//------------------------------// // Arival // Story: The Conversion Bureau: Ties // by Skybreeze //------------------------------// The Conversion Bureau Ties A MLP:FiM fanfic by Skybreeze Chapter 2 Arrival   Joshua stood in his boss’s office quietly.  His arms loosely limp on each side and expression grim. The man’s health physically was fine, but his mind was gone. Once again Joshua let his mind slip, not paying attention to his surroundings. He let his mind wander, distancing it from the reality of the situation most of the time.  The man failed to notice the polite and friendly stranger that rode with him in the elevator.   Even failed to notice when his boss was talking, directly at him. “Wake up!” screamed Becker in his office at the man standing in front of him. “Oh…right sir,” Joshua said as he stood in the doctor’s office, forcefully breaking him of his trance. Doctor Becker wrinkled his brow, burning holes through the janitor’s skull with his gaze. The doctor had grey hair with a matching mustache. He wore a white lab coat over a blue button up shirt and grey slacks. In his left hand was his clipboard. Every time Joshua saw him he always had that with him. The only times he did not was when a cigarette replaced it.   Doctor Becker’s office seemed like it was cramped on one side. His desk was against the wall on the right side view of Joshua. Pictures and plaques filled up the shelves covering the desk walls. Piles upon piles of paper and debris covered his desk. It was barely an office, resembling a closet between rooms. The janitor had been on his way to Becker’s office as soon as he saw the note on his phone. Joshua dreaded what the doctor was about to say to him. The doctor had been right about his funds 3 months earlier. He was left with no money in his account but the man was not the only one. Ever since the blackout 5 months ago many records electronically were destroyed or lost. “You need to pay attention to this, this is important,” Becker said as he sat in his old red work chair behind his desk. It was always important, Joshua’s debt was important, providing a place to sleep was important, his family was… “I’m bringing you in here because your previous work ethics won’t cut it. Starting today, we are under new management.” “Sir?” Joshua said as he raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I know all about what you’ve been up to. You show up late to work every day, sneak out back to drink on the stairway, you are rude to patients, or just neglect your duties.” Just then the office door opened and a beige earth pony trotted inside. His hooves softly clopped against the old carpet with each step. “Dr. Becker! No need to be so harsh on the janitor. Why this nice stallion was kind enough to help me earlier!” beamed the small equine as he grinned up at Joshua. “I’m a human, not a stallion, horse.” Joshua responded bitterly. The doctor did his best not to grumble rudely at the small pony. Becker sighed as he desperately wanted a cigarette to help him through this change. “Ahem….Oh excuse me, I didn’t properly introduce myself earlier.” The pony said as he attempted to deflate the noticed tension in the room. The pony turned and faced Joshua and once again extended his right front beige hoof. The pony’s eyes gleamed light brown above his slight friendly grin. His fire red mane covered one side of his neck and was short on top. A similar fire like hairstyle was on the pony’s tail. A green cactus proudly displayed as the colt’s cutie mark on his flanks. “My name is Desert Sand and I come from Fillydelphia. I’ll be overseeing this building as it is converted into a Conversion Bureau over the next week or so.” “What?!” thought Joshua, his attention fully aware now. This was the last place he expected to be changed into a Conversion Bureau. One of the last few holes left to escape to in the city. Ponies were everywhere Joshua went now. They were in his stores, theaters, even bars. Each always said the same thing if it was a “newfoal”, that is: a pony who used to be a human. “Why haven’t you converted yet?” The only main reason was that the Equestrian barrier is radioactive to humans. The ‘deadly bubble’ was expanding at a slow pace out in the Atlantic. Scientists called it ‘thaumatic radiation’ after an unfortunate discovery months prior. It was found to be only lethal to primates. Other creatures had no ill effects when in contact. Humans fired their weapons in a constant barrage that became known as the “Three Days War”. Not that their weapons could do any harm. Anything such as bullets or missiles merely turned into harmless objects like petals or bubbles. By then the barrier had stopped releasing excess radiation into the sky. Shortly after that, the Equestrians made their presence known to the world.  