//------------------------------// // Tale 3: Conversion Bureau // Story: Tales From The Omniverse // by Lucar //------------------------------// Sweetie Void landed beside a road not far from a city. She saw a car pass, and she immediately understood that she was on Earth, in “modern” time. It wasn’t her first Earth, but it didn’t mean that she wasn’t interested in exploring it. You never knew if it was some interesting variant, like Solid Snake’s Earth, or Joker’s Earth. The only problem was that she had no idea where to start. Another car passed. Someone in it threw a can at her. The can thankfully missed, but Sweetie still let out an indignant “Hey!” while glaring at the car. Throwing a can at me immediately upon seeing me, what the heck? In the end, she decided that it didn’t matter. She turned herself human (making sure to turn her hair brown), then teleported to the city, in the sky above it. Looking down, she saw an empty alley and teleported to it. Her first objective: finding a newspaper. It was the best way to find out if something was going on in this world. If she can't find anything, then she will just explore around, going from city to city. If she can't find anything after a few days, then she will leave. A newspaper flew right into her face. With an annoyed groan, she tore it off from her face to look at it. “Thanks, Writer. So, let’s see… Uhu… Uhu… Wait, what? Over 1 000 000 more humans ponified? What?! The Conversion Bureaux… Ponification… Sent to live in the ever expanding realm of Equestria? What the buck is going on?” There was also an article about how some group, the Human Liberation Front, destroyed a Conversion Bureau in some city of America with a bomb. There was a quote from Twilight Sparkle saying how saddened she was that this happened. That some humans just couldn’t accept ponies. There were also quotes from random people saying that it was good riddance, that the invaders deserved it, and all. Sweetie Void turned herself into an adult and exited the alley before she called an old lady not far. “Excuse me, is there a Conversion Bureau in this city?” “Oh, yes, there is one,” the old lady answered. “Continue this way and you should find it. Equestrian chariots are just beside it, ready to transport the ponified to Equestria. Why? Do you intend to ponify yourself?” The old lady seemed to judge her with her look with these words. “Uh, no, I just wanted to look. I’m not decided yet.” The old lady nodded. “I understand that it is to save yourself, but frankly, I would prefer to die a human rather than become one of them. But I guess it’s your choice. Good luck.” And the old lady left, leaving Sweetie alone. Like the old lady said, Sweetie easily found the Conversion Bureau, a simple building among others out of which were parked chariots with ponies climbing on them and pegasi ready to lift them into the sky. Humans entered the building, ponies exited it. Humans glared at them, others looked at them hesitantly. She approached one of the ponified to talk, but as soon as the stallion saw her, he glared at her. “Back off, human! We have nothing to do with your savage species anymore!” It took her off guard. She didn’t expect such hostility. Especially from an ancient human toward his ancient species. “It’s no use talking to them,” a man behind Sweetie said. “When they are ponified, it’s not just body, but also mind. They stop thinking like humans. Everything that makes them human is gone.” “I see…” But why such hostility? She left, and returned as an unicorn mare, climbing on one of the chariots. The same stallion than earlier, who was just beside her, talked to her. “I’m glad that I’m not one of these beasts anymore.” Sweetie Void decided to go with it. “Me too.” “I’m an ancient soldier, you see. I saw war. So much death. So much suffering. No more. Ponies, at least, don’t know what it is to be at war. I will finally be able to live in peace.” Tell that to the changelings. They pretty much declared war to Equestria when they invaded the wedding. “Humanity is getting what it deserves. I’m glad that they are disappearing. Earth will be better without them. Ponies will take better care of it.” Other ponies who heard him agreed, even the pegasi pulling the chariots, causing humans to glare at them even more. “I know, right? Such barbares. Polluting everything,” Sweetie Void said. Before long, the chariots took off as others arrived to take their place. A