• Published 28th Feb 2012
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The Conversion Bureau: The First Year - Cloudhammer



Ponies and Humans meet for the first time and come to terms with a new, shared existence.

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08 - Truths Revealed

Week 8, Tuesday

As Sky Limit plummeted towards the water, he wondered if he should have warned the pegasus guard pulling his chariot he was going to jump. Granted, he wasn’t in any real danger, but he supposed observing the niceties would make his time in this human world easier. With a flex of his shoulders, the complex pack covering his back shuddered and a pair of wings snapped out, arresting his lethal fall and turning it into a stately glide. Craning his head, he could see the pegasus guard draw the chariot down and come alongside him.

“Sorry First Lieutenant Breeze, I just wanted to get a chance to feel the wind on my own!” he shouted

The pegasus shook her head and snorted. She still didn’t know why Celestia wanted this madpony working with the rest of the team. Neither did she understand why humans couldn’t just suck it up and deal with the magic leaking out from Equestria. However, in the end it didn’t matter, she’d been given an assignment from her Princess and she would see it done. Even if this aggravating earth pony was bent on flying.

“It’ll be easier if you just got in the chariot Sky Limit. We’re almost to the Embassy now and I’d like to complete this mission without any screw-ups.”

“Nonsense, I can get there faster on my own. The MkIV needs to be put through its paces anyway!” he shouted as he flapped the wings and rolled into a dive for the surface of the water.

Dawn Breeze sighed and followed him gracefully into the dive. She had to admit, for an earth pony playing at flying he did seem to be doing well.

Karl stood on the docks, a pair of binoculars held to his eyes as he scanned the sky for the chariot that was supposed to be coming today. He finally spotted it, but looking closer he couldn’t see a passenger. Swinging the binoculars around, he spotted a dark shape skimming across the water towards him. It soon resolved into what looked like a pegasus pony, but the wings were off somehow…

“What the fuck is that?” His answer came all too quickly as the shape pulled up, coming to a hover about ten feet from the edge of the dock. With a graceful flap of its wings the pony landed on the hard concrete.

“Oh wow, this material is really something! I wonder what it’s made of.” Sky exclaimed, absently rolling his shoulders to retract the wings, the polished grey armatures clicking as they folded in against his upper flanks. At the shoulder joint of the wings a golf ball sized orb shone with its own light, a complex object looking like a metal starburst spinning randomly inside.

Karl just stared dumbly as Dawn Breeze landed the chariot a short distance away. Unhitching herself, she trotted over and sat next to him.

“He’s got wings…” Karl’s eyes were wide as they traced over the reinforced framework of the pack.

“Yes, he apparently came up with the design a few years ago. Eventually word found its way to Celestia and she had him brought to Canterlot to continue his research.” Dawn Breeze muttered dryly, a hint of an edge in her tone.

“That’s sweet, are you jealous?” Karl laughed, though immediately stopped as the pegasus turned her cold blue eyes towards him.

“No. We’re just tired of having to explain to frightened citizens why an earth pony is leaping off of balconies around the city. Now, I need to be making my way back. I trust he’ll be safe in your hoo… hands?”

Karl nodded. “That would get old pretty quick. And of course, you can leave it to me.” He trailed off as the earth pony came trotting up, a beaming smile on his muzzle. Dawn Breeze shook her head and spread her wings, taking off into the bright sky.

The pony muttered to itself in Equestrian before he seemed to figure out what he wanted to say. “How… How are you?” Sitting down, the pony extended a hoof.

Karl took the proffered limb and shook it. “My name is Karl.” He spoke clearly. “How are you?”

The pony sniffed at his hoof before looking back up at the human. “Sky… Sky…” He seemed to struggle to remember the word before his expression brightened. “Limit! I am Sky Limit!”

Karl had to laugh at the pony’s enthusiasm. “Well, we need to get going. They’re expecting us at the research facility.” He motioned to a waiting truck and started walking to it, only for Sky Limit to gallop past him and start peering at it closely.

“How does this work? I heard from somepony that it doesn’t need anypony to pull it, but doesn’t use magic…” Sky trailed off as Karl caught up.

“I’m sure you can have all your questions answered once we arrive at the research facility.” He opened the passenger door for Sky and after a moment, was climbing into the driver seat. “Those wings aren’t going to cause a problem, are they? Those little spheres are glowing awfully bright.”

