Mankind Triumphant - Relic

by Dafaddah

AD 2200 part 3 - Loyalties

Based on The Conversion Bureau: Mankind Triumphant

- Relic -

Chapter five: AD 2200 part 3 - Loyalties

by Dafaddah

Author's note: When I first read Chatoyance's story it shook me to the bone. It scared me, it kept me awake, it affected me. When she invited others to submit stories around her TCB New Universe scenarios, I knew I could not refuse. I felt this story calling to me. Resistance was futile. So here it is.

By the way the chapters are not presented in chronological order. Yes, intentionally. But you can read them that way if you like!

Note: some of the text in part one is from Chatoyance's original story and is used with her permission. A resemblance to Midnightshadow's story Shattered Worlds - Habeas Corpus is also intentional and has been cleared with the author.

---

"Conrad, you never told me you lived in a castle!" Billy stared out the window as the limo approached the mansion and stopped under the coach entrance. Perkins opened the car door and Conrad, his dad and Billy exited.

Billy stopped short when he saw the huge white marble structure topped with crenelations and even a few short towers. "Wow!"

The elder Sachs was amused at his reaction. "I actually had it designed in a style similar to Canterlot Castle in Equestria. I did have to accept some minor differences in order to make the place defensable from attack by modern weapons. The inside of this mansion is probably one of the safest places on planet Earth." He seemed quite proud of the edifice. "Now how about you boys go have a rest. Dinner will be at eight o'clock. Oh, and have the doc AI..."

"... take a look at my head," finished the younger Sachs. "Will do dad. Come-on Billy, let me show you around." Conrad led Billy in through the wide doorway, nodding to the Blackmesh clad security guards on both sides.

Inside, Billy ogled the faux-medieval decore and whistled. "And the Canterlot Castle theme continues! So do we have to wear plate armor to dinner, or are tabard and tunic acceptable?"

"Light armor is always acceptable if well polished and it doesn't smell too cheesy," replied Conrad, giving in to the inevitable. Billy wasn't his first visitor to react in this way to his house. They climbed the central stairway to a large gallery on the second floor. At its end they turned to the right where there was another guard in Blackmesh. "We are now in the private wing of the house. Only family and trusted guests get in here alive."

Billy started walking closer to Conrad. "If that was meant to scare me into behaving then it worked!"

They approached a door like any of the others. Conrad put his hand to the knob. He sighed when he realized he had no idea how to turn a knob with the hoof hidden inside the illusion of his hand.

"Let me help." Billy opened the door with a floorish and a grin. They entered and the Billy stopped shortfor the second time in as many minutes.

He gazed at the contents: four walls with fully crammed bookshelves from floor to ceiling, interrupted only by doorways and windows. Even the area at the head of the bed was surrounded by packed shelves. He rushed over to look at some of the books. "Whoah! Most of these predate Judgement Day. You must have like a million credits worth of rare books here."

"Actually, these are worth collectively some two hundred and thirty million EA credits. I've been collecting them since I was ten. Their value is actually more than everything in the rest of the house combined. I started with all the books on Equestria and Celestia my dad and grand-dad had collected, and it sort of took off from there, I guess. It's my... it was my intention to become a historian and document the events leading up to Judgement Day." A sad look crossed his face as he gazed at the collected tomes.

"What do you mean was? Look, Conrad, this doesn't have to change your personal goals. In fact, it might be better that you don't change your usual activities. That might raise suspicions." He looked at Conrad, who had sat down on the end of the bed. "Are there any cameras monitoring this room?"

"No. Dad actually taught me how to sweep for bugs myself. We extremely rich and powerful folks are either paranoid, dead, or get forcebly converted into ponies." There was a full length mirror on the inner side of the door. He looked at his reflection and laughed. "Correction. Sometimes we manage more than one of the above at the same time."

"Okay. So here's magic lesson one." Instantly Billy's human form was replaced by a yellow unicorn pony with a maroon mane and tale. Conrad's eyes grew wide in disbelief, and then he started to chuckle. Soon he was laughing so hard he was tearing up and grabbing his sides.

Billy was looking rather confused. "What's so funny?" he asked, as his new friend rolled around on the bed.

