The Conversion Bureau: Ten Days

by Windchaser

The Second Day (PM)

Jay and Austin had waited for the rest of their group to join them before continuing on. When they arrived at the room where the class was supposed to be held, a few others already seated throughout the neat rows of chairs prepared for them. Andrew moved in first, Chloe falling in behind him, with Leah following her in. Jay weaved through the chairs after Austin, watching as many of the others joined everyone inside.

Garnet trotted toward the front, her slim-framed glasses resting on her muzzle. She watched as everyone took their seats, waiting patiently for everyone to settle down. Fleet Feather stood to the side, looking over everyone with a stern expression. When Andrea finally came in, he rushed over to help her to her spot. In the front were a few cushions where she and Caleb could sit without hurting themselves trying to fit into a normal, human chair. He made sure she was comfortable before returning to his spot to the side of the front of the room. Jay watched as Andrea kept on testing out her new functioning legs, Caleb watching on as well with a smile on his face. Annie, Caleb’s sister leaned against his dark blue side, her eyes drifting closed ever so slowly.

“Attention everyone! We’d like to get started, if that’s alright with you. I promise it’ll be worth the time!” Garnet said, the audience hushing down to silence. The door opened and another person slid in, sitting behind Austin.

“Almost didn’t make it,” Rob whispered to Austin.

He looked back to Rob and said “Hey.” Austin turned to Jay and poked his shoulder. “Jay, this is Rob. New guy in the bureau.” The pair shook hands and turned their attention back to the front of the room.

“Now then. As many of you may or may not know, the history of Equestria spans many years, but we’re going to cover only a few specific events. Namely, two of our nation’s enemies: Nightmare Moon and Discord.” The room murmured. “Now, this may not be a history lesson as you are used to. But let’s start with Nightmare Moon. Our lands are ruled over by the two princesses: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the stewards of day and night, respectively. One thousand years ago, Princess Luna grew resentful that everypony loved her sister’s daytime more than her night. That anger and hatred festered, and through ancient magic only known to the princesses, Princess Luna succumbed to the darkness, becoming Nightmare Moon. She was intent on bringing everlasting night to Equestria, so everypony would be forced to love her and her night.”

Jay leaned back in his seat. “Whoa,” he whispered. He could see everyone else was as focused on Garnet as he was.

“Princess Celestia battled her sister for a very long time, but they were equally matched and could not overcome each other. Through one last act of desperation, Princess Celestia harnessed what is known as the Elements of Harmony, and banished her sister to the moon for a thousand years. She took over her sister’s control of night, raising the sun and moon every day and night for a thousand years.”

Someone raised their hands in front of Jay and Austin. “Yes?”

“How old are Princess Celestia and Luna?”

“Nopony knows, except for the princesses. But when the thousand years were up, Nightmare Moon took advantage of her power and trapped Princess Celestia in the sun.” Garnet paused for a moment, watching everyone’s reactions. She let a small smirk escape the corner of her mouth. “Now, instead of me finishing the story, how about you hear it right from the horse’s mouth, so to speak?” she said, giggling to herself. She nodded to Clementine, who was standing at the door to the hallway. She nodded back and disappeared outside.

A moment later, Clementine returned with an orange earth pony, her blond mane tied off at the end, similar to her tail. But strangest of all was the Stetson she wore on her head. She trotted down to the front of the room, where Garnet stepped off to the side for her guest. “Howdy, ya’ll. M’name’s Applejack. I hear ya’ll wanna know the rest of the story ‘bout Nightmare Moon, yeah?” The entirety of the audience nodded in unison. “Well, I reckon I better tell ya’ll ‘bout mah friends.”

Applejack went on about her five other friends: Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle. They banded together when Nightmare Moon made her escape and began a search for the Elements of Harmony, using only myths and ancient books for hints as to their location. They tracked them down to the old castle where Celestia and Luna used to rule from, but not before being relentlessly pursued by Nightmare Moon herself. They managed to get to the old castle, and through some magic involving friendship itself, cleansed Nightmare Moon, leaving only a weakened Princess Luna in the wake of the spell.

