This story is a sequel to Conversion Zebra
A Conversion Bureau story, but NOT like any that you've read before! Shares the same universe as Conversion Zebra, but not necessary to understand this piece. No epic wars here. No ponies flaunting their moral high ground, no humans kicking some alien invaders butt. Instead, we just get a couple of people in a bar (one human, and one new transformed convert) having a conversation about how the world is inevitably changing around them. Hey, a bartender is kinda expected to listen to this sort of stuff ya know?
Chapters (1)
I liked Conversion Bureau, so this must be good.
That was enjoyable. I'm pretty sure that the original specifically made the newfoals mindless but that's a minor thing that can be figured to be different for this story specifically. This was actually a pretty damn good story for a SoL one shot.
8454710
The original (and many of the early stories) didn't, but a lot of the anti-conversion-bureau stories did because they wanted to make the ponies extra evil.
8454834
The mindless zombie thing was an EXAGGERATION of those stories, where the New Foals were simply 'better' for their transformation, as a form of escapism.
8454710
No. That was added in later stories. The original story had none of that nonsense. That was added in response to people who wrote stories about becoming a pony was the best thing ever as a form of escapism. Misinterpretation of misinterpretation of a fanfic.
The POINT of the original story was to answer 'why the hell are there so many human inventions and devices that clearly are made for hands?
Oh man, who wouldn't want a dragon conversion potion? Sure being a baby again is tough, but take the long view!
8456511
Which is what griffins, ponies, zebra, yaks, buffalo, are all worried about. What happens this one time baby boom of new dragons grows up?
8456937
I can see why the other races would be nervous. But, I wonder if it would be that big of a problem in the end. It takes 70 years for a dragon to reach their teenage years. And, even longer for a dragon to reach full maturation.
And, that's a lot of time for the New Whelps to develop some maturity.
On a slightly unrelated note, I wonder how long would it take for them to reach full height. I know dragons in D&D never stop growing (they just hit the ends of the scale by about their 1,250th birthday).
But G3 Dragons weren't even considered old until 1,000,000 years of age. Which leads me to believe that dragons in G4 may not even reach full height for well over a few hundred (or even thousand) years.
8456987
I like to imagine G4 Spike said that due to the warp nature of time in the ideal world.
8457005
I think that's a fair point. G3 Spike's 1,000 year nap should have aged him a little, if he was as young (biologically) as he was claiming to be.
8456937
Do dragon conversion potions work on them as well?
8457023
I imagine none are insane enough to try.
8457043 Oh dear, I just thought about the food budget. Pretty soon there would be more dragons than earth, or even Equestria produces gems to feed.
8457146
Which is WHY they decided the only sane thing to do was put a CAP on those who'd become dragons.
8457182
I know this is beyond the scope, but Ember needs to subsidize the earth pony potion. After all, earth ponies can use their magic to grow gems, so they're the only ones who can keep her people fed. Maybe some sort of deal where for every ten earth pony drinkers, one more person gets to drink the dragon potion.
I got a feeling Spike is likely 20 times more mature than most "new whelps" his age. I do hope Shining Armor's shield did ruin the Sniper's plans, of course since the Crystal ponies didn't become genocidal I assume yes, yes, he did get his shield up and the sniper got what was coming to him.
8467023
FIRST! THANK YOU FOR COMMENTING!!! I really want to see people write THEIR OWN stuff in this version of TCB! Where the conflict isn't from elitist ponies getting their asses kicked or the transformation turning people into zombies!
That is VERY LIKELY! He's lived with those instincts all his life after all.
I did leave it open to interpretation. So if that's what you want to go with, that by all means, go with it!
Again, thank you for your comment!!!
8454710
The original stories didn't cast the ponies as villains of course I don't recall the term new foals being used until the stories shifted to anti-pony. I have to be honest I always found the anti-pony CB stories to be less creative and engaging, and too far OC for the ponies.
8457327
That would be an interesting bargaining angle to bring to the table.
I admit that there is a possibility an amused snort was heard in my living room while reading this. I really like the use of the notion that the potion takes the relative age of the Convert into account when creating the new body (discreetly makes a note to revisit that in his stories
ifwhen he starts writing again).8615679
Thanks! I figured with dragons it was too golden an opportunity NOT to take.