long journey followed. After several hours, they arrived at some kind of limit. On one side: Earth. On the other: more colorful, more homely, Equestria. The limit was expanding, and Sweetie could see a road on the Earth side disappearing little by little as it was engulfed by it. She also saw a house get the same fate. So it destroys what is human made? It is expanding… This guy said that humanity will eventually disappear… Do humans die if they touch it? This is why they ponify? To avoid such fate? What even is Equestria doing here, on Earth? And why is it expanding? Before long, she saw villages and towns being built, obviously to house the new ponies. It took a few more hours, after flying over an ocean, to reach lands that she recognized. Before long, she saw Canterlot, at the foot of which was a camp toward which the chariot was going. Soon, they landed, and members of the Royal Guard were present, helping the ponies disembarking. More chariots were taking off elsewhere in the camp, transporting the ponies elsewhere. Sweetie Void found herself in a line, behind the stallion. Little by little, they approached a Royal Guard who was noting stuff while saying, “Pegasus. Cutie Mark: a tornado. What will your new name be?” The pegasus stallion he was facing said, “Nimble Twister.” The Royal Guard nodded and noted it. “You can go. Next.” The pegasus advanced, and the next pony, an earth pony mare, advanced in turn to face the guard. “Earth Pony. Cutie Mark: red, yellow, and blue flowers. What will your name be?” “Uh… I haven’t decided.” “Mmh… What do you think of Lily Sunshine?” “I love it!” The guard noted it down. “You can go. Next.” It continued until it was Sweetie’s turn. The stallion before her named himself Crimson Spirit. “Unicorn. Cutie Mark… A black blotch?” “Black paint,” Sweetie Void helped. “Let’s go with Black Dream for my name.” The Royal Guard eyed her, but he nodded and noted it down. After that, Sweetie Void was left to do what she wanted, so she used the occasion to talk with more ponified which pretty much all had the same speech: they were glad that they were now ponies, they didn’t regret giving up their humanity, they wanted to leave the sufferings caused by humanity behind, all that stuff. So said that they wondered why they hesitated to become human. A couple even said that they were glad that the group Ponification for Earth's Rebirth forced the ponification on them, that their life will be better thanks to it. These last ones were definitely a red flag for Sweetie. Humans forced to become ponies should be angry, not happy. Being a pony wasn’t such an improvement from being human! Well, beside the ability to fly for pegasi and to use magic for unicorns. She decided that she had enough. She moved behind a tent and teleported away, to outside of Ponyville. No tree castle here, so she was fairly early in the timeline. Maybe she was even before Twilight became an alicorn. She turned herself back into her alicorn filly self and flew, finding the Golden Oak Library. Oh, the nostalgia. She landed before the door and opened it. It was a library after all. She found Spike putting books back in their place, on a ladder. “Hello Spike!” “Uh? Sweetie Belle? Wait a minute.” He placed a last book, then descended the ladder. “Alright. What do you want, Sweetie… Belle?” As he turned around and saw Sweetie Void, he stopped himself in surprise. “What? Do I have something?” Sweetie Void asked, rubbing her head with her wing. “Wh… You… You are…” “An alicorn? Yeah, I know. Great, right? Anyway, where is Twilight? I need to talk with her.” “Uh… At one of the Conversion Bureaux. One was destroyed by a bomb, and she is helping to rebuild it.” “Oh, ok.” “But… Who are you? I mean, you can’t be Sweetie Belle! You are an alicorn! And older! And you have a Cutie Mark!” “Call me Sweetie Void. I come from an alternate Equestria. “An alternate… Really?!” “Uhuh. Well, if Twilight isn’t here, I guess that I will directly go talk to Celestia.” “I can send a message to Twilight. I’m sure she will immediately come if I tell her about you. Well, she will still take several hours to come, but she will be here as soon as possible.” Sweetie Void nodded. “Yes, go on.” Spike immediately took a parchment and wrote in it. After a few minutes, he breathed fire at it, sending the letter to Twilight. Right away, Spike turned to Sweetie Void who had been waiting. “So, what is it like in your