“Not to my knowledge. Once Celestia informed me of the dangers magic posed to humans, I set about making this version, which adds a thaumatic redirection mechanism to keep the energy flow restricted to the cables and…” Sky was on a roll, not even noticing that he had lapsed back into speaking Equestrian.

Karl sighed and just focused on driving. “At least he remembered to say it was safe first.”

---

The truck came to a stop in front of the building that had served as the Embassy. The new one was nearing completion in Washington DC, so the temporary embassy had been repurposed to serve as the primary research site for the Equestrian part of the effort. As Karl opened the door for Sky Limit, the red earth pony started to really feel the weight of the task Celestia was asking him to help with.

“Well, this is where we go our separate ways. There’s a pony inside who will take you where you need to go. Good luck.” Karl said as he got back into the truck. Sky Limit stood there looking a little lost, until eventually a unicorn clad in guard armor trotted out.

“Well, let’s get you inside and settled in. The heat here is pretty intense.”

Sky followed the unicorn inside, his eyes narrowed in thought before he realized why the unicorn’s voice sounded so familiar. “Captain Flare? Is that you?”

The unicorn stopped and turned to face him. “It’s not Captain anymore. Just Private.”

Sky froze in shock. “Oh no, I’m sorry! What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Flare turned and trotted towards the doorway that led deeper into the building.

“Oh… alright.” Sky’s ears flattened back slightly before he followed Flare through the double doors.

“This floor is used for research. The upper floor is being used for housing. Meals are held at dawn, midday and dusk. The bathrooms are marked by these signs here. This one is for stallions, this one for mares. We finally got them upgraded for ponies so you don’t need to worry about that at least. And here we are. The rest of the team will fill you in one what exactly you’ll be doing. I’ll be coming back by at dinner for you and the others.”

Sky nodded. “Thank you Flare. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry you got demoted.”

“I appreciate it, but don’t. It was my fault.” Flare turned and trotted down the hallway.

Sky watched him go and sighed before steeling himself and entering the room. It actually ended up being a long, wide hallway, with alcoves marked by rails in the ceiling. Sky wondered what they could be for, before a friendly voice called out.

“Hello! You must be Sky Limit. The letter from the Princess said you would be arriving today. Oh my, what in Equestria is that you’re wearing?” The voice belonged to a purple unicorn Sky recognized right away.

“Hello there Miss Sparkle, it has been a while, though you probably don’t remember me.”

She tilted her head in confusion. “Excuse me? I don’t think we have met before.”

“Well, it was about a year before Princess Luna returned; my friend and I were in the Canterlot Library looking for some information to help me work on the MkIII Flight Model, which this is derived from. We nearly tripped over you, but you were busy studying something and didn’t notice us.”

“I’m sorry, back then I wasn’t a very social pony.” Twilight started to apologize, but Sky cut her off with a friendly wave.

“It’s alright; to be honest I wasn’t either. Now to answer your other question, this is the Flight Model MkIV. It’s not really all that different from the MkIII, I just modified the thaumatic engines a little so they don’t leak anywhere near as much magic as they used to.”

“That’s fascinating! How come you haven’t made more of these? I bet there’d be lots of ponies willing to give it a try.”

“Well, the key to Bevelmiter’s designs is the star metal core. There just isn’t enough of it to go around, especially not for mass production. So this model’s likely the only one that’s likely to be built.”

“I see… well, we’ll have to talk about it some other time, for now let’s get you settled in.” Twilight led Sky through the room. He could see that the entire rest of the team was composed of unicorns, and started to feel a little out of place as they started looking at him and whispering to each other.

“So what exactly am I going to be doing here? It’s not like I can cast any magic on my own.”

“That is true, but you were able to take Bevelmiter’s work and create the two engines you’re using for your wings. Furthermore, you were able to modify them so they don’t give off any significant magic. So, as I understand it, your work here will be to try to integrate those principles with human technology. Therefore, if the spread of magic continues like Celestia and the human leaders think it will, we can try to limit the damage it will wreak to their infrastructure.”

Sky nodded. “I see. So where do you want me to start working?”

