//------------------------------// // The Ninth Day (Nighttime) // Story: The Conversion Bureau: Ten Days // by Windchaser //------------------------------// The grand banquet hall was a spectacular place. Windows lined each wall, each one a different work of art. There were dozens of guests, all dressed in gaudy outfits and extravagant jewelery. It was a simple task to spot the other newfoals. A four piece orchestral group was filling the air with gentle tunes, much to Trine’s surprise considering their size. Primrose spotted Sunshine and Spotlight easily as they entered. They stood nearby each other, unsure of where else to go or what to do. Primrose complimented them on their bow ties and gave them affectionate kisses on the cheek. “This place sure is nice,” Trine said, looking along the table of treats and drinks for the guests. “It seems a little over the top for something like us surviving.” “But it is a big deal!” a familiar voice called out from behind him. Trine looked around and saw Garnet smiling as she walked over. “Garnet! You got your voice back!” Trine said, smiling. “The doctors told me it was a quick fix. I was more concerned about you after the... teleport.” Garnet dipped her head. “I am incredibly sorry about what happened with your leg, and I wish there was more that I could do to make it up to you.” “Well, if it wasn’t the teleport, it would’ve been that chunk of the ceiling that did me in. Please don’t feel too bad about it; the doctors got everything fixed up for me.” Trine forced a smile. Garnet noticed the absence of his horn, but didn’t say anything about it. “I hear the princesses have something to say to us when they take the stage,” Garnet said, changing the topic. “As I was saying, there’s been a huge outpouring of support for Equestria and the Bureaus since the fire. Unfortunately, we were the only survivors from the building, but the fact that we did survive after the first real act of violence on a bureau is a testament to our determination. Or something like that; at least that’s what the media’s been saying.” “Well it’s good to hear that there are some people out there who don’t hate us,” Sunshine said before gulping down a cup of something from the fountain. “Good evening, everypony!” Peach Cobbler cheered as she and Firecracker trotted up. “Hey, Peach,” everypony said. “Garnet!” Firecracker said after noticing the red unicorn standing amongst the group. “Did they-” “Yes they did. Full recovery.” Firecracker gave the mare a hug. “You single hoofedly saved our lives that day, you know,” Garnet said, looking at him and then at Trine. “I... I just didn’t want anypony else to die. That’s all.” A fanfare of horns and drumrolls echoed through the banquet hall as the two Princesses made their entrance. Trine was entranced by their beauty; they both looked just like how they did during his conversion dream, but more... defined. And much more beautiful. Celestia’s mane held a faint glow to it as it cascaded along an invisible breeze, while Luna’s mane sparkled and shined from the stars and comets suspended within it. “Good evening, everypony,” Princess Celestia said as she positioned herself in front of the microphone. “It is with great joy and pride that I welcome the survivors of the Blowing Rock Conversion Bureau to Canterlot!” a deafening roar of hoof-stomps and cheers rang through the hall. “Your resourcefulness and determination brought you to the safety of Equestria. But let us not forget the noble ponies who lost their lives in the attack on the bureau.” Princess Celestia began reading off the names of the ponies and few humans who had not made it to the basement before Garnet cast her teleport; the room fell to a painful silence as a few ponies throughout the hall began sobbing. “... Berry Blue, Cocoa Malt, Honeybell, Clementine, and Sea Foam. May their spirits be free, and their memories honored.” Trine saw Peach Cobbler openly sobbing; Firecracker was trying to comfort her, but there were tears coming from his eyes as well. “And for the children who lost their parents in the accident that brought them to the Blowing Rock Bureau. I have a special guest who has a message for all of you.” Celestia’s horn glowed for a minute as a television panel floated out and set itself up next to her. The screen flicked on and a male human smiled through the screen. It took Trine a moment to recognize him, but it was the same man who broke the news to everyone the night before they left for the bureau. He was the one who suggested the bureau in the first place. “Good evening! SOme of you may recognize me. My name is Sean Plott. Due to some happenings during your stay at the Bureau and consequential early departure for Equestria, Telios Chemical LLC has been dismantled and liquidated for severe