The ponies brought gifts at first and bright smiles. Baskets filled with fresh produce to the leaders of the world. Even one shiny apple was worth a fortune. Real, organic food was hard to come by. The thought of new land to explore and settle became the talk of the world for almost a week. Humans hoped for a way to be let into this new land. Overpopulation was an issue as well as clean air. Newsfeeds that managed to get close enough caught glimpses of greenish landscape. It looked much brighter and cleaner than anything that was left on earth. The truth of the matter was that humans could not physically enter the lands of Equestria by any means. This news angered many countries, accusing this new race of invasion. Princess Celestia, ruler and goddess of Equestria along with her younger sister Luna could not allow humans to enter even if they wanted. So an alternative had to be found, and fast.   The result was Conversion Bureaus, clinics or hospitals that would allow a simple and permanent change from human to pony. The process was free, given the person signed away their name. Humans would enter, stay seven to fourteen days and experience the best food and living expenses the world could offer. Randomly three times a day someone would be called for their turn for conversion. The conversion process was simple, painless, and quick by drinking a solution commonly referred to as “Potion”.  The fluid is a combination of human technology and Equestrian magic. Little is known on how scientists managed to produce such a substance in a short amount of time. Once someone drinks a few ounces of this nano-magic, grape tasting fluid, they would turn into a random pony type. Those that underwent conversion did not get to choose what type they turned into: either earth, pegasus or unicorn pony. In just 5 months, conversion bureaus became steadily more common. The first few opened up closest to the barrier in the north eastern states. As time went on more and more were spread outward to many locations across the world. The whole idea was barely tolerable for Joshua, even when he didn’t see them at his job. Now the realization that he would have to deal with it from now on stirred angry thoughts in the janitor’s mind. “I wanted to let you know that you don’t have to worry, hardly anything is going to change around here. All the patients will either be moved or the ones that can’t will remain, until they get better or are willing to undergo conversion.” Joshua could not believe this was happening so quickly. His feelings of anger and shock weren’t hidden well. Both Becker and Desert Sand noticed his grim expression. The two looked at each other with thoughts of concern. “Are you going to be alright?” asked the small pony. No, Joshua was not alright. The man wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, and didn’t care who heard him. He wanted to scream just as loudly as he did five months ago. It was his only response to the vision the man saw that day. An image of a wrecked plane on the ground seen through the glass burned into Joshua’s skull as well as his fingers. He barely remembered curling up on the spot, screaming until his lungs nearly gave out. Events of that day were foggy at best from that point. The man didn’t pay attention then either. He didn’t notice the others screaming, or who helped him outside to his car, or the automatic weapons going off around him. Nothing made sense to him anymore. Because he didn’t pay attention once again, Joshua did not notice the person he hit with his car on the freeway. The sound was loud, the impact worse. Joshua’s airbag went off right at impact, covering his face with hot plastic. As the car swerved in circles across the road, the defeated man simply let go of the wheel, ready to take whatever hits him next. The man was knocked out and left him and his car a wreck. At least he didn’t pay attention to how painful the final impact was. “Joshua I know this must be a difficult change for you.” said Becker. “…Yes sir” “But this may prove to be a good opportunity for…” “NO! I will not get converted because of this.” Joshua interrupted quickly. “Nopony is asking you to convert. It has always been your choice. Why not stay home with some friends or family for a little….” “BECAUSE YOU PONY FUCKERS KILLED THEM!” shouted Joshua. Desert Sand shrank and flinched at hearing that. It felt like he was punched suddenly and left him without breath. His eyes grew wider than the already massive disks in his skull. The pony was shocked. The thought was impossible, unthinkable. “N-no… ponies could never k-…take a life,” the equine squeaked out. “Desert, his family was victims of the arrival incident.” Desert felt saddened by the news. He was briefly informed on the events when he took this position. When the realm of Equestria rose out of the sea, the magic was unstable, chaotic. Excess magic shot violently out into the atmosphere for a few days after expanding rapidly. The result was blackouts, riots, and a long 3 day war. A war where humanity tried to throw anything they could to stop the barrier. From small to large weapons, battleships and planes firing rounds constantly with no effect. Civilians took up arms and rode out on stolen boats in the thousands from New York. In the end the humans that came into contact with the barrier fell over and died. Magic has a negative, sometimes lethal effect on humans as well as electronics in high density or long exposure. Thaumatic radiation was what it was named after the incident. The pony felt there was a deep sadness and pain coming from Joshua the moment they met in the bathroom. The equine thought the man was simply lonely, possibly lacking any sort of friendship. Though Sand knew what it felt like to be alone, he could not imagine losing somepony that close. The thought of one’s life, many lives, gone in a single instant sounded terrible, unthinkable. This was not what he expected when he signed up. This new world was like nothing Desert had ever imagined.  