Mankind Triumphant - Relic

by Dafaddah

AD 2200 part 6 - Eden is Optimal

Based on The Conversion Bureau: Mankind Triumphant

- Relic -

Chapter Eleven: AD 2200 part 6 - Eden is Optimal

by Dafaddah

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

---

Wilberforce Sachs sat in his office staring at the bottom of an empty tumbler. Despite the excellent whiskey it had contained, his stomach was a cold, twisted knot, and sweat beaded his brow. Fear does that, he mused, swirling a final drop of amber in the glass and tilting his head back to deliver that drop to its fate.

The video he had just seen had turned his world upside down, on more than one level. Celestia the invader had been invited in! The Conversion Bureaus were not an Equestrian imposition on a dying planet, they were a human invention, meant to calm the masses while a select few escaped the Earth to go live on another planet.

What he had taken as truth, mankind’s triumph over the pony invasion, was a lie. The glorious resistance to extinction, was a lie. Lies! It was all lies!

And Celestia’s trial in absentia, her incarceration in the Treasure Chest for her crimes, the righteous justification for robbing her of her blood to create a great society that had healed the wounded planet. Lies! Worse than lies. It was rape!

He rose from his chair and walked across his office to the bar, intending to deposit the tumbler in a tray that lay on its top. He looked at the glass held his trembling hand.

Fear. Fear, and anger! There was a picture of his grand-father standing next to the Treasure Chest on the wall. Staring at the picture he felt his face burn. Shame. He recalled his first visit with Celestia. In the photograph his grandfather was laughing. Shame and... betrayal!

The glass tumbler exploded into sparkling shards of crystal as it smashed the glass of the picture, leaving behind a web of fracture lines.

One of his security guards rushed into the room, his expression changing from determination to bewilderment as he took in the sight of Wilberforce Sachs, staring at the damaged picture while breathing hard. “Is there a problem, Mr. Sachs?” he asked tentatively.

Sachs turned his gaze from the wall to his confused guard and barked out a laugh. “There just might be, Turner. There just might be.” He looked back towards the damaged picture. “Have someone clean this up. Oh, and tell them to get rid of that picture while they’re at it, please.”

“Yes-sir,” replied Turner. Taking one final look to make sure nothing was amiss, he left Sach’s office, quietly closing the door behind him.

Wilberforce went back to his desk and had hardly sat down before the phone rang. The call display read ‘Guess who’. He debated ignoring the call, but then decided answering might actually be the safer course. He hit the reply button and said “Sachs.”

“Wrong!” said an annoyingly cheerful voice. “But that’s okay, you get two more tries.”

“The Lizard,” said Sachs.

“Nope, but you’re getting warmer!”

“Enough of this nonsense!” spat Wilberforce. “Identify and show yourself if you want this conversation to continue.” He raised his finger over the cut-off.

“Okay, Wilberforce, you win!” A video window opened, showing a middle aged man with dark hair. "My name will mean nothing to you as I’m not from around here, but you can call me General Patton, and suffice it to say that I’m the head of the HLF.” He raised both hands, fingers spread outwards. “Surprise!”

The man looked disappointed when the gesture failed to get a reaction from Sachs.

“Jeepers, Willy! Had a bad day?” He tilted his head to one side. “Well, I’m going to cheer you up. You see, I’ve got some more information for you that you just won’t believe, buuuut... you’re going to have to come meet me face-to-face.”

“That’s out of the question,” replied Sachs.

“Really now?” said the man with a sad frown. “You’re breaking my heart! Are you sure you won’t reconsider?”

“I don’t meet terrorists, or anyone for that matter, unless I want to see them.”

Anger now showed in the man’s expression. “So be it. I tried to do this the nice way, but then life can be so disappointing for nice guys like me.” He tilted his head again, his expression halfway between a smile and a snarl. “Perhaps you should check on Conrad and his nice little friend. And if you ever want to see either of them alive again, meet me at this address in an hour.” The screen blanked out, but then reappeared. “Formal attire is not required, but bring twenty pre-authorized diplomatic pouches with seals. Ta-ta, Willy!”

