The Beginning of the End is the End of the Beginning

The Conversion Bureau:

The Warrior's Way

Prologue: The Beginning of the End is the End of the Beginning

Prologue Part One: Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle sighed in her cell. The battle for Canterlot seven months ago had led to her incarceration along with her friends, with their trials pending as humanity and their allies helped Earth get back on its collective feet. Looking back, it was amazing in some respects that the fight had lasted as long as it had. To be fair however, she and many others had believed they were doing the right thing. Largely because Celestia had convinced them they were. She was the most well known, well-loved, and well-trusted being in Equestria, so of course most took her at her word when they began what was eventually revealed as an attempted invasion of Earth.

It had started out very innocently. And nearly everyone in Equestria had trusted their princess. Luna had had reservations, but it seemed that even she had been convinced. The then-small number of neigh-sayers on the subject were claimed to be misguided, or else radicals who had been 'infected' by the ways of mankind and of The Others. Many, she shuddered to remember now, had been executed when they started taking up a public, though largely non-violent series of protests against the expansion of the barrier.

Things hadn't gotten easier once the war started. And that had started off very strangely. When the PER had emerged, Celestia had decried them. The first shots of the war were fired with the forced ponification of human beings. The private armed organization calling itself the Human Liberation Front had formed in response to them, and while there were some true maniacs in the group, they did not represent the overall leadership of the organization, for which she was thankful. Many who had been proven through psychiatric evaluation from both the HLF and the less militant members of the PER were being considered for conscription into military service, either by Earth or Equestria. She was glad that for every fanatic or psycho amongst either group, there were at least a good ratio of decent individuals. She just wished that she could have helped.

Turning to look at her friends for what felt like the umpteenth time that day alone, Twilight sighed. They had been quiet for the better part of the last two weeks, barely saying more than ten words to one another at a stretch. Fluttershy was usually fairly quiet anyway, so for her that wasn't too surprising. But the boisterous Rainbow Dash, and Rarity being this quiet? Rarity she could understand, but only when she was working on a project, as she was almost always willing to talk about some topic or another. Though given the recent changes in their lives and the loss of not only their freedom but also a drastic change in the governance of Equestria....she could understand why Rarity didn't speak much these days. Dash was the one who worried her a bit. Mainly because Dash often seemed to only ever shut up when she didn't think she had anything to say and the pegasus was so bombastic that that was a rare thing back before all this started.

Dash's wings were bound to prevent her from trying to use her wings to escape. It was largely ceremonial, since Dash had not made any such attempt since the battle ended, though the bonds were functional, but others, namely Applejack and Pinkie Pie, as well as Princess Celestia herself, had made attempts. Fluttershy's wings were also bound to her sides, but again, it was more ceremonial than anything else. Even during the war, Fluttershy hadn't done much actual fighting due to her natural timidness. Twilight had a hard time believing her counterpart was an assassin. But Whisper was indeed just that. And he was frighteningly good at his job. The Ninja pegasus was perhaps the most enigmatic of the elite warriors who had come to be known as The Six.

From what little she understood, Ninja and Samurai didn't normally intermix. The Ninja clans tended to keep to themselves when not carrying out a mission for the Shogun or anyone else who could meet their prices, according to what she'd read of the history of the world of their counterparts when she'd had the singular opportunity to go there. But yet Whisper was one of them, and the six had been cross training one another in their various skills. Perhaps it was no wonder they were so good as a team. They knew one another practically from the inside out and had been together for almost two decades. The same was not true of herself and her friends.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie were placed in restraints that were anything but ceremonial, as compared to the 'bindings' that held the two pegasi's wings to their bodies. As the physically strongest of the group, Applejack was bound by manacles on all four hooves with chains bolted firmly to the floor several times over. They were taking no chances with her. Only her counterpart among the Others, an Earth pony named Ash Jade could meet her on even terms or possibly even hope to exceed her for raw strength. During her one and only escape attempt, she had critically injured ten ponies and four humans amongst those who were standing guard over the prison, and they had no intention of letting her try again.

Pinkie's strange abilities had very nearly allowed her to escape the prison single hoofedly the first time. But this was because they hadn't had her cell properly ready for her since they had actually had it calibrated for someone whose oddball abilities not only acted differently, but might have been more powerful than hers. Peanut was, as he himself said, 'batshit insane'— Twilight shuddered at the vulgarity of the term, but couldn't figure out a reason to challenge it— but he could do all the things that Pinkie could do, and even a few she'd just never thought of.

He had essentially weaponized his insanity, which she had been told was the cause of his bizarre abilities. What was it they had said again? Oh yes. That Peanut was 'just this side of being an eldritch abomination.' Whatever that meant. She had tried to make sense of even a third of the things that came out of his mouth, and almost gave herself a stroke in the attempt. According to her own counterpart Dusk Shine, there were moments when Peanut was lucid. She wondered what a 'sane' moment was for Peanut and if he acted all that differently. After a heavily intense study of what Peanut could do, the Others had constructed a form of energy cage which could hold even him, and if it could hold Peanut, who was insane and trained in the art of combat, stealth, and knew how to get out of places, it could certainly hold Pinkie who was simply random, rather than almost completely mad.

Strangely enough, AJ and Pinkie for some reason seemed to be ignoring the revelations that occurred during that battle. It was why they suffered somewhat harsher bonds, as they had immediately tried to grab Celestia and run for it when they had had the first opportunity. And Celestia certainly hadn't discouraged her subjects in the least. Twilight couldn't entirely blame them for their continued loyalty to Celestia. Whatever Celestia had said to convince them of the righteousness of their cause was something that they held onto even after her lies had been exposed. She hadn't been present when the two of them had talked to Celestia at that time, and as such, had no idea how to get them to give up the ghost. They had lost the war for Earth, and she was actually glad of it now that she knew the truth.

Dusk Shine was an odd case himself. They had been rivals throughout the majority of the war. Twilight would have expected him to be gloating over her downfall and the downfall of her friends and princess. But he had proven to be surprisingly sympathetic once he learned that she and her friends had been conned into helping Celestia with the invasion, and had made a habit of coming to visit her and her friends, trying to learn more about how they had gotten mixed up in the war. AJ and Pinkie did little more than insult him and, on the occasion that they came by, their own counterparts. However, Twilight, Rarity, Dash, and Fluttershy had come to find their counterparts to be surprisingly compassionate towards them despite their having aided the pony they called the 'Solar Tyrant' in her invasion of Earth. It was almost like when they had first met them again. The six Others— Collectively known as either the Elements of Bushido, The Shogun Six, or simply 'The Six', depending on whom one asked— seemed to be sympathetic to their having been tricked by their former ruler.

As if her thoughts on Pinkie and Applejack's continued desire to set the princess free had caused it, she heard a rattle of chains and turned to see where Celestia was imprisoned in the cell next to theirs. The one-time ruler of Equestria was covered in several runic glyphs glowing along her coat as well as three magic suppressing rings on her horn, and bindings to prevent her from trying to take to the air and manacles chaining her hooves to the floor. The princess had personally killed five humans with her horn during the escape attempt and it had been Dusk Shine who had personally brought her down due to her magic being locked away from her ability to access it. Despite herself, she felt sorry for Celestia. She had never given up claiming that what she had been doing was 'right' and had been intended to 'help' mankind even when that help hadn't been wanted. Twilight wasn't entirely sure the savage joy Dusk seemed to take in beating Celestia into submission was something she wanted to ever think about too heavily, but given his own relationship with his own mentor/adopted father and foster uncle, she supposed she could understand why he took such joy in bringing her down himself.

The sound of the door on the far end opening caught the attention of all the prisoners, and Twilight sighed, looking down at the ground, scuffing the floor with her hoof. Dusk and his companions had arrived to take her to her trial. Despite it all, despite how savagely he'd attacked her during the final battle of the war, he actually proved to have a heart under all that. He wasn't her idea of a pristine 'good guy', given who he was and what he had grown up doing. But he wasn't overly cruel. At least, not once she understood where his point of view had come from and what shaped it. When they had first began their rivalry, Twilight had hated him with a passion, and it had terrified her, because she didn't hate much in life. Ponies were discouraged from hating, and it was usually a good thing. Nopony wanted the Windigoes to return after all. She didn't expect the two would be anything close to being best friends or even good friends, but she hoped they could at least build a civil acquaintance. Assuming she could convince the court she didn't deserve the death penalty. The two mares behind him also proved to be less antagonistic than she would have thought now that the truth had come out and the battle for Equestria lost.....as they made their way closer, her mind rewound to the opening moments of that final battle....

Seven Months Previously

Celestia frowned. The reports were coming in from all over in the last few weeks. She hadn't believed it possible. She had adamantly stated it wasn't, but the reports coming in were pretty much intent on proving her to be a liar of the highest order. The enemy forces had not only penetrated the barrier, they had begun advancing through Equestria at a rapid pace, cutting through their lines of defense due to their advanced technology. Guns were a fair easier weapon to use, after all. Spells took time to charge and most crossbows didn't have the kind of laser guided sights these weapons had. The fact that many of these guns used some form of highly advanced plasma or other energy instead of bullets made defending against the things even more difficult. Before her, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy looked up at her anxiously from where they stood while she pondered the situation while sitting on her ornate throne. They were worried for the fate of their nation, and she couldn't blame them. Not after the way things had unfolded.

When they had appeared, she had wondered if her eyes and ears had been playing tricks on her. But it anything but a trick or a joke. They were the antithesis of what she stood for. They embraced humanity, embraced technology....their so called 'Elements' were even geared towards something other than the harmony she sought to give to all in her kingdom. The horror she felt when the barrier had been forced back by the magic of their supposed ruler was such that she barely said a word for a week, trying desperately to find a way to get the barrier moving again, only to fail each time. In fact each time she tried, he simply beat the barrier further back in size. Eventually, she had stopped trying to expand the barrier. It was a waste of energy, which she couldn't afford to spare now that the war was in full swing. It had sat at just about a mile in all directions, a little over three times the size of the landmass of Equestria that she had plunked into Earth's northern Pacific Ocean when she'd begun her attempt to take Earth. Up until recently, none of the enemy forces had attempted to penetrate the barrier and land an invasion force. But that had changed nearly two months ago, and the battles were now waged almost entirely on Equestrian soil.

Before things had moved to all out war between their two kingdoms, she had tried to negotiate with their ruler, tried to show him the rightness of her cause, and why humanity had to go. They were brutal, they were evil. They killed one another and they willingly destroyed everything that got in their way. He had scoffed and told her that her pigeon-holed view of humanity was a testament to the stupidity that doomed her and her kindgom to extinction. It was the last time she and her six most trusted subjects, the Elements of Harmony, had set foot in their land. The war had at first just been two factions, Earth and Equestria. And the Others had clearly come to aid Earth and despite her effort to sway them from this idea, she had failed, and now her kingdom was paying the price as the Others had not only reaffirmed their dedication to Earth, they had launched an ultimatum: Cease all attempts at conquest of Earth, or Earth and the Shogunate of Equestria would bring the war right to their doorstep.

When the Shogunate had first appeared, Twilight's parents, who had been designated one of three official ambassadors to Earth prior to the beginning of the war—Twilight herself had been the third— had been present at the United Nations building when they had been introduced by the American representative to the UN. Their report when they returned to Equestria had been frightening and she had almost immediately asked for a royal parley between the two equine nations, as if even half of what she had been told had was true, they would make for dangerous adversaries. Celestia had refused the ultimatum of this alternate Equestria, itself from an entirely different reality to her own Equestria and from Earth where their world had merged peacefully with the Earth of still another reality, and had resulted in a truly massive world. And as promised, they were now bringing the war to the Kingdom of Equestria. Canterlot had held out for the last few weeks, but reports were now coming in that a small force comprised of The Six— The Shogunate's six elite fighters, and counterparts to the Elements of Harmony— along with a small group of ponies from both Equestrias and a smattering of humans from Earth, had infiltrated the city and all intelligence on the group indicated they were heading for the palace.

"My little ponies, Equestria stands in peril, as does our cause." the princess said. "We have done our utmost to bring harmony to this world. To put an end to their over dependance on the kind of technology they use to destroy themselves and their world. To fix all the problems human mentality brings, and we have been met with great opposition and lies from a perverted reflection of all that we are, coming to the aid of a species whose inferiority has infected them and made them as monstrous and evil as humanity. We must not allow them to win, my little ponies. If they succeed in stopping us, I fear for this world." She paused. "I just wish we could have helped them all. The ponies of this other Equestria are as bad as humans are in many ways, and yet the fact that they're ponies themselves—despite their strange, unnatural ability to change the way they do into that odd half-human, half-pony form— makes me wonder if their own fusion with a different Earth wasn't responsible for their attitude towards our cause."

