Mankind Triumphant - Relic

by Dafaddah

AD 2155 part 3 - Victoria Triumphant

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Based on The Conversion Bureau: Mankind Triumphant

- Relic -

Chapter ten: AD 2155 part 3 - Victoria Triumphant

by Dafaddah

Author's note: A Big Thanks to Microshazm and SecondLaw for editing.

---

“In the girls’ bedroom, Victoria finished packing. She was worried: an unexpected family trip like this was usually a sign of trouble. The girls and the Littons were having dinner, despite the fact that Harvey had appeared a short while earlier reeking of whiskey and looking shaky. As soon as she was done she trotted up to the office.

She checked the e-mails of the day. The only oddity was a brief note wishing the Littons a fun time on their upcoming vacation.

A warning beep sounded and the security video window appeared, displaying sixteen smaller images each rotating through a series of security camera feeds. One went dark. And then another. And another. Victoria watched in panic as image after image turned black. The house is under attack, she thought. The girls!

Victoria galloped out into the hallway, and down towards the family dining room. Along the way she noticed several burly men she had never seen before. She slowed to a walk. As usual the humans paid scant attention to the house ponies carrying on with their chores. As she approached she heard two of the men talking in front of the closed doors leading to the dining room. The shorter and elder of the two had an ear pressed against the left-most door.

“It sounds like they’re all in there. Do you have the shots ready?”

“Yup,” said the other man whose muscles bulged through his cheap dark suit. He held up a tray with four syringes that gave off a strange purple glow. “Original recipe!” He cackled. “You know they’ll probably just put them down as soon as they figure out these ponies weren’t convicts.”

“Not our problem. We gotta move fast. The boss is going to make the announcement, soon.” The older man took out a can of spray paint and sprayed three large letters across the closed dining hall doors: H-L-F.

“Okay. Let’s do this!” He took out a gun, pushed open the door, and ran in. “Nobody move!” he shouted.

Harvey and the girls stared up from their dinner, a shared look of shock on their faces.

---

Vicky rubbed her amulet in a panic and felt Celestia’s presence in her mind. “Hello, Victoria. This is unexpected! Is there something wrong?” asked the princess’ voice in her mind.

Princess, there are gunmen from the HLF in the dining room with the girls! What can I do? Vicky advanced cautiously towards the open doorway.

“I don’t know what I can do, Vicky, but can you get a look at the situation inside?” Vicky nodded. ”And do be careful!” replied Celestia.

Vicky cautiously peeked around the door. She could see Harvey on the floor, curled up in the fetal position. Chloe was sitting still in her chair, a man standing behind her. Another held a gun to Loretta’s head while she wept. She couldn’t see Sasha.

The man behind Chloe took a syringe from a box lined with foam. From the impressions in the foam it looked like this syringe was the third of four. He grabbed Chloe’s arm and just as he was lowering the syringe towards it, Vicky screamed “NO!” As if in response to the shout the syringe flew out of his hand and embedded itself in the ceiling. The last syringe still in its box went flying into a corner, as did the gun held by the other man. Disarmed, they looked at each other and ran from the room, away from Vicky and into the kitchen.

Thank you, Celestia! So you can do more than just type remotely! thought Victoria.

Loretta dropped to the floor and picked up a form that Vicky had not seen before: Sasha lay limp in Loretta’s arms as she wept. “My baby, my baby! Oh god, what have they done?” She saw that Sasha’s skin had become waxy, as had Harvey’s.

“Tell Loretta that she must remove Sasha’s clothing now, quickly before it strangles her. And she mustn’t touch her skin!” said Celestia. “And you must do the same for Harvey Litton, Victoria!”

Vicky called out to Loretta and repeated Celestia’s instructions as she went to Harvey’s unconscious form. “Please trust me, Sasha and Harvey’s lives depend on it.” She used her teeth to pull and rip off his clothes. She felt Celestia give telekinetic assistance to the complex task. Finally it was done. Breathing hard, she rushed to see if Chloe was hurt. Her daughter clasped her tightly around the neck, and began crying. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m here. I’m here.” She ran a hoof down the back of Chloe’s head, caressing her in the way she always did when Chloe was scared or upset. She was still holding her daughter when Celestia spoke again in her head.

“Victoria, Chloe is fine. We must attend to the Littons now. Will you allow me to speak to Mrs. Litton through you?” asked Celestia.

“Y-yes. Okay,” said Victoria out loud. She looked at Lorette, kneeling on the floor sobbing next to the amorphous blob that only moments earlier was Sasha, surrounded by pieces of her daughter’s clothing.

