Flare yawned as he opened his eyes, lifting his head blearily as he blinked the last vestiges of sleep from his brain. He felt a familiar warmth against his back and rolled over, giving Nimbus a nuzzle. “Morning, did you sleep any better?”

“Not really, woke up feeling sick in the middle of the night again.” Nimbus said as she rolled off the bed and made her way to her stack of armor.

“I’m sorry, you feel alright now?” Flare asked as he got up and trotted over to help her get the armor on.

“Yeah, only a little tired now.” She rolled her shoulders as Flare settled the backplate into position, flexing her wings to make sure her range of motion wasn’t impeded. “Thanks hun.”

“Sure thing.” Flare grinned as he trotted over and started getting his own plate on. Soon he set the helmet firmly onto his head, feeling the familiar tingle as the enchantment washed his coat to the usual plain grey. Looking over, he could see the last of Nimbus’ blue-grey coat disappearing from around her eyes, their golden hue turning ice blue. “You ready to go?”

“Sure, I’m starving.” Nimbus said as they trotted out of their ‘house’, though the term ‘shack’ might be a better description. The prefabricated structure was designed for short-term habitation, and Nimbus was already sick of it.

Looking around the camp, they could see the rest of the expedition staff making their way around. They had finally gotten the extra staff, and they’d begun rounding up some of the local Bonobo chimps for Conversion. They now had about thirty or so new ponies, with ten more chimps waiting to get their shots. They’d sent a letter to Canterlot, but all they’d received was a note that once the first group was ponified, there’d be a team sent to transport them.

Down by the riverside a solitary armored form could be seen sitting quietly. From the bulk, it could only have been Aegis. With a sigh he kicked in a rock, followed shortly by another. After such a dull display and another heavy sigh, he trod back to the main encampment, passing Flare and Nimbus with his head held low.

“Hm? Oh, hey Flare. Just thinkin’, I reckon’.” Aegis flashed a plainly false smile, then resumed his dragging pace.

Flare and Nimbus fell into pace next to him, Nimbus bumping shoulders with the bigger stallion. “Wanna talk about it?” She asked, worry lacing her voice. She’d never seen him get like this before.

“I... well, it’s a little silly, I suppose, but...” Aegis sighed again, figuring there wasn’t any point in keeping it to himself. “It’s my little sister Leapfrog’s thirteenth birthday today, and...I’m missing it. In...” Aegis checked the sun’s position and briefly shook his head, trying to piece together the adjustment for time zones. So vast, this Earth! “In about ten hours or so, she’ll be opening up my gift, a book on marine biology, and I won’t be able to see it.”

Flare frowned. “I’m sorry about that Aegis. I know how you feel.” Nimbus cast a sad glance across Aegis’ back, knowing what her coltfriend was talking about. She fell back behind Aegis and crossed to trot beside Flare, leaning against him in support.

“No kiddin’? You have a little bro or sis?” Aegis smiled at Flare in genuine, this time.

Aegis, not as slow on the uptake as he liked to let on, caught onto the past tense that Flare had been using and folded his own ears back. “I’m sorry, Flare. I didn’t know.”

“No, it’s alright.” Flare exhaled heavily. “It was a long time ago, before I had joined the Guard. There was an outbreak of fever. Our village doctor just wasn’t good enough to take care of all the sick. We got word that more doctors were on the way from Canterlot, but for some they weren’t quick enough.” Flare’s eyes remained dry, though the slump in his shoulders still told the tale of how he felt as plain as day.

Aegis trod on in his silence, the thought of merely missing a party feeling a petty thing at this point. Leapfrog would have other birthdays, but Red Flash would not.

After a few seconds passed, Flare looked up, a small smile on his muzzle. “He’d have loved it here, all this open space to run around in. I’ll have to find a souvenir to take back home with me when we’re relieved here.”

Nimbus, feeling their foal beginning to kick in her belly, smiled softly and pressed her side against his. Flare felt it too and pressed back against her, the melancholic atmosphere dissipating like mist.

Aegis drew in a sudden deep breath through his nose, mood lightening suddenly. “Flare, Nimbus... I smell breakfast..and as hungry as I am, it wouldn’t do to be behind me in line, if you catch my drift.” Aegis flashed what could only be called a ‘hungry’ grin at the two. “On your mark....”

Flare and Nimbus chuckled at his proposal, both ponies comically getting ready for his signal.

Flare cut a glance at his marefriend, a wicked grin on his muzzle as he saw she was having the same thoughts he was.

Aegis set his rear legs and crouched, ready to bound off the ‘line.’ “GO!” Aegis kicked powerfully, launching himself off the starting point.