"It wouldn't surprise me, Princess." Twilight said. "I mean, you told us how bad humans were and I didn't want to believe it at first. But they blamed you for the PER, they started to refuse to allow people to be converted despite it being for the best for all involved...I mean seriously. Why would soulless creatures object to gaining a soul and the chance to be reincarnated? It makes no sense to me." she shook her head. "They seemed so nice at first, but now I see all the death and destruction they've caused in rejecting what we have to offer. I mean, the barrier is going to kill them if it starts moving again, and what happens then? I mean, will they run away to that weird superplanet that the Shogunate comes from? Will the ponies from the Shogunate decide to come after us anyway?"

"Twi, Ah hate to point it out, but the barrier ain't budged an inch since that weird Shogun or whatever he's called showed up. An' now that they've done gotten inside Equestria, they don't seem rightly worried over evacuatin' or nuthin'. They done killed two more PER founders last week, an' Ah hear Grey Crusader's still alive, but there's human Special Forces lookin' fer'im. Good thing they ain't sent that freaky 'ninja' after'im. Ah dun think Crusader would have a chance against him. But against humans? Heck, that's what the potion's fer!" Applejack pointed out.

"Maybe so. But I think the reason Whisper hasn't been sent after anypony in the PER or anything is due to the reports we've had that the Six are here in Canterlot. They're probably anticipating a showdown with us." Twilight returned. "Much as the idea of that pony gives me the chills, especially when I remember he's supposed to be a counterpoint to Fluttershy, I can't deny that sending their elite to counter the Elements isn't a bad idea. I mean, we've beaten Nightmare Moon, Discord, and helped defeat the Changelings. We're not combat trained or anything the way they are, but we aren't exactly useless in a fight. And this time we have the Elements backing us up and they're right in the Princess' seat of power, assuming the intelligence we've been getting is accurate. Between the seven of us, the Elements of Bushido can't hope to win."

Celestia smiled and was about to reply as well when a thunderous boom resounded from just outside the doors to the throne room, prompting her to get off her throne and the Elements of Harmony to turn to face the door. Each of them, even the normally timid Fluttershy, who had decided it was time she found the same courage she'd had when Iron Will had made her ridiculously assertive to the point of being almost obnoxious, had a look of determination on their faces. Another lood BOOM reached their ears, and Twilight and Rarity began to power up their horns.

"Looks like they got here faster than we thought." Dash said, as if this summed everything up. And to an extent, it did. Each of the Elements of Harmony had met their counterpart in the Elements of Bushido at least once, and with the large exception of Fluttershy, who was too naturally timid to face down Whisper one-on-one, each had done battle with them. Pinkie Pie, normally a happy and bubbly mare in the face of almost anything, was stony faced and looking grim. Next to Applejack and Twilight herself, Pinkie had been the most receptive to the idea of converting humanity in order to help them overcome their own nature. She was abnormally quiet for her. Twilight couldn't blame her. When the Shogunate had made its appearance in the conflict, and began siding with the humans, many ponies from Equestria who had been against the conversion concept had joined them.

Lyra had been the first to do so. She had the idea in her head that humans were fine the way they were. A view that the Others from the Shogunate had wholeheartedly agreed with. She was also hoping to learn the magic that allowed their ability to take on an anthromorphic form. Pinkie and Lyra had been fairly good friends— Pinkie made it a point to be friends with and know as much as possible about everypony in Ponyville after all— and seeing her defect to the humans, along with a number of others from all over Ponyville and as well as other parts of Equestria had shaken the pink party-throwing pony to her core.

Twilight knew that this would come down to themselves and the Princess versus the Elements of Bushido. The Royal Guard was dealing with the larger force of humans who were still advancing on the city, though some of the best members of the guard from all three pony types were still in the Palace proper. But the advanced technological weapons and fighting skills of the Shogunate ponies, the humans, and the Six themselves wouldn't be an easy obstacle to overcome. She fully expected the Six to make it here and still able to put up a fight. They would probably be a bit winded from fighting against the guard, but they weren't the Shogun's elite warriors for nothing. No. She fully expected them to be able to put up more than just a brief fight. She, the other girls, and the Princess were fresh as they had yet to enter any form of combat yet, but it was likely that it would take Princess Celestia to win the day. She was, after all, a Goddess, and only her strength could fend off the powers the Six wielded in a protracted fight.

None of the Elements of Harmony, after all, were trained fighters, let alone a team with fifteen years together under their belts to the point that they considered one another true blood despite none of them being related. She loved her friends, certainly. But the Six considered themselves brothers, and it showed. She still bore a scar on her chest from when Dusk had gone berserk when she'd gotten in a lucky shot that had laid up Lightning Blitz for almost three weeks. Due to having a bit of information on his past and the fact that he had been an orphan until the Shogun had adopted him, she couldn't entirely fault him for being so angry. Aside from the Shogun, the Six were the only thing close to family that he had and she could see why he would be protective of it. It didn't mean she wouldn't have done it all over again if she had the chance.

The doors of the throne room were sent flying off, each spinning a few times before planting themselves in the floor. There were the Elements of Bushido, with their de facto leader Dusk Shine standing dead center of the group standing in the doorway, his eyes glowing a solid green, much like the way Twilight's eyes glowed purple when she overloaded her magic as a filly, or when she was using the Elements of Harmony. Flanking them were other ponies from both Equestrias and several humans, all parties save the Elements dressed in combat gear. Dusk Shine was a medium shade of forest or maybe pine needle green, with a stripe of silver in his mane which was a dark forest green, and had green eyes which were currently obscured by the sheer green glow filling even the whites of his eyes, and if he had been in pony form, he would have borne a mark identical to that of Twilight's save for the colors. In his world it was called a Warrior Mark and was a large silver star with golden points and five golden stars surrounding the larger one, which indicated his special talent for magic in and of itself. In his hands he bore twin Katana, each made from a fusion of metals and various gems found in their world. Currently he was clad in a dark, floor length leather duster, pants with Kevlar and ceramic plating, and a muscle shirt.

"We are here to kick ass and chew bubblegum." he said. " ......And we're all out of bubblegum."

Pinkie was trying hard not to laugh despite herself. Princess Celestia had said that humans had no souls. And there was an old saying that said laughter was the language of the soul. The saying Dusk had just used was one from what humankind called a movie, and one she found hilarious despite the seriousness of the situation, and it was all she could do to control herself. A bit of her mind, small compared to the rest of it, was nagging at her. Celestia had told her that nothing humans had made could possibly be funny. Because humans didn't have souls. But this saying was enough to make her have to fight not to laugh. So didn't that mean she was wrong about that? The thought was vaporized almost the moment it formed, too fast for Pinkie to notice it or even think about the implications behind it.

"You shouldn't be here, Shine." Twilight said, taking point among her friends, who all stood in front of Celestia as though they were an honor guard keeping her shielded. In a sense they were. The members of the royal guard still within the palace would be here soon, she hoped. She had to buy time. "This is our kingdom, and you are the invaders here. After all your talk about how we have no right to help Earth by bringing harmony to it with the Conversion Bureaus, this is kind of hypocritical, don't you think?"

"Give me a break, clone." Dusk scoffed. "Have you seen what the conversion does to humans who undergo it? The serum you people developed guts their minds. Takes away everything that makes a human a human. Just because the Solar Tyrant back there thinks it's a good idea to do it doesn't make it so. I saw one of the last people forcibly converted by the PER. I knew her. She was a friend of mine, and what I saw afterwards made me want to throw up from how badly your serum raped her mind and soul. Thank heaven the Shogun was able to find a way to undo the mental changes that shit produces, if nothing else so far."

Twilight's eyes went wide, as did Celestia's. The idea that even part of the serum could be undone was astounding and horrifying in equal amounts. Celestia had developed the serum personally. She was a Goddess and she had said there would be no way for the humans to undo any of its effects. But then again, the Shogun wasn't human....he was a God like she was. Twilight realized she had been foolish to believe that he couldn't have possibly devised a counter for parts of the serum at the very least if he got ahold of a sample of it. The raid on a PER base had certainly provided him with that. How far he had actually gotten with the serum though, she didn't know. Dusk might be underselling it. Or he might only be aware of just that particular success the Shogun might have had with it so far.

"That's not right!" Rainbow burst out angrily. "That means you're taking away her soul! Taking away her chance to be a better creature. Who gave you the right to take that away from those we've converted, or even the ones the PER converted. We've been trying to help that messed up world out there! We're trying to take away the things that make them hurt and kill each other by making them into ponies! We're trying to save Humanity from itself!"

"Who the fuck asked you to do that?!" The speaker was a dark blue pegasus stallion in anthro form with a gold mane and tail. Not blonde, but actually the same color as gold. Not actually made of gold, but the exact shade of the metal's color. His eyes were the same color, and his Warrior Mark, when he was in pony form, was a lightning bolt crossed with a blade. He was The counterpart to Rainbow Dash, and both bore the Element of Loyalty for their respective groups. "Seriously, lass, who the fuck asked you to force yer values on others, eh?!" he continued in what would be considered a scottish accent by Earth standards. "See, last I checked, nobody'd asked you to force yerselves on this world. A couple humans here'n there wanna be ponies? Sure, whatever. But forcin' it on the entire damn population? Convert or die? How're you bitches and yer prissy little cunt of a princess over there any dif'rent from the christian purges of Charlemagne, eh? Yeh talk like Humankind's a right race of shit, but yer no better despite how much yeh pretend at it!" He snorted. "C'mon, Dash. Yer supposed t'be the Elements of Harmony, right? Well how in the blue damn hell is it harmonious to destroy a person's mind with that crap, eh? And where do you get off sayin' humans ain't got no soul? What idiot told you that monumental lie?"

Dash just growled back in response. Lightning Blitz was known for his mouth, and also known for being able to back it up, much as she hated to admit to it. But the comment about the princess set her hackles to rising. She hadn't stood for it when Discord had insulted the Princess and she wouldn't stand for it now. Only Twilight's hoof on her shoulder stopped her from charging at her counterpart there and then. They had to buy time for the Royal Guard to regroup and send reinforcements. When they had the number advantage, Twilight and Princess Celestia hoped, they would be able to turn the tide against the invaders.

"Calm down, Lightning Blitz." said a human just behind The Six. If Twilight read his military rankings right, he was a lieutenant. "I'm pretty much in agreement with you, but no sense getting yourself wound so tight you can't be of use in this battle. This's gonna decide it all. I say we show these freaks what it means to fuck with us."

"I heard that." Blitz replied with a smirk. "But I'm callin' dibs on Dash over there. She don't know the real meanin' of loyalty, so it's up ta me t' show her what it really means. Besides, the little twit calls herself the fastest flier in Equestria. I think I got cause to take some serious fuckin' exception t'that."

Again, Dash wanted to charge headlong into Blitz and show him just how she got that title. But the two weren't counterparts simply because they had correspondent elements. He was his world's fastest flier, and he was trained to respond to attacks at speeds she could reach only with the most intense of focus. The decade and a half spent training in the ways of war was again the major factor between the two of them. She was sure she could take him given enough time. After all, only raw numbers had stopped her and the girls from getting to the Elements of Harmony and driving away the Changelings two and a half years ago. And once the guard arrived, they would have the edge. She was sure she could win.

"Dusk Shine, you ought to know the odds are against you." Princess Celestia said, keeping surprisingly calm despite the recent revelation that her serum could even be partially counteracted, and despite the incursion by these humans and ponies, some even from her own kingdom. "The Royal Guard will be here any moment. Their magic will make fighting them very hard and we can ponify the humans once this is over. We can help you too. I don't know how it works, but whatever it is that allows you to change into a form so reminiscent of humankind can be purged from you. You can be full ponies all the time. You don't need to lead such a hard life anymore."

"You disgust me." Dusk snarled. "You sound like Nemesis. She had the same attitude as you do. A hatred of any idea that wasn't what fit her world view. Of any being that didn't fit her idea of perfection. And she tried to force her views on an entire world just like you did. Mind raping everyone in her way. About the only difference between you two is that she was actually stupid enough to believe she was right because she was the only one in our world who was different. And she didn't hide her bullshit behind a facade of friendship and tolerance." The green unicorn snorted.

"You know, Tyrant," he continued, "there's a saying from what is considered Ancient Earth on our world, and I'm glad to see this Earth has it as well. 'Tolerance only for those who agree with you is no tolerance at all.' You could have coexisted with Earth. But no, that wasn't good enough for you, was it? No, you feared humanity. You feared their adaptability, their ingenuity....you feared them because they survived a world that was pretty much out to kill every species that existed on it, and they didn't just survive. They thrived. They mastered their world of death and proved themselves to be dominant over their world because they earned every inch of it. And you can't stand it, can you? They did it all without some self-proclaimed 'deity' looking over their shoulders. They did it when whatever deity created them said 'Here. I made you, and gave you the ability to evolve and adapt. Now go deal with the rest of the universe yourself. Hope you survive the experience!' And they did just that, didn't they? You don't want to help humanity. You want to cripple it because you can't stand the fact that they did it all on their own!"

