//------------------------------// // CH 3: Time Keeps On Slippin' // Story: The Conversion Bureau: A New Age, A New Life - Part II // by BlueDWarrior //------------------------------// The Conversion Bureau: A New Age, A New Life - Part II Chapter 3: Time Keeps On Slippin' === [ Safe Haven Labs -- October 15, 2081 ] ===         It was another day in the labs, with now a veritable menagerie joining the Humans and Ponies in the space-station like, mostly buried base of operations for the now Equus-Human Alliance. There were two major orders of business staring the now expanded crew in the face. Number 1: create three new potions that would transform a human into a Dragon, Zebra, or a Gryphon. Number 2: develop new armaments for everyone involved in order to protect themselves, since they could expect all manners of resistance from the S.P.H.; and there was the little manner of the unknown entities that the Zebras, and spiritually-attuned Humans and Unicorns, were picking up in recent days. In any case, there was work to be done, and everyone silently hoped and prayed that the SPH would not be the wiser to their ultimate plans.         "So, Olway, explain to me how this whole 'potion' thing works?" Terry said as he was walking through the halls with one of the Gryphon researchers. It took awhile for the Humans to realize that the warrior-species had some incredibly sharp and bright minds amongst their ranks, although most of them were easy to pick out because of their owl-like heads. Olway stopped for a second to think for a second on how to word it in a non-technical sense. "Well, according to the research notes and everything they showed us on those crystal bo-- well I guess I should learn the right name for it -- 'Q-Machine'. Anyway, according to the research and explanations, the potion is a complex combination of body reformation and soul detachment and reattachment. Effectively the potion creates a biologically viable and living body that the subject's soul is moored to." "That sounds awfully complicated. I thought it just reformed the body without all the metaphysical mess?" One of Zebras overheard the conversation and decided to chime in. "Well, from what we can tell looking at some psychological profiles, Humans have quite similar metaphysical and psychological structures. So if everything worked out the same, then the sheer amount of stress incurred going through such a thorough transformation would severely impact one's memories and mental capacity." "Ok could you say that using less big words?" Terry asked, wondering how he roped himself into such a discussion. "I'll try. Basically imagine the worst pain you ever felt. Then imagine that happening for about 15 minutes straight. And then that pain sears through every fiber of your physical and non-physical being. Very few would be able to endure it without major stress-induced mental and spiritual trauma." "Yeah, that makes more sense to me, I think" Terry said, blanching at the idea of such a feeling. "Anyway, El'Val, how goes the Zebra Potion development?" Olwan asked of his Zebra compatriot. "According to the Doctors Isegawa, far faster than development than the fabrication of the original Ponification Serum," the green-robed and black-striped Zebra replied with a positive, but rather blunt frankness. "Well, you all get the advantage of not having to make it from scratch. So I guess that'd account for the faster track," Terry thought aloud. "Stands to reason Mr. Reynolds," Olwan replied rather formally. "Oh nah, you can just call me Terry. People referring to me by my last name only just reminds me of Basic Training too much." "Ah, so you were part of the Human's Armed Forces?" "Yeah before they were all taken over by the SPH." "I see, the organization that is in effective control of the major world powers." "Yeah, who knows what ultimately they are doing with their position. Just so long as they don't find this place before we're ready to go, I can't say I'm particularly interested in knowing, either." === [ Manhattan, USA -- October 20, 2081 ] ===         "You know what the best part of this whole situation is? The fact that we get to run the whole country and pretty much the whole damn world from the comfort of our own little headquarters," Peter Vaughn remarked out loud, as he swirled around the glass of fine wine he was drinking while piano music played over speakers in the background. "Yes, and our show of force has kept a lid on the rabble complaining too much about the events of a few months ago. They seem content to whine on their poorly-run websites and the like," Claire said, with a tiny flame dancing between her fingers. She had begun to adjust more to her natural Fire Magic, making sure to keep any more emotional outburst contained. "So how exactly did you end up being the first of us figure this whole Magic thing out?"  Nathan asked while cleaning his custom dual-action pistol. "Long story short, I went to rekindle an old flame. Ended up kindling an entirely different kind of flame," Claire responded, blowing a flare at Nathan which made him jump back, despite the temperature not being that hot. Nathan returned to this seat and shot Claire a murderous glare. "Hey would you watch it woman?! Some of us would like to keep all their flesh intact!" "Whatever..." Claire replied dismissively as she contemplated dyeing her tips red. "Anyway, we have been expanding upon and improving our ranks of lieutenants. Yet, I do not believe we have a strong enough core to officially depose our puppets yet. That fact honestly concerns me," Peter started, his tone deathly serious. "Not to mention that public seem to not exactly accept our authority overall." "The fact you sound so concerned about it makes me think this is more serious than just a few intermittent protests," Claire said with some mild amount of concern herself. Peter rubbed his hand along this temple and responded. "In the present, I am not terribly concerned. It's the future, though. If we have to move to put down insurrections too soon, we may rouse more of the rabble than is necessary. The quieter things are, the better." "Perhaps we should move to enforce this 'quiet' we'd need," Nathan said, flipping through some recent news reports on his mobile pad. "Perhaps..." Peter said, as began contemplating while drinking some more of his wine. === [ Somewhere in the Mojave Desert -- November 19, 2081 ] === "And what is your new purpose in life?" a rather tall, feminine, beetle-like creature with fiery-red eyes and stripes along her abdomen, said in a regal tone toward a young woman, eyes lost in a mental haze induced by active mind control. "To serve my new Queen and her Hive with all of my heart, and to give my life to the Hive if need be," the young lady responded, speaking in the dreary monotone customary of (prospective) Drones.         "Good, that's very good. Loyalty is very important to the Hive. And I will work my hardest to ensure that every single thought you have will be to my, and by proxy our, greater benefit," Chrysalis said while chuckling to herself. The young lady just stared blankly; whereas Chrysalis's personal guard just rolled their eyes, although it was hard for any non-Changeling to tell with the distinct lack of pupils that were visible. "Yes, my queen," the young lady responded. Chrysalis motioned with her now free arms to the escorts to take her to the assimilation chamber to prepare her body for the pod. As the human was being led away, a Changeling with white and gold stripes along his abdomen entered, somewhat off-put by his Queen's new form. "My Queen, not that I would question your decisions, or authority, or rationale outright. But, um, why do you insist on maintaining that deviant form? It has been almost a month since we successfully assimilated a human into our ranks and... that thing appeared in our midst," the advisor asked nervously, obviously fidgeting. Chrysalis blew off the advisors concern with her usual dismissive self. "Why keep it? This form is as legitimate as the other, for we are mimics after-all. Honestly though, I find it strange that little bit of our history appeared to be entirely lost. I have no record from the previous Queens that this kind of ability or form was available to us."         The advisor began recounting the results of their experimentations over the last few months. "The assimilation slime also appears to be more potent on this side, we have managed to get the average time down to 24 hours roughly." "Yes it usually took 48-36 hours while in Equestria, and that was with your run-of-the-mill Pony," Chrysalis reasoned out loud, the gears turning in her head already. "It was too bad we couldn't get the process down for a good couple of months, most of the other humans we used until a few weeks ago just disassociated into... something indefinite." "That may have been unavoidable. Perhaps the assimilation pods needed enough genetic material in order to properly alter it later. Oh well, it doesn't matter. There are literally billions of humans, a handful missing here or there would largely go unnoticed, I'd reason," Chrysalis said with a reassuring tone as she opened the shell on her back to flare out her larger wings.         A brief flare of greenish magic from her Rhinoceros beetle-like horn signaled one of now ten H-Form (as they called it) Changelings. They were roughly five feet tall, and had rather stocky abdomens, although that was mostly their rather dense carapace. Their wings, unlike most of the other drones, were constantly covered by their rear shells, which typically had a red-seam where the two halves met. Their eyes were compound just like the standard P-Form Changelings, although red-orange instead of teal. Though the drones were technically genderless, they tended to take a form similar to their original selves, so this one was rather wide built along 'his' upper-torso like a typical human male. "You have summoned me, my Queen?" he asked with a less-than-normal monotone voice, the mark of a Changeling that might be in line for a promotion and the subsequent freedom of independent thought. "Yes H-000007. And if you complete the mission that I will assign to you, you will be blessed with free will and your own unique name like Advisor Arcnid here!" Chrysalis said in a tone not unlike a game-show host from the late 1970s (or the early 1980s). Sometimes I wonder if our Queen indulges a bit too much in human media... Arcnid thought to himself as he shook his head. === [ Safe Haven -- January 10, 2082 ] ===         "Well, it's good to see that our version of the Training Field is working as expected. It'd be a pain to have to constantly carve new rooms to conduct our tests in," Blue Vague said as he looked around the courtyard, with neat tiles and concrete foundation walled in with short walls to mark the 'common' area; the centerpiece of the sub-space looking like a miniature version of the Parthenon. "Too bad we couldn't figure out what kind of sculptures to fill out this courtyard with, it's kinda hard to come up with something that doesn't look repetitive after awhile," one of the Human Magi said, as he used a test model of a mass-production Q-Machine to gauge the environment to ensure it would continue to be safe for humans. "Everything looks A-OK, thaumatic epsilon radiation is at a bare minimum. Most likely the self-contained magic flowing though the other species present," chirped the sister AI to Miss Shift, who now the Main AI of Safe Haven after she was deemed safe to integrate into the main systems. "Hrm, we haven't come up with a name for you yet. I know the other main program wants to be called 'Miss Shift'. Have you thought of name for yourself?" one of the Dragons asked, as he checked over the armor that was to be tested for the day. "How about... um... Alternate, like the key. We already have a 'Shift', so I guess it makes sense," the voice responded, now taking the form of a free-floating, feminine, blue fairy-like entity (as compared to Shift's red). "So Miss Alternate it is then," Twilight Sparkle chimed in, as she looked over the armor with the others. "So are we ready to start this test?" "Yes, Miss Sparkle, everything appears to be a go!" one of the researcher answered. Twilight simply nodded as everything was arranged into place. --- "So I heard the base of the armor is a nano-skin that mimics Dragonscale. From the abbreviated documents I read, Dragonscale can take an absolute pounding," one of the humans said as he watched the rifles have little to no luck penetrating the armor's basic covering. "Yeah, the gems we eat are digested and integrated into our skin and scales as a, um lattice, I think the technical term was. Either way, there isn't much that isn't magically-endowed that can pierce or break it," his Dragon partner for the exercise replied. "Of course that doesn't mean that they are un-killable, but you have to get at them while they are relatively young. Trying to kill one past 100 years old without something that can pierce adamantine-level material is pretty much a death wish on your part," one of the Gryphons chimed in, getting used to wearing the nano-skin over his lynx body. --- "Man this stuff can take an absolute beating!" one of the gunners shouted, as he ceased fire and flipped on the safety on his rifle, as he walked over to check the nanoskin. "I would hope so, there is no telling what the arms dealers on this side are cooking up while we're here in Safe Haven. So we gotta try and go above and beyond as best as we can manage," Shining Armor started to shout before he took off his earmuffs, as the Kinetic Muffler spell helped improve the natural tensile strength of the fabric. "This stuff will probably be even harder to shoot through when we integrate it in with the rest of the armor. But each part has to be a tough as we can manage to make it by itself," the gunner concluded as everyone cleared out to run