“Now, ah know it sounds as loony as singin’ to a tree to ya’ll, but it’s all true. Friendship does have ah magic to it. And when Twilight found that out herself, well boy howdy did that send ol’ Black Snooty packin’!” The entire room erupted into laughter and applause as the orange earth pony took a bow. Garnet walked up next to her, waving down the audience with her hoof.

“Now, now. Miss Applejack, would you mind telling everyone about Discord?”

Applejack bit her lip. “Ta’ be quite honest, Miss Garnet, ah don’t remember too much ‘bout that whole thing. But ah will say a few things that ah do remember.” Applejack cleared her throat. “That feller, Discord, he’s a real case, that he is. Even loonier than what you thought about friendship being magic and all that. Crazy, vile, playin’ tricks on ya… Ah suppose some of ya’ll’d like him well enough… until her turned your town upside-down, made it rain chocolate milk, stole the things most treasured to ya’ll. He’ll scramble yer noggins like a butter churner, makin’ ya’ll messed up in there. He almost won, Discord did. If not for some quick thinkin’ on Celestia’s part, we’d be at his mercy still. Last ah saw of him, he’s a nice decorative garden statue in Canterlot, turned back to stone by tha Elements.”

Instead of applause, a stunned silence filled the room. Jay’s mind was filled with a maelstrom of thought. It looked like Equestria wasn’t always the perfect, peaceful Eden it was portrayed as. But even with maddened goddesses, psychotic spirits of chaos… it still seemed like a better place than Earth.

“Thank you, Miss Applejack, for visiting us today! Let’s give her an applause everyone!” The audience rose to their feet and clapped for the orange mare, who blushed in response.

“Aw, gosh. T’ain’t nuthin.”

“Okay, everyone! The day after tomorrow will be our next class in here, right after lunch. Please make sure you join us! Tomorrow, lessons with Honeybell, Fleet Feather, and Firecracker begin, so be sure to see them at some point after breakfast to get your schedule,” Garnet called out as people began milling out from the classroom. Jay stood against the wall outside the room and waited as everyone came out.

“That was pretty crazy,” Austin said as he stretched is arms over his head. Chloe looked down at the ground, her hand firmly gripped in Andrew’s. They were all unsettled by their image of Equestria being shattered.

While it was a paradise compared to Earth, nobody expected mad gods to be rampant there, causing so much danger. Nighttime lasting forever. A world without order or reason. Both were pretty scary thoughts, and the very incarnations of each one had existed in Equestria and threatened to make them happen. All Jay could ask himself was what else is there hiding in Equestria?

Jay walked towards the doors to the internal gardens in the middle of the building, but stopped. He remembered what he needed to finish. He made a few quick goodbyes and ran back to the library and to his project.

---

Austin watched as Jay ran off to the library. He knew what his friend was trying to accomplish, and he commended Jay for trying. Not out loud, though. He wanted Jay to keep trying harder and harder without getting too overconfident from a compliment here or there. He led the group through the gardens along the woodchip path, talking with Rob about what they had just learned about the history of Equestria.

“This is some pretty big stuff,” Rob stated. “That Nightmare Moon sounds like quite the character. Never imagined Princess Luna to have been that bitter and callous over something so silly.”

“You don’t get it,” Chloe said. “I kind of understand why she was upset, at the beginning. She put all that effort into something so pretty, so beautiful, and it was always overshadowed by her older sister.” Chloe gripped her sketchbook against her chest. “The worst fate for an artist… is to be ignored.”

Austin walked in silence. Chloe did have a point.

They all continued through the aromatic pathway, rows of bright flowers blooming on either side of them, filling the air with their scents. Honeybell, the green garden pony, was sitting in the dirt on one side of the gardens, singing a lovely tune to the beautiful day, her vocals perfectly in tune as far as Austin could tell. She noticed him and the group and smiled, giving them a wave as they passed. She kept on singing, not missing a beat. He voice was beautiful, it could easily brush aside any of the synthetically derived vocaloid simulators.

Austin began humming along with Honeybell as she sang, finally able to catch onto her tune. It was a pretty song about coming hone during the summer after a long day in the fields. It was quite the deviation from what songs humanity made instead. Most of them glorified consumerism and wealth, while others were loud synthetic mixes and beats of older songs.

“She has a nice voice, doesn’t she?” Leah asked from behind Austin.

