The Conversion Bureau: Project Thesan

by Cloudhammer

03 - In-Flight Entertainment

Year 6, Week 6, Monday

Dr. Lewis nodded as the screen image finally resolved. He glanced down at his watch, then scribbled the time. “Okay, we have successful binding to the uterine wall. You can remove the probe, Liz.”

“Alright.” Behind the privacy screen, Elizabeth gently removed the fiber optic camera and set it in the tray. “You’re doing great, Heather, just let me close the incision.” She picked up the pre-threaded needle and got to work.

“I’m just glad we’re almost done here,” Heather grumbled as she leaned back in the surgical chair. She idly tapped her fingers on the chair’s arm.

“Heather.” Dr. Ross was staring at the arm of the chair, her eyes wide. “Heather, stop. Right now.”

Heather glanced down and stiffened. The nails on the end of her new fingers had elongated, forming a set of curved talons. She jerked her hand back, curling her fingers into a fist as the claws retracted. “I’m sorry Liz. I can’t help it sometimes.”

“We know Heather... just, try to keep it in mind, okay?” Dr. Ross finished stitching the incision closed. She put the needle in the same tray as the optic probe, and began to take the gloves off. She looked at Heather and again tried to reconcile that the canine creature sitting there had been the heavyset, quiet woman who just yesterday had volunteered to undergo the Conversion. She now stood at approximately five feet, five inches, and her body had replaced the fat with solid bands of muscle. They’d weighed her once she’d overcome the shock of her Conversion, and discovered that for her size, she was too heavy. Dr. Lewis had taken a bone sample for analysis, but the results were still being compiled.

“Right. Sorry.” Heather mumbled, scratching an itch on the back of her head.

Dr. Ross put on another pair of gloves, and cleaned the small shaved patch of skin. The brown hair around it pricked at the gloves, almost like a stiff bristled brush rather than fur. “Okay, and all set. Now, we just need to wait about nine months, see how this works.”

“I’m already looking forward to spending it in hiding,” Heather muttered as she pushed herself upright, again twitching at the alien feeling of her tail as it wagged slowly.

“Well, you’re not entirely right.” Dr. Ross and Heather glanced over at Dr Lewis pulled the privacy curtain aside. “It’s been decided that at the very least, you’ll be allowed to tour the city, with escort of course.”

Heather growled as she climbed to the floor, her body tensing as the pads on her feet touched the concrete. “Okay, that is something that I’m never getting used to either.” She looked intently at Dr. Lewis. “Is Albrecht still not talking to anyone?”

Dr. Lewis sighed. “Yeah, he’s coming out of his room for food at least, but otherwise he’s kept to himself.”

Heather’s ears drooped. “Oh.”

Dr. Ross patted her on the shoulder. “We’ll talk with him, get him to send you a letter once you get settled in at Canterlot. I admit, I kind of envy you. I heard a lot about it from Twilight and the others when we were working on the serum, and I do want to see it someday.”

“Well, you’ll get your chance. Less than fourteen years to go and all.” Heather took a few deep breaths, her nostrils flared. “So not looking forward to teleporting,” she muttered as arcs of light began to appear in the designated teleport area. A burst of light forced everyone to shield their eyes as four glowing shapes settled lightly onto the concrete floor. As her vision cleared, Heather sneezed and opened her eyes, meeting the stares of the four unicorn guards levelly.

Dr. Ross hesitated for a second, slightly disconcerted by Heather’s newfound confidence, before she turned to face the guardponies. “Hello, and who might I be speaking to?”

One of the guards trotted forward and saluted. “Ma’am, Sergeant Henry Carlisle, on orders from General Amber Dusk to serve as bodyguards.” He turned to Heather. “Miss Douglas, all four of us are combat veterans, well trained on the Hawaiian Islands. Our duty is to ensure your safety in-flight. You have nothing to worry about.” His accent placed him as British, probably one of the original volunteers from the first mass-test of the serum.

“In-flight?” Heather tilted her head. “I thought we were going to teleport there?”

Sgt. Carlisle shook his head. “No ma’am. The decision was made by those above my pay grade. We were ordered to escort you to the John F. Kennedy, then from there to Equestria proper via pegasus chariot. That’s not going to be a problem, is it?” His tone of voice made it clear that there wouldn’t be.

“No, of course not,” Heather muttered, scowling.

“Excellent. Then we will need transport to the airport. A plane is waiting,” Sgt. Carlisle said tersely, turning toward the door.

Heather looked pleadingly at Dr. Ross as the unicorns formed up around her and began to escort her toward the exit.

“Relax Heather, it’s only for a little while, then you’ll have your feet on the ground!” Dr. Ross called out. As the heavy door swung closed, she shook her head wryly. “Those poor ponies have no idea what they’re in for.”