the next test. --- "Alright, we're clear here," one of the Dragons shouted as Rarity and Red Blaze ceased their Flame Stream spells. "So what does Miss Alternate say?" Rarity asked as she took off her safety goggles. The human researcher responded swiftly. "Apparently the skin by itself can resist temperature up to 100 Centigrade without any further enhancement. So if someone wanted to throw boiling hot water on you, this stuff will block it for the most part." "Can't imagine a situation where we'd have boiling hot water fired at us, but there's no telling with the SPH. Have you seen some of the stuff they've been pulling on the outside?" "Yeah," Applejack said she arrived from her stress test. "Ah heard they're censorin all kinds of regular-use networks. Ah guess they don't want any kind of underground movement sproutin' up before we get back, not that they'd know that last part." "I know, darling. It seems needlessly cruel. I also heard there were rumors of some mysteroius creatures or some such appearing near high concentrations of Terran Mana. The Zebras were talking about how things the humans considered 'monsters' or 'demons' might start showing up again," Rarity said, with all kinds of concern on her face. "Yeah, I heard the same thing. I mean a couple of years ago I would have just blown it off. But now, well, let's say I've been made a believer of," the researcher said as he took the charred armor off the dummy for further analysis. --- "So how do the Trauma Plates feel to you, my scan doesn't show any severe cleavage," another Dragon researcher said as he took his claw off the 3" thick sheet of metal. "My magic isn't picking up any severe damage either. So that's a good thing since this stuff protects vitals, right?" Pinkie said as the silver runes faded from her coat. The Dragon nodded with a fanged smile. "Crucial, Miss Pie. Even if they come up with something that could tear the skin part, we have to make absolutely sure that the major organs and blood vessels remain protected. At the same time though..." "If you it make too heavy or the wrong shape, they'd be sitting ducks anyway, right?" Pinkie said, finishing the Dragon's sentence. The dragon just chuckled as Pinkie had indeed come to the right conclusion about form factor. "Yeah, you got this whole thing sorted out." --- "So how are we doing R.D.?" Dr. Jun said over a microphone, watching the odd combination of a gray blur leaving a rainbow-colored 'contrail' in the sky. "Yeah, this stuff isn't giving me any real bad drag, given the weight. Although you might want to work on the wing-joint slots, they do kinda chafe!" Rainbow Dash replied over her mic. "That's what I figured, we'll probably have to make them with a fairly large slot and just fill it in to fit whichever Pegasus or Gryphon wears it," Dr. Jun said as she wrote notes on her digital pad. --- "It still feels a little too light to me," a male Earth-Pony guardspony said, as he rammed some tackling dummies. "Hrm, perhaps we work on some Shadow and Explicit Magic charms that can give the feeling of increased weight. Gravity manipulation is well within the realm of both types," Twilight said as she recorded the force of the preceding impacts. "Just so long as it only works on the Armor. Don't want my wife to ask why I'm coming home so overweight." "I... think you're confusing weight for mass again..." Twilight said, with a bit of a correcting, school-marm tone. "Whatever..." --- "So what with the visors?" one of the Unicorn guards-mares said as she tapped against mildly flexible face covering. "Well, it's a combination of face protection and a heads-up display, or a HUD. It's tied to both normal and Q-Machine communication systems, so we can feed information in real-time," Terry said as he showed her how different designs and user-interfaces showed up on the inside of the helmet. "Oh, that sounds really useful." "Yeah communication is critical, especially if you have to physically separate." --- "So, Generals, how is the Armor looking now?" Dr. Hayato asked as he overlooked the data coming in at the temple like central 'station' of the Training Field. General Mountain Pass replied first. "Everything appears to be well on track. I believe we have everything we need to start going into production. From here on out will probably just be mission-based customizations and general improvements as the situation warrants." "Getting the Dragons onboard have really helped in this regard. I had my suspicions as to why Dragonscale was so hard to break through, and all this research, plus the Dragonification Serum Project just confirmed things," Gen. Southern Monsoon added. "The question beyond now will, in all likelihood, be what offensive weaponry we can counter the S.P.H. any other potential antagonizing organizations with. We're not having much luck establishing contacts in on the outside world so to speak, so we can't really gleam any insight into what the design and nature of the S.P.H.'s weaponry is. Aside from what we can gather from public reports, anyway," Gen. Titan Buster said. A familiar black and blue-spined Dragon then walked in, nodding his acknowledgement of everyone's presence. "Yes, and my ability to operate in the outside is grossly limited. If I use too much Thaumatic-Epsilon mana, I will most likely blow my cover. And being a 6' ft. tall, black dragon is a fairly poor guise; given the state of the world and how the S.P.H. are on extreme alert for anything not of Terran origin." "I can see how that would be a problem, Silentclaw. We will just have to tackle each problem as we come to it, though," Dr. Hayato said while shrugging his shoulders. None of the others would really find anything else to say on the subject. === [ Safe Haven -- February 03, 2082 ] ===         "So you're serious about this Princess Luna?" Blue Vague asked with a fair bit of incredulity. He, Luna, and Celestia had all been discussing the matter on and off for several days before now, but it seemed that plans had finally become solid enough to be acted upon. "Of course I am, Conduit of Water. The idea is to for you and Mr. Edwards to take a tour of the ruins of New Orleans proper. We feel that this is not only important in terms of determining how difficult it will be to begin reclaiming the lost cities, but in improving your attitude in general," Luna responded, while fiddling with a small drone robot. "I see, I guess active therapy. Maybe if I went to the scene of the 'crime' it'd help sort my head out?" Blue Vague asked, trying show he was taking the suggestion seriously. Richard walked into the room, interjecting himself into the conversation seeing as he was relevant it. "Honestly Vague, you probably do need it. I know you've been piling up quite a bit of animosity for the Domes and the SPH in general; despite that episode being half a year ago. We probably need the time to talk anyway, remember nearly a year ago when I first visited?" Vague wanted to pretend he could