The Conversion Bureau: A Mare's Tail

by HiddenBrony

Her Departure

The morning came like any other. Groggily, purple hair poked itself out from under a comforter, knowing full well the blast of sunlight that would greet it’s sensitive vision. Shuffling a moment, the ideas of ‘five more minutes’ fell flat on the girl’s wishes when memories of the day before flooded her senses, causing the human girl to shoot up in her bed, looking about wildly. “Three years...” Violet murmured. The concept was so new still - that she had let it all run together for three years without pause - she dreamed of her old life. Smiling, she leaned her hands back on the bed staring up at the hole at the top of the Wal-Mart that Twinkle tore open in the night. She missed her friends. Evan, Keenan, Christina... Perhaps, once she got to Colorado Springs, toward the final Conversion Bureau’s in the nation, she could see them again.

“‘Bout time you got up, V,” a light hearted voice called out. Spinning slightly, Violet found Rusty muddling about in the shopping cart, looking about for food. “It’s been a silent morning. Outside of Twinkle’s snoring.” Violet turned to see the pale pink pony in the bed next to hers, the formerly silent unicorn belting out a uncharacteristic snore that echoed throughout the store.

“Jesus...!” Violet breathed, a chuckle playing on her lips. “I didn’t think anyone could snore that loud.” Spinning her body slightly, she quickly felt the warmth of the bed leave her, and she looked back upon it. Next to her lay the prone form of Rose, the girl who’s own life changed drastically over the last two days as well. Hesitating to move much more in fear of waking her, Violet eventually shifted herself to the tones of another monster snore. Her bare feet grazed upon the ground below, the ripped carpeting reminding her of her own back at the apartment. A sad smile found itself on her lips, one that didn’t go unnoticed by the red Earth pony.

“Say, Violet, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what are your plans?” Rusty mused, trying to get a dialogue going. Gently moving his hooves so the most force was on his forelegs, Violet was reminded of the wounds he scored during the excitement the day before. Rushing forward, Violet found herself in the confusing position of wanting to help him, but being completely unable to fathom how. Rusty chuckled as he simply fell to his haunches and splayed his legs, his forehooves falling forward and covering his underbelly. Violet smirked slightly, and keeping her eyes from wandering on curiosity, slid her back down on Twinkle’s bed as she sat next to the stallion.

“Plans...” She echoed, running her hand through the frazzles strands of hair on her head. She had been almost unconsciously dying her hair for a long time, and it felt exactly how she’d expected three years of dye jobs to feel. Shaking her head, Violet shrugged. “No plans. Never had a plan in life. Act, perform, and live. S’far as I ever really let myself think.” Her head fell back on the soft bed, reminding her skin of the bed and triggering her laziness. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine what she’d look like as a pony, trying to keep herself to the idea of just a simple Earth pony. “Ponies never seem to have plans, though. Just... happy gallivanting. It’s a surprise it took me so long to consider it for myself,” Violet mentioned, picking her head off the bed. Another snore issued from Twinkle above her, causing a chuckle and a giggle to emanate from the two new friends. Sighing longingly, Violet elbowed Rusty playfully. “How about you? You never really told me what your plan was; simply hopping in a truck with some crybaby human girl? What’s the angle there? Hoping to get with me once I go pony?”

Cheeks red from the teasing, although completely unseen under his natural color, Rusty shook his head violently from the accusation. “No! Not my angle! Um.” As he defended himself, the pony’s mind drew a blank, allowing an awkward silence to permeate the area a bit as he coughed uneasily.

Chuckling, Violet again pushed against the red pony. “Aw, don’t be like that, Red.” Her hand reached out and tossed Rusty’s mane about, his entire being a beacon for ‘ginger ponies’, almost as much as he was when he was a human. “Just lemme in on your reasoning here. You gotta admit, taking off on a one-way trip with a chick and a pony you don’t know? Kinda sketchy.”

Rusty smirked, starting to understand the girl’s standard of humor for once. “I wouldn’t call it one way, Violet. I planned on coming back.”

“How so?” Violet interrupted, an assuming smile playing on her features. Rusty turned to her with a confused look, mane scraping along the edge of the bed as another one of Twinkle’s snores vibrated the bed frame. “You can’t exactly drive a truck.”