The plane angled gently toward the Kennedy’s flight deck. For the unicorns inside, it was a welcome sight.

“Ms. Douglas, please, calm down,” Sgt. Carlisle urged, the other unicorns formed up behind him in case they were needed.

Heather was backed into the corner, the fur on the back of her neck standing up straight. “You calm down! This doesn’t feel right at all!” It was strange, she could feel the metal of the plane under her paws, but there wasn’t anything supporting it. She knew, logically, that the plane was fine to not have anything beyond it but the sky, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of being disconnected, like she was in freefall.

“Ma’am, the plane is fine. We’re making our approach now,” Sgt. Carlisle paused as the plane jerked abruptly as the wheels made contact, “and here we are. Now, come on. I promise you, we’re almost to Equestria, it’s just one more pegasus chariot flight to Manehatten.”

Heather seemed to perk up a little at that. “Okay, okay.” She got to her feet and tentatively walked forward, the unicorns moving ahead of her to the door. She paused on the top step, her nose flaring as the salty wind brushed past. Her feet tingled as the metal ladder practically sang to her, the vast bulk of the carrier beneath it providing a deep counterpoint. She climbed down after the unicorns, but froze as she made contact with the carrier deck itself. The metal thrummed and sang, but there was a single burning heartbeat at its center that nearly overwhelmed her.

“Everything alright?” Sgt. Carlisle asked, the unicorn staring at her curiously, along with everyone else on the deck.

Heather shook her head to get her orientation back, and looked up from the spot she’d been staring at. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.” She followed the unicorns across the deck to the waiting chariot, her expression darkening with each step. “I’m looking forward to finally getting some solid ground back under my feet.”

Sgt. Carlisle saluted smartly as Heather climbed into the chariot. “Safe journey ma’am.”

“Thanks,” Heather said with a small smile, flinching lower as the pegasi hitched to it leaped forward and into the air. As they picked up speed, she found herself gripping the railing tight, the wind in her eyes almost unbearable. Soon, the chariot leveled off, the howling of the wind faded somewhat, and she was able to look around. The carrier behind them rapidly grew smaller, the tiny form of the plane she’d arrived on already taxiing into position to take off. “Well, I guess there’s not a lot to do until we land, is there?” She asked idly.

For a few moments, the pegasus guards were silent, and she’d resigned herself to spending the whole trip in silence when one of them spoke up. “Not really, ma’am.”

Heather glanced up. “Well, at least you’re honest about it. What’s your name?”

“Firesong. Sergeant Firesong,” he said with a touch of pride in his voice.

“Let me guess, you just got promoted?” she asked with a toothy smile.

“Yep!” He glanced back at her and grinned. “So, what exactly has you coming out to Equestria?”

Heather wrestled for a second with how to answer. She knew that she wasn’t supposed to explain why she was really coming. “Well, I’ve always wanted to come, and with the testing of the Canification serum, I volunteered on the condition that I get to see Equestria.”

Firesong stared at her for a second, and she worried that he wasn’t going to buy it, but he nodded. “Well, Equestria’s a beautiful place, though I suppose I’m biased. Haven’t set hoof outside of it until this deployment, actually.”

“Well, there’s plenty to see here on Earth,” she grinned back. “What about you, what’s your name?”

“Corporal Ozone,” the other pegasus replied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. We natives don’t usually get the chance to see that many of your species.”

“Which one?” Heather asked with a wry chuckle.

“Either,” Ozone replied with a wink, “though that’s changing every day.”

Heather laughed. “You got that part right.” She looked out over the water, the sunlight glinting off its surface. “So tell me, what’s it like?”

“What, Equestria?” Ozone asked curiously. “Well, like Firesong said, it’s a beautiful place. To be honest, we’re a lot like you humans, though in our case they pay us to do a pretty easy job. I hear your police officers can have a time of it!" He glanced ahead, wings fluttering. “We’re about to enter the thaumatic field, best keep a hold on the chariot.”

Heather was about to ask what he meant when the air suddenly... changed. The fur on the back of her neck stood up, and she took a few deep, almost contemplative sniffs. The wind seemed to carry just the faintest hint of... fresh, was the closest that she could describe. Like the way things smelled just after a good, heavy rain. “It’s... wow.”

Ozone and Firesong laughed good-naturedly. “It’s good to be home,” Ozone remarked with a happy sigh.

Heather leaned forward in the chariot, squinting as she peered at the faint smear of land ahead. “So, that’s Equestria?”

“Yep. We’ll be landing in Manehatten soon, where another team will take you to Canterlot.” Ozone replied, a hint of exhaustion in his voice.

“Well, you two have done really well,” Heather said with a smile, though that fell into an open-mouthed stare at the city that took shape before her. Towering skyscrapers loomed, remarkably similar to those found in human cities, though scaffolding covered a number of them. “So what’s the scaffolding for?”

