?”

Eagle chuckled a little, silently wondering what and how the farmer-turned-pony had been doing lately. Despite her new body being uniquely adapted to farm work, Jane’s behavior ever since she took the moniker of Wild Wheat wasn’t much like the usual Earth pony method of sticking to what they knew worked. Last she knew, the stubborn mare had been trying to force the ground into retaining the water the sparse rainfall brought, which mostly resulted in a lot of frustration on her part and unintentional amusement on everypony else’s part.

Eagle Eye nodded, silently breaking the hug.

Redglare nodded, a playful smile on her muzzle. “Then, let’s go! I heard she was visiting Braeburn tonight again. I still wonder how he can fancy somepony who looks so much like his cousin...”

Celestia stopped writing for a moment, a sad look crossing her face. So many of her new subjects carried wounds that would take a lot of time to heal, perhaps even longer than their lifespans would allow.

Taking a deep breath, she continued again. “My dear Sister recently acquired two new recruits to her Royal Guard. However, unlike most of her guard, they are actual Nocturnal ponies. The fact that the old Bloodline of Luna’s guard died out after the Nightmare’s banishment worries me a little, but she insists that they are reliable. On top of that, Luna insists that the two of them are her ‘OTP,’ apparently meaning she considers them a couple. I’ll need to have a serious conversation with her regarding matchmaking, once I learn where they came from...”

Ever since the Sisters ascended to the thrones of Equestria, their Royal Guards were the very image of their rule, carrying out whichever mission they were tasked with for the betterment of Equestria as a whole. Still, some ponies asked questions about them. First and foremost among them, “How come the guards all look the same, and why?”

For Celestia’s Guard, the answers were quite straightforward. The members of Her Guard dyed their coats and had some enchantments built into their armor to change their eye color to the same cyan hue. And though the story behind it was mostly lost to time, nopony could deny the striking resemblance to General Boiling Blood, leading to a few rumors about what went on between them on top of allowing for Prince Blue Blood’s claim to fame.

Luna’s guard on the other hoof relied entirely on illusions woven into their armor, mostly because the changes to their horns and wings were so complicated, it simply was easier to just add a dye job to the network of spells running through their plating. Still, the question of “why” was not quite as easily answered. For as long as Princess Luna had shared the throne with her Sister, scholars had been searching for an answer as to why the Princess of the Night insisted on granting her closest followers with the wings and eyes of Dragons.

The search for an answer was a futile one however, since if anypony would bother to just ask Princess Luna for the motivation behind her Guard’s look, she would have answered without hesitation. Truth was, she insisted on the look out of sheer nostalgia.

Though the evidence for it had been eroded to near-nothingness, when Equestria was first formed there were three races, two genders, and, unlike any other species since, two branches of ponies. One branch loved the day, frolicking and working from sunrise to sunset. The other branch however embraced the night, keeping a watchful eye over the resting ponies and keeping them from harm.

Since the rise and banishment of Nightmare moon however, members of the latter branch found themselves in the decidedly uncomfortable position of superficially resembling the mare who had tried to permanently remove the sun from the sky, not to mention that her royal guard and closest allies mostly consisted of these Nocturnal ponies. While the specifics vary between accounts, fact remains that by the time Luna returned the Nocturnal branch of ponykind was extinct, the only proof of their existence being a hoof-full of millennium-old stories.

That, and many traces of their genetic heritage existing in every pony alive. Traces, which would take some unusual circumstances to reemerge. And it would take a particularly jaded individual to deny that being converted after surviving a nuclear detonation at point-blank range was anything less than ridiculously weird.

Shadow Wing sighed, wondering for the umpteenth time why he let his Princess talk him into taking that name. “Remind me why we are doing this,” he muttered to the pony in the tiny cart he was pulling.

The mare chuckled, knowing fully well that he would be able to hear her. “Well, Hal, I am doing this because Her Royal Majesty Princess Luna ordered me to. You do remember how I feel about orders, don’t you?”

“Stop calling me that, Elane, you know I left that name in the dirt,” Shadow replied. “Besides, I was asking why it had to be us! Our comrades get to do their job and guard ponies, and what do we get? Dragon duty!”

Another giggle sounded through the night, caught only by Shadow’s remarkable hearing. “I’ll stop calling you that once you start calling me by my name. Surely you remember it?”

Shadow rolled his eyes. “Suuure, Star Glint, not like I could forget a name as ridiculous as that. Still, remind me again why we are heading this ‘diplomatic mission of importance beyond understatement,’ when the last time you opened your mouth you almost got thrown in jail.”

Glint shot him an annoyed look, one he thankfully didn’t notice. “As the Princess said, the dragons have had a preference for contact with the Nocturnal ponies for ages, which you would have known if you paid attention for once!”

Shadow shook his head, momentarily taking his eyes off the distant volcano they were flying towards. “I’ll do that, the day you pay attention when things go bad. Or did you forget about Mt. Svartvinge?”

Glint grimaced, being thankful that their night vision didn’t let them see through the backs of their heads. “...No. And I still remember what you told me, before the rest of the guard caught up.”

Shadow almost stalled, but barely managed to retain his stability. “Y-you heard that!?”

“hmm... yes. Though, for now you better focus on the mission. We’re here.”

Focusing on his flight again, Shadow indeed noted they were just about to reach the volcano, and he started looking for a place to land.

After finding a small but sufficient ledge and securing the cart against the stiff winds around the towering volcano, the two set out for the Dragon Elder they were supposed to meet.

Looking up to the dull red glow marking the top of the volcano, Shadow silently wished they could just land up there. Sadly, their briefing had been clear on that account. Landing near the entrance to the Elder’s abode would be seen as a direct attack, making a diplomatic agreement even harder to reach than it would normally have been. Besides, he couldn’t just leave Glint behind, right?

“Well, looks like we’ll have to climb from here out. Ready, batbrain?” Glint said as she looked to the top as well.

Shadow scoffed. “Sure, syringe-for-a-brain. Just try to keep up for a change!” he said with a determined smile, charging towards the side of the mountain, leaving Glint in his dust.

“H-hey! Not fair!” Glint shouted as she started chasing after him, grinning as she struggled to keep up...

“... but I suspect it will be quite a while before I learn of their origin, knowing my dear Sister’s penchant for secrecy,” Celestia softly smiled as she inscribed the white stone slab before her.

Hours passed as she patiently inscribed the other events of the week on the slab, eventually turning it over and filling the other side as well, until she reached the last few inches of smooth rock.

“Finally, the Doctor’s earlier prediction came true. It is a shame about the mosaic in the bathroom, but I’m certain the repair crew will do an admirable job repairing it. Still, it saddens me that, yet again, he disappeared before we could sit down and talk, though I still hold some hope we can discuss certain matters of importance soon. Time will tell, and if anything, I am a patient mare. Regardless of all that, his actions directly led to not only the safety of my Most Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle, but also that of many of my subjects. For that, I am grateful. And though I still have misgivings about such reckless use of time travel, fact remains that his influence on history has been proven mostly benevolent so far.

“As such, Doctor Whooves, if by chance you read this, know that I mean you no harm, and would in fact wish to sit down and share tea with you once more. Though, I must insist that one of the subjects discussed will be your flagrant disregard of privacy. A mare’s diary is private, thank you kindly.

“As sure as the Sun will rise,

“Celestia.”

With a single beat of her wings, Celestia blew away the dust gathered on the slab before giving her work a last inspection. Nodding to herself as she found no errors, she lifted the slab from its pedestal and carried it over to the small stack slowly sinking into the ground. Taking one last sigh of the stale air, she glanced to her Sister’s diary. One peek would have been all it took to learn the origins of her Sister’s remarkable recruits, plus moon-knows how much more. Looking at the last line of her own diary however, proved to be enough. None of her loyal subjects would appreciate a hypocrite leading them after all.

