The Conversion Bureau: Helping Handsby CV12HornetChaptersPrologueThe CatalystNew DividePrologue“I’m sorry, Luna.” With those whispered words, Celestia fired the Rainbow of Light from the Elements of Harmony, engulfing the black alicorn who even now screamed defiant threats at Celestia. Nightmare Moon struggled with all her considerable might, but the harmony magic could not be denied. After a scant few seconds, both the Rainbow of Light and Nightmare Moon were gone, replaced by a crater pattern on the moon resembling an alicorn head. Celestia gazed at the new visage. She had never wanted to do this, but Luna’s transformation had left her with no choice. Sighing, Celestia turned away toward Canterlot Castle. She had much to do. The sun had to be put back in place, she had to calm the entire country and clean up the chaos left in Nightmare Moon’s wake. And she had to plan. Nightmare Moon’s lunar prison would not hold forever, and she needed a plan to more permanently deal with the dark alicorn. And if she could free her sister from that monster’s grasp, so much the better. As Celestia loped through the area devastated by their brief but intense battle, a small mote, as black as interstellar space, latched onto Celestia. She did not notice when it burrowed deep into her soul. In fact, no one would notice until all the work she would put in would be nearly undone. 407 A.N.M./1415 C.E. Agincourt, France One hobby Celestia had picked up to fill her time and distract herself from her grief was to observe other worlds. Most were barren, lifeless hunks of rock; most of the rest had only non-sapient life. To date, she had found only one world with any sapient species, and what she saw of these “humans” (as they called themselves) worried her. Humans were prejudiced, prone to turning to violence as their first choice in far too many activities, and most lived in abject squalor while a select few lived lives of luxury, uncaring for the less fortunate. That was not what made Celestia uncomfortable, though. What made her uncomfortable was how similar these beings were to her little ponies. More specifically, how similar they were to her ponies before the first Hearths’ Warming Eve. Celestia, determined not to make any hasty decisions, decided to see what the human world was like herself. Her scrying spell was not good at capturing the broader picture. So, she planned to project a ghostly form of herself into the human world. Celestia lit up her horn, and after a few seconds of vertigo, saw the human world appear in front of her. Almost immediately, she suppressed the urge to retch. She had appeared on a battlefield. And it was thoroughly unpleasant, even for a battlefield. On one side were a group of armored humans slogging through thick, glutinous mud (Frenchmen, according to her research). Some remained on horseback (Celestia shuddered at the alienness of the face), while the vast majority were now on foot. Arrows fell around them in large numbers, disabling horses and staggering men. Even as Celestia watched in horrified fascination, one of the armored humans stumbled and fell, face-first into the mud. He tried to get up, but couldn’t. A few minutes later he was still, drowned in the mud. And yet the French kept going forward. Celestia tore her gaze away from the armored humans to the other side (English). These men remained behind a palisade of wooden stakes, dressed in leather and wool and holding an impressive longbow. To the sides were more armored humans. The archers were pumping out arrows at an impressive rate, but it was clear they were beginning to run low, and the attackers were getting close. Eventually, the attackers ran out of steam, and those that could fell back. Both sides seemed largely spent. The defenders had exhausted their arrows, and were still badly outnumbered. The French were, in fact, gearing up for another assault. Celestia wondered what the English commander would do. What happened next would have made Celestia throw up had she still been solid. Instead, she could only watch in horrified fascination as the archers pulled out daggers, hatchets, and other assorted weapons, and began prying open the French knights’ armor like crabs. Luna, always the more martial of the sisters, would have recognized the move as cruel but ruthlessly effective. To Celestia it was simply cruel. Finally, Celestia could watch no more, and terminated the spell. For a half hour afterwards, Celestia lay on her floor, curled into a ball, only able to repeat one phrase: why wouldn’t they retreat? She tried to tell herself that this was just one example, that not all humanity was like this, that generalizing from one data point was lousy statistical analysis. But even in her head, the words sounded hollow. Deep in Celestia’s soul, a small speck of darkness chuckled in satisfaction. 1632 C.E./624 A.N.M. Thuringia Province, Holy Roman Empire Over the two hundred years after Agincourt, Celestia had reluctantly come to terms with what she had witnessed. For the most part, she simply figured humanity would grow out of it, much like her little ponies. She continued to peek into the human world, watching as the humans began to colonize new lands and create great works of art and architecture; all encouraging signs (though she continued to puzzle why the viewing spell so favored this one continent). Finally, Celestia worked up the courage to try the astral projection spell again. Once again, she appeared in a dense woodland. Not hearing anything nearby, Celestia flared her wings and took to the air. Turning her head around, Celestia took in the beauty of the German countryside, a beauty that was ruined by a large column of smoke. Frowning, Celestia briefly considered not checking, only to dismiss the idea, despite the lead ball in her stomach. Flying over, Celestia once again would have thrown up had she still been solid. A large group of armed men - soldiers - were pillaging a small village. Some were ransacking the cottages for anything of value. Others were busily torching the ransacked cottages. The vast majority, however, were gathered in the village square, killing the men, carrying off the children, and as for the women- Celestia’s mind decided it did not want to go there, and immediately went on autopilot. Even in the pre-Hearth’s Warming days, ponies almost never raped ponies. It just didn’t happen. A small, detached part of Celestia’s mind mused that it was probably a due to a gender ratio heavily skewed towards females. Unable to keep watching, Celestia flew as fast as she could away from the village. And yet, somehow, no matter how far she flew, she kept seeing the same scene, over and over. Finally, desperate with shock, disgust, and horror, she terminated the astral projection spell, and immediately had to run to the toilet. Two hundred years! she screamed in her head. Two hundred years and they haven’t gotten any better. Hay, they’ve gotten worse, if that’s even possible! It didn’t occur to her to wonder why the astralization spell had sent her to yet another battlefield. The horror scenes replaying in her head prevented that. Sleep did not come easy to Celestia for months afterward. And the darkness fed hungrily on the despair. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania July 5, 1863 C.E./859 A.N.M. Why do I do this to myself? Celestia wondered. It had been another two hundred years. And she had gotten the urge, once again, to visit the human world in her astralized form. This time, she wasn’t even surprised anymore when she arrived on a battlefield; it seemed to be the only thing humans did. This time she did not appear in woodland, but in a cloud of dense smoke. All round was a thundering roar that she could not identify. Lifting herself above the cloud of smoke, she saw a long row of cannons, manned by soldiers in butternut uniforms, firing constantly on a long ridge about a mile distant. Celestia shuddered to think of the destructive power of these weapons; that was the reason she had outlawed them when they were invented in Equestria. With this much artillery, surely the enemy line would be broken, an assumption reinforced when she saw several thousand soldiers line up for a charge. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As it turned out, the enemy line hadn’t been broken, and the soldiers in butternut simply died in droves before ever getting close. And yet, they didn’t stop. The soldiers continued to charge into certain death, and yet they did not falter. Celestia frantically bolted for home, and once again curled up into a ball, a mantra playing in her head over and over again: Why don’t they retreat? Why don’t they retreat? WHY DON’T THEY RETREAT?! By the time Celestia had recovered, she was determined to get answers. 