blow off the both of them (somehow), but realized they were right in their assessments. "I guess I should do it... probably couldn't hurt too much." === [ Near New Orleans, U.S.A. -- Later that day ] ===         Blue Vague and Richard Edwards were standing on the shore of the still expanding Gulf of Mexico, Vague taking a small crystal embedded in some stone and planting it in the ground. "So what is that for Vague?" Richard asked, noticing this. Vague quickly explained, feeling there was no real reason to hide anything. "Oh it's a Callback Stone, it's like a mile marker on a old highway, so I can tell how far away we are. I'd need to be able to snap us back to Safe Haven without Luna or Celestia's help, in case we run into some SPH goons out here." "You think they would be way out this way?" "Can't be sure with them...." Vague then used the Callback Stone to teleport in their transport for the day, a rather sleek boat with a dual-use standard and thaumatic engines. An experimental design based upon bits of leaked information gained from the 'Net. -----         A short while later, the two of them were sailing over the Gulf, now completely covering New Orleans proper. The trip was mostly silent until Richard took the initiative and started talking. "It is truly a shame. Much of our generation will never get the chance to experience this city first hand. While the new Baton Rouge tries their best to replicate what old New Orleans used to be, well, sometimes you can never replace what is lost." Blue Vague, who was manning the engine, began to think briefly of the words. "Yeah, I can guess you were probably born around when New Orleans was officially abandoned. My grandfather used to tell stories of some of the wild 'going-away' parties that were thrown in the last year the city was officially incorporated. According to him, Mardi Gras that year put Carnivale in Rio to shame; despite my pride I doubted that assertion, but I wasn't gonna argue with him." Richard chuckled as pictured the scene nearly 40 years ago: millions of revelers as they gave the city with so much history one more grand send-off. "You know, it probably was a hell of a party. Way better than the ones that they have in the Domes. Have you ever seen someone worth $500 million ever get up on a bar and try and dance while stone drunk? It is not a pretty sight, I will tell you that much." Blue Vague actually laughed out loud at the idea as he pictured it in his head. "Man, I guess sometimes the term rich idiots do describe a lot of them." "Like you wouldn't believe Vague. I thank my lucky stars that I was raised outside of that environment; I guess foresight is a gift that runs in the family. Though, I wish I could have seen all of this coming though," Richard said as they weaved in and out of some of the taller buildings that were poking up over the water line. Blue Vague just sighed as he looked out at the water surrounding the city. He brought the boat to a slow stop as he put a headset on. "So what are you about to do, Vague?" Richard asked, as he took a drink out of a cooler. "Going for a dive," Blue Vague stated rather matter-of-factly, as he took the measure of the water to see what magic he needed to use to neutralize the pollution. Richard looked at Vague rather strangely given the idea. "Diving? In this morass?" "Yeah, I've tested the idea with some of the researchers back at base. Water Magic can buffer me against the toxic elements in the water, and Storm and I developed a spell to split the water into breathable oxygen if casting Wind Magic is too much of a strain." "Seems like you've been thinking a lot about this..." "I guess I have. Something in the back of my head wanted me to come back here to observe. Now will probably be my best chance to observe it as is, and I want to truly understand and internalize how damaged this world is. That way, when we get to fixing it, we do it right." Well it's nice to see that you're coming to a better understanding of things... Richard thought as he and Vague made sure the headset were in working order. --- Vague slowly 'paddled' through the murky depths, using his Water Magic to buffer him against the poisons in the water, Wind Magic to ensure he had an air supply, and Explicit Magic to help propel him through. Man, just looking at this place is just depressing... at least it seems like they got most of the stuff they could have moved out... Vague thought as he used a variant of the Cave Light spell to peer through the dark blue waters. The whole French Quarter underwater... managed to survive 6 hurricane hits in the 21st Century without being flooded; only to fall to mechanical error and human indifference... I guess it says a lot about us... he thought as he was now on his way to the site of the original Superdome. At least he would have been if he wasn't interrupted by Richard talking over his headset. ”Hey Vague, we got a problem. An SPH gunboat is roaming around the area. This excursion might have to come to an end a bit prematurely." Richard said, trying to keep his voice down and hoping the black amphibious assault vehicle couldn't pick up his communications. "I understand, I'm making my way back there now!" Vague said as he immediately turned around and made his way back to where Richard was anchored. --- "Damn, I heard there was some H.E.A. remnants dicking around in this area.  But I'm not picking up anything," one of the seven SPH members on the Thaumatic Amphibious Assault Vehicle (TAAV) said, as he tried to pick up any communications or signs of someone else operating in the area. "Wait, I'm getting a hit... it's a mix of Thaumatic-tau and... Thaumatic-epsilon? And it's underwater? Nothing about this is right. Nothing about our intel says the Ponies were or are capable of operating underwater!" the leader said as he watched the hits show a trail forming not too far from their current position. "So what do you want us to do?" another subordinate asked. The captain thought for a few moments before giving his order. "Two of you, get your dive suits on and get down there to see what's up. Radio back if you see anything of note." The two immediately left to put on a pair of dive suits, and leapt off a dive platform. --- Damn, damn, damn... Why the hell would the SPH be way out here. I need to get Richard and get back to base ASAP.... Vague thought to himself as he tried to swim as best as his Pony body would let him while trying to keep his magic use to an absolute minimum. Not 50 meters away were those pair of SPH divers. They were looking for what was producing that mixed mana signature, and eventually they found their quarry. "WHAT?! There is a Pony underwater. I thought they were all gone!" one of the soldiers said as his gear picked out Blue Vague's form through the debris and general low visibility. "Stands to reason there might be stragglers. I think we should take it upon ourselves to deal with the problem!" his partner suggested, with a gleeful