//------------------------------// // First Contact // Story: The Conversion Bureau: The Warrior's Way // by Warwolf //------------------------------//                  It happened without anyone knowing how.            It was considered a great stroke of luck that when it happened, there was plenty of advance warning in the form of strange energy waves that were picked up by instruments all across the planet and by satellite, and so every ship, aircraft and submarine, save one that was lost when the energy first began to manifest itself was able to steer clear of the zone where the energy was coalescing. It was the panicked mayday of the sub that was lost that caught the attention of the instrumentation of the world as it was frantically sending out every piece of data they had gotten before they were left dead in the water in the hopes of rescue. Rescue that came far too late as the sub's core went critical and blew. The landmass appeared some one thousand and fifty miles from the coast of the southernmost tip of Alaska, situated virtually in the very middle of the north pacific. It took nearly a month for anyone to even be willing to send a ship anywhere near the thing as it was still giving off insane levels of energy. Once it calmed down, a ship was sent out from California bearing scientists, explorers, anthropologists,  and political ambassadors from the US, Russia, Japan, China, India, England, France, and Spain. The scientists and explorers and anthropologists were there to study the landmass, as many believed it might have somehow been one of the legendary lost continents somehow come home to roost. The ambassadors were there to welcome back the lost brothers of humanity.     When the ship got to the island, however, they met with an unexpected roadblock. As the ramp was extended to allow the people aboard to make landfall, they became aware of a strange energy field which, once touched by human hands, was shown to be almost a mile high and, if later information sent by satellite was to be believed, encompassed the entirety of the island and airspace above it for roughly a mile up.This lead to confusion. This odd barrier defied all natural laws of physics. "So, is it really one of the lost continents?" asked John Ahmayer, a scientist who had come to study any technology that might be on the island. "That might explain this force field. I mean, it's beyond any technology we've got right now."     "If it is," responded Jennifer Thomson, a British anthropologist, "I don't understand how it's possible that this barrier can even exist when we haven't seen any signs of life or even a power source yet. The satellite feeds aren't as clear as they should be, and that worries me."     "Well, the images of the island may be blurry to some extent from that high up given we do have that field in the way, we do know there appear to be some kind of settlements on the island." The ship's captain said, having been listening in on the coversation for the past few minutes as they had been getting data from the ship's instruments and the laser link to the satellite. "If this is something like Atlantis or Mu or whatever, and they had the kind of advanced technology all the legends say, it's entirely possible we just can't see any sign of it because of it being so advanced that it isn't immediately apparent."     "I suppose we'll have to set sail back for California for now." John said.     "Captain! we've spotted movement on the island!" the announcement came over the PA and it caught all the people chatting about the situation off guard, sending nearly everyone aboard the ship scurrying outside to see what had been discovered.     It took a few minutes, as whatever they had spotted had vanished into the foliage. But soon enough, a mane of pink began to emerge from the bushes, followed by aquamarine eyes, and a head coated in short, finely glossy butter-yellow fur.     "A horse?" The captain said, looking in confusion to those around him. Most just shrugged helplessly. He looked back at the creature, and when it emerged more fully from the underbrush, many an eye went wide. Aside from the odd coloration...the thing was small. Barely four feet tall, if that, and had what were clearly wings.     "That's not physically possible..." John Ahmayer said, summing up the entirety of the thought of everyone aboard who were able to see the little winged pony.     "No shit, Sherlock." one of the ship's crew said with a snort of laughter. "Great, so we've made first contact with a baby mutant myth."     The horse...pony....pegasus?....whatever, let out an audible squeak and ducked back into the brush again.     "You may be closer than you know about the idea that it's a baby, sailor." the Captain replied.     "Fluttershy! Fluttershy, where are you?" another voice rang out. This one coming from the island itself, and left the humans confused. What kind of a name was Fluttershy? There was a rustling in the bush and the pegasus— for lack of a better term— stuck its head out from it, looking back towards the source of the voice.     "O-Over here, Twilight."     The humans stood in stunned disbelief for a moment.     "Did that thing just talk?!" the Captain asked of no one in particular. His shock was clear in his tone and 'Fluttershy' gave a frightened squeak at the sudden question due to its volume, and almost looked like she wanted to hide again, but didn't get the chance, as a purple mane and lavender head joined the yellow one. But this head bore a spiral grooved horn atop its head.     "There you are, Fluttershy. Why were you hiding over here?" The pony with the horn asked. 