400 years, some of the most heinous acts she had seen, and whoever ruled that world had yet to do anything about it? She would have to find him or her, and give them a piece of her mind. And so she began to scour the globe in what little spare time she had. 80 years later, she found her answer... Canterlot Castle, Equestria 941 A.N.M./1945 C.E. Celestia lay on her bed, lost in thought. Over the past six years she had been watching a war in the human world. That was not unusual; humans seemed to be constantly fighting each other. No, what was unusual was the scale and the cruelty. Only that war in Germany a few centuries ago came close to the cruelty, and none matched the scale. She had seen massive prison camps, where people had been tortured, starved, and killed in vast numbers simply because they did not fit the racial ideal of their captors. She had seen scientists test biological weapons on innocent farmers. She had seen massive flying machines dropping explosives on cities without a care for the people living in it. She had seen seagoing steel fortresses pounding each other to pieces with bomb, shell, and torpedo. Bataan. Holocaust. Dresden. Okinawa. Stalingrad. Leningrad. Hiroshima. Nagasaki. The names meant little to her, but the events did. This... her little ponies had never been capable of anything like this. She could not, would not, believe that any immortal ruler would be capable of standing by and watching this. There was only one reasonable conclusion. There was no immortal ruler. It made sense. Of course they would be this violent without a guiding hand like hers. Her course of action was clear. She would have to bring the humans the light of harmony. It was her duty. And so Celestia began to make plans. Plans to be executed after Nightmare Moon had been eliminated, one way or another. After Discord was resealed; after the Crystal Empire was restored. Plans for- Conversion. Author's Note First story, woot! First, I'd like to give thanks to the crazy wingnuts of Spacebattles, specifically the TCB Story Idea Thread, for inspiring me to make this. Second, I was trying to depict how Celestia went from wise, benevolent ruler to irrational, xenophobic tyrant. Let me know if I've succeeded. The CatalystChapter One: The Catalyst Ponyville, Equestria March 22, 1004 A.N.M. It was a beautiful spring day in Ponyville. Celestia’s sun was shining, spring birds were singing, and the local weather team had outdone themselves this time: last night’s shower had left the air crisp and clear, and there was not a cloud in the sky. I really must compliment Rainbow Dash on a job well done, thought Rarity as she trotted to the Golden Oaks library, having been told to come by a panting Spike. In her not-so humble opinion, it was the perfect day for, say, a picnic. In Rarity’s opinion, such an activity, coming from Twilight Sparkle, was immensely encouraging. The poor dear had largely been cooped up in the library since coming back from the Crystal Empire, and she still hadn’t told anypony about it. Reaching the massive tree that served as the town’s library, Rarity gave a quick knock, answered shortly by a nervous-looking Spike. “Ah, Spike, so good to see you again,” said Rarity. “May I come in?” “Yeah, sure,” Spike mumbled distractedly. Rarity frown at the tone in Spike’s voice, and gave Spike a look of concern. “Spike, what’s wrong? You seem... distracted. Does it have to do with what Twilight called us all here for?” Rarity had a sinking feeling that this was not a get-together for a picnic. Spike gave an explosive sigh and turned around to face Rarity again. “I’m not entirely sure. I have my suspicions, but... look, it’ll be easier if Twilight explains it, and she’ll be down any minute. Okay?” Rarity continued to frown, but accepted the wait. “Alright then. I can wait.” Stepping inside, Rarity gave a quick scan of the room, noting with distaste that she was the last to arrive (a lady must be on time, and arriving after Rainbow Dash is hardly on time!). Applejack and Fluttershy were seated at the table in the center at the room, talking softly to each other; Rarity noted that Winona apparently had contracted a minor cold. Rainbow Dash was hovering impatiently near the ceiling, with Pinkie Pie hopping in a circle around Rainbow and chattering incessantly. Rarity turned her ear in their direction. “- or maybe we’re being recruited by a mysterious organization wearing black suits and sunglasses and carrying memory-wipe wands who try to find aliens and make sure they don’t destroy the planet ‘cause that’d really suck because then there would be no more parties and-” At that point, Rarity, seeing as Dash was about to explode from frustration, took pity on the pegasus and shut Pinkie up with the simple expedient of a hoof to the mouth. “Pinkie, dear, why don’t you sit at the table. I’m sure Rainbow Dash will remember all your... wonderful ideas.” “Okey dokey lokey!”. With that, Pinkie dashed over to the table, pulling a cushion from Celestia knows where, and chatting with Fluttershy, Rarity following only moments behind. Rainbow elected to resume her impatient hovering. Luckily for Rainbow’s temper, Twilight came bounding down the stairs only a few minutes later, clutching a scroll, quill, and several pieces of paper in her telekinetic grip, an excited grin on her face. “Hello, girls, I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you here today.” The five mares looked at each other in confusion, before Pinkie Pie spoke up, “Oh! Does it have to do with a party?” Twilight chuckled. “Maybe, once we’re done. Anyway, Princess Celestia just alerted me that the Conversion plan is going to be started in a week, and as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony we need to be prepared to do whatever the princess asks.” This pronouncement was greeted not with the expected excitement, but with three looks of confusion, two of contemplation, and one of panicked realization. Twilight began to mutter to herself under her breath, “You’ve got to be kidding me, how could the information ministry have missed Ponyville of all places? Probably due to it’s proximity to Canterlot. I know they didn’t run one in Canterlot; everyone knows what Conversion is there. Probably how they missed it on the trips to Canterlot. Oh, when I get my hooves on-” “Uh, Twilight, ya mind tellin’ us what the hay this ‘Conversion’ is?,” Applejack interrupted. “Yes, I’m quite sure I’ve never heard of it before,” added Rarity. “Oh, does it involve-” “A party?” Applejack deadpanned. Pinkie gave a slight glare at the orange mare. “Well played, Applejack.” Before Twilight could answer, Rainbow Dash spoke up, “I remember seeing posters for that up in Cloudsdale. Something about ‘bringing the light of harmony’.” Twilight grinned, much as a schoolteacher did when a slow student finally got something. “Yes, that’s part of it. You see, Celestia found a species on another world known as humans, and they are in dire need of the magic of friendship. Conversion is the plan to teach them about it, and as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, we will be playing a prominent part. Princess Celestia said she would be sending me the specifics once Conversion begins. So, how about it?” The five mares seemed to ponder it, and then gave their answers. “Yeah, count me in, Twilight!” “Uh, sure, Sugarcube. Sounds like a great idea.” “Of course, darling. Not knowing the magic of friendship, of course we should teach them!.” “A new species! Oh, I wonder what they’re like, if they’re nice.” “Eeee, this is going to be the biggest party EVAR! I need to go plan! See ya guys later!” With that, Pinkie zipped out of the library, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash following shortly afterward. With that, Twilight went back upstairs. Spike was about to follow when Applejack spoke up. “Okay, Spike, what is ‘Conversion’, really?” Spike raised his finger, trying to deny the idea that he knew anything about Conversion, but Applejack was having none of that. “Don’t try ta deny it. I saw the look on your face when Twilight started talkin’ about Conversion, and ah could feel that she was hidin’ somethin’. So ah’ll ask it again: what is Conversion.” Spike looked nervously from side to side. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone. I’ve got nothing but suspicions at this point.” “Don’t worry, ah promise.” “Pinkie promise!” Applejack gave Spike a look, then sighed and carried out the pledge. “Cross mah heart, hope ta fly, stick a cupcake in mah eye. There, now can ya tell me?” Spike sighed. “Alright, but remember, I’ve got nothing concrete. Really, it’s just that whenever Twilight or Celestia talk about Conversion, it’s really secretive and, kinda hurtful, like they believe humans are these bloodthirsty monsters.” Spike paused to let it sink in. “They never said anything outright, but I think Celestia wants to do more than ‘teach the humans the magic of friendship’”, Spike sai, complete with air quotes. Applejack stood there, shocked but not really surprised. “That is fishy. Maybe we’re bein’ paranoid, maybe not. Either way, ah think ya need to keep an eye on Twilight, just in case.” Spike nodded. “I can do that. Oh, and a heads up: Conversion begins a week from tomorrow.” “Thanks Spike, ah’ll prepare for that.” With that, Applejack left to go back to Sweet Apple Acres. Even Applejack, however, would be caught completely off guard once Conversion began. Canterlot Castle, Equestria March 29, 1004 A.N.M. Celestia stood in the center of a massive magic circle, horn glowing with a warm yellow light, her wings spread, eyes bright with power, and power rolling off the sun princess in waves. This was easily the most complicated spell she had cast yet. Hay, it wasn’t even one spell, it was two, either one of which would have been nigh-impossible for anypony but an alicorn to cast; casting them in tandem was taxing on even Celestia’s abilities. The 68 years since Celestia had conceived her plan had been simply constructing the spells. One was a wide-area dimensional transfer spell; that one was largely a question of power. By far the more complicated spell was the barrier spell; it needed to eventually cover a whole planet, break down any artificial, non-magical constructs, advance steadily at a walking pace, and be damn near impenetrable. Complicated and power-intensive. So, Celestia had allowed herself several hours of careful spellcasting, timing the actual casting to fall on the spring equinox for that little boost. And so Celestia began to cast, chanting and pacing along preset paths. The execution of the spell was flawless. Unfortunately, the original formula wasn’t. Celestia, for all her power, was not the more skilled spellcaster; Luna had a far better grasp of the intricacies of magic theory. And it was this fact that betrayed her. One misrounded number. That’s all it took. Celestia barely even had time to notice before the massive feedback knocked her out. The barrier had just reached the outer edges of Equestria when the dimensional transfer was initiated just a little too soon. With the barrier still unstable, the interaction compressed and then released the barrier’s energy from a single center. In other words, a country-spanning shockwave centered around Canterlot. Canterlot was practically demolished; nearly all the rest of Equestria looked like it had been slammed by a Category 5 hurricane. All except for one city... The Crystal Empire, Equestria March 29, 1004 A.N.M. Cadence stood in the chamber of the Crystal Heart, using the artifact to power a shield spell similar to the one that had kept Sombra out. Celestia had, some months previously, told Cadence of the Conversion plan, and Cadence, privately, did not trust it at all. There had been no love or compassion in Celestia when she had relayed the plan to Cadence. And when she took control of the Crystal Empire she was determined to keep neutral in the coming conflict. The shield she had thrown up was insurance, in case something went wrong. This proved to be a wise choice when the shockwave hit. The impact of the shockwave drove Cadence to her knees as she struggled to keep the shield up. Luckily, this far from Canterlot the shockwave was much weaker, and the shield held, Shining Armor rushing down shortly after the shockwave subsided. “Cadence, honey, are you all right?” he asked frantically. “I’m... I’m fine, Shiny. Just, give me a moment,” Cadence replied as she hauled herself to her hooves. Shining Armor, meanwhile, simply stared out into the frozen wastes surrounding the Crystal Empire. “What happened here?” “I don’t know, Shiny. But I know that it cannot be good for Equestria.” Cadence’s features hardened, making a face that Shining Armor had sported on multiple occasions. It was an expression of command. “Shining Armor, prepare a contingent of guards for overland travel as soon as possible tomorrow. I need to know what happened, and whether we need to help.” Shining nodded. “I will. And don’t worry. I’m sure Twilight will be all right.” Cadence said nothing for several minutes, before turning to walk to bed. As she did, she whispered “I hope you’re right, Shiny. I hope you’re right. Author's Note Welp, here's chapter one! Short, but mostly setup. I promise, the next chapter will be longer. New DivideDecember 21 1004 A.N.M./2012 C.E. Ponyville Under any other circumstances, Applejack would have been running as fast as her legs could take her (which, as Rainbow Dash could attest, was pretty darn fast). With the amount of debris on the path and the sheer exhaustion the farmpony was laboring under, this was not “most circumstances”. She had been up since midnight, helping Big Mac and Applebloom salvage what they could from the wreckage of Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack’s slow, steady gait faltered as she remembered the damage; the wrecked farmhouse and barn, half the trees blown over, the other half missing all their leaves... Granny Smith... Applejack choked briefly, as her simmering anger threatened to rise up. She pushed it down. There would be a time for it later, when she found who was responsible for this catastrophe so she could introduce them to her two hind legs. And if her suspicions from yesterday were correct? Applejack was glad to call Twilight a friend, but there were some lines you just didn’t cross. A crunch of glass snapped Applejack out of her thoughts, and as she looked around her she could see Ponyville had suffered just as badly as Sweet Apple Acres. What few buildings were still standing were missing some important bits, like a roof, or a wall. Applejack briefly noted that the Golden Oaks library was lying uprooted on its side. Stepping gingerly around shards of glass, Applejack wondered where everypony was. Her arrival at the town square answered that question. It seemed like everypony in town was there, all of them sporting injuries of some sort. Dr. Stable and Nurse Redheart were treating the last of them. Applejack’s heart leapt into her throat as her eyes fell on several white blankets, covering pony-shaped lumps. Several earth ponies were bringing in another body, and with a jolt realised it was Ms. Cake. She turned away, scanning the crowd for her friends. Applejack was just wondering how to find her friends when she spotted a sky-blue blob hanging above the crowd. Well, that was easy. After a few minutes and hasty apologies to a couple she had barely seen until she had almost run into them, Applejack reached her friends. And promptly winced. Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Rarity seemed fine - Rarity’s whining about the scratches and dirt on her coat notwithstanding - but poor Fluttershy’s wings were bandaged to her back, Pinkie was just sitting there, her curly mane straight, a look of utter despondency on her face, and Twilight- Well, Twilight’s disheveled mane and low mutterings were bringing back unpleasant memories of what had been dubbed the “Smarty Pants Incident”. The set of saddlebags was new, though. Turning to Spike, she whispered “How long’s she been like this?” “Since the shockwave hit,” Spike replied. “I’m kinda worried.” “Considerin’ tha last time she was like this she enchanted tha whole town, Ah’m kinda worried mahself.” Glancing at her other friends, she asked “So, what’s tha deal with Pinkie an’ Fluttershy?” Spike sighed. “Remember that bear Fluttershy keeps?” “Uh-huh.” “Well, when that shockwave hit, it kind of, um, fell on her. Her wings are broken.” Applejack winced. She remembered how antsy Rainbow Dash had gotten when her wing had been broken. “So, does anypony know where that shockwave came from?” “Canterlot,” came the immediate reply. A little too immediate. “Uh-huh. This have anythin’ to do with tha fancy magical mumbo-jumbo Celestia was plannin’ ta do, oh, last night?” “If I say yes will you leave me alone?” Spike was sweating now, which is weird, because reptiles can’t sweat. “Does it have anythin’ ta do with that Conversion thing Twilight was rantin’ about yesterday?” Behind her, Rarity’s whining had stopped. Applejack had the distinct impression that her friends were listening intently. Except Twilight. Applejack could still hear her muttering quietly to herself. If Spike was sweating before, now he was gushing. And hyperventilating. Can’t forget that. “Alright, fine, I’ll tell you!” he finally shouted. “Remember those humans, the ones we were going to bring harmony to?” Nods all around. “Okay, first, how did you think Celestia was planning to do that?” Applejack hadn’t thought of that. How would they demonstrate the magic of friendship to an entire species. Luckily, her friends provided answers. “A party!” “Some sort of traveling show, like the Wonderbolts.” “Oh, good idea, Rainbow Dash. That sounds like it would work marvelously.” Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply- “Actually, the princess was just planning to douse all the humans with a permanent transformation potion. Said that “human nature” made them too resistant to anything else.” The air quotes told all five ponies exactly what Spike thought of that idea. “But, wait, you can’t do that!” exclaimed Rarity. “Not without destroying their... personality.” She fell on her haunches, stunned. “Huh. Didn’t know that. Explains a lot.” “D-destroys their personality?!” Rainbow Dash and Applejack exclaimed simultaneously. “Of course.” said Pinkie Pie, despondently. It was the first time she had spoken all day. “Celestia doesn’t care, as long as she spreads her “harmony”.” Pinkie turned to Spike, who flinched at the look in her eyes. “Tell them. Tell them about the barrier.” “Um, alright. I don’t know all the details - heck, I barely understood half the words Twilight was throwing around - but they said it was to protect Equestria in case of misunderstandings. It’s a barrier. Really strong one, I think Celestia based it off Shining Armor’s formula. Anyway, it’s not supposed to let anything made by humans into it. And... I think it’s supposed to get... bigger as time goes on?” “Yup!” exclaimed Twilight, scaring the living daylights out of those present. “As the barrier expands, it’ll destroy aaaaall those pesky bits of technology, and force the humans to convert. Foolproof!” Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin. “Except they somehow managed to sabotage the barrier. That’s the only way it could have collapsed like that.” “Wait,” said Rarity. “Collapsed?” “Oh, yes, have you ever seen somepony miscast a barrier spell? Messy, very messy. Whole thing inverts. And all the energy has to go somewhere, so being near a collapsing barrier is an unpleasant proposition.” “But how do ya figure these “humans” did it? They don’t even live on the same world!” wondered Applejack. “BECAUSE PRINCESS CELESTIA WOULD NEVER HAVE SCREWED UP THAT SPELL!” screamed Twilight. “Ah, sorry girls, I’m under a liittle stress right now.” Five ponies and one dragon stared at the purple unicorn in shock. “She’s not lyin’,” Applejack breathed. They had all known that Twilight idolized Princess Celestia - but not to this extent. It was insane. “Now, girls, I know this is kind of a bad time, but I’m going to need your help to root out those filthy humans.” She turned toward the direction of the library. “I’ve got a stock of potion in my basement, hopefully it survived the-” “No.” Twilight whirled around. “What do you mean, no? You’re my friends right, aren’t you? SO HELP ME!” “No.” replied Rainbow Dash. “We’re not going to help you hunt down these humans. We’re friends, and friends help each other. Even from themselves.” Twilight stared in shock, then whirled to Rarity. She shook her head. “Honestly, darling, I think our higher priority should be to stay and help the town, not go gallivanting across the countryside to find saboteurs that may or may not exist.” Twilight turned to the next pony. “Fluttershy.” The timid pegasus shook her head, too. “I’m sorry, Twilight, but I kinda agree with Rarity. So many ponies are hurt and scared.” “Pinkie Pie?” Pinkie was briefly silent. “Maybe one day I’ll forgive you, Twilight. Today is not that day.” “Rarity?” Twilight’s tone was pleading. “Darling, I-I simply cannot endorse actions that strip any sentient being of their soul. I just can’t!” “Applejack?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Do ya even have ta ask? This Conversion plan - look around you, Twilight! This is what your plan has brought! Granny Smith is dead!” The mares behind her gasped, but Applejack took no notice. “A part of Honesty is tellin’ tha hard truths, and the truth is you’re outta control, Twilight Sparkle. Ya need ta be stopped, not gallivantin’ over tha countryside! But Ah’m gonna let ya go, ‘cause I have bigger priorities.” And with that, Applejack turned around and began to walk away. After a moment, the other four got up and began to walk away as well. Spike was about to follow, but Twilight’s voice stopped him. “Where are you going, Spike?” Twilight’s voice was cold, dangerous. It was a voice Spike had never heard from the mare he considered a sister. “I’m going with them. See what I can do to help.” “You’re coming with me.” “No, I’m not.” “Yes you are! You belong to me, Spike!” “Oh really? Try and stop me.” Twilight grinned. It was not a pleasant grin. It was the kind of grin seen on homicidal clowns. “So glad you said that.” Using her telekinesis, Twilight reached into her bag and hurled a small vial at Spike, simultaneously grabbing hold of his legs. Before the vial could hit the defenseless dragon, though, a yellow body moved between them, the potion splashing uselessly against Fluttershy’s flank. The other four mares were not far behind. And this time, Applejack could feel her rage boil over. “So that’s how it is,” she growled, putting herself between Twilight and Fluttershy. “You’ll stoop ta even convertin’ your oldest friend.” “You don’t know what it’s like,” Twilight snarled back. “Growing up with ponies whispering behind your back, being feared because of a little dragon.” “You’re a loony” replied Applejack. “That’s all ah need ta know.” And with that, Applejack attacked. Had Applejack been fully rested, the fight would have been winnable. Unfortunately, half-crazed or not, Twilight was the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, and Applejack was exhausted. All Twilight had to do was pick up Applejack and slam her against the ground. “Ah, back in the dirt where you belong, little mud pony.” “So now you’re a racist? Why am ah not surprised?” Twilight chuckled. “Insult me all you want, I’m the one stand-”. And that was as far as she got when a blue blur slammed into her. Applejack chose this moment to pass out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Applejack blearily opened her eyes to see a blue face and red eyes, framed by a rainbow mane, about two inches from her face. Lacking the strength to flail, Applejack settled for grumbling “Ya mind gettin’ outta mah face, Rainbow?” Rainbow Dash leaned back, embarrassed. “Eh heh heh, sorry about that.” Applejack looked around, noting that Rainbow was the only pony nearby, although groups of ponies continued to mill around hurt relatives. “Wha’ happened? Where’d everypony go?” “Well, uh, ya kinda passed out. And the girls had other things to do. So, yeah, only pony available.” “Okay.” For some reason, Applejack had the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something. “Oh! Wait, where’s Twilight?” Rainbow Dash’s face scrunched up in a grimace. “Bolted into the Everfree. I’m going after her, and Pinkie and Spike insisted on coming with me.” “Ah’m comin’ too,” Applejack said as she tried to haul herself out of bed. Any progress toward that goal was thwarted by a firm hoof on her shoulder. “Whoa, none of that. You need to rest, and you have responsibilities. I don’t. Neither do Pinkie or Spike, which is the only reason I’m letting them come with me.” Applejack felt sleep coming to claim her again, and barely registered Rainbow’s last words. “Well, they’re ready, so I’m just going to let you go back to sleep, m’kay?” Applejack tried to protest that she wasn’t sleepy, but her blasted eyelids just wouldn’t cooperate. As the last dregs of wakefulness left her, Applejack wondered if Rainbow really could bring Twilight back.