Rusty paused, putting a hoof to his snout. “Can’t... exactly.... Damn it.” Face falling, the pony realized a fairly large hole in his logic. “I can’t...”

Violet laughed heartily, covering her mouth a moment later for the sake of Rose and Twinkle. Rusty averted his eyes completely from the laughing human, and he could feel his cheeks radiating red from the mistake. “You mean.... to tell me you forgot you couldn’t drive?”

“No! Not... exactly.” Rusty cut in, shaking his mane about. “I just... forgot you wouldn’t be able to drive back.” Sighing through his nose, the pony finally leaned his head back on the bedspread, his neck craning up toward the ceiling. “I guess Twinkle could push the gas down and I could drive - or you could, if you go unicorn. Or maybe...”

“Maybe...?” Violet echoed, her face returning to the assuming smile. Rusty was quickly learning not to like that look.

Exhaling briefly, the pony’s forelimb draped lazily along the ground, falling off his chin. “Well, my sister moved to Equestria about two years back, she and her family. I’ve always been meaning to go - get to see my little niece... Conversion Bureau’s always have shuttles to Equestria for the newfoals.”

“So you wanna see your sissy and her little pony. Cute.” Violet smirked. There was a moment of silence between the two, sitting in the morning light through the hole in the ceiling. Eventually, however, Rusty felt a knock on his skull, and he turned to see Violet shaking her head and smiling. “Don’t give me that ‘no plan’ shit. You knew as soon as Twinkie here said there was still a Bureau in Colorado Springs that you were losing your easy shot to see your family,” Violet gathered, remembering Twinkle’s Bureau was the last to close in Albuquerque.

Rusty gave her a look, but it softened slowly as he nodded his head. “That makes sense, doesn’t it?” He laughed, putting his forehooves together in a clop. “I guess you’re probably right, there was little reason else to just... up and go like that.”

“You mean to tell me you don’t even know what you’re up to half the time? Sounds dangerous, even for a pony,” Violet teased, picking herself up off the ground. Stretching her limbs, the human girl found that the snoring had stopped as she spread herself out in a five-point star.

Rusty rolled his head around in response, stifling a yawn as he did so. “Keeps things interesting, I guess. I think you’re right though, I am Equestria bound.”

“Mmmmmmmmmreally...?” The strained, half yawn, half stretched voice of Twinkle filled the air around them as the sleeping unicorn attempted to remove herself from the sheets. Failing that, the pink pony rustled up next to the end of the bed and peered down at the resting Earth pony and his human friend. “That’s where I was going, too.”

Rusty chuckled, shaking his mane. “I figured that. Good morning, Twinkle.”

Violet echoed his sentiments, which Twinkle responded to in kind. “Good morning, all. Mm!” She stretched, her horn sputtering to life as she attempted a second time to remove herself from the sheets. “How long have we been asleep for?” Greeted with a chorus of negative responses regarding the time, the unicorn chuckled. “Well, I suppose that’s to be expected. Humans never seemed to wear watches by the time we came around. Just those celled phones.”

Violet smirked. “Cell phones. Really, Twinkle, how long have you been running a Bureau?” The question brought the concept of her earlier conversation to its new recipient, and Twinkle brought a hoof to her chin in much the way Rusty did.

“Well, Violet, I believe the key lies in the question. I ran Bureaus, but I never got to really interact with the people there as much as I’d like to.” Yawning, the unicorn finally pulled the sheet from around her limbs, and the shaky pony leapt off the bed and unto the floor with a muffled pitapat of hooves. A slight bag still hung under the filly’s eyes, remnants of the dark events that transpired the day before. “I really only have a vague understanding of human novelties, so you’ll have to forgive me if I seem a bit dull to start.”

Violet smiled warmly, bending her knees as she crouched next to Twinkle. “You aren’t that dull at all, Twink. A little ‘tea on the lawn’, but that’s just the way you are.” Pressing against the unicorn’s horn a bit with her finger, Violet took note of the strange sensation the magical appendage delivered to her hand as she touched it. “Besides, with a brilliant little tool this is, no one is gonna think you’re anything short of stellar.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Violet. Always nice to start the morning feeling appreciated.” Placing a hoof on Violet’s shoulder, she delicately tapped Violet’s forehead with her horn as a sign of affection for the human girl. “Might I add you are simply extraordinary yourself, hearing about your exploits yesterday. Excuse me if I say, of course, that I am quite happy I was not at all ‘there’, so to speak’, for it.” Her eyes darkened slightly, averting her gaze from the form on the bed nearby. Violet peered over to the sleeping girl, sitting on the bed next to her.