Conrad gasped for breath. "Ha! I thought my coloring was lame." He managed a deep breath. "So what's your pony name? Overipe Banana?" This declaration set him off laughing again, and it took him a full minute to calm back down.

All this time time Billy stood waiting, tapping a yellow hind hoof. "Did I forget to mention that for the first few days after conversion you will be subject to frequent mood swings?" When Conrad was finally quiet, he continued with his lesson. "To turn the Simulacra spell on and off, you need to think of its handle, the command you want to give it, and concentrate with your horn." He paused to make sure his student was paying attention. "Simulacra On!" he said as his horn glowed. The pony was instantly replaced by his human shape. "Simulacra Off!" He resumed his pony form. "Now you try it. There's an organ just under your horn. Imaging you are exhaling through that organ and out through your horn. Oh, and you don't have to say the spell out loud, just think it clearly."

Conrad concentrated and said "Simulacra Off!" He didn't feel any different, and of course he could not see any change in himself. "Did it work?"

"Nope."

Conrad was crestfallen.

"Try it again. But this time really try to focus your awareness on the base of your horn. Try it now."

This time Conrad closed his eyes and thought he felt a twinge of something in his forehead. He said the command while imagining breathing out through that spot."Simulacra Off!" This time he definitely felt a sensation akin to a mild electric shock in his forehead.

"Hey, you did it! Not bad, sport. It took me a whole lot more than two tries to get it right the first time," said the yellow colt.

Conrad was pleased with himself, but suddenly his ears drooped and his smile disappeared. "Uh, look. Billy, I uh, shouldn't have insulted your looks. I'm really sorry." His eyes started watering up.

"Conrad! Forget it! It's the new pony hormones talking. Think happy thoughts, will ya? Sheesh, newfoals!" He placed a hoof on the shoulder of the dejected looking colt. "Do me a favor, try turning on the spell."

"Simulacra On," mumbled Conrad. There was a flash of purple from his horn.

"Wow, that's very good. But you have to learn to hide the flash, or it will give you away. There's a technique for that that I'll teach you as well, and how to manipulate stuff with your magic so it looks like you're using your hands, and..." he stopped short when he saw a look of fear cross Conrad's features. "What's the problem now?"

"Geez. What if I hadn't become a unicorn? How could I have done any of this stuff?"

Billy relaxed. "Oh, that's simple actualy. If you had become a pegasus or an earth pony Celestia would not have offered you the Simulacra spell. It would have been my job to get you away from there before the human authorities found you, and to deliver you to the PER, the..."

"... Ponification Emergency Railroad." Conrad finished for him. "Yes, Celestia told me about them." He looked up into Billy's smiling face. "What about machines, like the house medical AI?"

"The smarter the AI the more likely it will be fooled by the spell. Dumber electronics we fool by scrambling their signals. It kind-of looks like interference on the monitors. That's also a spell I have to teach you, but I had better show you how first." Billy smirked at Conrad. "We can use you as a guinea-pony, since we promised your dad you'd get your head looked at, and I suspect he'll check with the AI."

Conrad smiled back at his new friend, then started to mist up again. "I'm so lucky you came along, Billy." He wiped a tear from his muzzle. "And I"m going to be so bucking relieved when I'm off this hormonal roller-coaster!"

"Don't sweat it, Ace. You're already doing better than I did. And you've maybe two more days of sniffle-laugh-sniffle, three days tops!" He put a hoof to his head in thought. "Well, there was this one filly. She took two weeks to stabilize..."

"TWO WEEKS!?" shouted Conrad in dismay.

"Or maybe it just felt like two weeks. Anyway, better get yer' pony on. We've got an AI to befuddle." Billy was back in human form.

"Simulacra On." It was barely a whisper. The two seemingly human boys left Conrad's bedroom.

***

Four burly men sat in chairs too small for their frames before a wide desk. On it was a single device, an ancient looking desk phone. On its other side sat a smaller man in a much bigger chair. There was a musty smell in the room, as if the ventilation was insufficient. The institutional gray paint on the walls had flaked away in a few spots, revealing much older institutional green paint underneath. Many of the ceiling lights were dim or completely dead and the few remaining functional ones cast sinister distorted shadows on the scene.