Turning her back on the stacks of slabs, the Princess of Equestria left the room, once again climbing the countless stairs leading to the tiny room. If anypony knew of the ritual, they would demand why she would even bother climbing that many steps. After all, while the downward path had its reasons for existing, surely the climb back up wouldn’t need to exist?

Still, nopony but her Sister knew, and Celestia didn’t worry about anypony else finding out. Besides, the climb downwards was for the future, to remember all that had happened so that old mistakes didn’t have to be made again. To complement that, the climb upwards was dedicated to the past, to the endless memories of joy and hurt, and the unending resilience of her little ponies.

Smiling as she climbed ever higher, Celestia started to softly sing, the sound of her voice being the only thing besides the steady clip-clop of her hooves. “My little pony, my little pony, what will todays adventure be? My little pony, my little pony, will there be exiting sights to see...?”

Author's Note

So, that’s a wrap! Hereby (barring any bonus chapters,) the story of the Doctor’s origin in this particular version of Equestria is over!
Still, there are a few things Kryxel and I would like to think about for a while longer, so keep your eyes peeled, there might be more yet!

*kryxels notes*
-kryxel is sweeping the stage where the story just played out, he wipes his brow-
wait.. you guys are still here? i was for sure you would have left about episode 6 or thereabouts..
anyway this is it! the FINAL chapter (dundundun......)
now some of you are asking "kryxel, what do you have in store for us next?"
well my plans are thusly
1: find editors (like the amazing ray10k... seriously, give this guy props beyond number. he had to put up with a lot) for
TCB: NU: new lunar republic. and Wicked: an untold tale of the princesses of Equestria
B: sleep.
yes. sleep. it is a vital part of the story making process.

3 otherwise known as C: finish watching some youtube vids.

now some of you may have enjoyed the pairup between Ray and myself. and are wanting more of this kind of co-op action..
well ray (seriously, go follow him) has put forward a story idea to me and i took him up on it.
it is not a "preplanned front to back story" like most on here..
oh no. it is a Challange
i call it " TCB: A tale of Two ponies" but i dont know what ray will actually call it, but the basis is he writes a little, i write a little,
his goal is to keep the story as close to Slice of Life as possible... mine is to wrench it into the aventure catagory.
hopefully you will go read it once he posts the first chapter
PS: i am winning in TCB:AToTP
PPS: seriously, follow Ray.
PPPS: i have nothing to say here. exept it is now 11:48 PM where i am, and i am heading to sleep.
GOODNIGHT EVERYPONY!

Fixit note: i posted this at night. so i missed the notes ray left me and left those in. but they are gone now. so if you were lucky enough to see them you got a sneek peek into the process of how we do things.

episode 1 part 1: I have a question for you.

I have a question for you.
Conversion Center: St George
episode 1 part 1
capitalization and other small things fixed by ray10k.
(music for this episode)

The Doctor was doing The. Most. Important. Thing. In. The. Universe.
His fingers were interlinked before him and his thumbs spun in fast circles around each other...
It is a rare thing to have thumbs now-adays.. what with the new lifeform in town.
He smiles and continues to twiddle his thumbs as he remembers.

It was about four years ago when Equestria appeared just off the coast of New York. Mankind did what it usually does when a new thing rears its head and just by existing demands change.
They tried to blow the hell out of it. The seas boiled for three days... Tactical nukes and rockets seared the skies...
Yet that was the simple definite reaction...

The Doctor looked over at his computer and glanced at the simple language of the universe. The circles danced slightly as they re-calibrated from the recent battle on mars.
The Doctor sighed as he flashed back through his timeline... This era was supposed to be the third Great and Bountiful Human Empire... The second renisance as it were. He looked back to the point that seperated the universe that was from the universe that should be...
The summer solstice... Nothing special on the earth side of the equation but on the Equestrian side, it was the day Nightmare Moon returned to Equestria.

The Doctor sighed and got back to twiddling his thumbs as there was a knock on the door of his office.
With a groan he got up off his desk and opened the door. Past the frosted glass with "Doctor Tennant" etched in it. He smiled at the joke as one of his old companions mentioned he looked like the old engish actor named David Tennant.
The Doctor looked down at the small woman standing in the doorway "Doctor?"

"In the flesh.. and you are?"
The woman looked American... with a hint of German and Japanese descent. Nothing special stood out about her... Except her hair... She had short, mostly black hair with three streaks of color. From her left temple, teal blue and pink.
"Oh, my name is Selina Asis. A reporter wanting to talk to historians on the steady decline of the human population."

The Doctor nodded. "Well... Hmm... Come on in. It is rude to linger in doorways." The Doctor said seemingly oblivious that he was the one in the doorway. He stepped on and over the desk and sat down on the chair before putting his converse sneekers up on the keyboard. "So, Selina was it? What can i do for you?"
Selena sat down and reached into her jeans pocket for a recorder. "Well, in your oppinion, what caused the fall of man?"
The Doctor tapped his head and said quite simply, "Big goverments taken over by big buisiness and artifical intelegence taking over the simple and quite useless but needed jobs... But that is not why you are here... So let me ask again... Princess Celestia... What can I do for you?"
The girl blinked. "E-excuse me? I don't know what you are talking about?" She smiles sincerly at the Doctor.
He smiled back and simply stated with a hint of amusement, "Oh come on... The TARDIS sensed a being older than me entering the building. It sent a warning to my Computer. Now that narrows you down to... Oh, maybe 100 pissed off Timelords, me from the future, or even an entity that I would not want to deal with... Again, or Celestia and Luna. Now taking that in stride, you used the name Selina Asis. Selena, sister of Helios "the sun" and Asis, African origin meaning "sun" that drops you down into the twenties... But what finally sinched it was your hair... You don't have to have the same colors... So please... Once more 'What can I do for the Princess of Equestria?'"

The girl smiled and a shimmer encircled her. Where once a thirty something girl sat, a full 1000+ white Alicorn had taken her place. Her hair blew in some aetherial wind unmeasured by human, pony or Timelord. Her kind and gentle purple eyes gazed past the radiant horn.
Her wings, folded to the side, would quite easily span the small room when spread.

"Good job Doctor... I would not expect any less from a Timelord... Your race intrigues me as much as the humans. But to answer your question... I want you to run the newest bureau. It is opening in St George Utah... I assume you are familiar with that area?"
The Doctor winced at the memory of Lake Silenco... "well I know it... It was in my 11th regeneration. I'm lucky the time reversing planet did not wipe my memories of my past regenerations..."
Celestia nods. "Well, it is south of Silencio and west of Arches. Biggest city in Utah currently. The newly renamed "Salt Lick City 2" has converted everypony there... So that group will join you there."

The Doctor pulls out his brainy specs and looks at Celestia. "But why do you want me? You could grab somepony or human off the street and they would work just as well."
Celestia nods. "As much as that is true... I want to know Why... Why would people give up so quickly on the lives they worked so hard for, just to have to start over from the beginning?" She looked at the Doctor with her amazing purple eyes. "I want the smartest person on this planet to help me."

