Conversions
-Disclaimer: Hasbro owns all recognizable characters, most unrecognizable characters, and no, I'm not profiting off of this.
----

There was a pounding at the door. Great heavy blows slamming into it.

Twilight turned over in her bed.

The slamming increased in intensity. Dust shook loose from the ceiling.

Twilight buried herself deeper into the blankets.

"Twilight Sparkle!" A great voice thundered from below. The pony in question jolted up from her bed before immediately falling out of in in a pile of blankets. "We require your presence!"

She disentangled herself in a flash.

Literally.

And bolted down the wooden stairs. She threw open the triangular red door to her home as another great knock rang against it. A regal pony stood in the darkness of her doorway, one hoof poised to knock once more against her door.

Hers was a coat of indigo hue, her mane a shimmering field of starlight drifting on an aetherial wind. More than just her towering size, her very air, her stature was the refined intimidation of the warriors of eld.

"Princess Luna?!" Twilight stepped back from her door, allowing the princess of the night into her home. "What's going on?"

"We, that is, I, had hoped you would have received our message Princess Twilight. The hour is late and the matter most dire." The dark princess stepped into the middle of the main room, her eyes scanning the walls.

"I haven't been receiving any letters from Canterlot lately. What did you need to tell me?" She wasn't really sure how to broach the fact that Spike had left.

"With young Spike having taken his leave, I suppose conventional mail would be too unreliable for these matters." A book floated from the wall before the princess. It opened to a random page near the middle before slamming shut and replacing itself. The princess sighed, her bearing cracked. "Very well, Twilight. The core of the matter then. In the eastern border of our realm have been troubling reports."

Twilight wasn't surprised she knew. It had been mentioned (at length) in the last report she'd sent regarding the bug hunt she'd been away on.

"What kind of reports, Princess?"

"The worst kind young Twilight. Foul magic. Dark magic." Mist coalesced before the princess before molding into an illusion. A suit of armor, old armor stood before the princess. Black iron polished until it was shining. Green light gleaming from the visor. "From our initial report, this is the form it took when it first manifested."

Twilight walked around the image, committing what she could to memory.

"This thing was seen exiting a train carriage. All passengers were accounted for, they reached their destinations safe and hale. One was an anomaly, however his potential contribution has been discounted." The image warped before twisting into something else altogether. Before it had been whole, though eerie, this was not. The left hind leg had been completely removed, so too was the helmet. Four great gashes marred the peytral and the metal was showing obvious signs of rust.

Then there was the flesh.

Twilight did her very best not to gag as she saw the muscle tissue growing out of the holes in the armor. The off white bone poking out of places it had no business being.

"What is this thing?" Luna had a much easier time hiding her disgust. Or at least repressing her need to revisit dinner.

"We are uncertain. It bears no true resemblance to any of the unliving we are familiar with. The armor it once was has been determined to be metal pulled from the train itself. Whatever magic created this thing imbued it with the ability to adapt its form. At this stage of its development we know that it consumed a relatively insignificant amount of wildlife on the path to its destination."

A bear, some over-curious squirrels and a bird that was already dead. Each significant in their own way, though readily lost in the macrocosm of nature.

"So this thing, it's carnivorous?" Twilight attempted to look down the neck of the thing. The glow was far too intense for her to be certain, but she thought she saw something... Beating.

"We cannot be certain. This is currently the only other image we've managed to find of this creature. An unfortunately accurate depiction from the nightmares of a young colt in Manehatten. It was encountered at the southern edge of the farmland outside the city." The illusion dispersed once more into mist. The discomfort in the depths of Twilights gut with it.

"It did not move to attack the poor foal, nor did it make any move to follow him as he fled. No distinct hunting pattern or territory have been discovered. Our current speculation suggests these were victims of opportunity, or else necessity."

"This abomination was not flesh and blood such as we Twilight. It was magic, and solely magic. Now it is more than it was, and we have no way in determining its purpose."

"So tell me, Twilight. What is magic?" The purple pony stood at attention, a smile on her face as she answered.

"Friendship!" The princess of the night gave the young unicorn a gentle smile. She leaned down to meet Twilight's eyes evenly.

"Not quite, my little pony. Unlike the briefing I gave you though, that lesson must wait until you"

"Wake up."

----

Twilight shot up in her bed, her wings spread out in fear as she looked around her room.

Crystal walls, crystal windows. Bed far too large. Alicorn standing in front of a window and looking out over Ponyville.

"Friendship is magic, Princess Twilight Sparkle. We do not argue this, for it is a magic we hold most dear. But magic, Twilight-"

"Is the ability to manipulate reality to meet our wants and needs, internally and externally. The most basic magic, available freely to each and everypony as well as every member of every sapient species, is imagination." The purple princess finished.

"Quite right, Twilight." Luna turned her head to focus one eye upon Twilight, still in her bed. "I need you to ready yourself quickly. We make for Fillydelphia soon."

----

Waking up was difficult, it felt like a leaden anchor dragging on his mind.

But the sun was up, burning away at painfully sensitive eyes.

He needed to get up. He had to... To.

Today was a day off, he wasn't in any rush. He could take his time.

He struggled to get to his feet, swaying drunkenly to his left before falling over.

The world was starting to come into a blurry focus.

This wasn't his room.

His claws scrabbled ineffectively to gain purchase against the cracked pavement beneath him. To push himself up.

He looked down to see why he couldn't grab anything.

And saw hooves.

And screamed.

Author's Notes:

I actually had the previous chapter done last night.

Idiot that I is, I forgot to hit publish. Whoops.