//------------------------------// // Chapter XLV: Two Weeks Later // Story: The Conversion Bureau: Setting Things Right // by kildeez //------------------------------// TWO WEEKS LATER “…with another batch of refugees bound for the British mainland, escaping ongoing riots… A loud tap, followed by a click. “…complete and total breakdown of law and order here in Seattle, with similar reports coming from Houston, Portland, Chicago, Seattle, and…” Another heavy, clumsy tap, followed by another click. “…absolute chaos at the docks in Rio today as a fistfight among evacuees turned into a full-scale riot…” “Miss Pinkie Pie?” Pinkie blinked in surprise, head whipping around to stare up at the British Naval officer currently looking down at her with a patient, but stern, gaze. “Is there not something better you could be doing?” “B-but…it moves! And there’s nopony inside it!” She gasped, hooves wrapping around the set. “It’s so fun and cool and…” “And a very loud interruption in a patient ward.” The tall man waved his hand out over the long rows of cots filled with pensioners, ailing hospital patients, and bedridden invalids, swept up in the initial, panicked response to the government’s plans for evacuating their world. He let out a long sigh. “If you had to do that, couldn’t you have done it in the officer’s mess again? This is meant to be a place for quiet.” Her mane deflated, Pinkie drooped. “Oh, alright…sorry…” she intoned as she turned towards the front door of the makeshift barracks. Only to be stopped in her tracks by a very loud, very raspy, very British voice: “Oi! Don’t you be goin’ nowhere!” Pinkie paused, turning to the source of the voice: an older gent in his nightgown, sitting up in one of the beds, hands on his hips. The officer sighed: “Sir, please, you need your rest, if you—” “What’s your name and rank, son?” The old, scowling man barked. “Speak! Don’t make these old eyes figure it out from your insignia!” The officer gave pause at that. “LTJG Thomas, sir, with the—” “Lieutenant Junior Grade, eh?” The old man reached under his mattress at that, rifling about for a second with shaking, wrinkled hands. “Sir, I really must insist—” “Shut it! I’ve just about...ah!” The old man’s face lit up as he finally pulled his hand free, producing a small, brown case with a yellowed grin. “Now, I suppose I outrank ya, don’t I?” He said, opening the case to reveal a Commander’s epaulettes. The officer snapped to attention in an instant, working on pure instinct. He bit his lip. Even retired, the word of a superior officer held a lot of sway in the armed services, and he damn well knew it. “Sir, I…” “At ease.” The old man rasped, smiling like a cat that just caught a mouse while it was rounding a corner. “Now, why don’t you take a second and look around ya? I mean, really look. Notice anythin’?” Of course, the officer did as he was commanded, head swiveling on his neck. Around him, small kids played with noisemakers and pinwheels. Invalids ran their hands over small plushies about the size of keychains in their clumsy, uncoordinated hands. Even the resting patients wore party hats with small smiles on their faces. The officer’s gaze slowly turned back to the old man, and he nodded. “Dontcha think you have somethin’ more useful to do than bothering a fine, young lady just doin’ her part for the less fortunate?” The officer nodded, turning on one heel and promptly marching away with perfectly-even, rhythmic strides. Pinkie, meanwhile, sat up near the old man’s cot, her mane now fully reinflated. “Where can I get one of those?” She giggled. “You turned him into a robot!” “Ah, it’s a lot more bother than it’s worth, trust me,” the old-timer smiled, stroking at her ear. “Still gives me a kick to see one of them pencil pushers straighten themselves out when they see it. Don’t let ‘em get to ya, love. Lot a’ those guys just ain’t got nothin’ better to do than bother people actually doin’ some good. We love ya way too much here to letcha go, so anyone gives you more trouble you just point ‘em my way, yeah?” “Yeah,” she smiled. “Didja want an extra pillow or anything?” “Nah, but before ya go…” he reached under his mattress again, this time pulling out a single, wrapped Werther’s original. “Have a little somethin’ for the road.” “You’ve got candy under there too!?” She gasped, accepting it happily. “Nah, that’s just a trick all humans learn when they hit 55.” He chuckled, tucking himself away. “Bon voyage, miss.” “And a happy day to you, mister!” Pinkie giggled as she skipped away, out of the building, now sucking on the candy. “Ooh, butterscotch!” She murmured as she hopped along makeshift dirt paths, past row after row of tents in what was turning out to be a growing city. Tents stretched out to the horizon; she didn’t know where the humans found time to sew so many! But they weren’t the tents she was familiar with, they were these big, blocky white things that resembled