The Conversion Bureau: Opening Week

by Anonsi

Opening Week: Day 1

Opening Week
Based on Blaze’s The Conversion Bureau
which itself was a fanfiction of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
By Anonsi(Who constantly gets interrupted)

- + -

EQUESTRIA IS NOT ALONE!

Today at exactly 8 o’clock Canterlot time, Princess Celestia held a press conference where she stated, “A startling new species has appeared just off our shores. It is a species that is as intelligent as us ponies, maybe even more so given their level of technology. However these creatures, these humans, they are in pain. I have seen with my own eyes devastation that no pony should ever see, and misery which Equestria has never known even in its darkest days. These humans need our help. I have spoken to their leaders and they have agreed to allow us to help them. I call now on you my fellow Equestrians, if you believe you are willing or able to leave your homes and loved ones behind to help a strange new people, then please, I implore you, go to the ship yards of Manehattan and prepare yourself.”

The Princess was unavailable for later comments as she has since cloistered herself inside Canterlot castle with her sister and the Elements of Harmony in preparation for a what is hoped to be a massive exodus to this mysterious land of the humans. Next to nothing is known about this new species, but it is believed that more information shall be revealed before the boats leave for their homeland in three days.

- + -

DAY 1

- + -

She paced back and forth on the bow of the ship, her mane billowing in the breeze and her steps filled with giddy excitement. “Finally,” she said to herself, “I’m going to be my own mare! No more, ‘Clean this up Shimmer Sprite,’ or, ‘Listen to me complain about my perfect life Shimmer Sprite!’ Ooohh no! Not anymore Madame Orange! This mare is finally free!”

She gazed out onto the rolling waves of the ocean as gulls flew high above in the clear blue sky. Taking in a deep breath, the yellow earth pony with the honey gold mane and shining compass cutie mark let the sea air fill her lungs. A wide smile crossed the mare’s face. Soon she would be doing what her heart had told her she needed to do, and no other feeling gave her more pleasure than the one she got when she followed her heart.

“I’m finally going to be where I belong,” she mused wistfully, “funny it’s nowhere near Equestria though.” Resting her head on the rail of the ship, the earth pony continued to let her mind wander, “I wonder what these humans are like...I hope I can help, the way the Princess made it sound, the poor things were half dead already.”

“Enjoying the view?” came a masculine voice from behind her, “I sure am.” Shimmer spun to see a light blue colored colt with a cornucopia as his Cutie Mark, and his ‘charming’ grin came off as more, ‘smarmy.’

Shimmer Sprite’s gut told her to get away from him. “I was until you showed up,” she replied harshly, making sure that this colt couldn’t misunderstand her intent.

He took a nervous step back, “Hey now pretty filly, that’s no way to introduce yourself. My name is Cobalt Blue, and I just wanted to say hello.”

The mare’s gut told her to run around to the colt’s left. “That’s nice,” she said, “now I have I name to tell the crew to keep away from my room.” As she finished she dashed to the blue pony’s left and dodged a clumsy attempt by Cobalt to try and get in her way.

His efforts left him tumbling to the deck in a heap, “Wait! Hold on! Let me start over, I didn’t mean to come off all creepy like that!” he called as he hastily tried to right himself.

Shimmer Sprite only stopped to look back and say, “Later creep!” before she blew her tongue at the colt and galloped into the interior of the ship.

Cobalt Blue finally rose to his hooves and rubbed a developing sore spot on his head, sighing heavily as he watched the mare disappear into the innards of the large boat. “That is the absolute last time I use a pick up line from a book.”

- + -

Shimmer Sprite’s eyes widened as she descended down the ramp and onto the hard concrete dock. There were humans there to greet her and the other passengers, and they were all cheering. Cheering for them. The humans were all so happy that other humans, ones in very sharp looking black suits, were holding back the exuberant crowds. However, that didn’t stop humans in the rear of the crowd from holding up bright and colorful signs.