“It’s not something I want to relive,” Violet murmured. “I just reacted. It’s what I’ve always done. I hope she can forgive me.” Reaching out, Violet stopped from touching Rose just barely, drawing her hand back as she sighed and shook her head. “I wonder what she’ll do now.”

Rusty pondered this himself, shrugging his shoulders slightly. “I suppose she can go back to the rest of the humans. She’s shown that we were still a pretty good bunch, she and you, despite some of the vocal ones.” Sliding a hoof along the ground, he winced slightly at the unwelcome pain that issued from his back hoof. “There must be friendly people she can stay with.”

Violet nodded solemnly. She wasn’t in agreement with the idea, but there was little she could add to it. “I wonder what they thought of her brother. She’ll have to probably answer to that, if they didn’t already find his body. A semi-truck falling a hundred feet and crashing an expressway doesn’t exactly go unnoticed.” Scratching her chin, Violet looked over to the ponies, pondering the ideas for the human girl. “Maybe we can pass by an IHSA branch...”

Twinkle paused her, giving a confused look toward the girl. “IHSA?” The way it came out of her mouth was, “Ehsa”, drawing befuddlement from the two Equines.

“International Human Survival Alliance, y’know, IHSA,” Violet muttered, shaking her head. “Y’know, kinda like the HLF except not trying to kill you?”

Rusty chuckled. “No, we know who they are, I don’t think we ever heard someone say ehsa when referring to the I-H-S-A.” Picking himself up, the red pony winced visibly, but waived off the girls as she made move to put him back on his haunches. “Girls, I gotta be able to go to point A and point B, so just drop it - I’ll live with the bruises.” As he spoke, he kept lifting a limb and leaning on his forelimbs, trying to keep himself from dealing with too much at once as he hopped on the bed, taking comfort in the bed’s soft cushions. “I don’t think they’re active in New Mexico, but I do know they’re western branch is in Colorado Springs.”

Violet’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? That’s... horridly convenient.” Rusty chuckled, shaking his head slowly as he lay on his belly.

Twinkle, however, was the one to speak up. “Not exactly. The IHSA often helps ponies and people both, with no catches. In fact, some of the higher ups out here are ponies themselves. I have a friend there who I’ve wanted to see for awhile.”

Violet smirked. “So that’s why you decided to tag along?”

“That, and to help you, Violet,” Twinkle related, causing the human to be embarrassed slightly. Sensing her discomfort in being the main reason, Twinkle merely shrugged with a sheepish smile. “You looked so downtrodden, Violet, I felt like I had to help.”

Violet sighed. “I know, and you have another reason. Just don’t really feel like being a charity case.” Shrugging it off, Violet reached out to Rose a second time, placing a hand on the other girls’ shoulder. “Well, I think we’d best just ask her what she feels like doing. Not like we have any say in the matter.”

“Best Goddamned idea I’ve heard all morning,” Rose muttered, suddenly shifting in the bed to look at Violet. It was clear the girl hadn’t been asleep for a length of time. “But I appreciate your concern. You’re all looking better,” she muttered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as they adjusted to the light from the ceiling.

“You bitch, how long have you been up?” Violet muttered, feeling a slight twang of regret the moment she finished her thought.

Rose’s arm shot over and snatched up the pillow Violet had used, and propped herself up on her own tower of pillows. “Long enough not to care about being called a bitch in the morning, thanks.”

Rusty pawed at the side of his bed, trying not to think about what Twinkle thought about all the language being tossed around. “So, Rose, uhm... holding up alright?” he guessed, figuring it was best to get the elephant out of the Wal-Mart as quick as possible.