"Your world has some of the history of this Earth, Dusk." Twilight said, trying to keep herself calm. Much as she hated to admit it, she was getting worried. Where in Tartarus were the royal guard!? "How can you possibly believe them to be any more than monsters? For pony's sake, not even a full century ago by their time, one of their own 'democratically' elected rulers murdered six million humans for something as banal as their religious beliefs! And he didn't even do it because he believed it. He did it because he was a heartless monster who made scapegoats of an entire classification of his own species because it was a shortcut to political power!"

"Hitler was a monster, clone." Dusk returned. "Nobody's going to deny he was a psychopath of the highest order and a dangerous one to boot. But for every Hitler we've ever had, we had more than our fair share of individuals who have worked tirelessly to help humanity come together as a race. Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Nikola Tesla, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, JFK, Martin Luther King, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, even Bill Clinton. Many of them all in the same century that gave rise to that psychotic monster the world came to know by the name of Adolf Hitler. And the same is true of the Earth we've allied with. You're right. We do share some points of history. Considering the fusion between our world and a very different version of Earth, how could we not? But you can't tell me every being in this Equestria is a damned saint."

"Of course we can." Celestia said, interjecting. "We've made our Kingdom a utopia."

"If your kingdom is a utopia...then why do you need the Elements of Harmony?" The question was spoken in a voice that sounded like the rasp of sandpaper on cracked bone. Fluttershy winced at the sound of it, as it came from Whisper, her own counterpart. Like her, Whisper was a pegasus. His coat was a muted gold in color, not unlike that of a lion's coat of fur and his mane and tail were blood red. He had the same aquamarine eyes as she did. The one time she'd seen him in pony form, his warrior mark had been revealed to be a feather on the breeze. She wondered at the cloth collar clasped about his neck. As much as he was her enemy, she couldn't help but wonder at who had savaged the voicebox of the Element of Honor in such a way. She didn't like that he and his kin opposed what the princess wanted, but she still felt pity towards him for how he had been damaged. Nopony deserved that.

"Someone's been reading Infinite Crisis." joked another of the Six. A silver-white unicorn with a blue mane and tail. His name was Flash, and he was the counterpart to Rarity amongst the Elements of Bushido. He was also the pony who most closely resembled his opposite number, as he even had the same mark as Rarity, but it didn't quite represent the same thing. Representing the Bushido virtue of Benevolence, Flash was perhaps the most forgiving of his 'brothers', as he was known to at least offer to spare the lives of his enemies nine times out of ten in most fights when things wound down to a climax, but that didn't mean he wasn't as capable or willing to fight as fiercely as anyone else in the sextet.

"Can't argue with solid logic. Even if it's in a four color medium." Whisper returned with a grin. Speaking was difficult for him, so it was amazing to Twilight and the girls that he was making the effort for this. Usually he left the wisecracks—and speaking in general— to his surrogate siblings in their experience with him. The lone Ninja in a group comprised of ultra-modern Samurai, he was usually neither seen nor heard until it was far to late for it to make any kind of a difference.

"You still can't win this battle, Dusk." Celestia said. "You and your brothers may have the training, but even you can't defeat all of us. With me to aid them, you can't defeat the Elements of Harmony. And the guard will be here soon." Her ears pitched forward as the ears of the ponies in front of her slid back for a moment. "In fact I believe that's part of the unicorn and earth pony platoons coming this way now. And the Pegasi will be joining us soon. Give it up, Dusk. against the Elements and a Goddess, you're outmatched."

"You know, I might have agreed with you...if it was just the six of us, some humans, and the other forces we brought from Equestria. After all, fighting these clones and a version of Lord Hyperion as seen through a cracked funhouse mirror? The odds wouldn't necessarily favor us. But we've beaten Anarchy Helios, Nemesis, and Discord on our own. But this time, just to be safe...we brought in a ringer to help even the odds a little." Dusk said, and he smirked. Celestia looked confused, until the humans and ponies behind this group— The Six, she had heard them called— parted to either side as a large form stepped towards the sextet, and her eyes went wide. HE had come here personally?

The pony in front of them was indeed in pony form. An alicorn with an obsidian black coat of fur and with a mane and tail that looked like semi-transparent pieces of the night come alive, and decked out in armor befitting his station. Nocturne, Shogun of Equestria, had made his way into Celestia's Equestria, to stand side by side with his adopted son and his surrogate siblings. How had their intelligence missed this? The Shogun was roughly a head taller than her even in pony form. But then she remembered that like his brother Solaris as well as Luna and herself, Nocturne had the capacity for shapeshifting. He could have easily disguised himself when he entered the kingdom. He would have made too easy a target to pick out. Or perhaps he had simply cast a glamour over himself that was powerful enough to deceive anyone who wasn't meant to know until the proper moment. Solaris had made great use of that power during his time as Anarchy Helios, and had nearly defeated the Six shortly after the group had first formed. Of course Nocturne's own power had to be comparable. They were both Alicorns, much as she and her sister were. The odds had just changed again.

"Nocturne." Celestia said politely. Or at least she was making an attempt at it. She was still the ruler of this Equestria after all. "Welcome....to Canterlot."

"Celestia." He returned. Then looked around the throne room. "I wish I could say I'm happy to set foot here. But given the circumstances, I'd be lying about it."

The two highest authorities of Equestrias literally worlds apart stared at one another.

"This doesn't have to happen like this, Nocturne. The Bureaus were meant to make humanity better. To make them more like us. How can you side with them?"

"Your view of them is ridiculously narrow, Celestia. They survived and became the dominant species on their world. They always have and always will. Don't you get it, Celestia? You shielded your subjects from the world. Humanity SURVIVED the world. For all their faults, all their flaws, they are the most dynamic and determined species Earth has ever produced. They're here, Celestia, and they deserve to be because they did what none of your ponies ever had to do again from the moment you began your reign. They fought for their right to exist."

"But my serum makes it so they don't have to fight. How can you say that's a bad thing?" Celestia argued back. "Think of it. No more anger, hatred, rage, no more murderers, no more wars!"

"It sounds great on paper." Dusk interjected. "But that's all it is. You can't force something like that on another species. They have to achieve it on their own. Helping them along can only be done so far. You can't simply give them some idiotic potion that makes them instantly like you and loyal to you unto death. You can't lie to them about them supposedly lacking souls. Honestly, Tyrant, how in the hell did you get anyone to even believe that particular lie? Do you honestly believe your own hype now about being an all-powerful Goddess? Sheesh. Talk about buying your own con!"

"....No more Road to El Dorado." came the southern drawl of Ash Jade, Applejack's counterpart. Like her, he was the Element of Honesty. Also like her, he wore a Stetson cowboy hat and had an orange coat. That was where the resemblance ended however, as his mane and tail were jet black, though he had the same green eyes as Applejack. He had been part of a family of miners, rather than farmers. But it seemed that he was a Ponyville native in his own world. Perhaps the closer one was to living there, the more closely one resembled their counterpart. But it wasn't worth worrying over now.

"Look out new world, here we come..." Lightning Blitz jokingly sang, drawing a facepalm from the miner as the blue pegasus once again quoted the film. "Sorry lad, couldn't resist."

"'Saright, brah. Ah'm just wonderin' if we ain't spent too much time soakin' in Ancient Earth culture now that it's not so ancient no more since we're pretty much allied with Ancient Earth now." Ash replied.

"You can't win this fight, Celestia. You may have the numbers, but we have the edge in experience." Nocturne said.

"Some of you do, yes. But I see a number of ponies among your small group that have only just recently started taking up your barbaric ways. They don't have a hope against the royal guard, the Elements, and myself." Celestia countered.

"It doesn't need to come down to a fight, Celestia. There are enough of us here that we can entrench ourselves indefinitely until our main force arrives. It's time to end this, Celestia. You tried to conquer this world and you failed. Please, end this now. You'll be given a fair trial, I promise."

"Trial...TRIAL?! Who is anyone to judge me, Nocturne? The humans? It was their own warlike natures that made me unwilling to allow them into Equestria unless they were willing to convert in the first place! Why would I be so foolish as to allow them the right to stand in judgement over me? You help them to invade my kingdom, and expect me to just submit to these savages? Has humanity really infected your mind that much that you actually believe I would do that?"

"Would you prefer death?" Nocturne snapped coldly. "I can tell you here and now that there are many in the United Nations calling for you to be executed where you stand. I had to argue for even the chance at a trial. I wouldn't be so callous as to dump everything into your sister's hooves like that."

Celestia frowned at the mention of her sister. Where had Luna gotten off too anyway? After their second falling out, this time over Celestia's conversion mandate, she had disappeared. She still rose and lowered the moon, but had hidden herself well from her elder sister's best scrying spells. Even Twilight hadn't had any luck finding her.

"There is still time for you to surrender, Nocturne. Your reinforcements won't arrive in time to aid you by the time mine get here."

Nocturne sighed, and he sounded somewhere between exasperated and annoyed.

"Enough of this. Celestia, as you refuse to surrender, we are at an impasse." He turned to look at the Six and the soldiers and ponies native to this Equestria who had come to aid in the dethroning of the Solar Tyrant. "Ladies and gents, in accordance with the United Nations resolution number six-fifty-seven, a joint venture by three worlds combined, we are authorized to take this mockery of Equestria by force." The Shogun said, and the finality of his tone indicated that only Celestia's surrender or defeat would stop the conflict now.

"Gladly." Dusk said, and was in motion before Celestia or her Elements could even register it, smashing into Twilight and only narrowly missing Celestia, who was able to dodge off to one side, as Lunaris charged forward, forcing the princess to meet the Shogun head-on. As if waiting for this signal, the other Elements charged their respective counterparts, as the human and pony forces on both sides of the conflict engaged in renewed hostilities that had been building over the past year. The battle began just as the Royal Guard began to make their way into the throne room. The Earth Ponies charged from behind the insurgent team while pegasi flew in from the open windows and unicorns, including Twilight's brother Shining Armor teleported in. Seeing his sister in danger, the Captain of the Royal Guard charged at Dusk Shine, intent on goring the Element of Courage on his horn. But Dusk was faster, catching sight of the incoming teleport with his magical senses, he had immediately turned so that in his clash with Twilight, he could be aware of the closest incoming teleporter that would come his way. He had read up on Shining Armor. He and Sparkle were very close, and he expected him to be the first to rush to her aid.

The idea that forewarned is forearmed paid off as he leapt to the side of the charging armored unicorn, lancing out with a kick to the head as he passed. The helmet he wore protected him from the majority of the force of the kick, but it still set him off balance enough that Twilight moved to steady him, giving Dusk enough time to plant himself and prepare for a two on one assault. Both unicorns were skilled in magic, and Armor knew a great deal more offensive spells than his sister by Dusk's reckoning.

"You okay, Twily?" Shining Armor asked as soon as he was steadied and ready for battle again.

"A bit bruised, but I can handle it. I was starting to worry they'd managed to somehow block off the guard. Now that the Shogun himself is here, they have a counter to princess Celestia. And we can only counter their Elements with our own. But ours aren't weaponized like they are, so the best we could hope for is a stalemate."

Dusk scoffed audibly at that. The two looked his way.

"You don't really think the Elements are all we have up our sleeves, do you, clone?" the emerald unicorn said with a laugh.

Twilight frowned. Clone. He'd always called her that. But that didn't make sense. She'd done a scan of him with her magic the first time they'd met, and they weren't even remotely related genetically. He wasn't her as a stallion. He wasn't her period. They weren't even distant family. But he'd always called her clone. Something about it, the way he was always saying it, produced disturbing theories in her mind behind the why of it.

"What in tartarus are you talking about you freak?" Shining Armor demanded. He had been in the guard for much of his adult life, and his mind was racing with possibilities behind that statement. None of which he liked. He knew from intelligence that the swords Dusk carried were made of something called 'metagems'. A fusion of metal and gems that had been put through a magical process that made the gems act and react like metal and allowed them to be combined with metal to forge weapons of incredible textile strength and durability. One of them had been forged by the Shogun himself at some unknown point in the past of the Shogunate of Equestria. The other was made by Flash and given to Dusk as a gift, from all accounts they had gotten from their spies. But if there was something else they had to use against them, none of the spies had ever reported it. But seeing as the Six were rarely in one place for more than a few days unless something important came up, this wasn't unexpected. Still, he didn't like it.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out. Maybe." Dusk said in a deliberately coltish tone, a wide grin forming over his face. The two Unicorns charged up their horns. Dusk did the same, forming a reflective barrier around himself a split second before the two blasts came from the horns of the siblings before him, sending them both back at an angle, and forcing them to jump back or suffer the fate of the ground they once stood on. Had the bursts connected, they could have lost their forelegs at the knees.

