The very best and brightest stories from the Conversion Bureau mythos are gathered here. Good, solid, well written stories that show the true breadth and depth of what is easily one of the most original, vital, and intelligent creations on the whole of Fimfiction. Here you will find only the finest works, all collected in one place.

The Conversion Bureau Group exists to celebrate and promote the wonderful Conversion Bureau Genre!

The Conversion Bureau is a fantastic, exciting, and marvelous genre, but what truly defines it? What really IS a Conversion Bureau story?

Conversion Bureau stories are transformation fiction. They are stories of ordinary humans offered the most extraordinary of experiences - that of becoming an entirely new species. Bureau stories examine the nature of identity and existence at a fundamental level.

Primary to any true Conversion Bureau story is a deep love of ponies, Equestria, Celestia and Luna, and all the most wonderful things about My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The Bureau genre began as simple wish fulfillment, as the dream of a science fictional means to become ponies and live in their universe as one of them. But it has grown far beyond that humble and simple origin.

Conversion Bureau authors love and expand upon the joy and innocence that My Little Pony represents, and juxtapose the often harsh and cruel real world of Earth beside that of Equestria. Through some means the two realms are brought together, and humans are offered the gift of becoming Equestrian themselves.

In a Bureau story, humans may react to this opportunity in any number of ways. They may embrace it, or fear it, resign themselves to it or even oppose it - but the transformation is usually inevitable, and humankind is forced to confront the issue of what it means to become the Other.

This ancient literary technique - as old as man - offers the Bureau author a wonderful way to explore both what is good, and what is terrible, about humanity, while presenting human ideals in contrast, painted in pony form.

The most common Conversion Bureau story places humanity in a state of catastrophe, when suddenly the alien universe that is Equestria collides with our own cosmos. Time is limited, and the dying earth will be destroyed before its already inevitable end. Ponies, being generous, offer Man a lifeboat, an escape - but it is a salvation that comes with a price. The price is that to enter Equestria - a world of magic and utterly different physical laws - Homo sapiens must become Equus Sapiens.

With their back against the wall, and time running out, humanity must decide whether to live as ponies, or die as men. Complicating this decision is that Equestria is a paradisaical fairyland, and the change to pony body is not merely physical - the brain is changed too, so that only the best of a person remains, and their evil is lost.

What truly is the self? What defines a person? Is evil necessary, or a burden? Is an individual their thoughts and memories, or are they the meat, the substrate they are made of? Is the value of humankind in their thumbs... or in their hearts? These are the questions that the Conversion Bureau explores.

There are many Bureau universes, and many Bureau authors. Not all agree on how the two universes collide, or why, or how the process of ponification occurs. But all true Conversion Bureau authors agree on some basic principles: My Little Pony is a wonderful show, ponies themselves are awesome and good, and we all could learn to be better people, by emulating the ponies we love so much.

In the Conversion Bureau, we can see what it would be like to actually become the thing we love so much. But apart from the simple joy of that dream fulfilled, the Conversion Bureau also allows us to compare and contrast what our real lives are like when examined beside the magical wonderland of Equestria. While this basic concept is as old as humanity, the 'My Little Pony Meets Blade Runner' science fictional take on the transformation genre is like nothing else. It is unique, exciting, emotional and challenging.

Come along and become a pony too, and see the world through fresh and fascinating eyes!

Welcome to the Conversion Bureau!

What new desire are these?
I long to pace o'er flowery meadows
and to feed on grass!

Her stooping body on her hands is borne,
Her hands are turned to hoofs, and shod in horn.

Her yellow tresses ruffle in a mane,
And in a flowing tail she frisks her train.

The mare was finished in her voice and look,
and a new name from the new figure took.

- Ocyrhoe's Transformation, Ovid, 23 BC

1. Conversion Bureau stories are transformation fiction. They are stories of ordinary humans offered the most extraordinary of experiences - that of becoming an entirely new species. Bureau stories examine the nature of identity and existence at a fundamental level.

2. Primary to any true Conversion Bureau story is a deep love of ponies, Equestria, Celestia and Luna, and all the most wonderful things about My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Conversion Bureau stories expand upon the joy and innocence that My Little Pony represents, and juxtapose the often harsh and cruel real world of Earth beside that of Equestria. Through some means the two realms are brought together, and humans are offered the gift of becoming Equestrian themselves.

3. In a Conversion Bureau story, humans may react to this opportunity in any number of ways. They may embrace it, or fear it, resign themselves to it or even oppose it - but the transformation is usually inevitable, and humankind is forced to confront the issue of what it means to become the Other.