//------------------------------// // You've Sparked A War // Story: The Conversion Bureau - Synthesis // by FatesEnd //------------------------------// "I can feel my hooves clenching like fists. I saw my brothers, they will be missed. We are the chosen and we are the pure. She is the virus and we are the cure." Solenoid couldn't help but twitch his wings anxiously. The three of them had been planning this out for weeks, but he couldn't help but think that something would go wrong. Well, to be fair, instigating a large scale prison break wasn't exactly something you did every day, not to mention that this was by far the biggest thing Masquerade had done yet. Sure, they had made graffiti and engaged in vandalism (a notable instance being how Lyra had chiseled the plot off of a statue of Celestia and glued it to its forehead), but they hadn't done anything of real impact before. The predictably named Manehatten Penitentiary was quite the intimidating sight; barbed fences surrounded a towering concrete building with huge steel doors in front. Of course, in terms of security, no prison in Equestria came anywhere close to what there was on the outside. Had they been trying to break into a prison run by Securicorp, nothing short of a small army and several pounds of high explosives would get them in and out. Thankfully, from what they (read: Bon Bon) had gathered, the only real security that it had were the gate, the guards, and a locked box containing the keys to the cells. Crowley and Lyra stood in front of said gate. Their cutie marks were covered in black eyeshadow, and they both wore makeshift balaclavas made from black socks, as they were the best they could get to concealing masks. Crowley would have preferred something more refined, but, well, you can't exactly get concealing custom masks, and especially not heavy duty flank concealers without ponies asking inconvenient questions. Deciding that they had waited long enough, Crowley nodded to Lyra. Mint colored hands grabbed hold of him and tossed him over the fence. Stumbling, he glared at her. Wincing, he focused his magic and she slowly began to rise into the air, enveloped by a crimson aura. As he pulled her up and over to the other side, she abruptly spun upside down, and he dropped her onto the ground from half a foot, earning him a groan. Recently, he had improved his control of unicorn magic immensely thanks to his two companions. Funnily enough, despite the large difference in nature of pony magic and changeling magic, he had actually learned more from Bon Bon than he had Lyra, mostly because of the latter's... unique method of utilizing her magic. Just as Lyra got upright, they both froze as a stern voice called out. "Who's there?" Rounding a corner of the building, a uniformed umber unicorn mare shone her flashlight directly onto them. "Oh, it's you two." Lyra looked to the guard and quirked a brow. "Bonnie?" The guard smirked. "Of course. Now let's get in before anypony sees us." Unlocking the much smaller service entrance, the changeling led them inside. They walked past door after door, the lack of windows serving to make them only visible upon the flick of Bon Bon's flashlight. The darkness made the halls unnerving, and Crowley nearly expected some hideous monster to jump out of a corner. None did, however, and soon they came upon an intersection. The faux guard nodded, and went down one path as Lyra and Solenoid lit their horns with dim lights. Going in the opposite direction, the pair squinted at the signs they passed. Just before they reached the end, they found a room labeled 'Records'. Finding it to be locked, the green unicorn disintegrated the entire knob in acrid smoke. Rolling his eyes at her, Solenoid pushed open the door. The record room, it turned out, was little more than an office filled with filing cabinets. The 'earth' pony rummaged through a drawer labeled Rif-Rou, while Lyra began to build a pile of files behind her as she searched the In-Ja drawer. "Aha!" Gripping a folder labeled "Roster, Prisoners, July", he pulled out a paper adorned with the current date. Pilfering a piece of parchment and a pen from a desk, he began to scrawl cell numbers as he went down the list. Meanwhile, Lyra had continued to rain papers down with glee. 'Shoplifting... no. Public intoxication... no. Ah, here. "dissent".' Calling to his companion, he rolled up the parchment. "I've got them. Let's go." As he approached the door, it opened as a mustached guard walked into him. "What the-" Lyra had somewhat better reaction time than Solenoid. Acting on instinct, she sent the nearest object hurtling at the unfortunate guard. As it turns out, even an empty filing drawer is made of metal, and can do quite a number when flung at high speed. Sighing, Crowley dragged the unconscious guard into the room and propped him against the wall, and our intrepid duo exited. They arrived at the intersection to find that Bon Bon was already there, minus the uniform, jingling a ring of keys. Crowley held up the list, and the three of them went down the largest path. The cell block was one gigantic room with rows upon rows of cells, stacked into three stories. Lyra stood guard at the entrances as Crowley read off cell numbers and Bon Bon unlocked doors. Row after row they went, waking up and explaining to the ponies who they were. Very few refused to join them, but those that did had their cells locked once again. Soon a tired crowd stood on the bottom floor, and, all in all, the plan seemed to be going perfectly. That's when the tremors started. The midnight tremors, to be exact. Ever since Equestria arrived on Earth, the entire planet experienced tremors at midday and midnight, in respect to Equestria. Nobody was quite sure why, but the midnight tremors coincided with wobbles in the orbit of the moon. Regardless of the reason, the tremors were an immense problem for them, namely because it awoke a few of the... less savory inmates. Realizing the situation, they began shouting. Quite loudly. This caused a chain reaction, and soon the entire cell block was a cacophony. Acting quickly, they led the crowd to the main entrance as a harsh alarm rang through the building. Blasting open the doors and the gate, they herded the prisoners down the streets of Manehatten. They were pursued by all of the guards, including one very disgruntled one with a lump on his head. They ran for dear life, zag-zagging between building as a few tired onlookers watched from their windows. Some couldn't keep up, and were soon recaptured by the guards. Those that were not followed as our trio rushed through ever deeper parts of the city, the guards struggling to keep track and pace. They raced through alleyway after alleyway, street after street, and, at one point, fire escape after fire escape and rooftop after rooftop. Finally, they had escaped they pursuers. They had arrived on the outskirts of the city, next to the old warehouse that the three of them had been using as a base. After he caught his breath, he turned back to the crowd of former prisoners. Some of them were unkempt and bleary eyed, some alert and more or less tidy. Some were silent and some whispered to one another, but all of them were ponies who would help him and his companions, people who would bring an end to the tyrant's plans. Solenoid cleared his throat and spoke. "You stand here today because you have been imprisoned. Not for some act you committed against your fellow pony, but for speaking out for what you thought was right. You spoke, not worrying of what others may think, because you believed in justice and harmony. Today, I give you a chance to not speak for your beliefs, but to act." "A tyrant leads this nation, consumed by madness and abhorring progress. She seeks to destroy an entire species, not for what they have done, but simply because they are not ponies. We stand now to cast down the tyrant, and usher in a new era of freedom. We are not soldiers, we are not diplomats, but we fight and speak regardless." Turning, he opened the door to the warehouse. "Welcome to Masquerade."