something Twilight might have described from her travels to Yakyakistan… Twilight… That was enough to take a little bit of the spring from her step. Twilight was still MIA, and despite asking the humans super-duper nicely, everypony -- or should she say, everybody – either got super mean about it or apologized and said they had no idea what she was talking about. She sighed. Odds were, nobody had any clue about Twilight, not even the mean ones. She’d probably have to go to Humanland to find her, and based on the large amounts of sticky wire they were running along the beach, that wasn’t likely to happen. So, she was just gonna have to keep doing her best here, and that was all. Making people smile was her forte after all, and whatever Twilight was dealing with, Pinkie just had to trust she could handle it. She rounded a corner, reaching a massive collection of picnic tables setup beneath a towering canopy. Here, a whole collection of life gathered, the drab greens and blacks of soldiers interspersed with the more colorful clothing of the civilians, and even further with the colorful coats of ponies. Even still, it didn’t take her long to find the table she was looking for, they had agreed on a place after all. And even if they hadn’t, the collected coats of the other four still stood out. “…talkin’ about jets that can break the sound barrier, and I keep askin’ when those are gonna be able to race me and nopony can give me a straight answer!” Rainbow Dash huffed. “They prefer the term ‘nobody,’ hon,” Applejack pointed out, taking another bite of her apple fritter. “Oh, whatever! Seriously! They tell me about something that fast and can’t give a straight answer on when they’ll show me? Worst buncha teases I ever…oh, hey Pinkie.” “Heya girls,” Pinkie sang, sliding into her seat with the others, having already scooped up a bowl of ration stew cooling near the front of the tent. “How’re you doing?” “Oh, just wonderful, dearie,” Rarity sang, leaning forward with a flip of her mane, looking just a tiny bit more ragged now than before. “It seems everyone is quite welcoming to an extra bit of color in their humble abodes here, and I’ve been able to talk about the latest in fashion trends on a whole other world! How many fashion extraordinaires can say that, now?” “Yeah, and you should see the hits some of the guys throw when they’re roughhousing!” Dash added, a hoof punching the air for emphasis. “When this is all over, I’m totally goin’ toe-to-toe with some!” “A-and I’ve gotten to help care for so many pets!” Fluttershy finally put in. “I just helped someone with their gecko, turned out the little dear just wasn’t getting enough sun! I was able to put in recommendations for UV lighting with the supply officers!” “Now hold on,” Applejack raised a hoof. “Don’t y’all think we’re gettin’ a li’l comfy here? I mean, these seem like some mighty fine folks we’re workin’ with, but at the end of the day, we’re the ones gettin’ invaded on account a’ they…” “Well I just learned humans are magic too!” Pinkie interrupted. “The old guy I was talking to was able to turn people into robots and make candy appear from thin air!” “Are none a’ y’all even hearin’ a single word I’m sayin’?” Applejack sighed as the conversation barreled ahead without her. “I swear, it’s like y’all forget we’re bein’ invaded here! What’s—” “Miss Applejack?” Applejack turned in her seat, looked around, and realized who she was talking to was much lower to the ground. She leaned down to a small, human girl, currently clad in cartoon unicorn pajamas that were only mildly insulting to Rarity’s senses. “Aww, well hey there, sugarcube!” She smiled. “What brings ya over here to our neck a’ the woods?” “My mommy says we’re s’posed to say thank you to people who do nice things for us, so…” the little girl held up a crude, vibrantly orange crayon drawing featuring an orange blob with small, yellow and brown blobs atop it. “I drawed this for you.” “Aww, thank yashug, I’ll cherish it forever!” Applejack smiled, patting the girl on her head and tucking the drawing up in her hat. The girl, for her part, beamed a gap-toothed smile and skipped off. “Now if that ain’t just the sweetest thang I…” She paused, turning back to the table, the other mares watching her with half-lidded eyes and knowing smiles. “Do as I say, not as I do, huh?” Dash cooed. “Aww, nuts to the lot a’ ya.” Applejack huffed, crossing her hooves over her chest. The mares all giggled together, even making AJ crack a smile. Eventually, they settled into an easy silence, at least for a minute. Fluttershy eventually spoke up: “Did any of you hear about Luna bringing up more volunteers to handle the humans?” “Yeah...” Applejack shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. “Bein’ right accomadatin’, she is...” “Oh, get off it already,” Dash chortled. “It ain’t about us bein’ invaded! I ain’ttalkin’ about that...” Applejack sighed. “It’s just...y’all think