tone. "Yeah we could get a nice fat bonus out of this," the first replied, agreeing quickly to the course of action. --- Gotta get back.. gotta get back... gotta DODGE THAT BAZOOKA! Blue Vague thought to himself as he quickly used his Unicorn magic to throw himself out of the path of a torpedo fired from somewhere he couldn't see, the sudden flash of someone or something else's Water Magic being his only saving grace. "Rich, we got BIG problems. I think that gunboat had divers and they found me out!" Vague shouted over the comlink, trying to figure out how the hell he was going to extricate himself from this mess. "Vague, get yourself back here as fast as you can; I can't pull up anchor or I'll start drifting off, and I can't fire up the engines or the gunboat will probably pick that up." Richard replied as he looked around, hoping that they hadn't made visual contact yet. That boat is completely unarmed and Richard hardly uses Magic... even a normal gunboat would tear ours to shreds... Vague thought to himself as he tried desperately to avoid his pursuers, dodging the bazooka fire as best he could. Damnit, I need a body that's better for swimming... I'm having to use so many different spells at once I can't concentrate on any one of them... Blue Vague thought to himself as he was barely managing to dodge or counter-attack. What am I gonna do... what am I gonna do...  Shoo be doo, shoo shoo be do~... Vague heard in his head, recognizing the voice of his Phantom but not recognizing the tune he was humming. ... What the hell was that? Vauge immediately asked, wondering who was singing in his head while he was swimming for his life. Oh nothing, just a little tune was thinking of Master... Torra-Borous replied, looking to be of assistance to his Master and Creator. ... it sounds mildly earwormy... That aside, it seems like you could use some assistance... ... I could but I don't think I have the time to summon you... Hrm... indeed... although, have you considered adopting a more aquatic form? Ok, how the HELL would I even do that? Similar to summoning myself, use your magic to forge a temporary body... And just like my body would, it'd be made of hyper-compressed mana... So basically I summon a shell to use while I'm in the water? Pretty much, Master. Blue Vague swam around looking for a spot to stop so he could generate the mana to form the body. He searched his mind for anything that would match close enough to his body so he could use as little mana as possible, and eventually settled on a form. Celestia, I hope this works... -- "Hey man do you see that bright blue light?" "Yeah, I think that's our target... let's fire indiscriminately at it!" "You read my mind, man." The two SPH soldiers fired their underwater rifles and bazookas at the building housing the bright light, but were surprised when their shots either bounced off or were otherwise deflected. They were even more surprised when the bright light faded, to reveal a form none of them recognized. "What the hell is that thing? That ain’t any Pony I've ever seen..." the first soldier said so his partner. "Is it even a Pony?!" the second asked in response. "I guess it isn't is it..." Vague responded, surprising himself he could even speak underwater. Ok, how did I even do that? Well it would probably be a problem if you couldn't communicate underwater could it? So I guess it's just built into the form isn't it... By the way, what the hell am I?! Hrm, you seem a bit like a... merman... or... Hrm, I think I've seen something like your form before... I believe they call themselves Kelpies... I would guess you accidentally took a Pony-equivalent form... Well at least I can swim without having to think about it... Blue Vague immediately took off like a torpedo, easily clocking 30 knots with a combination of his Water Magic and his Kelpie-shell's fins. "Vague, what's going on down there, that gunboat is getting dangerously close to my position," Richard said over the comlink, Vague thankful the headset didn't get lost in the transformation. "Trying to figure out how I gave myself fins and what the heck I can do in this body?" Vague responded, not registering just how strange it would have sounded to Richard. Wait... fins... what the hell is going on down there... Richard immediately thought to himself. --- "Sir! There is something approaching at high speed towards us!" one of the gunboat operators said to the SPH leader. "Blow it out of the water! I don't care what it is!" the captain barked out in response. "Sir... it's surfacing... it's... a Pony?! I didn't know the little bastards could swim to be honest!" the operator said as the image of a glowing blue Unicorn(like) head popped up out of the water. "HEY ASSHOLES! I HOPE YOU LIKE TO SWIM!" Vague shouted as he quickly dove back under. "SHOOT THAT MOTHERFUCKER!" the captain shouted, he was not going to have some straggling Pony make a mockery of him or the latest in SPH military technology. The order was far easier to give than carry out though, as the two gunners on the boat found actually trying to hit the Pony(-like creature) was extremely hard given its size and speed. "Damnit that thing is moving way too fast for us to shoot ourselves; and the AI is having a hard time calculating it's path to correct for that," one of the gunners shouted, frustrated at all the wasted ammo and ordnance. "Fuck! I told them that I needed the latest in aim-compensating AI, they probably skimped out on us again, cheap bastards!" the captain shouted, as he felt the boat rock from a pair of blasts. "Sir we're getting slammed by it appears to be highly compressed water. Whatever that thing is, it’s clearly aquatic in nature, and is a natural in hydromancy," the operator reported back. "Yeah thanks for pointing out the FUCKING OBVIOUS! WHY AREN'T YOU BUSY SHOOTING THE DAMN THING THEN!?" the captain shouted, his fury reaching a boiling point. While that is a very nice vessel... I do believe it will look much better in sky blue and white than black... the Kelpie-Vague thought to himself as he dashed far out. "Sir, the creature has suddenly swam outside of our current range of fire. How should we proceed?" the operator asked, in the brief moment of calm. "We recover our divers and we get the fuck out of here, that's what we do. I don't get paid enough for this bullshit," the captain ordered as he sat down in a chair. Welp, here goes absolutely nothing! Vague thought as he charged the gunboat horn first, entire body cloaked in a mix of Water Magic and a minor Explicit Magic shield. Soon a massive explosion rocked the gunboat. "SIR! WE HAVE A FULL HULL BREACH! Something just tore through it like a hot-knife through butter!" one of the operators shouted as he jumped up from his control panel. "WHAT IN THE BLOODY FUCK! THEY SAID THIS WAS MADE OUT OF THE LATEST MATERIALS, WHAT IN THE HELL COULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" the captain shouted, scrambling to gather his thoughts