//------------------------------// // episode 6 part 5 Transformation Central // Story: Conversion Bureau: St George // by kryxel //------------------------------// Transformation Central Written by Kryxel Transformed into diamonds by Ray10K “Please, drink with me,” Celestia said to the stallion before her. “Know that, whatever your past, you are always welcome in Equestria.” “Thank you,” The nervous Earth pony said as he somewhat clumsily grasped the cup before him between his forelegs, and took a large gulp. “hmmmmmm... Delicious,” he said before fading away, the pleasant garden around the three of them fading as his consciousness returned to his body, leaving the princesses in the void beyond Equestria. “That one took a while, dear sister,” Luna said as she turned into a wave of what seemed like a liquid glimmering in all the colors of a gentle winter night’s sky. Celestia, now a strangely stationary ray of light in all hues of a gorgeous midsummer day, chuckled. “Does it matter? It’s not as if we’re behind schedule. Besides, they deserve a warm welcome I think.” Ever since the first conversion, the Princesses had taken to personally welcoming every single newfoal into Equestria. To a mortal mind, this task would have required more time than was available in their entire lifespan, even if one were to somehow bypass the need for sustenance or rest. The Princesses however had an advantage. They were vast. Whenever anypony would look upon either of the Princesses, they would assume they saw the primordial forces of the world given flesh, and bowed whether they wanted or not. Truth of the matter was, they never saw more than an infinitesimal fragment of that true power, an avatar that absolutely paled in comparison to their true natures. Instead, most of the Princesses’ being resided in the space beyond Equestria, beyond mortal eyes, beyond the understanding of even the most brilliant minds. A necessary precaution for the continued existence of their beloved Ponies. With the opening of the Bureaus, those two vast minds had split themselves in order to personally welcome every single new pony to their herd, thousands at a time. But even when divided, their minds were as one. Forever knowing as a whole what each separate fragment knew, while each fragment knew what the whole knew. Thousands of minds acting as two, two minds acting as thousands. “Anyhow, I do agree we should move on. Can’t leave our children waiting, right?” Celestia said as she floated over to a pinprick of light in the infinite void. Another new soul in the herd, one that was still seeking where it belonged. Luna and Celestia converged on the faint glimmer, drawing from the memories and fantasies of the soon-to-be mare, until they found one place that felt... safe. Metal arches sprung into existence, metal sheets interrupted only by strange light fixtures weaving between them to create a large dome. The floor in the center of the dome rose up, forming a platform around a large control panel in the middle as a transparent cylinder flowed down from the ceiling, meeting the control panel as a large assortment of knobs, buttons, levers and even the occasional hand pump appeared on it. Soon, the Royal Sisters found themselves inside a perfect replica of the TARDIS’ control room, waiting for their guest. “Well, that’s... unexpected,” Celestia said as she took on a more recognizable form. “I think I know who our next visitor might be!” “Really now? Last time you said that, it just turned out that he enjoyed the same kind of entertainment,” Luna said with a smirk. Celestia shook her head, still somewhat pensive. “No, this is not just something from pop culture. I’d bet a week’s worth of cake on our next friend being a brown Earth pony stallion, named the Doctor!” Luna laughed. “Hah! I accept thine challenge! Thou would do best if thee were prepared to lose though,” she said as she looked towards the doors leading out of... wherever they were. A moment passed in silence. Luna cleared her throat. “I said, if thee were prepared to lose though!” This time, the wooden doors swung open, revealing... A light grey Unicorn mare. ‘Told you,’ Luna sent a thought to her positively shocked sister. “So, you traveled with him? Guess that explains the confusion then,” Celestia said, having gotten over her shock a few moments before. In the meantime, Luna had invited the mare over to the Console, which was currently repurposed as a tea table. “A few times. Still, his machine is one of the safest places I know. Even when those Daleks started shooting, it held well,” the mare said as she reached for a cube of sugar. “Still, even he couldn’t protect me from that sniper, I guess...” Luna arched an eyebrow. “You were converted during some kind of attack? What happened?” The mare chuckled darkly. “Some HLF idiots, attacking my bureau when the Mane Six visited in full force. I had guard duty when they struck, so they tried to take me out first.” Luna and Celestia exchanged a pair of shocked looks, before turning their attention to the gray mare. “The St. George bureau is under attack?!” Celestia almost shouted. “Whoever you are, tell the