//------------------------------// // Opening Week: Day 2 // Story: The Conversion Bureau: Opening Week // by Anonsi //------------------------------// Opening Week A continuation of a speed-fic based on Blaze’s The Conversion Bureau which itself was a fanfiction of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic By Anonsi(Who can’t get out of these Bureau fics) - + - DAY 2 - + - Shimmer Sprite woke up feeling like she was wrapped up in the kind of wholesome warmth that she always thought hugging Celestia would feel like. She knew after a few moments that she was just in a bed, but she didn’t want to open her eyes and ruin the pleasant fantasy. The mare with the golden locks instead curled into a tighter ball of comfort, letting out a satisfied moan as she pulled more of the soft blankets over her. “So you like the bed too huh?” said a familiar voice. Sprite opened her eyes with a groan as the sweet fantasy slipped away. There, laying in the next bed over was Cobalt Blue. His two front hooves were bandaged up, but that didn’t stop the colt from grinning at her like an idiot the more she looked at him. The mare admitted that it was nice to have a friendly face be the first thing she saw when she woke up, and Shimmer Sprite was genuinely relieved that Cobalt was alive. Enough so that she actually caught herself smiling right back at him. It was funny how surviving a near death experience with somepony could make them a sight for sore eyes, no matter how much they had gotten on one’s nerves previously. That’s when an obvious, and yet profound, realization struck the yellow earth pony. “The fire,” she said, “we’re alive.” The colt’s grin widened as he nodded, “I know right? Isn’t it great?” “We’re alive,” she repeated with a tremor in her words, “I thought we were dead.” “If not for that unicorn healing magic, you would be,” came a cold voice from behind her. The yellow earth pony rolled over to face the entrance of the room, eyeing a tall, thin human with sleek black hair and sunken eyes and wearing a sharp black suit. Shimmer Sprite nearly reeled back from how skeletal the man looked, but managed to retain her composure. Cobalt Blue was less reserved in his reaction, and promptly let out a frightened yelp before pulling the blankets of his bed over his nose. The human, much to Sprite’s relief, seemed used to such a response and didn’t bat an eyelash from the abrupt shriek. Instead, he merely sighed and approached the yellow mare’s bedside, his eyes never breaking eye contact with her own. The gaunt man took a seat at the foot of Shimmer Sprite’s bed and said with a neutral tone, “I am Agent Allan Graves, overseer of this bureau.” “He-hello,” replied the mare with a trembling voice, “Can I help you with something?” The man furrowed his brow and said with an edge to his voice, “It is usually good manners to introduce yourself when meeting someone, miss...?” The young mare fumble with her reply under the stern gaze and intimidating tone of the human, “O-oh I’m so sorry, I-I’m, uh, Shimmer Sprite.” “Miss Sprite,” he said looking down at the small pony, “were you or your friend aware that all Equestrians were to stay in their rooms last night?” “I...uhh...well...Yes, I suppose we were.” Sprite felt like eyes were boring into her skull, and small beads of sweat started to form on her forehead from the human’s harsh gaze. “Were you aware as to why?” Agent Graves asked with a rather annoyed look. “Was it because of the angry mob?” Cobalt piped in from his bed. The human responded with a very angry look which sent the colt back under his bedsheets with a small yelp. Turning back to the yellow mare, the agent continued, “Your friend is correct Ms. Sprite, and such riots can be very deadly. Next time we tell you to stay in your rooms, do not disobey.” The man stood to his feet and adjusted his tie, “You will begin your duties tomorrow, and perform a double shift to make up for what you have missed today.” He walked to the exit and cast one last intimidating look at Shimmer Sprite, and almost sinisterly saying, “It may also interest you and your friend to know that, contrary to what you no doubt believe, my team and I are not here to make sure you ponies are safe. We are here to make sure you can perform your operations quickly and uninterrupted, so count your blessings that this facility couldn’t afford any loss in...ponypower.” He disappeared beyond the doorway an instant later, leaving the two ponies alone with the lingering feeling of dread. Shimmer Sprite watched the door the man had