The screen went dark and this time stayed that way.

Sach’s voice trembled as he spoke. “House. Security level 1a, full Eastern Alliance priority. Locate Conrad Sachs and William Hitchcock.” The knot in his stomach grew worse with each passing second.

“Conrad Sachs and William Hitchcock could not be located within the confines of the Eastern Alliance,” said the voice of the house AI.

Wilberforce took a breath. “Turner,” he said out loud.

“Yes-sir” replied Turner’s voice in Wilberforce’s security earpiece.

“Call The Council office. Have them prepare twenty diplomatic pouch tags and authorized seals for me. I need them here in fifteen minutes.”

“Yes-sir,” said Turner.

Sachs wondered how much worse his day could become.

---

Celestia leaned against the guardrail at the top of her observatory tower, deep in thought.

“Oh, my. That is one serious face!” said Princess Luna as she approached. “Are you any closer to resolving the mystery of Equestria’s disappearance, and mine as well?”

“Perhaps,” said Celestia. “I now know how they got the Hypernuclear devices into Equestria. They encased them in a material made from the powdered remains of our dear brother in his statuesque state. But a few things still puzzle me, my imaginary sister.”

“And these are?” Luna raised an eyebrow.

“The placement of the devices, for one. If they had detonated more than a few hundred meters from the exact center of the bubble, the shockwave would have reached one point of the barrier first and it would have breached catastrophically at that point. Most of the energy produced would have exited the enclosed sphere from there as well, causing a blowtorch effect. They could even have positioned the devices so that the discharged was aimed into space, minimizing the potential damage to Earth.

“Instead, the shock wave reached all parts of the barrier simultaneously. I believe this presented you with an interesting dilemma, dear sister, and perhaps an opportunity.”

Luna looked surprised. “A problem and an opportunity? This is related to the barrier then?”

“More specifically it’s related to its dual nature. The natural part of the barrier is of course the interdimensional interface, where the local topology of Earth space is absorbed into that of Equestria’s. This is the part where the laws of physics change from those of one universe to another, and that is so deadly to humans and most of their technological artifacts. That barrier we cannot stop outright, although we can influence the rate of its encroachment of Earth space to an extent. And then there is the filter part, the force field we created to transform or push out dangerous substances before they can harm anypony or Equestria itself.

“It’s this barrier that pushed the energy discharge from the hypernuclear explosions out from the center of Equestria. The problem was that the shockwave spread evenly over the entire sphere, so there was no single point of release for the energy of the detonation.

“If things had taken their natural course, the shockwave’s energy would have been discharged over the entire surface of the barrier, effectively sterilizing everything on Earth within several hundred kilometers of it.”

“If things had taken their natural course... but you think they didn’t, and that my real self had something to do with it?” asked Luna.

“Exactly. Because the natural course is not what happened. The Shockwave was stopped somehow, and the energy was not discharged outside the barrier.”

“To use a very modern expression: well duh-uh!” Luna rolled her eyes. “Since you so obligingly gave those so-called photographers a peek-a-boo pose with your smile on Earth, your neck over the barrier, and your plump white rump in Equestria, your head would have been one of the first things incinerated, dear Cely. Do I look like the type of sister who would allow that to happen?”

“You’ll get a cramp in your forehead if you try to raise that eyebrow any higher, Lulu.” answered Celestia drily. “But somepony did something, and you are the main suspect! If I recall at the time I was busy transmitting my goodbyes to you all.” She sat down at what had become her favorite spot along the parapet.

“And your love,” Cely. Luna approached her sister from from behind and wrapped her wings around Celestia’s girlish form. “You poured out your love. And I am sure, illusion though I be, that everypony in Equestria felt it in that moment.”