Equestria? How did you become an alicorn?” “Oh, my Equestria is pretty much like here, except that it never left Equus. Really, how did it happen?” “Princess Celestia saw this world and how the humans were dying because they were warring with each other constantly and their pollution caused lots of problems, so she decided to help them. So she transported Equestria to this world. Right away, the equestrian realm limit started to expand, and it was discovered that magic is mortal to humans, so the humans only have a few years left before the equestrian realm covers the whole world and they all die. Thankfully, Twilight, with the help of scientists both ponies and humans, created a serum to ponify the humans and save them.” By brainwashing them, Sweetie Void thought. That’s the gist: get brainwashed or die. I don’t like this choice. Celestia could have kept her help to herself. I really hope that the equestrian realm expanding wasn’t planned. “What about Equus? I mean, if Celestia and Luna are here, who is moving the sun and the moon?” Silence followed. Then, Spik gasped. “Oh no! What have we done?!” “Calm down, Spike. Equus isn’t dead under the eternal fire of the sun and the eternal cold of the moon. There are other alicorns. Queen Cosmo must have taken over. I hope that Celestia told her about her plan, or the poor mare must have gotten quite the surprise.” “Queen Cosmo? Other alicorns? Really?” “Uhuh. They live in Skyros.” “Wow.” For the following hours, they talked more, Sweetie telling more about her Equestria without revealing about her organization. When noon arrived, Spike cooked them a meal. Eventually, Twilight arrived yelling, “Is she still here?!” Sweetie Void waved at her. “Yes, I’m still here. Hello Twilight, I’m Sweetie Void.” Twilight, who was still an unicorn, stared at her. “So it’s true. A real visitor from an alternate Equestria! I can’t believe it!” “Hey Twilight!” Spike said. “Guess what! In her Equestria, you are an alicorn too!” “What, really?!” “Woah, slow down, Spike. She is already overwhelmed by my presence,” Sweetie Void said. “Yes, Twilight, in my Equestria, you are an alicorn. And you have your own castle. No, I will not tell you how it happened. I’m not even sure if it will happen here with Equestria being here instead of there and Celestia focusing on humanity.” “Me? An alicorn? Uh… Wow… Am I a good princess?” “Yes, you do very well despite what you think. If an Equestria I visited, you even take over after Celestia and Luna retire. If this isn’t proof that you are good…” Twilight was now shaking. Before she could say anything, Sweetie Void continued. “So, let’s change the subject before you explode. I want to talk to Celestia. Can you present me to her? And can you gather your friends? I’m sure that they will want to be there to hear what I want to say.” “V-very well. Spike, take a letter.” So Twilight made Spike write a letter to Celestia to warn her about Sweetie Void. Once done, she left, followed by Sweetie Void who told goodbye to Spike. One by one, they gathered the Element Bearers who were very surprised to see Sweetie Void, especially Rarity. “My sister is an alicorn?!” “I’m sure there are alternate universes out there where you all are alicorns. Everything is possible in the Omniverse,” Sweetie Void said. Once they were all gathered, Sweetie Void teleported to Canterlot, before the castle. They entered it, and before long, they reached the Throne Room where Celestia and Luna awaited them, warned in advance by a guard. Celestia was her usual serene self, but Luna looked shocked to see Sweetie Void. The Element Bearers all bowed to them. “Rise, my little ponies. Welcome, visitor,” Celestia said. “Hello Celestia, Luna. As you can see, I’m an alternate version of Sweetie Belle. To make it simpler to differentiate me from the local Sweetie Belle, call me Sweetie Void.” “I see. Well, Sweetie Void, what did you want to talk with me about?” Celestia asked. “Well, as you can guess, I’m from an Equestria that never moved to Equus. I was quite surprised when I arrived on this world to discover Equestria here. Apparently, it’s to help the humans?” Sweetie Void began to read Celestia’s mind. “Yes. With the help of a mirror, I observed them and their world and saw all the suffering they were causing to themselves and their world. I couldn’t remain there and do nothing, so I transported Equestria here so us ponies could offer our help to them.” “And