The Doctor laughed. "Careful, flattery will get you everywhere... I accept. So who will be joining me in this... Dragon hunting town?"
Celestia smiles and her horn glows a brilliant gold. With a flash a small stack of files appeared on the desk. One of them lifted up and opened revealing a purple/pinkish pony with a grape colored mane.
"Berry Punch. Sister to ponyvilles teacher Cheerilee and mother of Pinchy Punch. She is a recovering alcoholic and a very good nurse. She prepped the potion in Salt Lick City 2."
Another folder opened, revealing a dark grey pony with almost black hair.
"Inkamina Octavia Pie. One of the three Pie sisters. Pinky's older sister and main double bass player of the Canterlot high orchestra. She ran the announcements and helped newfoals with gripping things with hooves and other basic things."
With a *Fwip*, another file opened, revealing a promotional poster of the Wonderbolts, Equestria's most famous fliers, with two of the quartet circled in red. One was a light blue colt with a blue mane and the other was a white filly with a blond, curly mane.
"Soarin and Suprise. Two of the four best pegasai that grace Equestria's skies. Soarin has a penchant for apple pies and Suprise is, well... Un-explainable and confusing at times... Hyperactive little thing. Quite the prankster too. They taught the new Pegasi about flight, and how to manipulate the weather."
Another folder opened, revealing the owners of Sugarcube Corner.
"Mr Carrot Cake and his wife Cup Cake. They will be handling the nutrition section of the bureau. Well that and showing newfoal mothers how to care for foals with their own little ones, Pound and Pumkin."
Only three folders remained, and the Princess opened up the next one.
A grey Pegasus with a blond mane.
"Ditzy 'Derpy' Doo. Mother of two. Dinky Doo and Sparkler Doo. She ran the main office, and her daughters cheered up the newfoals."
The second to last folder revealed a blue hued Unicorn.
"Colgate. No one knows who she is. She just showed up and offered to help. She runs the Unicorn part of the training. Good at it too."
With a last flick of her magic the final folder opened up to reveal a tan pony with a brown mane.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," the Doctor said looking at the pony.
"Nope... Your co-manager. A newfoal himself... Does not want to talk about it... Keeps saying "spoilers" when asked. Flies around Equestria and Earth in a blue police box with his companion Colgate and his wife Ditzy.
Doctor, meet Doctor Whooves." Celestia said with an almost trollike grin on her face.

episode 2 part 2: what do you do with a drunken pony?

TCS: SG E1 P2: what do you do with a drunken pony?
By kryxel (aint that a mouthfull)
Fixed and edited by The Great and Powerful Ray10K! *cue fireworks*
Based on ALL the conversion stories to some extent.. just a little.
Also based on the fandom.

Berry Punch was bored. She did not have anything to do today and so was wandering the halls, looking for something, ANYTHING to do. She was passing room 42 when suddenly a human crashed through the door and landed on the ground. The human stood up and used both his hands to dust himself off. "OI! What did you do that for, you twit?"
Berry turned to see a human who was missing one of his forelegs (arms Berry, arms) step out of the room and pick up the skinny guy again. "Hal. I only have one thing to say. Mention my mother in that way again, and I will toss you head first into the river. Understood?" Hal nodded as the soldier sets him back down. "She ain’t my type anyway." Hal started walking away as Victor returned to the room. He looked at the smashed door and marveled that he was able to toss the little rat through a swinging door, without it swinging. His other two roommates were still on their beds. "Sorry," he said while sitting back down on his bed. Sales nods and Terrence... well, Terrence had not even woken up from his sleep.
Victor laid back and lands on something... warm. And furry. And breathing. He looks up and sees the pinkish purple pony that he almost fell on top of, sitting on his bed. "Hi. I’m Berry Punch," she said with a smile. "Victor. Victor Krum," he replied as he sits back up. "Sorry about the door. I will pay to have it fixed." Berry laughed. "That’s okay. We’ve had entire rooms disintegrated by new unicorns, so the construction team would probably be glad if they only have to fix a door. So anyway, care to have a walk?"
Victor arched an eyebrow. These were strange little equines. "A walk."
"Yes, a walk. You know, moving the legs, advancing at a steady pace through a field... Actually, you know what? Just down the hill a ways from here is a track around a football field. Used to belong to the local high school until the school closed.
Victor blinked. "A run would suit me just fine, want to come, little pony?"

Berry laughed. "Of course, I would love to. Also, my name is Berry. Don’t forget it!"

A few minutes later the two of them were on the track of what used to be Pine View High School. The school had long since been replaced by a bar, a convenience store, and a few slum homes.
Victor did not mind this. All he saw was the stadium seats and the passing of the yard lines. He felt alive, his arm swinging and pumping slightly to build momentum. By his side, Berry was keeping up with a canter.
"So, what is your story?" Berry said, looking up.
"Well, I was born in a log cabin that I built with my own hands. I killed a grizzly with my dinner spoon when I was four... Oh, and I single handedly saved the world. Five times. And no-one ever thanks me for any of it," Victor said without even a smile.
Berry laughed and started galloping. "Oh, you must be kidding." She turned her head his way. "Ever been a drinker?"
Victor smirked. "What does a pony from Rainbow Land, where everything is sunshine and smiles, know about drinking?"
Berry slowed down. "I know how to make a great wine. I know that vodka can be added to everything. I know that synthol is never as good as the real deal. Oh, and Equestrian beer is more potent than the watered down drivel that passes for beer here."
Victor laughed. "Oh, I bet I could drink you under the table!"
Berry laughed as well. "I’m sure you can’t... but I can’t at the moment. I am still on the wagon."
Victor nodded. "Well, I may not know much about Equestria, but in my platoon we always drank to welcome a new friend. Would you at least allow me to drink to meeting you?"
Berry nodded her head. "sure, I would love that.
"Well, as the bureau does not allow drinks inside... Let’s go to the bar. It’s close enough."

Berry nodded again. "Just remember, no alcohol for me."

The first thing Berry noticed about the "bar" that they walked into was the smell.
It had a tangy odor of fermented wines, hops and oats and a sprinkling of urine and puke.
Nothing like an Equestrian bar.
She noticed the neon signs still flickering and even the old, well-worn pool table. She glanced around until she saw what she was looking for.
THE bar staple of any true bar anywhere in the worlds: The Jukebox.
She trotted up to it and with a swift move, practiced with her years on the vineyard, she gave the side a nice, solid buck.
The kegtapper kick bumped the jukebox, and "red solo cup" started playing.
Victor ordered a B.O.O.D light, and started drinking as Berry sat down beside him in a booth.
"So, why is it that you know so much about wine and beer and stuff like that?" Victor asked the pony.
"Well, I run the great galloping grapes vineyard. It has been in the Punch family for several generations, you know. We fought the hostile takeover by the cider and soda families, and established ourselves as the best winemakers in Equestria... Or at least in Ponyville anyway. Our main export is the bubbly red to Sugarcube Corner."
Berry smiled, lost in memories for a moment.
Victor nodded. "Ahh... Well, why don’t you have just one sip. Just enough to keep your tasting buds up and running. You’ll need them for when you go back, right?"
Berry blinked at the comment. "Well, of course. The taste test is a very important part of winemaking..."
Victor ordered a shot of human sinthawine. "It is not real wine, so it would not count right?"
Berry looked at it. "I don’t know, it just does not seem right."
Victor laughed. "Well, it is. Trust me."
Berry looks up at the honest soldier, then back at the cup... before downing it in one quick gulp.
The barkeep looked a little concerned at Victor. "Can she handle that caliber? They upgraded the formula you know..."

Victor looked a little startled at the barkeep. "Upgraded how?"

AHHHHH WANNA ROC AND ROLLL AWWW NAIIIGHT. AND PAWTY AVERY DAY! AHHH WANNA ROC AND ROLL ALL NAIGHT. AND PAWTY AVERY DAY!" Berry sang, as Victor carried her back into the bureau.
Ditzy was the first to arrive and take a look at Victor and Berry. "Oh my, what happened?"
"I took her out. Drinking."
Colgate levitated Berry who had started singing “ninety-nine apples attached to the tree” to their room, as Doctor Whoof trotted in. "So, how much did she drink?"
"One shot." Victor deadpanned.
"One shot... That drunk, from one shot. You have got to be kidding me. It is statistically and physically impossible, to get THAT drunk from just one shot."
Victor sighed, and pulled a small flask out of his pocket. "Try. And then tell me what you think."

Doctor Whoof shook his head. "There is simply no way that this," he said as he downed the bottle, "can make me...”