“Yup.”

“I used to be a singer. Maybe you’d like to listen to me at some point?” she asked.

“Erm,” Austin began, at a loss for words. Good lord, he thought to himself. “Uh, maybe some other time.” Leah humphed and went back to talking to Chloe. Leah’s shoulder length raven hair was a stark difference from Chloe’s natural brown waves. Leah’s hair was heavy with artificial coloring and had the looks of incessant visits to a stylist, probably an effort to continuously reinvent herself. She always floated between social groups even when they were all younger in middle school, always trying to impress everyone she met. When she failed with one group, she moved onto another.

She seemed to be gravitating towards him recently, he noticed for the first time a few weeks ago in school, when she had been particularly nasty to Jay. He told her to back off, and surprisingly enough, she did without question. She even seemed to blush when she sulked off.

But she had been getting more oppressive with her advances since they got to the bureau, maybe suffering from the same sort of deadline Jay was facing with Chloe, just without a human obstacle in the way. But it was all for naught, for Leah. For all the social prowess Austin admitted he had, he didn’t know how to break it to her without causing some sort of backlash, physical or otherwise.

Austin sighed. He wanted to get his mind off of this topic. He walked away from the group, but they still followed him, he the shepherd to their sheep. He walked into the common room and sat in front of the television and clicked it on. The news was on, and going through a segment on the HLF.

Austin sighed. He knew about the HLF. He hated them, mostly because they were so prevalent down near him in the south along with other overly opinionated types. He stuck to the segment and watched as the rest of the group sat down in the sofas around the room. Predictably, Leah sat on the same sofa as him, Andrew and Chloe sitting on another couch near them. Andrew watched the TV with rapt attention and Chloe focused on her sketchbook. Surprisingly, Rob also sat on the sofa Austin and Leah sat in, Rob taking the seat opposite of Leah. Austin noticed Leah glaring at Rob for a moment before going back to the screen.

Apparently, there had been an incident with the HLF in a bureau by New York City. A bureau had to go into lockdown from an anti-Bureau riot turning violent when someone hurled a brick through one of the windows. Chaos erupted, dozens were injured, and only a few were arrested amidst the chaos. The person who started it all managed to slip out, but not before the helicopters caught a picture of him. The look on his face didn’t strike Austin as violent, but the brutes behind him did have that demeanor as he hurled the brick.

The newscast then cut to the anchor, closing up that story. She then turned it back to the Telios Chemical plant investigation, instantly drawing the attention of everyone in the room but Rob.

“The investigation in the Telios Chemical case has, today, taken an interesting turn. An anonymous whistleblower leaked some private memos to the press today between the board of directors of the company. The memos, should they be legitimate and not fabricated, could send every member of the board of Telios Chemical to jail for life. We aren’t revealing what was in those memos just yet, but rest assured, this case just got a lot more interesting. The FBI are actively investigating the case.”

Austin’s jaw dropped. The accident was staged by the heads of Telios? If they robbed his parents from him and the parents of everyone else, they’d damn well better go to jail for life. Austin gripped the cushion of the sofa in his hands, his knuckles turning white. Chloe was crying again, seeking shelter in Andrew’s embrace. He seemed passive about the whole thing; he didn’t lose his parents in the explosion, so why should he care?

“Really? All that fuss over a little chemical plant bringing in the FBI? Waste of time, I say.” Austin stared at Rob. He leaned on his arm and watched the TV, ignoring the stunned stares from everyone in the room.

A shudder of rage coursed through Austin's body. Rob, someone he had just met, and was starting to like as well, had just slapped everyone in the room across their collective face. Austin stood up and left, heading to his bed. He needed to cool off and lie down. He slammed the door shut and threw himself onto the mattress.

---

Jay rummaged through a box of scrap parts from one of the unfinished labs, dumping the pieces he didn’t need into another empty box. He technically wasn’t supposed to be in there, but Firecracker said he’s take the hit for him if he was clumsy enough to get caught. Two hours, and still nothing. He needed to find a single screw. That was it. A single, tiny, thumbscrew, with a large enough grip to be able to be handled with teeth was all that he needed now. The sun was starting to set through the window, the forest obscuring the final dying rays of the day. Jay slumped to the ground and moaned to himself. He had one more box to go through, and then he was going to give up.

