The Conversion Bureau: Preservation

by Westphalian_Musketeer

Years Passed

I flicked on the newsfeed and lay my head on the cushions, I eyed my DaTab, tempted to look over my doctoral thesis, but shook my head as I listened to the report.

"In other news, it has now been eight years since Equestria first appeared, and six years since the Conversion Bureaus started opening. Now reports from the bureaus have been combined with recent census reports, and it's estimated that five percent of the world population has converted. I'm here with a panel of Humanist Party member Ivan Dopulvinskii, and Transcendentalist Party member Andrea Smith to discuss conversion. Mrs. Smith, do you think that conversion is a good thing?"

The man on screen, Ivan immediately pushed forward a hand in protest.

"You are using loaded questions even by suggesting that conversion is a good thing. It changes your species, and even the mind is altered to a degree. This 'barrier' has not even made landfall, yet the government insists upon placing legislation to force the conversion issue."

"Mr. Dopulvinskii, I'd ask that you allow your fellow member of EarthGov to speak without interrupting."

The woman smiled and nodded to the news reporter.

"Thank you. As you know the transcendentalists are advocates for every way to improve people, both in life and body. Given the healthy environment of Equestria, and the robustness of its species, we are fully in support of people converting, and as to my colleagues claim that we're in anyway forcing the issue is laughable. We've provided funding to allow bureaus to advertise conversion, to spread information."

Ivan stood up and pointed at Andrea.

"Information designed to trick people into thinking they won't be turned into a simple-minded animal! It's been admitted by psychologists and sociologists by both human and ponies that conversion completely warps the mind."

Andrea gave out a contempt-filled chuckle.

"Mr. Dopulvinskii, while I'll be the first to admit that conversion does have mental effects, they can hardly be considered degenerative. Aptitude and skill test scores remain the same across a wide sampling of demographics, mental capacity is shown to be maintained between pre- and post-conversion. We mustn't mistake friendliness for feeble-mindedness."

I turned off the news and sighed. That had hurt, being accused of taking someone's intellect? Still, the fact that, if my thesis went through, I'd have proven a profound lack of 'feeble-mindedness' by graduating a doctoral program in five and a half years. I had opted for physics, in hopes of some day applying what I now knew of human advancements in Equestria. But I had always been sure to take classes and study in other fields as well. All the theories of electromagnetism in the world did nothing to help with settling the big question that I imagined many people sometimes asked themselves: convert, or not?

A knocking at my door made me drop the train of thought and hop out of bed. Walking up to the door, I opened it with magic. Standing there was Michael.

"Good day, Twilight, or should I begin calling you Dr. Sparkle?" he asked, smiling once the words finished flowing out of his mouth.

"I haven't graduated yet," I chuckled at my human friend. "What brings you here?"

"Some of the other students and I arranged for dinner as a group. Vegetarian course only. All expenses paid. Father was quite pleased with my own graduation." He stepped back and smiled, sweeping his hand in a flourish. "Care to join us?"

"I..." I looked back quickly to my closet. Opening it with magic, I floated out a jacket designed for ponies. I'd have to keep my mouth shut to Rarity about it, but my time on Earth had given me an appreciation for clothing. Especially when it was raining outside. I didn't want my coat to get stained from the more polluted showers. I fastened two sets of buttons and nodded. "I haven't got much else to do besides wait for the results."

"Wonderful! Ishii and others already downstairs. Come, come!"

***

Warm, that was what I could describe the restaurant as. It had red carpeting with a golden diamond pattern sewn into the fabric. The room was separated from the main serving area by a set of doors with crystalline glass the broke up the pattern of those outside into a kaleidoscope of colors and half-formed images. Yellowish light was cast down on the table from the chandelier.

Ishii stood by the door like he was a statue in the Canterlot Gardens, arms folded across his chest, but a light smile on his lips, though his eyes were covered by a visor.

At one end of the room was a slight platform, less than a foot tall, no more than five feet across, with a lectern fixed in the middle.

Three tables were in the room, two seating six people each, and the other remaining empty. I sat at one table across from Michael.

"So, doctoral thesis on quantum mechanics. Difficult stuff. Stop the barrier, perhaps?" Michael asked in his usual fast voice.

I nodded. "Maybe, it would be nice not being here on borrowed time."

"Indeed," he answered, "but now is time to celebrate, for all of us. Passed my program in AI development. Next search engine you use, might be made by me." He looked over at the stage, then his DaTab. "Meals will be served soon. Best if I make my speech now, while people aren't stuffing faces."

I giggled lightly as he stood up and walked to the lectern, placing his hands on its sides. The other diners silenced as he cleared his throat.

"Friends, classmates--" He swept his had towards me. "--interdimensional quadrupeds." Laughter filled the room, my own included. "In the next few weeks we'll all have likely graduated, or moved on to pursue a higher or different degree. We'll part, but this isn't sad, we may one day come together again. Different, perhaps, but those differences can be understood. We'll share all that we've gone through. Joys, sorrows, triumphs, catastrophes. They'll shape us... mold us... but if we just look back to this: this moment, where we first left off on good terms, we'll know that we can join and be stronger. Our experiences will become something shared between us. To make sense of. I look forward to one day seeing what becomes of us all."

The doors opened and two waiters walked in with a trolley filled with plates, they set up the plates and the drinks.

"Ah, food is here. Enjoy, everyone." Michael stepped off the stage and sat back across from me.

The food looked delicious, maybe not as good as Equestrian food, given some of the synthetic ingredients, but it made up for it in presentation. Yams topped with sour cream and green beans, fried broccoli stuffed with cheese. Even though I had spent most of my days sticking to flavored kelp for all my nutrition, I still felt guilty indulging. The lack of synthetic meat in the other dishes was also a welcomed fact. I floated up a fork and pierced the yam, carving out a small portion with a dollop of sour cream. I popped it into my mouth... This was natural, imported from Equestria. Oh goodness this was a treat, it was like being back home. Warm setting, good food, good friends.

Michael dug in to some roast potatoes, finishing them all off without touching anything else, he grabbed his glass of water and quickly swallowed half the glass. "Ah, potatoes always did make me a little..." He stopped talking mid-sentence.

I leaned forward, expecting that he'd soon break into a lengthy stream of words. "Michael?"

"I..." he said, wincing his eyes. "Ah!" His left arm flinched, nearly smacking the person beside him. "AAAAGGHH!" The screaming made me pull back. The agony flowing from his throat reached a crescendo as he fell back in his chair.

"MICHAEL!?" I yelled, jumping off my chair. My horn glowed, detection spells trying to figure out what was wrong. Heart attack? No. Allergic reaction? No. My gut turned in horror as my mind reflexively cast a detection spell for what I feared.

Potion, in his system. I cast the spell on his plate, it was stuffed with it.

"No..." I felt a hand wrap around my chest. I nearly bucked in reflex, but I heard Ishii yelling over the sound of the dinner guests panicking, the screaming of Michael.

"Miss Sparkle, come with me; the others will handle this!" Too stunned to protest, I backed up as he pulled with his hand. On instinct, I ran after Ishii.

And left Michael.