Small hands began to preen Luna’s feathers. Hands with deep knowledge of what feathers truly were and how to care for them. The hands froze and Luna felt her sister’s back stiffen suddenly.

“Cadence,” she said.

“What?”

“You and Cadence.” Celestia’s smile could have outshone her sun. “You, and Cadence!”

“Me and Cadence what, Cely?”

“You stopped the filter spell from discharging the energy of the blast at the barrier’s perimeter. You couldn’t bear the thought of me being killed, which would have been the likely outcome if my entire head was destroyed.”

“Celestia, dear, it took Starswirl a hundred years to devise that spell. Then it took you almost five hundred years to build it up, and you did all of it without me. It was the most powerful thaumatic entity ever constructed, was semi-sentient, and it took a team of over one hundred unicorns to keep it and the dimensional barrier growing according the humans’ timetable. I don’t think it could be so easily modified, and certainly not in micro-seconds.”

Celestia’s grin practically split her face from ear-to-ear. “No, of course you couldn’t! But what you and Cadence could do is put up another barrier just a few nanometers outside of it. A barrier that would contain the energies between it and the filter barrier. And to be specific, this would not be done by creating a new barrier, but by reusing and reinforcing an existing one. One that has existed for over a thousand years.” Celestia paused, looking up into Luna’s eyes.

Luna’s eyes grew wide as saucers. “The Crystal Heart!”

“The Crystal Heart,” agreed Celestia. “That would explain how the expected energy discharge at the barrier never happened, and why I am still alive to try to solve its puzzle.”

“And to have conversations with your imaginary sister,” agreed Luna. “But, had I and Cadence not intervened, even with the energy discharge, it is likely the interdimensional barrier itself would have survived and eventually would have consumed the Earth. Why did the humans attempt this action at all?”

Celestia thought for a moment, and her smile faltered. “It was our fault!”

“What do you mean?” Luna’s ears raised in alarm.

“We never explained to them that there were really two barriers. The filter barrier was a defense against attacks that we could not foresee, and to prevent even the accidental incursion of technologies that could ruin the Equestrian economy and ecology. When the convergence began, we chose to keep its existence secret from the humans. I know for a fact that many humans thought that by destroying us they would be destroying the barrier itself and thus halt the expansion.” Distress crossed her pretty features. “I foolishly thought the filter barrier impregnable.”

Her expression softened, and again, she got a faraway look in her eyes. “But a few things about this event bother me still,” exclaimed Celestia.

“These being?” ased Luna.

“Where did the confined energy go? And what happened to the dimensional barrier? After the explosion, just like Equestria, it was gone.”

The sisters stared out over Celestia’s memory of Equestria.

---

Major Hood gestured to Sgt. Willis, who prodded the two hooded forms forward. Willis gestured and the hoods were removed, revealing two rather annoyed looking young men.

“Greetings... Conrad Sachs and... Billy Hitchcock.” said the voice of the Lizard somewhat hesitantly.

“You! Why have your goons kidnapped us?” asked Conrad angrily. “We cooperated with your demands. I passed your message on to my father.”

“Yes, you did.” The was a pause and some scratchy sounds from the speakers. “We kidnapped you because we need your father’s immediate cooperation. He has agreed to bring us diplomatic pouches and credentials that he will exchange for you two.” Again, there were scratching noises from the Speaker. Conrad looked at Billy, who nodded almost imperceptibly.

Major Hood was looking at the boys with disbelief. The Lizard seemed to be more open with information with these two prisoners than with the HLF’s own rank and file!

“Why do you need diplomatics pouch tags?” asked Conrad.

“To get past nanite scans, of course... Major Hood?” the Lizard’s voice still seemed hesitant.

“Yes-sir?” replied Hood to the hated machine intelligence.

“Please secure these two persons for transport to the exchange point... You will accompany... General… Discord... Patton,” said the Lizard haltingly.

