"Good Mornin', Ottawa! This is your host, Vinyl Scratch, waking you all up with some very special news! Today's the day we finally hit our quota of twenty million conversions, meaning we finally get that special visit from our favourite god-monarch! About time, I say. She's already visited all the-"
Spitfire groaned and gave the radio next to her beating head a solid whack, turning it off and knocking it to the floor. She didn't even process the morning call, all she could care about was getting those last few minutes of sleep before Soarin walked in to see if she had even gotten up.
She didn't know how much longer of a sleep she got before-
"Wake up, sleepyhead. Huge day ahead of us!" The blue stallion cheered, ripping the sheets from the bed.
She groaned, huddling herself up into a winged ball in the middle of the bed before twisting about to stare down her friend.
"You slept in about an hour, you know."
At that, she forced herself to quickly get up, at the consequence of suffering a slight head-rush. "Ack... Really? I just shut my eyes for a second."
Soarin seemed to brighten up a little. "I'm just pulling your wing, it's five after. But really, you gotta wake up. Gotta get some newfoals flying before the princess arrives."
"What? You mean she's coming- She's going to-"
"To check up on one of the last few bureaus to hit the twenty million mark, yes. Watch some conversions and tour the training, totally."
"Roadapples..." The yellow mare cursed, wearily getting to her hooves and leaping from the bed. She flapped her wings several times, stretching them, making her hover for a short second before planting her hooves back on the floor, "I completely forgot that we were getting close to the goal."
"Well, we were working our tails off trying to get some newfoals airborne. It slipped my mind for a little bit too."
"Let's hurry up then. Can't disappoint the princess."
"Have we ever?"
-=-=-
Lyra and Bon Bon sat together nervously at the front desk, neither saying a single word in anticipation of their arriving ruler. The air was tense, and the slightest twitch from either mare startled the other.
They sat there since right before the break of dawn, silent, sentinel, waiting for their immensely important visitor to arrive.
Before the daily announcement woke all of the patrons of the bureau, the sun peeked into the main lobby, reflecting off the clean floors, and shun against the faces of the ponies. The sliding door of the building slid open on its own to be the first to greet the most wondrous of beings known to ponydom.
The two lovers eyes shot open and their smiles forced their ways onto their faces despite their nervousness as their ruler walked up to them, entourage of guards in toe, and one zebra shaman.
"Princess Celestia! What an honor to have you grace our bureau!" Bon Bon chimed up, stepping around her desk and bowing her head.
The monarch bowed her head with the most honest smile imaginable. "I often say that it is I whom is honored here, my little ponies. I do so enjoy my visits to observe the birth of my kingdom's new children. I have even brought along one of the few that worked on the serum with me, Zecora."
"A pleasure, I do tell,
"I hope our arrival time is well?" The shaman rhymed.
"Oh, no! You're timing is perfect! You're just in time for-"
"Good Mornin', Ottawa! This is your host, Vinyl Scratch, waking you all up with some very special news!" Bon Bon was cut off by the Vinyl Scratch over the PA system.
"The morning call..."
-=-=-
"Going a little off the tracks today, folks," Scratch started her second announcement of the morning, during the breakfast rush, "We only have -lemme see here... duhduhduh...- six humans in the building, so it was a decision from the head honcho to get 'em all done and over with today! 'Grats to you guys and gals! Now get on down to the main hall and welcome. To the world. Of tomorrow."
The sounds of cheers could be heard from the little room, a sound that had not managed to seep through the soundproofed walls in a very long time. The disc-jockey smiled to herself, filled with euphoria and her morning coffee buzz.
That was going to be her last announcement of the morning, so her presence in the booth was no longer necessary.
Perhaps a last visit to the humans? Yes, that seemed like something she should do. The human she was mentoring was going to be one of them, so a goodbye and hello had to be in order.
When she made her way there, she could see the small group of tall creatures already gathered, talking to one another, going on and on about what they hoped to turn out as. Two of the six pointed out the shade-wearing pony, trying to make idle conversation, though she found the specific human she was after.
He was sound asleep on a chair, slumped and oblivious to everyone around him. It was a shame, that she was partly responsible for his night-owl behavior by keeping him up with her music mixing. With a poke of her horn against his calf, he awoke with a start, sitting upright and proper once again.
"You know that you're in the first batch, right?" She asked him as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.
"Ya, I heard. With the goth kid and the African girl," Kenneth replied groggily.
"Poe and Chiamaka. Yeah. Then after you three, we got the brother-sister duo and the hobo that sifted through the bureau's trash up until earlier this week."
"Can we have the first group please come with me?" Called Lyra, over the chatter of the humans and ponies alike.