Nimbus snapped her wings forward and down, powering into a curving leap that landed her a few hooves ahead of Aegis in a dead sprint. Meanwhile, Flare’s horn ignited with a pulse of orange magic, the glow gripping Aegis’ tail and yanking him backwards onto his hindquarters as the unicorn galloped past. The two ponies beelined for the mess tent, not sparing a glance for the stallion behind them.

“Wha-! Cheaters!” Aegis called, laughing as he sprang back to his hooves and dashed after them. After all, how could it be cheating if they were just using abilities granted to them naturally, just as he was? Breakfast was looking to be a merry gathering after all.

“... and lastly, our casualties were twenty-two drones. Their weapons are quite impressive.” The same male changeling who had infiltrated the wedding said calmly as he followed Chrysalis to the larval chamber. “As you ordered, we collected all the fallen, took their weapons, and cleaned up all traces that we could. As far as any searchers will be concerned, not a clue remains to explain the villager’s disappearance.”

“Excellent, you have performed well,” Chrysalis purred as she entered the larval chamber. The changeling following her buzzed in ecstasy as her appreciation flowed over him. Together, they looked out on the scene unfolding on the chamber floor

Teams of changelings buzzed and crawled over the prone bodies of dozens of humans. Men, women and children squirmed in terror, their screams muffled by the viscous, glowing green ooze plastered across their mouths. More ooze was slathered across their arms and legs to ensure they would behave themselves. As Chrysalis watched, five changelings swarmed over one of the children, hoisting it from the floor to a waiting pod on the wall. The child wailed behind the ooze, tears pouring down its face as it was gently secured, the changelings working quickly to secrete a covering for the pod. Once it was formed, the growths in the wall began to pulse, a thick, green-tinted slurry pumping into the pod. The ooze on the child’s body dissolved and it screamed violently before it was submerged, its eyes wide with terror.

Chrysalis sighed in relief as the child was silenced, then tilted her head as she picked out a louder wailing from one of the humans on the floor. Given its pitch, she assumed it was female and leisurely walked over to it. Peering close into it’s eyes, she smiled demurely. “Is that one your child? Why do you cry so for it? If anything, I am giving it a gift, one that you will share in soon. You consider individuality a strength, when all it does is weaken and divide you. Soon, that will be stripped from you and you shall become a part of something more...”

The dark eyes stared wildly at her, uncomprehending, and Chrysalis sighed, rising to her hooves and making her way out of the chamber, the woman on the floor thrashing as the changelings came for her next.

Arcane Light relaxed, the pale white glow around her horn fading as she opened her eyes. The last chimpanzee in the family group lay on the ground, now a unicorn like herself. “Well, that went easier than I expected. The refinements to the ponification serum are really something, aren’t they?”

Her partner unicorn, Steel Glimmer, tossed his head in agreement. “Maybe eventually they’ll get it so we only need one unicorn per convert. I heard from a friend of mine that there’s talk of making a version that can be drunk, so that humans afraid of needles don’t have to put up with them.”

“I suppose. Now, let’s get our friend to her hooves. Supposedly they’ll be sending a retrieval team to take this group to Hawaii.” Arcane trotted over and nuzzled the newfoal gently, smiling as the former chimp opened her eyes. This one at least was more behaved than some of the others that had converted. One of the larger male chimps had turned into a truly impressive earth pony, requiring both Captain Aegis and Second Lieutenant Lariat to safely restrain.

They carefully helped the newfoal stumble across the clearing to where a covered enclosure had been built to allow the newfoals somewhere to sleep, as well as to keep them from wandering off into the jungle. Whatever Dr. Getton had mentioned from the first day hadn’t happened again, but nopony was willing to take chances. Within the fenced in area the others waited, the armored form of Lariat standing tall amongst them.

“Is this our last convertir?” Lariat asked as he strode through the milling group of ponies toward the gate like he was fording a stream. Shooing a couple of curious newfoals from the gate he opened it and helped usher the unicorn in. “Shoot, hope there’s some kinda means for gettin’ these newfoals outta here. Wouldn’t want to take ‘em on a drive through this terrain.”

“I don’t blame you Lariat, and it seems we’re in luck.” Flare remarked as he trotted over, indicating his head toward the empty end of camp, where a haze of magic had begun to appear. The air seemed to be forced apart as a towering shape materialized, twelve feet of dark stone carved with runes, as well as four unicorn Guards. The herd of newfoals squealed in a mixture of excitement and fear, many of the unicorns feeling their own magic reacting to the surge of magic, while the pegasi and earth ponies stamped their hooves nervously.

