• Published 9th Jun 2012
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The Conversion Bureau: Thus Saith The Lord - Kamin 989



Celestia's Conversion Bureau project meets a totally unexpected problem.

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Chapter IV: I Send the Thunder From the Sky, I Send the Fire Raining Down!

Chapter IV: I Send the Thunder from the Sky, I Send the Fire Raining Down!

And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 9:22

Canterlot, Equestria

Celestia looked over her land by the light of morning. She had no power over this world's sun, but she saw no need to tell her subjects that. The wild animals had vanished, like the frogs before them, and she knew the ponies would take it as proof of her victory. No matter what struck her land next, she knew she would never give in to that woman's terms. After all, how could it get worse?

She felt a dim presence in her mind - Luna, her sister. Let her try and stop the Conversion, after all. Nothing would.

~*~

Cloudsdale

The town of Cloudsdale was built in the sky, and had thus endured the plagues better than the rest of Equestria - but it had suffered from the frogs and the animals as well. The pegasi that made up most of its citizens had not met the woman calling down chastisements on Celestia, and by extension, the ponies that supported her, and thus they didn't know what to do when she showed up at the gates.

Not to be deterred, she broke them with a single strike of her hand and walked unbarred to the centre of town.

'You are cowards,' she said. 'You had power over the weather, yet have not made an action or spoken a word against Celestia.'

'You think you rule over the skies and the weather. I will disabuse you of this notion. I will send the storm upon the land you help, and with it I will hurl down the fire and the hail and the lightning. I will stretch forth my hand over all Equestria and you will know despair and fear. Celestia will not save you. Nothing will, unless she accepts the terms I have offered her before she loses her last chance. So be it.'

She struck her staff on the plaza, then left without a word.

From the borders of Equestria, from the furthest reaches of the territory it had spread over like a cancer, the storm-clouds came. Inky-black, they blotted out the sun, covering the whole country in a veil of night. For about half an hour, they seemed to wait.

Then the fire came down.

~*~

Equestria

All over the country, fire rained from the sky. Trees became torches, and ponies huddled in living rooms, basements, the corners of streets, seeking what shelter there was from the merciless flame. Canterlot was hit many times, blasts taking out balconies and blasting holes in roofs and walls. The skyscrapers of Manehattan soon became pitted, cracked by fireballs shattering walls and exploding rooms. The eldest of them, the Stonehoof Building, briefly became a tower of flame, then crashed to the ground with all the ponies inside, burying one of the city's largest avenues in rubble.

Pegasi flying were struck with gale-force winds and bolts of lightning, and for a few hours dead ponies smelling of cooked meat fell from the sky. Occasionally the lightning was more powerful, as when a single bolt completely destroyed the highest floors of Manehattan's tallest building. Massive hailstones smashed into trees and crops, hitting buildings with enough force to smash right through windows. The tallest tree in all Equestria exploded when it was struck by a single bolt of lightning, sending splinters of burning wood all over a large town.

The ponies almost expected it when not a single newfoal was hurt.

Celestia tried to affect the storm with her magic from Canterlot, working together with all the pegasi she could muster, but nothing happened. She knew she was missing something, but what was it?

Appleoosa

Luna was going into the town of Appleoosa under the cover of the largest and most terrible storm any pony, living or dead, had ever seen. She looked over the streets, the ponies huddling in panic everywhere that offered shelter, houses and trees burning around her as fire rained from the black clouds, suffusing the scene in an eerie orange glow.

Right in the town square was a human woman, dressed in blood-red clothes and carrying an iron staff, the ponies not seeming to notice her as the gales blasted through their town.

'Who are you?' she asked.

'I use lots of names,' the woman said. 'But they're not remotely relevant right now. Why do you ask?'

'Did you...cause this?' Luna asked, trying to change the subject.

The woman's face gave a stern expression.

'I'm dreadfully sorry, Princess Luna,' she said. 'But I told Celestia to stop her little scheme and...she wouldn't listen. My job is to stop her plan. I don't know how many more will have to suffer before she lets go of her stubbornness and pride. If you're looking for shelter, head for Applejack's farm. It should be protected from this and from whatever comes next.'

'Oh, and let me deal with Celestia.'

Cloudsdale

The town was helpless. From its position in the sky, the pegasi living in it could see all the fury being rained down on Equestria. The fires burning in Ponyville, Manehattan and Appleoosa. The devastation around Canterlot. They couldn't fly down to the ground, the lightning and the impossibly strong winds blowing through Equestria would kill any pegasus who tried.

So they were left with no choice but to watch Equestria be devastated.

Canterlot

Celestia was in such a rage it was unimaginable, watching the fire and hail from the balcony. Something was striking, killing her ponies and there was nothing she could do. It was worse even than Discord - at least with him she had had an opponent. But with this, there was quite simply nothing she could fight. She could waste her power fruitlessly trying to hold back the storm, but whatever lay behind it she couldn't begin to even see, let alone fight in any meaningful way.

But she would not submit. She gritted her teeth and hardened her heart. Nothing would stop her.

Vatican City

The Pope listened to the news of the events in Equestria with fascination. He was going to give a mass today and well, this was quite unexpected. At least the wild animals had been somewhat explicable, but this, this was obviously a miracle. The papers, the radio channels, the televisions were now explicitly equating the events with the Ten Plagues of Egypt. The main Bible verses quoted this week were from Exodus. Quite irreligious people were practically queueing up for conversion.

Well, if God had judged Celestia and found her wanting, it was not his place to question that judgement. The least he could do was point it out.