“Yes-sir”. Amidst their grumbled complaints, the bags were placed back over the boys’ heads, and they were led back out of the room.

---

The first thing Conrad saw when the mask came off was his dad. The second thing was a man standing next to him with what looked like the most insufferably amused expression in the universe. The third was the mask being pulled off of Billy’s head, who was sitting on the floor of the delivery van next to him. Its doors were open, revealing the interior of an empty warehouse. He turned back to look at the man.

Is that Discord, Princess? asked Conrad via the link to Celestia.

“Yes, Conrad,” was Celestia’s telepathic reply. “He is very unpredictable and dangerous. Don’t resist or give him any cause to dislike you. Also, it might be dangerous for this link spell to be active if he touches you. I’ll observe via Billy only. Call me if you need me.” He felt their mental connection dissolve.

Discord waved in the boys’ direction. “There, you see? Safe, sound and fit as a fiddle! We even had them wash their hands after they went to potty like good boys should,” he said. “Might I inspect the merchandise before we effect the transaction?”

Conrad’s dad handed him a case. He opened it and checked the displays on the tags, while his dad seethed in silence.

“Well, I can’t fault you for quantity or quality, Willy.” Discord gestured and Conrad felt himself pushed from behind. Billy moved forward with him. They quickly crossed to where his dad waited with Discord.

“Finally we meet face-to-face, Conrad Sachs. I’m honored to meet the young man who could out-wit my otherwise efficacious Major Hood and his hoodlums! Har-har!” He offered Conrad a hand and waited. And waited.

He leaned closer to Conrad. “You know I could still just have everyone here I don’t like shot. Do your dad and Billy a service and shake my hand like a gentleman.”

Conrad looked at the hand, and tentatively raised his to clasp it and shake. Thank goodness Billy showed me how to fake a handshake! he thought.

Discord raised an eyebrow. “My, what an interesting grip you have there Conrad.” His gaze shifted to Conrad’s dad. “The boy has horsepower!”

Billy’s eyes grew big, but he said nothing as they waited for him to release Conrad’s hand. Finally he did, and picking up the case, threw it at Conrad who caught it reflexively. He then pulled out a gun and pointed it at Conrad. “You know what? I like Conrad, I really do.” He smiled at Wilberforce. “I think I’ll keep him one more day. Just to make sure our pouches clear customs without any embarrassing delays.”

"The deal was the tags for the boys!" His dad took a step towards Discord, who aimed the gun in his direction.

“Wilberforce, really! I never said when I would give them back now, did I? And to show that I’m not the type to take things personally I’ll let you keep Billy Boy, here. You’ll get Conrad back, safe and sound, once the pouches have arrived to their destinations.” He gestured with the gun. His dad took another step towards Discord.

Conrad stepped between them. “Dad, stay cool. I’ll be okay.” He walked past his fuming father, and with DIscord in tow went all the way back to the delivery van and got in. The doors closed and it drove out of the warehouse.

---

“Young Conrad Sachs! As we haven’t been formally introduced please allow me: General G. D. Patton, at your service.” Discord bowed his head. “I’m sure a bright lad like you is just bursting with curiosity to find out why we need these diplomatic pouches.”

“The pouches are needed to get past the public transport virus and nanite scans,” said Conrad dully.

Discord looked at him with a frown. “How do you know that?”

“Er, the Lizard mentioned it,” said Conrad with a swallow.

“Tsk, tsk. Loose lips sink ships, and all that. And what do you suppose the nanites we ship will do?”

Conrad stared glumly at him. “Given the history of the HLF, I would suppose you’ve engineered a pony plague of some sort and plan release it simultaneously over the entire globe. Why else would you need twenty nanite scan exempt diplomatic pouches? Twenty and you cover all major land masses. There’d be no way to stop the nanite plague once released.”

Discord smiled. “Why else indeed!” For the rest of the trip he was uncharacteristically quiet.

