The Conversion Bureau: What Separates Us

by Cloudhammer

04 - Divide and Conquer

Week 22, Wednesday-Friday

Skipjack yawned as she opened her eyes, the pegasus wincing as she rolled off her mat. “They really need to make this armor more comfortable to sleep in.”

“Ah, it’s not that bad, Skip.” Her neighbor said as he got to his hooves. First Lieutenant Coral flexed his wings and shook his head to clear the last of the cobwebs out. “You’ve only been a Guard for a few years. Give it another decade and you’ll be used to it.” He trotted off with a chuckle as she flicked him with her tail.

Skipjack lifted her head, looking around the camp. Every pony in the group wore their armor, after learning the hard way that leaving it on meant for less lecturing from Captain Stardust. Working quickly, she rolled up her mat, still surprised that she had the dexterity to do so with her hooves, although she’d caught a lot of heat from First Lieutenant Willow Spark for being clumsy with her hooves during basic.

Finishing packing her kit, Skipjack began to make her rounds among the pegasus guards, shaking her head as she still kept finding flaws among the newer recruits.

“Private Divot, did you even bother paying attention in Basic? I want that kit repacked pronto or you get to post double watch tonight!” She bellowed at a nearby stallion, causing his friends to snicker as he started to unpack his bag. “And cut out that snickering or you all can join him!” The other stallions immediately fell silent and got busy with their own kit.

Skipjack snorted and continued her rounds, but the other pegasi had heard her outburst and redoubled their efforts to make sure they passed muster. Finally, she came to the last pegasus on the roster. “Master Sergeant.”

Connor looked up. “Morning First Lieutenant, I trust most of the pegasi passed inspection?”

“Yeah, though Divot’s still having trouble,” Skipjack sighed, “I don’t honestly think he’s cut out for this.”

“Well, once this search and rescue is over, if he hasn’t shaped up, he’s going to fail his post deployment evaluation.” Connor pointed out. “Best we can do is keep pushing him and the rest hard, and the ones who have what it takes will show it.”

Skipjack sighed. “I guess... Anyway, I need to go attend the day’s briefing, think you can get them ready to move out?”

Connor saluted. “Of course, ma’am.”

Skipjack returned the salute and trotted through the camp to Stardust’s tent, the only such structure in the field camp. Pushing aside the flap, she took her position next to Dusty, the two acknowledging each other with a shy nod before snapping their gazes forward as Stardust looked up from his map.

“Alright, we’ve searched along the Kasai river here for the past three months. We’re approximately here.” He tapped his hoof on the map, just beyond where an enormous section of jungle could be seen. “Given our failure to locate any sign of the diplomat searching as a single group, we will be splitting up into nine five-pony teams and spread out across this region here.” He levitated a quill and drew out a large curve across the center of the country. “If you find any sign of the diplomat, each team will have a unicorn capable of contacting me. Send word and I will message all other teams to converge on your location. First Lieutenant Skipjack, you will lead one team along this edge here.” He indicated the most inland side of the curve. “First Lieutenant Dusty, you will take the opposite curve here, following the river. I will lead a team directly up the center. I want your choices for two more team leaders from each of your branches by midday. At that point we will divide the remaining guards evenly between the teams. Any questions?”

Skipjack shook her head. “No sir.”

Dusty stared at the map for a few more seconds. “Sir, given the rumors that we heard from the last village we stopped at, what are our orders should we encounter any more villages or find any abandoned?”

Stardust nodded. “Should you find an occupied village, ask them if they’ve seen any signs of the diplomat or his guards. Should they have anything, send a message to me. If you find an abandoned village you may investigate it at your own discretion. Now, let’s get to work.”

The pair saluted. “Sir, yes sir!”

Stardust returned the salute, turning his gaze back to the map as the two made their way out of the tent. Once they were far enough away, Skipjack bumped her shoulder against Dusty’s. “Just promise me you’ll be careful Dusty.”

The earth pony snorted. “Don’t worry, not about to let some croc or lion get the chance to make a snack of me. Just keep an eye on yourself too, alright?”

Skipjack laughed, the two clanking their helmets against each other before Dusty trotted off toward the earth pony part of camp. She looked out over the waiting savannah, ears folding as she thought she spotted movement. Spreading her wings, she took off into a tight spiral and climbed to around thirty feet. From her higher vantage point, she could see a small pack of hyenas loping away from the camp, heading further into the savannah.