she might be tryin’ to do somethin’ besides help the humans?” Pinkie leaned forward at that, setting aside the jellybeans she was adding to her ration stew. “What do you mean by that?” “It’s just what she’s doin’...it’s like she owes ‘em.” The table all got quiet at that. Over the days when the tent city was first being built, they had managed to glean from the humans just what was going on back on Earth: some terrible criminal had escaped, and from the sounds of it, could spell doom for their whole world. The trickle of refugees here were nowhere near to the vastness of their planet, and would represent all that was left when this villain finished things off. It didn’t take the missing member of their group to figure out what Applejack was talking about: the timing was just too perfect, their worlds making contact, and then some super-powerful villain breaks out and threatens the planet? “Applejack...” Rarity said, her tone cautious. “You’re not implying what I think you’re implying, are you, dear?” “I ain’timplyin’ nothin’,” AJ said. “I don’t think Luna’d do a consarned thing t’harm a fly, much less a whole species...least, not on purpose.” She wanted to say more, clearly, and PInkie was the one to lean forward and prod for it. “Buuuuttt...” “But...last few weeks with Twi and Princess Celestia gone’s been awful scary. For all of us. Can’t imagine what it’s been like for Luna, losin’ a sister like that. Dunno what I’d do if’n the same happened to Applebloom. So maybe what she done wasn’t on purpose, but maybe she did somethin’ that weren’t fully thought through.” The table fell silent again, but this was a heavily pregnant silence, one that they were all too afraid to break outright. “Applejack,” Rarity finally spoke. “What you’re implying could have some truly terrifying ramifications.” “That’s why m’onlytellin’ you girls,” the farm pony finished off the last of her stew and finally stood. “S’just a buncha observations. Maybe that’s all they are, maybe they ain’t, but I do know spreadin’ rumors and hearsay ain’tgonna do nopony no good anyhow, alright?” The group all slowly nodded, though Pinkie kept her face down, focused on her stew. “Alright,” she nodded, standing up with her bowl. “See y’all at dinner, keep yer chins up.” One by one, each mare made their excuses and left the table, the jovial tone the conversation had started with now long forgotten. Pinkie was the last, focusing on her stew long after it grew cold. Her brow furrowed, her focus absolute. Eventually, she rose, discarded her stew, and turned from the tent, heading towards Canterlot castle with nothing short of sheer will in her eyes. “All I’m saying is it’s worth a shot!” Thompson shouted, exasperation heavy in his voice. “The UN doesn’t know these ponies like I do, they’re being damned-well cowardly about this!” “And all I’m saying is one possibility guarantees at least a chunk of humanity will survive, the other has us rolling the dice with some newcomer because she’s like…really nice, and totally won’t just pack all her shit up, turtle up, and tell us all to fuck off the moment she’s out. Which, by the way, considering her treatment, is something she is pretty likely to do.” The Lieutenant sighed, turning to walk out of the tent. “Son, there’s some shit not worth the risk. Either way, a coupla military guys as low on the totem pole as us are wasting time even talking about this.” “Talking’s all there’s left to do…” Thompson mumbled, looking away, turning just in time to walk into a wall of blue fluff. He stumbled back, eyes rolling up in surprise. “P-Princess!” He gasped, thumping his chest to still his racing heart. “And a good afternoon to you too, Private,” Luna said with a smile. “Have your people had any troubles so far? Have you enough supplies?” “The uh…stuff you’ve been cookin’ in the royal kitchens has been more than enough to supplant what we got,” he said. “Thanks.” “But of course. What of medical treatment? Have you enough gauze? Medical packs?” “Those’re all fine, just fine…” “Then housing. Surely, you must be short on…” “Princess!” He gasped, which finally earned a moment of silence. “We have more than enough hooves working with our hands on the ground out there, s’all just fine. Believe us, if we need anything at all from ya, you’ll be the first to know.” Luna let out a long breath. “Okay…apologies, we are just…doing our best to ensure our sister remains safe.” Thompson rocked back on his heels. “Yeah…I…look, I know you lot would be doin’ your best even if it weren’t for that, really, I believe ya, but Command…” “Believe me, we know all too well the mistakes one can make out of fear.” She smiled thinly. “’Tis okay, Mr. Thompson, we just wish we could do more.” He let out a long-suffering sigh. “We all do, Princess, believe me. I’m not enthused about what’s about to happen back home, that bitch ridin’ a space rock right into it and all…” “We can agree there…we just…want to save