"Horseapples!" Twilight swore under her breath.

"Guy's a trained warrior, Twily. Gotta remember that he's just as bad as the humans are and twice as dangerous 'cause he's a unicorn and can mix and match tactics." Shining replied. He didn't approve of the oath his sister had just belted out, but he couldn't blame her. Dusk and Twilight had the same talent. Magic itself. The difference was in how they applied it. Twilight was primarily a scholar and preferred to use her talents to learn more about magic itself, and about the history of Equestria and the world around her. Dusk may have been like that once, but he was a Samurai now. A solider. Had been for fifteen long years and he had adapted with the change from bookworm to fighter as well as Twilight had adapted to being a leader after years of being a shut-in with only family, The Princess, or Spike to keep her company.

The siblings tried to change tactics, switch up their attacks. Unfortunately, two things stood as a problem. The first was that Dusk and Shining Armor were trained, to varying extents, for combat and were well versed in combat magic, regardless of what that meant in the world of either. The other problem was that Twilight did not have the same kind of training. She wasn't a half-bad brawler and had picked up one or two things from her brother during the times they had seen each other when both lived in Canterlot while he was training for the guard and she was training as Celestia's apprentice, but the two males were just that much better at combat than she was by virtue of having trained for it. When the two would try to divide his attention with bolts of magic from opposing sides, he would conjure the shield to block one and use one of his Katana to bat the other bolt back at his attacker. When they tried to work as a team to double up on him, he would simply teleport past them and come within a hairsbreadth of taking their heads off with either blade, magic, or horn. Only the training he had received as he made his way up the ranks to captain of the guard kept the siblings from losing their lives to the Element of Courage.

"Hey Dusk!" Lightning said as he zipped through the field of vision of the three unicorns, engaged in an aerial battle with Dash, having changed to pony form to make it a more entertaining, as bullets flew and arrows tried to take down ponies and humans alike. "Is it me, or are we missing something here?"

Dusk smirked. Blitz would never admit it, but he enjoyed some of Peanut's insanity as much as Dusk and the others among the Six did. Particularly the more entertainment based sides of his seemingly weaponized madness.

"I think you're right, Blitz. Hey Peanut!"

A rust red pony with slate gray eyes suddenly popped up from wherever he'd been fighting Pinkie, standing straight at attention and saluting. Dusk took a moment to do a doubletake, as did the unicorn siblings and Pinkie herself, who was expecting it even less than they were.

"Things don't feel right just yet. How about some fight music?" Dusk said after the moment of oddness ended.

"You are correct, sir! Liiiive from downtown Bedrock, here's number one on the Shogun Six Billboard charts! Ruti-sec for so-say the Junkions!" Peanut replied. The slate grey eyes of the pony were crinkled in a grin, and he pulled a quarter from his vest and threw it through the air, where it landed in a jukebox that seemed to come out of nowhere, from which point it began to play a strange tune no one in this Equestria had ever heard before as the Elements of Bushido began to sing along as they fought, each wearing terrifying grins. Even some of the humans who knew the song joined in, and those who didn't simply enjoyed the music, as it seemed to energize them, making their reactions quicker and allowed their attacks more accuracy.....

That strange 'musical power up' for lack of a better term, definitely worked in the favor of the Six, Twilight remembered. From that point on, it was as if an already motivated group became positively overclocked on drive and energy. She and Shining Armor had kept up the good fight, but Dusk eventually knocked Shining out of the fight and without her brother to back her up, it fell to the just then arriving Cadance to try to help turn the tide. Unfortunately, the musical accompaniment that had been summoned was either nullifying her powers, or else the group of insurgents had gotten some kind of shielding from the Shogun against certain spells that would have altered the mindsets of anyone present among their number. Whatever the case, things had very quickly intensified. Particularly between Lunaris and Celestia. They had been largely evenly matched until Celestia had pulled a power play, forcing the Six to step up their game and use their own aces in the hole. The act had left Twilight and the girls in disbelief. She wasn't sure if it had been all that the Six and their Shogun had in reserve though. But it had done the trick, so perhaps it didn't matter. She looked up as Dusk and the mares accompanying him came closer to the door to the cell she shared with her friends.....

Prologue Part Two: Shine

Dusk Shine smiled at his two companions as he met them at the far end of the hall that lead to the cells where the Solar Tyrant and her Elements of Harmony were being held. Even just over half a year on from what was being called the Battle of the Barrier— he tended to think of it as the Battle for Canterlot since the battle was nowhere near the barrier when the Solar Tyrant had been brought down— and visiting with the Elements of Harmony, he still found it hard to believe how well things had settled down. The Bureaus were closed for now, if not permanently, and inter-world embassies were being developed and new laws put in place to deal with the change in the overall status quo of all worlds involved.

The hard part was dealing with the mess with the Equestria which had played home to the Solar Tyrant. Many still in positions of power there were pressuring Luna, who was now the de facto ruler of that Equestria, to demand that Celestia be extradited back to their world. She was reluctant to do so, and had said as much in front of the new United World council, as she believed The Solar Tyrant would move to return to her former place as the predominant power there and she had no doubt many of the entrenched members of the nobility would do their utmost to see that it happened. And it would just start the war up all over again.

As they entered the corridor that would take them to the cells, Dusk's mind turned back to the beginning of the night before the final showdown in Canterlot.....

Seven Months, 14 Hours Previously

"Where the hell is our backup?!" the sergeant snapped as he ducked behind a stone pillar. He was one of a small squad of forces comprised of humans and the ponies of two different Equestrias. One of whom, he had been briefed, was actually the Shogun traveling incognito. Only a few in the group were to know. He had also been told that a special elite team of soldiers would be meeting them before they entered Canterlot proper for the final push. Who they were, he hadn't been told. But they were supposed to be good enough to handle anything thrown at them. So where the fuck were they?

"No idea, sir! Last communique with them said ETA was twenty minutes!" a private called back as he opened fire on a number of crossbow users at the walled gates. He saw the bullets rip through the face of one and heard his companion scream in horror as the newly dead royal guard fell from the top of the wall to his demise.

"Yeah, when was that?"

"Twenty-seven minutes ago sir! They might have been intercepted?" the private replied. It was possible. If they were as good as he'd been told however, then he hoped they could handle themselves. Because they had no idea which way they were supposed to be coming from, so even if they weren't pinned down, they wouldn't have a damn clue where to go if they needed help.

"Shit! Unicorn bolters incoming!" Another soldier called. "Six o'clock low, and charging at pretty damn close to flank speed!" A trio of gunners and unicorns on their own side started laying down suppression fire, and several of the unicorns fell in bloody chunks as the bullets and magic bolts ripped through them while others continued to try to take out the crossbow users on the wall.

"Great. Now they have us coming and going." Said the unicorn firing from the sergeant's immediate left. He knew it was the Shogun in disguise, though nobody else in the team knew. It was not to be revealed until after they had secured a position and met up with their special forces backup. Despite the grousing, which the sergeant suspected was a show for the sake of the others in the team who didn't know who this particular unicorn, currently in pony form and going by the name Darkslash, the sergeant could tell the Shogun was actually enjoying himself. From all accounts, he rarely had the chance to do fighting himself in this war and it had grated on him. He believed a leader in wartime should be sharing the risk with his men and lead from the front, rather than sit at the back. He actually respected the shapeshifting alicorn for it. He didn't necessarily agree with it. He was a head of state, not just a military leader. If he died, there were safeguards in place, but the Shogunate would be in a state of transition and mild panic if he were to be lost. Still, he couldn't fault the Shogun's heart.

A sudden, inhuman shrieking caught the attention of everyone, as a blue and rust red blur shot along the wall, and the guards atop it went flying, some simply thrown, others stabbed in the head or through the eye and tossed casually over the shoulder. A few were felled by nearly point blank gunshot wounds that nearly took off their necks at the collarbone, fountains of blood gushing from the corpses left behind.

"I think our backup just arrived." quipped one of the ponies from the Shogunate, and the sergeant noticed several of the ponies from this Equestria looking a bit green around the gills. These ponies were still new to the horrors of combat, so he didn't entirely blame them.

"No shit, Sherlock." the sergeant quipped back with a snort and a smirk.

The sounds of magical conflict below them told them that the backup wasn't just one or two fighters, but an entire team. As the sergeant looked at the carnage erupting below, his eyes went wide.

Christ on a crutch! They didn't tell us they were sending the SIX! I thought they were being sent after the PER or something. I mean, the ninja's gotta have a bone or three to pick with that one grand knight, seeing as they have the same name and all...

He was pretty sure it was the Six. The colors and weapons and fighting styles matched what he'd been told of them. But what were they doing here? They had been on assignment elsewhere, or so he'd heard. He'd asked if there had been any sign of the Six since the last collision between them and the Solar Tyrant's royal guard a month and a half ago in the mines near Budapest, where they were protecting researchers who were looking for new ways to introduce the serum to humans, now that the Tyrant was openly working with the PER. Supposedly they had been in opposition, but that was proven to be a lie during one of the raids the Six had conducted on a PER base that had been located in Chicago.

After another grueling thirty minutes of combat, the team had secured themselves a position and begun setting up camp. Thanks to the advanced tech of the world which the Shogunate was part of, the camp was practically a mini-city, with magic housing that provided power and comfort, as well as a protective field. It had been developed during one of the wars between the Shogunate of Equestria and one of the Dragon nations some two hundred and thirty seven years back by their time. Whatever the case, the small cluster of buildings made things much easier for the team. Not that this stopped any of them from having a cookout in the center of the circular cluster of buildings.

The Shogun had been moved surreptitiously to one of the central 'tenthouses', where he had shifted back to normal. The Six, not yet aware that the Shogun was present in the encampment, were only just now returning from clearing out any remaining resistance. They had settled themselves around the fire where several of the soldiers, human and pony, as well as the natives of this Equestria were sitting. There was a good deal of laughter and food shared already by the time they arrived and when they asked to join the group, they were welcomed with open arms.

"Command didn't tell us they meant you when they said they were sending us some elite field ops." The sergeant said.

"We didn't want to risk interception of any messages once we hit this side of the barrier that could compromise the mission, so we sent a message awhile back telling them that anything we send to them or vice versa be as bare bones as possible, especially if it involved team rendezvous. The less they send over the airwaves, the less the enemy can use to plan for anything we might throw at them." Dusk said with a smile and a shrug as he accepted a cut of prime rib and started eating. He noticed the Kingdom ponies looking distinctly squeamish at the sight. "Oh grow up." he said in mock-annoyance. "We grew up on a world where meat was available without killing sentient creatures."

The Kingdom natives still looked green at the sight. They could barely stand humans eating meat. But other ponies? Even if they could shift into an anthromorphic state, it was still creepy to them.

"So who's in command, anyway?" Dusk asked.

"Wow they really did bare bones it." The sergeant said with a snort. "Then again, I don't think he knows you're here either. Go on over. Main structure." he said, gesturing to the 'tenthouse' where the Shogun was currently viewing battle plans. "He's expecting you to report in when you have the chance anyway."

Shooting one another looks of curiosity, the Six got up and headed towards the Shogun's quarters.

"Well, I'd say we have the way fairly cleared for us." The Shogun was saying to part of the command post near the barrier via a communications monitor. "The last thing we need to do now is take down Celestia and her Elements and we're set. Make sure you have the warps ready. We'll send you the signal. I need to get those Elites up to speed."

"Then I suppose it's a good thing we're here, your majesty." Dusk said as the communication ended, and the shogun, currently in anthro form and clad in war armor blinked, turning to the voice and when he spotted the Six, he chuckled warmly and smiled.

"I see the boys I knew, in the warriors who stand before me now." he said, as the Six bowed to him. "Rise, my Six. It's been a long time. And I'd rather speak to you with the rest of the team instead of speaking to the top of your heads."

Rising at their Shogun's order, the Six led him out to the cookout, where he joined the rest of the group and partook in the food. He quickly briefed them on his assault plan, intending to do a review and revision to it early the next morning before they made their way into the palace. But the long and short of it was that the majority of their reinforcements, due to arrive tomorrow, would come in two groups. The first group would arrive early in the morning, just before dawn, and were meant to help them fight their way into the city of Canterlot, and from there, get them to the Palace, which was the primary goal. Once they had made it to the insertion point however, they would be fighting a running battle that they had to expect casualties in, as their primary force wouldn't arrive till roughly noon, so it would take everyone fighting at their best to succeed in bringing down Celestia and ending the war.