“In here.” Twilight led him into an office of some sort. A number of strange devices sat on the desk, and another was on the floor. “Essentially, your initial job will be to familiarize yourself with how human technology works, and then once you’re done you can start figuring out how to keep magic from harming it. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No… I think I’m all set.” Sky tugged the release strap for the MkIV and set it in the corner. Opening the compartment on the back he withdrew a pair of goggles, which he slipped over his head and settled onto his eyes. He then tugged two more rolled bags out, laying them gently on the floor. One contained a series of round objects wrapped in felt, and after peering at the devices closer Sky unwrapped one to reveal a glass lens. Lifting it gently, he pressed it into the socket on the left goggle. Unrolling the other bag, he selected a hoof ring and gently plugged a thin metal attachment into it.

Twilight watched the whole process with fascination, until she realized how long she’d been staring. Blushing a little, she backed up and turned to leave. “Well, I’ll let you get to work then. Somepony will come check on you when it’s time for dinner.”

Sky waved a hoof absently, already engrossed in the desktop computer on the floor. Touching a large round button in the center of the front, he reared back as the device began to hum and flash multi-colored lights. A smile spread across his muzzle.

“Alright then, let’s get to know each other first.” He replaced the thin metal attachment with a smaller nub and watched as the large square object on the desk lit up with its own glow, letters and numbers appearing on the screen.

Four hours later, Flare trotted up to the closed door and opened it to reveal a disaster. Parts of computers lay scattered around the floor in a circle, with Sky sitting in the middle peering at a green board glittering with silver and brightly colored pieces. On one hoof ring he now had a small prong that was holding the board, and the other hoof ring was fitted with a small pointed tip. In his mouth he held one of the thaumatic engines from his pack, and Flare watched as he leaned forward and touched the engine to an exposed wire. The pieces on the board started to glow brighter and brighter until they suddenly hissed, and with a puff of smoke the board went dark. Sky tossed the board at the corner of the room with a muffled grunt, and Flare saw that other boards already lay in the corner, several with holes melted in them.

“I just can’t do it. That board just now was the best result I’ve been able to achieve so far.” He looked up at Flare, his left eye ridiculously magnified compared to the right. “I don’t think it can be done Flare, I really don’t. I can understand how their technology works in principle, but it and magic just seem completely incompatible.”

Flare peered at the different pieces. “Well, you’ve been working for four hours, so why don’t you come get some dinner. Maybe after some rest you can come back and take another look at it.”

“I’m fine; just let me keep working…” Sky’s stomach growled at the thought of not getting food and the earth pony laughed. “I guess a break wouldn’t hurt.” Getting wearily to his hooves, he carefully put the thaumatic engine back into its slot and threw the pack over his back. Securing the straps with the ease born of practice, he followed Flare through the halls and up the stairs to a large room with a set of low tables. Other ponies could be seen eating already, and after Sky and Flare got their food they started looking for a table to sit at.

“Over here!” The ponies looked to see Twilight waving her hoof at them, a number of other unicorns sitting with her. Joining them, Sky set his bowl down and took a bite of the mixed salad.

“Mmmm, these humans do make a good salad.”

“I know, right? It’s not quite as good as what’s from back home, but until the Dome finishes expanding it’s too hard for a pegasus team to haul food all this way.” Twilight replied.

“When is the Dome expected to finish?” Another unicorn asked.

“Well, given its rate of expansion, President Foster says his researchers agree on approximately seven more weeks. We checked from our side and agree with that assessment. The Dome’s almost reached Appleloosa on the western edge and the east edge is now over Hoofington.”

“How are ponies back home handling it? Hoofington’s my hometown after all.” Sky said in between bites.

“Oh? I heard from Celestia that a few ponies were nervous about it, but most seem really curious to meet humans for themselves. She said the Royal Office is starting to get overwhelmed with requests for visits, but those are being denied for now until we can have a better idea of individual nation’s opinions regarding Equestrians on their soil. I had thought that their United Nations was their overall form of government, but it seems they’re all independent countries. However, how was your research? The few times I walked by it seemed… lively.”

“Well I think I have an idea of how their technology works, it uses those little holes in the wall to deliver energy to power anything connected to it. Exactly what this energy is I’m not sure, but it behaves a lot like lightning only on a smaller scale. However, when I bring their technology into contact with magic, it seems to have variable results. On more than one test pieces of their technology would melt, others nothing would happen but the piece would not work normally again. I’m beginning to worry that human technology is fundamentally incapable of working with magic except on the most basic levels, since their lights still work in the presence of magic.”