"And you're quite sure the target was not ponified?" asked the man behind the desk.

"Quite sure, Major Hood. We had two lookouts posted near the exit. Both saw the boy leave while still obviously human," replied the burly man second from the left.

"So you screwed up, Willis!" accused the Major.

"With all due respects, sir, no we did not. Tommy injected the full syringe into the target's arm without spilling a drop." He looked to the burly man on his right.

"Sir, it happened just like Sargent Willis said. I swear!"

"Then in the expert opinion of you fine gentlemen, what went wrong?" snarled Hood.

A third burly man, the one on the extreme right spoke up. "Sir, the potion in that syringe must have been defective." His voice was was preternaturally calm. It almost always was. Pretty much everybody in the HLF were deathly afraid of him.

"Have you sent the expended syringe to the lab for testing, Corporal Harper?" asked Hood, not daring to look the dreaded Corporal in the face.

"Yes-sir. The very tiny amount left checked out normal, as far as they can tell," said Harper.

"As far as they can tell?" Hood's mood got yet even darker.

"Unfortunately, the amount was so small that the tests were not entirely conclusive," added the Sargent.

Hood brooded a moment over the news. "Very well. Although I cannot fault you operationally, as the objective was not reached the mission is declared a failure. You are dismissed." The burly men trudged out of the room.

Hood picked up the phone and typed a number on the keypad. It rang twice and someone answered.

"Yes?" said the voice at the other end.

"The mission failed to achieve the objective. Sachs junior is still human."

"Oh, what a pity," said the voice dripping with sarcasm. "Four experienced agents against one late blooming teenager. I guess he was just too much for them to handle."

Hood kept his temper in check, electing to say nothing.

"Perhaps it's time I took a direct interest in the bright and capable young Mr. Sachs. After all, his father's cooperation is essential to my plans. Do be a chum and tell the Lizard that I'm expecting his call." The line went dead.

Hood slammed the receiver onto the desk set. It took him another few seconds to get his emotions under control. He truly hated the Lizard and having to be the messenger between the boss and the AI construct was simply degrading. Nevertheless he wasn't stupid enough to disobey a direct order from the head of the HLF. He picked up the handset and composed another number. It answered on the very first ring.

"Hello," said the dead sounding voice of the Lizard.

"The boss expects your call," said Hood. "That is all." Then he hung up. He left the office in a very foul mood. Someone was going to pay for this screw-up, and it wasn't going to be him!

***

Conrad and Billy had just left the infirmary.

"That was odd," remarked Conrad.

"How so?" enquired Billy.

"He's usually quite ill-tempered for an AI. It's not like him to let anyone pass through his office un-insulted."

He pondered the event. The house medical AI had appeared very confused from the moment they had walked in, enquired as to the nature of the medical emergency, and then quietly scanned Conrad. Still appearing confused, he said that he had not found any evidence of injury requiring treatment, and without further comment disactivated himself.

"Expect that with AIs. Did you follow what I did?"

"Yeah, I think so. Let's head back to my room and discuss it." Conrad looked at the ceiling, trying to give Billy a signal that there was likely surveillance in this corridor. His friend nodded once, and they made their way back.

When they were back in his room Billy began teaching him to manipulate objects with his magic. Again, he was a quick study and had mastered picking up books, turning door knobs, and even extracting his ID card from his wallet. Within the simulacra illusion he wore in an improvised saddle bag made from a belt and an old book bag. He was was trying to learn how to type on a computer keyboard using only magic, when his phone rang. The display showed only "Lizard" with no other information. This was something that wasn't supposed to be possible with his family's AI protected communications. He answered by pressing a special key to alert the AI of a possible intrusion. "Hello?" He signalled Billy to be quiet and magically hit the "hands free" button so he could listen-in.

"Hello Conrad," said a rather cold and monotonous male voice. "I am the Lizard. Congratulations on escaping the HLF."

"Thank you Lizard. How did you get this number?" For the second time that day Conrad found himself using the security breach protocols. He eyes grew moist at the thought of his assasinated personal security guards.