After the quick mission overview, discussion began turning to lighter topics and the Shogun took the time to give the Six a look over. He smiled lightly.

"Fifteen years. Has it really been that long since the last time I saw you face to face for more than five minutes?" he asked Dusk, who chuckled.

"Yeah, well, I was never very comfortable with court life. Besides, it hasn't been all bad."

"Glad to hear it, son. I still can't believe it's been that long though. It seems like only yesterday I was sending a colt out to face a stallion's problems. I never wanted to put you in the line of danger."

"Anarchy Helios didn't exactly give you much choice, your majesty." Flash interjected. His british accent gave his attempt at comforting words a bit more of a believability than the Shogun felt he might have deserved.

"Mm, maybe so, Flash. But I still didn't like it. I'm glad he found such good friends."

"More than friends, yer majesty." Lightning Blitz said with a snicker, as he watched Peanut somehow turning an aluminum tray into an origami crane. Then turned back to the ruler of his native Equestria. "We ain't blood, but that doesn't make us any less brothers."

"Eeyep. Ol' Blitz's got it dead on. You don't spend fifteen years on the road together and end up as anythin' less than family, ah reckon. Can't think of anyone asides from my own clan I'd rather have watchin' my back than these guys. An' far as the Jade clan's concerned, these boys are part o' the family anyhow." Ash Jade said in his classic southern drawl. "Ah'd walk through Hell itself for these fellers a hunnerd times over, and Ah reckon they'd do the same fer me." This was met with five confirming nods.

"AJ pretty much put it best, dad." Dusk said with a grin as he noticed the Shogun's smile turn a bit sentimental. "We're a brotherhood. We live together, travel together, train together...and we damn sure fight together. Nemesis couldn't stop us and Discord couldn't tear us apart any more than she could. Then again, he was more interested in destruction than in altering the minds of others like she was. I wouldn't be surprised if this world had a version of Discord too. After all, the palace does have a statue of him in their courtyard. I don't think it's a coincidence, either."

"Sound reasoning." the sergeant said, and he shrugged as focus turned to him. "Either way, considering tomorrow's the fourth of July, I think there's something appropriate in that we're fighting a new war for freedom. The weird thing is, despite it all, I'd say the men who gave their lives during the American revolution still had it harder. We at least have you guys and all this tech and magic to help us. Things weren't nearly as easy for them even with what was considered cutting-edge tech for the time."

"Maybe they did, sergeant. But never forget that they gave their lives because they believed in the freedom you're fighting for today. I'd say that puts you in good company. What's the old saying? 'Freedom never dies so long as a single spark of courage burns'? Trust me, you guys didn't have it any easier than your forefathers did for the longest time in this war. I'm just sorry we didn't know about what was happening sooner, or we could have been able to help stop the damage that was already done." the Shogun replied.

"Houses can be rebuilt, sir. It's the people I'm more worried about. I'm glad you were able to even counteract as much as you have so far of the serum."

"I'll do more than just break the mental rewiring and psychic controls, sergeant. I have a very long lifespan, and if I have to spend every spare moment I have trying to undo what has been done to Earth's people, it's time I'll be glad to spend doing it. I know of the humans in our own world, from the fusion of Equis and a very different version of Earth several thousand years ago, our time. I've seen the good and evil that your people are capable of, and the good far outweighs the evil in my eyes. Don't get me wrong. I'm never going to claim the human race is saintly or some such. But I fully believe in the potential humankind has to do good, and the good it has done, and while there have been some horrific moments in the history of the Earth that merged with Equis, as well as your own....there's been more good in the last century your time alone than there have been bad times in much of the preceding centuries. And humanity on our world has done more good than bad since the great merger. So I guess I feel justified helping out when your world asked for aid, you know?"

"You won't get any complaints from me about it, sir." The sergeant said with a shrug.

From there the discussion became mostly jokes and anecdotes told between all involved about their lives, whether it be from this Equestria, from Earth, or from the world where the Shogunate existed. It was, in general, a time shared by friends and soldiers who were going to retain such bonds for as long as was possible, and in many cases, for life. The group ate and laughed, but turned in roughly before midnight, since they still had more work to do, and had to be up before dawn. As everyone headed for their respective 'tenthouses' the Shogun caught Dusk's eye and the two walked off to the side as the rest of the team and the Six went to bed.

"What's up?"

"Nothing too big, I don't think Dusk. But I did want to talk to you in private before we go into Canterlot tomorrow. In the event of my incapacitation or death— no, let me finish, son— in the event of either happening, I've spoken with my older brother. He doesn't feel ready to retake the throne even as regent yet, which is why he demanded that Equestria be ruled cooperatively in my absence by a ruling council comprised of himself and my advisers. But he has no intention of retaking the throne. Hyperion still hasn't managed to quite shake off the guilt he feels about what he did when he was Anarchy Helios. So if anything happens to me, you, as my adopted son and thus the Crown Prince, will become Shogun if it comes down to that."

"Dad...I don't know what to say....I mean...for pity's sake, you know I'm no royal. I couldn't lead an entire nation!"

"You lead your brothers just fine." The Shogun pointed out.

"Yeah but that's cause I've known them for years and we all trust each other. I'm only the leader because I was the one who brought us together. I ended up as 'leader' by default. But we usually share command duties in a fight."

"Your infamous code system. I've heard the stories. As I understand it, you developed a good portion of that code. And that's because the others trust you, as you said. The rest of Equestria trusts you as well, son. You and the rest of the Six are going to be legends the day you finally stop adventuring. You're practically legends now to most of the public. They'll accept you as Shogun if it comes to that."

"But—"

"If you don't feel you can do it alone, don't worry. You'll have my brother, who is willing to act as your advisor, and I can't believe your brothers would abandon you to life at court." the Shogun pointed out with a sage look.

"I don't know, dad. It's a lot of responsibility. I'm not sure I can handle it."

At this, the Shogun smiled. "The fact that you can admit to that is what makes me sure you can." he chuckled. "Besides, what was it I always told you? 'Nothing worth doing is ever simple.'"

"Actually, it was 'nothing worth doing is ever easy'." Dusk returned. But he nodded with a gust of a sigh. "Alright. I'll do it. But I won't do it alone. I want my brothers to help as much as uncle Hyperion."

"If it comes down to it, you have that option. You would, after all, be the new Shogun. But don't jump the gun, Dusk. I've got no plans to leave you or your brothers behind just yet. I still have a couple good centuries in me, and with luck the most you might have to deal with is a few weeks acting as regent."

"Let's hope it doesn't even get that bad." Dusk said, before turning his gaze back towards Canterlot, and the massive palace jutting out from the side of the mountain. "You think we'll be able to convince them to surrender? I may not like these ponies all that much, but I'd prefer as little bloodshed as possible. This is just too close to home, fighting those girls. Fighting her in particular just feels weird."

"I can't pretend to understand how you feel, son. I also won't lie to you. I think we'll have to end this by force of arms, most likely."

Dusk shook his head in disgust.

"How did things get so messed up in this dimension?"

"God only knows, son. God only knows."

As promised, their first group of reinforcements arrived two hours before dawn, and the team immediately began getting ready, breaking down camp and checking their weapons.

"Everything check out, Dusk?"

Dusk turned to see Peanut standing behind him with his arms folded. He smiled. Peanut was insane, but at times, like now, he returned to normalcy. Tortured for three years by the griffons, Peanut chose madness over surrendering whatever little he might have known about Equestria's defenses. The child of two former members of the equivalent of green berets, Peanut was as solid as they came, and fifteen years later, he was someone Dusk, Flash, AJ, Whisper and, yes even Blitz (though the latter would never willingly admit it to anyone outside their little surrogate family except for the Shogun) would trust with their lives. He had been almost literally put through hell by the enemies of Equestria, but he had survived it and despite his madness and the odd powers that had manifested as a result of it, there was a method to it. He wasn't the Element of Respect for nothing after all. One just needed to look past his often rampant insanity to see what he was really getting at. But times like now, when he was lucid, or at least semi-lucid, were enough to remind people that despite having more or less chosen insanity over betraying his family, country, and self-respect, there was a keen intelligence beneath that psychosis.

"Yeah. The Decadriver and Ridebooker are a go, and my standard gear checks out too. How about the rest of you?"

"All green. My Arcle's as strong as ever and so are the others' Drivers and...whatever Kivat and Tatsulot are." Peanut answered, shrugging. "All our standard weapons check out too."

"Then let's get a move on. We have a war to finish."

The two joined up with the rest of their team and their brothers just a few minutes later.

"Alright, everyone." The Shogun said once everyone was gathered around. "We all know the mission parameters. I don't think I need to give any overly dramatic speeches or whatnot. We all know what we're fighting for. Many of you have a far greater stake here than the rest of us, because despite it all, we aren't human. You are. This fight for you, is far more personal in some ways than it could ever be for us. Not all of us will make it back alive, or possibly even in the bodies we were born in, I won't lie to you. The enemy is desperate, and desperate beings do crazy things when their backs are up against the wall. They've had the upper hand for so much of this war that when the tide turned against them, they revealed too much of their hand. Now we know the kind of things they've been willing to do. We know Celestia's been helping the PER, and we know she's been secretly shipping large quantities of the serum to them. The PER was her secret weapon against humanity. That weapon is on the run from humanity now. We've injured the body of this monster. Now it's time we cut off its head. Who's with us?!"

The answering cheers were unanimous.

The battle had gone about as well as expected thus far, with members of the assault squad branching off from them once they got to the palace around mid-morning. The squad entered the large entrance hall and it took only a few moments to get oriented thanks to the rebels from this reality's Equestria. They were soon on their way. The group stopped a hundred feet from the doors to the throne room, after having fought their way past some of the royal guard, and blowing the doors leading into the corridor that lead to the main throne room doors.

"Well, gang," Dusk said as he twirled his Katana around once in each hand. "This is it."

"Eeyup. Looks like it." AJ said.

"Yeh aren't plannin' on giving a damn speech are yeh, Dusk?"

"Nope. Just wanted to say, if for any reason not all of us make it out of this...it's been one hell of a ride and I'd do it all over again if I had the chance."

Whisper scoffed gently, and the team looked at him curiously.

"We'll make it, brother." Whisper said simply. And the rest of the Six had to grin. It was said in so much the same way as he had when he had spoken to a then-comatose Peanut not long after their battle with Nemesis had gotten into full swing, that it felt more like an order than a statement.

"Shogun Six, come on down! You're the next contestants on the Price is Right!" Peanut added, and this drew some laughter and smiles from all involved.

"Never thought I'd die side-by-side with a crazy pony." Blitz said, shaking his head. Peanut grinned, turning towards him.

"How about side-by-side with a friend?"

"....Aye." Blitz said with a nod and a grin. "That I could do."

Dusk smiled more widely. It was rare to see those two acknowledge that they were indeed friends so openly. "Well, we've come this far. Let's finish it."

And so they made their way towards the doors to the throne room, as Dusk and Flash began to power up their horns.

Dusk and his companions passed through the door leading to the cells, and he was unsurprised to see Twilight awake and waiting for them. He hoped this wouldn't go as bad as he feared. Having learned that she was as much a victim of Celestia's lies as those who had been conned into using the Bureaus or forcibly converted by the PER, he hoped she would receive some form of clemency.

Stepping up to the bars, he was unsurprised to hear a low, angry growl from Pinkie Pie. She was less than thrilled at the sight of any of the Six, but as it was just him and his two companions today, he expected her to stay otherwise silent, so it surprised him when she actually bothered to say anything.

"I'm surprised you aren't gloating, you big mean meanie-pants!" Pinkie snapped at the green pony. "And you two! You should be ashamed of yourselves you...you...FAKERS!"

Dusk sighed, and turned to Twilight, who looked back at him from the other side of the bars.

"Time to go."

Twilight nodded. She was let out of the cell, and she turned to Dusk's companions.

"How can you even stand to be in the same room with me, knowing how much of an idiot I've been?" the lavender pony asked, unable to truly meet the gaze of either one.

"To be fair, Twilight, you didn't know better, and she's very charismatic." The larger of Dusk's two companions said. "Considering she seems to believe her own lies, perhaps her own sense of conviction in her delusions was what swayed you in addition to your loyalty to her. She was your mentor after all."

"Besides," said the other, "I've made some stupid mistakes myself. You would know, after all. You probably made some of the same ones. I think I can let it slide. I just hope the Tribunal will be as merciful as I hope. The Shogun has said he understands, but I don't think it needs to be said that he can't carry the entire verdict alone. It's the rest of the court you need to convince."