Twilight frowned, “Then we’ll have to send a report to Princess Celestia and President Foster at once. Though nopony’s going to be happy to hear it…”

“I’d like to thank you all for coming.” Celestia looked out over the assembled group she had requested come to Canterlot. Every individual present was a leader or ambassador of the different nations that existed outside of Equestria proper.

“It is a pleasure to be able to meet you at last Princess. I trust that you received the gift we sent with Twilight Sparkle and her friends?” Okoro asked. The zebra was dressed in her finest jewelry as befit her station.

“We did, and it was much appreciated. General Cloudhammer regrets that he could not attend this meeting, but he is preoccupied with another matter.”

“So he got promoted? That is good; I was relieved when Rekera brought word that he had recovered from his injuries.”

“My apologies, but K’rik wonders what the ultimate purpose of this meeting is. My scouts report that this… Dome your message spoke of is now on the edge of zebra and Diamond dog lands.” The hulking canine was dressed in his war armor, but in deference to his hosts he carried no weapons beyond his teeth and claws.

“I admit to some curiosity as well Celestia.” All eyes turned to the largest visitor, a mass of green scales and ivory horns. The dragon fluttered his wings and leaned forward a little, his yellow eyes glinting in the sunlight pouring through the windows.

“Very well Ambassador Sharptooth, K’rik.” Celestia paused while she prepared to drop the bombshell of the meeting. “With the Dome’s continued expansion, it is probable that our shores will soon be accessible to the humans. Given that the magic that permeates our land is lethal to them, humans will not be able to set foot on our soil. However, I am sure that some of your citizens will wish to visit our new neighbors. I have called this meeting to therefore propose a new agreement be reached among our different races, so that we may be represented to the humans under a united banner. This way travel to the different human nations can be arranged through a single office, and prevent any potential incidents.”

“And who shall be chosen to represent us should this agreement be made? One of you ponies no doubt?” The final visitor finally spoke up, tapping a claw on the table irritably. The griffon’s talons were fashioned from metal, which had contributed to his namesake.

“Each race would submit a preferred candidate, and after consideration among this assemblage one individual would be chosen, King Iron Talons.” Celestia replied politely.

“Such an agreement is unacceptable to both myself and the kingdom of Scythion. Griffons go where we please, and will not yield to the desires of ponies, no matter who their Princesses are.”

“King Iron Talons, I trust you shall remember that none present are greater than any other. We meet at this table as equals, leaving our notions of superiority and station at the door.” Celestia replied, the warmth in her voice fading. Iron Talons held her stare for a few minutes, but then relented with an angry clack of his beak.

“Celestia, Iron Talons does bring up a valid point. As you know, my kin and I will not submit so readily to being ordered when and where they may go.” Sharptooth privately disagreed with the griffon king on his attitude, but the dragon was acutely curious in the rumors he’d heard of new flying machines. Being the first dragon to venture to the human world and return with an addition for the hoard would be an achievement of inestimable value.

“And nor would this representative seek to do so. The purpose of this new office would only be to make sure that those individuals going to the human lands will not cause relations with the humans to go badly. Thus far their only contact has been with ponies and for them to suddenly have an influx of visitors of different species could be detrimental to all our civilizations. The fragmented nature of the human governments is my other motivation. While one government may be amicable to visitors another may not be, and by having a single representative decisions can be made quickly and efficiently. Each race may of course join ours in providing staff to work together with the representative.”

The other leaders present all silently weighed their options, and one by one each indicated their assent. Iron Talons was the last, a begrudging twitch that could barely count as a nod.

“Excellent. Now, on to the actual selection of candidates. I do not know if all of you had any in mind or not, so if you so desire we can meet again at a future date.” Celestia said calmly, knowing full well that all of them had their choices in mind already.

“I nominate Baron Silverwing of the Darkwood Eyrie. He is a fierce warrior and clan leader, proven in the arena.” Iron Talons replied smugly.

“Very well then. Equestria shall nominate Lord Fancypants of Canterlot. He has served ably for many years on Equestria’s Council and is an accomplished statespony, well versed in politics.” Celestia responded with a small smile. “Are there any other candidates?”

“K’rik nominates B’kar. He has served the pack loyally for many summers and would continue to do so as representative.”

“I nominate Rekera. She has become a healer in her own right, and will serve well to keep the relations with these humans mended.” Okoro spoke with a calm smile.

“And you, Ambassador Sharptooth? Are there any dragons that you feel would be suited to this task?”