---

“Damn!” Wilberforce Sachs positively radiated frustration.

Billy approached him. Moments after waking up and realizing that he had been kidnapped he had contacted the princess. She had advised Billy on what he needed to do. “Mr. Sachs, I think I know who the general is.”

“What? How could you possibly know that?” asked Sachs, anger suffusing his every action.

“Because me and Conrad found something out while researching the Lizard. We searched from before Judgement Day, and we found out more about how they made the casings for the hypernuclear devices they used, and how they build the Treasure Chest.”

“And what does any of that have to do with the so called General Patton?” asked Conrad’s dad.

Billy swallowed under the elder Sachs glare. “They only used a small portion of the statue of Discord to make those. Most of it was stored in a series of secure facilities, the most recent of which was actually your house.”

“Was?” asked Sachs a bit more calmly.

“Yeah, was. When we found out where it was Conrad went to check it out. There was nothing but several containers of water in the bin. The statue material was gone. And when we were questioned by the Lizard he let dropped another piece of information: the name Discord.”

Sachs grabbed Billy by the collar of his shirt. “Are you sure that was the name he used?”

“Yes-sir! I’m sure!” squeaked Billy.

Sachs let go. He stared into the distance for a moment, and then took out his phone. He dialed and waited a moment until the party at the other end answered. “Hello Celestia, this is Sachs. We need to talk. I’ll be there in an hour and I’m bringing a guest.”

Billy went ‘Squee’ like a little girl.

---

Conrad sat on the warehouse floor while the HLF members filled the diplomatic pouches with cylindrical containers. They were all in very good spirits. A few minutes later all the pouches had been filled, addressed and the diplomatic exemption seals applied. The men sat in chairs while waiting for the courier service to come pick them up. Hood looked at Conrad.

“Finally, the real end of the pony invasion of Earth is at hand,” he said. Conrad looked at him, keeping a neutral expression.

“People like your father betrayed us, you know. We didn’t beat back the genocidal bitch just so we could voluntarily change nine tenths of humanity into bloody aliens ourselves!” He shook his head in disgust. “No. It has to end and it will end now.”

“What about the billions of ponies that will die? They used to be human and they didn’t chose to become ponies. Don’t they count for something? Don’t they deserve to live?” asked Conrad in a low voice.

“Every war has its collateral damage, son,” said Hood. “But let’s be clear about something, they stopped being human the instant they were converted. The people died when the needle went into them and the nanites ripped the humanity out of their bodies. What’s left is alien. No humans will die from this plague.”

There was a clapping sound and the voice of ‘the general’ spoke: “Bravo, Major! Well said.”

He walked to the table and grabbed the lone cylinder that had not been put into a pouch. In his other hand was the same gun he’d had earlier. “Conrad, you and me need to have a little talk. Sorry for the rush, but time is short. Let’s gallop on over to the conference room right over there.” He pointed to a door with the gun.

Conrad rose and walked quickly in the direction indicated. Every few seconds his eyes glanced at the cylinder in Discord’s other hand.

Behind them there was a commotion. He heard Willis shout. “Pony Express is here for the pick-up.” The laughter of the HLF men echoed through the warehouse.

Conrad opened the door. The light switched on, revealing a rather drab standard issue meeting room: large rectangular table, dull grey chairs on casters, conferencing phone, whiteboard wall at the narrow end opposite the door. He entered and sat on one of chairs. It was somewhat uncomfortable because it made no provisions for his invisible pony tail.

Discord sat down opposite him and regarded him with interest. He placed the cylinder on the table between them. “Okay, Conrad my boy, you and I are going to have real pony to man talk.” Even though he was grinning his eyes were deadly serious.

“How did you figure it out?” asked Conrad, just as seriously. “Was it the handshake?”

Discord looked down. “Well, you can’t fool me with magic at that level, boy. The moment I touched you I knew your real nature, and I must say I’m intrigued.” When he looked up again he actually did seem less hostile. “Do you know mine?”