Twilight nodded.

"What about my friends?"

"I think that if the court clears you, then they have a good chance. Well, with perhaps a trio of exceptions." Dusk replied. "I'm afraid the Tyrant has little chance of getting acquitted."

Twilight nodded again, and the scarred former student of Celestia left the cells... praying that she would be forgiven, led out by Dusk Shine, a lavender unicorn, and a white alicorn. She paused to take one look back at her friends before the door closed, and then sighed as she made her way towards a final fate she hoped would be merciful.

Author's notes: Well, here's the revised and rewritten prologue for The Warrior's Way! If you want to see the original prologue, you'll have to wait till after the end of the actual story, as I may put it back up at the end of this story. Or you can just check out NoMoreSanity's review of the original, which is staying up in the comments section as it was just too damn funny awesome to remove. I want to note that this prologue takes place in the middle of this story. So there's still a ways to go, but first I'll be showing you how we get to this point. Twilight's trial may or may not see a full representation here. That depends largely on whether or not anyone wants to see it. For those reading The Shogun Six, which is the first in a saga and is only four chapters in, and do not want spoilers for that series, I suggest putting off reading this fic until that saga concludes, or at least until the fourth book of the Six is published. While The Warrior's Way will not be canon to the overall storyline of the Six (as of this time at least), there will be things in here which will be spoilers for it such as the official battle theme for the Elements of Bushido, or one of them at least, as seen in this prologue. If spoilers bother you, this is your official and only head's up on the matter.

If spoilers don't bother you however, then feel free to read and enjoy this fic, as I hope it will spark debate and discussion for those who are both for and against the Conversion Bureau fics. I am personally anti-CB in terms of the original fic and most of the stories written by those who are all too willing to lavish praise upon it unilaterally without stopping to think about the implications of the concept since it does not present a balanced and fair view of mankind on the whole when written by anyone who is pro-CB, and the sad part is that the majority of such fics are written by CB fans, though in some respects this is to be expected since of course, these are the people who generally like the concept, and that is their right as readers.

There are however, some fics written by those whom feel The Conversion Bureau universe could benefit from an authorial view that does not depict humanity as beyond redemption and only 'fixable' by ponification, and even some such as myself, who would prefer to see the Equestria of such a fictional universe summarily obliterated from the face of all fictional multiverses. This fic is probably going to offend some who like The Conversion Bureau concept, and I refuse to apologize for it. We as a species are not nearly the mindless destroyers that many in the CB fandom will try to make us out to be.

I also want to apologize for the language in this fic, but the rating on the fic is there for a reason. More like it is likely to crop up. Again, fiction rating is there for a reason.

A few further notes:

On the Battle for Canterlot: Yes, the fight is only partially seen. This is not a mistake. Remember, Twilight is only remembering the early moments of that battle when Dusk and his companions arrive.

On Celestia: There's more to be revealed as the story goes, but consider this a fact; I am incorporating season 2 into this, so no, Celestia was not always around. She is not actually a god, but she has passed herself and her sister off as such. The closest thing to a Physical God that exists here is Discord. Likewise Nocturne is not a god either. But by comparison, he's never made any claim to be one, either.

On the PER: They will be cropping up in the story from time to time. Expect their involvement in the war to play a very unique role here and their relationship with Equestria proper will be fully revealed eventually.

On Dusk's companions: They have a role to play in this story and will do so the further on we get. Anyone who wants to take a guess as to who they are, feel free to PM me, and the person who guesses right will get a shout out in the author's notes when their identities are revealed.

On the Pony/Earth world: I really can't think of a name for it. It's no longer Earth and it's not whatever world the ponies come from. (Though I have seen the term Equis bandied about in fanon for the name of the planet, so I've gone with that.) If anyone has a suggestion for what to call their world, let me know, and I may use it.

On the Six themselves: The names of the group are, in order: Dusk Shine, Flash, Ash Jade, Lightning Blitz, Peanut, and Whisper. They represent six of the seven virtues of Bushido: Courage, Benevolence, Honesty, Loyalty, Respect, and Honor. The seventh has its own role to play in the main Shogun Six saga, and may or may not show up here. The Elements act differently and have multiple uses and applications, as will be detailed as we go along. For those with sharp enough eyes to notice, I've hidden a far flung spoiler for book four of the Shogun Six saga in this prologue. PM me if you think you know what it is.

I think that's it for now. The first full chapter of this story is already up. See you again for chapter two of The Conversion Bureau: The Warrior's Way! Though be aware, expect updates on this fic to be slow compared to The Shogun Six, which is itself going to be somewhat slow, I am aware and for that I will apologize since I am also working on a series of original novels I plan to try to get published that feature my own creations and worlds, and that is my focus, rather than fanfiction about stuff created and owned by other people, no matter how much fun it is to play with other creators' toys.

First Contact

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It happened without anyone knowing how.

It was considered a great stroke of luck that when it happened, there was plenty of advance warning in the form of strange energy waves that were picked up by instruments all across the planet and by satellite, and so every ship, aircraft and submarine, save one that was lost when the energy first began to manifest itself was able to steer clear of the zone where the energy was coalescing. It was the panicked mayday of the sub that was lost that caught the attention of the instrumentation of the world as it was frantically sending out every piece of data they had gotten before they were left dead in the water in the hopes of rescue. Rescue that came far too late as the sub's core went critical and blew.

The landmass appeared some one thousand and fifty miles from the coast of the southernmost tip of Alaska, situated virtually in the very middle of the north pacific. It took nearly a month for anyone to even be willing to send a ship anywhere near the thing as it was still giving off insane levels of energy. Once it calmed down, a ship was sent out from California bearing scientists, explorers, anthropologists, and political ambassadors from the US, Russia, Japan, China, India, England, France, and Spain. The scientists and explorers and anthropologists were there to study the landmass, as many believed it might have somehow been one of the legendary lost continents somehow come home to roost. The ambassadors were there to welcome back the lost brothers of humanity.

When the ship got to the island, however, they met with an unexpected roadblock. As the ramp was extended to allow the people aboard to make landfall, they became aware of a strange energy field which, once touched by human hands, was shown to be almost a mile high and, if later information sent by satellite was to be believed, encompassed the entirety of the island and airspace above it for roughly a mile up.This lead to confusion. This odd barrier defied all natural laws of physics.

"So, is it really one of the lost continents?" asked John Ahmayer, a scientist who had come to study any technology that might be on the island. "That might explain this force field. I mean, it's beyond any technology we've got right now."

"If it is," responded Jennifer Thomson, a British anthropologist, "I don't understand how it's possible that this barrier can even exist when we haven't seen any signs of life or even a power source yet. The satellite feeds aren't as clear as they should be, and that worries me."

"Well, the images of the island may be blurry to some extent from that high up given we do have that field in the way, we do know there appear to be some kind of settlements on the island." The ship's captain said, having been listening in on the coversation for the past few minutes as they had been getting data from the ship's instruments and the laser link to the satellite. "If this is something like Atlantis or Mu or whatever, and they had the kind of advanced technology all the legends say, it's entirely possible we just can't see any sign of it because of it being so advanced that it isn't immediately apparent."

"I suppose we'll have to set sail back for California for now." John said.

"Captain! we've spotted movement on the island!" the announcement came over the PA and it caught all the people chatting about the situation off guard, sending nearly everyone aboard the ship scurrying outside to see what had been discovered.

It took a few minutes, as whatever they had spotted had vanished into the foliage. But soon enough, a mane of pink began to emerge from the bushes, followed by aquamarine eyes, and a head coated in short, finely glossy butter-yellow fur.

"A horse?" The captain said, looking in confusion to those around him. Most just shrugged helplessly. He looked back at the creature, and when it emerged more fully from the underbrush, many an eye went wide. Aside from the odd coloration...the thing was small. Barely four feet tall, if that, and had what were clearly wings.

"That's not physically possible..." John Ahmayer said, summing up the entirety of the thought of everyone aboard who were able to see the little winged pony.

"No shit, Sherlock." one of the ship's crew said with a snort of laughter. "Great, so we've made first contact with a baby mutant myth."

The horse...pony....pegasus?....whatever, let out an audible squeak and ducked back into the brush again.

"You may be closer than you know about the idea that it's a baby, sailor." the Captain replied.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy, where are you?" another voice rang out. This one coming from the island itself, and left the humans confused. What kind of a name was Fluttershy? There was a rustling in the bush and the pegasus— for lack of a better term— stuck its head out from it, looking back towards the source of the voice.

"O-Over here, Twilight."

The humans stood in stunned disbelief for a moment.

"Did that thing just talk?!" the Captain asked of no one in particular. His shock was clear in his tone and 'Fluttershy' gave a frightened squeak at the sudden question due to its volume, and almost looked like she wanted to hide again, but didn't get the chance, as a purple mane and lavender head joined the yellow one. But this head bore a spiral grooved horn atop its head.

"There you are, Fluttershy. Why were you hiding over here?" The pony with the horn asked. 'Fluttershy' timidly pointed one butter yellow hoof at the ship. The other pony....who at this point the people on the ship could only think to call a unicorn....turned to look where its (her?) companion was pointing and recoiled slightly in surprise. But after a moment, the unicorn stepped further out of the bush, so that the crew and passengers on deck could see her. She was lavender from head to toe, with a mane of purple with a pink streak in both mane and tail, and had odd markings on her flanks that looked like giant violet stars orbited by smaller white stars. She swallowed, and then said, "Uhm, hi. My name is Twilight Sparkle."

Unsure how to react at first, the Captain began walking down the ramp again, to at least get close enough to see the thing at eye level. Well, relative eye level anyway. He was followed by Ahmayer and Thomson. They had expected the possibility that they were about to meet long lost members of the human race. Not make First Contact with a wholly alien species!

One hour later

"Correct, your highness. As you predicted, Twilight Sparkle was the first to approach the humans." The guard said into the glowing mirror that depicted Celestia's face on it. "The humans have invited her and Fluttershy aboard their ship and they seem to be having a relatively good time."

Celestia nodded, eyes half lidded in thought. She had expected this when she arranged for the timid pegasus and her pupil to be in the area on an errand for her. It was a small thing really, and not altogether necessary since she had the needed item in spades there in the palace. But she needed Twilight to be there. She needed her to see the humans who were just now at their shores. Let her have a good impression of them. When she showed her what she wanted Twilight to see as the 'truth' about humanity, it would easily break her of any attachment to them and make her a perfectly willing agent in the conquest of Earth. It wouldn't hurt too much that some of what she was going to show her student was at least partially true, just not the whole story.

"Very good, Sergeant. I will make contact with Twilight later. First, I need to being preparations for my first encounter with humans outside the barrier."

The guardpony nodded and the connection ended, leaving only a mirror reflecting his own face instead of allowing for communication with the solar princess. Making sure not to be spotted by the humans or the two ponies currently enjoying themselves on the ship, he spread his wings and flew back towards Canterlot.

Back in Canterlot proper, Celestia began considering how best to address the various governments of Earth. They were nearly all represented by the United Nations, and she doubted even nations not part of the UN proper would demand to be involved in any meeting she would agree to since she was the leader of a species that humans were only just now meeting for the first time. She knew she couldn't rush this, but she couldn't take too long either. No sense making the species antsy. If they got antsy, their better instincts would recognize her for what she intended to be. No. Best make the wait a relatively short one. Her little ponies could go to the barrier now simply by intending to go there rather than to other parts of their own world. Many would be curious to see the world they had now become partially a part of. But how to gain Earth and its bounty for herself? How could she claim dominion over this world without destroying the slaves she wanted? How could she take the sheer number of humans on the planet and convert that into a means of taking the planet?

....Convert, huh? she suddenly thought as an idea began to form in her head. That works. I'll have to ask Twilight for her help on this once I convince her humanity needs this in order to be more than they already are or could be.

And with this thought in mind and a smile on her face, the Solar Tyrant began to laugh at her own brilliance.

Author’s Note: Well, here’s the first chapter in The Warrior’s Way. I know many fans of the Conversion Bureau out there are going to immediately start decrying this. I don’t really care. I’ve already explained my feelings on Celestia to you. This chapter continues to exhibit the traits I feel TCB!Celestia has. She is a monster from the outset, and wouldn’t think twice about using her student to further her own ends. While she does this benevolently in the first two episodes of the first season, she can also use it for shits and giggles, as displayed in the episode The Best Night Ever, where she admits to inviting the girls to the Grand Galloping Gala with the sole intent that they turn the thing upside down for her own amusement. It may seem like a big stretch to suddenly paint her as an evil dictator from this...but then again, how the hell is it that other TCB writers have somehow come to the conclusion that she’s omnipotent? And for that matter, why do they fucking ignore Season Two altogether?