“Loretta Litton!” said Celestia, using Vicky’s vocal apparatus. “Do you want to save Sasha’s life, as well as your husband’s?”

The woman looked up at her, confusion and abject despair waring for her emotions. “What is happening to my daughter and my husband? Can you stop this?”

“They are being ponified, Loretta, and there is nothing I can do to stop or reverse it.”

Loretta slumped to the floor next to doughie mass that used to be her daughter, and wailed.

---

Sasha saw the ponies galloping in the field around her. She didn’t feel afraid, instead, she felt like running with them, and so she did... an exhilarating while later, she found herself approaching a castle. There was a man in front of the gate as well. Even though his back was to Sasha, she could tell who this was. She shouted for joy and ran up to grab her daddy’s hand.

“Daddy! You’re here too!”

Harvey Litton looked down at his daughter, surprised. “Hey pumpkin! You’re in this dream too?”

“Maybe,” she replied. The thought that this might be a dream hadn’t occurred to her. “We need to go inside.” Of this at least she felt certain.

“It would seem so. We might as well go then.”

They walked hand-in-hand until the got to the entrance of a large hall. In the middle was a raised dais on which which were two thrones. Upon one sat a young girl a few years older than Sasha.

“Welcome, Harvey and Sasha. Please come near.” She smiled invitingly. When they had scaled the steps they saw that she sat within a circle of light. “I am Princess Celestia of Equestria. Do you know why you are here?”

Harvey clasped his daughter’s hand more tightly. “If it’s what I think it is, then why is my daughter here as well?”

“For the same reason you are Harvey Litton. She was forcibly ponified by members of the HLF,” said the princess.

“The HLF?” asked Harvey. “They're disbanded. And why would the HLF ponify anyone? They’re against conversion!”

“That, I do not know,” said Celestia. She noticed Sasha listening intently to her words. “But you recently delivered some of my essence to a non-official recipient. I strongly suspect this may have been the closing act in making ponification serum available to clandestine entities, perhaps also the HLF.”

Litton’s eyes grew big as he made the connection in his mind. He looked down at Sasha. “Oh my god, Sasha, this is all because of me!” He knelt down next to his daughter and hugged her. “Oh, sweetheart. I’m... I’m so sorry! I...” He clutched her in a hug as his eyes welled up and he ran out of words.

“Daddy,” said Sasha. “We’re gonna become ponies, like the princess says, aren’t we?”

Numbly, her father nodded his head.

Her brow furrowed in thought. She turned to regard Celestia. “Are we going to be fuzzy, like the other ponies? Or can you make us smart like you did Vicky?”

Celestia smiled at the child. “Victoria has told me more than once how very bright you are Sasha. I can see she was not exaggerating!” Her gaze shifted to the girl’s father. “Mr. Litton, there is one consolation in this otherwise unfortunate event.” Harvey looked up at the mention of his name. “It would appear that the HLF have used the original formulation of nanites in their conversion serum. You and your daughter will retain your native intelligence, although you will have to hide it when amongst humans.”

Harvey rose to his feet, still holding onto his daughter’s hand. “How long do we have?” he asked.

“Time is different in this place, and each conversion dream takes the time needed.” Her smile was warm but somehow still tinged with sadness. “You are ready now. It is time you step into the light and become members of my herd.” Her penetrating gaze focused on Chloe and Harvey each in turn. Harvey shivered under its intensity. “Please remember that from this moment onwards, you will never be alone. We will do what we can to hide and protect you.”

Harvey fought his fear, and clutched Sasha’s hand tighter. “Please forgive me, Princess, but how can you possibly do what I wasn’t able to do, with all my wealth and power?”

Celestia’s smile broadened. “You’d be surprised how much I can do ever since a certain Victoria joined my herd. She has proven to be very resourceful.”

Harvey lowered his head at the mention of Victoria’s ponification, ashamed of his role in that event, but when he looked up again there was gratitude in his eyes. Celestia had chosen not to elaborate on her comment and sully his reputation before his daughter.

Harvey nodded. “Are you ready, honey?”

“Yes, daddy.”

Together they stepped into the light. As their bodies changed their minds were wrapped in the immense welcoming presence that was Celestia and their hearts were filled with joy.

---

Loretta shrunk in on herself, hiding her face in her hands. “It’s my fault! It’s my fault! I told Harvey to deal with those people, when I knew they were dangerous!” Loretta’s words dissolved into incoherent sobs.

“Loretta, do you want Sasha and Harvey to live? If you do you must listen and obey! NOW!” said Celestia’s voice from Victoria’s mouth.

