Fallen Earth: Rebuilding

Chapter 6: Rehabilitation

Shrimp walked along the cobblestone road with a squad of four men, eliciting fearful stares from the nearby ponies. "As they should be", Shrimp thought. They had taken the town one day ago, and more men and supplies were being moved in already. Right where the apple orchards used to be were parked Humvees and gas tanks. Tents were being set up, and a small perimeter was established around the town, named "Orchardly". This was the first patrol sent in, and it showed a lot about the lifestyle of the ponies. The town looked like it was old, but according to the ponies it was made 45 years ago. When asked about how long they've had this technology, the ponies barely knew the meaning of the word, but responded that it's been like this for TEN THOUSAND YEARS. According to one of our Xenobiologists, these ponies have been stuck in a state of scientific flux for millenia. Shrimp scoffed at the ponies ignorance. They even thought the world was flat and this "Princess Celestia" they speak of can move the sun! Many ponies in the town were on trial at the moment for charges of slavery or assault on soldiers they believed were escaped slaves. It turns out that not a single pony in the town believed that what they were doing was wrong at all. The words of another scientist was "This 'Celestia' they worship have them stuck in a blackhole of tyranny, technological standstill, myths, and slavery." A large number of soldiers were furious about these discoveries, but Wesley waved them off, saying "We can make them change."

Hanz stepped out of the strange flying beast as it dropped down into a weird looking place. Dozens of large black objects were tearing the ground up, and strange rocks were coming out. Men drove around in human less metal carriages, and many had more of the strange black sticks Hanz was freed with. Being led to a large, shiny building made of a material he didn't recognize, Hanz and the other slaves were given smooth looking clothing. It felt much better than his rags, and he was warm even in the cold morning! Strange glowing spheres illuminated the room, and Hanz was led to a small white table. Sitting on it, a human woman wearing white clothing appeared with a spike. Backing up, the woman cooed to him and held his arm softly. Sticking the needle in after wiping his arm with a weird, wet square, she slowly pushed the back of it and Hanz felt liquid entering his blood stream. Stepping back, the woman put a bandage on the small hole and led him outside to a large room with tables and food on them. Sitting down, Hanz and many other slaves had the first good meals in their lives.

Applejack sat at a table in her family's cabin. She came here to visit some of her cousins who were having trouble with their apple trees when those humans arrived. Her family has had a long tradition of not accepting slavery on their farms, and it appeared this paid off when the soldiers arrived. She hasn't heard from Twilight or the rest of her friends yet, and she was beginning to think she was going to be trapped in Orchardly for a long time. Not until some of the new humans got a meeting together in the town square. They announced they were letting any Pony free of charges that weren't residents of Orchardly to go back home. Sitting next to the table were some saddlebags and a small "Come back soon" Apple Pie from one of her cousins. Pulling the bags over her back, Applejack checked out at this weird place the humans set up called an "Embassy", and walked out towards Ponyville.

Celestia sighed and rubbed her forehead with her hoof. Dismissing her slaves, she began reading a report on her desk. "On the day 256, in the Holy Year of Princess Celestia 10500, the royal Gaurd lost contact with Orchardly. Pegasus scouts report strange humans with metal machines have taken up residence there." Getting up, she wrote a letter to Twilight saying "Twilight, it appears a small rouge faction of Humans have captured Orchardly. Please stay clam, but prepare Ponyville's defenses. -Celestia". Sending the letter with magic, Celestia grabbed some of her tea and sat down at her desk, whispering "Your move...."

Stretching, Shrimp got up from the couch in the Embassy's break room and went back to the front desk. Even after 2 days, the makeshift building was being flooded by ponies demanding to know what was going on. The only replies they got were "Charges of Slavery", or "I think you know why.". He was still bored that he was switched to a desk job, but Shrimp liked getting a break from patrolling. The monotonous work helped him forget about..."Don't think of him!", he thought, slightly grimacing. Getting back to his work, he wrote out a small report on a laptop in front of him about the amount of ponies that came in today. Things were calming down now, and the ponies that came into the Embassy slowed into a trickle.
"Shrimp, how are ya!" Eyes widening, Shrimp turned around to see Wesley right there next to him. "How's work?", he said. Shrimp knew he was trying to make up for his friend, and Shrimp simply said "Good." Going back to the laptop, Wesley said "Look, i'm sorry Shrimp. How about we have a few drinks over your loss?" Looking at him, Shrimp nodded and got up.

Groaning, Shrimp slowly opened his eyes as he was hit with a pounding headache. Looking around, he was greeted with the sight of a trashed kitchen, with Wesley laying in a corner. Feeling a hard thing in his hand, Wesley looked down to find a small puke filled bottle of vodka. Looking around more closely, he noticed 8 more bottles lying around, with Wesley having a small keg next to him. Starting to laugh a little, he said "I could never hold my drinks..."