He plucked the large scraps of metal from the box and dumped them into the empty box, noting they were easily not the part he was looking for. Before him was a carpet of dull, grey metal covering the bottom of the box, screws and nails creating an inch deep layer of metal he needed to go through. He started taking handfuls of the metal in his hand, cutting it in a few places. They didn’t draw blood, but flecks of skin got pulled up. He looked through this handful… nothing. He dumped them into the box with the rest of the larger metal and took another handful. Still nothing.

He looked down at the remaining parts and sighed. It wasn’t there. He dumped what remained into the almost filled box and stood up. He stretched, hearing his joints pop and crack, before walking out to leave. He hit the light to the lab and walked out into the hallway. He walked down, back towards the library, and quietly walked in. Firecracker was organizing one of the shelves, books whizzing back and forth, his eyes scanning each one as they moved past him. Jay took a seat at the computer and logged into the system with Firecrackers username and login password. He checked the email system, reading over the messages from Garnet and the other bureaus. There were messages about a riot earlier today on a bureau in Newark, up north. They gave updated instructions on lockdown procedures, should a riot occur to any other bureaus. He noted down what he figured were the most important to Firecracker on a piece of paper, and logged out of the system. He ripped the paper from the pad and walked over to Firecracker as soon as he finished sorting the row.

“Anything pressing, young one?” he jested. Jay chuckled at the remark, even though Firecracker was over forty years older than Jay. Sixty was a fairly young age for an adult pony, most going well past one hundred years old.

“Not much. Garnet said there’s a meeting after the conversion tonight for Caleb’s sister… There’s some more staff being bussed in tomorrow to help run the bureau since it’s officially open. Nothing else really… just a message about some riot protocols from that thing up north.”

“What thing?”

“A riot in Newark that turned violent at a bureau. They sent out new rules about what to do if something similar happens.”

“Not very likely we’ll have hordes of angry humans outside our doors, eh?”

“I guess,” Jay responded. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw the minute hand right as it hit six o’clock.

“I guess you had no luck finding that screw?” Firecracker said, his eyes still on the bookcase.

“Nah. Checked every screw in the lab.” Jay was frustrated. It was the last part for his brace for Chloe. He was so close.

“Well then, I guess you’ll be needing this,” Firecracker said as his horn lit up. A glob of orange floated out from the bookcase an into Jays hand. It was the exact screw he was looking for all those hours in the lab.

“Wha-“

“Before you say anything, I’m going to remind you that the brace wasn’t really worth the effort. Ponies don’t need anything like that to write or draw.” Firecracker levitated a pen from his desk into his mouth and gripped it with his teeth, and began writing in the back of the paper Jay had written the notes on. The pen wriggled in Firecrackers mouth, tracing out words as clearly as if Jay had spent time on each curve. “Dexterous mouths,” he said, spitting out the pen onto the table. “Even colts and fillies can write like that. Your friend won’t have much of an issue when she gets converted, I promise you. But it says a bit more about you, now doesn’t it?”

Jay sighed as he felt his cheeks reddening. “I…”

“You wanted to impress her. You wanted her to take notice of the lengths you went to provide for her. Trust me, monkey boy; I’ve been around the block more than a few times.” Firecracker held his head high, filled with pride.

“Yeah right. You’re full of it.”

“Feh! I used to have mares climbing all over me! I have the pictures to prove it!” Firecracker claimed.

“Why not anymore, then? Hm? Where are they now?” Jay smirked as he saw Firecracker flounder with words for a moment. He was hesitant to admit to himself the scene with Peach Cobbler in the cafeteria at lunch, just for the sake of his argument.

“Well, I, uh… Bah, fine. They always left me, always saying I was insensitive, distant, or some variation thereof. So, I just gave up one day. There. Happy?” Firecracker glowered at Jay.

“I’m sorry,” Jay said, patting the unicorn on the head.

The door to the library opened slowly, the head of Austin poking in. His hair was a bit messy; the blond hair on the back of his head was standing on end. He strolled in, closing the door behind him. “Hey there,” he said before yawning. “Sorry, fell asleep. What’re you guys up to?”