The weeping woman looked up from under her hands. “What... what do I do?” She stared as her daughter slowly transformed. Already her pony form was evident, with a small protrusion emerging from her forehead.

“Sasha is becoming a unicorn, and Harvey a pegasus. If they are seen they will be killed, Loretta. We must hide them immediately. Do you have a hidden room?” asked Celestia.

“The panic room. We can hide them there.” Loretta looked down at her daughter. “Can I pick her up now?”

“Yes, Loretta. Vicky and Chloe will help Harvey. You must go now,” said Celestia.

“N-no!” Victoria struggled for a moment to re-impose her own will on her voice. “Loretta, they’ll know about the panic room.”

“What?” Frightened, Loretta crept closer to Sasha, whose color gradually became pink as fur grew to cover her pale skin. “But what will we do? They’ll take my baby!”

Victoria thought furiously for a moment. Where wouldn’t they look for Sasha and Harvey? The answer came to her in a flash. “The pony quarters!"

I’m sorry I contradicted you, Princess, thought Victoria.

“Don’t be, Victoria. You are likely quite right, as you know these people better than I do. I am grateful that you are here, and defer to your better judgement,” said the voice of Celestia in Victoria’s head.

"Chloe, help me get Mr. Litton up, and everyone follow me,” said Victoria.

Harvey was starting to stir already. “What’s going on? Vicky? The gunmen!” He looked down at himself. “Oh. It was real! The dream was real.” His last words were spoken in a sob.

Loretta spoke up. “Harvey, get a move on! If they find you and Sasha like this they’ll kill you!”

“Loretta?” He looked at the foal his wife held in her arms. “Is that Sasha?”

“Yes, Harvey.” Vicky used her head to help him up. “You need to learn to walk on four legs. It’s best you don’t actually think about your legs, just will yourself to go forward and let your new body do its thing. Follow me.” He actually was able to get going. “This way. We’ll use the pony quarters and pony service corridors. The house AIs don’t watch them.” She led them out of the dining room into a small corridor used by the ponies to carry goods around the house. A few turns later they arrived into low-ceilinged room with some twenty of the large dog beds lined up on each side. Some were occupied by sleeping ponies. Most were empty at this time of day.

“Harvey, lie down in this bed here, and don’t move. If anyone asks you are sick and were told to stay in bed. And don’t let anyone or anypony see you have wings!” Victoria dragged a blanket over him to cover his body.

“What about Sasha?” said Loretta.

Victoria looked her in the eyes. “Loretta, we’re going to have to trust each other. Sasha can’t go with you, and Chloe can’t stay here in the pony quarters. Can I trust you with my Chloe, Loretta?”

Loretta looked back at her. “You aren’t like you were when you first arrived here Vicky. Can I trust you to protect my Sasha?”

“Mama?” said a small voice. “Mama, you can trust Vicky. I do.”

All eyes sought the small unicorn foal in Loretta's arms.

Loretta smiled in relief. “How long have you been awake honey?” asked Loretta.

“For a while. I know that that pony on the bed is daddy. I’m a pony too. The Princess said so in my dream.” She raised a small foreleg in front of her face. “I’m pink!” she exclaimed happily.

“Honey. Some bad men are going to come and you and daddy have to hide from them. You’re going to have to listen to Vicky and do exactly as she says.”

“But mommy, what about Chloe? Her... Vicky said she can’t stay here.” She waved a hoof at Chloe who was clinging onto Vicky as if her life depended on it. Chloe waved shyly back.

Loretta shifted her gaze to Victoria, then to Chloe. “Chloe will come with me, won’t you Chloe dear? We have to keep Sasha, her father, and Vicky safe, don’t we?” She looked at Victoria. “And I’ll keep you safe too, Chloe, I swear.”

Chloe continued to cling to Victoria. “Chloe,” said Victoria softly, “we’re all counting on you, honey. Will you go with Mrs. Litton and do exactly as she asks?”

Chloe gave her a hug. “Okay, I will. Vicky?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Are you my mommy?" She gave Vicky a shy smile. "You sound just like my mommy. And when you chased those bad men away and you held me, it was just like when my mommy held me.”

Victoria felt tears begin to track down her muzzle.“Oh, Chloe, yes. I’m your mommy. I was turned into a pony and couldn’t take care of you anymore. Then the Littons took you in and that’s why I came here. To be with you. But honey, you mustn’t ever tell anyone about this.”

Chloe smiled brightly and she nodded. She gave her mother an extra tight hug and released her, then she waited while Loretta placed Sasha on the bed next to her father.