The Doctor was sitting in his office, when the tan stallion came trotting in with the stallion’s tie tied around his head. "MY GOD I FORGOT HOW THE HUMANS LOVED TO PARTY. GUESS WHAT. BERRYS DRUNK. FROM ONE SHOT. AND GUESS WHAT! I AM TOO! IS THAT NOT JUST SUPER! I MEAN JUST REALLY...”
The pony slipped, and bumped into the desk. When he manages to get back up, somehow having gotten to the other side of the desk in the process, his eyes make a mostly successful attempt at out-derping his wife. "YOU KNOW, PEOPLE KEEP ON SAYING "THE DOC" AND WE BOTH GO LIKE "WHAAAT?" BUT I WAS THINKING, SHH SHH SHH, DUDE... THINKING THAT WE SHOULD HAVE DIFFRENT NAMES. LIKE YOU BE, WHATS YOURS, OH RIGHT YOU ARE "TENNANT" WELL YOU CAN BE TENNANT AND I CAN BE WHOOVES." And with that the pony falls over one more time, loudly snoring, as Victor entered the office.
"Sorry sir. I did not think he would just down it like that. He will be regretting that hang over in the morning."
The Doctor sighed, as the two of them file out of the office, carrying the sleeping stallion between them.
After having delivered the drunk pony to a place where he could sleep, he returned to his office, sitting down behind his desk and putting his feet on top of it. "So... That is what it is like, to see yourself drunk..."

episode4 part3: we can put a man on the moon...

TCB:SG E4P3
We can put a man on the moon...
written in caveman by kryxel
translated to binary by Ray10k

Sales scratched his head, and scanned over the cords for the new computer. It was a new model, supposedly sent to the bureau by Princess Celestia herself, and was specifically altered to allow both humans and ponies to use it with ease.
However, even with the many decades humanity had been working with electronics, setting up anything with a setup step more complicated than “put the plug in the outlet” would invariably result in trouble. Thus, Sales currently found himself in the company of his roommates, the four of them making a valiant effort to set up the electronic beast on Derpy’s desk, so far with little success.

"Over a thousand years worth of technological development, and the human race still can’t figure out how to make setting up ONE computer easy," Terrence said while he scanned through a book about four times as thick as an average dictionary. The front of the book simply read, “Manual (part 1 of 6: setup)”

"You sure we’re setting up a computer, or did we get shipped a nuclear reactor by mistake?" Hal said, warily eyeing the other five doorstoppers that claimed to be the various parts of the manual, labeled with ominous titles like “first-time use,” “maintenance,” or, in the case of the thickest tome of the series, “troubleshooting.”

"I’m not so sure anymore... I mean, it looks a little like a computer if you hold it like this and squint your eyes... or maybe that’s just the control panel," Victorious said, tilting his head as he held the big touch screen monitor up above the other would-be computer assemblers, keeping it aloft in the dark blue aura of his magic.

A few feet away from the group, Grace and Lindie sat together watching the boys. Galinda was chuckling at their clumsy attempts of finding the right way to jam the wrong cable into a hole intended for ventilation, while reading the tome of arcane wisdom masquerading as the manual.

"You’re having fun with this, no?" Grace said, giving little Pepper a little bounce as the tiny colt squirmed on her back, making him giggle with delight.

"Who, me? No, no. What made you think that?" Lindie said while fighting to keep her mirth and sarcasm hidden, a fight she could never hope to win.

Grace chuckled. "You know, if you go over there to help them two things will happen. They will actually get that thing set up correctly, and you could flirt a little with that cute cowboy there. "

Grace chuckled at her own suggestion, while Galinda just gave a wry grin. "Sorry sister, my cooling fans don’t spin that way," Lindie said. "Besides, if I went over there to assist with the diagnostics, I bet they’d get me a ton of malware. And between you and me, that is one virus I’d rather avoid."

Grace responded with a confused look. “You are talking about them as if their pants-”

"Woah! heads up!"

A loud *bang* sounded through the office, as Victorious lost control over his spell and dropped the monitor, causing a large cloud of dust to be blown out from under the desk.

A few moments of thorough confusion for everyone in the room later, the assembled humans plus pony got back on their feet, trying to assess the damage.

"E-everyone all right?" Victorious said, worry clear in his voice.

"I’m fine, you bloody needlehead! What did you do that for?" Hal said, coughing as he tried to get the dust out of his lungs.

"Ahh am all right," Terrence said as he dusted off his Stetson. "Where’s Sales? Hey Sales, where are you!”

In response to Terrence’s call, a banging noise came from below the desk, followed by the slightly muffled voice of Sales. "Over here! I’m ok, but can someone move the monitor so I can get out?"

When Victorious had lost control, the monitor had fallen in front of the opening in the desk where a person’s legs usually were, just as Sales was trying to run a few cables there, leaving the boy trapped.

Victorious took a closer look, trying to gauge if he could lift the monitor again. "Just a second, Sales, I need to catch my brea-" He blinked, as the monitor was lit up by a familiar cold blue aura, before floating upwards. "Oh, horseapples," he said, before turning to face the owner of said magic.

Colgate stood there, her horn aglow with the same blue magic. She set the monitor down on the desk, and turned her full attention to Victorious, her face serious.

"I told you, you are not yet ready to handle heavy magic, remember? ‘Using magic taxes both the body and the mind,’ like I told you earlier! You go and get some rest. And I do suggest you get all the rest you can get, because tomorrow you’ll be running your tail off! " She said, before levitating the manual and finding the page with actually useful instructions.

with the help of Galinda (thanks to some persuasion on Grace’s side), the guys were soon looking at the running computer of pony and human equality.

"Now THAT is big..." Victorious said, awed by the sheer size of the electronic beast that currently occupied most, if not all of the desk.

"True, and it’s strong too. Can connect to just about anything... Bet it can even link to the database in Celestia's kingdom," Galinda said with a hungry look on her face.

"W-what? Celestia has computers? I thought Human tech couldn’t go through the barrier! " Hal said, looking at Galinda with a look of surprise and a little hope.

"no, hold on. Let me change my Localization. *Ahem!* It can connect to anything, including the libraries in Canterlot and Ponyville. Maybe even to those of other cities, with some creative searching," Lindie said with a grin.

Hal gave her an annoyed glance. "Why don’t you talk like that normally? I was almost thinking you had some malfunctioning chip in your head, blocking normal talk!"

Lindie started to walk way, not even looking at Hal as she answered. "Because, why bother with primitive caveman talk, when you can talk binary?”

About half an hour later

Sales sat outside with Rainbow Spring. The two of them were looking at the foals playing tag with their dads as Mrs. Cake was preparing lunch, and Grace was busy with flight training.

"So, are you okay?" Spring asked, breaking the silence between them as she looked over at Sales.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?" Sales said with a smile.

"Don’t bother lying, you are terrible at it," Spring replied, deadpan.

"I d-don’t know what you are talking about," Sales replied, a bit confused at her reaction.

"Well, let me give you a hint, then." She pointed down to his shoe. A small trickle of blood was slowly flowing out through one of the holes for the laces. “That, and the fact that you’ve been limping ever since you’ve helped set up that big computer gadget. So, what happened?”

Sales sighed, and rolled up one leg of his pants, revealing a long, shallow scratch. "When I pulled my legs under the desk, I nicked my leg on some corner."

Spring sighed, relieved the wound wasn’t too bad. "Okay. If you want me to, I could heal that..." Spring said as she took a closer look.

"Sure," Sales said, holding his leg out.

Spring closed her eyes, as her horn started to glow a faint pink. A moment later, a similar glow circled the cut, making Sales twitch a little as the wound stung a bit.

Sales looked at his leg when she stinging stopped, finding only a small scar where the wound had been. “wow...”

"If we had a real medical pony on staff here, there would not even be a scar, but anyhow! Come on, it is lunch time!" Spring said as she got up.

"What? How can you tell?"

"Because Mr. Cake and Victory took the foals inside a minute ago," Spring said with a grin, as she trotted towards the door.

"Wait for me!" Sales said, standing up as well and chasing after the pink pony.

///////////////
Ray10k here.