“Something wrong Second Lieutenant?” Another guard pegasus flew over to hover next to her

“No, just a pack of hyenas. Probably checking us out to see if they could snatch some of us in the night. Keep an eye on them, make sure they’re really leaving.”

“Yes ma’am.” Private Ozone saluted as Skipjack floated back down to the ground, the young pegasus beginning to climb to a higher altitude so he could see better. Eventually the hyenas were far enough out that he decided to turn over and make his way back to the ground.

Had he lingered for a moment longer, he might have seen the pack suddenly make a sharp turn for the jungle.

---

Nimbus scanned the shoreline from the bow as the boat chugged its way downriver. After discovering the attacked village, they had chosen to relocate the Field Bureau further downstream in the hopes that they’d get far enough away from whatever had attacked it, and be able to locate some more chimpanzees for ponification. The oppressive humidity of the jungle had started to break somewhat, though her feathers still stubbornly tried to stick together.

“I’ll say this Nimbus; your world definitely has some beautiful land.” Dawn Breeze said as she trotted up to stand beside her.

“Yeah... I never really thought about coming here, to be honest. Let alone like I am now.” Nimbus looked down at herself, shaking her head ruefully.

Dawn snorted. “You’re still hung up on that? Look, there’d be nopony who blamed you or Flare for choosing to not come on this deployment. I don’t think I’d have come out here if I were expecting...” She gave Nimbus a look that was only half reproachful.

“That’s not exactly what I meant...” Nimbus deadpanned, looking at her fellow First Lieutenant with half-closed eyes.

The boat, with a loud BANG, began slowing and drifting to the bank. The pilot glanced back at the engine before looking toward Doctor Getton with a wide smile. “Lunch break!” he cried as he drug out a less-than-impressive tool bag from a cabinet.

“Oh, Celestia, finally!” cried Flare, appearing green even through the armor’s dye job. He skipped the gangplank entirely, bounding over the rail and straight to shore, eager to be off the floating death trap.

“Aw, Flare, it’s just a little boat ride, surely you can handle a little rocking...back...and forth...back...and forth...back...and-” Aegis suddenly shut up, an orange field wrapping around his muzzle, which did nothing to damper the grin he wore.

“I can make that permanent, Aegis, and do the rest of the world a favor,” threatened Flare playfully. Being back on solid ground had already done wonders to improve his own mood.

“Now Flare,” Nimbus said as she turned to face her coltfriend, “don’t be like that. I’d hate to have to explain to our foal why Daddy’s legs all bend the wrong way.” She scowled at the unicorn, half unfurling her wings threateningly.

Flare twitched and extinguished his magic. “S-sure dear...”

Nimbus smiled and spread her wings, gliding serenely to shore to give Flare a nuzzle. “Now, was that so hard?” She trotted a short distance onto dry land, letting her wings stay unfurled to catch the wind coming off the savannah.

Aegis followed Flare’s lead, bounding over the rails and landing heavily, as a pony of his size tended to do. He stretched, then, without any ceremony, grabbed a mouthfull of the savannah grass and started chewing. “Hey,” he said around the mouthful, “this stuff is pretty good.”

“Hope it’s safe to eat,” snorted Dawn as she leapt into the air to stretch her wings. As she flew a lazy circle around the boat, she noted several gray lumps in the distance. Moving grey lumps. “Doc!”

Amy turned to Dawn as the pegasus glided down and landed next to her aboard the boat. “What is it, Dawn, did you see something?”

“Yes ma’am. two klicks north by northwest, something large and grey, possibly vehicular in nature, moving in formation. I was hoping you could confirm with your binoculars while I notify Flare.” Dawn lept into a glide and angled straight for Flare.

Amy, now concerned about their currently immobile position, drew her binoculars from their case and gazed through them in the direction Dawn had indicated as Flare, torn between concern and loathing of being back on the boat already, joined her.

“Well, Doctor? What do you see?” Flare inquired, then looked on in confusion as Amy began to chuckle.

“See for yourself, Captain.” Amy knelt next to Flare, holding the binoculars in front of his face so he could see through the twin lenses.

“What are those things, Doctor?”

--

Aegis grazed on happily. Some ponies insisted that grass was grass, but Aegis had learned long ago than even the smallest change of soil would change the flavor of even the same kind of grasses grown in a different soil.

And this was some good grass. It held a certain savory quality that Aegis couldn’t quite place, but also the nice crunch that drier grasses employ. He was grazing in the direction of a large gray rock, paying attention only to the ground from whence his next bite would spring when he ran nose-first into a...something.