“Sasha, you’re going to have to hide next to your dad for a while. Don’t move and be very quiet until I’m back, okay?” The little unicorn nodded. Loretta moved the blanket to cover her as well, and went to take Chloe's hand.

“I suggest we take you to the nursery. Loretta, if anyone asks you say that Chloe had a fit at supper and you wanted her to calm down and finish packing. Then you saw the security monitors of house AI go blank, so you hid in the nursery with Chloe. Don’t leave until I come to get you. As to me, I’ll go check the office to verify if the house security AI is back online and to see what I can find out from the nets.”

“If corporate security comes here won’t they be suspicious of a pony running around in the house?” asked Harvey from his bed.

“Hah!” said Victoria. “They don’t even see ponies anymore. Don’t worry, I’ll be perfectly safe. It’s you two who are in danger. Please do be careful. Loretta and Chloe, I’ll lead you upstairs, so let’s be quiet until you’re in the nursery.”

They left through a low passageway.

---

Vicky left Chloe in the care of Loretta, or seeing how tightly the woman held her daughter’s hand, maybe it was more the other way round. She turned as she exited the nursery. Chloe waved at her with her other hand and gave her a reassuring smile. She’s a brave kid! thought Victoria, as she returned the smile and shut the door.

She galloped to the Litton’s office, entered, and activated the security console. Most of the house AI’s video feeds were back in operation and showed no evidence of any strange men in the house. She relaxed a bit and began to scan the news streams for any sign of the HLF. She did not have to wait long, barely five minutes into her vigil one newsfeed after another began reporting attacks on prominent leaders by assailants who left the prominently displayed letters H-L-F at each site near the bodies of their victims. In each case the departing attackers called the police, who arrived in minutes in full Blackmesh armor and removed the victims from sight before the transformation was complete. She wondered how Celestia could handle the sudden influx of all these newfoals. She hesitated a moment and rubbed her amulet.

There was a long wait before the princess answered. “Yes. Victoria. What is it?” Celestia’s voice in her mind sounded uncharacteristically weary, like a tired ten year old girl on the verge of tears.

I was calling you to find out about all the people being ponified and how you are coping, thought Victoria tentatively.

Again it took a moment before Celestia responded. “Unfortunately, Victoria, my news is sad. Almost all of them were put to death immediately after they were taken into custody. Several were taken during their ponification dream and whilst we were talking.” There was a long silence. “This last quarter hour has been most distressing. They were so briefly members of my herd.”

Victoria was appalled. Oh, Princess! I’m so sorry! I can’t imagine what this must be like for you... I... I don’t have the words. She paused, bewildered at her feeling of impotence to help the princess. I wish there was something I could do.

“It is the lot of an immortal to experience more grief than most, dear friend. But your voice is a great comfort to me, Victoria. More so than I would have imagined before these terrible events. I... am grateful for your concern, Victoria. It warms my heart so, and I do not wish to be alone with my thoughts.”

Victoria’s heart went out to Celestia. Nopony should grieve alone, princess, and you don’t have to. A sudden thought struck her. I'm surprised the police have not raided this house yet. No sooner had she expressed the thought to Celestia than an alarm popped up on the security window, and a screen showed a video feed of the front doors being broken in and a group of Blackmesh guards entering, guns held high.

Victoria left the office at a gallop. I have to intercept them and give them the alternate story, before they do a serious search of the house! she transmitted to the princess.

On the way she passed the dining room and blocked the doors open, hiding the painted letters H-L-F. She arrived downstairs moments later shouting. "Help! Help! They stole the master and Sasha! Police! Police!"

Victoria found herself at the focal point of several very deadly looking weapons. The nearest Blackmesh guard lowered his gun and approached the distraught looking mare. "You, pony. What's your name?"

Vicky looked up at him with her eyes bugging out and lowered her head almost to the floor. "I'm Vicky." She covered her head with one forelimb and trembled in fear.

The Blackmesh guard's stance relaxed even more. He approached Vicky and stroked her mane with a gloved hand. "That's a good girl, now Vicky. We're the police, and we're here to help." The other Blackmesh guards started to fan out into the house. "Where did this all happen Vicky? Can you take us there?"

Vicky slowly lifted her head and gave the Blackmesh officer a tentative smile. "Yessir. It was in the dining room. I can take you there if you wanna."

The officer signaled for two of his remaining troopers to follow him. "Now that's a fine idea, Vicky. Why don't you just lead us there like a good girl?"

Vicky fairly jumped in her enthusiasm. "This way! This way! I saw it all. I was in the dining room serving dinner when those bad men came. They had guns! And they pointed them at the master and Sasha." They arrived at the open dining room doors and proceeded inside.

