The Conversion Bureau: Reality Break

by Fullmetal Pony

Saga 2: Kindness

The sound of falling rain was the first thing Atunga heard. The rain was coming down at a torrential rate, but the storm couldn’t sustain itself for much longer than a few hours. Atunga had been fast, but not efficient, in making the storm cloud. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was on his bed. There was yelling outside, but Atunga couldn’t tell whether it was joyous or panicked. Atunga got worried and tried to sit up, but his side still hurt from the lightning strike. A yellow hoof also kept him from getting up.

“No! Please don’t get up! You really hurt yourself and you need to rest a little more.”

Atunga looked up at the source of the voice and saw a yellow creature with pink hair. She had wings just like he did. “Who...” it hurt a little to talk, “who are you?”

“I...” the pegasus meekly replied, “I’m fluataotit.”

“My ears are probably weak as well, I couldn’t hear that.”

“I’m Fluttermph.” Atunga could see the creature back away a little, as if she was afraid of something.

“Is something wrong?” Now Atunga ignored the pain in his side and wished to help the yellow creature.

“N-n-no, everypony said I had to be brave and help you. I...I’m Fluttershy by the way.” Fluttershy now trotted closer to Atunga. “But... you really should lie down again, lightning strikes can really sting.”

“Wait, you’re here to help me?”

“Yes... I need to give you this.” As she spoke, she took off the jewelry around her neck and handed it over to Atunga. He winced a little when he moved his hoof out to take it.

“What is this thing?” The necklace felt warm in Atunga’s hoof.

“It’s an Element, my Ele- I mean your Element.”

“What do I-” Just as Atunga was asking the question, the chief burst back in.

“Good, you’re awake. The messenger has been very kind to you and our people.”

“Wha...what is going on?” Atunga limped over the the chief.

“As your rain falls down upon us, our people are joining you in preparation to enter the land of Equestria. Today is truly a day of celebration!” The chief’s wings flared up in happiness. Atunga dropped the necklace and limped outside to see what the chief was talking about. In the middle of the village was a large stack of crates. One of the village elders was taking flasks of the purple potion out of the crate and dispensing it to the the villagers. Those that had potion raised their heads to the heavens and offered thanks. Then they went to their own homes to share the elixir with their families.

Atunga turned back to Fluttershy now, “Did you do all this?”

“Actually, um, you did,” Fluttershy replied. “I mean, the reason I’m here is because of you... oh yeah, the, um, animals said thanks for the rain.”

“The animals?”

“Well, I mean, the giraffes and the hyenas and the little antelope things-”

“Sunis.”

“Yes, those things, they all seemed really happy with the water you’d been giving them lately.”

“I didn’t know I could talk to animals now.” Atunga hadn’t realized such an ability was possible. Then again, he could fly now, so the line between possible and impossible was more than a little blurred now.

“Oh well most ponies can’t, it’s just my special talent, just like yours is making it rain...I think.”

“Well, I brought rain here, but I just wanted to cure the thirst my people suffered from.”

“Well,” for some reason, Fluttershy was now looking at his flank, “I think that’s very kind of you and fits your cutie mark well.”

“My what?” What is a cutie mark? Something these creatures idolize?

“You didn’t know? Hmm, maybe you got it right when I got here. See?” She pointed at Atunga’s flank. A dark cloud and three cartoonish raindrops now graced his white coat.

“That is a ‘cutie mark’?”

“Yes, it shows what you’re really good at.”

“Wonderful!” The chief broke his silence to congratulate Atunga. “We shall have to celebrate even more now!”

“Actually,” Fluttershy meekly interupted, “a party might have to wait. There’s a really important thing we need to do and...” Fluttershy stopped and awkwardly stared at Atunga, “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

“Atunga Nossai.”

“Oh... hm, I thought your name would be something like Heavy Drizzle or Storm Chaser.”

“Those are quite odd names.”

“They are?” A confused look developed on Fluttershy’s face. “Oh, I guess humans don’t have names like ponies do, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, um,” now it was Atunga’s turn to be confused, “it is quite fine, but if names seem odd to you than were you not originally a human as well?

“Um, no, I’m from Equestria, the place the Princesses mentioned, I already told everypony in the village about it.”

“It is a grand land,” the chief interrupted, “filled with food and water for all of us.”