Prologue“I’m sorry, Luna.” With those whispered words, Celestia fired the Rainbow of Light from the Elements of Harmony, engulfing the black alicorn who even now screamed defiant threats at Celestia. Nightmare Moon struggled with all her considerable might, but the harmony magic could not be denied. After a scant few seconds, both the Rainbow of Light and Nightmare Moon were gone, replaced by a crater pattern on the moon resembling an alicorn head. Celestia gazed at the new visage. She had never wanted to do this, but Luna’s transformation had left her with no choice. Sighing, Celestia turned away toward Canterlot Castle. She had much to do. The sun had to be put back in place, she had to calm the entire country and clean up the chaos left in Nightmare Moon’s wake. And she had to plan. Nightmare Moon’s lunar prison would not hold forever, and she needed a plan to more permanently deal with the dark alicorn. And if she could free her sister from that monster’s grasp, so much the better. As Celestia loped through the area devastated by their brief but intense battle, a small mote, as black as interstellar space, latched onto Celestia. She did not notice when it burrowed deep into her soul. In fact, no one would notice until all the work she would put in would be nearly undone. 407 A.N.M./1415 C.E. Agincourt, France One hobby Celestia had picked up to fill her time and distract herself from her grief was to observe other worlds. Most were barren, lifeless hunks of rock; most of the rest had only non-sapient life. To date, she had found only one world with any sapient species, and what she saw of these “humans” (as they called themselves) worried her. Humans were prejudiced, prone to turning to violence as their first choice in far too many activities, and most lived in abject squalor while a select few lived lives of luxury, uncaring for the less fortunate. That was not what made Celestia uncomfortable, though. What made her uncomfortable was how similar these beings were to her little ponies. More specifically, how similar they were to her ponies before the first Hearths’ Warming Eve. Celestia, determined not to make any hasty decisions, decided to see what the human world was like herself. Her scrying spell was not good at capturing the broader picture. So, she planned to project a ghostly form of herself into the human world. Celestia lit up her horn, and after a few seconds of vertigo, saw the human world appear in front of her. Almost immediately, she suppressed the urge to retch. She had appeared on a battlefield. And it was thoroughly unpleasant, even for a battlefield. On one side were a group of armored humans slogging through thick, glutinous mud (Frenchmen, according to her research). Some remained on horseback (Celestia shuddered at the alienness of the face), while the vast majority were now on foot. Arrows fell around them in large numbers, disabling horses and staggering men. Even as Celestia watched in horrified fascination, one of the armored humans stumbled and fell, face-first into the mud. He tried to get up, but couldn’t. A few minutes later he was still, drowned in the mud. And yet the French kept going forward. Celestia tore her gaze away from the armored humans to the other side (English). These men remained behind a palisade of wooden stakes, dressed in leather and wool and holding an impressive longbow. To the sides were more armored humans. The archers were pumping out arrows at an impressive rate, but it was clear they were beginning to run low, and the attackers were getting close. Eventually, the attackers ran out of steam, and those that could fell back. Both sides seemed largely spent. The defenders had exhausted their arrows, and were still badly outnumbered. The French were, in fact, gearing up for another assault. Celestia wondered what the English commander would do. What happened next would have made Celestia throw up had she still been solid. Instead, she could only watch in horrified fascination as the archers pulled out daggers, hatchets, and other assorted weapons, and began prying open the French knights’ armor like crabs. Luna, always the more martial of the sisters, would have recognized the move as cruel but ruthlessly effective. To Celestia it was simply cruel. Finally, Celestia could watch no more, and terminated the spell. For a half hour afterwards, Celestia lay on her floor, curled into a ball, only able to repeat one phrase: why wouldn’t they retreat? She tried to tell herself that this was just one example, that not all humanity was like this, that generalizing from one data point was lousy statistical analysis. But even in her head, the words sounded hollow. Deep in Celestia’s soul, a small speck of darkness chuckled in satisfaction. 1632 C.E./624 A.N.M. Thuringia Province, Holy Roman Empire Over the two hundred years after Agincourt, Celestia had reluctantly come to terms with what she had witnessed. For the most part, she simply figured humanity would grow out of it, much like her little ponies. She continued to peek into the human world, watching as the humans began to colonize new lands and create great works of art and architecture; all encouraging signs (though she continued to puzzle why the viewing spell so favored this one continent). Finally, Celestia worked up the courage to try the astral projection spell again. Once again, she appeared in a dense woodland. Not hearing anything nearby, Celestia flared her wings and took to the air. Turning her head around, Celestia took in the beauty of the German countryside, a beauty that was ruined by a large column of smoke. Frowning, Celestia briefly considered not checking, only to dismiss the idea, despite the lead ball in her stomach. Flying over, Celestia once again would have thrown up had she still been solid. A large group of armed men - soldiers - were pillaging a small village. Some were ransacking the cottages for anything of value. Others were busily torching the ransacked cottages. The vast majority, however, were gathered in the village square, killing the men, carrying off the children, and as for the women- Celestia’s mind decided it did not want to go there, and immediately went on autopilot. Even in the pre-Hearth’s Warming days, ponies almost never raped ponies. It just didn’t happen. A small, detached part of Celestia’s mind mused that it was probably a due to a gender ratio heavily skewed towards females. Unable to keep watching, Celestia flew as fast as she could away from the village. And yet, somehow, no matter how far she flew, she kept seeing the same scene, over and over. Finally, desperate with shock, disgust, and horror, she terminated the astral projection spell, and immediately had to run to the toilet. Two hundred years! she screamed in her head. Two hundred years and they haven’t gotten any better. Hay, they’ve gotten worse, if that’s even possible! It didn’t occur to her to wonder why the astralization spell had sent her to yet another battlefield. The horror scenes replaying in her head prevented that. Sleep did not come easy to Celestia for months afterward. And the darkness fed hungrily on the despair. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania July 5, 1863 C.E./859 A.N.M. Why do I do this to myself? Celestia wondered. It had been another two hundred years. And she had gotten the urge, once again, to visit the human world in her astralized form. This time, she wasn’t even surprised anymore when she arrived on a battlefield; it seemed to be the only thing humans did. This time she did not appear in woodland, but in a cloud of dense smoke. All round was a thundering roar that she could not identify. Lifting herself above the cloud of smoke, she saw a long row of cannons, manned by soldiers in butternut uniforms, firing constantly on a long ridge about a mile distant. Celestia shuddered to think of the destructive power of these weapons; that was the reason she had outlawed them when they were invented in Equestria. With this much artillery, surely the enemy line would be broken, an assumption reinforced when she saw several thousand soldiers line up for a charge. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As it turned out, the enemy line hadn’t been broken, and the soldiers in butternut simply died in droves before ever getting close. And yet, they didn’t stop. The soldiers continued to charge into certain death, and yet they did not falter. Celestia frantically bolted for home, and once again curled up into a ball, a mantra playing in her head over and over again: Why don’t they retreat? Why don’t they retreat? WHY DON’T THEY RETREAT?! By the time Celestia had recovered, she was determined to get answers. 