Flare waited until the light had faded and trotted to one of the unicorn Guards. “It’s good to see you again Ruby, congratulations on making First Lieutenant.”

Ruby saluted. “Thank you sir. And belated congratulations to you and Nimbus sir.”

Flare smiled and returned the salute. “Thanks. So, what made Celestia decide to transfer one of the Beacon Stones here? I thought they were needed in San Francisco and Honolulu?”

Flare stared for a second and then his jaw dropped open. “Y-you don’t mean...”

“That’s right sir, this here is the first Beacon Stone created in over two thousand years.” Ruby remarked proudly. “Apparently, Celestia and Luna have been working on a way to make more of them for the past two years, since trying to swim from Manehatten to San Francisco would be a bit tough.”

Flare nodded absently, reaching up with a hoof to touch the Stone. He could practically feel the energies bound within it, waiting patiently for somepony to use them.

“Alrighty then, so now what?” Lariat asked, nosing apart a couple newfoals who were getting a little too... frisky with grooming each other’s manes.

“Well, we’ll carry the Stone into the center of your corral, then we can simply teleport them back. Unfortunately, we’ll be taking the Stone back with us, but Celestia ordered me to give you this.” Ruby reached under his armor and withdrew a small gemstone, a single rune carved into the face of it. “This is a locator rune, since you might need to relocate your camp to find more chimps.”

Flare accepted it, giving the rune a once-over in case he had to re-inscribe it. “Thanks Ruby.”

“And how are your supplies holding up? Anything you need before your next resupply?”

“I think we’re alright for now, thanks for asking Ruby.” Flare said with a wry grin.

Ruby nodded, gesturing to the other unicorns to lend a hoof. Together they levitated the Stone over the fence, most of the newfoals scattering at the strange intruder in their midst. A few of the unicorns pressed forward, entranced by the sensation of the ancient magic permeating it.

“Alright alright ya’ll, don’t push.” Lariat said as he carefully left the corral, smiling proudly at the forty new ponies. “Enjoy your schoolin’ now, and listen to your teachers.” He wiped at his eye with a hoof, waving as the unicorn Guards lit their horns, the Beacon Stone glowing with light as it made the connection to its destination. The light grew to a blinding flash and the group was gone, a few wisps of steam and stamped down grass being the only thing that indicated they had ever been there.

Flare chuckled. “Well, you’ll have another bunch to keep an eye on soon, once the search party comes back.

Fluttershy loved it here. The animals were so similar to the ones back home in Equestria, and even the new animals were friendly, if a little shy of the strange creature that fluttered through their home. Looking down, she saw a glint of something shiny and landed gently. Nosing aside a broken leaf, she froze at what lay exposed beneath it. Looking furtively around, she could see more of them laying there. In an instant, her mind was back, seeing those five humans with their cruel eyes, and the shell casings that had littered the floor after they’d been killed. Flapping her wings frantically, the yellow pegasus raced back to where Amy and Dawn Breeze were talking quietly.

“Hey Fluttershy, what brings you back so soo-” Amy was cut off as Fluttershy crashed into her, shaking in fear. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I saw...” She pointed with a trembling hoof back the way she came, but couldn’t make any more words come out.

Dawn Breeze frowned. “Amy, wait here with Fluttershy. Nimbus will be back in minute or two. I’ll go investigate.”

Amy nodded and started stroking Fluttershy’s mane to calm her down. Dawn Breeze spread her wings and carefully made her way through the undergrowth, stopping and landing as she saw the scattering of shell casings. Oddly, they seemed to lead in a trail, as if whoever was firing the weapon was running while doing so. Her ears on a swivel, she crept forward, the clusters of casings getting larger.

With a snort, she realized that there was a smell in the air, a sharp stink that she remembered from the attack on the research facility by those humans calling themselves the HLF. She debated turning around, but saw a break in the trees up ahead and decided to press forward. Shouldering a leaf aside, the veteran officer froze at the sight before her. Her eyes darted back and forth before she whirled about, spread her wings, and took off for where Amy and Fluttershy were. This was something a lone guard was inadequate for.

“Alright, now let’s see what’s got you so worked up, Dawn.” Aegis remarked as he shouldered past the last bush. Dawn and Nimbus had brought Amy and Fluttershy back, though despite their best efforts nopony had gotten her to talk about why it was important that all five Guards go out to investigate. Amy had made up her mind that she would come along too, and, surprisingly enough, Fluttershy had agreed to go along, though Aegis suspected Amy had had something to do with it, given Fluttershy was sticking to her like a foal to its momma. The mercenaries had ‘volunteered’ to stay behind at the camp, and keep an eye on the Bureau staff. Suzy and Jimmy had attempted to follow them, but a stern talking to from Amy had kept them confined to their shack.