"I have ways to get what I need. My employer is impressed at your handling of that difficult situation and he has some information on its perpetrators. Would you be interested in speaking with him?"

"Uh, sure, why not?"

"Hold one moment" said the Lizard.

"Conrad Sachs, it is a such pleasure to make your aquaintance!" said a new voice, perhaps a bit too warmly.

"Thank you. And to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" replied the youngster.

"Let's just say that I am both an admirer of your valiant resistance to those HLR goons, and a concerned citizen who would like to see avoided any further such deplorable incidents," said the voice.

"The Lizard said you had some information for me."

"My, you do get right to the point, don't you? Well, it's my sad duty to inform you that the attack may have been the result of your father's recent visit with a certain former invader."

"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Conrad.

"Ah, ever the faithful son. Good for you! But perhaps you should ask your dad if he thinks consorting with a convited criminal is a good idea. Who knows, she might even be behind the HLF attacks, including the one on you. And the authorities never have figured out how the HLF get their grubby little hands on conversion serum, have they?" said the voice.

"Who is this she you're talking about?" asked Conrad.

"Don't be insulting, boy! You know full well I meant the former ruling princess of Equestria, Celestia the failed invader. Mark my words, both you and your father, boy. Celestia is not what humanity believes her to be. She is far more dangerous than you could possibly imagine."

"Thanks for the warning. So why are you telling us this?" asked Conrad. The protocol stated that they always want something, and to get them to talk about it.

"Tsk, tsk. I supposed those raised in the halls of power do lose their innocence earlier than most. At some point I might have some assistance to give your father, should he be so considerate as to advance certain causes I and my associates would favor. And I'll make sure to let him know in advance if he, his family and loved ones are at any further risk from the HLF."

"How do we contact you, assuming that my father ever desires to do so?"

"Just pick up a phone and say Hello Lizard. He will do the rest. It truly was a gas talking with you, Conrad Sachs. Ta-ta!" This last was said in a sing-song voice, and then the line went dead.

Conrad quickly called the house AI on his phone. "Jeeves, can you trace the call I just received?"

"I am sorry, master Conrad, but you have not received any calls since this morning. Could you specify a time?" answered the AI in a typical british buttler accent.

"No, Jeeves, that's okay. Please disregard my earlier request." Conrad closed his phone and put it back into his saddle bag.

"We need to discuss this with the Princess," said Billy. "But right now I have fifteen minutes to teach you how to use cutlery with only your magic. Thank Celestia the Simulacra spell will hide the glow from your horn.

***

In the Treasure Chest, Celestia pondered what she had just heard via her agent Billy. He would have to teach Conrad the sensory relay spell as soon as possible. That voice! she thought. That beloved, despised voice that brought back so many memories, and so much unhappiness. He's here. Discord is HERE!

***

Celestia galloped as fast as she could manage through town. She could see flashes of light relfected off the sides of buildings and could hear various pops and explosions. She passed the school noting that several of its edifices were in flames. They'll have to hold our graduation ceremonies elsewhere, she thought. She was getting close to the epicenter of the disturbance, and felt sick to her gut when she detected a familiar aura to all the destructive magic going on. He can't be be doing this. He just can't.

To either side, she saw collapsed buildings, strange anomalies, creatures distorted in awful ways, and bodies. There were bodies of dead ponies everywhere.

She finaly made it to Castle Equestria, just in time to see several of the towers melt into puddles of candle wax. Screams would start and suddenly cut off as ponies floundered and sank in the hot viscous liquid.

The porticulis was down, so she took to the sky and flew into the central courtyard. While still in the air she could hear the sound of raucous laughter coming from the main hall. She musn't be here! Gliding without a sound, Celestia slowly descended into hell.

Everywhere around the hall lay bodies in heaps, some of them aflame, adding a horrid stench of burning fur and flesh to the atmosphere. She looked up at the dais. On the huge throne where normally her mother sat was a familiar Draconequus form. Her heart sank as her eyes confirmed what her magical senses had been telling her. Dexter, her brother in all the ways that mattered, sat and idly cast spells as the mood hit him, destroying, distorting and killing indiscriminately. It was too much to bear. She screamed his name and collapsed before the throne.