Conrad hesitated a moment, but figured that this might be a test of sorts. He decided to play as close to the truth as possible. “Billy and I investigated Judgement Day and discovered an amazing story of something called ‘substance D’. A whole pile of it is missing from my dad’s warehouse. If you can discern magic, then my guess is that your real name is Discord.”

The eyes of ‘General Patton’ displayed several emotions in sequence: hunger, gratitude and then an almost childlike joy. ‘The protocol’ said to try to find out what the kidnappers wanted. He decided to exploit Discord’s good mood to see if he could get any useful information from him.

“Why are you doing this: killing all those ponies?” asked Conrad.

Discord’s smile grew wistful. “My dear Conrad, I have an admission to make.” He lifted the back of a hand to his brow. “You see, I am nothing more than a figurehead in the HLF.” The hand came down and he leaned across the table. “The real kingpin of this outfit is...” He left his sentence unfinished while taking out a piece of paper and a pen.

“The Lizard,” Conrad concluded for him.

“Bravo, young Sachs. You got it in one!” Patton scribbled on the paper. “And you see, I had Corporal Harper report to me in the minutest detail regarding what happened when you and Billy boy spoke with it early. What an interesting conversation! I would be very interested in you having another conversation with him just now.” He winked at Conrad and slid the paper across the table to him. On the paper was the sentence ‘What’s in the cylinders?’, with large question marks drawn randomly on the other parts of the page.

Conrad hastily used the AI befuddlement spell, hoping he'd got it right. If Discord noticed he didn’t let on. Or maybe just has a good poker face, thought Conrad.

Discord hit a button on the conference phone and said: “Oh Lizard?”

“Yes, General.” There were snaps and fizzes as the AI spoke.

“The pouches have been collected by Pony Express and will be dispatched within the hour. I have the Sachs boy here with me as we discussed. The poor child is so distressed. I thought we could cheer him up a bit. In fact I thought we could let him open the very first one!”

“Negative. You may only release the local vector at the agreed time... after all the other cylinders … have been delivered,” replied the Lizard in fits and starts.

It’s working! thought Conrad. It’s just like when we spoke with the House Doctor and the Lizard earlier. Billy isn’t the only one who can manage this spell!

“Why not?” said Discord. “Only ponies will be affected, after all.” He reached for the cylinder.

Conrad looked at the cylinder in alarm. He pushed away from the table until the back of his chair hit the wall behind him. Discord grinned jovially.

“Do not release... the vector or the transport... might fail before the other cylinders... reach destination.” the Lizard’s command came out somewhat distorted.

“Why not?” asked Discord in a reasonable tone of voice.

The only response was several seconds of static.

There was a knock at the door. “General?” It was Hood’s voice, sounding impatient. “Might I have a word with you, sir?”

“Come on in, Major,” called Discord affably.

The door opened revealing Hood holding a gun pointed at ‘the general’. “Sir. I am to relieve you of that cylinder. Please have the kid bring it to me.”

“And what if I refuse?” asked Discord as if it was a perfectly reasonable question.

“Then I am authorized to shoot you to secure it, sir,” replied Hood evenly.

Discord smiled. “You might want to revise your plans, Major.”

The was an ominous click and Hood slowly raised his arms.

"Ah. Perfect timing, Corporal Harper." Discord smiled in satisfaction. "Do take the major's weapon and tie him up somewhere comfortable."

"Sir. Tommy is keeping an eye on Willis,” replied Harper laconically.

“Splendid!” ‘The general’ turned to gaze steadily at Conrad. “Where were we?” He tapped the side of his head with the cylinder. “Oh, yes! The nanites.” He held it up as if he had just remembered that he was holding it the entire time. “Maybe you should ask the architect of our grand scheme? After all, much as you impress me, you seem to have quite the effect on our dear Lizard.” He tapped the note on the table with the tip of the cylinder.