“Well,” Fluttershy replied, “that’s what Princess Celestia said. At least that’s what I hope new Equestria is like, it was getting a little hard in the old one to find food for the animals. But, that’s not really important right now.” Fluttershy turned her attention back to Atunga and the necklace. “Once you’re better, we need to go meet up with the others. But while you’re healing, I should probably get you to use that, if that’s ok with you.”

In response, Atunga slipped on the necklace. “Your kind has done much to help my people, I will do whatever I can to repay you.”

“Oh thank you!” Fluttershy hugged him, “I was so worried you’d say no and then the Element wouldn’t work and everypony would be mad at me.”

“No it’s qu-” Atunga slipped on the ground. The earth below him had turned into soap. “W-what?” His side burned as he tried to stand up.

“Oh no!” Fluttershy’s face was full of concern.

“What?” asked the chief.

“It’s a flux, the Princess said this might happen. It’s why we’ve got to use the ele-” Fluttershy now turned upside-down as her hooves stuck to the ceiling, “-ments as soon as possible! Otherwise thing’s get worse!” Fluttershy fell on the roof and started shivering. Suddenly a splattering sound could be heard outside.

“What is that?!” The chief rushed outside only to come back a moment later with a pie covering his face. He wiped it off with a hoof.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy cried out from the ceiling.

“Will this...” the chief was having a hard time talking while walking on the slippery soap, “calm down?”

“After a few minutes it should, but it’ll become permanent soon if Equestria isn’t properly summo-” there was a bright flash and then the floor was normal again and Fluttershy fell back to the ground, “oww.”

“Is...is it over?” Atunga nervously asked. Then he realized his side didn’t hurt anymore. He flapped his wings just to check, there was no more pain.

“Oh, don’t do that yet, it’ll agitate where you got hit!”

“It feels fine now though.” Atunga prodded his side with a hoof to show it was back to normal.

“The flux must have done it, but at least it helped a little. Do you think you can fly now?”

“Yes, my wings have actually been wanting to flex since I woke up.”

“Then we should probably get going. The others are a bit of a flight away.”

“Chief,” Atunga knew he had duties elsewhere. “I’ve got to go now. Will the village be ok?”

“Child,” the chief replied as he patted Atunga with a wing, “we are an ancient people. We have withstood the test of time just as we shall withstand this test. We’ll look forward to seeing you in Equestria.”

“Thank you,” Atunga replied.

“No, it is us who should be thanking you. Had you not gone to the well to help your mother, we would not be enjoying this prosperity right now. You have brought us rain and bounty the likes of which we have not seen in many years. You have my blessing on this trip.”

Atunga felt the necklace pulsate as the chief spoke. “I... I promise, I’ll bring even more rain in Equestria!”