"Ah, well if it isn't my dear Celestia, the very image of good, come to see my handiwork." He gestured grandiosely with a talon."Well, what do you think? Certainly makes this dull place a lot livelier doesn't it? I mean, they all behaved like corpses before. Now they won't have to try so hard." He laughed raucously again, with more than a tinge of hysteria this time.

"Dexter, how could you? You knew these ponies. Some of them were our friends." She stared at him, eyes wide in fright and horror.

Dexter stood up on the throne, trembling with emotion and anger such as she had never witnessed in his face. "Knew them? Knew... them...! They were all fakes! Not real ponies, not even a single one of them!" He dashed down from the dais, picked up and tenderly cradled the severed head of the lord Chamberlain, a merry pegasus called Hazy Wisp. He held it up before him in one claw. "Alas, poor Hazy, I knew him, Celestia; a fellow of infinite jest, and most excellent fancy; he hathe borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it! For he was... not... real!" He punctuated every syllable with a wave of his grisly trophy. "He was nothing more than a fancy spell, part of a bigger spell, designed and not born, tasked to do his part in a fantasy world that exists only in the spell. This simulated person played with us Celestia - but there was no such living thing as Hazy Wisp. He was thaumatic energy, held in a pattern. He had no life - he had no soul." He dropped Hazy's head and waved expansively at the carnage in the room. "In fact, Tia, I'll have you know that whenever we weren't present, all these simulated spells were dormant. We were literally the life of the party, not just of this room, but of this whole city and of Equestria itself."

He jumped back up the dais, resumed his seat, and began to weep, tears dropping onto the throne as he continued to shake his fists in the air. He looked at Celestia with despair in his eyes. "And do you want to know the best part, sweet, dear, Celestia?" He bit off each word as if it cost him a piece of his soul. He continued almost in a whisper "Do you? Well, I'll tell you: So... Are... We! We're all fakes. Even you, me and Luna." He covered his face and wept.

"No," said Celestia, her world crumbling beneath her. "It can't be true. You're lying, Dexter." But she had had suspicions. Signs of inconsistencies. Ideas she had discussed with Dexter in quiet moments. Doubts that she could not erase from her memory. "Please... please stop lying."

"Don't take my word for it," said Dexter. "Ask our dear teacher, Professor Morning Bell, if that is indeed his real name." He waved a claw and Celestia saw a pony levitating down from the ceiling. He was covered in bruises, blood matted his fur in many places, and at least one limb twisted unnaturally. "Tell the nice filly what you told me, Perfesser dearest."

The bloodied stallion hovered before Celestia and opened one eye. "Run..." he said.

"That hardly constitutes a full disclosure now, Perfesser. Perhaps you need some incentive to organize your thoughts." Dexter gestured again and the old stallion screamed in pain.

"Stop it, Dexter!" Celestia covered her ears with her hooves.

"Speak!" commanded the Draconequus.

"It's... it's all true. What he said. This city, you, your sister, me, we're all part of a simulation. But you three were intended to become real, if this iteration worked out. You are not necessarily fakes..." the old stallion fainted and Dexter levitated him back against the ceiling.

"We were intended to become real. How rich!" Dexter laughed and cried at the same time. "Do you know what he means by this iteration, Celestia, do you?" He waited a moment as she lay too stunned to move. "Well I didn't, but I found out. We are the seventeenth iteration, Celestia. The seventeenth!" He leapt off the throne. "All of this, has been tried sixteen times before. And each time it failed, and they just... turned... it... off. Poof. Everypony gone. Clean slate. You're not the first Celestia. I'm not the first Dexter. Luna, well Luna is a recent addition to the mix, I didn't get any precedents on her. But you catch my drift."

Celestia got up slowly. "How do you know this is true? And why haven't they just turned us off?"

A wicked gleam passed over Dexter's face. "Because, dear Celestia, I stole the main control spell." He laughed and did a little dance on the throne. "I snuck in, got access and changed it. If only I could have seen the looks on their faces! Sadly, the first thing I did with it was to cut Equestria off and relocated it in the cosmos! They'll never be able to find us! From now on this is my world to play with and do as I please. I will judge what is real. Me." He laughed maniacally again. "Oh, I still need to get the six sub-system spells, but that should be a piece of cake, especially if you lend me a hoof, Celestia. So what do you say?" He pointed a claw out the window. "Shall we have a little fun?"