The ‘something’ was as large as Aegis himself, a lumpy creature with small eyes set nearly on either side of its head and small, pointed ears flicking in curiosity. Thick hide adorned its back and sides, with stubby legs ending in a flat, three-toed foot. The snout, which Aegis was currently pressed against with his own, had a small, tough nub above the wide-set nostrils.

“Uh... Hi.” Aegis smiled as the ‘little’ creature startled, skipping back a step. The creature, however, didn’t run, instead choosing to lean forward in curiosity. A few hesitant steps later, it was sniffing at Aegis’ chest, while Aegis cooed at it like it was a foal.

It nudged at Aegis with its snout, hopping awkwardly around, its forelegs the only thing managing to leave the ground. Aegis chuckled. “I see, y’wanna play? Sure thing!” Aegis bounded around in a similar manner, the taller grasses into which he’d wandered hiding his actions...mostly, as the crest of his helmet could be seen bobbing around on his higher leaps. Aegis shoulder-bumped the thing and it made a honking noise of some sort and returned the gesture. Plainly, it was enjoying itself. Both parties were covered in dust at this point.

And then the grey “rock” began to move. A massive horn broke the surface of the grass followed by another, shorter one. Much more than a mere ‘rock,’ the now plainly armor-hided bulk of a best twenty times the size of Aegis turned slowly, small, dark eyes locking onto his armored form. Aegis stared, frozen in not fear, but sheer amazement.

The beast strode forward, every step shaking the ground, until it stared at Aegis, much like its much smaller counterpart and, surely, offspring. It lowered its head, the size of one of the human’s ‘refrigerator’ devices, and sniffed at Aegis.

Aegis gulped.

The beast licked.

Aegis, in his armor, having lost his helmet, and being covered in dust, bore a remarkable resemblance to one of the beast’s young. The massive thing, secure in the knowledge the younger version was merely accompanied by another of its kind or one of the other herd animals that often accompanied them, turned and trundled off towards the similar grey lumps that even Aegis could now see in the distance.

Aegis trotted back towards the boat with a goofy grin on his face, his recovered helmet attached to the at-rest strap on his shoulder.

---

“Wait, they get THAT big?” Flare asked incredulously, eyes wide.

Amy grinned. “Usually. A few have been documented that were bigger. But they’re not the biggest thing you’ll see out here.”

Flare sank to his haunches, eyes blank as he tried to process that. “They’re... not?”

“Nope. If we get lucky, there might be a herd of them a little further down the river.” Amy said, patting the distraught unicorn on the head. “Has anyone seen Aegis?”

Everyone started looking around, though no sight of the earth pony could be seen. Dawn snorted and took to the air, though almost as soon as she cleared the hill she dove back down.

“Ma’am, there’s a pair of those ‘rhinos’ right on the other side of the hill. One much larger than the other. They appear to be moving away. No sign of Captain Aegis, though a lot of the grass has been eaten in a trail from here out towards them.”

Nimbus snorted irritably. “If that lughead’s gone and gotten himself hurt, I’m going to fix him and then hurt him again!”

Not a second later, Aegis crested the small hill, stepping out from the taller grass, a cloud of dust billowing about him in the light breeze. Wasting no time, he trotted down the hill and back up the gangplank. “Everypony have a good lunch?”

Nimbus took a breath to begin to lay into him, but Flare gently cut her off with a nudge as he turned to Aegis. “Where’d you go? You have any trouble out there? We saw two of those rhino things awful close to where we last saw you.”

“Rhinos? That whatcha call those big ol’ things? Nice folks, good taste in grass. Me and the little one had some fun romping around, though I guess I did get a little caught up in things. Is the boat fixed?” Aegis looked back towards the pilot house as a bit of dust flew off his armor into his eyeline. “Well, I guess I did get some dirt on my armor...”

Jimmy and Suzy turned to Amy, both adopting their best begging faces.

“Mom, can we go play with the rhinos? Mister Aegis got to and he’s fine!” Suzy whined.

“Yeah Mom, can we?” Jimmy chimed in.

Lariat chuckled as he watched the two. “Now now you two, listen to your madre. As much fun as I’m sure you would have, the sabana is not a place for children to play in. Amy’s trusting you two to be big ponies for her.”