“Um, Mr. Nossai, are you ready to go?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, let us go.” With that, both he and Fluttershy left the village behind. The last thing Atunga saw of his village were roads covered in pies.

~~~

As the African sun blazed above them, the great plains stretched out beneath them. The sight was truly amazing to Atunga. Fluttershy seemed impressed as well, especially when they passed over animal herds.

“Wow, I’ve never seen so many elephants before!” Fluttershy looked in amazement at a massive gathering of elephants around a watering hole.

“I have never seen an elephant before,” Atunga also looked at the elephants below, “they usually don’t come near people.”

“They don’t?” Fluttershy flashed him a confused look, “but don’t animals live happily with humans?”

Atunga thought back to the cow the village had slaughtered for him, it made his stomach churn a little. “We raise some animals, but most of them are just food to us.”

“Food?” A look of horror creeped onto Fluttershy’s face, “You mean you... eat animals?”

“Well I, er,” Atunga felt like he’d said something horribly wrong, “I don’t anymore and it was pretty rare in my village. We mostly ate grains.”

“Oh... ok,” Fluttershy was obviously disturbed by such a notion. “I guess humans are different from ponies.”

“Is that what you call yourselves? ‘Ponies?’”

“Um, yes, we’re pegasi. But there are also Earth Ponies and unicorns.”

“Are these ‘unicorns’ ponies with horns sticking out of their heads?”

“Yes, they can use magic.”

“But we cannot?”

“Well, we use magic a different way, like how we’re flying right now and sensing the air.” Fluttershy coughed a little. “But it’s kinda rough flying with such low magic in the air.”

Atunga felt the air as he flew and noted nothing different. “The air feels normal to me, a bit hot for this time of year though.”

“Oh, I see, maybe it’s easier for you because you’ve lived your whole life without magic.” As the spoke, they began to cross over a body of water. By now the sun was beginning to dip lower in the western sky. They crossed the Mediterranean just as the sun fully fell below the horizon. By then, Atunga’s wings were aching and Fluttershy was breathing heavily. The long flight had been rough on them.

“Perhaps we should rest here for...” A pegasus interupted Atunga. But Atunga couldn’t understand what he was saying. But, to his shock, he saw Fluttershy speaking the same tongue as the pegasus. The pegasus nodded and flew back down. “Was he another pony from Equestria?”

“No, he’s actualy a newly converted pegasus, he just changed this morning. He saw us in the sky and wanted to welcome us, apparently there’s some big party going on on the island.”

“But how did you know what he was saying?”

“It’s a spell the Princess used on all of us, it lets whatever we say or hear be understood by anypony, no matter what they speak. It might get a little confusing when there are two ponies who speak differently though.”

“I se-” Atunga was interrupted by hearing Fluttershy’s stomach grumble. She blushed red in embarrassment. “Let’s go get some food.” They both floated down and entered the streets.

The streets were chaotic, but in a good way. People were walking through the streets with drinks in their hands and some people walked alongside ponies. Atunga could see that a few of the drinks people were holding were purple. Other people just had regular drinks, but their faces were red as they spoke in a language Atunga couldn’t understand.

An Earth Pony with a cleaver on his flank ran up to them. He spoke fast, but Fluttershy was able to translate, “He says it’s great to see more ponies, but he’s kinda mad he can’t bring more food for this party, he was apparently a... what’s a ‘butcher’?” Fluttershy asked Atunga.

“It... um, it’s a person who sells animal meat,” Atunga nervously answered.

“Oh...oh my.” Fluttershy looked like she was about to faint. But the butcher pony kept talking. “Um, what’s a ‘pope’?”

“I think he’s like a really important priest.” Atunga thought back to the numerous times missionaries had come to his village. He didn’t really listen to what they said, but they sometimes brought food and water and that was what he had cared about. He did remember a few of them mentioning a really important person who lived in a house far to the north of Kenya.

“Oh, is a priest like king or something?”

“I think kinda...I’m not really sure though.”

“Well he says Mr.Pope... is that what you’d call him?” Fluttershy asked the butcher. The butcher didn’t understand the question and just nodded. “Ok...” Fluttershy now turned back to Atunga, “he says Mr.Pope sent out a big message to convert and drink the potion.” The butcher spoke up again. “And Mr. Pope said there’d be a Mr. Jesus in Equestria, but I don’t know a Mr. Jesus.” Fluttershy then turned back to butcher and talked a little more, then she turned back to Atunga, “He says I must be a strange ‘angel’ to not know Mr. Jesus... but the only angel I know is my bunny.”

“I think he thinks you’re a guardian.”

“A what?”

“A guardian, at least that’s what my people call them. We’re born with a guardian, but some of the missionaries said there are these types of guardians called angels. They have wings and live in the clouds or something.”

“Well... that does sound a lot like a pegasus... maybe it’s something that got misinterpreted when the Princess sent stuff over to here.” Fluttershy awkwardly looked back and forth between Atunga and the butcher. “Oh I wish Twilight or Rarity were here, they could make this so much easier.”

“Who are they?”

“They’re my friends, we’re actually going to meet up with one of them soon.” Fluttershy coughed a little.

“You ok?”

“Just a little tired... it’s nothing.” Fluttershy then turned back to the butcher and talked with him for a little. He smiled the entire time. “He says we can stay at his place, he doesn’t need a home anymore.” They now both followed the butcher to his home. It was simple home, but at least it was a little far from the revelry that was going on. He gave them some water and home-grown figs before they went to sleep. As soon as they finished their food and drinks they were out.

~~~

Atunga awoke to the sound of Fluttershy coughing. He looked up from the mattress he was on over at her. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine!” Her voice was much less gentle than it had been a day ago. “But you’re *cough* up now, so let’s go.” As Fluttershy got out from under her covers, Atunga could see that her mane and coat looked a little faded.

“Oh yeah, I thought about what you said yesterday about names and I think Sky Drifter might be a nice new name.”

“Oh, well good for you, you can tell it all to the Princess in Equestria.” There was something slightly venomous in Fluttershy’s voice now.