The girl sighed through her nose slowly, shaking her head. “As alright as it’s gonna be for awhile, pony. Although thanks for the tact.” Rolling her eyes, Rose moved herself around checking her leg a moment as it popped out of cover. “Look, I know this is gonna sound weird, but I’d rather not think about my brother for awhile, so the less you bring him up, the happier I’ll be.” Flicking her bandage a moment, she gaped at how much the subtle reaction hurt, prompting Violet to grab her shoulder quickly to check if she was alright. “Fine! God, Jesus Christ... Yeah, just, don’t fucking touch that if you can help it.” Cursing a couple more times, the blonde human shook herself a couple times to compose the rest of her. “God, we’re gonna have to redress it and everything in a bit. Uhm, Twinkle, right?”

“Yes, you’re right,” Twinkle responded, her horn glowing softly. “Don’t worry about the pain too much, I’ll try and handle what I can with magic. Although we should get you somewhere that can help stitch it up better than what we’ve done...” she trailed, averting her eyes from the wound. The blood had leaked through the outer layer of bandage, the dried red-brown liquid making the unicorn’s stomach queasy.

Rusty, on the other hand, found it a bit more difficult to actually look away from it. “Sorry I can’t help with that, Rose,” he explained, “But really, I don’t think we should hang around here much longer. Do you have any place to be? Want us to... take you anywhere in particular?” There was a soft silence that descended after his words, the group of four considering the ideas presented previous. Being Rose’s decision, the others kept their mouths shut.

Rose eventually sighed. “Fuck it, let’s go to Colorado Springs. Maybe the old lift up to Pike’s Peak still works. Always wanted to see that.” Twinkle greeted this with a flashing smile, but Violet seemed a bit on edge about it. Regardless, it was Rusty who gathered the girls up and galvanized them into action.

“Well, Twinkle, Violet, bein’ the only two of sound mind and body, I believe you two have a little work to do so your poor, damaged, weak companions can get from here to the car in relative comfort...” Rusty murmured, throwing on some mock sadness for the girls. Twinkle looked a bit unsure, but Violet got up and rapped him one right above the mane. “Yowch! Yeesh, kidding, kidding!”

“Yeah, I bet you were. Come on Twink, let’s help Mr. Poor and Weak to his wheelchair,” Violet muttered, pushing against the red pony and flipping him on his side, Rusty complaining the entire way.

-----

Wound re-bandaged and ponies in back, the black truck took off from the parking lot as the clock on board let the group of four take off into the afternoon sun with its human passengers sitting in the cabin. At first, Rusty argued the fact, but the point of the matter relied on Violet’s assessment of seatbelts and damaged hooves. Rusty was still dealing with a damaged forelimb, no matter how he tried to hide it, and a hasty stop would see him without a seatbelt and having to hold himself on the dashboard. At least in the back he could rest up against the back of the truck. Beaten and literally bruised, the red pony took to the back with the help of Twinkle and Violet, and found himself quite happy with an assortment of pillows and comforters that Twinkle had lined the back with, including a mattress for them to lay on.

“I’m actually kind of jealous of them, now.” Rose muttered to herself, leaning her seat back slightly as she adjusted it to her more human settings. “A mattress, pillows, blankets... Why the hell was he complaining?” she whined, much to Violet’s pleasure. Whining was a state of normalcy to the elder human, and showed that Rose was telling the truth about her brother - she wasn’t all that close to the monster that stalked the roadway. “So, Violet, pretty sure to say you’re gonna be a pony by next week.”

Violet gave Rose a sad, apologetic look, but the blonde waved it away. “Yeah, yeah I guess I am. I never was against the whole thing, I just... never saw much reason. I’m human, y’know? No reason not to be.”

Rose nodded a couple times, digesting the idea. “So what’s changed? For you, I mean. What’s the big reason that turns a healthy looking girl with purple hair and a history in theatre from people to pony?” Violet raised an eyebrow as she turned unto the main expressway again, this time on the lookout for blockades and damaged stonework. “What I mean is... why now? Is it really ‘cause of your friend, Albert?”

“Ah.” Violet breathed, running a hand through her hair. “Well... Geez, I’m not... It was yesterday, I guess.” Rose gave Violet a look, but she quickly backtracked. “Before, um, that happened. It was Albert, just... not really him.” Placing a hand on her head, the girl closed her eyes a moment as the road straightened out before them. “He was... the last one. The last human I knew. The rest all left. And then it kinda... hit me when he came back for me. I could never get it out of my head, Rose. That the people... the ponies coming out of the Bureau’s... They’re still the same people. They’ll still love movies, books, video games - stupid videos you find online.”