“We were-”

“About to get dinner!” Firecracker said, cutting Jay off.

Firecracker pushed Jay out the door and into the hallway, Austin following them from behind. He rubbed his eyes and stood up a bit straighter. The walked down the hallway and into the cafeteria, heading towards the counter where Peach Cobbler stood, waiting. Everyone else had already gotten their meals and was seated, and it seemed that she was anticipating him and Firecracker. Mostly Firecracker it seemed.

“What can I get you?” she asked, hey eyes glowing. The spread before them was three cheese penne, vegetable stew, and hay. Firecracker asked for a bit of it all, his tray holding a plate of the pasta and a bowl of stew.

“Thanks a bunch, Peachie,” he said. He turned and before he walked away, he gave the yellow mare a sly wink.

To say that Peach Cobbler exploded would have been an understatement. She let loose a high pitched squeal of joy and spouted a continuous stream of “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Jay couldn’t stop giggling seeing her so happy. When she finally calmed down, she had given Jay and Austin their dinners. Jay had gotten a new dessert to sample tonight, while Austin was given a peach danish, like the one Jay had the night before.

Jay’s dessert was a sort of chocolate cake with a scoop of ice cream on top. The ice cream was a swirl of colors he never expected to be in ice cream: purple, yellow, orange, blue, and red. They all swirled around the scoop, creating a bit of a rainbow effect.

Jay and Austin walked over to the same table they sat with Firecracker at during lunch and dug into their dinners. The penne was very tasty, the cheese creamy unlike anything Jay or Austin had ever eaten before. They were used to cheese products, which more often than not was simply a block of some yellow clay that you melted on the stove. This cheese had real flavor, though.

The food vanished from his plate faster than Jay would have liked, but he was finally able to move onto his dessert. Austin took a small bite of his danish, the effect immediate. He hungrily took another bite, a smile growing on his face. “This is amazing!” he said, bits of the dessert still in his mouth. Jay chuckled and took a fork into his dessert, slicing off a bit of the rainbow ice cream and the cake as well. When he broke the side of the cake, dark brown ooze dribbled out from the inside. Jay got some of it onto the slice of cake on his fork and took a bite.

The ice cream was a rainbow of flavors, as if the colors didn’t give it away right off the bat. He tasted all sorts of distinct fruity flavors; from the tartness of what he guessed was raspberry, to the smoothness of banana, and even the tanginess of orange. It was an incredibly unique experience, and it was only his first taste. When he reached the cake itself, he was greeted with the rich smoothness of a moist chocolate cake, dripping with hot chocolate sauce, which was what was hiding inside the cake, underneath the scoop of ice cream.

“See? I told you she had desserts in her blood. Runs in her family,” Firecracker said, munching on his hay. Jay looked back to the kitchen, Peach Cobbler scrubbing some of the dishes in the sink with her hooves. She noticed Jay looking over and waved at him with a bright smile on her face, to which Jay waved back. He looked around the rest of the cafeteria and saw Chloe, Andrew and Leah sitting at the table Austin usually joined them at. Leah saw Jay looking over and twisted her head back around. Caleb and Andrea were standing at a table close to the doors where they were waiting for Garnet to come through, Caleb’s little sister Annie with her. She was supposed to get converted tonight, Jay recalled.

As if on cue, the door opened, a red mare walking out with a pink blob on her back. She walked over to Caleb and Andrea, both watching her with intensity and wonder. The pink blob on Garnet’s back squirmed as Garnet knelt down. The pink filly fell to her hooves, and then promptly onto her flanks. Her mane was a snowy white, and with no trace of a horn or wings, she was an earth pony just like her brother. Caleb fell to the ground and pulled Annie close to him for a hug.

“Well isn’t that cute,” Firecracker said out loud. “Well, I got a meeting, so I’ll bid you two adieu.” The grey unicorn trotted off with his tray floating in the air before him and gave it to Peach, but didn’t leave before leaning in and whispering something to her that made her blush furiously. Firecracker walked off, following Garnet with a smug grin on his face.

Jay and Austin took their trays up to Peach, who was still giddy with laughter. She couldn’t keep still. “Eeee!” she squealed.

“What did he say?” Jay asked, smiling.