The dragon leaned back, a small trail of smoke winding from his nostrils as he considered. The silence dragged on for first one minute, then another. As the tenth minute passed Iron Talons slammed a clawed fist onto the table.

“We do not have all day for your deliberations dragon! If you have a candidate in mind say so!”

The dragon said nothing for another minute, and Iron Talons grew steadily more frustrated. The other leaders looked at Celestia, wondering what her reaction would be. The alicorn sat there calmly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

The dragon finally turned his hard eyes to stare at Iron Talons, externally calm, but anyone looking into his eyes in that moment would see the blazing fire that burned in the heart of every dragon. He finally hissed a slight stream of smoke from his nose and took a breath.

“I will not nominate a candidate.”

Celestia inclined her head. “With all candidates nominated, we shall now vote on one.”

As expected, each leader voted for their respective candidate. As the vote again came to Sharptooth, he stood and paced slowly around the table.

“I have an almost unique perspective among this gathering. I have lived for a little over eight hundred years, and have had the chance to observe the march of races come and go. I saw the rise of the griffons from the savage beasts they were into the noble nation they are now. But above all, I have seen Celestia lead the nation of ponies through the centuries. Her decisions have always been for the long-term benefit of those under her rule, even the less palatable ones. I shall therefore cast my vote for Lord Fancypants of Canterlot, with one condition. That condition being that Celestia in turn pledges that her chosen representative extends the same courtesy he would show a pony to a member of any of our collective species.”

Celestia pondered his condition for the requisite amount of time before nodding. “I find your condition acceptable, Ambassador Sharptooth. Are there any other…” She was interrupted as Iron Talons surged to his paws in anger.

“You planned this, didn’t you? You knew the dragon would support whatever candidate you chose, that’s why you allowed him to attend this meeting! I wonder if the other dragons would support the opinion of this overgrown pony…” Iron Talons was cut off as Sharptooth was upon him in a tidal wave of green scales, the griffon’s crown falling to the floor with a clang. Lifting him in one massive paw, he brought the trembling griffon up to his eyes as he stood as tall as the room allowed.

“I am going to say this once you insipid bird. If you ever utter such an insult again, and word reaches me, I shall end you in fire. No walls shall stay my wrath, nor shall any other obstacle you place between yourself and me. I would rip the very bones of the world apart in order to find you. Now be gone from my sight.” And he tossed the griffon to the floor, where he retrieved his crown in a shaking claw and hurried out of the room, only to cast one final venomous glare at Celestia.

With a sigh, Celestia rose to her hooves. “So, does anypony else present have objections to the results of the vote?” The other two leaders shook their heads, surprisingly having managed to retain control of both their faces and their bowels in the presence of an irritated dragon. “Very well then, I shall inform Lord Fancypants of the decision at once. I do not think he will refuse this honor. Should you desire anything else of me, I shall be holding Court to formally announce the decision at sunset. Ambassador Sharptooth, if you’d remain for a moment please.”

The guards stationed at the door came in and escorted the other leaders out. Once the heavy doors were shut Celestia sighed again. “Well, that went relatively well. I appreciate you not smashing Iron Talons into the floor.”

Sharptooth barked a short laugh. “You are very welcome. However, don’t think that just because I voted your way this time means you can try to move my piece on this board. I meant it when I said my kin and I will not submit easily.”

“Oh, no need to be so melodramatic Sharpie. If it makes you feel better, I did not place all the pieces on the board this time.”

“If you say so Celestia, if you say so. Also, I was wondering if you would perhaps speak with this human President Foster. I have heard that these humans have developed their own means of flight and would like the opportunity to observe them for myself.”

“I shall have to ask him. I may not be able to convince him to allow you to observe one in flight at this time, but perhaps acquiring one for you collection might not be out of the question.” She smiled as Sharptooth mulled it over.

“I suppose that would suffice for now.”

“I am glad to hear it. Would you maybe have the time to play a short game of chess? It’s been too long since our last match, and I have been looking forward to it so.”

“I suppose that I can make some extra time.”

The dragon and the alicorn started to leave the room when a cloud of sparkling green fire came in through the window, and with a pop resolved into the shape of a scroll. Celestia caught it in a golden field of magic and opened it.

“Oh, it’s from Twilight… oh dear. I’m afraid that our game must wait for another time my friend. I have urgent business to attend to.” And with a flash of light she’d vanished.