So, not a whole lot going on in this chapter, but surely next chapter will be different.

episode 7 part 3 an awful lot of running to do

Most of the time, the Bureau maintained a very strict “no running in the hallways”-rule. After all, if you are dealing with a potion capable of changing one’s very being, kindergarten-level security was the least one would have to adhere to. As it stood however, Shining Armor and Victorious Shield had thrown that rule out of the window, as they charged down the hallways towards Octavia’s room, Octavia herself only barely keeping up.

“T-split!” Victorious shouted as the trio ran towards the intersection.

“L- left!” Octavia replied between breaths, cursing her lack of physical fortitude due to too many years of performing for long nights in front of stuffy audiences.

Rounding the corner, Victorious quickly found his path obstructed by a gun. Judging by the nozzle, some black-market semi-automatic rifle, the kind most gangs would use. “An’ where do you thin’ you’re goin’?” the HLF-thug in front of the group said as he leveled his weapon to their faces.

Before he could pull the trigger however, he was suddenly knocked out by a large green bottle with a bunch of grapes on the label. “I’m sorry, so sorry,” Berry muttered as she inspected the now unconscious HLF-member while the ventilation grate behind her still swung on its hinges.

Victorious was the first to pick up his jaw and break the shocked silence the group had entered. “Berry, what were you doing in the air vents?”

Berry looked up from her inspection, and shot a nervous grin. “Surprise pulled me in there, just when I was inspecting the cellar. She insisted we’d start clearing the way to Octy’s room, and-”

Despite the death-glare from Octavia that could be felt without seeing it, Shining interrupted the brewer without even flinching. “Thank you very much, but we need to get going. We need to get to miss. Pie’s room as soon as possible, and every moment we spend talking might just be one too many.”

Berry nodded as she walked back to the still swinging grate. “You should be all right. Just follow what Octy says, and you won’t get in trouble,” she said as she reached for the grate with a shaking foreleg.

Victorious walked up to her, putting a hoof on her withers. “Are you OK? You are trembling.”

“No. I’m not ‘OK,’” the plum brewer replied before looking up to the white Unicorn. “Right now, I’m running on ninety percent adrenaline, nine percent denial and one percent willpower not to just break down! Why do I have to be the one Surprise drags into these stupid, stupid schemes?!” Visibly struggling now not to break down, she continued. “All I wanted was to get a bit of recognition. Have some newfoals spread the word about my wines and such. And here I am, fighting like some weird Gryphon/Changeling combo! Why me?! Why here?! WHY!? I never-”

Victorious interrupted her with a hug. “Listen, Berry. You don’t have to do this, OK? Look, the rest are in the central storage room, you can go to them. And if Surprise has any problem with that, I’ll deal with her. Now, just go to them. We’ve got a plan to stop this madness, and with the way to Octavia’s room clear we should be able to complete it in no time.”

The purple Earth pony nodded through the tears, before slowly walking off in the general direction the other three had come from.

Victorious kept looking at her retreating form, until a voice interrupted his thoughts. “That’s not the first time you found a civilian in the middle of a battlefield, was it?”

Turning to Shining Armor, Victorious shook his head. “No. You’d be disturbed how often it happens. But enough time spent here. Let’s move!” he said before charging down the recently cleared hallway, the rest of the group following in close pursuit.

Elsewhere in the bureau, Hal had discovered an interesting new use for the halves of the handcuffs which were still on his wrists: impromptu sword deflectors.

*CLANG!*

Blocking another swipe from the katana-wielding city girl, Hal leapt back in an effort to put some distance between himself and the warrior. “Listen to me, Elane! That thing’s going to blow!” he shouted as he pointed to the nuclear device between the two of them.

“Oh, I know. But the Kensing family never backs out of a contract. Family honor and all that. Also, you might wanna attack for a change soon. Even my old granny never defended for as long as you do!”

Seizing up the situation, Hal only gave a grim chuckle as he wiped the blood from his lip. “Guess playtime is over then. Just about warmed up too.”

Elane gave a mocking smile as she adjusted the grip on her sword. “You better hurry then, or else things’ll get warmer than a clothing store on black Friday,”

Despite the explosion and subsequent invasion of the bureau, the HLF-vans were still standing in a loose circle near the front gate. After all, every attack needed some kind of base to fall back on if things got troublesome. Most organized militias would have left some kind of sentry to protect the base or, at the very least, warn the camp of incoming attacks. As things were however, the Doctor and Twilight only had to make sure they didn’t step on the sleeping guard as they made their way into the temporary compound.

“All asleep... Does Equestria have sleep gas or something?” the Doctor mused out loud as the two of them explored the area between the vans.

“Gas? No. Then again, my daughter is the Student of the Princess of the Night,” Twilight responded as she nudged a sleeping guard into a more natural pose. “Painless and harmless.”

The Doctor nodded. “Right... well, we still need to-”

*CA-CLICK*“HALT! Hands in tha air, and hooves on tha ground!”

Silently chuckling at the ponified cliché, the Doctor raised his hands in the air.

“Turn around!”

The two of them turned to face the source of the voice, Twilight dragging her hooves in order to comply with the earlier order.

The woman before them leveled her shotgun at Twilight’s head (or, so the purple Unicorn mused, more at her horn.) “I’ll shoot at tha first spark, so don’t try anything stupid. Comprendé, needlehead?”

Twilight nodded quickly. “I understand. No magic here.”

She grinned. “That’s more like it. Now, what tha hell are you doing here?”

This time, it was the Doctor who responded. “We wanted to negotiate a truce. Please, take us to your leader!”

Thinking for a moment, the HLF-member nodded. “Allright. But I’ll be watching you! ” She said as she walked around the pair, prodding Twilight in the back of her head with the shotgun. “Move.”

The Doctor chuckled to himself as they left the ring of vans. ’Take me to your leader. Never gets old.’

“So... you are Colgate, but not really yet?”

“Yes. I think. Might be wrong though.”

Derpy sighed. She and Colgate-but-not-quite had been going back and forward for the better part of the last ten minutes since they had reached the TARDIS-but-not-the-one-you-mean-why-does-this-have-to-be-so-difficult? Sighing, she took another look at the cobalt Unicorn before her. Same exact coat, same exact cutiemark (down to the grains in the hourglass,) same natural control over the Doctor’s wonderful box. And yet...

“So, time for me to ask something,” ‘Colgate’ said with an uncharacteristic grin on her face. “Why do you keep calling me Colgate? It will have been years until anypony called me that, so why will you?”

Ignoring the strange tenses (travel long enough with the Doctor, and even your understanding of the concept of time in relation to language will suffer,) Derpy continued. “So... If you aren’t Colgate yet, what should we call you?”

The blue Unicorn pondered the question for a moment. “You could call me TARDIS. Everypony calls me that all the time.”

Derpy shook her head. “No, that won’t do... the Doctor always called the box that way.” ‘Save for that time he thought I wasn’t watching...’

“Excuse me!” The two mares looked up from their conversation, to princess Cadence who was just heading down the stairs, away from the room where they had brought the injured. “Some of the ponies got badly hurt in the attack, and I need bandages to treat them. Are there any onboard?”

‘Colgate’ nodded. “Just go down the stairs, second hallway on your left, third on your right, then go up twice, take five left turns and it should be right in front of you. It is a blue door leading to a red room, can’t miss it. Also, if you run into a green room, you took a wrong turn somewhere. Just leave through the red door, repeat the original path, and you should be fine.”

Cadence could only nod dumbly. “Err...ok. Thanks for the directions,” she mumbled before she headed off.

Derpy raised an eyebrow. “Last time the medicine closet was behind the first door on the left after leaving this room. Did you...?”

‘Colgate’ shook her head. “It has been that way ever since I stole the Doctor. You are mistaken.”

At that point, a thoroughly soaked Cadence returned. “Colgate, are you sure there is no faster, less complicated way there? I did as you said, and somehow ended up in an aquarium in some kind of lounge. The lives of ponies depends on it!”