“He asked me out on a date tomorrow after my dinner shift! I’m so excited!” she squealed even louder now. Jay giggled from her outburst of joy. It seemed that Firecracker’s claim was at least partially true.

“By the way, your desserts today were magnificent. What flavors were in the ice cream? They were amazing!”

"Well, I got it from one of my friends back in Equestria. He said that he used blueberry, banana, raspberry, tangerine, and pineapple in it!"

"Well, be sure to give him my compliments. The chocolate syrup was a great surprise," Jay said, smiling.

“Wonderful! I’ll add them to the menu, and I'll be sure to let him know I'll be needing more of his flavors!” She took their trays in her magic fields and placed them by the sink to wash them all off. She began humming to herself as she scrubbed the plates clean.

Austin walked out from the cafeteria towards the common room, but Jay ran the other way, saying he’d meet him there. Jay ran back through the cafeteria and towards the opposite door, and down towards the library. He burst in, scanned around, and grabbed the brace that was sitting on the table.

He ran back through the cafeteria and towards the common room, Chloe’s brace in hand. He knew she probably wasn’t going to use it, Firecracker proved that to him. But she didn’t know that. She was upset and sad that her one skill was at risk, and Jay wanted to do anything to cheer her up. Even spending hours sifting through scrap metal.

Jay made it into the common room, Austin sitting on one of the sofas opposite of Andrew, Leah sitting next to him. Though, Chloe was missing. She came in behind him, almost bumping into him in her rush.

“Oh! Sorry, Jay.” She sidestepped him, rushing into the room, and right towards Andrew. “Andrew! Andrew!”

Andrew’s head lolled over towards Chloe, his eyes half lidded. “Yes, pumpkin?” he said, half-heartedly.

“I talked with Miss Garnet… she said we can both get converted first thing tomorrow!” Chloe smiled and hugged Andrew. She planted a kiss on his cheek. Jay felt almost sick.

He looked down at the brace in his hand. He didn’t feel anything in his chest. His heart was gone, whisked away right when Chloe ran past him. He trudged across the common room, towards the other hall, and dropped the brace into the trash can on his way out.

---

Shit, Austin thought to himself. It would have been more polite to Jay if Chloe had just slapped him across the face and spat on him, but instead she rejected Jay in the worst way possible: by embracing a long future with someone else. The wrong someone. It was plain as day that Andrew didn’t care nearly enough for her as much as Jay did. The kid couldn’t take his eyes off her whenever she was around.

“Isn’t it great?” Leah cooed, reminding Austin that she was there. “They’re going to be together tomorrow! You know,” she whispered. “We could probably arrange something like that for us.”

“That’s it. You need to stop.” Austin stood up from the couch, Leah falling back from his sudden change in attitude. “Leah, I don’t know what made you think I have any inkling of a mote of desire for you, and frankly, I don’t want to know. I have no interest in you. None. Zero. Zip. You’re a bitch to my best friend, and you’re the most ingenuine person I’ve met. Now, please leave me alone.”

Austin could feel the heat rising from his brow. Feeling the deafening silence that permeated the room not just from the group he was standing with, but also everyone else present, he decided to cut his losses and call it a night.

He stormed out and into the hallway, back towards his room. He made a short stop in the men’s bathroom in order to splash his face with some ice cold water. He felt the anger leaving him as the water dripped down his face, but not enough to go back to see everyone. He took a paper towel and dried his face before walking to his room.

Jay was sitting on his bed in a stupor, just as Austin suspected he would. He looked up as Austin came in and grunted a noise of acknowledgement. Austin sat down on his bed and threw his legs up. He stared at the ceiling for a few moments before Jay spoke.

“What happened?”

Austin turned his head and looked over to Jay. “It was Leah. She crossed the line with me, so I gave her a bit of my mind.”

“What did she do?”

“Well… She wanted to get converted together with me.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Jay’s voice was solemn and devoid of intonation. The event with Chloe and Andrew sucked out every little bit of emotion it seemed.

“I don’t like her. At all. In fact…” Austin sighed. May as well. “You remember how I didn’t want to tell you why I wanted to get converted?” Austin sat up in his bed and draped his legs over the edge of the mattress.

“Yeah.”