"They pointed their guns at them and then put needles in them. And when they fell down they put them into bags and took them away."

The Blackmesh officer examined the table, spotting four settings. "Vicky. Are you quite sure only the master and Sasha were here? You wouldn't lie to me now, would you?" He approached Vicky and began stroking her mane again.

She beamed up at him, leaning into the hand as if she was really enjoying the motion. "Yup. Just before those bad men came Chloe had a fit about her clothes for the trip. The missus said she needed to check the luggage again ‘cause Chloe always forgot stuff, and she was really cross about it. Then she took Chloe upstairs, but it was lucky for them 'cause they weren't here when the bad men came, or they would have taken them too." Victoria took a deep breath and smiled.

"Now Vicky, this is real important. What happened after the men stuck the needles in them, did their skin become real pale?"

Vicky chewed on the tip of a hoof. "Uhh... I don't think so. And the master took a long while to fall asleep. The bad men said a lot of bad words, too. I was hiding under the table, so I didn't see them too well, 'cept for one bad man. He made a phone call, then they said more bad words and put the master and Sasha in bags. And then they took them away." Vicky began to cry.

The Blackmesh officer looked at his troopers. "Hmm. Seems this one isn't following the pattern. Might be a separate occurrence." He looked around. “Might be worthwhile doing a search."

"Oh, Mr. Policeman!" said Vicky, wiping the tears from her muzzle. "They're really bad men those HLF men!" The officer's hand froze mid stroke.

"Vicky, how do you know these men are from the HLF?" The other Blackmesh guards swung their weapons back towards the smiling mare.

"Oh, that's easy. They wrote their name on the door!" Vicky fairly bounced back to the dining room entrance, the Blackmesh guards in tow. She closed the doors, showing them the spray painted letters H-L-F. "See!"

The officer froze a moment, head cocked slightly as he listened to a communication. A moment later he turned to his men. "Okay, the pony's story has been corroborated. The wife and other daughter were found hiding in the nursery. She saw attack on security cam and hid. Their stories match up. Looks like the HLF goons had a failure in their process here and decided not to leave the evidence behind." He turned towards Vicky. "You run along now, Vicky. You did fine, girl. Go find your missus, she needs your help."

Vicky trotted up to the office and watched as the Blackmesh guards exited the house. A moment later the house security AI called the all-clear. Victoria sat down on her haunches and took a deep breath. She glanced up at one of the news feeds. Text scrolled across a ribbon at the bottom of its window. “An organization calling itself the Human Liberation Front carried out savage attacks on important corporate and government officials today killing many, as well as some of their family members. A statement allegedly from the leader of the group was released on the globalnet synchronized with the attacks. It states: ‘The HLF has been reactivated. In the name of Humanity, we declare to the powers that be that ponification is unacceptable as a punishment for even the most serious of crimes. So long as humans are being forcibly ponified, the HLF will continue to subject the families of those responsible to the same humiliation and deprivation they so callously inflict on the people of the world.’ The authorities report already making progress in their investigations of these incidents, and believe they should be able to bring these criminals to justice in short order.”

Did you see that, Princess? thought Victoria.

“Yes I did,” said Princess Celestia’s voice. “This is dire news indeed, and sheds light on many of today’s dark mysteries. My old foe, the HLF is reborn. Sadly, I suspect we have not heard the last of them.” Celestia’s voice seemed to take on a much lighter tone. “But enough of gloom, for today we also have a victory to celebrate, thanks to you Victoria. I am thoroughly impressed! What you have done in facing both the HLF and the authorities was nothing short of brilliant. And you’ve given me some ideas on what we might be able to do in future HLF attacks.”

Victoria blushed at the praise. I have a few ideas on that as well. Shall we discuss them while I round up the the troops, your majesty? asked Victoria.

“Please do. And I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” replied the princess as Victoria exited the office, this time at a far more leisurely pace. “When it’s just us two, please call me Celestia.”

---

The entire Litton family, Chloe and Victoria were collected in the nursery. Harvey Litton came in wearing a house livery vest that hid his wings reasonably well. Victoria had procured it as a well a large basket from which Sasha emerged the instant the nursery door was closed. Loretta ran to her daughter and held her in her arms. Then she approached her husband the three had a whispered discussion. Victoria waited until they seemed to reach a conclusion and quieted down, sitting together on the rug in a group. Chloe had come to her the moment she arrived. They sat together on the carpet opposite the Littons, Chloe clasping one of her hooves.

