//------------------------------// // Everything you thought you knew... // Story: The Conversion Bureau: Judgement Day. // by Magenta Cat //------------------------------// -Twelve years ago. "It worked! It finally worked!" Twilight Sparkle couldn't believe that it finally worked, after the events of the last year she was getting used to not have her hopes too high. When the "Great Disaster" happened every species over the planet tried to face it by themselves but after a while every city over Equus was devastated and the survivors sought asylum in the only safe place, Equestria. Now after a year of struggling for the lives of their subjects and the new refugees the Princesses decided that the Disaster was too big to be stopped or even contained leaving as the only solution to escape but the problem was to gather the massive amounts of magic required for doing it. The solution was to use every piece of magic they could; The Elements, the Princesses, the Queen of the changelings, even the rudimentary ones like the griffons and zebras, all together joined their forces to do the impossible. Saving over a hundred millions of lives the Princesses used all the energy offered to them that day to transport the whole country of Equestria to a safer place. A new world was around them, ready to welcome and give them a place they could call home again and they where ready to initiate a new life here. Then Twilight noticed the violet dome over them. "Princess. What is that?" *** The Phantom Stranger and Celestia appeared in looked like a beach with an ocean without waves and clear enough so she could see a black bottomless void, when she looked to the horisont the sand it extended uninterrupted as far as she could saw looking as if the middle of the dessert and the deep of the sea just collided there. The same happened when she looked at the sky, there was no sun or stars but instead just an uniform lifeless blue background, to dark to be day and to bright to be night. All of this made the immortal feel a complete loneliness. Before the Princess of the Sun could even though of how to ask the question the Stranger was already answering. "This is the Ultima Thule, the place where everything comes to an end." Those words confused the Princess eve more but the Phantom didn't seem to notice or care about this and started to walk but Celestia stood still. "Enough Stranger. I demand answers" Her voice was strong and menacing as her face showed only resolve but the Stranger didn't show any reaction nor said any answers, so she continued. "Who are you to take me from my sacred duty with my ponies to force me to come here?" "He already gave you an answer, young one" A voice commented from Celestia's back, she turned around to see a creature that looked like a man dressed in blue and covered by a cape that rested peacefully over his shoulders but the most dominant feature about this being was a helmet made out of gold so pure and clean that the Princess could see her own reflection. "My good Phantom, your have completed your task, now go an bring answers to those who need them. I will take this from here." When Celestia turned the Stranger was already gone and the golden man was walking to her with steps that were calm but strong, when they where face to helmet he finally spoke again. "Don't be afraid young one, I don't represent any harm to you." "I am not afraid." The alicorn was loosing her patience and the endless dessert where they were wasn't helping. "Answer me. Who are you, where are we and why?" "I'll be your guide here from now, you may call me Fate, Doctor Fate" His voice resonated through his helmet like a bell in a tower emitting a sound that almost calmed the alicorn. "As for your second question, this is the last place and the last moment of existence." Then his eyes glowed. "But you're to young to, so you only see an aspect of this realm, allow me to illuminate your view." He raised his hand a light that shinned with the glint of sun itself and even brighter forced the alicorn to shut her eyes. When Celestia opened her eyes again she wasn't sure to understand was she has in front of her. First of all, the sand under her hooves was replaced by a ground covered with different vegetation that the Princess didn't recognized also the sea behind her was now moving with the force of a storm and when she looked up in the sky a new set of celestial bodies greeted her but still no sun or moon, finally she looked back to Fate, the Doctor was pointing with his hand to a pair of doors that simply appeared in front of them. She started to think that all of this was just a senseless dream caused by her recent stress and in any moment now she would awake in her bedroom at home in New Canterlot. "You're not dreaming." Fate interrupter her line of thought. "All of this is as real as you or me." He pushed one of the doors revealing a descending stairway. "Now there are some beings waiting for you and would be inadequate to make them wait." But the Princess stood still in her position. "I will not take orders from you or any other being. I am the Princess of the Sun and you will respect that." The Doctor didn't say anything but instead he just looked down shacking his head disappointed for something, his eyes glowed and they were transported to the top of a mount, Celestia looked around her to see twelve thrones made out of stone disposed in semicircle around the spot where she was standing and on every one there was a symbol carved into the stone but she couldn't recognize most of them, also on the opposite side of the cliff was an staircase ascending till disappearing between the clouds. Fate walked to one of the seats, the one marked with a symbol that the Princess remembered the humans calling anj or something like