Looking ahead, Aegis came to a stop, jaw starting to drop in time with everypony else. The clearing ahead of them was filled with buildings, obviously a settlement of some kind. What had stopped them cold was the condition it was in. Bullet casings littered the ground and several of the buildings had holes punched through them from stray gunfire. The paint on some of the buildings was blackened and peeling, as if it’d been exposed to an intense heat. The once smooth center path was now pockmarked with craters.

“Flare,” Aegis spoke as the acrid tinge on the air assaulted his snout, “I’ve not seen actual warfare myself, but...somethin’s off here...” He continued forward, every sense screaming for him to be wary.

Nimbus blinked, fighting hard to keep herself on the ground. “You’re right Aegis. I don’t know what did this, but there should be more... well, everything...” She took a few hesitant steps forward. “There’s no blood, no bodies.”

"Lariat, left shield, I have right. Flare, stick in the middle, Doctor Getton, Miss Fluttershy, stick close to Flare. Nimbus, Dawn, flank guard. Nimbus, if anything happens, I want you back at camp for back-up in ten seconds flat.” Aegis hoped he was being paranoid, and hoped he wasn’t overstepping his bounds giving what was basically an order to the same-ranked but far more military-experienced Flare.

Flare nodded, carefully trotting down the street, the occasional shell casing clinking out of his way. He stopped as he drew close to one of the craters. “What do you think caused this?”

Nimbus walked slowly around it, peering closely. “I’m not sure. This looks almost like a mortar crater... but there’s no shrapnel holes in the buildings. And these craters are shaped weird, they’re almost like hemispheres carved out of the ground-”

A sudden bang made everyone jump, looking to the left. A door, partially torn from its hinges, swung forlornly in the slight breeze.

“So, anypony want to check out the scary building?” Lariat asked half-jokingly. His ears were flicking madly at every sound they heard, trying to identify if any of them was a threat.

“Right...can’t leave potential threats behind us. I’ll go. Dawn, on my back.” Aegis was a brave pony, but he wasn’t a stupid pony.

Dawn nodded, falling into position behind Aegis as they entered the building. The interior was dark, but the bullet holes in the wall let in enough light for the two ponies to see that it was apparently a dwelling. There were some crude wooden dishes on the floor, food scattered about. The chairs were thrown roughly around, and the table was shattered down the middle, a multitude of scratches covering its surface. Looking around, Dawn could see more scratches on the walls and her sense of unease grew.

Aegis nodded absently, peeking through a doorway in the back. This was obviously the bedroom, a few cots set out, including one for a child.

Dawn joined him the doorway, her eyes narrowing as she saw the child’s bed. “This... this wasn’t humans that did this, was it, sir?”

Aegis inhaled slowly, the room smelling of family and fear. “I just don’t know, Dawn, but there’s...just nothing here. No blood, and only a little damage to any of these structures. I’ve heard from the newfoal recruits that human war is messy, especially in this region of the world.”

Suddenly, there was a loud thump from behind them. Dawn practically leaped out of her armor despite herself, wheeling about to face whatever threat had snuck up on them. Aegis spun about as well. He’d been wearing armor a very long time, and could move in the light (to him) guard armor with hardly a sound. The main room was empty, but Dawn’s sense of there being something else in the room with them wouldn’t go away.

Her eyes soon found themselves drawn to a large crate that had been sitting against the wall, that was now off-centered. She carefully tapped Aegis with a wing, indicating the box.

Aegis nodded and approached, making no sound against the wooden floor. stepping to the side of the crate, Aegis looked to Dawn and nodded, then reached up and yanked off the lid. The crate skidded more to the side, the lid falling to the side, revealing the empty interior.

Dawn frowned, certain that the noise had come from the box, and looked around carefully. She crouched low, sniffing at the floor cautiously. As she drew near to the floor the box had been sitting on, she noticed that there was a very narrow gap running in a straight line along the floor. Pushing the box aside, she saw that it formed a perfect square in the floor. There was a tiny hole in the center floorboard, and looking around, she saw a hooked metal rod that could fit it. Leaning close to Aegis, she whispered, “What do you think sir?”

“Good eyes. I think you’d better get Flare. Gonna be dark down there.” Aegis took up a guard spot and motioned for Dawn to go.