“Well, last I heard, a couple newfoals from some civil engineering company got contracted to work on fixing up some of the cities around Equestria. Our engineers are good, but you humans got us beat there,” Ozone replied.

Heather chuckled. “Sure, our engineers are good, but don’t discount our medical expertise.”

Ozone laughed. “They may know a thing or two, but don’t count the Medical Corps out: they got eight hundred years of practice behind em.”

“Alright you two, we’re going to be descending, so we gotta focus,” Firesong said sternly. Then he shot a smirk back. “Besides, everypony knows our best talent is in the weather patrol.” The three burst into laughter as the chariot banked toward the city.

Heather leaned over the side a little, eyes wide as she stared at the buildings drawing closer. They looked like they could have been plucked right out of New York, the pony-shaped statue looming over the harbor only serving to seal the resemblance. “Are you sure there’s not any time to see more of the city?”

“Sorry. Orders are to get you to Canterlot as soon as possible. Besides, after a flight like this, I’m gonna want to sleep for a week,” Ozone grumbled as they angled toward a small, walled-in compound on the outskirts of town. A small landing strip ran along the cityside wall, another chariot waiting there patiently..

The chariot thumped to a stop, Ozone and Firesong letting their wings droop in relief as they unhitched themselves. “Well Heather,” Ozone said as he stretched his wings tiredly. “I hope you enjoy Canterlot. Lemme tell ya, Manehatten doesn’t have anything on it.” He and Firesong trotted toward the barracks with a wave. Heather waved back as she climbed down from the chariot, again cringing as her feet touched the bare dirt. Though this time, the feeling was... diminished somehow. “Huh, that’s weird.” She crouched down onto all fours and sniffed at the ground curiously. She realized that, like Rangel and the two diamond dog leaders had demonstrated, she was feeling the stone under the dirt. “That makes sense...” She glanced up and her ears swiveled back sheepishly as she saw the nearby guardponies looking at her curiously. “Right, sorry about that. So, when do we leave?”

One of the pegasi stepped forward and saluted. “Corporal Cirrus, ma’am. I’m in charge of ferrying you to Canterlot, along with Sergeant Whitefeather.” The dour-faced pegasus next to him nodded sharply. “We’ll depart immediately, so we can reach the city by nightfall. The expected flight time is only about three hours.” His English was a little rough, but easily understandable.

Heather winced. “Umm, is there any way I could use the bathroom first? The flight from the Kennedy was brutal enough.”

The ponies looked at each other before Cirrus pointed toward the low structure beside the landing strip. “Right this way, ma’am.”

After taking care of business, which proved awkward in itself given the nature of pony restrooms, Heather found herself climbing back into a chariot. After settling themselves into the harness, Cirrus and Whitefeather started to gallop and leaped skyward, their ascent sharper than Heather expected.

“Try to warn me next time!” She shouted over the howling wind.

“Sorry, but we’re burning daylight!” Cirrus called back. “Let us know if you need anything!” The pegasi leaned forward as they picked up speed.

Heather huffed, but turned to watch the city as it steadily got smaller. She decided that once she was able, she’d take some time to herself and enjoy the sights a little, maybe get Dr. Ross a souvenir.

After a few more minutes, the city was a grey smudge on the horizon, and was soon lost to sight. Heather looked down at the network of small towns spread out over the landscape, larger farms dominating much of the countryside. “Wow, I’ve heard the stories, but didn’t expect it to be so... developed.”

“What do you mean?” Cirrus shouted back.

“Well, all of this really,” she gestured as they passed over a particularly large farm, “From the way the natives talk, it sounded like you live in harmony with the land.”

Whitefeather glanced back. “We do. What did you think that meant?”

“Well, that you co-exist with nature, as opposed to taking control of your environment and developing it.” Heather pointed out.

“Well, the ancient pony tribes were like that, but as time went on, we had to band together into larger nations to deal with threats like the griffons, dragons, and worse,” Cirrus’ ears folded back for a second. “And as our numbers grew, we had to develop more and more land. Things were hard for ponies back then, but they were well on the way toward a decent future. But then He came.”

“Who?”

Whitefeather chose to chime in. “Discord. The Father of Chaos, the Oncoming Storm and The Ruination of All.”

Heather tilted her head. “Hold on a second. Now I’ve heard of Discord, but I thought that was more a conceptual thing, like the bogeyman. You mean he actually existed?”

“Oh he existed alright. You can see him in the Canterlot Sculpture Gardens, if you want,” Cirrus said with a snort.

Whitefeather shook his head and continued. “Anyway, if the old legends are true, the three tribes had finally begun to accept Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as our leaders. However, a series of disturbing reports began to leak in from the south, tales of rain turned to chocolate milk one second and more foul substances the next. Of whole crops brought to life, only to burst into flames, or begin sweeping balletic pieces. Celestia and Luna sent a contingent of the three tribes, escorted by a company of Royal Guard, to find out what was going on.”

