//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: Tales from the Conversion Bureau: The Last Bastion // by Sachiel //------------------------------// The Imperial Palace, Second Imperial Palace, Petropolis, Second Empire of Brazil, Present Day Tipping the spoon Pedro watched the cinnamon-apple infused sugar drop into the hot chocolate, stirring it in he added a small pink marshmallow to the top. Just the way tia* Twilight had liked it, now his favourite choice for an afternoon respite on the balcony *Brazilian term for aunt/beloved older woman not of your family Celestia had announced she was going to make a visit to the Empire, not could she visit, that she was going to visit. The first visit since the Schism of Harmony He raised the cocoa and took a sip, savouring the flavours dancing on his tongue. How had it all come to this? It had been two hundred years on this side of the barrier since the first contact with Equestria was made. He knew the history, everyone did, one day the human race race discovered that they were not alone in the universe. One day contact was made with the strange, magical land of Equestria When it happened some some countries banned Ponies from entering but most of the world was open and welcoming to the strange talking horses. For a hundred years human culture had been reading about aliens, writing about aliens, showing aliens on screen and now they'd finally met some most of the world were just happy the Ponies weren't the Borg. The Principality of Equestria applied for and was swiftly granted membership in the United Nations, soon Equestrian embassies popped up across most countries. Celestia gave a speech at the United Nations after Equestria's request to join was accepted. Her sister Princess Luna, her niece Princess Cadence and Cadence's husband Shining Armour all came to see this strange new planet filled with talking apes. Luna, Cadence and Shining Armour all took turns acting as Equestria's ambassador to the UN but none of them became the face of their land to the humans That honour fell to Celestia's most faithful student, the Princess of Friendship and bearer of the Element of Magic Twilight Sparkle. With her natural curiosity, sparkling intellect and warm, gentle nature she'd been the Princess who captured everyone's hearts, able to speak to everyone, whether king, president, wary adult or curious child on their level. And as always her fellow Elements and faithful friends were by her side As a trickle of immigration from Equestria to Earth (mostly to the US) happened the reverse also took place, a small stream of emigrants from earth wanted to settle in Equestria. There was a problem, the barrier that separated the two worlds and the magic it was made of was lethal to humans. Luckily a solution was found, courtesy of Twilight who discovered a potion with a unique power What became known as the Conversion Bureaus sprang up in major cities across the world, anyone who wanted to emigrate (knowing it was a one way trip) went inside a human and stepped back out as a pony. So Celestia gained more subjects, people got a fresh start in a literal new world and everyone won, for a time. Then interest died down, the stream became a trickle and then shrank to a few drops, one by one the Conversion Bureaus were shuttered, only a few remained in the biggest cities on each continent. Bar refugees seeking resettlement and willing to take the plunge there were no more mass conversions, those who wanted to go had already gone and there were few clamouring to replace them For a while man and pony kind enjoyed a real honeymoon of co-operation, ponies attended human universities, long-range students graduated from Equestria's places of higher learning and converted ones studied there directly. There was a world first when the unicorn Lyra Heartstrings, a very pro-human pony taught at Harvard and then became Equestria's ambassador to the United States. Human scientists and unicorn mages worked together to try and meld their disciplines. Equestrian tales of Starswirl and Gusty the Great were taught in literature classes around the world as students in Canterlot, Ponvyille and Manehattan discovered the Odyssey and Journey to the West. The best of both worlds merging in a golden time of friendship and harmony And then that golden age went to hell, Twilight Sparkle appeared at the United Nations and flanked by her brother and Cadence she delivered grim news The barrier was advancing, growing, spreading, it might take a thousand years, ten thousand, a hundred thousand but eventually earth would be subsumed into Equestria The world had taken it rather well at first, sure some of them blamed the ponies but for the most part Twilight was able to win those pointing fingers over, showing why she was the Princess of Friendship. With that done everyone and everypony had buckled down to try and find a solution. The best and brightest minds in Equestria, Starlight Glimmer, Starswirl the Bearded, Chancellor Neighsay, Inkwell, Sunburst, Tempest Shadow and more joined with the finest talents humanity could offer, united under the leadership of Twilight Sparkle. For years they worked unceasingly, trying to reverse it, trying to stop it, a magnificent example of friendship and harmony It wasn't enough, nothing worked, still, no worry, they had thousands of years, they could find a way to stop it or flee the planet for another, they had plenty of time. Until they didn't Once again Twilight took the podium at the United Nations, the bearer of worse news. The barriers advance