"Well, this is it. Any bets on what you'll be? My bits are on unicorn."
"I'll be fine with anything but a pegasus. Heights freak me out."
Vinyl took a step forward and nuzzled up against the human's leg, an equivalent of a hug. "See ya soon."
"Ya."
-=-=-
The serene, white alicorn stood in the room, a knowing smile adorning her face as the final three humans walked in, shaking and nervous about the encounter with one that could be classified as a living deity. A zebra stood beside her, speaking in rhythmic and rhyming verses to the monarch.
"So, this is it. Goodbye humanity." Poe spoke, making glances to the other's faces, his fingers, and what he could gather of his reflection in the sterile medical room, "Any regrets?"
Chiamaka shook her head and smiled, speaking in a tongue that seemed to get the zebra's attention, though went without understanding from the two males.
"I'll miss my right hand, the most undiscriminating being I've ever known," Quipped Kenneth, stretching and making multiple gestures with his aforementioned limb, "But, ya... It's either this, or rot alive. Can't back out now."
"Is everyone ready?" Called Lyra, whom was scheduled to be in charge of the day's final ponifications. When the humans nodded, she levitated them each vials of a purple tonic and motioned for one volunteer to assume to discussed position on a padded table.
The young, bald male took a step forward first and nodded to the princess. "I wish to go first, if that's no problem." He spoke.
"Not a problem at all, child," Celestia replied with a bow of her head, commending the human's eagerness.
He sat up on the table and took several deep breaths, calming down his, no-doubt racing, heart. He swirled the vial of grape-flavoured liquid, eying it nervously before looking for reassuring glances from others in the room. With a final gulp of air into his human lungs, he threw his head back and shot back the potion.
"Okay, not lay on your side and take five deep breaths to let the anesthetic kick in," The aqua-coloured pony suggested, watching the human nod his head weakly and follow her instruction.
The human took three before his consciousness faded, and soon after, his body took on violent contortions. The luster of his normally pale skin dulled while it heaved and swelled in patches. Bones shifted visibly, stretching the limits of their host's flesh. His fingers melted back into large stubs. The hair on his body thickened, changed colour, and fully coated the human in a dark yellow, with a crop of even darker violet hair, or mane, rather.
The two human onlookers stared with a mix of interest and fight at the unnatural metamorphosis. The dark-skinned woman took a step closer to examine, whilst the fidgeting male took a small step backwards.
The change ended as abruptly as it started, the young colt taking his first few unconscious breaths up on the table. Wrapping the soft sheets around his body, Lyra levitated him from the table to to floor gently.
"Next volunteer, please?" The unicorn asked, gesturing to the two remaining humans.
Chiamaka stepped forward, undeterred by the painful-looking display. She followed her predecessor's footsteps exactly, taking the purple salve in her steady hands. She gulped it down, laid on her side, and took an attempt at five deep breaths. Four breaths, and she was out.
And thus, the second conversion began. The brown-skinned woman's flesh bubbled and her bones shifted as Poe's before. Her coat grew in, a white base with black stripes.
Everyone that was awake stared on in awe. It was a rather unusual conversion to behold, as the former human took on the form that was much different than a pony. Celestia and Zecora whispered to one another, both smiling softly, understanding what one another spoke, whilst Kenneth choked back his stomach and shook his hands free of cold sweat.
"This is a marvelous turn of events. Who would have thought that our potion would have outcomes not just restricted to ponies, but to zebras as well," She seemed cheerful, nodding to her shaman acquaintance.
"Such a form,
it is unlikely.
Though only a little from the norm," Rhymed the zebra, whom approached on sleeping Chiamaka.
"What does that mean?" Asked the last human in the room, his body shaking as if the air was far below freezing.
"Well, as far as most know, the outcome of what kind of pony you are relates to genetics. However, culture and history do play a small part as well. This one here may have come from a land that is similar to my friend, Zecora's, and had practiced a similar lifestyle that furthered the chances at such a result."
"So that means... umm..."
"You would still turn out as a pony, and it's nothing you really should be concerning yourself with. Anywho, are you ready for your conversion?" The princess tilted her head in question as she levitated the third and final cup to the shivering human.
All watched as he took the cup in his shaking hands. He was biting his lip and he eyes darted about the room nervously.
"I-I don't know," He muttered.
-=-=-
Author's note:
I suck at rhyming and I will never bring justice to Zecora... ever, no matter how much I adore her character. I'm so sorry to all of you Zecora fans. Please don't hurt me!
Also, feeling wasn't really put into this chapter. Had a lot of college/social work eat my time, and I'm more anxious to get to the next Thought chapter.