crimes against the people of the United States of America and the people who worked for them.” “Sean, can you tell them the good news?” Celestia asked out loud. Sean chuckled and straightened his glasses. “Of course, your majesty. Every family who worked for Telios Chemical LLC received a sum of money from the holdings of the senior staff based on their net worth to tide them over until they can find new jobs. The families of the victims from the chemical plant accident, however, will be receiving the balance of this money, which roughly equates to... eleven million, six hundred thousand dollars per individual.” “The royal treasury has received the money and is in the process of converting it all to Bits, our own currency. The process may take some time, since a very generous anonymous donation had recently been made to our coffers a few days past.” Celestia looked into the audience towards Spotlight. Sean leaned forward on his desk. “I know this money won’t be enough to get your loved ones or your families back, but it’s the least the few of us back here Earthside could do for you. Enjoy the party, all of you.” The screen winked out, and the hall was silent once more. “Wha...” Trine began, his jaw hanging slack from his mouth. Everypony seemed to find one of the orphans near them to stare at, and each of them were frozen and speechless. A low murmur began to spread throughout the audience, until it rose to a cacaughenous roar. It was a few minutes before the orchestral group began playing again, and Trine, Primrose, Sunshine, and Spotlight were still having trouble grasping the shear magnitude of what happened. Colossal sums of money were given to each of them except for Rob since he didn’t lose any parents in the initial accident, but Sunshine had promised to give him half of his money before he said a word. “Sir, the princess wishes for a moment of your time,” somepony asked Trine. He was one of the royal guards, dressed in golden armor. Trine told everypony that he’d be right back, but Primrose insisted on coming with him. The guard didn’t object, so Trine went along with it. He led the pair through a few hallways through the castle until they reached a well lit hall that looked similar to the one they had just come from. “Trine, Primrose. Please, come over here.” The sweet voice echoed through the room for a moment until it faded to silence. Primcess Celestia was waiting for the two of them by one of the windows; she was looking up at the night sky as they approached. She turned her head around and smiled. “How did you like the good news?” she asked with a smile that melted both of their hearts. “It’s... so much to take in at once. Your majesty.” Trine almost forgot to address her as the royalty she was. “I am to understand that you were fitted for a new leg earlier today, correct?” she asked, glancing down at Trine’s left leg. He nodded; a hint of sadness crept into his mind for being reminded of it. “Come here, my little pony, and remove your shirt.” Trine blushed as Primrose helped him from his suit and dress shirt, revealing the ugly pole that served as his leg since the morning. He felt a golden aura surround the strap that secured the leg in place; it came loose and the leg fell to the floor. A crate that Trine hadn’t noticed sitting behind the Princess opened up and floated something out. “This was supposed to be a prosthesis that would be given to royal guards who were injured and handicapped on their duties,” Celestia said, pulling the wrapping from the floating object. It was made from a dark metal that resembles iron, but held much more luster than the old metal could. Trine saw cords and glowing crystals inside the leg, but what purpose they served was unknown to him. “Hold your leg out, please.” Trine obeyed by sticking his amputated foreleg out as he tried to balance on his three other legs. The Princess slid the top opening of the leg in place over his stump; the fit was perfect, and as it reached the bottom, a strange sensation rose up from the skin inside of it. The prosthetic leg seemed to tighten around Trine, locking it in place. But what was so unsettling to him was what followed. An electric shock shot through his body and burned the leg inside the new mechanical prosthetic. Trine fell to the floor in a heap for a moment, but pushed himself back up. His head was spinning, and his tongue tasted metallic, but he felt okay. “It looks like it worked!” Princess Celestia said, smiling. “Huh? What worked?” Trine asked. But he realized it just as he asked. He looked down, and for the first time in so long, he lifted up his left hoof. The new leg responded to everything he told it to do, just like his old leg did. He could even feel things through his new leg. “It’s a magically enhanced prosthetic