amongst the sirens and klaxons. Another explosion rocked the gunboat. The operator was in full scramble mode now as he and the remaining crew members were donning pollution proof suits and life vests. "DAMNIT! How many holes we got in the boat now!" the leader shouted as he did the same. "Four... no... six... and none of the engines are hit... whatever that thing is wants to sink this vehicle without blowing itself to Kingdom Come." --- Blue Vague floated near a broken high rise, making sure to avoid any pointy bits while he settled down. "Hey Rich, bring the boat over. We're bringing back a souvenir for the Princesses and the engineers there." "Ok even if they are in lifeboats Vague, how am I supposed to approach?" Richard replied, as he raised anchor and started up the engines. "I'll take care of that, Mr. Edwards!" Vague replied with the all mirth and confidence. --- "Great, our latest tech is a broken wreck and now this fog is rolling in, how the hell could this get any worse." the SPH squad leader said, as he and his six mates drifted on the lifeboat. "Thanks for the new toy, we'll be sure to send you our regards some other time!" they heard a voice shout from through the fog. When it finally lifted, they realized that whatever that, thing, was that sunk their gunboat halfway had probably just made off with the wreckage. "I really do not get paid enough for this bullshit..." the squad captain thought out loud, as he began wracking his brain for a cover story. --- "So you mean to tell me your Phantom told you to turn yourself into a... Kelpie was it... and you managed to do it?!" Richard asked of Vague, who was still floating around offshore with the wreckage of the boat tethered by his Water Magic and a Unicorn weight-reduction spell. "Exactly... I'm pretty sure Twilight and Dr. Hayato are gonna be all over me. Even though this body is just a shell, I'm pretty damn sure it'll be useful in more situations than this," Vague said as he took a bit of a victory lap around the gunboat. Although I wonder, how I'm supposed to change back though? I dunno if Hana would appreciate having a Kelpie as a coltfriend... === [ Safe Haven -- That Evening ] ===         "So you went off in the middle of the ocean, wrecked an enemy gunboat, and managed to shape-shift yourself without having it be taught to you explicitly?" Twilight asked of Vague as he swam in an impromptu tank while the mana from the emergency transformation wore off. "Pretty much. Torra-Bourous is partially responsible for the idea though. Like I said, I got mixed up with some SPH goons and I needed some way to bail and fast." "Necessity is the mother of invention, after all," Richard said as he looked at still Kelpified blue Unicorn. "Anyway, you should only be stuck like that for another couple of hours at the most; thankfully you didn't try and glom all that much onto yourself, relatively speaking," Twilight said, as she and the other three Conduits walked around the tank. "So besides the whole wrecking the enemy's latest weapons platform, how was your trip?" Midori asked, not sure how exactly to phrase the question otherwise. "It was actually pretty good, though depressing. Yet, I think I'm starting to come to grips with everything on the outside, and depth to which everything's been broken. No one said this job was going to be easy, and I guess it's high time I stop trying to pretend that everything will have a simple fix," Vague said as he did barrel rolls in the tank. This whole situation just never stops being weird... Storm and Blaze thought to themselves as they looked on at Hana and Vague talking through the glass. --- "Wow Vague really did a number on this gunboat. Yet he managed to at least not sink it too bad. Who knows how bad that gunk in the ruins might have corroded the electronics and thaumatics," an engineer said as he looked over some of the weaponry that was being offloaded from the wreck. On a catwalk above the wreck, Silentclaw and Princess Luna were looking at the various Human, Pony, and Gryphon engineers looking over all of the armaments and technologies that were salvageable from the wrecked gunboat. "I can feel the hum of Earth's native mana in all of these armaments to varying extents, and the engines appear to be vastly refined versions of the prototype your own vessel possessed. I believe your technicians should have a field day pulling everything apart," Silentclaw said as he looked over things with Princess Luna. The Avatar of the Moon looked at the similarly colored Dragon with a bit of a wry smile. "And I believe you found great interest in the Conduit of Water's currently self-inflicted condition." "Yes, and I am not sure how I so badly overlooked the solution to my predicament, myself. A Thaumatic-tau shell body would be the perfect means for me to conduct my business on this side, before we open things up again formally," Silentclaw said as he thought to himself about where exactly he should start. "I would suggest talking to the Element of Generosity and Mr. Greer in Communications, they are our foremost Light Magicians. That should probably assist in you developing a disguise spell," Luna said, figuring out what Silentclaw was after. "Indeed, being able to disguise myself or teach other Dragons how to disguise themselves should aid with integration and espionage on our end." "On that note, if you decide to conduct an operation in Washington, D.C., there is a woman I would like you to speak to..." Luna started to say, as she moved over to whisper in Silentclaw's ear to finish her thought. ===[ Washington D.C. -- February 17, 2082 ]===         The day began like any other for President Aguillar. She woke up, and was trailed by a S.P.H. lieutenant or three going to the bathroom (thankfully not in the bathroom as well). She spent most of her work day, such that was left of it, surrounded by S.P.H. goons. She couldn't even eat privately; had to have at least one S.P.H. member with loaded firearm near her at all times. All in all, with all of the sturm-und-drang surrounding the Outsiders still, Mr. Vaughn did not feel comfortable removing her nor the other leaders of the biggest of nations quite yet, lest he have a full-blown counter-revolution on his hands. And so the existence in the gilded cage continued for Pres. Aguillar. Though the day did begin like many other for the last over-half-year, the evening most definitely wouldn't end the same way. "Lovely evening, isn't it Madame President..." one of the 'guards' said to Aguillar as she and the guard walked toward Aguillar's private quarters. "About as lovely as one could reason given I'm living in a cage, effectively," Aguillar responded, all manner of exhaustion and exasperation in her voice. "Yes, it truly is a pity the situation is what it is. It'd be nice if something were to come along to change that, no?" the guard asked, his eyes covered by the baseball-cap-like hat the 'plain clothes' SPH grunts wore. "Usually my 'guards’ don't strike up this much conversation with me, are you new or something?" Aguillar asked incredulously as they reached the door to her quarters within the in-the-middle-of-being-renovated White House. "Oh, nothing in particular, just wanted to engage in some extended conversation. Would you mind if we talked things over in private?" the guard said as he placed his rifle and pistol on the floor next to the reinforced sliding doors and stepped away with this arms raised. "Forgive me for being more than a little paranoid, but I just don't let strange men into my private quarters, even if I'm under this kind of duress," Aguillar said with a very stern, bleeding into angry look. "Hrm, a reaction to be expected. I mean one just does not simply let a proven antagonizing force that close to them without certain cautions and conditions, if they can at all help it," the guard said, as he removed his cap.         