Doctors at your bureau that help is under way, We’ll send whatever troops we can muster your way!” The mare nodded, as the held the cup between her forelegs. “Will do, and thank you. Oh! By the way, my name is Terrance,” she said before taking a deep gulp of the sweet-smelling amber liquid. “hmm... nice...” She uttered, as her body grew transparent. As the mental landscape around them started to fade, Luna turned to her sister. “Isn’t Terrance a male name?” “It is. But we have more pressing matters to attend to now,” Celestia spoke with an expression of grim determination dominating her features. Elsewhere, About half an hour earlier... Canterlot castle was so large that many of its cavernous halls were often left unoccupied for long stretches of time, simply because there was nothing or nopony that had any need for them. This, plus the fact that Canterlot was home to some of the most powerful Unicorns in all Equestria plus one of the largest libraries in the entire pastel-colored world, had quickly led to the decision to have the first and largest potion production facility right there. The fact that, in the last three-and-a-half years since construction had begun, only half of the facility was currently online, was testament to the sheer size of both the castle and the facility. Despite all this, security was incredibly tight, as both the HLF and the PER would have serious interest in infiltrating the facility. For starters, the entire facility was below grounds. Not a big problem when the main building was on the side of a fairly tall mountain. Second, no less than six guards protected each of the small number of entrances, with guards being rotated in pairs every twenty minutes. Also, many small groups of guards patrolled the area, with each and every member of the guard having memorized an old document from Earth, creatively called “the evil overlord’s list (full edition.)” Finally, the entire place was protected by some of the finest wards ever created, making teleportation inside literally impossible. In theory, the entire facility was impossible to enter by force. Sadly, theories hardly ever stood the test of real life. In long-term thaumatic reagent storage unit 1, commonly referred to simply as the Tanks, a blurry light accompanied by a strange, whooshing sound appeared over one of the covers of the absolutely massive tanks used to store the finished potion. The light faded and brightened several times, growing more defined with each pulse as a blue box appeared along with the strange light. Eventually, the strange box fully materialized, the light on top fading completely. The door of the blue box swung open as the Doctor stepped out. “Wait, this can’t be right...” A look of confusion on his face, the Doctor reached for his sonic screwdriver and started to analyze his surroundings. “Definitely Equestria, going by the thaumatic field... but when did their industry advance this much?” *THUMP* “Hold it right there!” At the sudden shout coming from behind him, the Doctor turned around, only to find himself facing the business end of a spear. A spear currently held in the hooves of one of the Pegasi guards who had noticed the sudden appearance of a certain blue Box, and had decided to take action right away. “What are you doing here!? How did you even get here?! Are you affiliated with the HLF?! Explain yourself!” The Doctor raised his hands, a little uncomfortable given he was being questioned under threat of grave bodily harm. Again. “Why does everyone always ask that first one? Anyhow, I’m the Doctor, the TARDIS brought me here, and I was going to ask the Princesses for some help against one of the HLF’s attacks. Now, could you please point that somewhere else? It’s a little uncomfortable to have something sharp pointed at me you know.” “A likely story. Only the HLF would have any interest in a human that could survive in Equestria! You’ll be detained, awaiting your trail, and-” “Hey! Beat! Where did you run off this time!” The guard in front of the Doctor stopped for a moment before replying, never leaving the Doctor out of his eyesight. “I’m up here. We’ve got an intruder! I managed to arrest him before he could do any damage, now get up here and help me detain him!” A moment later a small herd of Pegasi flew up, well out of reach of the tank in order to take a closer look at the situation before flying over to lend assistance. “How come he is even alive!? The Tanks alone should roast him!” The first guard still hadn’t taken his eyes off of the Doctor, keeping his spear trained on the strange man. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. Detain him.” The last remark had caused the Doctor’s face to scrunch up in confusion. “Tanks? What tanks? And why should they fry me?” The guard closed in on the Doctor, sliding his spear under the Doctor’s chin. “Don’t play dumb! No-one just stumbles into the single most secure potion production facility!” The Doctor brightened considerably at this. “Most secure? Then this must be Canterlot! Now, I must speak with the Princesses immediately! The lives of many, not to mention the Mane Six depend on-” “WHAT!?! You are holding them hostage!? You lot, get down here and make sure he does not escape!” the guard shouted as his expression became even more determined than it had been since his arrival. On his call, the remaining dozen-or-so Pegasi flew down onto the tank. *krrrr* “Did anyone hear that?” the Doctor asked. “Be silent! You have the right to a fair trial, and fair punishment if, and only if, you are found guilty. You have a right to remain-” *krrrrrk* “-silent, but anything you say can and may be used against you in a court of law, represented honestly and in acknowledgement of circumstances. Additionally, you-” *KRRRR* “-you... What was that noise?” The covers of the Tanks were mostly built to calm down the various guards who had insisted on them, and were never really made to stand on. so, the combined weight of the TARDIS, the Doctor, and about a dozen Pegasi in heavy, gold plated armor added up to just a little more than the cover could handle. The first point at which the cover broke down was right below the heaviest object on it: the TARDIS. The ancient blue box fell through the fissure that formed below it, causing a large crack to spread across the rest of the structure as it slammed into the side of the hole, before the entire device became flooded with several hundred hectoliters of first-grade, high quality Conversion Potion. At that moment, one question no-one had even known would ever be asked was answered: what happens when an 11-dimensional sentient muonic construct is exposed to enough magic to wipe out all of New York AND turn it into a beautiful garden in the process? The answer to this question was actually quite simple: an explosion large enough to, say, tip over a tank meant to contain enough potion for a little over a million conversions. As the tank started to fall, the reflexes of the Pegasi forced them to take flight, leaving the Doctor behind on top of the toppling tank. Thinking quickly, the Doctor started to the thing he was best at: run. Making a mad dash for the rising edge in an attempt to avoid getting crushed or thrown off, he noticed an old, rotten looking wooden grate attached to what seemed to be an old ventilation shaft. Taking a leap of faith, the Doctor threw his weight against the grate. Thankfully, the grate wasn’t any bit as solid as it had been five hundred years ago, crumbling to dust as the Doctor dove through it. A split second later the tank hit the ground with an ear splitting thunderous slam, forcing all in hearing range to cover their ears or risk permanent deafness. As the Doctor crawled through the narrow pipe, hoping to find another exit, the guards whipped up a few strong gusts to dispel the dust clouds and investigate the wreckage. “This is a disaster! The HLF managed to not only infiltrate, but even destroy our potion storage!” one of the Pegasi fretted. “Shut up! Stating the obvious won’t get us any further,” the leader of the group shouted as he started scanning the wrecked remains of the room. “There is no way a human could have survived this kind of onslaught, but we still have to report this to the Princesses. They must know that the HLF have found a way to enter Equestria!” While the Conversion Effort was suffering a minor setback due to faulty Tank coverings, Princess Celestia was preparing for the passing from day to night the same way she had for as long as she had been on Equestria’s throne: by taking a long, warm, relaxing bath. Kneeling down in the pool-sized bath (which was already a compromise of sorts, as the original bath would have occupied most of the largest ballroom,) Equestria’s embodiment of the day’s warmth let herself relax in the comfortable heat of the water, allowing herself a moment away from all the trials and tribulations of court, away from the unending stress of PER attacks, HLF strikes and complaints about roads being too wide, away from that strange creaking noise... Hold on, what was that last one? Celestia’s ears swiveled around, trying to find the source of the sound. Did it come from the doors? No... the elaborate vanity mirror then? No, doesn’t seem like it either. *krr...* There it was again! It came from... above? Celestia looked up, towards the centuries-old mosaic depicting her Sister and herself, noticing something new about the priceless work of art. A crack, running straight down the middle. One that hadn’t been there yesterday. Celestia turned, about to leave the bath, when suddenly the ceiling gave way and crashed down into the bath below, only narrowly missing the Princess. Celestia however wasted no time on what could have happened, instead focusing on what she had seen amidst the debris from the sudden collapse. An unusual shape, that shouldn’t even have survived in Equestria. Closing in on the strange man who had dropped through the ceiling, the Princess took a closer look. Brown hair, long coat... hold on, is this...? At that moment, several things happened. The man raised his head, just as the doors to the baths swung open, revealing a grim looking Pegasus guard who immediately charged forwards, placing himself between the Princess and the newcomer. “Princess, I was sent