Shimmer Sprite couldn’t read the human alphabet, but it seems that their two cultures had remarkably similar symbols. There was one sign with about a dozen bright red hearts surrounding the text. Another had cheerful smiling faces (with more hearts!) adorning every corner of the paper it was on. Her favorite by far however, had to be a sign held up by one of the human foals. It was a simple poster with a crude drawing of a human and a pony giving each other a hug.

The steps of the earth pony bounced with the joy of being so loved. Shimmer Sprite could only smile as bright as she could at all the humans she passed by, occasionally stopping to wave a hoof towards one of them. Sure the air tasted awful in her lungs, the streets could barely be called clean, there was a certain bitter smell that came off the water, and practically every human in the crowd looked thinner than she believed they should, but Shimmer Sprite did not care about any of that. All she cared about was that her gut told her that these poor creatures needed her help, and that she was going to do everything she could for them.

- + -

After a lavish dinner of strawberries, watermelons, fresh oats, and a wide assortment of sweets in a massive cafeteria, Shimmer Sprite flopped onto a bed that was much too big for a single pony. Despite the sheets smelling a bit dusty, the mattress and pillows were comfy as clouds, so Shimmer Sprite wasn’t complaining.

Tomorrow she and hundreds of other ponies would be making these poor humans’ lives better. The yellow earth pony’s thoughts swam with a hundred things she wanted to do to help them in a comforting dream-like haze. A haze that left the mare on the the precipice of sleep.

A knock from on her door roused the pony from her comforting thoughts followed by a voice she could barely remember, but recalled enough to dislike. “Hey!” came the voice of Cobalt Blue through the door, “Something is going down outside!”

“Go away you creep!” said Shimmer Sprite flatly.

“Creep?” replied the colt curiously, “AH HA! You’re the filly from earlier aren’t you?”

The mare rolled over in her bed and placed a pillow over her head. “Congratulations! You can leave me alone now!”

“Hey about earlier,” Cobalt said through the door, “I’m sorry. I got that line from a book that my brother got me. I...I don’t really know how to talk to girls.”

Sprite just harrumphed. ‘Oh Celestia, when is he going to leave?’

“But I doubt I needed to really tell you that! Ha ha...hoo boy.” Cobalt shuffled awkwardly in the hallway before suddenly exclaiming, “Aw hay! Right, listen! I know you don’t like me or anything, but there’s this big crowd of humans outside and they look really angry about something. The ones in black suits are going around and telling everypony to stay inside their rooms, but not much else.”

Shimmer Sprite’s gut was acting up, subtly telling the mare in its own little way to hear out what the colt had to say. Her gut has never steered her wrong before, so she tumbled out of the over sized bed and opened the door to her room. There in the hallway stood the form of Cobalt Blue, smiling like a foal that had found a million bits. Shimmer was less excited and skipped any sort of pleasantries with him, “If the black suits are telling everypony to stay in their rooms, then why aren’t you in your room?”

Taken aback by her harsh tone, Cobalt meekly stammered, “W-well you see I, um well that is my Cutie Mark means...uh...wh-what I’m trying to say is-” Noting the mare’s growing expression of irritation, the colt cleared his throat and began again, “My talent is being a bountiful source of optimism, and I was hoping that I could help out in whatever is going on out side. I was also hoping that somepony would come with me.”

The mare just looked at him, deciding whether or not to slam the door in his face, or tell him he was nuts and then slam the door in his face. “Alright,” she said finally, “Let’s go.”

“What?” asked Cobalt honestly surprised. He was hoping she would say yes, but he never actually thought she would.

“I said let’s go,” she repeated moving past him, her honey colored locks bobbing up and down as she cantered down the hall. Noticing the colt wasn’t following, Shimmer Sprite looked back to call, “Coming?”

Cobalt snapped out of his daze and quickly trotted up next to her saying, “Sorry, it’s just that I couldn’t stop looking at your tail. It’s really pretty.” After realizing what he had said, he slapped a hoof to his forehead and began apologizing.