I do love the little small issues your stories point out. The population booms is an interesting one for sure. And while am I not surprised people didn't read the pamphlets properly
If it's one thing people are good at, it's not reading the warning, instructions and directions.
8616345
Exactly! Feels like something that would happen! THANK YOU for commenting!
BTW: I got a trope page! http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/TheConversionBureauNotJustPonies
8616426
Looking forward to seeing how the verse expands. Particularly with the references to minotaurs.
Got to ask though, no diamond dogs?
8616489
As soon as I finish the pony pov series I am OUT Of the fan fiction business. I promised my loved ones.
And I hope to see OTHER PEOPLE adding stories to this!!!!
And there is NOTHING stopping Diamond Dogs from being a possible TF subject.
8616496
That's a shame. You'll leave us forever wondering about the minotaurs.
I MIGHT try a hand at it. What's one more project on my pile?
A short entry idea might be just what I need to actually finish something.
8616512
Read your greek mythology for what the 'less said the better' was.
:
I know what you mean. I just wrote a forth entry because I couldn't write what came next for pony pov. Do you have google doc?
8616535
Hmmm. Interesting. So the gruesome bits and cruel nature applies to the equestria minotaurs too, or just paranoid?]
I've got too many google docs... I tend to start work on a new idea whenever I get caught on an old one. I think I'm at 20 or 30 partials? The longest (since I started not publishing them till they are finished) at 40k or so...
It’s great to see you bringing some of the “practicalities “ of the situation into play here, particularly the economics of trying to absorb – and feed – an immigration wave numbering billions into multiple societies in mostly agrarian stage of development.
In the category of life imitating art, I see the emotional reactions to TCB in this community, both positive and negative, as pretty representational of the broader global reaction should such a scenario actually come to pass. But even with such emotionally “hot” subject matter, it’s good to see some recognition of the political and economic and other rational dimensions of the TCB scenario.
8630972
The question isn't how many more dragons Equus can sustain, how many dragons can EARTH sustain? :-)
THANK YOU!!!!!!
And thanks for the comment!
8581312
Good idea, though I thought the potions were being made/paid for by the various Equestrian governments. And given what the dragon government is like I strongly doubt that Ember is able to collect taxes for this or anything else from her fractious subjects! So I guess she's paying for all of this out of her own hoard, which must be getting pricey.
8457327
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/386939/conversion-dragon-a-dragon-walks-into-a-bar#comment/9428156
9428156
I imagine the illegal potions have some underground labs. The terrible part is them knowing there is a window and they know they don't have all the time in the world. But once the panic starts to set in, the illegal potions will be given out like candy and Equestria and the other kingdoms will be FORCED to turn a blind eye for the sake of saving Earth's population.
9428156
Sounds pricey.
9428164
I imagine the illegal potions have some underground labs. The terrible part is them knowing there is a window and they know they don't have all the time in the world. But once the panic starts to set in, the illegal potions will be given out like candy and Equestria and the other kingdoms will be FORCED to turn a blind eye for the sake of saving Earth's population.
It sounds like there's more than a few stories in this. Especially if the Equestrians have to start dealing with the more lawless/criminal groups from both Equis and Earth just to save as many people as possible.
A nursing home, huh? Ouch. Well they probably already considered her dead if that's what they were doing... no pleasant endings with thise places.
Still, you should do more dragons. Its neato.
9433465
You want more dragons? You got more dragons. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/430611/not-just-ponies-dragons-of-pennsylvania
9435090
I was actually about to read that. So other than that. Or that one dragon one on deviantart.
8616496 You've made it clear that everyone has your permission and even encouragement to write for this universe, but is there anything else one needs for their story to be considered part of the same canon? Or can I just write it up and post it as long as it's consistent with the other fics and the description states it's part of the Not Just Ponies world? This would be the first time I'd explicitly be writing for a continuity others have contributed to as well without directly collaborating, so I'm a little unsure about specific rules, if there are any.
9848360
Basically, if canon characters show up, PLEASE keep them in character. (The whole idea here is that Celestia ISN'T a xenophobic genocidal monster).
And yeah, try to be consistent with the stories that have already been posted.