Rose chuckled at that, her arm raised up and leaned on the open window, cradling her head lightly. “So you don’t mind that they no longer have those ‘negative emotions’ shtick?” she needled, not turning her head at all toward Violet.

“It’s bullshit.” That got Rose’s attention. “I’ve already seen more than enough ponies to see the seven deadly sins in any of them, let alone 'dark' emotions. They’re just, I dunno, more balanced. Less likely to go off the deep end in any scenario, good or bad.” Checking the fuel gauge, Violet started to experiment with all the little gadgets at the truck’s disposal, but paid more mind to the idea of MPG than anything else. “I just never cared about any of that, really. You could get something akin to that by never leaving your apartment for three years.”

As they drove on, Rose became more silent, her mind elsewhere. The truck roared along the road, Violet keeping her eyes on the road for a change.

-----

“It’s kinda windy.” Twinkle sighed, trying to cover herself more completely into the blanket. Violet had helped tuck the two ponies in, using the mattress and the ponies own body weight to keep the bed and the blankets intact during the drive. Rusty smirked as she nestled closer to him, attempting to pass the time while also keeping warm. However, their heads were near the edge of the truck nearest the window, and in such their heads floated in a cone of air that wasn’t threatened by screaming wind. “Why did today have to be cold?”

“‘Cause here, we only predict the weather, not change it,” Rusty joked, testing his forelimb slightly against the side of the truck bed. It hurt, but nothing like it had the day before. He probably had Twinkle’s medical magic to thank for it, he mused, before spinning back to face the unicorn in question. “Although don’t you have some kinda spell you can use to... I dunno, cancel the wind?”

Twinkle looked a little cross, but relented as she shook her head. “No, Rusty. I know I have magic, but it’s really not all encompassing. There are plenty of things I can do... but so much more I can’t. And wind cancelling is one of the things. I. Can’t. Do.” As she ended her sentence, her hooves hit Rusty’s stomach in succession. Not hard, but the chilly appendages found warmth against the flailing hooves of the red pony, much to the gleeful giggling of the unicorn. “But you can cancel the wind’s effects quite nicely!” She screamed over his convulsions, warming her chilled hooves against his warm, soft underbelly.

“Not fair! Not fair! Knocking a colt when he’s down! I thought ponies were nice! You’re cruel! Evil!” Rusty complained, his hooves flying every which way but towards Twinkle, the two enjoying the moment - one obviously more than the other. As the two tussled about, a short rapping came from the front, interrupting the two ponies moment of childlike fun. Raising his last good hoof out, Rusty slid the back window open, allowing the two in the front to communicate. “Uh. What’s up... up... there?” Twinkle giggled at the embarrassed ponies speech, which really didn’t help the colt’s disposition.

Violet’s voice cut the wind quite well. “We got a helicopter incoming. Can’t tell from here if they’re with the HLF at all. Cover yourselves up a bit better, don’t want to attract unwanted attention!” The two ponies stared at each other, Twinkle’s pale blue eyes showing she had no intention of reliving yesterday’s struggle, despite being out for most of it. Horn sparking to life, the unicorn evened the blanket out a quarter inch above their bodies, making the back of the truck bed look completely devoid of life. As a result, however, the wind over the ponies was cut down dramatically, only allowing a faint wisp grace their pastel coats.

“Well there’s your wind cancel spell.” Rusty joked. Twinkle stuck her tongue out at him in response, giving the Earth pony a slight kick to his stomach, which shut him up quickly as he leaned forward. “‘Kay... Gotcha...”

The whirring blades of the helicopter came gently over the sound of the wind, Violet taking no time to slow down to let an investigative pilot catch much more than a passing glimpse on them. She wanted no trouble, and by George, she wasn’t gonna let them make any for her. As they sped along, the helicopter got louder, the tracking eyes of Twinkle trying to follow the sounds as best as she could with an inquisitive ear.

