The Last Holdouts - A Conversion Bureau Story

by Aedina

Magical Missive

Mid-dive, Oliver marveled at the strength and speed in his wings. Knowing that his crew had things well in hoof, allowed the onyx stallion to focus upon his own, clandestine, goal. In the wreckage below was a very special item. An item he’d been saving for just such a moment as this.

Brokering the Contract between Equestria and the Earth’s ruling families had been more than hard work filled with sleepless nights. If he’d not been a member of their own, he strongly doubted that his persuasions would have held much weight or merit with any but the Princesses. Fortunately, Oliver's sterling reputation for fairness and diplomacy had won out.

The Families signed….oh, they grumbled and complained like spoiled children, but they had signed.

Oliver had been sure to cover his own butt, as well. Conversion had long been on his agenda, but he’d put it aside as a lesser priority in the face of extinction. When all the finagling was flung, and all the wrinkles ironed out, Oliver boarded his yacht with the determination to see as much of Earth as he could, before it vanished completely. There was really only one caveat he’d craved, insurance.

The darkened boardroom had held only two figures in it’s shadows. It was the wee hours, and almost all of Mr. Heskin’s senses were blurred with weariness as he approached the Princess with an elaborate bow.

“Thou hast asked of Us to stay, Sir Heskin, an’ so, here We are. What wouldst of Us? Most especially? Know that any boon thou mayst ask is thine, if it is within Our power to grant it. Without thee. Many would have died. My Sister is keen in the keeping of Her promises, an’ I, in assisting Her to achieve Her true goals.”
Oliver’s hidden smile widened at the carefully chosen words, “So it seemeth, Your Highness to this most unworthy of petitioners. `Tis but a small boon that I would ask. An assurance of safety for myself and those that I shall take into my care, when at last we reach Your Realm.

”Princess Luna nodded Her serene and royal head, the sleek dark muscles of Her long neck dancing underneath as She strode towards him. The gesture was such that he knew he could rise from his Reverence. “`Tis, indeed, little to ask. Assuredly it is thine.” She replied. “Yet, somehow, I think me that there is more to’t than doth meet mine ears. Elsewise thou couldst have spoken thus, with Tia present.”

“Shrewd, shrewd,” Heskin thought. His respect for Equestria’s Princesses had only grown as he’d learned the ways they could say more than most could hear. Like the finest of lawyers, they were, in some manner. “Aye, well, as to that, it may or may not be. But if You will extend Your particular patronage, Highness, along with such provisions as shall be require’d for the voyage, mine poor heart would be much relieved, an’ all my worries put to rest.”

Luna quirked a cautious and curious eye-brow ridge at Oliver. She waited, for a moment, as though straining to hear “the catch”. She was sure there Would be one, at the very least. Oliver let the silence linger until She snorted and laughed. “Ever art thou a surprise to Us, Sir Heskin – a rare beast, especially amongst thy more transparent fellows. We shall see all needs are met, and a token of this assurance that thou dost seek shall shortly be in thy keeping, as well.”

"Thank You, Your Highness,” Oliver gave another bow, backing away from Her Presence until at last he turned to leave.

Paul had never been a planner; not so much spontaneous, as impulsive. As he floated out of his conversion dream, a breeze whistled past his newfoal ears. Paul felt his ears shift to follow the errant wind. “Now, that’s new!” he thought. He wanted to stand, but his legs weren’t quite ready to comply to the concept. Paul settled for a stretch of his neck, and the bleary blinking of his eyes as his vision tried to adjust and focus.

He could smell the herd, a mix of pleasant warmth surrounding them. Them. Artie was curled into a fetal position beside him. The orange hue of his best friend’s new coat stood out vibrantly, even with the myriad hues milling about them. His best friend's scent tickled at his sensitive new nostrils, and Paul nuzzled closer, in curiosity, only to find feathers tickling at his muzzle. So, Artie was a pegasus....how cool and appropriate was that? Stretching his neck further, and turning it around, he found his own withers similarly tufted with downy drying wings. This evoked, in Paul, a smile.

Then a sudden vertiginous motion, kick-triggered his new limbs into a purely panicked reflexive reaction. Paul grabbed Artie's neck in an effort to protect his friend from the lifting (and completely re-positioned) yacht now looming above his view like a humongous skyscraper! The swirling water below only helped to emphasize the precarious nature of their predicament. Never more than now had Paul been grateful for reflexes that responded before his brain clicked into panic. He didn't fight the knee-jerk reaction as he strained his new wings to their full. Beside him a flurry of feathers formed a constellation, his fellow pegasi coming to his aid. Then a swirl of rainbow colors went past him, and he recognized his own parasail fabric as it flashed by. As his eye followed it's ascent, it grew. Lines spiraled forth, attaching themselves to the deck. A huge[ i]Crack exploded, as the ship split in two, the lower hull abandoned on a stretch of rock, below. Before Paul's astonished eyes, Bonne Chance underwent a metamorphism. It seemed only an instant, and yet the transformation stretched his time-sense all the same. An airship, a steampunk pony airship took form around him as his constellation mates lowered Artie and him gently to safety once more.

Sounds of wonderment were everywhere, as the herd explored their new vessel. Parts of it still growing as it floated further skyward.