Sharptooth sighed. “Well, at least some good came out of this whole mess. Now, where is that Fancypants? I suppose asking early to be at the front of the line wouldn’t hurt. I wonder if he knows how to play chess?”

President Foster rubbed at his eyes. “And they’re sure of this?”

“Yes sir. As the report indicates, using the samples from Project Traveler we were able to figure out an approximate waveform for the thaumatic radiation. We distributed plans for modifying Geiger counters to various research stations around the world be able to pick up on the radiation and…”

“And?”

“…and it appears that what we were afraid of is correct. Every station reporting so far shows not only increased occurrences of thaumatic radiation fields like those in the month before the Dome’s appearance, but the counter we delivered to the John F Kennedy is showing that the radiation is literally pouring off the Dome. So far the Kennedy is outside of the lethal zone, but it’s going to reach Hawaii in approximately eight weeks.”

“My God…” The president blinked as a bright flash came from outside, and after a moment of panic realized Princess Celestia was trotting toward the door. “Now that can’t be good. Tell the agents to let her in.”

“Yes sir.” The agent by the door said automatically as he spoke softly into his wrist radio.

A few minutes later the door opened and the Princess walked into the room. “President Foster, my apologies for coming on such short notice, but there is a matter we must address and soon.”

“I figured as much. What is it?”

“I just received a letter from Twilight Sparkle and her team at the old Embassy building. Despite their best efforts it appears there is no way to integrate magic and technology. If exposed to any significant amount it either shuts down or overloads. Though from the look on your face it appears that you already have more bad news. What happened?”

Foster looked down at the reports, took a deep breath and looked to the scientist and the agents. “Give us the room.” Once they had cleared out he took one more look at the reports and pushed them across the desk. “There’s something I need to tell you about Project Traveler that I didn’t before, for reasons of national security.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed, but she began to read the document anyway. “Go on.”

“There was one other thing the robot was supposed to do, and that was to collect air, soil and water samples from your environment while it was there. The goal of collecting the samples was to try to figure out what the thaumatic radiation looked like, so we could try to detect it as it’s appearing so we could evacuate people in the area. However, it appears there’s a much bigger problem than we thought. Thaumatic radiation is not only appearing more and more often around the world, it’s also pouring out of the Dome. In eight weeks it will reach Hawaii.”

Celestia flicked her eyes further down the report and saw the truth mirrored there. “That is indeed problematic. Is there anything we can do to help?”

“We’ll be announcing the results of the report by the end of the day, and preparing to set up temporary housing to evacuate the Hawaiian Islands before the radiation floods it. The people are going to take this very badly Celestia, and I honestly feel that this time your ponies had best be elsewhere when the news is released. I’d also consider bringing your team back to your homeland for the time being.”

“But we can help…” They both turned as an aide came rushing in.

“Sir, the director of NASA is on the phone, he says it’s urgent.”

“Probably just another satellite drifted out of place.” Foster remarked as he picked up the phone on the desk. “Yes, it’s me Dave, what’s wrong now?” Foster’s expression slowly hardened as he listened to the other end. “I see. Dave, something like that is too expensive to just go with half-cocked. Yes, I will take it seriously Dave. I am telling the truth, don’t get snappy with me. Alright, keep me informed.” He set the phone down with a sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Celestia asked.

“There’s apparently something going on in space. Or rather, there should be something going on. Apparently there was supposed to be a meteor shower in another week, but now it seems the meteors are apparently changing course. We have no idea what could cause something like that to happen, so his suggestion was to consider sending a team up with a sensor package to measure for gravitational anomalies.”

Celestia nodded, though the meaning of half of what Foster had said eluded her. “That sounds like it would help provide answers to some of the questions we all have. So why wouldn’t you go ahead with it?”

“Because right now we need to focus on preparing to tell almost 2 million people that they have to move away from their homes in eight weeks or they’ll die.” President Foster rubbed at his eyes. “I suppose you’ll want to offer your help on that too.”

“Of course. We share a world now, why wouldn’t we offer to help?”

“I swear you ponies are just plain crazy. Alright, we focus on the evacuation first. Then, if we can, we’ll see about putting together something to take a look.”

“Very well. Should you desire our assistance, we shall keep the temporary Embassy in Honolulu open. I will send an extra squad of Royal Guard to help with security, so that you can use your Marines to assist with the evacuation.” And she turned to leave, trotting through the door and turning the corner. Foster stood and looked out the window as she exited onto the lawn and vanished in a flash of light.