This fic actually takes place just after the events of the season 2 finale. (Though I will try to incorporate season 3 if I can once it starts, but I can’t guarantee everything will fit perfectly) So Shining Armor and Cadance have just gotten married shortly before Equestria partially appears on Earth and are off on their honeymoon. Thus, they don’t and won’t know about First Contact with Earth for awhile yet. The Changeling invasion is only a few weeks old at the absolute most and as such, things are still very much on high alert since the ponies aren’t sure if Chrysalis survived and will be back. Given the shapeshifting powers they possess, this means they have many reasons to be very paranoid about possible incursions again. And Celestia will hardly be above using it for her own gain.

That’s about all I have for now. See you next chapter, whenever that will be.

The Proposal

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First Contact with an alien race became worldwide news within twenty minutes of footage being sent by satellite uplink to the major governments and news stations of the world. Practically overnight, the idea that humanity wasn't alone became utter fact. The strange thing was that the aliens turned out not to be little grey men, but odd ponies. Twilight Sparkle, and once she was coaxed into joining her horned friend on the ship, Fluttershy as well, spoke with the crew at length for about an hour. It didn't tell them everything, of course, but it did give them some answers. The massive island was called 'Equestria'. And it was apparently a Diarchy. A rare thing for any on Earth to contemplate, but there it was.

It was all over the news, the papers, and the Internet by the next day. People were talking about the odd aliens all over the place. Schools stayed closed for the entire week worldwide due to the discovery, while pundits chattered on news stations about what was going on. Vatican City had gone starkly silent, as the hierarchy of the Church tried to figure out what this meant. The United States government called an emergency session of Congress to debate how to respond to the existence of aliens right off the coast of its northernmost state.

Meanwhile, Equestria's inhabitants were dealing with the issue as well. The incursion into another world had many ponies talking at length. The so-called barrier that separated the two worlds was confusing. Earth saw Equestria as a medium-sized island, but this made no sense. After all, Equestria was a land-locked kingdom, and they could easily step into parts of equestria that shouldn't exist anymore or that should be somehow blocked off depending on one's view, because of the barrier. But this wasn't what was happening. In Ponyville, the town was meeting to discuss the matter.

"Order! Order please!" Mayor Mare called, waiting for the townsponies to settle down. "Now I understand everypony is excited, but we need some decorum. It wouldn't do if we all lost our heads because of this. Now, as we all know, our own Twilight Sparkle was the first to truly make first contact with a world that seems to somehow exist outside our own in a manner we haven't been able to understand the physical laws of yet. I would like Miss Sparkle to please take the podium and speak on the matter. Twilight?"

Hooves stomped as Twilight took the stage amidst the applause. She gave the townsfolk a smile and held up a hoof to ask for silence and was happy to receive it.

"Thank you Mayor Mare." the Element of Magic said giving her a nod of acknowledgement. Then she turned back to the crowd. "Citizens of Ponyville, as the mayor has said, Fluttershy and I made first contact with an alien race calling themselves Humans. They come from a planet which they call Earth." There was a smattering of curious mutters at this. "I am well aware of the fact that this name is familiar to anyone who knows the history of the founding of Equestria, and of course one of our own pony breeds is referred to as Earth ponies. There is, as yet, no known explanation for why we share this particular term in common as a proper name, rather than just as a word for the physical ground upon which we walk, which is often referred to as such. I suspect it to be a quirk of what appears to be a kind of universal knowledge that stretches across dimensions."

Twilight took a moment to gather herself as she knew this would be a fairly long speech normally and not everypony would want to stand still long enough for her to give the kind of lecture she'd like to. So she had to keep it brief and let ponies ask questions.

"As far as what I have learned from the humans, one of the most important things they told me is this: Equestria has partially emerged within their world through unknown means somewhere in the near-midpoint in one of their oceans—they call it the Pacific— and currently sits between two of their landmasses. One is called Eurasia and the other is called North America. Each landmass plays host to a number of different nations. North America is split between two: Canada and the United States of America. Eurasia is split into more countries than I think I can count off in the time we have tonight. Russia is itself one of the two primary countries in terms of sheer political and military power on the landmass though."

"I heard that there's more humans than we can count just in one part of their planet alone!" a pony cried. Twilight nodded.

"That's true actually. Well, sort of. There's nearly two billion humans in a country named China alone, which is part of the landmass they call Asia, itself considered part of the overall Eurasian continent."

The various ponies gathered chattered excitedly amongst themselves at this news. Twilight gave them a few minutes before speaking again.

"Earth does not have a singular ruler. Instead each nation has their own form of government, each with a various head of state that has varying degrees of power in their government. The ship that we encountered was sent out by the United States, whose chief executive is called the President. The President is in charge of America for four years at a stretch, and can be removed from office by elections or by impeachment if it is believed he has broken their laws. The current president of the United States is a man named Barack Obama."

"So they don't have any kings or queens?"

Twilight shook her head at the question. "None who could be considered a global power in any true sense of the word as they define it. In fact most monarchies have little to no real political power on Earth anymore, and those monarchies which retain sovereign power have been largely reviled for the abuse of their subjects."

"Then how does anything get done if they all have different leaders?" Bon-Bon asked. "They're all one race, right? Why don't they have a singular ruler?"

"I honestly don't know, but they gave me the impression that most countries do work together despite having disparate rulers. They have...a sort of council, similar to a town council, but on a much larger scale that they call the United Nations. Though don't be fooled, not every country on Earth is part of it. A majority of nations are, however." Twilight answered. "Each nation appoints an ambassador who represents their nation based on the will of their respective governments and are the liaisons between one another, though the various rulers of each country are known to make trips to various places all over the world."

The Q&A session went for a little over two hours, with Twilight giving the ponies of Ponyville whatever information she was able to glean from the humans. Which, she suspected, was even less than the very point of the tip of the iceberg. She had only had a short time, relatively speaking, to spend with the strange beings, and sadly, they didn't carry any of their history with them in book form. They didn't need to since most of it was information they knew already, having grown up and learned about it within the confines of their own world.

Celestia nodded to herself as she reviewed the situation. The plan should work. It would take some effort to get the world governments to agree, and many would refuse outright. But if she could get some of the major powers to allow it, it would be the first step in the plan. It would take a great deal of magic and it would have to be mixed with human technology for it to be truly effective, but it could be done. Now she would simply have to convince the Elements to aid in the plan. Fortunately, she had a plan for that. Gathering the 'evidence' had been easy enough. Once she had managed to find a way to slip amongst them undetected, which had been the difficult part. Shapeshifting had always come easier to Luna and Discord than to her, so it did take some time to gather what she needed. Luckily for her, information was easy to come by once one knew where to look for it. It was simply a matter of putting it to use. With that in mind, she pulled a roll of parchment from nearby with her magic along with a quill and inkbottle and began to write a letter to her faithful student....

"So what have we got?" The President said.

"Well, Mr. President, we know about as much as you do." One of his aides replied. "We got this letter from the Equestrians via one of their...uhm...pegasi, I think they're called, and asked that this be delivered to you directly. Apparently these are being distributed more or less worldwide.We were asked to address the issue with Congress as soon as possible."

"...Well, let's get going. I'll read it on the way."

[/hr] Twilight entered the chamber where Celestia was waiting, and smiled at her mentor.

"Hello, Princess," the lavender mare said, "what did you need to see me about?"

Celestia gave her student a kindly smile and gestured to a device she had set up. "Twilight, I am told you were the one who made overall first contact with our unusual....'neighbors'." The alicorn replied. Her smile fell. "I'm sad to say it seems we have been deceived about what they are really like."

Twilight gave Celestia a confused look.

"I don't follow, Princess."

"I have come into possession of very disturbing evidence about the true nature of humanity in my magical scrying into the history of Earth. As some of our technology is compatible with theirs, I was able to create duplicates of some of their historical information on mediums they call Videocassette, film, and DVD. Despite the complexity of these devices, I have managed to convert information into something we can use via our own technology. Primarily film projectors. Though I have also succeeded in duplicating their VHS machines."

After a few minutes to set the devices up, Celestia allowed the information she had carefully culled unfold in front of Twilight, a cold smile on her face as her student watched. It went unseen by all.

So far, so good.

The news about the barrier's threat was met with fear and distrust. According to letters that Celestia had sent out, the barrier was created on accident, resulting in a breach between dimensional planes, and that it came about because of her performing high level magic at a time when the fabric of the Equestrian's dimensional plane was still recovering from two major events in their world: the first was the return of Discord, a creature who lived for nothing but chaos and insanity, and whose powers were enough to cause even the two co-regents of Equestria to know fear in their hearts. They had once defeated him with six ancient magical artifacts that had been reassembled by everyday Equestrians. Known as the Elements of Harmony, these artifacts had once turned Discord to stone and had repeated the process in his most recent attack. Not long afterwards, perhaps less than half a year later, Equestria had been attacked by shapechanging creatures called Changelings. Though they had been driven off, the sheer magical power required to do so had put a strain on an already frayed dimensional boundary that separated Equestria from the rest of the multiverse at large.

In the midst of performing high level magic— she refused to discuss what she was performing it on or why— Celestia had accidentally ripped open a hole in reality. This was how Equestria had come to be here. The barrier was a creation of hers to prevent either of the two worlds from consuming the other. She refused to say why ponies could go in and out of the barrier at will, yet humans and human technology met a spongy wall of force that prevented them from doing the same and gave no reason to explain her refusal. Despite the lack of cooperation on answering that question, Celestia did provide one other piece of information on the barrier: Due to the nature of the dimensional rip, it was possible that the barrier could begin to slowly expand if the rip opened wider between the two realities and that it would expand outward towards Earth, rather than Equestria due to the fact that it had been created to protect her world. Anything the barrier engulfed would be left intact, save for those humans who were unable to get out of the way of the barrier if it happened.

To prevent the potential loss of life this could cause, Celestia had proposed a solution. A radical one at that:

Turn the entire human race into ponies.

The response was an explosion of frenzied disparate reactions worldwide just from the suggestion itself.

The Vatican came back into the open at this, and declared Celestia a servant of evil, trying to detour the faithful from God's hands.

The United Nations debated whether or not to consider Equestria a potential threat to the world's security. At the same time, they also had to consider whether or not that because Celestia was willing to be forthcoming about the issue, she should be approached about having her nation join the UN, and try to find some other way to deal with the potential threat the barrier represented.

Ordinary people around the world began their own discussions on the matter. The supposed solution was still a ways off from even being in the experimental stage, but the threat the barrier now presented loomed over the world like the sword of damocles, waiting to drop.

FIRST SIGHTING

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FIRST SIGHTING

Two months after Celestia had made her pitch to the people of Earth, and after some deliberation, a compromise was reached; there were some who seemed to be entirely disenchanted with life amongst their own kind and who viewed Equestria as being a better place. However because of the barrier, they would never be able to go there as humans (for reasons which Celestia refused to expand on, simply saying that it was for Equestria's protection that the barrier existed and nothing more.) and so any who wanted could try this 'conversion' concept for a trial basis, after the mechanics of how to do so were figured out. If the process was proven safe, then should the barrier ever begin to expand, humanity could convert en mass if necessary.

Conversion required a number of spells that Celestia herself would teach to specific ponies who could be trusted with the knowledge, and also required recent advances in nanotechnology. Nanites enhanced by the spells Celestia had created could enable a person to become a pony within a relatively short time frame. The serum was tricky to make, but ultimately, it was developed. The first test subjects were several apes, humanity's closest relatives. Once it was determined that they could be converted— though the human scientists did note they acted somewhat odd, though they gained the ability to speak and reason, which they thought might account for it— and a human volunteered to go through the process after it was deemed safe, the go-ahead was given for the bureaus to open.

Per the request of the United Nations, an antigen was created that could undo the process in case of an emergency, such as an unforeseen allergic reaction— or something like an allergic reaction— to the potion. This proved to be a smart move, as a small number of people did have bad reactions to it, and needed to be changed back before they suffered anything too severe. These people were studied further and refinements were made to the potion in the hopes of avoiding repeats. However, once all the bugs were worked out of the potion so that there was no chance of such reactions by anyone ever again, all notes on the antidote were mysteriously destroyed, with no explanation. Nobody knew how they were destroyed, who did it, or when or why. All anyone could seem to remember was a strange sense that something had happened, but neither human nor pony could have told you what. It didn't seem to matter though. Since the potion was now stable and safe for all, Celestia had said, it wasn't as if an antidote was really needed since it was intended to be used for those who wished to seek out a different way of life.

Despite the fact that most in the various world governments had their misgivings, the United Nations allowed the Bureaus to operate without the antidote, and as all samples of the stuff were gone along with the notes, it seemed the point was moot anyway since it wasn't needed now that it was safe for all.