While it's rather out of date, here's the trope page if you're interested.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/TheConversionBureauNotJustPonies
And this just my own head canon rather than anything that's been said in stories, so it's not actually concrete but:
For what it's worth, I imagine due to Earth and Equus crashing into each other, Celly never announced an intention to retire, and Grogar never formed his legion of doom (which explains why Chrysalis is still at large and has begun a new brood of changelings).
I hope all this doesn't scare you off.
9848376 Scare me off?
If anything, it's quite encouraging! I actually haven't seen anything from the movie afterwards, and I only ever got maybe half-way through Season 7. I know about some of what happened after the movie, namely how it fleshed out the world and introduced a whole bunch of new species to the setting (apparently at the cost of the Mane Six's personalities....), and Twilight opening a school in Season 8, but that's about it, so it seems there's not much to worry about there.
I've actually read the TVTropes page and most of the stories. I don't remember Conversion Imoogi being listed before I checked today, but admittedly the last time I checked before today was at least several months ago. Honestly, the main reason this appeals to me is the fact that the ponies are actually true to their canon selves. That, and the variety of options for the potions. This version of the Bureau is actually kinda fun to think about.
One small, extra question before I start actually writing: If I want to use unicorn officer Frank Madison for a small cameo, is it you or MtangaLion I should ask about that? You commissioned the story, and he wrote it, but it's on your profile, so....it's a little unclear.
Thank you for replying!
9848652
I consider every OC in the No More Ponies to be fair game. I also consider a commissioner to have a right to what they commissioned. Talk to Mtangalion if you still have doubts.
I never liked the later seasons anyway.
These are ideas I put into the ring hoping someone would take up:
I actually had the idea (that no one took it up on yet, Ardashir showed some interest, but Think he said it might bring up too many bad memories) where the police(INCLUDE our unicorn police officer) raid a PER site, to find several new whelps, new pups, new kittens, new griffs, etc, who have all been experimented on by the PER in attempt to turn them into ponies with various mixes and doses of the pony potions, since they chose the "wrong" species, the results are all shown to be disturbing and variations of body horror!
Another idea was Tempest Shadow raiding a 'pony trafficking' site run by the remnants of the Storm Empire (the money minded moles and the VERY sexist fishmen and remaining war minded Yetis ), that is made up of New Foals in particular since they can't be traced, and using them as a source of black market horns, etc. (Basically they offer a short cut to the potion, but these being early prototypes, and could even TG the victim if they're not already female, but not sure about that last one.)
And finally, a big idea I had:
The story starts with Princess Twilight Sparkle giving a condescending speech towards humans about how they're helping them ascend to a superior state that makes the Nuremberg Speech look subtle.
zombie eyes "new foals"
“My life's fight has not been in vain"
-forbidding mixes of pure pony blood and new foals
-and saying new foals are to be state subjects with no rights rather than state citizens
- up to 90% of their wealth as a tax to the Equestrian state
There is no sign of any non-ponies anywhere (not even zebras), in spite of this no longer making sense.
Then Twilight's head explodes.
The Lead swinging from helicopter with guns blazing
massacre with heroic trumpet music
Equestria is being invaded. Talks, planes, and explosions suddenly happen everywhere. Ponies panic as pathetic weaklings.
This invasion includes,
-A fast talking latino sniper.
-A big blond guy who seems only able to shout catch phrases.
-An amazon who swear like a sailor.
-A British medic with glasses who CARRIES A GUN, since he's performing "acts of mercy" of on the New Foal.
-A big bald black guy who manages to have even less depth than the others and seems to just be there.
-A super intelligent Japanese man who carries a samurai sword with him into battle along with his other weapons.
action movie cliche list (look)
What follows is nearly every big named pony in the show getting slaughtered like mooks in a FPS with the difficulty turned down to the level the game would mock you for playing at. With the humans engaging in friendly casual banter between each other, as they kill ponies left and right through Ponyville, and then Canterlot. (though some finer details of both places are off).
And the named ponies are killed off in ways that normally reserved for hate sinks, or mooks whose reason to exist in an action movie is to die to make the heroes look cool.
Shining Armor, acting like a big fat target, is killed by the sniper with the sniper's friends praising him as a hero (this is a direct shout out to Negotiation verse where this happened). Flurry Heart doesn't seem to exist.