left through, while her mind ran through what he had just told her. Apparently, she and her new friend were only alive because the bureau would have been understaffed if they had burned to death. “Is he gone?” Cobalt asked quietly after a few minutes. Shimmer Sprite tore her gaze away from the door and looked at the shivering, pony sized lump hiding in the bed next to her’s. She couldn’t really blame Cobalt Blue for the cowardly behavior. She was shaking too. “Yeah...” she said regaining some strength in her voice, “yeah he’s gone. You can come out.” Cobalt peeked his head out from under the covers, and after a glance around the room to confirm the gaunt human had indeed left, breathed a sigh of relief as he extracted more of himself from beneath his blankets. “What a spook,” he said with a weak chuckle, “I heard humans were scary from some of the other ponies, but, sheesh. I was hoping those were just rumors.” Shimmer Sprite leaned back into her bed with a huff, “Tell me about it.” The blue colt obliged, saying with renewed enthusiasm, “Well, this other colt on the boat, I think his name was Comet or something, told me that he had heard from a friend of his that-” “I wasn’t speaking literally you dope,” Shimmer Sprite said as she rolled onto her side, facing away from the blue earth pony, if for no other reason than so he wouldn’t see the bemused grin that crossed her face. Cobalt looked like somepony had just taken all the wind out of his sails, and he slumped into his bed, dejected. “Right, right...my bad. Dumb story anyway. I should probably just shut up and let you rest.” Sprite rolled her eyes as she heard the colt quietly berate himself, and she turned over to face him before asking, “Are you always so down on yourself? I thought you were some sort of optimist.” Cobalt Blue folded his ears back and averted his gaze from the mare. “Well I am...I mean, I got this thing after I realized I was good at making other people feel confident about themselves. In fact, the night I got my cutie mark I had just convinced my brother to ask his sweet heart to marry him.” “Oh really?” Shimmer Sprite said smiling broadly as she got a bit more comfortable, “Do tell.” She happened to love tales about ponies finding their marks, and was a sucker for even a little romance. Cobalt couldn’t help but notice the mare’s pleasant expression and his cheeks began to flush an embarrassed red as he continued, “I...uh...It’s not that interesting. I mean I’ve already told you the best part.” Sprite’s bright face dimmed a little, and upon seeing this, the colt quickly asked, “H-how about you tell a story instead? Mine aren’t all that exciting. Well I guess the one about last night is, what with all the fire and the almost dying and stuff, but you were there for that! Heh heh...” The mare gave a small huff, “I suppose you got a point. What do you want to know?” Cobalt Blue looked off with a thoughtful expression, and after some thought asked, “Why did you want to leave Equestria?” The yellow and gold mare sighed heavily and looked away from the colt. “You just had to ask about that.” “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” “No, no it’s alright,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hoof, “I was probably going to tell somepony anyway, might as well be you.” Cobalt shifted into a comfortable position in his bed, his face eagerly awaiting her words. Smiling at the colt’s almost foal like behavior, Shimmer Sprite collected her thoughts and began, “I used to work as a maid for Mrs. Orange, a well to do Manehattenite that was so full of herself that if she fell down a flight of stairs her ego would cushion the fall.” “Sounds rough.” “It was unbearable,” Sprite continued with a small laugh. “Too many hours, not enough bits, and she constantly went on about how she was related to a national hero.” “Really?” asked Cobalt raising an eyebrow. The mare nodded, “Yeah. The orange earth pony named Applejack. Lady Orange wouldn’t shut up about how, as a filly, the young Ms. Applejack had come to live with her and that she had taught the young girl, ‘Proper Manehattan Culture.’ Of course she leaves off how the hero to be left two days later because living with the Oranges was, well, living with the Oranges.” The two ponies shared in a hearty bout of laughter before the colt asked, “So why didn’t you go find another job?” “Couldn’t find one. Living in Manehattan is tough, and a pony needs to take what she can get. All I had was a run down apartment that I had to share with a family of rats.” “Rats?!”exclaimed Cobalt looking mortified. “Oh they were gems those rats,” Sprite admitted, “they cleaned up after themselves, and they would give me any bits they found if I gave them some food. Heck, after sharing half a loaf of bread with them on Hearths Warming Eve, the father rat helped me with my taxes.” Shimmer Sprite looked over to Cobalt to find that his face was currently caught in a state of amazement and disbelief. That was her favorite reaction to that particular story, and she couldn’t contain the grin that spread over her face as she went on. “But I’m getting off track. Once I learned of the plight of the humans, my gut started acting up whenever I heard anything about it. So naturally, I came to the the conclusion that I was needed over here in human lands, to do whatever I could to ease their suffering. Well, that and to finally get away from that insufferable nag. After saying goodbye to all my friends who worked there with me, I walked right up to Mrs. Orange and told her what exactly what I thought of her.” Shimmer Sprite closed her eyes as she reminisced on the memory, “Long story short: she went ballistic. Especially once I told her where I was going. I didn’t stick around long after that, mostly because she shoved me out the door. I didn’t care though. I went home, packed, said goodbye to the rats, and started on my new life by stepping on that boat.” She again looked at the colt, finishing with, “The end. Now you.” “What?” asked the blue colt with surprise, “What do you mean, ‘now me?’” Shimmer Sprite rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. “What do you think it means? I told you why I came, now you tell me why you did.” “O-oh”, said Cobalt as he cleared his throat, his demeanor shifting from comfortable listener to nervous wreck. He opened his mouth to speak but nervousness got the better of his voice. His words became stuck in his throat, coming out as more of a croak than any actual language. Shimmer Sprite failed to contain an amused giggle at the poor colt’s expense, but much to her surprise, the sound of her laughter somehow seemed to ease his panicked state of mind. Confidence apparently renewed, Cobalt spoke again with far more successful results. “I come from Trottingham originally, and I work...I mean...used to work in my family’s restaurant. When I first heard about humans from the newspaper, I was already on my way before I gave any real thought to the decision.” “Trottingham’s quite a long ways away from Manehattan,” said the mare sounding impressed. “Yeah I know,” Cobalt replied with a nervous chuckle, “but from the way the papers made it out, the humans sounded like they really needed somepony’s help. After saying goodbye to the family, I hopped on a train and went straight to the Manehattan docks. It felt weird leaving everything behind at first, but I got over that pretty fast.” Cobalt’s cheeks turned a deep shade of red as he added, “Especially when I saw you for the first time.” Shimmer Sprite felt an awkward twinge in her stomach as she remembered her first meeting with the colt. “Yeah,” said the mare quietly, “Not the best thing to say to a lady the first time you see her.” The colt gave her a bashful look as he replied, “No, that was the first time I spoke to you. I had been following you since you first boarded the ship, and spent practically all of that time trying to work up the nerve to speak to you.” He locked eyes with Shimmer Sprite, and for a time the two sat in silence as the words hung in the air. Cobalt Blue grew tense as the prolonged quiet dragged on, especially when the mare’s face took on a rather blank expression, like she was still processing that last sentence. “What?” asked the mare bluntly. Cobalt flinched, and whatever confidence the colt had crumbled under the tone of the mare’s response. “I-I said that I w-was...” “You were stalking me?” Shimmer Sprite asked with a growing note of anger in her voice. “I-I...” Cobalt stammered as he shrunk deeper under the cover of his blanket, “n-not exactly. I mean, I...” The mare sat up in her bed and glared at the cowering colt, “Did you also follow me to my room last night? It wasn’t just luck that lead you to my room was it?” The blue colt averted his gaze, and the ashamed expression that covered his face was all the answer Shimmer Sprite needed from him. Her face contorted into a furious kind of look that Cobalt could feel bearing down on him. “You...you...CREEP!” she shouted as she rolled onto her side with her back towards him. “I can’t believe I was actually beginning