The two folded their ears, looking at their mother in the hopes that she would tell them differently than Lariat had, but their spirits fell further as Amy shook her head.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. I’ll tell you what; if you behave yourselves for the rest of this trip, then I’ll take the two of you to one of the wildlife parks here, where it’s safer.” She shook a finger as the two brightened. “But that means the -whole- trip. From now until we get back to Kinshasa.”

They both sat upright, expressions serious. “Yes Mom. We promise!”

Amy smiled. “Alright. Now, why don’t you two head on down to our room, get settled in? I think we’ll be leaving soon.”

“Awww, but I wanted to see the rhinos!” Suzy protested.

“Tell you what, if I see one, you two will be the first ones I tell. How does that sound?”

Their pouting faces vanished and the two surged forward, giving her a hug and a nuzzle each. “Thanks Mom!” They whirled about and galloped down the hatchway into the cabin area.

Once she was sure they’d settled down, she looked over at Lariat with a wry smile. “Thanks, those two get to be a handful at times.”

“T’ain’t no trouble, I’ve raised my share of ganado and potros back home on the family ranch. I admit of course that young ponies are more like human children, but some of the basic principles still apply.”

Amy chuckled. “I suppose you’re right.” She looked over at the guardpony. “So tell me, what exactly made you go pony?”

Lariat took a deep breath, releasing it in a long sigh. “It’s a bit of a tale. I was, and still am, a rodeo enthusiast, like my father. Some aspects of the rodeo were changed after Emergence, so as to not offend our new friends. However, events like bull riding and the rope contests continued unchanged. It was my day to do the bull riding and I was walking through the back area to get ready. I heard one of the bulls throwing a terrible fit, and initially I thought nothing of it. Until it broke free. I would have been fine; I was around a corner from him and out of sight. However, I saw that there was a group of children walking by at the far end, who had no such proteccion.

I didn’t even really think about it, to be honest. I started to yell and wave my arms about, and drew the bull’s attention away from the children. I was able to get it to chase me into the ring, where I evaded it for a minute or two. The other rodeo men attempted to come to my aid, but as the first of them entered the ring, I stumbled, and the bull was able to catch me. I don’t actually remember the impact, but recall opening my eyes to see the bull charging in for a second attack. I knew then that my life was already over, I couldn’t feel any pain. But as I was closing my eyes, what I mistook for another bull crashed into it, knocking it away. Keeping my eyes open for a few seconds more, I saw it keeping the bull distracted while the medical team surrounded me.”

Amy nodded. “Did they try to take you to the hospital?”

Lariat shook his head. “The bull had speared me through the torso with its horns, ruining several organs. I only had a few minutes left to me.” He looked up into the sky, his expression unreadable. “However, my friend Andi, who had undergone the Conversion ahead of me, asked them on my behalf to use the serum on me.”

Amy frowned and put a hand on his shoulder guard. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that.”

“Sorry?” Lariat looked at her curiously. “I’m not sorry in the slightest. I envy her strength, that she was able to make such a choice with her best friend’s life hanging in the balance. And while there are things about being humano that I miss, I have to be alive in order to miss them. And being a pony is wonderful as well. I can feel the earth itself under my hooves, and know that it acknowledges me in turn. I can survive on simple grass, just as the herds I used to take on drives do.” He took a deep sniff of the air. “And I just feel... better. Like I have a better sense of my place in the world. I know it sounds weird, but I don’t really know how else to explain it.”

Amy smiled. “Sounds like a pretty good explanation to me. So what prompted you to join the Guard?”

“Well, that was simple enough. That hulking Guard saved my life. Honor demanded I repay him by serving. Plus, Andi was planning to join, though she had chosen her new name by the time I got out of orientation.”

“Oh? And what was that?” Amy inquired.

“Sledgepetal, if you can believe it.” Lariat chuckled, Amy joining in a second later. Once they’d settled down he took another breath, the levity fading from his voice. “Though I do not think I will serve for life, as some of my amigos are. I think that, when the time comes, I would like to find a nice tract of land, build a home on it, and raise cattle.”

“Here or in Equestria?” Amy asked curiously.

“I do not know Dr. Getton. I’ve not seen much of what Equestria has to offer, but will consider it.”

“You can call me Amy, I’ve never been a huge fan of the ‘Dr.’ title anyway.” Amy said with a smile, giving his shoulder guard a solid pat before lowering it. “Anyway, I should go check on Suzy and Jimmy. Knowing those two they’re already bored and getting themselves into something they shouldn’t.” She got to her feet and made her way down below.