Oh, and Lyra is a traitor to Equestria which is treated as a completely heroic thing.
Flash Sentry and Soarin' talk about a heroic last stand for the glory of the Mother Land, and are instead gun down without pause (this is again from the Negotiation verse where it happened to AJ and RD).
The hero and the amazon engage in a deep french kiss after she'd just insulted him and maybe threatening to kill him for his reckless moves (in spite of her actions being just as reckless) showing she really wanted him as he grabs her and kisses her. And they continue to causally kill ponies around them who come in trying to interrupt their deep embrace and french kiss, WHILE THEIR EYES ARE CLOSED as they make out, shooting Rainbow Dash in the head without ceremony as she zooms in, and shooting Applejack in the head as she charges dumbly.
Luna is killed by the hero riding a motor cycle riding through a stain glass window landing right on top of her. The hero shooting guards with duel pistols in the head as his bike explodes behind him.
Celestia, not acting like she'd just seen her sister die at all, demands to know how they got past HER Veil that SHE created to be impossible for humans to get through without dying. The response is "GOOD OLD FASHIONED AMERICAN FIREPOWER!"
Celestia blasts away at the hero, and is the worst shot in history as she blows away everything EXCEPT the hero, who slices her throat, shoots her up, smash her horn, and her crown dramatically fall off her, epically signaling the end of her reign. And Equestria now occupied by humans.
Rarity faints before seeing more of the movie
And THEN we discover the whole thing is a movie put together by the HLF, and the mane six, in human form thank to Twilight's magic, are in the audience, and gasp and are in shocked when the people around them are cheering for it.
- Sunset gives the girls pointers about humans
After the movie is over the audience praise the movie for its quality of production, its writing, the romantic subplot, the action, the explosions, the intensity of it all, etc.
The ponies in the movie were either New Foal actors, or practical special effects, or CGI.
Twilight wonders if they're under magical brainwashing like the sirens... Maybe Rainbow Dash ends up cheering through part of the mindless violence in spite of just seeing herself get slaughters on screen. Applejack looks ready to explode into a tirade. Pinkie is not smiling, and looks pale. Rarity might have fainted (or gone quasi-catatonic). Fluttershy's expression is disturbingly neutral.
This is meant to be a remark how people will praise a fictional work regardless of its content as long as the quality is high enough... or if the appeal is base enough. And a chance for the mane six to see the HLF after the veil has made landfall in the US of A.
The mane six in human form (Twilight having used her transmutation magic for them to TEMPORARILY become human) talk to the other audience members about how the SUBJECT MATTER was demonizing and INCREDIBLY misleading, and are ignored, brushed off, or brow beaten for being 'stuck-up' 'elitist' or 'unable to appreciate a good popcorn flick.'
A dude calls the lead carrying Celly's screaming head as a trophy 'Awesome.'
Applejack snapped, "Awesome for a psychopath ya' mean!"
Princess Twilight desperately tries to defuse the situation
And putting Discord's statue through a gravel grinder. They call that awesome.
Fluttershy reactively call them a monster.
Twilight is EVEN MORE trying to stop a fight!
Twilight fears a diplomatic disaster over pony 'spies' if they're arrested for starting a brawl.
Twilight decides to rent out some disney movies that Sunset Shimmer recommended.
9848695 I can't do the Tempest Shadow one since I haven't seen the movie, but, while I'm a little uncomfortable with body horror and gore, I can definitely do the other two. I have to ask, though, would it be alright to take some artistic liberty with the second? Not a huge issue or anything, but I'd like to have one or two of my own characters there to at least have one actual human in the story who isn't a prick or bigot, as I feel it could leave some unfortunate implications if someone just sees that particular story without the context of the rest of the Not Just Ponies world.
Also, is there any limit on how much we can each contribute, or should we write to our hearts' content? (I'm fairly certain the latter, given your encouragement, but I like to make sure I'm not overstepping my boundaries) Cause if there's no limit, I'm thinking the PER raid and HLF movie could serve as my character's motivation and inspiration for his choices. I want to make something of an arc for my own character, with a few slice-of-life oneshots establishing him before I make a full, multi-chapter story about him, since most of the NJP stories are quick, standalone snippets. Honestly, I really want to write a realistic but still light-hearted take on a teen/young adult superhero/rookie cop, and I feel like it just sorta fits this particular setting.