that, she tried to follow him but he stopped her with a gesture and standing he said. "I am Doctor Fate, Lord of Order and keeper of the Eternal Library, I'm here to preserve justice. I summon the monarch." The sky was suddenly darkened by clouds and a series of thunders cracked in the air before a hole opened between the clouds sending a light to the throne marked with a symbol of clouds and lightning, then a bearded man dressed in a toga descended from the sky to the throne and when his feet hit the floor Celestia could see that despite looking very old his figure was athletic and imposing, like and old fighter ready to have another fight, and also she noticed a glowing object in his right hand that looked like a spear. "I am Zeus, son of Time and king of the Olympus, I'm here to protect freedom. I summon the warrior." He threw the object that Celestia mistook for a spear to the sky making a new storm, but this one was different; ice and cold surrounded the place, even the sun alicorn felt the freezing sensation then she heard steps next to her so she turned to see another old man, but unlike the first one this was wearing a body armor and a helmet with wings. He walked to the throne marked with three triangles next to Zeus, turned around and took off his helmet and glared at Celestia with his only eye before calling. "I am Odin, ruler of Asgard and master of the storm, I'm here to punish evil. I summon the wizard." He hit the ground with his spear and the storm stopped, the ice melted and the clouds made way to a clear blue sky Celestia was starting to calm down when a voice with the force of the thunder shouted "SHAZAM!" KRAKOOM! A thunder so strong that the ground shacked roared and another man appeared dressed in white and gold wearing a cape and hood which he took off to reveal a expression that only showed kindness and confidence, when he looked at Celestia he smiled and winked at her and the he said. "I am Shazam, guardian of the Rock of Eternity and defender of life, I'm here to protect the innocent. I summon the existence." Celestia tried to interrupt them but she couldn't talk. In fact, she tried to move but her body didn't respond 'What is this feeling?' From the night sky a woman descended behind the princes in an absolute calm walking to the next throne where she talked with a voice that sounded like a chorus of hundreds of voices. "I am Rama Kushna, death goddess and mistress of Nanda Parbat, I'm here to keep the balance. I summon the white king." BOOM! A vortex of light appeared next to Shazam and two figures walked from inside it; one was a man holding a staff and wearing a combination between an armor and a uniform in blue red and gold. The second figure walking from the vortex didn't looked like a man, or any living being for what it matters, covered in an armor with a face that looked like a gravestone and eyes glowing red like the fires of hell. The first one glared at the Princess, just like Odin before, but instead of showing aggression his gaze showed disappointment, like a father looking at a son who made a serious mistake and for some reason she felt guilty for that. "I am Highfather, guardian and protector of New Genesis, I´m here to make justice. I summon the black king." The next one smirked for a second as he looked at Celestia making her feel something 'What it was?' a small grin appeared in his face before replying. "I am Darkseid, lord and master of Apokolips, I'm here for my own. I summon the man of miracles." Celestia could see an object coming from the horizon, she couldn't tell what it was at first. Too fast to be a bird, too small to be a plane, when it was close enough a blur or red, blue and yellow felt next to Darkseid raising a cloud of dust. Before the dust dissipated Celestia heard this new one say. "I am Miracleman, builder of the new paradise, I'm here to defend the right cause. I summon the watchmaker." This time Celestia expected a new show before her eyes but the only thing she got was a soft flash of blue light and an azure man completely naked with a strange symbol on his forehead, completely expressionless he just said monotonically. "I am Doctor Manhattan, a watchman for the universe, I'm here to observe. I summon the chaos bringer." Then the nine of them looked to the night sky as expecting something. Celestia looked too and she couldn't believe what she was looking. A new celestial body was right over the mountain, at first it looked like Luna's moon, but with to peaks and a ring around it. When Celestia realized that it was bigger than the moon, even bigger than Earth or Equus and it started to grow even more. No, it was moving, coming closer but nobody besides her seemed to care 'That feeling again.' When it stopped in midair and the sound of thousand of mechanism broke the silence as the new planet opened and started to transform: first a pair of limbs, then two legs, hands, an finally a head as a sound coming from every possible direction declared. "I am Unicron, the chaos bringer, I'm here to destroy." He descended from the sky alarming the Sun Princess but the other ones didn't show any reaction, the massive being started to shrink as he came closer till he was at ground level at the same size as the others when the same voice spoke again. "I summon the spirit of vengeance." And that was when Celestia started to understand what was that felling. 'Fear?' First all he lights disappeared, then a cold breeze flowed around her like hundreds and hundreds of wings beating right behind her, she finally gathered enough strength to turn around just to see a flock of crows flying right to her. She opened her wings ready for the attack but instead the birds just surrounded her without getting too close flying in circles. "I am The Spectre, angel of death." The crows formed a silhouette in front of the Princess, a dark green cape covering a tall but thin figure. "I´m here to judge you Princess Celestia of Equestria." 