prototype. The process to make them involved too much time and effort to make it viable for what my sister and I intended, so we decided to pursue other avenues for what we sought. Consider this a gift.” Trine tried walking around on the new leg at first, and when it felt almost too natural to be real, he tried galloping around the empty hall. He leaped into the air and shouted with joy. He laughed and cried and thanked the Princess when he came back over to her, hugging her leg and kissing her golden hoofguard. “Please, Trine. I only wished to help you.” “I know.. I’m just so grateful... You are far too kind. I...” Before he could say another word, the Princess put a hoof to his lips. “You are very welcome, child. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a party to attend to. I doubt Luna can keep the nobility entertained for long...” After the alicorn left the two in the room together, Trine simply broke down into tears. Primrose knelt down and held him to comfort him, but they weren’t tears of sadness. “I’m... just so... happy...” he said, trying to smile. “I know,” Primrose said, feeling her own eyes tearing up as well. “Everything is going to be better now,” she said, kissing him deeply and passionately. --- When they made it back to the party, another musician had replaced the orchestral group on the stage; a white unicorn with an electric blue mane and violet sunglasses blasted dance music from two giant speakers on either side of her. Many ponies were in the middle of the room dancing with each other. Sunshine and Spotlight saw them as Primrose and Trine reentered the main hall. “Hey, you okay? Your eyes are a little red,” Sunshine said. Trine only lifted up the sleeve to his shirt and showed everypony his new leg. “It feels exactly like my old leg and everything. Apparently I never have to remove it if I don’t want to!” Trine had found a small pamphlet of instructions on how to care for the new leg in the crate the Princess had taken it out of as he placed his old leg inside. “Amazing,” Firecracker said, looking closely at the metallic leg. “And you can feel with it too?” Trine nodded his head right as Sunshine tapped his hoof against it, drawing a yelp from him. “Careful! I’m still getting used to... feeling again,” he said, rolling his sleeve back down. “Oh! Some of the others from the bureau were talking about moving out tomorrow morning,” Spotlight said, gesturing for them to follow. They found everypony gathered in a big circle. Quake, Sugarberry, Autumn Gale, Skysong, Pink Lemonade, Anvil, Palm Breeze, and Peppermint were all discussing something together. “If we pool some of the money we can do it!” Skysong said, pleadingly. “I don’t know...” Quake replied. “What’s going on?” Sunshine asked Autumn Gale as they reached the group. “Skysong asked Princess Luna if there was anywhere we could move in and stay together. Supposedly, when the Merging happened, a lot of ponies just up and left a few towns all across the countryside to go to Earth or just moved to other towns when their homes got too lonely.” “And we just need to pool some of our new money to rebuild this one town that would be perfect!” Skysong said. “Where is it?” Trine asked. “It’s on the eastern edge of Whitetail Woods,” Quake said. “But we’d need all sorts of things to get those homes all built back up again, and what about food? Why not just move somewhere else that already has a steady population instead of starting our own place?” “He does have a point,” Spotlight said, raising his hoof. “If I may interject...” a voice said from behind Trine. Princess Luna had managed to sneak up behind the group without any of them noticing. “I heard that you all were interested in moving into Fair Haven, is that correct?” Luna’s voice was much gentler and less formal than her older sister, but still commanded great respect. “We’re deciding on that, your highness,” Skysong replied. “Well, we have yet to assign towns as target locations for convertees interested in moving to Equestria, and if you were able to bring life back to the town, we could direct them your way. I believe that it still has a train station, which makes deliveries and travel very easy. Please let my sister or me know what you all are planning.” Luna gave a curt bow and disappeared into the party once more. “Fair Haven, eh?” Autumn Gale said. “I like the sound of it. Sounds homely.” “And we have enough money to get the place started, too!” Skysong cheered. Quake looked down at his little sister and nudged her. “What do you think, kiddo?”  