Sprite let out a sigh and renewed her trot with Cobalt in tow. He was nice enough she concluded, and was definitely not a liar. He was really bad at talking to fillies.

- + -

“So Miss, um...can I ask you something?” asked Cobalt as they turned yet another corner.

“What?” huffed Shimmer Sprite.

“How do you know which way to go?”

“My special talent is knowing what paths to take.” Rotating her ears slightly, she heard raised voices nearby making her doubly sure that they were heading the right way.

“Oh...that’s really cool. Sounds like a great talent actually. And it fits you ya’know? I mean it’s way better than a dumb ol’ cornucopia like mi-”

“For Celestia’s sake shut up!” snapped Shimmer Sprite as she turned to face him, “Do you want to get caught?”

Cobalt lowered his head apologetically and adverted his gaze. “Sorry,” he whispered sullenly.

A feeling of pity began to well up in the mare as she gazed at the rather pathetic display. She actually didn’t mind being hit on by the colt, it was just that she didn’t want to get in trouble with the humans. “I’m sorry I snapped at you Cobalt. Just remember that we are trying to sneak out.”

“Right,” he replied quietly as his previous demeanor returned with a great big smile.

Trying hard not to actually start liking Cobalt, Shimmer Sprite focused on navigating that dark halls of the human building. The shouting from outside were getting louder, and soon she and Cobalt found themselves one door away from the front lobby. Sprite gingerly opened the door and peeked through, hoping to see what the fuss was about and get back to her bed.

Several humans in black suits were frequently looking out the windows that boarded the front doors, and some had strange ‘L’ shaped things in their hands. One of them, a taller one with a short cut mane, was talking into a thin rectangle with his back turned to the eavesdropping ponies, “Yes Mr. President, the situation is under control...Yes it’s some of the civilian populace...No sir, they have not done anything violent yet, but the-...Yes sir...Yes sir I know, and we are doing everything we can to make sure the ponies are safe...I will, thank you sir.”

Pushing some unseen button on the device, the human placed the rectangle into his pocket and began to speak to the others, “Alright men, the President wants this crowd dispersed without bloodshed. Get your masks and prep the gas.”

Instantly, the humans burst into action. One of them put a finger to his wrist and spoke, “Hold your breath crowd control.” Others opened up a cabinet and extracted several black gas masks that struck Shimmer Sprite as down right scary. Two more, including the one who had been talking to Mr. President, moved to a chest and deftly passed around tube with handles on them.

“What the hay are they doing?” whispered Cobalt.

“Heck if I know,” replied Shimmer Sprite, “but my gut is telling me there might be a window in the next room.”

“You can talk to your gut? I thought your talent was...” Sprite shot a glare at the colt, making him rethink his train of thought. “...Riiiight. Sorry.”

Rolling her eyes, the honey colored mare trotted to a different doorway that lead to an adjacent room to the lobby, “Come on you dodo.”

The door creaked open letting a stream of light into the otherwise dark room. It was smaller than their bed rooms, but at least it had a window. Even from the door way, Shimmer Sprite could see the chaos unfolding outside. She and Cobalt both rushed to the window and gazed out worriedly, hoping that nothing serious was about to happen.

Outside, there was indeed a large angry mob of humans that were thankfully being held at bay by the humans in what appeared to be black armor with shields. It was a stark contrast to the cheering and happy faces Shimmer Sprite had seen that morning. These humans were shouting crude obscenities and all their faces were contorted with absolute rage.

The humans in black suits had put on their black masks and leveled the tubes at the crowd. One shouted into an amplifier, “CITIZENS, RETURN TO YOUR HOMES PEACEFULLY OR WE WILL USE FORCE. THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING.”

The crowd only pushed harder on the shield wall, and some bricks began to sail over the wall and hit the building. The men in black suits fired something from the tubes into the crowd. Soon, clouds of smoke began to rise up from the crowd and many of the rioters began coughing and wheezing. A great many of the mob broke and ran, but not after hurling one last brick or hurtful phrase.