400 years, some of the most heinous acts she had seen, and whoever ruled that world had yet to do anything about it? She would have to find him or her, and give them a piece of her mind. And so she began to scour the globe in what little spare time she had. 80 years later, she found her answer... Canterlot Castle, Equestria 941 A.N.M./1945 C.E. Celestia lay on her bed, lost in thought. Over the past six years she had been watching a war in the human world. That was not unusual; humans seemed to be constantly fighting each other. No, what was unusual was the scale and the cruelty. Only that war in Germany a few centuries ago came close to the cruelty, and none matched the scale. She had seen massive prison camps, where people had been tortured, starved, and killed in vast numbers simply because they did not fit the racial ideal of their captors. She had seen scientists test biological weapons on innocent farmers. She had seen massive flying machines dropping explosives on cities without a care for the people living in it. She had seen seagoing steel fortresses pounding each other to pieces with bomb, shell, and torpedo. Bataan. Holocaust. Dresden. Okinawa. Stalingrad. Leningrad. Hiroshima. Nagasaki. The names meant little to her, but the events did. This... her little ponies had never been capable of anything like this. She could not, would not, believe that any immortal ruler would be capable of standing by and watching this. There was only one reasonable conclusion. There was no immortal ruler. It made sense. Of course they would be this violent without a guiding hand like hers. Her course of action was clear. She would have to bring the humans the light of harmony. It was her duty. And so Celestia began to make plans. Plans to be executed after Nightmare Moon had been eliminated, one way or another. After Discord was resealed; after the Crystal Empire was restored. Plans for- Conversion. Author's Note First story, woot! First, I'd like to give thanks to the crazy wingnuts of Spacebattles, specifically the TCB Story Idea Thread, for inspiring me to make this. Second, I was trying to depict how Celestia went from wise, benevolent ruler to irrational, xenophobic tyrant. Let me know if I've succeeded.
The CatalystChapter One: The Catalyst Ponyville, Equestria March 22, 1004 A.N.M. It was a beautiful spring day in Ponyville. Celestia’s sun was shining, spring birds were singing, and the local weather team had outdone themselves this time: last night’s shower had left the air crisp and clear, and there was not a cloud in the sky. I really must compliment Rainbow Dash on a job well done, thought Rarity as she trotted to the Golden Oaks library, having been told to come by a panting Spike. In her not-so humble opinion, it was the perfect day for, say, a picnic. In Rarity’s opinion, such an activity, coming from Twilight Sparkle, was immensely encouraging. The poor dear had largely been cooped up in the library since coming back from the Crystal Empire, and she still hadn’t told anypony about it. Reaching the massive tree that served as the town’s library, Rarity gave a quick knock, answered shortly by a nervous-looking Spike. “Ah, Spike, so good to see you again,” said Rarity. “May I come in?” “Yeah, sure,” Spike mumbled distractedly. Rarity frown at the tone in Spike’s voice, and gave Spike a look of concern. “Spike, what’s wrong? You seem... distracted. Does it have to do with what Twilight called us all here for?” Rarity had a sinking feeling that this was not a get-together for a picnic. Spike gave an explosive sigh and turned around to face Rarity again. “I’m not entirely sure. I have my suspicions, but... look, it’ll be easier if Twilight explains it, and she’ll be down any minute. Okay?” Rarity continued to frown, but accepted the wait. “Alright then. I can wait.” Stepping inside, Rarity gave a quick scan of the room, noting with distaste that she was the last to arrive (a lady must be on time, and arriving after Rainbow Dash is hardly on time!). Applejack and Fluttershy were seated at the table in the center at the room, talking softly to each other; Rarity noted that Winona apparently had contracted a minor cold. Rainbow Dash was hovering impatiently near the ceiling, with Pinkie Pie hopping in a circle around Rainbow and chattering incessantly. Rarity turned her ear in their direction. “- or maybe we’re being recruited by a mysterious organization wearing black suits and sunglasses and carrying memory-wipe wands who try to find aliens and make sure they don’t destroy the planet ‘cause that’d really suck because then there would be no more parties and-” At that point, Rarity, seeing as Dash was about to explode from frustration, took pity on the pegasus and shut Pinkie up with the simple expedient of a hoof to the mouth. “Pinkie, dear, why don’t you sit at the table. I’m sure Rainbow Dash will remember all your... wonderful ideas.” “Okey dokey lokey!”. With that, Pinkie dashed over to the table, pulling a cushion from Celestia knows where, and chatting with Fluttershy, Rarity following only moments behind. Rainbow elected to resume her impatient hovering. Luckily for Rainbow’s temper, Twilight came bounding down the stairs only a few minutes later, clutching a scroll, quill, and several pieces of paper in her telekinetic grip, an excited grin on her face. “Hello, girls, I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you here today.” The five mares looked at each other in confusion, before Pinkie Pie spoke up, “Oh! Does it have to do with a party?” Twilight chuckled. “Maybe, once we’re done. Anyway, Princess Celestia just alerted me that the Conversion plan is going to be started in a week, and as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony we need to be prepared to do whatever the princess asks.” This pronouncement was greeted not with the expected excitement, but with three looks of confusion, two of contemplation, and one of panicked realization. Twilight began to mutter to herself under her breath, “You’ve got to be kidding me, how could the information ministry have missed Ponyville of all places? Probably due to it’s proximity to Canterlot. I know they didn’t run one in Canterlot; everyone knows what Conversion is there. Probably how they missed it on the trips to Canterlot. Oh, when I get my hooves on-” “Uh, Twilight, ya mind tellin’ us what the hay this ‘Conversion’ is?,” Applejack interrupted. “Yes, I’m quite sure I’ve never heard of it before,” added Rarity. “Oh, does it involve-” “A party?” Applejack deadpanned. Pinkie gave a slight glare at the orange mare. “Well played, Applejack.” Before Twilight could answer, Rainbow Dash spoke up, “I remember seeing posters for that up in Cloudsdale. Something about ‘bringing the light of harmony’.” Twilight grinned, much as a schoolteacher did when a slow student finally got something. “Yes, that’s part of it. You see, Celestia found a species on another world known as humans, and they are in dire need of the magic of friendship. Conversion is the plan to teach them about it, and as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, we will be playing a prominent part. Princess Celestia said she would be sending me the specifics once Conversion begins. So, how about it?” The five mares seemed to ponder it, and then gave their answers. “Yeah, count me in, Twilight!” “Uh, sure, Sugarcube. Sounds like a great idea.” “Of course, darling. Not knowing the magic of friendship, of course we should teach them!.” “A new species! Oh, I wonder what they’re like, if they’re nice.” “Eeee, this is going to be the biggest party EVAR! I need to go plan! See ya guys later!” With that, Pinkie zipped out of the library, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash following shortly afterward. With that, Twilight went back upstairs. Spike was about to follow when Applejack spoke up. “Okay, Spike, what is ‘Conversion’, really?” Spike raised his finger, trying to deny the idea that he knew anything about Conversion, but Applejack was having none of that. “Don’t try ta deny it. I saw the look on your face when Twilight started talkin’ about Conversion, and ah could feel that she was hidin’ somethin’. So ah’ll ask it again: what is Conversion.” Spike looked nervously from side to side. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone. I’ve got nothing but suspicions at this point.” “Don’t worry, ah promise.” “Pinkie promise!” Applejack gave Spike a look, then sighed and carried out the pledge. “Cross mah heart, hope ta fly, stick a cupcake in mah eye. There, now can ya tell me?” Spike sighed. “Alright, but remember, I’ve got nothing concrete. Really, it’s just that whenever Twilight or Celestia talk about Conversion, it’s really secretive and, kinda hurtful, like they believe humans are these bloodthirsty monsters.” Spike paused to let it sink in. “They never said anything outright, but I think Celestia wants to do more than ‘teach the humans the magic of friendship’”, Spike sai, complete with air quotes. Applejack stood there, shocked but not really surprised. “That is fishy. Maybe we’re bein’ paranoid, maybe not. Either way, ah think ya need to keep an eye on Twilight, just in case.” Spike nodded. “I can do that. Oh, and a heads up: Conversion begins a week from tomorrow.” “Thanks Spike, ah’ll prepare for that.” With that, Applejack left to go back to Sweet Apple Acres. Even Applejack, however, would be caught completely off guard once Conversion began. Canterlot Castle, Equestria March 29, 1004 A.N.M. Celestia stood in the center of a massive magic circle, horn glowing with a warm yellow light, her wings spread, eyes bright with power, and power rolling off the sun princess in waves. This was easily the most complicated spell she had cast yet. Hay, it wasn’t even one spell, it was two, either one of which would have been nigh-impossible for anypony but an alicorn to cast; casting them in tandem was taxing on even Celestia’s abilities. The 68 years since Celestia had conceived her plan had been simply constructing the spells. One was a wide-area dimensional transfer spell; that one was largely a question of power. By far the more complicated spell was the barrier spell; it needed to eventually cover a whole planet, break down any artificial, non-magical constructs, advance steadily at a walking pace, and be damn near impenetrable. Complicated and power-intensive. So, Celestia had allowed herself several hours of careful spellcasting, timing the actual casting to fall on the spring equinox for that little boost. And so Celestia began to cast, chanting and pacing along preset paths. The execution of the spell was flawless. Unfortunately, the original formula wasn’t. Celestia, for all her power, was not the more skilled spellcaster; Luna had a far better grasp of the intricacies of magic theory. And it was this fact that betrayed her. One misrounded number. That’s all it took. Celestia barely even had time to notice before the massive feedback knocked her out. The barrier had just reached the outer edges of Equestria when the dimensional transfer was initiated just a little too soon. With the barrier still unstable, the interaction compressed and then released the barrier’s energy from a single center. In other words, a country-spanning shockwave centered around Canterlot. Canterlot was practically demolished; nearly all the rest of Equestria looked like it had been slammed by a Category 5 hurricane. All except for one city... The Crystal Empire, Equestria March 29, 1004 A.N.M. Cadence stood in the chamber of the Crystal Heart, using the artifact to power a shield spell similar to the one that had kept Sombra out. Celestia had, some months previously, told Cadence of the Conversion plan, and Cadence, privately, did not trust it at all. There had been no love or compassion in Celestia when she had relayed the plan to Cadence. And when she took control of the Crystal Empire she was determined to keep neutral in the coming conflict. The shield she had thrown up was insurance, in case something went wrong. This proved to be a wise choice when the shockwave hit. The impact of the shockwave drove Cadence to her knees as she struggled to keep the shield up. Luckily, this far from Canterlot the shockwave was much weaker, and the shield held, Shining Armor rushing down shortly after the shockwave subsided. “Cadence, honey, are you all right?” he asked frantically. “I’m... I’m fine, Shiny. Just, give me a moment,” Cadence replied as she hauled herself to her hooves. Shining Armor, meanwhile, simply stared out into the frozen wastes surrounding the Crystal Empire. “What happened here?” “I don’t know, Shiny. But I know that it cannot be good for Equestria.” Cadence’s features hardened, making a face that Shining Armor had sported on multiple occasions. It was an expression of command. “Shining Armor, prepare a contingent of guards for overland travel as soon as possible tomorrow. I need to know what happened, and whether we need to help.” Shining nodded. “I will. And don’t worry. I’m sure Twilight will be all right.” Cadence said nothing for several minutes, before turning to walk to bed. As she did, she whispered “I hope you’re right, Shiny. I hope you’re right. Author's Note Welp, here's chapter one! Short, but mostly setup. I promise, the next chapter will be longer.
New DivideDecember 21 1004 A.N.M./2012 C.E. Ponyville Under any other circumstances, Applejack would have been running as fast as her legs could take her (which, as Rainbow Dash could attest, was pretty darn fast). With the amount of debris on the path and the sheer exhaustion the farmpony was laboring under, this was not “most circumstances”. She had been up since midnight, helping Big Mac and Applebloom salvage what they could from the wreckage of Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack’s slow, steady gait faltered as she remembered the damage; the wrecked farmhouse and barn, half the trees blown over, the other half missing all their leaves... Granny Smith... Applejack choked briefly, as her simmering anger threatened to rise up. She pushed it down. There would be a time for it later, when she found who was responsible for this catastrophe so she could introduce them to her two hind legs. And if her suspicions from yesterday were correct? Applejack was glad to call Twilight a friend, but there were some lines you just didn’t cross. A crunch of glass snapped Applejack out of her thoughts, and as she looked around her she could see Ponyville had suffered just as badly as Sweet Apple Acres. What few buildings were still standing were missing some important bits, like a roof, or a wall. Applejack briefly noted that the Golden Oaks library was lying uprooted on its side. Stepping gingerly around shards of glass, Applejack wondered where everypony was. Her arrival at the town square answered that question. It seemed like everypony in town was there, all of them sporting injuries of some sort. Dr. Stable and Nurse Redheart were treating the last of them. Applejack’s heart leapt into her throat as her eyes fell on several white blankets, covering pony-shaped lumps. Several earth ponies were bringing in another body, and with a jolt realised it was Ms. Cake. She turned away, scanning the crowd for her friends. Applejack was just wondering how to find her friends when she spotted a sky-blue blob hanging above the crowd. Well, that was easy. After a few minutes and hasty apologies to a couple she had barely seen until she had almost run into them, Applejack reached her friends. And promptly winced. Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Rarity seemed fine - Rarity’s whining about the scratches and dirt on her coat notwithstanding - but poor Fluttershy’s wings were bandaged to her back, Pinkie was just sitting there, her curly mane straight, a look of utter despondency on her face, and Twilight- Well, Twilight’s disheveled mane and low mutterings were bringing back unpleasant memories of what had been dubbed the “Smarty Pants Incident”. The set of saddlebags was new, though. Turning to Spike, she whispered “How long’s she been like this?” “Since the shockwave hit,” Spike replied. “I’m kinda worried.” “Considerin’ tha last time she was like this she enchanted tha whole town, Ah’m kinda worried mahself.” Glancing at her other friends, she asked “So, what’s tha deal with Pinkie an’ Fluttershy?” Spike sighed. “Remember that bear Fluttershy keeps?” “Uh-huh.” “Well, when that shockwave hit, it kind of, um, fell on her. Her wings are broken.” Applejack winced. She remembered how antsy Rainbow Dash had gotten when her wing had been broken. “So, does anypony know where that shockwave came from?” “Canterlot,” came the immediate reply. A little too immediate. “Uh-huh. This have anythin’ to do with tha fancy magical mumbo-jumbo Celestia was plannin’ ta do, oh, last night?” “If I say yes will you leave me alone?” Spike was sweating now, which is weird, because reptiles can’t sweat. “Does it have anythin’ ta do with that Conversion thing Twilight was rantin’ about yesterday?” Behind her, Rarity’s whining had stopped. Applejack had the distinct impression that her friends were listening intently. Except Twilight. Applejack could still hear her muttering quietly to herself. If Spike was sweating before, now he was gushing. And hyperventilating. Can’t forget that. “Alright, fine, I’ll tell you!” he finally shouted. “Remember those humans, the ones we were going to bring harmony to?” Nods all around. “Okay, first, how did you think Celestia was planning to do that?” Applejack hadn’t thought of that. How would they demonstrate the magic of friendship to an entire species. Luckily, her friends provided answers. “A party!” “Some sort of traveling show, like the Wonderbolts.” “Oh, good idea, Rainbow Dash. That sounds like it would work marvelously.” Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply- “Actually, the princess was just planning to douse all the humans with a permanent transformation potion. Said that “human nature” made them too resistant to anything else.” The air quotes told all five ponies exactly what Spike thought of that idea. “But, wait, you can’t do that!” exclaimed Rarity. “Not without destroying their... personality.” She fell on her haunches, stunned. “Huh. Didn’t know that. Explains a lot.” “D-destroys their personality?!” Rainbow Dash and Applejack exclaimed simultaneously. “Of course.” said Pinkie Pie, despondently. It was the first time she had spoken all day. “Celestia doesn’t care, as long as she spreads her “harmony”.” Pinkie turned to Spike, who flinched at the look in her eyes. “Tell them. Tell them about the barrier.” “Um, alright. I don’t know all the details - heck, I barely understood half the words Twilight was throwing around - but they said it was to protect Equestria in case of misunderstandings. It’s a barrier. Really strong one, I think Celestia based it off Shining Armor’s formula. Anyway, it’s not supposed to let anything made by humans into it. And... I think it’s supposed to get... bigger as time goes on?” “Yup!” exclaimed Twilight, scaring the living daylights out of those present. “As the barrier expands, it’ll destroy aaaaall those pesky bits of technology, and force the humans to convert. Foolproof!” Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin. “Except they somehow managed to sabotage the barrier. That’s the only way it could have collapsed like that.” “Wait,” said Rarity. “Collapsed?” “Oh, yes, have you ever seen somepony miscast a barrier spell? Messy, very messy. Whole thing inverts. And all the energy has to go somewhere, so being near a collapsing barrier is an unpleasant proposition.” “But how do ya figure these “humans” did it? They don’t even live on the same world!” wondered Applejack. “BECAUSE PRINCESS CELESTIA WOULD NEVER HAVE SCREWED UP THAT SPELL!” screamed Twilight. “Ah, sorry girls, I’m under a liittle stress right now.” Five ponies and one dragon stared at the purple unicorn in shock. “She’s not lyin’,” Applejack breathed. They had all known that Twilight idolized Princess Celestia - but not to this extent. It was insane. “Now, girls, I know this is kind of a bad time, but I’m going to need your help to root out those filthy humans.” She turned toward the direction of the library. “I’ve got a stock of potion in my basement, hopefully it survived the-” “No.” Twilight whirled around. “What do you mean, no? You’re my friends right, aren’t you? SO HELP ME!” “No.” replied Rainbow Dash. “We’re not going to help you hunt down these humans. We’re friends, and friends help each other. Even from themselves.” Twilight stared in shock, then whirled to Rarity. She shook her head. “Honestly, darling, I think our higher priority should be to stay and help the town, not go gallivanting across the countryside to find saboteurs that may or may not exist.” Twilight turned to the next pony. “Fluttershy.” The timid pegasus shook her head, too. “I’m sorry, Twilight, but I kinda agree with Rarity. So many ponies are hurt and scared.” “Pinkie Pie?” Pinkie was briefly silent. “Maybe one day I’ll forgive you, Twilight. Today is not that day.” “Rarity?” Twilight’s tone was pleading. “Darling, I-I simply cannot endorse actions that strip any sentient being of their soul. I just can’t!” “Applejack?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Do ya even have ta ask? This Conversion plan - look around you, Twilight! This is what your plan has brought! Granny Smith is dead!” The mares behind her gasped, but Applejack took no notice. “A part of Honesty is tellin’ tha hard truths, and the truth is you’re outta control, Twilight Sparkle. Ya need ta be stopped, not gallivantin’ over tha countryside! But Ah’m gonna let ya go, ‘cause I have bigger priorities.” And with that, Applejack turned around and began to walk away. After a moment, the other four got up and began to walk away as well. Spike was about to follow, but Twilight’s voice stopped him. “Where are you going, Spike?” Twilight’s voice was cold, dangerous. It was a voice Spike had never heard from the mare he considered a sister. “I’m going with them. See what I can do to help.” “You’re coming with me.” “No, I’m not.” “Yes you are! You belong to me, Spike!” “Oh really? Try and stop me.” Twilight grinned. It was not a pleasant grin. It was the kind of grin seen on homicidal clowns. “So glad you said that.” Using her telekinesis, Twilight reached into her bag and hurled a small vial at Spike, simultaneously grabbing hold of his legs. Before the vial could hit the defenseless dragon, though, a yellow body moved between them, the potion splashing uselessly against Fluttershy’s flank. The other four mares were not far behind. And this time, Applejack could feel her rage boil over. “So that’s how it is,” she growled, putting herself between Twilight and Fluttershy. “You’ll stoop ta even convertin’ your oldest friend.” “You don’t know what it’s like,” Twilight snarled back. “Growing up with ponies whispering behind your back, being feared because of a little dragon.” “You’re a loony” replied Applejack. “That’s all ah need ta know.” And with that, Applejack attacked. Had Applejack been fully rested, the fight would have been winnable. Unfortunately, half-crazed or not, Twilight was the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, and Applejack was exhausted. All Twilight had to do was pick up Applejack and slam her against the ground. “Ah, back in the dirt where you belong, little mud pony.” “So now you’re a racist? Why am ah not surprised?” Twilight chuckled. “Insult me all you want, I’m the one stand-”. And that was as far as she got when a blue blur slammed into her. Applejack chose this moment to pass out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Applejack blearily opened her eyes to see a blue face and red eyes, framed by a rainbow mane, about two inches from her face. Lacking the strength to flail, Applejack settled for grumbling “Ya mind gettin’ outta mah face, Rainbow?” Rainbow Dash leaned back, embarrassed. “Eh heh heh, sorry about that.” Applejack looked around, noting that Rainbow was the only pony nearby, although groups of ponies continued to mill around hurt relatives. “Wha’ happened? Where’d everypony go?” “Well, uh, ya kinda passed out. And the girls had other things to do. So, yeah, only pony available.” “Okay.” For some reason, Applejack had the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something. “Oh! Wait, where’s Twilight?” Rainbow Dash’s face scrunched up in a grimace. “Bolted into the Everfree. I’m going after her, and Pinkie and Spike insisted on coming with me.” “Ah’m comin’ too,” Applejack said as she tried to haul herself out of bed. Any progress toward that goal was thwarted by a firm hoof on her shoulder. “Whoa, none of that. You need to rest, and you have responsibilities. I don’t. Neither do Pinkie or Spike, which is the only reason I’m letting them come with me.” Applejack felt sleep coming to claim her again, and barely registered Rainbow’s last words. “Well, they’re ready, so I’m just going to let you go back to sleep, m’kay?” Applejack tried to protest that she wasn’t sleepy, but her blasted eyelids just wouldn’t cooperate. As the last dregs of wakefulness left her, Applejack wondered if Rainbow really could bring Twilight back.