was getting faster, where it was once millennia it was now centuries, maybe even decades. The countdown to apocalypse had started, the doomsday clock had sped up In desperation the governments of the world turned to their weaponry, throwing bombs, cruise missiles, railguns, high powered lasers at the barrier, hoping to collapse it, to push it back, buy more time. Missiles short circuited when they neared the barrier and dropped down into the ocean, the rest were just as useless. Finally in their darkest hour the UN turned to their ultimate weapon, nukes augmented by unicorn magic were hurled at the barrier, one stretch of irradiated ocean later it continued its advance With their greatest weapons ineffective, the nations of the world were open to new ideas, Celestia had had one, she took the stage for the second time, speaking at the United Nations in New York with the entire world watching First, she was sorry, she didn't know how the barrier had formed but she and her ponies were unable to stop it, to save their new friends. She hung her head and apologized, asking for humanity to forgive her, to forgive all of them. The thought of anycreature suffering, facing such calamity was more than she could bear Then she made her offer, the Conversion Bureaus would be reopened and expanded, yes they would all become ponies but their lives would be saved and they could start anew in Equestria. Her kindness, honesty, loyalty and generosity were praised, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nobel Peace Price, the Queen made her a Dame, in short she got every honour the world could throw at her for her plan. At first there were few takers but when the barrier began to make landfall around the world people flocked to the Conversion Bureaus in droves, the Last Exodus had begun, the great flight of mankind from their own humanity The same process took place across most of the world, the barrier would encroach on a country, that country's government would continue its research efforts in public, still hopeful the barrier could be stopped or reversed. In private they began planning for the end, setting up contingencies, preparing for displacement, negotiating with their neighbours to resettle refugees, securing their cultural treasures and readying the Conversion Bureaus. Eventually after the capital had been consumed the government would relocate again and again until there was nowhere left to go. Finally it would cross the nearest border and become a government-in-exile, eternal exile from a land that no longer existed. After a number of years of leading its expatriates it would slowly wind down as they drifted away, dissolve itself and the last of its leaders would enter the Conversion Bureaus or fade away as just another group of expatriates. Rinse and repeat Some kept running, moving from one place to another, one nation to another, others gave up and headed to the Bureaus, it took a lot of will to keep going after being displaced time and time again. Faced with the trauma of upheaval and mounting despair at what the near future held for their entire species the will of many just gave out. You could only run so far from your end, eventually you'd have to face it, that was how many humans saw it in those times. It was one thing to sit far from the barrier and say you'd never convert, when you experienced becoming a refugee for the third, fourth, fifth time? That wore a person down, soon stability and peace seemed awfully tempting As the end drew nearer many nations retreated into nostalgia, reminiscing about the glories of the past like a dying man might recall his happiest memories on his deathbed. Some countries went as far as to revive or restore their old monarchies, dusting off old pomp and splendour to try and compete with the serene Princesses of Equestria. It felt better to speak to them from a position of authority or higher rank, to have a Princess meet a fellow Prince, a King, an Emperor so they appeared of higher status, not the leaders of what would soon become a stateless gaggle of refugees That had happened in Brazil, the populace looked back to the old Empire, considered a golden age of the country where its national identity was forged and decided that, the hell with it, they were bringing it back. So the Second Empire was proclaimed, the imperial regalia was broken out of the museum and Pedro's ancestor, the sitting president was seated on the throne as Pedro III, well over a century ago Eventually the barrier had advanced so far it began to cut off communications with the rest of the world, even unicorn boosting magic couldn't help. Pedro could remember hearing the last crackled transmission from what was left of the United States. As far as they knew the Empire of Brazil was now alone, the last piece of planet earth that was left, the last bastion of humanity It was a fact of life for him growing up, that the world was going to end, the same for everyone else now alive, you kept a bag ready in case you needed to quickly leave, when you became an adult you could choose to enter a Conversion Bureau or you could stay and take your chances He looked out across the gardens, past the iron gates to the residents of Petropolis, going about their lives, going to work, running errands, socializing, relaxing, living their lives. For the most part people just got on with things, pushing the barrier to the back of their minds, hoping it could still be stopped. They kept up the façade even if deep down they knew that their days and that of their species were numbered