“Just how in the hell does she stay so damn optimistic all the time?”

The agent by the door nodded as his earpiece buzzed. “Sir, you have another call on the line. Prime Minister Wright wishes to speak to you.”

“When it rains it pours… Alright, put him through.” Foster picked up the phone. “Charlie! How are you today?”

“Not too shabby Tyler. But I’m afraid I must cut the pleasantries short. I’ve received a very disturbing report from the boys down at DSTL using the new Geiger counter you sent us.”

“I’m looking at a similar report Charles. Needless to say it’s something that’s cause for grave concern. We’re currently working on a solution now.”

“Yes, I’m sure. If there’s anything you need, I’ll see what I can do from over here. Global solidarity and whatnot.”

“Thanks a lot Charles, good to know someone’s got my back.”

“I know that tone Tyler. I’m gonna hazard a guess that the Equestrians were there already offering help?”

“Guess it’s not too big a secret, is it?”

“Then why the bloody hell haven’t you accepted it? I’ve seen pictures of the work they did down in Brazil after that pompous ass Henriques was deposed, they do good work for not having any hands.”

“That they do. However, they’re too closely connected to the Dome in the first place, and people will not be happy when they realize that the ponies will be able to live on Hawaii while they’re forced to run for their lives.”

“But the expansion of the Dome isn’t the ponies’ fault, right? Not to mention they’ve been working closely with you on trying to help us with protecting ourselves and technology from the thaumatic radiation. I think you give your people too little credit sometimes Tyler.” There was the sound of someone else speaking. “Yes yes I’m going to ask him. Tyler, I’m being reminded of another report I received a little while ago, something about the upcoming meteor shower. It seems the meteors have decided not to show up.”

“Yes, I just heard about the same thing. My NASA Director feels sending a team up to take a look is critically important. But with the impending announcement of the evacuation I’m not as sure. Princess Celestia offered her assistance on that as well, though I’m not sold on what aid she’ll be able to provide.”

“Damnit Tyler, you seem hell bent on turning down help from those ponies today? I’ll get in touch with them myself if they want to help, the ESA can have something put together within a few weeks if you’re too busy.”

“Fine Charlie, I’ll get in touch with my advisors, see what can be done. Give my best to your wife and kids.” Foster put down the phone and pressed the button for his secretary. “Ruth? Call Dave back; tell him I want a proposal on my desk by the end of the week. Have him get in touch with his friends in the ESA; we’ll be coordinating with them on any actual mission.”

“Right away sir.”

“Alright, tell Curtis that we’ll need to schedule a press release to announce the impending evacuation. I want the Director of FEMA to begin working on a proposal for building emergency homes for those displaced by this.” He twitched as the agent coughed slightly. “What is it now?”

“Prime Minister Oshima sent a message expressing his concern about the spread of the thaumatic radiation from the Dome. He offered aid in evacuating Japanese citizens, and if any ships can be spared to help American citizens he will send them. He also asked about the meteor shower and desires to know if there is any way his country can assist in determining the cause of the course change.”

“Why not? We can make it a whole international get-together. Hell, we’ll even invite the ponies along” Foster commented sarcastically.

“In addition sir, there was a letter received from General Secretary Tien Zhou. He states that the People’s Republic is willing to negotiate for a permanent peace in the region, pending discussions with both your office and the Equestrians. He also offers possible assistance on any plan to evacuate Hawaii, again pending discussions.”

“What is that senile old dragon plotting?” Foster mused. “Alright, thank him for his offer and tell him it is under consideration. I want CIA to have an analysis of possible motivations for this gesture of altruism by the end of the week as well.”

“Yes sir.” The agent spoke quickly into his wrist radio.

Foster got to his feet and looked out the window again, the sky outside mostly clear and blue, but a line of cumulonimbus clouds were forming on the horizon. “Guess the storm really is coming, huh?” he muttered.

“Sir?” The agent walked across the room to join him.

“Nevermind, just thinking of a line from a movie I saw when I was growing up. Let’s get this circus underway.” Foster grabbed his coat off the hanger.

“Yes sir. Touchdown is moving to the Press Room.” The agent spoke softly before moving to open the door for Foster, two other agents already waiting in the hall.

Together they walked down the corridors, hearing the murmuring of the reporters who’d been gathered. Foster took a deep breath and made sure his hands weren’t shaking.

“Alright, show time.”