Victoria addressed the group. “Now that we’re all together, we have a lot to discuss and not a lot of time to work it all out. I could only interrupt the surveillance for this room for two hours without triggering verifications from the security AI. But first, I would like to inform you that there is a sixth party to our little gathering, Princess Celestia of Equestria.”

“How is that possible? Has she been released from the Treasure Chest?" asked Loretta confused.

Chloe’s eyes grew wide. “A real-live princess? Where is she?”

“She’s still in the Treasure Chest, but she can see and hear through my eyes and ears, and she can speak using my voice,” said Victoria. “She would like to say something to us now. To avoid confusion, when she speaks you will see her image instead of mine.”

Loretta gasped and the girls went squee as the image of a young girl replaced that of Victoria. “My little ponies, and friends. I am sure my appearance is not what you expected, but since my reawakening a few years ago, this is the shape I wear.” She looked at each member of the group in turn.

“Ever since Victoria joined my herd, she has been helping me establish a material foothold in the world. I had plans for how to use this to help the lot of humans who have been ponified, such as our good Victoria.

“The events of today, however, have irrevocably changed these plans. The HLF is back, and as of today they wield as a weapon the very thing they deplore the most: ponification potion. Attacks such as the one on your family have been made on over fifty of the leading families of the world’s largest corporations. In most cases the people ponified were taken into custody and disposed of. This is what would have happened to Chloe and the Littons, had Victoria not intervened. You owe your lives to her clear thinking and quick action.

“But saving the lives of this family is only a beginning. We now must find a way to keep Sasha and Mr. Litton from being discovered. Also, I am sure the HLF will continue their attacks as long as ponification is used as a punishment. I would like to save the ponies created from the sorry fate experienced by most of their fellows today.

“In order to do both of these things, I wish to create a series of safe farms, where unicorns and pegasi can live without fear of termination. I also wish to reconstitute the PER, this time as the Ponification Emergency Railroad, to quickly grab these newfoals and bring them to safety before the authorities get to them with dire results.” She paused to give the Littons time to digest this information.

“But how will you manage to do all that? It’s hopeless,” said Loretta, looking as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

“No, it isn’t hopeless,” said Celestia with a smile, “because we have this family and its resources. And mostly, Mrs. Litton, because we have you.”

Loretta looked up, eyes wide. “Me? What can I do?” She placed an arm on her husband’s withers, looking very insecure.

“You can become the human face of our little enterprise. And with your business contacts you can also help us infiltrate the HLF. Victoria will present you the details of our plan. But I remind you, Mrs. Litton, the safety of your daughter and husband rest in your hands, and your hands alone. We need you, as they need you. Will you promise to be our human face, Mrs. Litton?”

Loretta looked very lost for a moment. Sasha, still in her arms snuggled closer to her mother. Loretta looked at her, and then at her husband. “I don’t want to lose you, either of you. And I can’t fail you again. I won’t.” Her gaze returned to Celestia’s. “Yes, I promise,” she said in a more determined voice.

“Thank you, Loretta.” Celestia’s countenance slowly dissolved into that of Victoria.

“She is still listening in, if you’re wondering,” said Victoria. “Okay, first a few basics. During the last week I have created a shell-company and a few holding companies in your names. You are going into the farming business with assets raised from the futures markets.”

Harvey lost his smile. “Er, I haven’t done too well in futures lately.”

“But since I took over in the last week, you’ve been making money Harvey,” said Victoria. Her grin grew until it was almost predatory. “It’s amazing how easy it is the predict yields and prices when, via a certain equestrian princess, you have access to information from and can influence every single pony growing the high price luxury crops in question.”

For the first time that day, both Harvey and Loretta smiled.

---

- One year later -

Loretta Litton sat in a car as it drove up to the security gate of Demers Industries. At her side were Vicky and another pony sleeping on the floor. Both ponies wore the official livery of the Litton Family, which was comprised of a colorful vest that entirely covered the barrel and collar, and included a bow tie and a funny little pill-box hat set just above the eyes.

The exit was guarded by what seemed to be a whole regiment in Blackmesh armor. Her human driver lowered the window and spoke with the guards. “Only Mrs. Litton, myself and her pony staff.” The guard looked in and pointed a scanner at the vehicle’s interior while several other guards subjected the trunk and the undercarriage to the same treatment.

“What’s the delay, Will?” asked Loretta irritably.

“Nothing regarding us, ma’am!” replied Will. “It seems there was some sort of incident and so they’re going through all the outgoing vehicles with a fine tooth comb.”

After a moment, the guard saluted and the gate lifted. Will closed the window and moved the car forward.