Aguillar was quite surprised by what she saw when she finally got a good look at the 'guard'. On one hand, he looked quite young and full of life, despite his unusually pale skin. She figured he was of mostly European, descent but lived within buildings and artificial lighting for most his life, like most of the Outsiders who lived in northern temperate or Artic zones. His hair was long, straight, and jet black, although strands appeared to be an iridescent-seeming royal blue. What shocked her most though, were his eyes. They belied an incredible age, even older than the human guise of Princess Celestia she had dealt with nearly two years previous. Even then, that was a more esoteric thing she saw.         The more immediate and concrete thing she saw was that his eyes did not even appear human, not even so much as mammalian. While the eyeball shape was fairly human like, but the pupils were clearly slitted, and the irises a highly unnatural-seeming cerulean color, at least natural to anything that'd be living on Earth, per se. Even the sclera of his eyes had the slight hint of blue to them. The visage sent Aguillar's mind racing as time had pretty much come to a standstill in that hallway. What in the hell is he... some kind of monster those on the Outside have been talking about. Damnit... no... wait... I could have sworn I've seen eyes like that somewhere else... but where, damnit... I GOT IT! She then fixed her mouth to speak, and hoped no one was around to hear nor anything able to record. "Your eyes, they remind me of a creature I saw some time ago." "Really now, could you describe it to me?" "Short, purple and green, constantly eating gemstones, though I could never figure out how nor did I ask why." "Hrm, the description does seem familiar, although it wouldn't be fair to call him 'short' these days..." The last part of that statement set off all kinds of red flags in Aguillar's head. Damn, looks I'm gonna have to take a gamble that this thing is what I think it is, and isn't some other kind of creature... "I think I will take you up on that offer for that private conversation..." Aguillar said, as she and the guard entered the quarters and the door was slid closed behind her. ---         After a few moments to accommodate themselves, the two began speaking more in earnest. Aguillar was the first to resume the conversation. "Before we start, is there any way that you can ensure that what we say here isn't being recorded. I have the feeling despite the constant renovations, this room and a lot of others are bugged." The 'guard' then stood up and walked toward a wall. "Let's see... hrm, no real signature of any kind of mana within the walls or anywhere near. So I would assume purely electronic surveillance if any. Alright then, simple enough fix for that. Although..." "Although what?" "There is one minor issue, the method I would need to employ to shield our conversation is decidedly not a basic trick, so I was suggest you stand back, and probably keep your surprise and shock to as much a minimum as possible." "What do you mean?" "You'll see..."         The guard then took a heavy breath, as his body began to glow first the same color as his skin tone, and then turn completely black, save for traces of blue. After a few moments, his true form was revealed. A form that came as both a shock and eventual mild relief to one Melinda Aguillar. At least he isn't a demon or something... at least I hope he isn't still... The black Draconic figure then placed a clawed hand on the wall and whispered almost inaudibly. "Tal'a Guran Olk." A grid appeared all over the inner walls of Aguillar's Quarters, with spaces filled in by runes she noticed were not as angular as the Terran Magic runes she spied from time to time being used by the S.P.H.'s thauma-corps. The figure then took a more solid shape as the mana used to form the false body was reabsorbed into his being. A six-foot tall, bipedal, jet-black 'lizard-man'; wings folded to his back and looking of leather, and spinal-plates and 'accents’ all a royal blue. His eyes were the same icy-blue that the human guise's were, although wider set. That feeling of cancelling a disguise will still take adjusting to... Silentclaw thought to himself, but he figured he had plenty of decades still ahead of him to refine the spell. "The fact that you aren't completely stupefied by my form intones you're familiar with it, or at least a variant of it," Silentclaw said, as he sat on the floor, tail over his crossed legs. "Yes, you also made mention that it wouldn't be fair to call 'him' 'short' anymore..." Aguillar responded. "No, it wouldn't be. Many things have changed regarding those that you met nearly two years ago now, President Aguillar. The time will soon come where you are to get reacquainted with them though." "If it wouldn't be too much of me to ask, just who exactly are you?" "Hrm, seeing as we are allies, if not in the official sense yet, it would be a fair question to answer. You may simply call me Silentclaw, I am head of Intelligence and Espionage for the Dragon Nomad Central Council. There will be time in the future, more likely than not, for me to more fully explain and brief you on who and what exactly I am and how that relates to the future." "Seeing as you are a Dragon. That'd imply that you are tied to Equestria, or the dimension the Equestrians come from." "You'd be correct in that preliminary assessment. We Dragons have entered into partnership with Equestria in order to assist their Conversion Movement, although we plan to make it far more than that." "I see... and I would guess that the time to play the Final Trump will soon be at hand?" Aguillar asked, realizing just what was coming around the corner. "Correct again Madame President, that was part of my reason for coming to meet you. I have an improved version of the Shadow Transport Charm, incase yours was stolen or damaged in this interim period. It will also afford a deep psychic connection to Princesses Celestia and Luna, for more precise coordination when the time comes," Silentclaw said, as he offered a necklace with several multi-colored gems, the dark amethyst centerpiece being the focal point of the Shadow Magic that'd bring Aguillar to Safe Haven should the need arise. "Very fine jewel-crafting. The artisans in the Domes could learn a thing or two. I take it that these plans of yours would still require time to fully manifest, correct?" President Aguillar then asked. "They are not my plans specifically of course, all of the allies have their particular inputs. You should have seen some of the discussions in the last couple of weeks alone," Silentclaw corrected mildly. He then continued. "But getting back to the point. Yes, the plan is not ready to be executed as of yet, so you will need to endure for a while longer. Although, barring any unforeseen circumstances, we should be ready to go in a few weeks time." President Aguillar sighed a sigh of heavy relief knowing that her time in her gilded cage may indeed coming to a genuine end.         