“Well… last night I went to talk to Garnet, the red unicorn. She’s the one in charge here, see? I asked her a few questions about Equestria; I wanted an honest opinion from her. And…”

“Yeah?”

“People like me are welcomed and embraced in Equestria.”

“People like you?”

Austin braced himself with a deep breath for what he was about to say.

“Well… I’m gay.”

Austin waited a moment before saying anything else to see what Jay’s response would be. He dreaded this moment for years; he had been hiding this aspect of himself for so long…

“And? That’s it?” Jay shrugged. “Makes sense to me.” Okay, not the reaction Austin had expected. “Hey, if you want to fit in without being dogged for who you like, who’s to tell you how you live your life? More power to you. Hope you find a nice guy for yourself.”

Austin was speechless. He was always nervous about coming out to three people most of all: his parents, and Jay. His parents because they were traditional Christian fundamentalists, and Jay because he was his best friend. He was always told that being gay was an abomination and a twisting of the human soul by the devil, and only through the salvation provided by the Lord one could overcome it. While Austin never followed his parents beliefs too closely, he played along if anything just for their sakes.

But what scared Austin the most was being open about it. While West Virginia wasn’t too south as most people thought, it was still as ‘south’ as you could get. He would get death threats, bullied by just about everyone at school, publically ridiculed, and even in recent times, lynched. Random murders with the only motivation behind them being sexuality weren’t uncommon in the south.

He had heard many rumors and stories about ponies being open with their preferences in Equestria without anyone giving a second glance. If anything, if the numbers were true, one out of every eight couples in Equestria was same-sex. It was embraced as the norm. Austin was intent on conversion even before the accident at the factory.

Austin smiled. For all the bad that he dealt with in the common room, there was a whole lot of good in here. He was sure now, more than ever, that Applejack was right: there was a sort of magic in the friendship he and Jay shared.

Comments

[Cloudhammer]

An excellent chapter, and I really hope things work out for Jay, it blows that he worked that hard on the brace for Chloe to act like that

[SenialHobo]

woah. my mind command worked. MY MIND DEMANDS A MILLION DOLLARS!!! ........damn.

[Chatoyance]

A lot of wonderful moments here. Your dessert descriptions are mouth watering.

I have one thing that jarred me slightly; it just seems to me that Jay would interact more with Peach Cobbler after each dessert than just 'it was magnificent'. I would. I would at least say something like 'At first the ice cream seemed weird, with all the colors, but the flavor was so good that in the end I really liked it. And the filling was incredible, because of the way the texture contrasted with the cake." Or something like that. Probably it doesn't matter one whit to the story, of course, but it just seems more... real, to have some short discussion there.

Then again, I tend to concentrate too much on moments as opposed to pacing, so, maybe I am being silly here.

This is really, really excellent.

[Windchaser]

194144
In hindsight, I agree. I'll expand the exchange a bit.

[OMJay]

D'aaw, poor Isaac.
Uh, and, y'know, Jay. The main character of this story.

I appreciate the reference. A real treat for those who've read your other works, especially Last Man Standing. Keep up the good work!

[Windchaser]

194893
This story officially takes place in the same TCB universe as Last Man Standing.

[Da Bunnana King]

Gotta love plot twists but I feel sad for Jay since he made that brace for her to draw with, even thought most ponies can draw with their mouths, he still made it and he gets brushed off. But please keep up the good work.

[DerangedDingo]

Oh my, quite a few updates lately. Always a good thing in my opinion. Now lets see here...
Poor poor Jay. I hope that he can overcome his broken feelings. I honestly had hoped that the brace would work out. But hey, on the upside he still has some awesome friends, I am certain that Austin and Firecracker will cheer him up. (Austin already did it seems.) And speaking of those two.

Oho, Firecracker had all the mares huh? Well I guess that you could say he *puts on sunglasses* Was quite the Stallion. Him and Peach will make a good couple, if he can break his old habits that is.

When Austin came out I was pleasantly surprised. I honestly thought that no one would ever touch on that subject. (Wanting to go to Equestria just for the acceptance that is.) So bravo to you. I guess we learn something every day.

[Ocean Breeze]

[VinylScratchIsBoss]

Didn't comment about it cuz I thought the idea would be shot down, but I called having austin be gay..