They had driven for a quarter hour when the pony sleeping on the rug began to wake. “Wha... where am I?” He clumsily tried to stand up and fell back down. He noticed his pale blue limbs ending in hooves, not hands. “Oh, shit! It wasn’t just a dream.”

“No, Mr. Demers, it wasn’t,” said Loretta. “And as I’m sure you’re well aware, if we hadn’t snatched you first, you would almost certainly have been euthanized by now.” She held a mirror to his muzzle, and lifted the hat, revealing his unicorn horn.

Demers peered at himself in the mirror, then leaned back to gaze at Loretta with an intelligent but somewhat resigned look in his eyes. “And I assume this is the part where you offer to protect me... for a price.”

“No, my little pony,” said a little girl, startling Demers. His glance shifted to the child, sitting primly in the space which just seconds earlier had been occupied by a pony in Litton livery. She seemed to be in her very early teens, except for her eyes, which spoke of a soul far older and wiser. It was the princess of Demers’s ponification dream.

“Mr. Demers, we are not going to extort money from you. In fact, we have a great need for unicorns and several open positions within our company. Our intelligence within a certain unsavory organization led us here today in the expectation that you might be forced into a sudden career change.” Princess Celestia leaned forward. “You see, Mr. Demers, you were a powerful man, but you are a unicorn pony now, a fugitive fleeing a death sentence. And so this is the part where I offer you the chance to fight back. This is the part where you get to join the resistance.”

---

The wall of the estate was several kilometers longs, the brick and mortar barrier some ten meters high over most of its length. There were four gates leading inside through four tunnel-like structures. The local residents and the guard staff at the gates never saw the inside of Litton Estate, one of the most private places on earth. It was the kind of privacy only great wealth could afford. All visitors invited inside, and they were very few in number, had to sign a binding non-disclosure contract before being allowed in. Even from the air it was impossible to see what lay inside, as it was covered by multiple redundant photonic disruption grids. When asked about it the locals laughed and said the “emperors of fruit had gone just a bit fruity themselves”. The only ones who ever saw the estate’s sprawling expanse of low buildings and fields were the residents themselves, most of whom did not officially exist.

Inside the main house, Victoria and Loretta sat together in the breakfast nook just off the kitchen. Chloe and Sasha, as inseparable as ever, were drawing pictures and coloring them on a low table in the kitchen, within sight of their mothers but far enough for discrete conversation between the adults.

Loretta was wearing a simple elegant cotton t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, both worth a fortune and appropriate for her station as titular head of one of the world’s largest growers of premium food-stuffs and its premier land reclamation magnate. “I would never have dreamed of this, Victoria,” she said in a low voice.

“Really now, Loretta? Wasn’t something like this what we talked and schemed about all the time as we tried to climb the corporate ladder?” asked Victoria with a conspiratorial smile.

Loretta’s brow furrowed for a moment. “No, I meant the girls playing together, and just being girls, out of the system that produces people... like me.” She gazed at her hands.

“You mean like us?” asked Victoria. She leaned closer to Loretta. “Loretta, I’m under no illusions that I’m an angel. I rose through the auditing ranks because I was even sneakier than the people I exposed, and vicious in pursuing them. It cost me my husband, Loretta, and then my humanity.” She looked at Loretta’s eyes until the woman gazed up into hers. “I’ve never told you this, but becoming a pony was the best thing that ever happened to me.” She held up her forehooves. “It’s not that I don’t miss my thumbs, because I do.” Her smile turned bittersweet. “But, just like you and Harvey, I was on a trajectory that had only one destination: a person who would see others as objects, nothing more than resources to be recruited or obstacles to be disposed of.” The hard lines around her mouth relaxed, and her smile grew gentle again. “But then I met Celestia, and she took me off that trajectory.”

“Harvey said something very much like that,” said Loretta. “He said after joining her he could never see others the same way again. He’s become such a good person since. I have no idea why he would even let a person like me in his sight.” She looked up. “But he says he still loves me.” She looked back to the girls drawing their pictures. “And she does too.”

“Then I’ll tell you another thing I’ve never told you, Loretta.” Victoria became serious. “Before the attack by the HLF, I was planning to take Chloe and run away, with a sizeable portion of your fortune. But when I was looking through your files, I found all sorts of little reminders that this family had been good to Chloe, and little Sasha won my heart.” Both adults gazed at the little pink unicorn sitting with Chloe. “But the nail in the coffin of my revenge, Loretta, was you!”

“Me?” said Loretta with a skeptical look.