Dawn quietly crept to the doorway, motioning for Flare to join them. The unicorn cautiously entered the empty room, ears swiveled back as he looked around. Dawn indicated the spot on the floor and Flare nodded, carefully taking hold of one end of the rod with his magic. Slotting the other end into the hole, he nodded to Aegis and Dawn, then took a deep breath and yanked the hidden panel open, to a bloodcurdling shriek from within.

Flare looked down the hole, the light from his horn illuminating the narrow space with an orange glow. Returning his gaze was a pair of terrified dark eyes. Flare hurriedly extinguished his magic and peered cautiously at the human. “Do you speak English?”

The man recoiled. “Elili, Elili!” He sank to the muddy floor under him, shaking uncontrollably and muttering to himself.

Flare looked up at the others. “Let’s get something to get him out of there, maybe he can tell us what happened here.”

Everyone looked up as Amy pushed open the tent flap, one of the mercenaries exiting after her and walking back over to join the others.

“He’s alright physically, a little dehydrated from being in that hole, but he’ll recover from that.” She said tiredly

Amy shook her head. “He says that the shadows literally came alive and entered the village, just after sundown. They tried to fight back but there was too many of them. He tried to find his wife and child, but they chased him into his house, where he hid himself in the hole. He heard them destroying his home above him, but they didn’t find him and left. He was too terrified to come out after that.” She looked at Flare, her face drawn. “Do you know anything that could have caused this?”

Flare shook his head. “Not to my knowledge, no. The only things I could think of that could do this are rogue unicorns, but so far there’s not been any that powerful that have come to this part of the world.”

“Not to mention the scratches on the table and walls inside his house. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Dawn said, tapping her hoof on her chin.

"I'm drawing a blank, too. Ain't a dang thing I can think of from even the Everfree that left marks like that. I'm right stumped." Aegis scratched at his mane, thinking. "He said the shadows came alive? So the whatevers were dark colored, maybe even black..."

Flare dug a hoof at the ground in thought, his eyes half closed as something Aegis said clicked. “When the shadows move in the deep of night... ummm...” he faltered, scratching his head.

“Uh, nothing. Just something my mother used to tell me when I was a foal. Somethin’ you said just made me think of it... Can’t remember the rest of it though...”

“When the shadows move in the deep of night
stay snug in bed or face the fright...”

“Was that it...? That’s one of those old warning tales, keep foals from wanderin’ into the woods alone. I told it to Leapfrog all the time. How’d the rest go...” Aegis stopped to think. Leapfrog hadn’t needed the warning in years.

“No one goes to the woods alone,
or you come back a frightful clone.
Your mommy and daddy will lose you, foal,
to take your place is their goal.”

Dawn’s voice cut across the silence, the ominous words raising the hairs on everyone’s neck, though no one wanted to admit it. Flare and Aegis nodded as more of the foalhood poem came back to them, joining in on the next stanza.

“So if you hear the whispering,
stay tight in bed, or it’s you they bring.
And never enter the woods alone,
for it's there you’ll find the Changeling Throne.
And the you who returns in the end,
will not be you, but one of Them.”

The group was silent as the words faded into the evening air, the shadows seeming to lengthen for a few seconds when no one was looking.

“What in the world was that?” Amy asked. The three had inadvertently slipped into the Equestrian language as they started to speak, but she understood enough to know that it wasn’t anything pleasant, if the tone they had spoken it in was any kind of indication. Suzy and Jimmy pressed close to her, the two not knowing what had been said either, but the ominous tone of the poem had set them on edge

Flare hesitated. “Well, it’s an old Equestrian foalhood fable, to warn foals about staying outside after dark. It warns about...” Flare’s ears folded back at how silly he felt saying it, “changelings.”

“Wait, but...ain’t those things a myth?” Aegis stared at Flare. “Like the Rainbow of Light?”

Amy stood up, her eyes clouded with frustration. “Alright, alright. Let me get this straight. Are you really suggesting that something from an Equestrian fairytale could be responsible for this?”

Dawn shrugged her shoulders. “At this point there’s not enough to know. But right now, there’s nothing else that really fits the description. I think we need to keep the options on the table open, and be ready for anything.”

Fluttershy whimpered, cyan eyes darting fearfully back and forth as she glanced at the jungle surrounding the camp. As the sun slowly sank below the horizon, the shadows crept in, chasing the last traces of daylight away. The lanterns of the camp provided a meager resistance, a small island of hope struggling against the dread of night. The crescent moon overhead loomed like a lidded eye, staring down on the world below like some vast predator.

The Conversion Bureau: What Separates Us

by Cloudhammer

03 - Taking Stock