to like you!” she said just loud enough for the colt to hear. Cobalt Blue sat on his bed looking rather pathetic. After a minute of silence, he mirrored Sprite’s movements so that the two ponies now looked away from one another. With a barely audible voice, the colt said mournfully, “I’m sorry.” Despite how softly the colt had said those two words, Shimmer Sprite heard him. She felt a bubble of guilt welling up in her stomach, but she forced it back down. ‘That colt has seriously crossed a line. The bad pick up lines I can forgive, and the fire wasn’t really his fault, but stalking me? No. Absolutely not. No amount of mopey looks or pouting lips will make me let him off for being that creepy. I am never, ever, speaking to Cobalt again.’ A sudden feeling in her gut bid the mare to look at the sorry colt. The mare with honey gold locks didn’t want to, but she had learned a long time ago that not following her gut instinct often led to tragedy. She took a quick glance over her shoulder and saw that Cobalt had pulled his blanket over his head, obscuring her vision of him completely. He seemed to be making some sort of soft noise that she couldn’t quite make out. She rolled back over with a small harrumph, feeling just as angry as she had before. The feeling to look at the colt did not recede however, and soon the mare found herself rolling over to face the shrouded form of the colt. ‘I can’t believe I let myself get so...so...cozy with that creep! What was I thinking?!’ With noting to look at but the blanket that covered Cobalt’s form, she instead focused on the sounds the sorrowful colt was making. It was like he was breathing, but all his breaths were very short, and seemed to have a pained tone to them. It took almost a minute of listening before Shimmer Sprite could tell what the sound was. Cobalt was crying. The pocket of guilt she had pushed down before resurfaced with a vengeance. ‘Oh Celestia, what have I done?’ she thought as her once furious glare melted to an expression of shame. She rolled over with her stomach feeling akin to a sack of rocks. ‘I wasn’t that harsh, was I? Even if I was, I didn’t think he would cry!’ Sprite glanced over her shoulder again before continuing her line of thought. ‘He isn’t a bad colt, even if he has a lot to learn about NOT being a total weirdo. I have known worse ponies now that I think about it...’ The mare sighed out her frustrations as she rested her head on her pillows. Her stomach was having a fit, and the mare knew what the tempestuous organ wanted her to do. That didn’t mean she had to admit to liking it of course. Cobalt was still a bit of a creep after all. “Daisies,” she said with a heavy sigh. There was a sniffle and a shuffling from the other bed as the colt pulled the blanket down from his face, revealing his moist and puffy eyes. “What?” he asked between sniffs. “My favorite flowers are daisies. If you bring some on our date tomorrow, I’ll forgive you for the stalking me thing.” “D-date?” Cobalt asked utterly confused, “What are you...” Shimmer Sprite rolled over to look at the colt, stating, “My memory is still a bit hazy from all that smoke, but I think I remember saying that if you woke up I would go on a date with you.” Cobalt Blue looked astounded to say the least, and he quickly wiped away the tears from his eyes he excitedly asked, “Really?” She flashed a pleasant smile at the sorry looking colt as she replied, “Yes, really. We’re going to be working double shifts anyway, so we might as well try to enjoy ourselves, right?” The mare’s expression turned deathly serious as she added, “But no creepy stuff, or the date’s off. Like, no more stalking me or any of that kind of nonsense, and if you start sniffing my mane, or, I don’t know, writing really weird love poetry, then this will be the absolute last time we talk. Got it?” “Yes ma’am!” Cobalt said with a ridiculously happy expression and crisp salute, only to wince in pain as his still sore hooves hit his forehead a bit too hard. “And absolutely no pet names,” said Sprite with a glare. The blue earth pony nodded his head resolutely, saying, “Wouldn’t dream of it!” “Good,” said Shimmer Sprite rolling back over and closing her eyes, “Now get some sleep Blue, we’re going to have a long day tomorrow.” And that’s Day 2 of this little romp Next up, “How I Ended Up Dating a Creep!” Coming soon to theatres near you On a side note... Will Anonsi ever be able to write believable relationships between characters? Or will he ever learn how to write at all!? Find out next time! Maybe!