Sorry for asking so many questions.
Let me know if it's getting tiresome. I just really like to be thorough.
9849513
Beware of turning any OC into the Spotlight stealing squad.
Also don't forget our unicorn police officer still had human coworkers, and we don't know if any of them have converted since then. So we have human characters right there who aren't jerks or bigots.
Imagine a New Pup now with tiny hooves on finger tips, or a new merpony (different from seapony) now have a giant hoof leg instead of her tail, as an example of body horror here.
Uh. The PER haven't MADE a movie.
The movie the mane six go see was made by the HLF, much like the 'Wild Coyote' movie in the Conversion Earth Pony story.
The PER in this setting consider the other species choices 'wrong' and put ponies on a unrealistic pedestal. (And some even consider pony tribes (like the merponies) OUTSIDE of the core three to be 'wrong!')
The HLF think they're dealing with an out and out alien invasion.
And unlike the other settings, the 'death of personality' thing doesn't happen. The mental changes are limited to losing your human instincts, and gaining new ones.
The point of the movie is to FINALLY show the mane six here, AND SHOW that Twilight's experiences in the Equestria Girls' world HELPS HER here. And sees her friends as the fish out of water, when Twilight now knows enough human cultural norms not to do anything TOO stupid. (Still some stupid things, but not insanely stupid.)And a bit of drama is Sunset fretting about what happens when new foal inevitably learn about the mirror, and HER Earth has to deal who know how many immigrants who will use it as an excuse to have a humanoid form again, with a infrastructure that won't be able to handle such a sudden jump in population! (And Earth-2 would double screwed over by losing however many people try to immigrate to Sunset's world!)And I'm going to be honest. These questions are beginning to feel kinda overwhelming. And I had to dig through to figure out what you wanted a response to or how you wanted me to respond. And I was left intimidated at answering. Since I've blindly written blank checks before, and it always ended in disaster. And for you question, WRITE AS MUCH AS YOU WANT DUDE!!! It's my hope against hope for my stuff to inspire other people to write!
9849513
Again, hope this doesn't overwhelm you. I tend to get overwhelmed.
9849885 I wasn't as clear as I should've been, sorry.
I have read Conversion Zebra and several other stories in the Not Just Ponies continuity, and I have read the Tvtropes page. I know the PER didn't make a movie and that both the PER and HLF are extremists in this universe.
My plan is to write 3 stories.
One story for the police raiding a PER site, exactly as you explained when you brought up the idea. A sequel to Conversion Unicorn, with no OC's of my own if one does not count the victims of the PER experiments.
One story about the Mane Six watching a movie made by the HLF.
My concern with this one was that people might read it without having read any of the other Not Just Ponies stories and come to wrong conclusion about the universe.
That being said, I now realize this concern was stupid. I will write it according to your original, unaltered idea to the best of my ability, as I should've done in the first place.
What I meant when I said this was that, if you are okay with one author writing multiple stories in this universe, I would like to write the two stories mentioned above and reference them in the third as some of the reasons my OC made his choice.
My word choice here was quite possibly the worst...
The "few Slice-of-Life oneshots" thing was in reference to my "artistic liberty" with the "Mane Six watch an HLF movie" story, where I was thinking of introducing my OC as a human in a minor role. He wouldn't have had any real focus, just would've tried to help Twilight avoid a fight. As previously stated, I've re-thought this and he won't be appearing there anymore.
The "multi-chapter story" thing was admittedly presumptuous on my part. I failed to consider that it might turn him into a Spotlight-Stealing Squad. Nobody likes a Spotlight-Stealing Squad, so thank you for warning me about that.
I hope this actually did clarify things without coming across as condescending or anything. If there's still anything unclear, don't be afraid to let me know. My intention with most of my questions was simply to ask for your permission and see your opinion. You don't have to feel intimidated when answering me. Respond as you wish, even if it means ignoring half of what I said.
9851322
Ah! I see!
9851322
Thank. Thanks. Personally, I'm more worried about alienating you.