‘Colgate’ raised an eyebrow. “Right now, there isn’t. But hold on.” Closing her eyes, her horn started to glow with a golden light, before a trail of fairy dust lazily made its way to the central console. “There. Recalculated the local structure of my body. Now, just go up the stairs over there,” she said as she pointed a hoof in the general direction of a set of stairs leading to the deeper parts of the extradimensional time/spaceship, “and take the first door on your left. Should still be a blue door leading to a red room.”

Cadence climbed the stairs, only to return moments later with several rolls of bandaging. “Thank you. Though I must ask, miss Colgate, why is there a door leading to the inside of an aquarium?”

‘Colgate’ shrugged. “The Doctor has guests of many species. And I’m not Colgate, by the way.”

Derpy nodded. “We were talking about that just now. Are you sure you don’t have anything we could call you? Not even a nickname?”

‘Colgate’ thought about it for a moment. “Well, last time I had a different body, everypony called me Idris. Or, well, everyone did. ”

Cadence nodded. “Very well then, Idris. Thank you for your help. Also, it might be helpful to remember that ‘recalculation’ spell in the future.”

Idris nodded, before resting a fore hoof on her chin in contemplation. “I will, but actually, Block Transfer Computation has little to do with magic. While I can see the similarities, fact remains that all the manipulations are the result of mathematical formulas, and- She left, didn’t she?”

It took Derpy a moment to realize the last question was for her. “Y-yes. She did. So, Idris?”

Idris nodded. “For now, that name will do.”

“So, you are in control of the TARDIS now?”

The blue Unicorn nodded, although hesitantly. “Yes and no. I am no more in control of my body than you are of yours. I can do a lot, but for some things I need my thief to pull the right lever or push a button. Still, if need be I can do quite a few things.”

Derpy nodded this time. “Right... Wonder how my Doctor is doing...”

Meanwhile, in a different part of time...

As he slammed the door behind him, Doctor Whooves once more thanked his hooves for carrying him faster than his humanoid form ever let him. “Carnivorous butter... why, by the Eye of Harmony, did it have to be carnivorous butter?”

Turning his attention to the only other pony in the control room of the TARDIS, he gave a small smile. “Told you there would be nothing here. Now, let’s head back to where we were, shall we?”

“I... I am sure he is not in any situation as strange as that.” Derpy raised an eyebrow at this. “Ok, not entirely as strange as that. Still, I do think he will be back soon,” Idris concluded.

Derpy nodded, as she managed a slightly lopsided smile. “You’re right. He’ll be back.”

Derpy and Idris weren’t the only ones hoping for backup. As it stood, Hal found himself vastly outclassed by the swordswoman as he leaned against a wall and tried to ignore the pain left by a shallow cut to the stomach.

Fortunately for him, Elane decided that now was a good time for a little break as well as she put a hand on her stomach. ”You got a mean right hook, you know? Should have ended this earlier,” the high-class mercenary chuckled grimly.

“And miss out on all of this? Don’t bother. I know your kind. Never satisfied, until they get pushed too far. Besides, would you let the world lose someone as good looking as me?” the Blackmesh undercover agent replied with a smirk of his own.

Elane scoffed as she readied herself once more. “Takes one to know one, but enough. I thought you’d be more interesting, but I have no use for lines that cheesy. Prepare to die, idiot!”

Stumbling back to what at least resembled a fighting pose, Hal grinned. “Cheesy? Lady, have you ever listened to yourself?”

A Cello is mostly air, since much of the body is occupied by the resonance box. As such, one would expect the instrument to be rather light. Victorious Shield however, learned the hard way that (while the previous statement was true,) carrying a Cello or any other oversized violin-like instrument was not an easy task.

“Careful! You’ll end up breaking it if you don’t treat it more gently!”

Sighing for what felt like the tenth time in half as many minutes, Victorious shifted the weight into what he hoped was a more stable position, as Octavia kept on insisting they’d slow down despite the immediate danger everypony was in. Who would have known that transporting a single instrument could be such a hassle?

Glancing over to Shining Armor, Victorious silently pleaded him to take over from him.

“And don’t think I didn’t see you there! No magic near Celly, it takes forever to tune her afterwards!”

Flinching at the slightly stinging remark, Victorious quickly turned his head back to the road ahead.

In the meantime, Octavia had apparently found her second wind as the three of them hurried over to the broadcasting booth, or as Octavia had insisted on calling it, “Her most important solo yet, bar none.”

“Now, we are almost there. I don’t think we’ll run into any trou-” At this point, the grey mare was interrupted by her ears suddenly flopping over her eyes, followed by a twitching knee which caused her to crash in a rather painful way. “WATCH OUT! WE’LL-” she managed to choke out, interrupted by the group literally tumbling into an HLF guardsman.

Sadly for them, the guard was the first to get back up. “Hey, now. What are you doing here? Last I heard, the cattle would be stuck in some room!” he said as he leveled his gun at the large Unicorn and grey Earth pony before him. “Now, why don’t you just go to the rest of your-”

The rest of his implied threat was interrupted by a cello to the head. “Sorry for that, but we are in a hurry,” Victorious said as he gave a quick inspection to the now unconscious guard. Turning back to his companions, ha gave an awkward smile. “Is everypony OK?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” Shining said with a barely hidden sigh of relief. Turning to the third member of their group, he started asking, “Are you unharmed as well miss-” only to be interrupted by a death glare from the grey mare.

“Unharmed?” Octavia asked, her voice eerily level. “Unharmed, you ask? After your little friend used Celly as a cheap club!?!” Turning her attention to the now cowering Victorious Shield, she continued her angry rant as she closed in on the unfortunate stallion. “Do you even know what she means to me?! Let me tell you, colt! She was there, when I got my cutiemark! She was there, when I held my first concert in Canterlot’s Royal Concert Hall! She was there, when I met the love of my life! AND YOU JUST HIT SOMEONE WITH HER!!!”

Backing into the wall behind him, Victorious began to stammer. “I- I’m sure the case p-protected her, right?” Was all he managed to say before Shining opened the case.

“Actually, it looks like ‘she’ took quite the hit from the impact. I don’t think-”

Victorious wisely shut his mouth when Octavia gave him the kind of glare most mothers reserve for those who would even suggest hurting their child.

“m-maybe it can be... f-fixed?” Victorious managed to stutter, followed immediately by him wondering ‘why did I remind her of my existence?!’

Pastor William Winchester allowed himself only a small measure of Pride. After all, Pride in any form was a sin, yet like all the sins nearly impossible to avoid. So, in an attempt to at least guide his sins towards a mild Judgment, he only allowed himself to feel Pride for his devotion to the LORD and all of His works. As such, he had little patience for those who would conspire against Him. “Let me make sure I understand your lies, ‘Doctor,’” he said from behind the small altar in the trailer-turned-mobile-chapel. “You want me, to stop this most Holy of missions, just to spare the lives of the hellspawn you so willingly defend?”

“Well, yes,” the Doctor said with a sheepish grin.

Closing his eyes as he sighed in exasperation, the Pastor continued. “And you thought it would be a good idea to bring along one of the little Devils, in order to corrupt me into agreeing?”

“I don’t think I could ‘corrupt’ anypony or anyone, but I did come along to-” Twilight began, only to be interrupted by the Pastor speaking up.

“Kill them. We have no use for the Demons, or for traitors.”

The guard standing behind the two of them pumped his shotgun in a wholly unnecessary display of dominance, before taking aim in a rather exaggerated manner.

“Nononono, Hold on! I’m no traitor! Please just listen to me!” the Doctor pleaded.

In response, the Pastor raised his hand. “Hold on, don’t shoot them just jet.” As the guard lowered his gun with a disappointed scowl, the spiritual leader continued. “You stand here before me, demanding I stop this most sacred of pilgrimages, let the heretics and the Demons run free, and still you have the gall to claim you are no traitor?! Very well then. The LORD will forgive his wayward children, as long as they atone for their sins. Tell me, my son, why are you no traitor to the LORD?”

