The Conversion Bureau: Not Alone
Chapter 3: First Conversion Bureaus Open (News broadcast)
Previous Chapter Next ChapterNBC newscast, 6PM EST, January 19, 2018
The segment begins with a blonde, square-jawed middle-aged news anchor shuffling through some papers as he looks into the camera.
"And now tonight's top story, Equestria has opened its first conversion bureaus this morning, with a dozen of the facilities opening in South Africa and Argentina. They're well ahead of schedule, they weren't supposed to start doing business until February, but this morning we've already gotten the first reports, and, well, it's unbelievable, ladies and gentlemen. I know I've been saying this a lot lately, but I hope you can forgive me for that." He laughs.
"People go into these bureaus, and when they come out, they're ponies! They're a totally different species! But don't take my word for it. You can hear it first-hand, or rather first-hoof, from some happy customers of the Cape Town bureau."
The view cuts to the front of the aforementioned bureau. The building's bright colors and design straight from a fairy tale contrast starkly with the steel and glass of the surrounding buildings. The area is bustling with activity, human and pony alike.
A sea-green pegasus with a black mane is talking into a microphone. She's speaking Afrikaans, with English subtitles appearing at the bottom of the screen. A header indicates that her name is "Winter Wings".
"I was born paralyzed from the waist down. Even if I had the money to see a doctor, none of them could've helped me. But then the bureaus opened and I figured, well, what did I have to lose? Now look at me." She grins broadly.
"I just went in an hour ago and now I've got a whole new body. I'm still learning how to walk as a pony, but I think I'll get the hang of it. And then..." She spreads her wings.
"...I'll fly. It's a miracle, it really is."
The next interviewee is a butter-colored unicorn with a bright green mane. He speaks heavily accented English, and his header lists him as "Bright Morning."
"I mean, the doc said I had about six months left. I was an AIDS victim, it's a really big problem in this country but thanks to these ponies it's just like, done, gone, over!
"Me and my family, we've got plans. My wife and my kids are going in next, and when that's done we'll be on the next ship to Equestria! It's really a new life, you know?"
The show cuts to an earth pony doctor named Bedside Manner, accompanied by a brief voiceover from the anchorman.
"But what do the bureaus' staff have to say about their work?"
Based on his wrinkles, thick glasses, and slightly hunched stance, the doctor appears to be elderly. He looks rather tired, but he's smiling. He speaks English.
"I guess you could say it's what I was born to do, literally!" He cracks a smile and glances at his cutie mark, a syringe.
"I mean, I've been working as a doctor for close to three hundred years now, and I can still probably say this is the best work I've ever done. Humans come to us and they get brand new healthy bodies, and they get a chance to come live in Equestria for themselves! And you know, that's what this job is really about, helping people whatever their shape."
The show then cuts to a group of men and women standing outside the bureau, holding various protest signs written in Afrikaans. The anchorman's voiceover takes over again.
"But not everyone likes what's going on."
The camera cuts to a tall, solidly-built black man who appears to be in his early twenties. His boyish face is twisted into a scowl. He's speaking Afrikaans, and subtitles again appear on the bottom of the screen.
"They're taking people and turning them into ponies, and that bubble gets bigger and bigger every day. If you look out there you can see it from the docks."
The view shifts to the barrier as seen from Cape Town's shore. "It's like, what's going to happen when it hits the town? Most people don't want to be ponies, where will they go? You know what it is?"
The camera shifts back to the man. "I'll tell you what it is. We're being colonized, just like Europe did to us! We fought and we bled and we died for our freedom, and they think we'll just let them take it away again?"
The show cuts back to the anchorman.
"The bureaus and the bubble have drawn enough controversy between them that Princess Celestia's personal student, Twilight Sparkle, requested an open interview to calm public unrest. Be sure to catch it this time tomorrow, and we'll be back with the weather right after these messages!"