The horrors that were mentioned that came from the Everfree forest were better than what went on here. On earth Desert was met with mixed responses toward him. Some were positive, some ignored him, and the worst was those that hated him or even wanted to kill him. The human standing in front of him was the worst combination. “I’m sorry for your loss, but nopony caused the chaos that happened on this side. In fact, Celestia did what she could to contain the danger, and…we are trying to help everypony so, that they don’t have to suffer in this world.    “Joshua you need to calm down, what happened was an accident,” Becker said in a louder tone. “How can you expect me to be calm? Because of you, I’ve been stuck here in this fucking place!” “Damnit Joshua!” Becker shouted as he slammed his hands on his desk. “It was an accident. Their leader admitted as much.” “ADMITTED!? SAYING SHE WAS SORRY WILL BRING THEM BACK? She was never even put on trial, none of you animals were.” It was all Joshua could stand any longer. The feeling was returning again, that hole tearing feeling inside. Many times since the accident, this feeling would return. Every time it was no less painful than the last. He had to leave, escape, something to get away from this. He had worked as a janitor for Doctor Becker for many months, endlessly every day to pay off his hospital debt. “We just want to help you, please-” Sand pleaded weakly, but by then Joshua was out the door. The man could no longer understand words and was very far gone, in more ways than one. Silence once again filled the room, with the ambience of light electronics buzzing softly. Sand was speechless and in shock. He could do nothing but stare firmly at the slightly open door at the end of the room. To him, every life was sacred and should be cherished. The pony learned that lesson many years ago as a foal growing up. A soft click was heard in the pony’s ear. Turning he saw Becker pick up what appeared to be a strange rock or slab, the slab was glowing with an eerie dim light through its cracks. Sand could hear the man sigh softly as he pressed his fingers on some of the cracks, each making a strange sound. “Jaquoline, call security now and tell them to get here.” “WAIT!” screamed the small pony. “Just leave him alone for a while.” “Out of the question, you are an Equestrian ambassador, if anything were to happen-” “He hasn’t done anything yet, I’ll keep an eye on him.” Before Becker could argue, the pony was out the door. Desert’s hooves clopped softly on the marble floor with each step as he walked down the hospital hallway. This was not how the meeting was supposed to go. He was supposed to get acquainted with everypony, well everybody. It was by far the worst introduction yet for the whole day. All others would have to be on hold until this matter could be straightened out. How far does this man hate him or his kind? Was Princess Celestia truly responsible for what happened as the man described? The idea sent shivers down his spine and tail and terrified him. She could not have known that would have happened. Did she ever talk to this man, explain it personally? What if this man decides to take action because of these feelings? Has he done it already? Sand suddenly felt slightly scared. Thoughts of what happened to the original ambassadors at the first bureau danced in his mind. Was something like that going to happen again?  Was he in danger? One thing was made clear, for the first time in his life, another being hated him and it was not a good feeling.     *****   Becker leaned against his old chair, deep in thought in his office. Sighing he debated on the decision to call security anyway, despite Sand’s request. This was not the first time Joshua had exploded in front of him. The janitor was trouble but the doctor expected as much. Becker was sympathetic to his feelings on the issue a great deal. Almost he understood too well what it could have been like. “Doctor shall I call security?” questioned the nurse on the line. “That won’t be necessary, thank you.” Becker hung up without a second thought. Many times he thought of just putting in a request to send Joshua away, for a closer look at his emotional state. Each time something came up that changed his mind. One deciding factor rested on his desk in a small frame. Staring back at him was a smiling girl, no older than 7 with dark brown hair. The girl had a blue striped shirt and was holding a large rubber ball.  Next to the frame was a note that was delivered just a few months earlier. Words on the note were simple but easily understood.  Although the words stung, it ultimately was for the best. Doctor Becker did not want to wish anymore harm to her. “TOOK EMILY, GOING PONY”