Awesome / Spectrum

While the Continuity Reboot of The Conversion Bureau: The Other Side of the Spectrum doesn't go as much for the bombastic Rule of Cool moments as the original, there are moments which stand out.

Main Story

• Chapter Two - "Friends On The Other Side"
  • The following lines;
    Alex: "My name is Alexander Reiner. And I am human."

• Chapter Three - "They Are Us"
  • Princess Celestia succeeds in talking down a paranoid Alex when he threatens to get violent towards Fluttershy. A far cry from her widely-disliked characterisation in the original story.

• Chapter Four - "Nightfall Over Boston"
  • Ana Bjorgman gets pinned down by (unseen) Imperial troops on a Boston street. Then The Cavalry comes along, represented mostly by an equally-unseen but very much heard figure who should be familiar to readers of the original Spectrum. The following chapter confirms it was Kraber.

• Chapter Five - "Understanding Dawns"
  • When he appears on the verge of having a psychotic break, Alex casts a spell on himself to retreat into his mindspace and sort himself out; the ensuing trip is quite a sight to behold, if laden with plenty of Nightmare Fuel.
  • We get a vision of Queen Celestia's address at the Berne Conference, prior to her converting a roomful of reporters. In the vision, Alex imagines himself stepping in and defying her. The moment does get a bit negated once he remembers his own crimes during the war, though.
    Alex: "The human race denies you. All people, on my world and yours, with the good sense to not get caught up in your madness, deny you. Oh, too often, we have let despots and demagogues run the show, closing our eyes when they talked of building walls or leading us to greatness. You're just another goddamn one of them. Yes, I deny you. And you know how we say 'deny you' in my neck of the woods? Fuck you and the horse you rode in on!"

• Chapter Nine - "In Darkest Hour"
  • In a flashback, the Imperial Timeline's Princess Luna brings not only Cadance with her to Earth, but a whole contingent of thestrals, before staying behind to give them, Ambassador Lyra and the PHL members time to flee while she faces Queen Celestia.
    • A big change from the original story is that Celestia shows actual remorse after petrifying her sister.

• Chapter Fifteen - "Two Faces"
  • The Solar Empire finally appears in person, and throughout the entire chapter, the Archmage holds her own in verbally sparring with Luna regarding the war and their motivations.
  • Luna's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the Archmage, calling her out on the Empire's hypocrisy.
  • The Imperials successfully capture Discord without letting him get a shot in.
  • Princess Cadance comes to Luna's rescue, blindsiding the Imperials.

• Chapter Sixteen - "An Angel's Wings"
  • The entire chapter is a Moment of Awesome for both Luna, Cadance, the PHL-UNAC forces against the Imperials, cementing the latter's status as Adaptational Badass with both sides throwing everything they have at the other. While Twilight loses at the end, she still managed to give Luna one hell of a prolonged fight.

• Chapter Eighteen - "Moonrise Over Boston"
  • In similar vein to Chapter Sixteen, this entire chapter is a lengthy battle sequence between every combatant in Boston, with a special emphasis on Scootaloo and her fellow Imperials evading a human ambush, and later taking down a tank, and the climactic moment of the chapter; Luna taking down Spike without killing him or the Archmage.

• Chapter Twenty-Two - "So Say We All"
  • While the circumstances leading into it are not admirable, the honour duel between Alexander Reiner and Pharynx is the first time seeing Alex in action, after him spending the majority of Act One in a wheelchair recovering from his injuries - and while he still hasn't fully healed, at that. He only narrowly wins against the born shape-shifter by calling upon his runes as an Empowered Badass Normal, but Pharynx takes the defeat gracefully and acknowledges the human as a Worthy Opponent.