I guess that the equestrian realm limit expanding was a surprise, uh?” “And discovering that magic is harmful to humans...” Sweetie Void internally smirked. “Well then, why not send Equestria back to Equus?” “Leaving would mean leaving the humans in their path to destruction. I still want to help them.” “By ponifying them, yes, I saw. But do you know that ponification brainwashes them?” Celestia remained calm, but many of the mares around frowned. “I wouldn’t call that brainwashing,” Celestia said. “They are just getting the pony mindset. It comes with being a pony.” Sweetie Void nodded. “Yes, they become ponies, and suddenly, they hate everything about humans, even the ones forced to ponify.” “They just see what is wrong with their former species.” “Ponies aren’t better.” Gasps around. “Sombra. He was a pony, and yet he did horrible things. And at the time of the three tribes, the ponies constantly warred with each other. I also have a friend who encountered and fought ponies who committed atrocities. Black Beard? Leyla Rahfa? Ring any bells? Ponies are capable of the same atrocities as the humans. We aren’t that different from them. I saw humans turned into ponies who remained themselves, and vice versa.” “Sweetie Belle! Don’t say such things!” Rarity shouted. Sweetie Void looked at her sadly, then back at Celestia who remained stoic. She grinned. “The serum isn’t just made to turn the humans into ponies, it’s made to turn them into perfect mindless harmonious puppets. Humans aren’t harmed by magic. I know humans who can use magic and who came to Equestria and yet didn’t die. There is something in the limit between the Equestria realm and Earth realm that destroys everything human. Some magical barrier created by somepony very powerful, maybe? Yes, Celestia. You totally made it so the humans would have no other choices but to become your puppets or die. You didn’t come here to help them, you came here to exterminate them! And Twilight is your accomplice! What do you have to say, Celestia?! Don’t try to lie to me, I read your mind!” By now, almost everypony in the room was glaring at Sweetie Void. After a long moment of silence, Celestia’s mask fell. “What else could I have done? These beasts were destroying themselves and their world. I’m just making sure that they can reach harmony.” “By depriving them of their free will! Also, you could have simply, I don’t know, offered your hoof in friendship? You know? Magic of Friendship! That’s your whole schtick!” “They wouldn’t have accepted it.” “Don’t put all the humans in the same basket! Many would have accepted it! Humanity is capable of horrible things, but also of great things! Yes, that wouldn’t have stopped all the bad things, but it would have been a good start! You imagine how much magic would have helped? I don’t even need to! That is exactly what happened with other versions of Earth that joined my Equestria! Magic and technology are made to work together! And yes, I’m friends with humans. Lots of humans.” “How can you be friends with them?!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Because, contrary to some ponies, I’m not a stuck up bitch who thinks myself superior!” “Sweetie Belle!” Rarity yelled. “So, here is what we will do. We will give the ponified back their free will. We will turn the ones who want to back into humans. Then, you will either choose to return to Equus or remain here and help the humans for real. Am I understood?” “And what will you do if I refuse?” Celestia asked. Sweetie Void smirked. “Then I will force you.” At that, she cracked her neck. “I will get to punch my first Celestia.” “That’s enough!” Luna shouted. “I don’t allow you to threaten my sister!” Sweetie Void’s eyes turned black, and the shadows in the room began to move. “I don’t need your permission, number two.” The Element Bearers winced. Now, Celestia was the one getting angry. “Don’t dare say that to her!” “Well then, what are you waiting for? Attack me. Don’t hold back because I am a filly. This would be your last error.” Luna was the one firing a beam first. Sweetie Void inhaled, and the beam entered her mouth, disappearing, to everyone’s surprise. Rainbow Dash was the first one to recover, and she went to punch Sweetie Void. “Rainbow! No!” Applejack shouted, too late. In a flash, Sweetie Void disappeared, avoiding Rainbow Dash’s hoof, and she reappeared before her, punching her on the head. The pegasus lost teeth