“Nooooooooooo!”
I woke up with droplets of sweat tumbling over my forehead and into my ears.
Another night, another haunting dream that leaves me restless in the morning. I shook it off like I did every morning that I wake up from that dream.
I noticed the cubic room that I was in. I looked around frantically for the familiar surroundings of my room. The only things I saw were the dull, porous walls staring back at me.
“Where am I?”
Then everything came back to me. The HLF attack, the fire...
I almost died...
As I sat there with a growing dark cloud hovering over me, slowly recalling the events of the previous day, a particular white pony in a nurse’s cap trotted into my room.
“I heard you yell. Is everything okay?”
“Oh. Yeah. I just woke up from a bad dream. It’s no big deal.”
“Well that was perfect timing, I was just coming to wake you up. I have to check your vitals to make sure you have recovered.”
A puzzled look overtook my face.
“I’ve only been here one night. How could I have recovered?”
“One of the other nurses here is a unicorn. She placed a healing spell on you last night so you could heal.”
I finally broke my morning trance and realized the fire coursing through my lungs was gone. I cautiously took in a deep breath, preparing myself for a surge of pain. It never came. My complexion immediately brightened with my new-found breathing ability. It felt great! As a matter of fact, breathing never seemed this pleasant or easy. Nurse Redheart saw me testing my newly refreshed lungs.
“I take it your lungs feel better?”
“They feel great! Better than they have in a long time.”
“That’s very good to hear, sweetie. Now if you could lie on your back, I have a couple tests to run to make sure your lungs are fully healed.”
Nurse Redheart performed various tests on me to find out if I was indeed in good health. I had never had so much medical attention in my life, with hospitals being so expensive.
“It seems like your lungs have healed. That means you’re free to go, which brings up an important issue.”
“What’s the problem?”
“Technically, the bureau is not supposed to treat anyone who isn’t getting converted. But you were in such serious condition when you were brought in that no nurse in their right mind would throw you out.”
“That is a problem.”
“I know one solution. Although, I’m not sure what you might think about it.”
I just sat there, my face as blank as a sheet of synthetic paper. She sensed my confusion.
“You’re in a conversion bureau, sweetie. You can make an honest mare out of me if you decide to get converted.”
My face turned beet red. Nurse Redheart eyes grew to the size of grapefruits, yet her pupils shrunk so they were no bigger than a pin.
“Oh my! I... uh... um...”
“It’s okay nurse. I know what you meant.”
The worry lines on her face disappeared with my remark.
“Well then, I’ll leave you be. Take your time figuring out what you want to do.”
She trotted out of the room still wearing a blush on her cheeks. And with that, I was alone with my thoughts, much as I had been in the past month. They never brought me to a conclusion in isolation in my apartment. Then again, I never had to face the circumstances that I was facing at the moment. I had no home, no friends, no relatives, and no possessions. I had absolutely nothing to go to that could comfort me. The thought of being completely alone in the world made my eyes well up with tears. Even my own thoughts were of no help.
I contemplated what Nurse Redheart said.
I could get converted. What’s stopping me? I have nothing left here...
That single realization caused me to break down into quiet sobs. I literally had nothing! If I left this city, there would be no evidence that I was ever here.
I collapsed onto my back, with grief pulsing through my body and tears rolling down my cheeks. My blurry vision explored every little crevice in the ceiling until the tears from my eyes soaked in to the sheet beneath me.
I don’t know how long I lay there. It was long enough for my tears to leave a salty residue on my cheeks.
“This miserable world has nothing left for me!”
I was finally able to answer the big question.
Today is the day.
With renewed vigor, I wiped off my face and got my lazy butt off the bed. I shook myself off and tried to hide the evidence of my crying.
I walked out the door into a bright hallway. There were windows lining one side, and something just outside caught my attention. I glanced out, and my mouth dropped.
Outside the windows, there was a lush garden full of the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen. There were vegetables of all kinds, reaching out of their mother Earth and stretching towards the sky. Aside from pictures, I had never actually seen this many plants in one place. In reality, there were hardly any places that were suitable for plant growth. The sight both baffled and amazed me.
How could they grow all of this? The beauty!
As I stood staring out the window with my mouth agape, until a cheerful pony trotted up beside me.
“Excuse me, can I help you?”