Coughing in an obviously uncomfortable fashion, the Doctor responded. “Well, this might take a while to explain...”

If there was one family that stood out among the general strangeness of Equestria, it was the Pie family. For starters, their family name was quite deceiving, since the members of the family had quite a diverse set of talents, ranging from rock farming to architecture in the current generation alone rather than the pastry related occupations everypony sort-of expected when confronted with the surname “Pie.” Another thing that stood out amongst their bloodline was their uncannily accurate intuition, to the point where most ponies who knew any member of that family well enough also knew better than to question their judgment.

As such, only some ponies from the Bureau itself had objected in any way or form when Pinkie had dashed off, mentioning something about glue, a cello and a way to stop her sister from killing anypony while citing a flopping liver plus some other involuntary muscle spasms as the only reason for her sudden escape.

Thankfully for Victorious Shield, she was at the scene of the crime before any crime other than Cello-assisted assault could take place. “Hold on, sister! Pinkie to the rescue!”

no more than a minute later...

Putting the finishing touches to the newly ‘repaired’ cello, Pinkie gave the battered instrument a final once-over before nodding, and offering it to her grey sister. “Good as new, go ahead and try it!”

Octavia raised an eyebrow, the skepticism almost oozing off of her face. “’Good as new?’ Pinkie, Celly is only barely holding together, and the glue hasn’t even dried!”

Pinkie shook her head. “Oh sister, when will you stop worrying about the small things? Give her a try, and trust your big sister!”

Octavia shot her a cold glare. “Still a year older than you, but fine. Because you are (somehow) family.” Rearing up on her legs, she prepared her bow in one hoof while placing the other across the neck of her beloved instrument. Hesitating for only a moment, she tried playing a simple exercise tune.

The resonance box was a mess of glue and pieces of wood on one side, the neck felt bent from the impact, and Octavia had been sure she heard something rattle inside when she readied her instrument. Still, the sound was as it always had been, and not even the terrified Victorious could help nodding along with the simple tune.

Stopping the exercise with tears in her eyes, Octavia could not help but smile in relief. “Celly... I thought I lost you!”

The heartfelt reunion would have continued for quite a bit longer, if it hadn’t been for Pinkie. “Hey, sis? You said something about your ‘most important concert yet,’ right?”

Octavia gasped, as she broke out of her relief-induced reverie. “Ohmy! You are right!” Turning back to the two relieved stallions behind her, she quickly returned to her usual no-nonsense demeanor. “Don’t just stand there, get moving!”

One of the first exercises one would get after getting through the background check needed to enter Blackmesh, involved a highly trained instructor beating up all the recruits. The official reason behind it was to make sure that the recruits knew their place in the pecking order, but the more functional explanation was that it left the recruits with some very keen instincts regarding whether or not they could win a given fight.

As Hal slumped against the doorpost of the conversion room, the weight of the nuke plus his injuries leaving him with only barely enough energy to struggle, his instincts were clear. He had lost.

“Never expected anyone to hold out that long against me, and yet you did so unarmed. Congrats,” Elaine said as she cautiously walked up to the man, still holding her blade ready.

Hal could only chuckle as one of his eyes fell on the timer, now entering the last 20 seconds until detonation. “Same to you. Even my instructor hated sparring against me, and yet you held out pretty well. But you made one mistake,” he whispered the last few words as his strength left his body.

Sheathing her sword, Elane held her ear close to the dying man’s face. “A mistake? And what would that be?”

Hal chuckled grimly, before suddenly grabbing Elane by the throat and throwing her through the door to the conversion room, dragging himself after her and locking the door before she could get up. “Blackmesh soldiers... We go out with a bang.”

Had anyone stood outside the door at that point, they would have heard only the faintest of grumbles as the suitcase nuke exploded, the blast contained perfectly well by the often described as ridiculous armor of the conversion room.

“...And that is why I’m no traitor. Any questions?” the Doctor finished his minutes-long speech, causing the lone guard to snap out of his drowsiness-induced nap.

“Just one,” the Pastor replied as he rubbed his temples. “Do I look like a fool, ‘Doctor?’ Do I look like the kind of person you could trick into believing your little fairytale of aliens and time travel? This has gone on for long enough already, guard! Shoot-”

At that exact point, the speakers around the perimeter of the Bureau began to play, forcing the confused guard to drop his gun as his body suddenly started dancing, in a way that suggested only the basest of grasps of rhythm.

He is like fire, burning through time
As old as forever, but fast in his prime I
saw his blue spaceship materialize
He looked out and said to me “run for your life!'”
The doctor quickly picked up Twilight and carried her away from the pastor who had re-drawn his gun and aimed it at the two

"I don’t know why I never thought to ask for his name
But I really don’t think he’d have told me the truth anyway
But that’s ok

It’s completely terrifying but it’s so so exciting
He said I was brilliant and I could change the world
So many places I’ve been; there’s so much more to see
We’ve got galaxies and planets and moons
And an awful lot of running to do"
The pastor fired and a shot grazed the side of a nearby door. the Doctor kept running

As a full-time companion he gave me a key
And a phone with a signal in every galaxy
As we fell through the vortex I felt so free
Please don’t let this danger just be another dream

Cos my life before you was unreasonably mundane
I’ve never been happier although we face death every day
I wouldn’t have it any other way

And you know you can fix that chameleon circuit if you try hot-wiring the
fragment links and superseding the binary/binary/binary/binary/binary/binary-

*BANG*

The song continued in the distance, but with the speaker closest to the three of them blown apart by the shotgun now in the Pastor’s hands, the effect was broken.

Twilight was the first to recover from both the shock, and the lingering effects of the Mayhem. “W- what!? Doctor, how did he break free from-”

“You...”

Both of them could only look at the enraged man, too shocked to run away.

“You are... All of you...
GARBAGE!!!” the enraged man shouted as he pumped the shotgun in his hands, the empty casing falling to the floor.
“You claim you come in peace,
That you only mean well,
But when anyone sees through your lies,
You immediately resort to witchcraft and silence them!
But no more shall you go unimpeded!
I am the Pastor of the One World Church,
Servant of the LORD,
I am William Wincester,
And I will END you!”

*BANG*

The Pastor had pulled the trigger, intending to kill Twilight. However, during his speech, the Doctor had gotten in front of her and was the one to take the deadly spray of high-velocity metal.

“Doctor!!!” Twilight screamed as she caught the falling man on her back.

Visibly struggling to open his eyes, the Doctor managed a weak chuckle. “That... that hurt... Don’t think I’ll survive that... Can’t believe... ‘I’ would die twice...”

Gently putting the profusely bleeding man on the ground, Twilight managed to suppress her panic attack just enough for a quick check. Multiple wounds to the chest, many of which suggested extensive damage to the lungs. Large amounts of blood loss, possible organ failure due to shrapnel damage. He was not going to live. “S- stay with me, Doctor! I’ll get you to Cadence, she can-”

“You will do no such thing, Demon!” Looking up from the dying man, Twilight looked straight down the barrel of the shotgun held by the Pastor as he walked up to them. “And you! You would give your life for one of them?! Hell will be too good for you! Die, heathen!” The Pastor pumped the shotgun once more, but before he could finish the job, the door swung open.

The Equinoid Doctor was the first to charge into the room.“NO! Don’t hurt-”

*BANG*

The Pastor wasted no time leveling the gun at the doorway and pulling the trigger this time. However, before he could reload the shotgun again, the weapon was cloaked in a golden glow and pulled from his hands.

“You... how DARE you!?!” Idris shouted as she charged into the van, crushing the shotgun in her telekinetic grasp into a small ball of scrap while tears of rage fell from her eyes as she shifted her grip to the startled man, lifting him straight into the air. “He did you no harm, he tried to save you from your own idiocy, and you kill him for it?!” she screamed as she pulled the man to her face.