and was sent crashing into the wall hard. “Always so hot headed, Rainbow Crash.” Guards began to come, but Sweetie Void easily knocked them out with a beam in the head. A lasso was suddenly wrapped around the filly. Sweetie Void grinned at Applejack before she grabbed it and began to move it around, lifting the mare effortlessly. “Yeeeeeee…” She violently slammed Applejack on the ground. “haw!” Pinkie Pie took out her party cannon, but before she could fire, it was plugged by a cork. “No fireworks inside.” Twilight was next, firing beams after beams. Sweetie didn’t even try to dodge them, she tanked them without flinching, yawning. “What is this peashooter? Here’s a real beam!” Sweetie Void fired a giant beam that totally engulfed Twilight and sent her crashing into the wall next to Rainbow Dash. “ENOUGH!!!” Luna yelled with the Royal Canterlot Voice before she materialized magic swords and sent them at Sweetie Void. She stopped them with her bare hooves. “You know I already defeated you in my universe? And that was back when I was an unicorn.” Luna gulped. Then, the shadows got out of the group and wrapped themselves around her before they brought her into a large shadow, not even able to scream. Celestia’s mane and tail turned into fire. “I will stop you!!!” She fired a giant beam, even larger than the one Sweetie fired at Twilight, and easily as hot as the surface of the sun. Sweetie Void fired a single, small, very concentrated black beam that pierced right through Celestia’s beam, destroying it, and hit the mare on the horn, breaking it, making her yell in intense pain. “Discord!” Fluttershy suddenly yelled. “Help!” The draconequus himself appeared in the room. “Yes, dear?” He then looked around and saw the situation. When he saw Sweetie Void, he gulped. “Will you try to stop me, Spirit of Chaos?” Discord gulped again. “Well… For friendship, right?” “You know I’m the one who is right, right?” Discord sighed. He then raised his fingers, ready to snap. But then, Sweetie Void touched him, and suddenly, she sucked the magic right out of him, leaving him powerless. Sweetie Void looked at a crying Rarity. “Will you try something too?” Rarity stepped back, scared beyond anything. That saddened Sweetie Void, but she quickly got her resolve back. “The Elements!” Celestia yelled. “Go search for the Elements!” Beside her, the shadows spat a very beaten up Luna. “No need,” Sweetie Void said before she teleported the Elements of Harmony into the room, right before the six Bearers. “Go on, fire your rainbow beam at me.” The mares didn’t lose time and put on the Elements. They activated their power and fired the rainbow toward Sweetie Void who didn’t move. The rainbow circled her… And then disappeared, to everyone’s shock and horror. “As expected. I’m either too powerful even for them to work, or the Elements know that I’m right, or the Bearers became unworthy. I’m guessing the three at once.” “No…” Twilight couldn’t stand anymore. “No…!” “You are bringing a species to extinction. What did you expect? There is nothing harmonious in what you are doing. You have lost your way, ex-Element Bearers.” As if to confirm what Sweetie Void said, the Elements floated from the Bearers and turned into stone orbs, like when the mares found them the first time, with the Element of Magic disappearing totally. “No!” Twilight yelled. “You reap what you sow. So, still refusing?” The ex-Element Bearers and the princesses, defeated, could only surrender. In the end, they had to do what Sweetie Void ordered. Celestia having lost her horn, Sweetie was the one removing the anti-human barrier. Celestia, under the filly’s watchful eyes, explained everything and surrendered to the humans. Twilight modified the serum so the humans weren’t brainwashed by it anymore and created a new one to turn the ponified back. The ponified had their free will returned and many asked to be turned back. In the end, the ponies asked to return to Equus. They didn’t want anything to do with the humans, and the humans were too wary of the ponies anyway after Celestia confessed. Sweetie still planned to send help to the humans so they didn’t end up self-destructing. Before she left, Sweetie Void gave his magic back to Discord and captured Tirek and Chrysalis. “I will return to Earth eventually. If I discover that you somehow returned there and restarted your plan…” Sweetie didn’t need to say more before she jumped into her rift.