I turned to see a sea-foam green unicorn standing beside me. I looked at her, still slack-jawed and dumbfounded. Her mane was slightly lighter than her coat, aside from a streak of white on either side above the ear, and her tail was the same. Finally, on her flank there was a lyre. She bore a worried look.
“Um, mister. Are you okay?”
I finally shut the black hole that was my mouth and answered, stuttering to get something out.
“Oh! U-uh... S-sorry about that.”
I cleared my throat and regained my composure.
“Yes, actually. I’m looking for the place to sign up for conversion.”
She perked up immediately.
“Perfect! My name is Lyra. I’m the receptionist. If you follow me this way, mister...”
“You can call me Nathan.”
“Nathan! Just follow me to my desk and I’ll get you checked in.”
I followed the cheery unicorn down the hallway. I stared back at the garden through the window as we rounded a corner into a large lobby, and it disappeared behind us .
I have to remember to ask someone about that amazing garden.
I looked around the lobby. It reminded me of a doctor’s office from scenes I had seen in movies from my dad’s time. There were several ponies walking around to different hallways and rooms. This was the first time I had seen this many ponies in one place. Like the pictures of Celestia, the array of hues on each pony mystified and amazed me. There were a couple other humans sitting in some chairs along the wall. Like me, gazes were upon their faces as they watched the pastel ponies make their way around the lobby. In the center of the room there was a circular receptionist’s desk with a chair in the center. On it were several clipboards and pens neatly organized in a row with various papers clipped to them. Lyra used magic to open the door and sat down on her chair. Normally I would have been amazed by the display, but something was distracting me from it. What really caught my attention was that Lyra sat in her chair.
“Wait. Why are you sitting? Don’t ponies usually curl up with their legs beneath them?”
“I’ve always found it more comfortable sitting upright. My friend Bon Bon thinks I’m crazy, but that doesn’t stop me! Alrighty then. How old are you?”
“Twenty. Why do you ask?”
“Okay. We’re supposed to ask everyone their age since we’ve had some minors try to get converted without parental consent. I’m gonna need you to fill out this form and give it back to me when you are done.”
Lyra surrounded one of the clipboards in her sky blue magical aura and whisked it over to me with a form clipped in it. I took it from her while it was suspended in midair. I felt a neat sensation when I reached into the field of magic. It felt like tiny sparks were jumping up my arm, yet like I was touching something of the utmost softness. With the clipboard in hand, I took a seat in one of the chairs along the wall.
The form didn’t ask for much, just my name, date of birth, allergies and the reason for getting converted. That last question struck me particularly hard. I didn’t feel like diving into such personal matters, so I just answered “I’m sick of the human race”. While I was writing, I couldn’t help but think that this was like selling your soul to the Devil for supreme blues talent. Except in this case, it was signing my whole body and life away.
I finished the form and handed it back to Lyra.
“Excellent. Here’s how this is gonna work Nathan. You’re going to be taken into a conversion room and get converted. To warm you up to your new legs, you’ll then get a tour of the bureau. Finally you’ll be assigned assigned a room to stay in for your week here. During the week, you’ll be taking classes here to ready you for Equestrian life. When you are converted and have finished the prerequisite classes, you’ll be switched over to classes that will be appropriate to whatever type of pony you become: Earth, Pegasus, or Unicorn. After your week’s stay, you’ll be sent to Equestria! Any questions?”
“How do I know what kind of pony I will become?”
“There’s no way of knowing before hand. It’s determined by human genetics somehow, but that’s not my area of expertise. Any other questions?”
“What’s the process like?”
“It’s simple really. You go into one of the conversion rooms, take off all of your clothes, like down on a bed, and drink the conversion serum. You fall asleep almost immediately, and wake up a pony.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it!”
One thing I neglected to do while trapped in indecision was look up the process of getting ponified. Simple or not, I was nervous about going through with the actual conversion.
“Does it hurt?”
“I wouldn’t know personally since I’m from Equestria, but I’ve heard it is painless.”
A wave of calm ran through my body. I never liked any procedures that involved any pain whatsoever. Especially if needless were involved. I avoided needles at any cost.
“Thanks for the help Lyra.”
“Not a problem. If you ever have any questions don’t hesitate to ask anypony. We’re all here to help your conversion be as smooth as possible. I’ll page Nurse Redheart to come get you.”