Rusty watched her inquisitively, trying to gather just what he was seeing on her. Apprehension? Fear? “No...” he breathed. It was something else. Underlying, just below the surface. Reaching out, Rusty laid his good hoof on her shoulder. She was fidgeting. However, it was clear to him as her eyes shifted from the edges of the blanket to the pony sharing the back with her. It was terror. She only had a taste of things yesterday, and it didn’t suit her one bit. And yet, here they were, again looking down another dangerous situation. Another chance of the unknown. Rusty cooed slightly, attempting to calm the mare. “Hang on, it’ll just pass, Twinkle. It’s just going to pass. Everything will be fine.” His eyes held hers firmly. He wasn’t going to let her look away. “It’s just going to past. Everything is going to be just fine.” The blades whirled closer, the noise seemingly deafening. The engine of the helicopter could be heard now. That high pitched whine penetrating their cotton defense. The whirling turned into a roar.

And then it passed. The copter flew by overhead, apparently uninterested in the lone truck that was northeasterly bound for out of the city’s suburbs. The vehicle itself seemed to relax as the wheels laxed slightly, Violet’s white knuckle grip on the wheel relaxing as the purple haired human watched the helicopter in the side-view mirror. Rose breathed out slowly, a soft smile playing on her lips as she shook her head incredulously. “Huh. I haven’t seen a helicopter in years,” she breathed. Turning to look at the ponies in the back, all the blonde could see was the straightened sheet on the back. “Alright, ponies. You see anything interesting about that thing?”

Relaxing her spell slowly, Twinkle and Rusty caught sight of the helicopter, bearing an insignia unlike that of the Human Liberation Front. Twinkle was the first to breath a sigh of relief before giving the all-clear. “Nothing to report, it wasn’t HLF, though!” she called, relaxing her blanket back to its natural position, attempting to tuck the sheet in again with her magic. Rusty caught the apprehensive look she still held, though, and quickly set about helping out where he could with his one good hoof.

“Good to know. Recognize the symbol on it?” Rose called, taking over for Violet to relay commands. There was a minor argument between the two girls, before finally Rusty overheard a “Eyes on the road, V!” The two ponies chuckled at the reprimand, much to Violet’s chagrin.

Rusty shook his head, earning an equal response from Twinkle. “Nah! Didn’t get a good angle on it, but it wasn’t anything like the HLF’s. Kinda blue, I guess?” Rusty shrugged his limbs, which, again, Twinkle mimicked herself.

“I think it was familiar, but I can’t put a hoof on it. Maybe it was the United States seal for something?” Twinkle guessed, calling loudly. This seemed to placate the humans in the front seat well enough. Feeling the cold wind again, Twinkle rolled closer to Rusty, working off his body heat. “Don’t get any ideas, Rusty. I’m cold, okay?”

“No complaints here, Twinkle.” This earned him a playful shove, but the pale pink pony immediately nuzzled closer to the male pony, whom noticed the unicorn was shivering somewhat. Guessing she was colder than she let on, Rusty was reminded that unicorns tended to be a bit more frail compared to other ponies, and as such, she was likely more likely to get cold than a hardened Earth pony like himself. “Kinda wondered why you waited so long.”

Twinkle smirked. Looking up at him a moment, she gave him an unreadable smile before leaning down again, her eyes closing as she leaned her horn against his neck. “Makes you think, huh?”

As the truck drove off into the distance, the quartet left Albuquerque, destined to never see its borders again. Under the rumble of the engine, Violet spoke of her days as an actress. Rose related her days dealing with various unsuitable boyfriends. Rusty spoke about his work with carpentry, complementing the idea of how oddly easy it was to use a human hammer in his mouth. Twinkle spoke of her family back in Equestria, her parents who she hadn’t seen in years.

Behind them, the mysterious aerial vehicle carried on under the whir of its own engine. Letting loose a stream of purple, quickly evaporating liquid upon the city, it aimed for the headquarters of the HLF. The stream of dissolving purple mist splashed down, sizzled and spit as it infiltrated every corner of the network of structures. It moved itself toward the humans as if sentient, preying over those still recovering after a night celebrating the end of consented ponification. The few that were aware of it fled, their screams of terror muted under the rumble of the vehicles engines.

Comments

[SkyStream]

looks like shit is getting real....