Sputtering for but a moment, the Pastor managed to regain some of his composure. “What will you do to stop me, Demon? Go ahead. Kill me,” he said with a wavering self-certain grin. “The LORD will judge me a martyr, and reward me accordingly. All you do, is give me my just reward.”

Idris was silent after the man’s words. However, after a few seconds, she chuckled. And if anypony would have seen her expression of sheer sadistic cheerfulness at that moment, they would never again have a single solid night of sleep unmarred by nightmares. “Is that so? You don’t fear the judgment of your own maker? Very well. Judge yourself then!!!” Her eyes glowed yellow as she screamed the last three words, wisps of yellow fairy dust leaping from her horn. “You call yourself a servant, and yet you make all the decisions! You call yourself kind, and yet your actions are cruel! For too long, you have lived without a care for how many you hurt! Now, FACE THEM!!!”

Like a swarm of glowing bees, the wisps of light leapt for the Pastor’s eyes. Dropping him to the ground, Idris turned around and walked away. “Cover your ears,” she said to the other people in the room.

Twilight was the first to recover. “W-what did you-” however, before she could finish her question, the Pastor started to scream.

“NOOO!!!! I meant well! I didn’t know! I’m not to bl-AAAAARRGH!! They made me! HE made me! I am innoc-GYAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

Idris gave a chuckle what would make even the most hardened of soldiers flinch in fear. “I did what I said I would,” she said as tears started forming in the corners of her eyes. “He- he said he w-wasn’t afraid, so I-I made him- made him see all the effects h-his choices have had.” At this point, Idris’ frightening mask of rage gave way for one of crushing realization. “I-I m-m-made him regret everything! N-nopony deserves t-that,” she barely managed to say before she broke down in tears, the knowledge of what she had done breaking her completely.

“DOCTOR” at that moment, the door to the trailer slammed shut from the slipstream left by Derpy’s entrance as she dove for the wounded Earth pony. “Doctor! C-can you hear me? Does it hurt? S-so much blood... Please, don’t leave me!”

“He... He will go. But he won’t die, right? You are me, after all.”

As one, everypony in the trailer turned to the Doctor, only now noticing the wisps of yellow light flowing from his skin. “The children of Gallifrey... we never really liked endings... so, Rassilon gave us thirteen lives, rather than one...”

“Doctor, what magic is that? And what are you talking about?!” Twilight said with frustration obvious in her voice.

“No magic... just Time Lord science. So, might as well be magic, right?” the Doctor managed as he winched from a surge of pain.

“One... One heart.”

Looking back to the dying pony the Doctor raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I... have... one. heart. I don’t age... but I have... one... heart...” the stallion managed, each breath laborious and pained.

Derpy held him tightly, almost as if she feared letting him go would be his end. “Don’t go! I can’t go on without you! What about Dinky? What about Colgate? W-what about m-me?!”

The humanoid Doctor watched the scene before him, before he raised a trembling hand from the ground. “You don’t have any more lives... but I have some to spare, and she needs you!” At this, all the lights flowing from his skin formed into a single stream of golden light, leaping from one Doctor to the other.

As the glow around the humanoid Doctor died out, it only increased in intensity around the Equinoid Doctor, causing Derpy to flinch away. For only a few moments did Doctor Whooves’ body spasm on the ground, before two magnificent wings spread from his back as the wounds to his chest healed, leaving not even the slightest scar in their wake. When the glow faded away, all that was left was a brown Pegasus stallion, peacefully sleeping according to the rise and fall of his chest.

As so many times before, it was Twilight’s curiosity and confusion that overcame the silence the miracle before them had brought everyone in the trailer to. “D-Doctor, you saved him! How did you-” the rest of her question died in her throat, as she saw the look of utter terror on the Doctor’s face.

“I- I had more than one left! I should be regenerating as well! W-why isn’t it...” was all he managed to say, before he collapsed.

“DOCTOR!!!” Twilight screamed, before her first aid course kicked into high gear. Putting her ear to his chest, she started her assessment. Irregular, but weakening pulse. Excessive blood loss. Loss of consciousness.

He was dying.

*BANG*

Twilight’s startling realization was broken by the trailer’s doors slamming open once more, revealing-

“Greetings, all of you! No time to explain, I have a potion to deliver!” A brown Pegasus stallion, a vial of some purple sparkling liquid visible between the feathers of his wings, who seemed suspiciously similar to the sleeping Pegasus next to Derpy.

When nopony spoke up, he raised an eyebrow. “Or wait, did they add that rule for live saving conversions yet? I never seem to get the timing for that right.”

“T-there is a rule, stating no consent is needed for conversion, when the subject’s life is in danger, but who-” Twilight started.

Nodding quickly, the stallion made his way over to the dying man. “Good. As Equinoid physiotherapist of the St. George Conversion Bureau, I hereby save this man’s life,” he interrupted Twilight before quickly removing the cap from the small bottle with one wing, opening the Doctor’s mouth with the other wing and quickly pouring the purple liquid into the man’s throat.

“Hold on! You can’t be!” Derpy shouted as she recovered just a little from the many shocks she recently had to endure. “The Doctor was the Bureau’s therapist, and you are not him! Why do you claim to be him?”

The newcomer chuckled a bit at that. “But I am him. Just look at your special somepony, don’t we look alike?” he said as he turned in place, showing the hourglass on his flank.

Looking down on her recently regenerated romantic interest, Derpy could only stammer. “But- you- he-” then, as her mind caught up, her eyes aligned as she realized the answer. “Colgate! She brought you here!”

The Pegasus ‘Doctor’ nodded. “Yes, she did. And not a moment too soon, I may add.” Turning to Twilight, he continued. “Also, if the lives-before-choices rule still doesn’t apply, I agree to conversion retroactively. There, that should take care of all the legal issues.”

Twilight in the meantime had put a hoof over her eyes, all of the recent occurrences making her head spin.

“Let me get this straight. You are the Doctor.”

The brown Pegasus nodded.

“But, you are also Doctor Whooves.”

Again, he nodded.

Twilight responded with a sigh. “Since time travel is only good for causing ice-cream induced stomach aches, I’ll just stop there and let you explain.”

The new Doctor nodded again. “No ends-of-worlds I can do anything about at the moment, so I have a little time.” Looking over to the blob of goo and clothes that used to be the Humanoid Doctor. “At least, until about half an hour after he finishes. Still have to explain to myself how damaging thaumic radiation can be, even if you can regenerate all the affected tissue...”

Author's Note

Ray10k here.

So, a few references to pre-9th Doctor episodes (which I admit I never saw), some not-so-minor shoutouts to obscure fanfiction, two ponies with violence-induced mental breakdowns and the proverbial fan receiving a liberal coating of feces. I like to think I did well. As usual, the original is here.

Second, I’d like to give a shout-out to Chatoyance. Thank you for solving the problem with the Doctor’s regenerations for me. (To be honest, initially I was going to make the Pony Doctor partially immune to regeneration, prompting the Humanoid Doctor to transfer too many regenerations. Thank you for pointing out the damaging effects of thaumic radiation and the narrative application thereof :-) )

Only other thing I could think of: given his past experiences with the Daleks and the Cybermen, I don’t quite think the Doctor would be all that much in support of the Conversion event. On the other hand, I don’t think he would approve of the HLF’s methods either. Thoughts?

Kryxel here:
i always suck at endings. mainly because i dont rein in my beginnings.
when i start a story i let the story tell itself. slowly and methodically...
and that also happens to break a few gaping plotholes in things..
so trying to rein them in at this point in time is like trying to wrangle a wild tornado.
lucky ray was able to make sense of my madness.
anyway this seems to be the second to last chapter... i just hope you have all enjoyed the ride

PS: ray, i ship Halene too although i perfer to call them lady and the tramp.