Some of the angry humans made a charge at the shield wall however, but were quickly beaten down by the batons that the armored humans carried. One rioter lit a bottle of something on fire and threw it at the building. It sailed through the air, almost majestically, and right towards a window with to horrified pony faces.

“GET DOWN!” cried Shimmer Sprite tackling Cobalt ground, barely moving the colt out of harms way as a burning glass bottle crashed through the window and shattered on the carpeted floor. Fire seemed to spring from nowhere, and soon the two ponies found themselves cut off from their exit by a raging inferno.

“Tell me your gut knows a way to get past a wall of fire!” exclaimed Cobalt.

Shimmer Sprite turned to the colt, fear obvious in her features, “I got nothing.”

“Well,” he said chuckling slightly, “In that case, I’m sure one of the human guards will get here before we burn to death!”

It was getting extremely hot in the small room, and the two ponies were doing their best to not get anywhere near the flame. It proved futile however, as smoke began filling the air and choking them while the burning fire inched ever closer.

As smoke began to fill their lungs, the two ponies huddled in the farthest corner away from the fire and whimpered as the world around them grew woozy.

“I’m sorry,” groaned Cobalt as he struggled to stay conscious, “I just wanted...to get your name...”

“Shimmer Sprite,” she replied coughing. Her gut remained unhelpful.

Cobalt fell to the floor with a flurry of coughs and wheezes, and after failing to right himself moaned, “Pretty name for a...a pretty filly...”

“Hey! You stay with me!” shouted the mare to the prone colt. When he didn’t respond, Sprite’s chest began to tighten with worry. “No! No don’t you pass out on me! Tell you what, if you wake up I’ll go on a date with you! That’s what you want right?” The smoke was thick, and darkness began to encroach on her vision.

A great, hopeless weight dropped into her stomach. She was barely able to see through all the smoke and darkness, and her head was so light that she could barely make sense of anything she did see. A final wave of heat assaulted her and forced the mare to collapse on top of Cobalt’s unconscious form. Within a few short moments, Shimmer Sprite had blacked out with fire as the last thing she saw.

DUN DUN DUNNNN
Are they dead?
Who knows!
Maybe we’ll find out next time
I want to write something
NON-Yellowstone related.

Comments

[Cloudhammer]

NO FAIR! Was just gonna start studying for my first exam too... Oh well, it's only one chapter...

[Cloudhammer]

And you have props for having the same idea I did, once my current fic I'm writing is done, I'm going to be writing a CB fic from the Equestrian viewpoint at first contact as well, though mine's a little bit further from the norm than yours seems to be hehe

The problem with any HiE (or PoE) or TCB fics is the antagonizing of humans, or making every pony (especially unicorns) extremely powerful.
I know it's supposed to be dystopian, but how come humans can't work together?
And then the natural paranoia and xenophobia we humans have. We wouldn't let ponies into our world, nor we would let them turn ourselves into ponies.

Interesting fic, but Celestia seems like shes brainwashing the ponies (maybe just me being me).

[Midnightshadow]

I read this before - where's the rest, you rotter!

[Anonsi]

63272
I'll get around to posting it, I swear!
...as soon as I actually write it...
63259
Originally I did this as a speedfic challenge (I do a lot of those) so I decided to do a more traditional TCB concept. You know, Humans are in the middle of a super depression, there's not enough food for everyone, those in power are corrupt (and stupid), and Captain Planet is no where to be seen. It's meant to be a bad situation, but I have no intention of portraying humanity as, "Dumb barbarians who can't get along and need the pony master race to teach them how things are really done."

As for Celestia...Yeah...she sounded kinda derpy in that opening bit. But don't worry, you'll not see anymore of her for the rest of the fic! I think. Maybe.
...Probably only on TV.

[Meta Knight]

fantastic

[nemryn]

63319
Don't worry about the speech, press conferences always sound forced and inane.