“Let me guess, they never came back?” Heather asked.

Whitefeather snorted darkly. “Oh no, they came back. As a roiling, evershifting mass of flesh mixed with gold and gems, shaped into a throne. Upon it sat a creature unlike anything seen before, seemingly made from all manner of animals. It proclaimed itself King, and demanded that Celestia and Luna bow to him. Needless to say, the Princesses immediately launched an attack against him... and he swatted them aside as if they were nothing. He moved to finish them off, but they managed to flee to Tartarus knew where.”

Cirrus folded his ears back. “The time that followed is what was known as the Reign of Chaos. Nopony knows really how long it lasted. It could have been a millennium in the span of five seconds, or vice versa. What we do know was that entire villages would wake up with the air in their lungs replaced with gelatin, or adults trading ages with their foals, or sometimes simply erased from existence, just because Discord wanted to see what would happen.” He shook his head ruefully. “Some of the stories in there are so impossible, you want to believe they couldn’t have happened, but you have to admit they likely did.”

“That’s... awful.” Heather said, her eyes wide.

Whitefeather nodded. “But, eventually, Celestia and Luna returned, bearing what became known as the Elements of Harmony, and leading armies from every nation. Zebras, diamond dogs, griffons, even the beasts of the wild rose up against Discord’s madness. We ponies flocked to join the battle, and didn’t have to wait long before Discord unleashed the full breadth of his power. It was... chaotic, to say the least. To this day nopony can really explain what was actually fought, from such things as the Never-Weres, the Horde of Insanity, the Ever-Hungry Shadows, and much worse. However, in the end, Celestia and Luna’s alliance drove Discord into the very center of his power, and cast him down, sealing him away.”

Heather was silent, her eyes vacant as she tried to process the story she’d just been told. She’d heard plenty of the stories of how wonderful Equestria was, but nothing anywhere approaching this. “So, even if I believe all this, how does that have to do with Equestria being in the condition it is now?

Whitefeather shot her a glance. “The alliance was battling against a monster that could literally reshape reality at the snap of his fingers. As the battle turned against him, he began literally unmaking the world. In the aftermath, the survivors were forced to take more direct stewardship of their lands. With the guidance of Celestia and Luna, Equestria was able to recover quickly, but some regions remained tainted irrecoverably by Discord’s corruption.”

“What about the other nations?” Heather asked.

“We initially aided in the recovery of the others, but after Nightmare Moon arose, the other nations broke all relations with us,” Cirrus said with a sigh.

“And no one tried to make contact for a thousand years?” Heather shot back incredulously.

“Of course we did. But trying to make amends when one of your goddesses tried to darken the sun and conquer the world is a little difficult. Eventually we settled into a sort of tense neutrality, and eventually that just became how things were.” Whitefeather said matter-of-factly.

“Though I’ll admit, Emergence went a long way towards bringing the nations together, Conversion even more so,” Cirrus said with a wry smile. “In a way, we owe you humans for that.”

Heather started to reply, but suddenly lurched forward, leaning over the front edge of the chariot. “Is that what I think it is?”

Ahead of them, a towering mountain chain was taking shape. A city jutted from the side of the tallest, clinging to it in clear defiance of gravity. A waterfall flowed out from under the gleaming edifice and plunged to the valley below. As they drew closer, Heather could make out tiny shapes that had to be pegasi darting back and forth, and chariots making their way along the streets.

“Welcome to Canterlot, ma’am,” Cirrus said, a touch of pride in his voice. “Center of Equestria for over a thousand years.”

With a few beats of their wings, the pegasi angled the chariot downward, swooping toward a landing strip at the back of the city, gold-armored bodies everywhere. Heather just stared blankly, her mind trying to wrap itself around the fact that the city should be impossible. Finally she decided she’d just have to accept it on general principle. “I’m definitely going to get Elizabeth a nice souvenir.”

Comments

[aponyforthebooks]

What, did Heather just feel the two A1B nuclear reactors on board the John F. Kennedy when she step on her.

[djthomp]

Holy crap, so she was able to feel the reactors? That's an interesting development. And wow, that's a pretty dark interpretation of Discord.

[Cloudhammer]

1848698
Well, he started warping reality itself in about five minutes of Season 2 (the part with Rarity in the hedge maze), so I think that at the full height of his power, he would be pretty f-ing terrifying

[ferret]

Ohhh she turned into a diamond dog, but has a human baby. That makes more sense.

There's a lot of extraneous "wells" in this chapter.

1850261

Discord's got a lot of flexibility. You can give him unlimited power, or you can make him a trickster who makes everyone think he has unlimited power. Just keep it consistent through the story, and no one should complain.