Silentclaw stood up, and went to a window, whose view was obscured by the spell he cast to prevent eavesdropping from the outside, but could still see out well enough. "This world is reaching a tipping-point. The mana that was pent up for so long is gushing out more and more by the week. It will not be much longer until the population in general figures this out. To wit, you have read the increasing number of incidents of flare-ups of Thaumatic-tau outbursts from people entirely unfamiliar with magic beforehand. Compound to that, there were many creatures whose existence was dependent upon Earth's mana were reduced to mere ghosts and legends when it dried up, and they will seek to re-establish themselves on this world at the soonest possible date. Finally, there was the admitted failure of the Princesses themselves, who merely offered Conversion and a way off Earth itself as the solution, which some saw as untenable and others just merely dismissed out of apathy." "So how do those three points all relate to each other?" Aguillar asked, trying to fit all these puzzle pieces into a coherent picture. "Although I cannot divulge the ultimate aim of this new Movement we plan to launch, I can say this: it will be about simply more than just Converting physical form. This world is thoroughly broken, and merely trying to offload this massive population into our borders is an overly simplistic decision. And besides, with the sheer virility of the Magic inherent to this world, it would be foolhardy to simply abandon it and leave it to die." "So the aim is to do what exactly?" Aguillar them asked, as she started to formulate in her head her own view. "For some, the promise of an entirely new world and the chance to shed this life that has nearly crushed their soul to dust would be too great to pass up. For others, the opportunity to rebuild this world into what it should be in their own eyes is a project worth dedicating their lives to. In other words, change. We merely hope to be the agents of a change that will be positive for this and our own world," Silentclaw responded, his eyes lighting up as he seemed to come to his own conclusion while attempting to gleam the thoughts and intentions of others. "Yes, but you know how the SPH and possibly others out there think. To ask Humans to concede their human bodies, in any respect, would be a bridge too far to say the least," Aguillar responded, playing a bit of Devil's Advocate. "Believe me, everyone involved in the project knows this now, even if they didn't before. We fully expect resistance, possibly even war. Although, given the state of the world, radical change is probably all that is left insofar as hope for the vast majority of people," Silentclaw said, as he then resumed his countenance of someone thousands of years old. "Things are just that thoroughly broken to where a total house-cleaning is in order, one could say," Aguillar thought as she sat in her chair. "Sometimes, when something breaks, it is better to change the design before rebuilding rather than simply rebuilding it over," Silentclaw then suggested out loud. "Would you suggest that there is some inherent flaw in humanity?" Aguillar then asked, wondering where the black Dragon was going with this line of thought. "Not necessarily. It'd be better to say there is inherent flaw in all mortal sentience. Once you have accumulated enough years, you realize that. No matter how many centuries I may live, I still find myself perpetrating mistakes, and sometimes costly ones. We merely seek to arrest and reverse the downward spiral we see this world in before it reaches the Point of No Return," Silentclaw said, as he walked back toward the door. Aguillar nodded in agreement, as she continued to process her own thoughts on what Conversion meant. Perhaps I am being myopic in thinking that Converting means 'running away'. There is nothing that prevents those thousands from returning someday. But why return if society, or the world itself, was actively hostile toward you? She then began to think of why the Princesses apparently continued to insist on having Conversion as an option. It was then she came to something of an epiphany. Growth. People want to grow, people want to become more than what they are. The Princesses have merely created a new outlet for this desire to grow. Some will take it, some won’t, but who am I to judge whether they should or not. It is not my place to say what someone should become in life. It's just that now that decision could come with an entirely new body to go along with it. As Silentclaw resumed his disguise and cancelled the Anti-Eavesdropping spell, Melinda asked one final question of the now black-haired human. "Given your position, you probably have been in contact with the Princesses directly. Have you heard of my family and what may have become of them?" "Let me see... ah yes. They are all doing quite well, and before you ask, they are all still human. Your husband, I would assume, stated that no member of your family would undergo Conversion until your situation was resolved. If all goes according to plan, that resolution should come in a few week's time." "Hopefully. Although we have a saying: 'The best laid plans of mice and men / Often go awry." "Something to keep in mind indeed..." Silentclaw replied as he slid the door back closed. Melinda Aguillar then went to the same window that Silentclaw looked out at a few minutes before. She looked out at all the supposed pinnacle of Humanity and what they had done in the last few months. She looked at all of the reports of incidents, accidents, and rank malfeasance perpetrated by the SPH in the last few months. She had come to her conclusion of what she would do once her time on the stage was to come back around. This dark era of Human History will be brought to a close, even if I have do it by my own hands. The New Age of will then be written by those who deserve to lead, no matter what I have to do to make that happen.