to inform you about an HLF-attack on the production facility when I heard the collapse. Are you unhurt?” the guard asked, never letting the strange man out of his sight. During this short exchange, the man got up, coughing as he got out of the water. “Stay where you are! You are under arrest on account of assault against the nation of Equestria, violent opposition against the Conversion Effort, and-” “Yeah, sorry about that. Didn’t mean to land there. But I-” the strange man said, before the guard interrupted him. “Silence! You are also being charged with attempting to bring harm against the Royal Guard. Will you stand down and accept your arrest peacefully?” The strange man sighed. “If I say yes, will you let me speak to Princess Celestia? You know, the one right behind you?” Leaning to the side in order to talk to the still soaked Princess, the stranger put on a smile. “Good to see you again by the way. But there is no time for this, your student is in danger! She-” Again, the guard interrupted him. “What?! You also are involved in the abduction of a citizen of Equestria!? Princess, I must insist that you call for backup immediately!” “Stand down, private Wing Beat. I know this man. He is an important ally to Equestria.” The guard turned around as years of training made him fold his wings, for the first time noticing how his Liege’s mane was not flowing as it usually would, instead being weighed down by the water still dripping from it. “Y-your Majesty?” Celestia gave a slightly embarrassed smile. “I personally vouch for this man’s intentions. If he says My Faithful Student is in danger, I am certain he did not intend for her to be.” She turned her attention to the stranger, whose hair had dried enough to return to its natural, messy state. “Isn’t it so, Doctor?” The Doctor nodded. “As usual, yes and no. I may have made some errors in my judgment about the reliability of certain people, but I never put anypony intentionally in harm’s way. ” The guard looked at the Doctor again, not quite put at ease by the vague and slightly worrisome response. “So... did you at some point put someone intentionally in harm’s way, or did you put somepony unintentionally in harm’s way?” The Doctor nodded sadly. “Yes.” “That doesn’t answer my question. At all.” The Doctor smiled serenely. “Don’t worry, I’m on your side.” “Which somehow fails to make me any less worried, even if I believed you were.” “*A-hem*” The guard once more turned to face his Liege. Princess Celestia’s mane was starting to dry up, giving her a very strange appearance as some strands started flowing again while others remained firmly in gravity’s grasp. “I know this man’s history, and if he came here to inform us about the Bureau being attacked, then there is good reason to trust what he is saying. Please tell captain Shining Armor to meet us in the dining room, my Sister and I will be there shortly.” The guard spent but a moment weighing his options between protecting his Sovereign and ignoring a direct order, before he bowed and left the room (while still managing to give the Doctor a dirty look.) As the doors closed, Princess Celestia directed her attention once again at the Doctor. “You mentioned my Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle being in danger due to the HLF. Tell me what happened.“ Finally getting out of the still comfortably warm water, the Doctor started his explanation. “Well, when I negotiated a temporary cease-fire with the local HLF-encampment, their leader demanded a debate with your student in exchange for his promise not to have things get violent. He intended to stick to the agreement, his troops less so,” the Doctor concluded. Celestia frowned as she let the information process for a moment. “That is troubling news indeed. However, we must discuss this together with my Sister. Are you fit to move?” The Doctor smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. Please, lead the way! Allons-y!” One trip to the Royal Canterlot Dining room later, assisted by a quick spell virtually indistinguishable from the perception filter, Princess Celestia and the Doctor took their seats at the long table in the surprisingly sparsely decorated room. A few moments of slightly awkward silence later, a sound of somepony teleporting was heard from behind the door leading into the room as Princess Luna entered and sat down as well. Eyeing the Doctor with some confusion, Luna spoke. “Why are you still alive?” The Doctor chuckled. “And there we have the second most-asked question. Don’t worry about me, I survived worse when I was younger. Thaumatic radiation is still radiation, all I’ll need to do is get a new pair of shoes. A shame though, I quite liked these.” His face grew grim. “But none of that is relevant. The St. George Conversion Bureau is under attack by the HLF, and I need your help!” Luna nodded. “We met with a mare who confirmed your story only moments prior. And while ponykind is not a violent race, we won’t stand idly as our kin are slaughtered.” Celestia fell in at this point, her face as unreadable as ever. “While we have little in terms of a standing army, our forces are