'It knows my name' Was the only thing she could think, she was alarmed but she didn't knew why. The crows dissipated and the light reappeared but now a new being covered in a cape was there, his face covered by the shadows of his own hood making Celestia felt like she was gazing long into the abyss and a pair of white eyes gazed into her. He backed to his throne and sat down, the other present did the same after him Then she finally understood, that place, those beings, all of that was just impossible. This was just her subconscious messing with her and those were the pieces of her self image. 'That makes more sense than the alternative.' "And what is the alternative young sun?" Rama asked but Celestia didn't took her seriously, after all it was just her own mind 'Right?' "The alternative would be that you are really who you say you are and other gods actually exist--" "Enough!" Odin shouted. "All of this is real and we are here to judge you for your crimes Celestia." "Judge me?" This one has the dare of talking to her like that. "What crimes are you talking about?" "The disappearance of the human race of course." Answered Highfather. "And if that's a crime or not." Miracleman added. 'The humans.' What happened to them was a terrible lost and she lamented that but these beings were blaming her for that, even more, they were saying that they could judge her! That was unacceptable! "You can't judge me, I'm a goddess." 'She really believed that?' "My actions, even when they can't be comprehended are always right." That was she always was, since the defeat of Discord everypony under her wing trusted her and for good reason; she was infallible. "I did the best for everypony" Celestia opened her wings taking a combat pose but nobody showed any reaction except for the one dressed in white and gold 'He say his name was Shazam' who raised from his seat and walked to her until they were face to face. "Princess, please." He said in a soft voice. "You have to calm down, your rage is not going to do any good." "My rage is the just one." He was right, she was angry, angry enough to cut loose and release her true power. A halo of light surrounded her as her mane ignited with the fire of sun itself and her eyes glowed in a golden light. "Real or not there's no being with the right to question me." She shouted with all her might also burning the ground under her. "I will not stand here for the likes of you, my own kind needs me so I will go back where I'm really needed." And with that said she flaped her wing sending a flare around her and flew to the sky. Zeus smirked as he put his elbow over Unicron's shoulder. "You know, she's taking it better than I expected." But Odin didn't seem to be that amused when his arm reached for the sword on his belt ready to fight the alicorn into submission but Manhattan stopped him with a hand and pointing with the other to Fate and Shazam who were flying behind the princess. "Someone have to teach her some manners." Said Odin to which the Doctor replied "They will." *** She was hallucinating, of course. Psychosis generated by the high amount of stress and not having a proper sleep in years. She went as high as she could trying to calm herself trying to recognize anything under her hooves but the only thing she could see was land an sea forming continents the she never saw before. She stopped in a cloud looking to the stars searching for a constellation to guide her but the the sky was empty again, not a single star but that didn't bothered her. 'It's all in my mind.' That single statement relaxed her as she leaned back on her cloud remembering what Star Swirl taught her so many centuries ago. 'When you dismiss the impossible, whatever you have left, however improbable, is the answer' So what was possible and what wasn't? It was more plausible that she had just lost her mind than the existence of this so called "gods" 'No.' She interrupted herself. 'Is not psychosis.' Somehow, deep in her heart, she knew that all of this was real. She wasn't loosing her mind at all, it was all real. "An involuntary sense of truth, very useful for our line of work." It was the voice of Fate. Celestia opened her eyes to see the golden man floating right in front of her, next to him was Shazam with a worried expression on his face. He opened his mouth but she talked first. "Fine, let's say I believe this is actually happening and that I believe that you two are some kind of gods. What do you want from me?" She wasn't in the mod but decide to play along for a while until she discovered what was happening. "I suppose we have an skeptic here." Fate said. "But very well, if you are open minded to believe then allow me to explain. We are beings from all across the multiverse that transcended their existence trough power and understanding or were given the responsibility of act as guardians of existence itself. As for your presence here is because a big tragedy happened under your leadership and the nature of your participation o the matter." "You really are who you say you are?" 'It could be possible?' "We are many things, little one." A voice claimed behind her, she turned around to see the other ones floating in a circle around her, the one talking was Darkseid. "Most of them you could never dream of understand. But in the grand scheme of things, we are gods." Finally she understood one thing at least, that feeling from before was now clear on her mind; it wasn't doubt or rage, it was something more basic. 'Fear.' "What happens now?" She asked and the Spectre approached her. "Now, we decide if you are guilty or innocent."