Conrad nodded hesitantly. “Lizard! What’s in the cylinders?”

There was a moment of silence and then again the sound of statics. “Nanites...” replied the Lizard. “Do not release them... until the other vectors have arrived at their destinations.”

Discord made a circular motion with tip of the cylinder.

“Uh, nanites that do what, exactly?” asked Conrad hesitantly.

There was a pause with more static. “Create the final conditions... for the return to the initial self regulating ecology,” answered the AI.

‘The general’ rolled his eyes as well as the cylinder, this time.

“And what are these conditions?” added Conrad.

“A fully functional natural and sustainable ecology... without artificial environmental distortion factors... The Earth is repaired... the ecology... capable of self-regulation.” The Lizard’s voice was gradually becoming harder to understand.

Discord raised an eyebrow as he mimed swinging the cylinder as if it was a tennis racquet.

“What kind of distortion factors, and how will the nanites affect them?” asked Conrad.

“Uncontrolled technologies and... those agencies that... produce them. The nanites will disassemble them into component molecules... and where necessary... encapsulate environmental toxins.”

By this point Conrad was as curious as Discord to see where this was leading. “And what would those agencies be?” he asked.

“Intellig...t agen... ies.” there was more static noise.

“Intelligent agencies such as what?” Conrad felt he might be running out of time to get a coherent response from the Lizard.

“... original agents of env... strophy and their artificial... igences...”

“What about ponies?” asked Conrad desperately.

There was static for several seconds. “... sterile... die out naturally... no humans to conv...” The room became deathly silent as even the static died out. Discord hung up the call.

For the first time in their short acquaintance Discord was visibly angry. He stared at the cylinder in his hand with eyes narrowed. “Conrad, it’s time we cut to the chase. I figure you couldn’t possibly have managed magic at this level by yourself. And I just don’t picture Billy boy in a leading role here. So, I suspect you’re in contact with her royal highness Princess Celestia of Equestria.” He grinned at Conrad conspiratorially.

“Maybe you boys and your father are all agents of hers. Either, way, there’s only one way I’ll ever know for sure.” He got up and gestured for Conrad to do the same, and then handed over his phone. “Call your father, kid. Tell him to meet us at the entrance to the Treasure Chest vault - sans security contingent. We’re going to have a little chat with dear old Celestia.”

Conrad dialed his father’s number and waited for him to answer. “Hi dad, it’s Conrad...”

---

Mr. Sachs ended the call and put away his phone. “How much of that did you catch, Billy?”

“We’re meeting Conrad at the Treasure Chest, with Discord?”

“In one, Billy. And here I am having to chose between the life of my son, and possibly delivering Princess Celestia into the hands of her greatest enemy,” said Sachs.

“Oh,” said Billy. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

Did you get all that, your majesty? he subvocalized.

“Yes, Billy. I’m prepared,” said Celestia’s voice in his head.

Comments

[Lordmiak]

The players are moving their pawns...

[shutaro]

And here I thought Discord had somehow taken over from the original "The Lizard"-AI.
On the other hoof: Who trusts Discord?

[Zervziel]

My response to this chapter is basically TL;DR. Why? Read the very first paragraph and I basically lost all hope with this story. So everything that happened with the Conversion Bureaus is basically summed up by one simple phrase "Greedy humans fucked everything up! lol" No humans fighting against tall odds to remain human, just bad and greedy humans ruining shit for everyone else and the Equestrian's aren't at any fault at all it's just evil humans. Sorry, mate, but despite the story's strong beginning, this chapter was a big enough let down that I have no urge to finish this story now.

[Chatoyance]

This is magnificent material, and I am very intrigued.

Sorry for taking so very long to catch up with your work, It is shameful of me. I have been gradually getting back into everything, and there is a terrible backlog of stories for me to read. I was out of the loop for too many months.

I am loving Relic. Just loving it.