well-trained and ever willing to defend Equestria and all those that live in or beyond it. The Wonderbolts should be able to assist in swift extraction of the Bureau’s inhabitants. If what miss Terrance said is true-” “Hold on, could you repeat that last bit?” the Doctor interrupted, holding up a hand for a moment of silence. Princess Luna frowned openly at the rude interruption. “My Sister and I met with a mare who claimed to be named Terrence. She claimed to be a security guard, stationed at the St. George Bureau. Are you claiming her information was flawed in some way?” The Doctor scratched the top of his head as he muttered to himself. “Can’t be... how would they...?” Once again, he turned his attention to the Princesses before him. “I’m sorry if I’m asking the impossible, but could you tell me what kind of potion was involved in that Conversion?” Princess Celestia shook her head. “That is not possible. We welcome the soul, but the body is what contains the potion. She didn’t say anything about the Potion used. Still, if you can confirm her presence at the bureau, it would make the justification for sending out the Wonderbolts all that much easier and faster.” The Doctor leaned back and folded his hands behind his head, a pensive look on his face. “Terrence was indeed stationed at the Bureau and even helped me with a few... ordeals. Problem is, last time I saw him, *he* was male.” Jumping up from his chair, the Doctor started pacing as he spoke. “So, the most likely explanation is that somehow, someone managed to get hold of an older revision of the potion, somewhere before revision-71, and gave it to him.” Princess Luna spoke up, somewhat bemused by the strange man’s antics. “She did mention getting shot before conversion. Perhaps she was found by the PER? One of the recent reports suggested that a local cell was keeping an eye on the Bureau, with apparent intent to protect its inhabitants from the nearby HLF encampment.” The Doctor started pacing faster as he went over the new information. “Yes... The PER had managed to get their hands- Hooves I mean –on an old batch recently I heard... But why would they use that? Last I heard, there were rumors about them having their own production facility... Regardless!” he shouted as he dramatically spun to face the Princesses, “Terrence got hurt in the attack, so first things first! I need to get back to that tank, the TARDIS is still in there. I must get back to the Bureau as soon as possible to prepare for the arrival of the reinforcements!” As Celestia softly chuckled, Luna raised an eyebrow. “Are thee talking about the Tank I recently received word had been destroyed by a HLF-agent?” “That would probably be the one. Why?” Placing her foreleg over her eyes, Luna sighed. “Nothing. Just that my efforts from the last months have apparently been for naught. I mean, if it had worked, it would have even let sufficiently advanced AI’s Convert, but now we’ll never know.” Just as the Doctor was about to say something, the doors of the dining room once again opened as a strangely familiar white Unicorn stepped through. Standing only a little shorter than the Princesses, the captain of the guard saluted as his blue tail swished a little, betraying his feelings of anxiety. “Captain Shining Armor, reporting for duty. I received your message about the Bureau.” The Doctor was stunned to silence for a moment, before he muttered to himself, “No, he can’t be...” Unknown to all, at that moment the doors of the TARDIS, still buried under the remains of Tank 1, opened on a crack as a grey amorphous blob spilled out. The blob remained still for a moment, before flowing past the wreckage of the tank and into one of the many tunnels connecting all of Canterlot’s underground network, eventually settling in an abandoned hallway not far from the storage room... /////// Assuming six years of the bureaus operating (until total conversion of the earth) and a minimum of 7 billion (the current estimated world population) being converted, that would average out at a little under (7,000,000,000/(365*6)=) 3.196.347 conversions per day (per comparison, a day is (24*60*60=)86.400 seconds), so some serious parallel processing power would be needed to visit each of those during their conversion. Making the Princesses the way they are now was just the most fun and interesting way to fix that particular problem ;-). Also, what is the proper name for a group of Pegasi? A flight? A wing? A flock? A herd? A kindness? (no, seriously. A group of crows is called a murder, so why not?) Also, is it thaumic radiation, thaumatic radiation or thaumaturgic radiation? Seriously, this is important stuff! < / Twilight > Finally, here is the list the guards have memorized. Basic idea: one of the guardsmembers managed to get his hooves on a copy and shared it with his comrades, until somepony pointed out how some of the points on it were quite valid pieces of advice for a guard. Ever since, memorizing the list is considered something of a rite of passage to new guards. Kryxel here: i would call a group of pegasai a host. (like angels) and the batponies would be a coven (like vampires)