Lariat watched her go, then took another look across the savannah, wondering what a cattle drive across country like this would be like. His eyes narrowed as he spotted a few low-slung, doglike shapes loping through the grass, but relaxed a hair as they turned away, following some other trail.

---

Dusty swished his tail, swatting away another couple of the bugs that buzzed about trying to land on his exposed coat. They’d been marching for most of the past three days now, following the river as instructed, and were nearing the point where they’d turn and head inland, to meet up with Captain Stardust and the rest of the Guard contingent.

“LT, I got something!” One of the two pegasi assigned to his squad called down.

“What is it Backburner?” Dusty shouted back.

“Got a small pack of hyenas, seem to be behaving odd. They’re just over the next hill.” Backburner continued his overhead circle as the rest of the squad reached the top of the hill. Ahead of them, the hyenas were gathered in a cluster, though it was unclear what they were doing. However, as the ponies crested the hill, all of the hyenas abruptly raised their heads. All eight of them, at the exact same time.

“Umm, sir?” The communication unicorn, White Noise, flicked his ears nervously. “Is that normal behavior?”

Dusty opened his mouth to reply, but the hyenas abruptly leapt into a run, charging their position. “Doesn’t matter! Prepare to engage!” Dusty squared his hooves, watching the approaching hyena pack carefully. Something didn’t seem right, but he couldn’t put his hoof on it. Shaking his head, he positioned himself in front of White Noise, gesturing for him and Second Lieutenant Solaris, the other unicorn in their group, to cover the flanks facing out. Their other pegasus, Second Lieutenant Forest, took to the air and began to circle with Backburner, ready to lend a hoof where needed.

The hyenas kept running forward, and Dusty lowered his head, ready to meet them head on. He could feel the magic coming from the unicorns behind him as they charged their first spell. The lead hyena leaped for him, and with a whinny he reared, lashing out with his hooves and catching it a blow to the head. It tumbled away, but the second and third ones in the line leapt forward, one landing atop his head, and the other gripping his leg guard in its teeth. Dusty drove his head forward, the titanium helmet making a satisfying crunch as it slammed the hyena to the ground, out cold.

With a pulse of magic, Solaris grabbed the hyena on Dusty’s back and flung it away. The unicorn hesitated a second in releasing it, his eyes narrowed. The hyena felt... greasy. Like it was coated in a layer of-

“SOLARIS, LOOK OUT!” Solaris jerked back to attention as he realized a hyena was leaping for his head. A bolt of deep green magic swatted it aside as White Noise bucked another in the face. “Don’t lose focus!”

“But something’s not right about them!” Solaris shouted as the one he’d thrown staggered to its feet before charging in. Deciding to bring that one down he drew more magic into his horn, releasing it as a burst of light directly in front of the thing’s eyes.

With a piercing shriek the hyena reared back, flickers of emerald fire playing about its body as patches of its fur burned black, while along one side what could be a wing was visible. As the light faded, the hyena looked up, one of its eyes now a solid shade of blue. The other hyenas leaped back, growling and snarling at the circled ponies.

“Those aren’t hyenas!” Backburner shouted, true panic entering his voice.

The hyenas all looked at each other, then began to laugh, at first in the sharp, yipping manner common to hyenas. But it soon changed to a hissing, bubbling laugh, and the hyenas changed. More flashes of emerald fire ignited across the seven creatures, burning their coats to black fur. The short ridge of fur along their backs melted into a glossy carapace covering their necks and upper back. As their ‘coat’ fell away from their sides, a pair of diaphanous, insectoid wings burst out, buzzing angrily. Looking closer, Dusty could see that some of them had longer fangs, and their appearance was more... ragged, their eyes somehow conveying a deeper sense of malice and hate.

Dusty gaped at the seven monsters that now surrounded them. “What in the world are those things?”

White Noise shook his head and snorted, digging a hoof at the ground. “Doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Dusty, despite feeling incredibly out of his league, found himself grinning. “No, I guess not.” Backburner and Forest tightened their formation, the two pegasi circling less than ten feet overhead.

At some unseen signal the creatures charged in, the five ponies bracing themselves to meet them head-on.

Comments

[Krass McWriter]

And then shit got REAL

[aponyforthebooks]

Great chapter. I just love those moments in TCB stories when the human turned pony does or say something that make you think on how good it mit be to be a pony.

[KMCA]

first contact... Hard contact