Princess Luna stepped back from Her work with a half-smile and a discerning eye. Each of Her stars, so lovingly arranged, glimmered with hope and light. This was Her favorite time of the evening, before She began Her Dreaming Rounds, but had settled the darkening sky. But as She watched, the dome of twilight gave a shudder and stretched, Stretched?!. Luna blinked, tilting Her head. She sought out the portion of Her domain that seemed distorted, smoothing against it with her muzzle and forehoof. Closing Her eyes, She quested for the cause of the phenomenon. Ah... there it was, the Terran bubble that connected Equestria to Earth - it had collapsed upon itself at last. So, the Exponential Lands had given its last hiccup over a very full meal - no more Terra.

"`Tis Done." She murmured. Should She tell Tia? Did She need to? Or would Her elder sister already sense the fulfillment of an ancient promise without hearing the words? A brief brush against Celestia's slumbers assured Her that there was no need to wake or inform Her sister of anything - Tia would know when She woke. Having begun Her work, Luna decided to continue Her rounds, however early.

Luna sent out Her Shadow-Self, the part of Her, which toured the Dreamings of Pony-kind, known, even now, as Nightmare Moon. A perfunctory glimpse of Equestria assured the dark mare that there were no urgencies that required Her immediate intervention; and so She set out to investigate what She now decided to call, "the closure site".

Though Her Shadow-Self could transport anywhere She willed - swifter than flight, indeed swift as thought, - Luna decided to take "the scenic route". This allowed a more in-depth surveillance of Her target region. Three things, did She see. All quite odd, each in their own way. Far below, a glimmer of crystal formed an almost cage-like structure upon an outcropping of jagged rock. Almost parallel to the Princess, in the night's sky, was a vast sky-ship, the deck milling with what looked to be an entire herd. And lastly, a diving dot of shock-white mane and tail streaming out behind the shape of a pegasi stallion nearly as dark in form as She, Herself, was.

The young Princess pondered for a moment, determining if Her aid was necessary within the intriguing tableau before Her. No strong "pull" or "tug" coerced Her into motion, one way or the other. Luna resolved to watch, lest somehow catastrophe hovered in wait. She would be ready, should the need arise, aye certise, so She would.

Wind and salt spray were more a hindrance to sight, than to motion for Oliver. His withers ached with the overuse of his newly fledged wings. So many changes had he navigated in this day, emergencies safely sailed through despite the tumult of final Inclusion. This one last task, for his Bonne Chance family, one more card to lay on the table, and all would be well. What he was looking for, was small, though, and could have been dragged to anywhere in the expanding Equestrian sea. It would float, of that he had made sure. If only he'd thought to ask Flory, or one of the other unicorns, to enchant the case with a finding spell, or a light. Frankly he hadn't considered the necessity of it, until now. Now, when the waves swirled in a storm around him. Now, when at last the destination of their journey was in their hooves.

At first, the day the "token" that Princess Luna had promised him was delivered, had seemed much like any other. But at about noon, the strangest of visitors arrived. Not at his door, so much as through it. When Oliver had entered his foyer, there sat, staring at him, a little blue cat. Upon his approach, she stretched herself and blinked her wide eyes...and spoke! The small feline indicated a corked copper casing tube that lay beside her on the floor. "As a favor, I am sent, to thee, sir. Carrying this promise of the Princess to thy possession." The cat groomed a paw, casually as she pointed it towards the case. "Now, that thou hast seen and received it beyond all doubt, the task is done." Nearly twirling in place, the flexible feline gave a glance over her shoulder, "Unless, thou hast fish?" Oliver did his very best not to seem as startled as he was. He gravely placed his hand up on his chin, as though pondering her query, but in truth; to hide his widening smile.

Giving a gracious bow to help gather his wits, he replied, "Fish, aye, I think me so, an welcome art thou to have some, it shall be arrang'd." this, he said, whilst ringing the rope bell for his butler. The cat looked not just pleased, but smug. She took it all in her stride as any cat should. "Jensen," Oliver said, as his servant arrived, "would you be so kind as to fetch miss?..." He gave a curious glance to his small guest. "Chang e" she purred. "Miss Chang e, here, some of our finest fish, and whatsoever else she might require before she departs?" "Very good, sir" his butler acknowledged, not even blinking an eye at circumstances too odd to be believed. As the little blue cat followed Jensen out to the kitchen, Oliver bent and retrieved the copper tube from the foyer floor.

Uncorking the container took some effort, but Oliver knew it meant a firm seal that would hold the contents in watertight safety. He carefully unrolled the parchment document, giving it a thorough read, before replacing it within its protective case once more. "Safe Passage, Tis done" he said, in echo of something Her Highness had once said. He tucked the tube under his arm, clapped his hands together, and bowed to the empty air.

The memory would have brought a smile, had Oliver not been feeling so tired and overwhelmed. The crystalline skeleton of his ship's hull glittered into view. Hanging from a cord, in plain sight, was a the tubular case, corked and secure, though dangling with a sway that threatened to dislodge it. One swoop, and he muzzle-tugged the cord, clamping it firmly in his teeth like a bit. Then he let the wind lift him, as he turned to join his herd in their new sky vessel. Once more quoting Her Highness, even through his clenched jaws. "Aye, tis done!"