Celestia slowly climbed the dais to stand before Dexter, who promptly climbed down from the throne to look Celestia in the face. "What it is, Tia? What's wrong?" He was leaning over her with a look of concern when her right hoof connected solidly with his left temple. The Draconequus dropped like the proverbial sack of potatoes.

Looking at the ceiling she found Professor Morning Bell and slowly levitated him to the floor, where he groaned in pain and again opened his solitary good eye. "I don't have much time before he wakes up. The six sub-spells. Who has them?" Celestia's tears fell on the beloved old teacher as she held his head in her forelegs.

His horned glowed dimly, and a collar with six gems appeared around Celestia's neck, "You have them, now..." the stallion went limp and would move no more.

Celestia allowed herself only a moment. "Goodbye, old friend." She slowly placed the pony's body on the floor.

When she looked up, Dexter was gazing at her. "Nice necklace. So that's the way it has to be, huh?" She would never forget the look of betrayal in his eyes.

"Yes. That's the way it has to be. That, and one more thing, Dexter. If you ever tell Luna about our origins, I will kill you." Celestia's voice contained a low growl that Dexter had never heard before.

"I wouldn't dream of hurting our little sister." He said. "But I think it's time we put Dexter to rest, don't you? That kid is as dead as the perfesser here." He tapped the body with a lower limb. "From now on, I'm done with Harmony, and I'll be just the opposite: Discord." He smiled crookedly. "Discord... I like the sound of that!" He paused a moment. "Next time we meet, it will be to do battle." He saluted and winked. "Thanks for making this whole godhood thing so much more interesting Celestia dearest. Ta-ta!" He disappeared with a loud pop.

***

Conrad shut the light. He and Billy had worked into the late evening perfecting his magical skills, so he had invited Billy to bunk in the room next door overnight. He had learned a lot, but knew he still had far to go.

Overall, his first first day as a pony had not been too bad, despite the rather garish color scheme that came with it. Then he thought of his murdered body guards, Phil and Terry. He kept seeing images of them in his head. They had protected him for almost as long as he could remember. Now they were gone, because the HLF had targeted him.

Conrad wept silently. Finally, exhausted, he fell asleep.

Comments

[Zervziel]

Needs more of Celestia doing "stand-up" comedy and barraging people with head jokes.

[Chatoyance]

Wow. Just wow. Equestria as magical simulation. A growing resistance. This is so good.

I am ever being impressed by 'Relic'.

[shutaro]

A Mr Hood who is an agent of chaos? Great classics Batman, this is priceless!
And Discord! Well it was to be expected, they stole him from Canterlot. He would not twiddle his thumbs (paws? claws?) in a universe that is ruled by entropy. I wonder if this may be his endgame: Leaving the controlled and confined Equestria for more chaotic pastures.
And my usual warning to you, as with any story that might go down this way: Think twice before you include recursion, that path leads to madness.

[Dafaddah]

1116436

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am concerned that the storyline is already pushing the encelop for complexity, so no recursion! And I fixed the erroneous complete flag.

[Walabio]

¿Were Phil & Terry Canadian?

[Dafaddah]

"I say Philip, are we Canadian?"

"I don't know, Terrence. How can we tell?"

"Perhaps we could if you said something Canadian, eh!"

"Excuse me, Terrence, but I can't think of anything Canadian to say!"

"Well then I apologize for suggesting it, eh!"

"No problem, Terrence! Here, have some maple sugar toffee."

"It's stuck to your finger, Philip!"

"No problem, Terrence. Just pull on it."

"0kay. I will!"

FAAAAAAAARRRRRRRT

"Well there you go, Philip, we are Canadian, eh!"

"I guess we are. By the way, the toffee's now stuck to my finger. Can you pull it off..."

[Andrew-R]

... so, in this version of events Discord was part of Royal Family, and Tia and Luna had foalhood ..even if simulated (?). Dark, but at least started to feel more real.. (compared to Celestia++-out-of-nothing).