'Fluttershy' timidly pointed one butter yellow hoof at the ship. The other pony....who at this point the people on the ship could only think to call a unicorn....turned to look where its (her?) companion was pointing and recoiled slightly in surprise. But after a moment, the unicorn stepped further out of the bush, so that the crew and passengers on deck could see her. She was lavender from head to toe, with a mane of purple with a pink streak in both mane and tail, and had odd markings on her flanks that looked like giant violet stars orbited by smaller white stars. She swallowed, and then said, "Uhm, hi. My name is Twilight Sparkle."     Unsure how to react at first, the Captain began walking down the ramp again, to at least get close enough to see the thing at eye level. Well, relative eye level anyway. He was followed by Ahmayer and Thomson. They had expected the possibility that they were about to meet long lost members of the human race. Not make First Contact with a wholly alien species!             One hour later    "Correct, your highness. As you predicted, Twilight Sparkle was the first to approach the humans." The guard said into the glowing mirror that depicted Celestia's face on it. "The humans have invited her and Fluttershy aboard their ship and they seem to be having a relatively good time."     Celestia nodded, eyes half lidded in thought. She had expected this when she arranged for the timid pegasus and her pupil to be in the area on an errand for her. It was a small thing really, and not altogether necessary since she had the needed item in spades there in the palace. But she needed Twilight to be there. She needed her to see the humans who were just now at their shores. Let her have a good impression of them. When she showed her what she wanted Twilight to see as the 'truth' about humanity, it would easily break her of any attachment to them and make her a perfectly willing agent in the conquest of Earth. It wouldn't hurt too much that some of what she was going to show her student was at least partially true, just not the whole story.     "Very good, Sergeant. I will make contact with Twilight later. First, I need to being preparations for my first encounter with humans outside the barrier."     The guardpony nodded and the connection ended, leaving only a mirror reflecting his own face instead of allowing for communication with the solar princess. Making sure not to be spotted by the humans or the two ponies currently enjoying themselves on the ship, he spread his wings and flew back towards Canterlot.     Back in Canterlot proper, Celestia began considering how best to address the various governments of Earth. They were nearly all represented by the United Nations, and she doubted even nations not part of the UN proper would demand to be involved in any meeting she would agree to since she was the leader of a species that humans were only just now meeting for the first time. She knew she couldn't rush this, but she couldn't take too long either. No sense making the species antsy. If they got antsy, their better instincts would recognize her for what she intended to be. No. Best make the wait a relatively short one. Her little ponies could go to the barrier now simply by intending to go there rather than to other parts of their own world. Many would be curious to see the world they had now become partially a part of. But how to gain Earth and its bounty for herself? How could she claim dominion over this world without destroying  the slaves she wanted? How could she take the sheer number of humans on the planet and convert that into a means of taking the planet?     ....Convert, huh? she suddenly thought as an idea began to form in her head. That works. I'll have to ask Twilight for her help on this once I convince her humanity needs this in order to be more than they already are or could be. And with this thought in mind and a smile on her face, the Solar Tyrant began to laugh at her own brilliance.         Author’s Note: Well, here’s the first chapter in The Warrior’s Way. I know many fans of the Conversion Bureau out there are going to immediately start decrying this. I don’t really care. I’ve already explained my feelings on Celestia to you. This chapter continues to exhibit the traits I feel TCB!Celestia has. She is a monster from the outset, and wouldn’t think twice about using her student to further her own ends. While she does this benevolently in the first two episodes of the first season, she can also use it for shits and giggles, as displayed in the episode The Best Night Ever, where she admits to inviting the girls to the Grand Galloping Gala with the sole intent that they turn the thing upside down for her own amusement. It may seem like a big stretch to suddenly paint her as an evil dictator from this...but then again, how the hell is it that other TCB writers have somehow come to the conclusion that she’s omnipotent? And for that matter, why do they fucking ignore Season Two altogether?         This fic actually takes place just after the events of the season 2 finale. (Though I will try to incorporate season 3 if I can once it starts, but I can’t guarantee everything will fit perfectly) So Shining Armor and Cadance have just gotten married shortly before Equestria partially appears on Earth and are off on their honeymoon. Thus, they don’t and won’t know about First Contact with Earth for awhile yet. The Changeling invasion is only a few weeks old at the absolute most and as such, things are still very much on high alert since the ponies aren’t sure if Chrysalis survived and will be back. Given the shapeshifting powers they possess, this means they have many reasons to be very paranoid about possible incursions again. And Celestia will hardly be above using it for her own gain.         That’s about all I have for now. See you next chapter, whenever that will be.