The pink mare looked up at her brother and smiled. “Can we have a swimming pool?” she asked. Everypony in the circle began laughing, and Quake said “Of course we can have a swimming pool.” “It’s settled then?” Trine said. Everypony nodded. Autumn Gale turned around and went off to find Princess Luna to tell her the news. “We’re going to have a home,” Trine said, amazed at the prospect of it. So much was happening, and so fast! He felt like he was going to fall off the ride if he wasn’t careful. Primrose looked up at Trine and smiled. He leaned over and kissed her. “I’ll let you pick out the colors.” The rest of the night was lost in celebrations, dancing, and high spirits. Trine and Primrose stumbled through the hallways of the castle, giggling and kissing as they found their room. Their minds were still running on the fumes of the celebrations and the amazing things that happened, but the party had come to a close and they were asked to go back to their rooms. A train was scheduled to depart early in the morning for Fair Haven, and was being loaded with supplies and construction materials for everypony to use to build the town back up with. It had fallen into mild disrepair, and was going to need some work to bring back up to perfection. But that was for tomorrow. Tonight, Trine and Primrose were in their own world with each other, and they would have it no other way. Trine’s head felt a little funny, like his brain was drifting in the ocean and his vision was trying to catch up with him whenever he turned his head. The drinks they served at the party had tasted funny, but he hadn’t minded after the first few. Primrose had some drinks as well, and she seemed to be under the same effects that he was. Trine closed the door behind him and fell backward onto the frame. He started giggling and laughing as he stumbled over to the bed where Primrose was. “You gonna get up here with me or what?” Prim asked, half laughing. “One sec!” Trine said, trying to struggle onto the bed. He clicked the release that removed his new leg; it dropped to the floor with a clang, giving Trine the ability to roll onto the bed with Prim. “So how you doin?” he asked, his head upside down while he was on his back. “I’m feelin good...” she said, her blush painting her muzzle purple under her blue coat. She crept forward and began kissing Trine on the lips, then moving down and kissing his chest and down his belly. --- Sunshine was feeling the drinks from the party. He thought maybe, maybe, he had a few too many, but he felt so good he didn’t seem to mind. And neither did Spotlight, who had a few more drinks than he did. They were laying down on the bed, their hooves running over each other’s bodies. “Somepony’s a little tense,” Spotlight cooed into Sunshine’s ear. “My wings are so sore...” His wings had been tense and heightened since they got on the bed together. Spotlight sat up and tried to roll Sunshine over onto his belly. “Come on. Roll over.” Sunshine obliged, and he felt the unicorn straddle him just behind his rump. Two hooves began rubbing his back, and it felt so good it drew a moan from Sunshine. “Oooohhhh~” “Just tell me where to go.” “Higher... Oooohhhh! Yeah! Right there...” The hooves pressed hard into the muscles of his wings; he had been so sore since he tried flying Spotlight up before they caught up with the sky carriage. But he was eased free of the aches and pain and felt only Spotlight’s hooves. “Lower now... right on the wi- OOHHHH!” the pegasus moaned out loud, barely able to contain how amazing it felt. “Oh my~” Spotlight growled, pressing harder on the wings, drawing even louder moans from Sunshine. “Somepony’s enjoying this!” Without warning, Sunshine threw Spotlight off of him and pounced on him. They were far from done for the night, if Sunshine had any say in the matter. And judging by the hungry grin that unicorn was giving him, he was more than willing to oblige. --- “Peach?” “Yes?” “Is everything okay?” “...” The silence uneased Firecracker more than if she had said no. Was it something he did? Something he had said? Did he have too many drinks? He was always able to hold his liquor well, so he shouldn’t have done anything too stupid... “Firecracker, can you promise me something?” “Anything.” “Promise that you’ll never leave me...” A twinge of sadness was woven into her voice... It sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Firecracker rolled over to face the beautiful mare. Just looking at her in the dark left him speechless, and longing for her. “Peach, I want to spend the rest of my days with you, and I know for a fact that I’ve never felt this way about anypony before or anypony else. I love you so much and nothing makes me happier than to see you smile.” “Do you mean it?” the mare asked, the tears falling freely now. “Of course. How could I love anypony else?” “I... just don’t want to lose anypony else...” she whimpered. “I’m here to stay, if you’ll have me.” “I love you so much, Firecracker.” “I love you too, Peach Cobbler.”