“Are you sure you’re ok Fluttershy?”

“I’m fine!” Fluttershy repeated as she walked out onto Sicily’s streets and instantly took to the air. “Now are you gonna fly or am I gonna have to walk?”

“I... I’m coming.” Sky jumped into the sky and joined Fluttershy. They didn’t talk this time though. As the sun slowly wheeled through the sky, the land below then shifted as well. By near sunset when they were over water again.

“Er,” Fluttershy complained, “stupid sun, why can’t your planet have a Princess like ours?!”

“Are you sure you ok?” Sky was getting worried now, it looked like Fluttershy’s mane and coat were getting more and more faded. Luckily, land soon came upon them.

“Finally!” Just as she said that, Fluttershy’s wings snapped to her sides and she tumbled down to the Earth.

“Fluttershy!” Sky chase after her falling form, but he didn’t know how to catch her. As she got closer and closer to the ground, Sky could only think of one thing: he’d fall below her and bear the brunt of the impact. As he got beneath her, he saw that she was now unconscious. “Oh shoot, oh shoot!” There was a bright flash as he hit the ground. The impact hurt; Sky felt something bend the wrong way. For a second he passed out.

When Sky regained conciouness, he felt one of his wings burning. He tried to flex it, but it sent a spasm of pain through his body. Then he saw Fluttershy a few feet in front of him. She looked tired, but at least her mane and coat had a bit more color now. “F-Fluttershy, are you ok?”

“I... I thi... Oh my gosh!” She quickly rushed over to Sky. What did I do?!” She started to cry.

“It’s fine, you must have just been tired.”

“But I said all those mean things and you got hurt because of me!” She sobbed. “I knew I shouldn’t have come, I’m just a crybaby who can’t even stand up when the world is ending!”

“That...that wasn’t you...” The Element sparkled in the night air, “I know we just met, but I know you’re a kind pony. You wouldn’t say those things unless you had a reason to.”

“No, no, no! I’m not a kind pony, I just a monster who says awful things to po-” Fluttershy stopped as she saw the Element glowing. “Oh my gosh! You got it to work!”

“I...” Sky looked down at the Element and realized a warm feeling was exuding from it. It lessened the pain in his wing. “I... I don’t know how though.”

“Well I think you deserve it much more than I do.”

“Fluttershy, that’s just si-” As Sky spoke he felt something in the air, like laughter had taken physical form and some way. “What is that?”

“Somepony must have activated the Element of Laughter.” Fluttershy had felt that air shift as well.

“You can sense where it is?”

“I mean... a little... it’s why we were flying this direction before. But I-” Sky collapsed as she was talking, “Oh no! Please be ok!” Fluttershy rushed to Sky’s side.

“That fall really busted me up,” he coughed, “I don’t think I can walk, let alone fly.”

“I... I’ll carry you.” Fluttershy bent down and skillfully draped Sky over her back. “It’ll take a little longer, but we’re close.” She slowly took off into the air.

“Heh, and you say you’re not kind, then why are you carrying me?” Fluttershy’s mane and feathers felt soft to Sky, even softer than clouds. Before Fluttershy could answer his question, he was out.

Comments

[Ocean Breeze]

Pure awesome.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Three down, three to go, but we appear to be coming down to the wire. Let's hope nothing goes horribly awry...

[Bual]

It seems like everyone is eagerly going along with their leaders' orders to convert, but even with the imminent death of the world, it doesn't seem realistic that there is not more debate, even conflict or violence, over the ramifications of giving up humanity.
I also can't stop wondering how the "New" Equestria will have the resources and space to support billions of converts when the Old one is already suffering from over-population, and to think it all just happened in three years! Hopefully the ponies will stop breeding at such prodigious rates lest New Equestria suffer the same fate.

My ramblings aside, this was a good chapter. It is good to see the other Seeds getting some limelight, hopefully we'll see their characters become as well developed as John and his friends.

[Waterpicker]

328396
Don't you remember standard TCB universe material. As Eqestria expands devouring Earth, Equestria its radically expands to a size capable of supporting all the ponies and newfoals with a shitton of space to spare.

[Bual]

329574
I am not familiar with the TCB at all, so thanks for clarifying that for me.

[Jaysteeny]

328396 I also noticed there should be more protests, but seeing as this is TCB, we need an entry for the HLF, I suppose.