as many as we can.” “I believe ya, but the rest back home? They been burnt by trustin’ ponies before.” He let out a long, measured breath. “A lotta people died when the Barrier hit the Chinese coast, and a lot of ‘em blamed the UN for not doin’ their due diligence with…her. That’s how we wound up with those HLF psychos.” She nodded, turning away to trot out the opposite end of the tent. “We’ll…go check on how the kitchens are getting along.” “Aye, I’ll leave ya to it,” he said, watching her leave. He turned, and let out a grateful sigh when he caught a shock of pink through the tent flap. After glancing over his shoulder to make sure the Princess was gone, he scampered to make his way over to it. “Pinkie!” “Heya Mister…” she started, but at his urging, quickly remembered herself and quieted down with a giggle. “Oops…heya, Mister Thompson.” “How’d ya find me all the way out here? This place is bloody massive right now!” “Easy! I just used my Pinkie Sense’s newly installed human-locator!” She explained, as if it were the most obvious thing possible. His brow hunched at that. “But there’s thousands of us all over the place now.” “So ya think,” she replied with a wink. He blinked. “Well, ignoring that damned terrifying idea, howsabout you get to tellin’ me what you’re here for, eh?” “I was actually looking for Princess Luna, and figured you might know where she is!” “And…just what brought you ‘round to that idea?” She shrugged. Thompson sighed. It was the most sense he had ever managed to get out of the little, sugar-fueled ball of random. He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Actually, you would be right. Why dontcha head through there? She just walked that way.” Beaming, Pinkie skipped by. “Thanks, Mr. Thompson!” “Aye, sure,” he replied, scratching his chin, wondering why he suddenly felt like he was little more than a scene transition between more important players. But the feeling faded as the pink one skipped off, so he stepped out into the sunlight to continue his duties. Of all the duties Princess Luna had taken up in the past few weeks, this was her least favorite. What made it the worst was that this was no duty of the crown, or of nature, this was an obligation of family. More importantly, it was an obligation of the heart. She sighed, bracing her hoof against the door before her. “The heart…” she muttered, her chin giving the slightest quiver before she pushed through the door and walked inside. “I know it’s you, Luna,” a voice from the sole piece of furniture inside; a plain, four-post bed, hissed. “Cadence…” Luna rasped. “Please…I just wanted to check up on you.” “Fine. You checked up on me. Satisfied?” Luna shook her head slowly, sadly. “No. No, I’m just…sorry.” “Sorry?” The bed’s lone occupant sat up. Cadence’s eyes wore heavy bags, still bloodshot from crying. Her yellowing teeth clenched, her cheeks baring patches from makeup she’d not yet bothered to wash off. “You’re sorry!? The love of my life is dead! Shining Armor is dead, murdered by a genocidal monster you helped release! And that’s all you have for me!? That you’re sorry!?” Luna let in a shivering breath. “We were doing what we felt best for our sister and our kingdom…we knew nothing about the other side…” “Oh, so you sent him into the great unknown. Great, glad his last role was as a test dummy!” “He was only meant to make contact with our sister, we had no idea—" “You sent him. To die.” Cadence hissed, a dark glare locked in on Luna. Luna gulped, her head bowed. “We erred.” She whispered. “We know this.” Cadence’s teeth grit, that dark glare flaring on her visage. She rose from the bed, powerful hooves clomping over the floorboards, but when she reached the other alicorn, she stopped just short, choosing to glare hatefully into Luna’s midnight-blue gaze. “Be glad that I don’t wish to complicate matters with the humans,” she growled, Luna wincing as if each word was a lash at her back. “Because otherwise, I would be severely tempted to make sure they knew how that monster escaped.” She whirled around, trotting for the door. “C-Cadence?” Luna started, reaching for her. When Cadence didn’t even stop in her trot, Luna’s hoof slowly lowered to the ground. “I-I’m sorry…” There was no reply, and she knew the conversation was over. All Luna had left was the clatter of metal on metal, unending conversations, and wails of children from the refugee camp growing outside. And around the corner from them, Pinkie sobbed. Her mane had fully deflated, all its springiness straightened out as her massive, blue eyes welled with tears. It was as if the full gravity and horror of what the world – and not just her world – faced was only just weighing in. The mass death looming on the horizon, the destruction of so many peoples, the agony of those who couldn’t escape…all of it because of them. Because of their actions. Curling up into a ball, Pinkie cried, because she didn’t know who to pray to.