“Yes, you,” said Victoria. “When the HLF attacked, I held on to my Chloe and saw your heart break as you watched Sasha turning into a pony. And later I saw it mend the instant Sacha woke up and called to you. I saw how very similar we really were, Loretta.” She paused for a moment. “We all have good and evil in us. Maybe sometimes all we need to become a better person is to just believe that we can.” She got a far-away look in her eyes. “Of course it helps to have someone else who will encourage us to believe in ourselves.”

Loretta pointed to the girls. “And a reason to become a better person.”

The mare and the woman watched the girl and filly draw, whisper to each-other, and giggle in girlish glee while they drank tea in silence as mothers and maybe, finally, as friends.

---

The evening sky over Equestria was a riot of pink, gold, coral and a delicate eggshell blue that was a pale ghost of royal blue of day. Celestia had just set the sun. Together in the castle observatory, the sisters marked the twilight until Luna would raise the moon and paint the night-time sky with bold constellations and a rushing river of stars shining bright.

“I love this time of day, Lulu,” said Celestia, legs dangling over the parapet, feet kicking rhythmically over the drop. She held the bars of the guard-rail in her young hands.

Luna sat next to her, leaning against the rails, her tail swishing in counterpoint to her sister’s legs. “How beautiful, and yet how brief.” She put a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. “You seem so much happier these days, Cely. Can I attribute this to the magic of friendship?”

“Yes, Luna. Victoria has become such a dear friend. I feel more alive than I have in decades.”

Luna smirked. “And admit it, you always did enjoy a little empire building, Cely.”

The little girl face with the wizened eyes turned towards her. “So what do you think of my new associates, Luna?”

The dark princess was pensive a moment. “Some of them do have a rather... colorful past, don’t you think? Other than Victoria, don’t you fear they may end up biting the hand that feeds them?”

“The Littons may not have been the most exemplary of humans, but they have both become major assets to our cause, if for no other reason than the love of their daughter Sasha. Loretta Litton, despite her other character flaws, is nevertheless the type of mother who will do anything to protect her child. Harvey and the other newfoals we are collecting know full well the only fate that awaits them outside of our organization is a quick death. In the meantime, I now have several unicorns and pegasi adding their own distinct flavor of magic to mine. Eventually I will have all the faculties I did before my... incarceration. I also now have deep insights into the behavior of the human governments and corporations, which is already bearing fruit in our commercial enterprises.”

Stars began to dot the sky, as its colors deepened.

“And I have my dear Victoria, to guide me in making this all work. She came up with a truly marvelous idea the other day. We have created a new courier company for hoof delivered messages. She called it the Pony Express! She’s already created several decontamination companies that have made a killing buying wasteland and reconditioning it into prime agricultural or residential real-estate.”

More stars appeared, and the last of the bright colors darkened.

“Every day now, I can truly help more of my little ponies, and heal a little more of this wounded earth. And there will come a day when I will set my ponies free and make it possible for them and the humans of this world to live in harmony.” She looked at Luna in the failing light. Her sister had closed her eyes and stopped moving. On the horizon, a pale glow erupted as the moon rose slowly into the sky.

“Well, this illusion of a sister is nevertheless thoroughly impressed. Real friends, real money and real-estate! Not bad for a bodiless head living in a box!”

By the light of the moon, Celestia’s smile glowed brightly. “You know Lulu, you do have a knack for cheering me up!”

Princess Luna laughed and slowly gestured with a hoof at the firmament above. Countless stars slowly twinkled into sight, the glory that was Luna’s night, the sky of Equestria that Celestia could only see in her dreams.

“There will come a day,” whispered Celestia.

Comments

[Dafaddah]

The title says it all: Victoria Triumphant. Lots of action, and some redemption in the mix. Please let me know what you like and what I could improve.

Happy Holidays All!

Dafaddah

[Chatoyance]

Oh, I enjoyed this. I can't offer many ideas for improvements, to tell the truth. I thought it was just lovely.

Maybe - maybe - it would have been tasty to experience a little of Sasha and her father learning the joys and problems of being ponies, but such indulgence could also destroy momentum. That's always a trade off.

In any case, I so enjoy your writing, and these characters especially.

[Dafaddah]

1870595

I suspect I will be coming back to them in a few separate stories.

[shutaro]

Magnificent! I really like the way they used the HLF against it's own goals. I wonder how long the Lizard will play that game.

[Dafaddah]

1872682

I have decided to do chapter 11 of MT - Relic next (during the next few days), so you will get to find out very soon what the Lizard was up to, but just to do a bit of foreshadowing: Eden is Optimal!

Duhn, duhn, duuuuuuuhhhnnn!

Dafaddah