Those who went pony seemed 'different' somehow. Nobody from Earth could figure it out. But those who were disenfranchised with life as a human came out sparkly and happy as could be. It was almost enough to induce diabetic shock it was so sickeningly sweet. But no harm seemed to come of it, however odd it might be. The first few who came out soon made their way through the barrier into Equestria and were able to perceive it as not just the massive island that had emerged on Earth, but as the massive kingdom it was, with borders that crossed into lands that humanity could not perceive of on Earth.

Only one or two people realized that some of those first few had been outright suicidal when they went into the Bureaus, and even then, nobody thought to raise questions about the change in personality. They were just too happy to see people so upset with their lives given a chance to start over somewhere that they felt they could be happy. For the first two months, everything seemed to be going smoothly.

It wouldn't last.

Twilight looked at her teacher in horror. The videos she had been shown had shown a humanity so completely unlike what the people on the ship had told her about. World War I, World War II, the Holocaust, Vietnam, Korea, all of it. All the dark underbelly that humanity had seemingly brushed under the rug.

"I don't understand, Princess. Why wouldn't they tell us about this? Our world isn't a stranger to war, but this....the sheer amount of bloodshed. The body count alone...."

"Humanity is corrupt at its core, Twilight. Those who hold power are the core of that corruption, by and large. They may believe otherwise, but how can they not be evil when they do the things you've now seen? No, Twilight, they are a species in need of help and guidance. But due to their very nature as a species whose magic has long ago left this world if indeed there was ever truly any here to begin with, as I have my doubts on that matter— we cannot do anything to show them the truth of their nature. Perhaps if things necessitate it, if the barrier should indeed begin to expand as I'm afraid it might, we might be able to help." Celestia replied, hugging her protége gently with one wing. Twilight returned the embrace gratefully, and in so doing failed to see the cold smirk that adorned one side of her mentor's face, nor did she feel the light magic that emitted from Celestia's horn, as it was so quick as to be impossible to trace or determine to be anything more than the product of a distressed mind and imagination.

Things were developing just as she had hoped.

Now it was a matter of time and effort to bring the rest of her champions in line.

Lyra Heartstrings found herself as giddy as a filly in a candy store. Humans were such a unique species. What Twilight had told them had left her keen to learn more. She may not have been as study-driven as Twilight was, but when she had something in hoof that she wanted to know more about, she had all the tenacity of a dog with a bone. While she hoped the Conversion Bureaus would be largely unnecessary, she knew from what Celestia had laid out that there was a possibility that they might end up being so. But Lyra, who enjoyed stories of aliens and the odd and unusual since her days as a foal hoped that the barrier wouldn't start moving. She wanted to learn more about the humans. They were so unusual. They were far more advanced in many ways than Equestria was, and in some ways still very much like they were at the same time.

For the time being, the people of Earth were opening their worldwide borders to anyone who wanted to visit. Lyra, much to the chagrin of some others in Ponyville who were still leery of the 'aliens' (which was a term she found silly. Equestria had shown up on their world, therefore, it was the Equestrians who were the aliens!) had cautioned her against applying for a visa. But she was bound and determined to learn more about humanity, especially once she got the chance to see that many of their musical instruments worked in ways akin to their own. She wanted to see them being played in person, to see how humans did the things ponies did without magic.

As she boarded the boat the humans had sent for those interested in traveling to America, she wondered what she would find out there.

The first sighting was almost considered a joke. A gag somebody had come up with as a sick joke given the distrust some still had of the alien equines. It had been some four and three quarter months since the Bureaus had been opened to the public. A few ponies had become pretty close to being ambassadors for Equestria. Lyra Heartstrings had become a minor celebrity, as her desire to learn all about humans and her sheer friendliness had endeared her to just about everyone she met. She was ultimately chosen, and arrived in New York City to a great deal of fanfare. But in the shadows, strange things had been happening.

A pony had been walking around the city, an event that didn't seem quite that odd at this point. What was odd was that he wasn't one of the ones known to have arrived with Lyra and the other ponies who had arrived with her. Nor did it seem to be any of the ponies identified as being in the NYC Bureau. This wouldn't have seemed odd either at first glance. There were those who were interested in becoming ponies, so that wasn't too odd. No, what made this odd was the fact that he wasn't one of the known converts at all. Yet he claimed to have been human just a few hours before. He spoke of a group of ponies that had come to him, proselytizing what they called 'The Word of Celestia'. The next thing he knew, a vial of liquid had been dumped on him from out of nowhere when he'd told them he had no interest in Celestia or Conversion.

"Oh, but I forgive them," the human-turned-pony said quickly, noticing the looks on the faces of those around him, which were disgusted and disapproving. "they showed me that I was wrong! We should all convert! My mind feels so much clearer. All that anger and hate and need to be an individual, it's all gone now. I understand how we were always meant to be a herd species, following the decrees of the great goddess that is Celestia."

This was the first, but not last time that the name Ponification for Earth's Rebirth would pass the lips of the forcibly converted.....

Lyra frowned as she listened yet again to people whispering in the restauraunt she was in. Most of the humans were friendly and open. But she was no fool, and she saw the slightly disturbed looks on some and with her sharper hearing, it wasn't hard to hear some of them wondering if the Equestrians weren't really playing humanity for fools. That PER victim— and the word victim truly applied— had people on edge. She had gone to see this new pony that had been converted by this supposed cabal whom no one seemed able to prove existed. And what she'd seen horrified her. He claimed all he'd been exposed to was the potion. And that scared her.

Is that what happens to the people who convert in the Bureaus too? she wondered for the fiftieth time that evening. She dreaded the answer. She had yet to actually talk to anyone who had been converted at a Bureau. Sure she'd shaken hooves with one of the converted, but the newfoal, as they had come to be called, hadn't actually said anything at that meeting. She had just smiled pleasantly and a few reporters had taken pictures. Maybe I should talk to one of these newfoals... she thought to herself. See what they're really like.

Lyra wondered if there were any newfoals she even could talk to. Most of them tended to book near-immediate passage for Equestria after conversion, citing a desire to see the land the ponies came from. On the surface of it, the request was actually pretty logical. Humans and human tech were effectively locked out of the Kingdom, and should the barrier start moving as Celestia had suggested might happen, there were going to be a lot more people converting in order to protect themselves from the barrier's effects if it spread across any land masses. Still, these newfoals seemed to leap to that idea pretty fast. And none of them had yet to come back, though that could just be because there was so much of Equestria to explore that many of them were simply too busy to come home right away.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Lyra mused to herself, picking up her menu for the fifth time in as many minutes and trying to finally pick something out. Luckily, there were a number of dishes suited for those whose diet was herbivorous, so she was ultimately able to decide on a nice caesar salad with ranch dressing and a grilled cheese sandwich with pickles on the side (as opposed to the odd option of tomato soup. She had never liked tomato soup, though oddly enough loved pizza. Perhaps it was something to do with the way the soup was made. But she had simply never been able to stomach the stuff.) while trying to figure out her feelings on the PER Newfoal, for lack of anything else to term him.

"Ambassador Heartstrings?" Lyra looked up to see her liaison to the White House approaching. She gave him a smile as he sat down. "I hope I haven't come at a bad time?"

"Not at all, Bill. I was just running things over in my head about that newfoal. The one created by this group calling themselves the PER. I just can't wrap my head around it. I know some people aren't keen on converting in case the Barrier starts to move like Celestia said it might, but I didn't think it was such an issue that ponies would go out and decide to force the situation on people." Lyra huffed, munching on some lettuce. "It just doesn't seem real to me yet. I've never heard of ponies acting like that before."

Bill nodded. "Hmm. That's why I'm here. You're pretty close to the...Elements of Harmony, I think they're called. Have they been informed of this 'PER' stuff yet? Has Celestia?" he asked.

Lyra could only give a half-shrug. "I'm not entirely sure yet of who has what details. I know Celestia's likely heard about it by now. Something like this is going to get kicked upstairs past the lower governmental administrators, given how major an event it is. As for Twilight and the others? I can't really say."

Bill sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"I wish we could be sure that this is some kind of demented hoax. I really don't like the implications of this, Lyra. People are still having a damned hard time accepting that you ponies exist at all. That there's some other dimension that suddenly ended up poking through into ours." He said, picking up a menu. "So, how's life in the Big Apple been treating you?"

Lyra smirked. "Well enough. I still find that nickname hilarious. For a number of reasons. I like the other one. The City That Never Sleeps. I can believe it. It's never fully quiet. Someone's always on the move somewhere in this town and I can see why some nations consider it to be America's greatest city. Then again, say that in any other major city, and they'll argue otherwise. But still, not every city gets to play home to the United Nations building, nor did they put the World Trade Center just anywhere."

Bill laughed and placed his order with a waitress who had been sent over. Then when his menu was taken, he turned back to Lyra.

"Nice to see this incident hasn't done anything to your sense of humor, Lyra. As a native of D.C., I'll tell you straight up. New York may be the only place you can get a decent hot dog or pizza in this country. But when it comes to steak, you just can't beat a Boston cut."

Lyra rolled her eyes.

"Primarily a herbivore here, remember? I don't indulge in meat that often. Though I'll admit, I'm getting a taste for ham steak. It may not be beef, but it has its own charm."

Bill grinned. "Now them's fighting words." he chortled and Lyra rolled her eyes.

"Oh, hush up you. So, why did you want to talk to me, anyway?"

As his drink arrived, Bill pondered how best to answer the question. At length, he shrugged.

"I'll be honest with you, Lyra. Or as honest as a politician on this side of the barrier gets, anyway." They both grinned at his somEwhat self-deprecating joke. "Right now there's a lot of people in the intelligence community who're plenty pissed at not being able to find out what's going on past that magical buttress out there. For those to whom knowledge is the true power in this little game of thrones all nations on Earth play, having someone who can keep everything so close to their chest with impunity is like a slap in the face to them."

Lyra leaned back against her chair. It didn't take a genius to know that knowing nothing about someone other than what they allowed people to know didn't go a long way towards making the strongest of friendships.

"What do you need from me?"

Shining Armor was reading over a report from one of his soldiers on the recent news coming out of Equestria. He wasn't sure what to make of it.

PER, huh? This is a new one. No known base of operations, no record of their appearances, names or cutie marks...wonder what they're really after? If they want to prepare for the worst, why not just work at a Bureau?

"Hey Shiny. What're you looking through there?" An ear flicked lightly at the sound of Cadance's voice. He flipped through the rest of the page, and skimmed the next two. Shaking his head, he set them aside.

"Trying to make heads or tails of this new group." he answered, thumping the report lightly with a hoof. "They seem a bit weird, even for the kind of cultists that have cropped up in both of our worlds over the centuries. The main problem is that if they keep doing what they're doing, they're gonna do Celestia knows what kind of damage to our relations with Earth. They're already worried about the barrier. I don't blame them. If that thing starts moving, there's going to be a lot of people in jeopardy unless they convert. And from what I keep hearing through the grapevine, most of the humans aren't thrilled with the concept."

"Well, that'll have to wait. I just got a letter from auntie Celestia. She says she has something to show us over in Canterlot." Cadence said, holding up the letter she'd gotten in her magic.

"Fine by me." Shining said, letting out a sigh of relief as he managed to pull himself out of the seat he'd been in all day going over the standard military reports and intelligence dossiers he had to deal with during times of upheaval such as this. "I could use a day or so off."

Rarity flipped through some of the magazines that she'd gotten in the mail. The entire kingdom was abuzz about the humans. Photographers had made their way to the United States, Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom and come back with a virtual treasure trove of images. What naturally caught Rarity's eye as the fashion of their world. There was some overlap due to their world being composed of a singular sapient race, but the styles were as varied as anything she had created or seen in any of the lines put out by those in the industry in Equestria.

"Hey sis. What're you looking at?"

Rarity grinned and held out the magazine. "Just some reviews of what designers are making on Earth, Sweetie Belle. Very interesting stuff, I must say."

Sweetie looked over the magazine. She was no fashion designer like her sister was, but even she knew these were great clothes. "Pretty cool, Rarity. I mean, I'm not sure how they manage to stay warm without fur and all, but these look like some great party wear."

Rarity chuckled. From what little she'd been able to understand, clothing was very much the public norm for humans, which meant that stuff like what she was seeing in these magazines were indeed a luxury of sorts, but there was also necessity in their existence.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot. Twilight asked me to tell you she's back in town and wants to see you and the others in a sap."

Rarity did a doubletake. Why in the world would Twilight want to see her covered in...she facehoofed as she realized what her sister had obviously not quite understood. She giggled at the silliness despite herself.

"I'm on my way."