Chapters TCB Mankind Triumphant: Pony Life
David walked towards the building, a Blackmesh officer on each side of him. He sighed.
He was told that years ago, conversion had been coveted. People would become colourful sapient equines that sometimes would have wings or magical horns. They did this so they could live in the ever expanding Equestria. Until the Human Liberation Front foolishly destroyed Equestria for ever. Gone were the days of pegasai and unicorns. Gone were the bright colours that the equinoids came in. Worst of all, after a hundred years, the converted would become regular farm animals.
David had made one small mistake. He had tried to steal a creditstick off of a very important elite. This was his punishment.
He walked through the doors. He gulped. A person was standing there, holding a small cup of sparkling purple liquid. David looked around to see if he could escape. The Blackmesh grabbed his arms. His clothes were ripped off. Then one of the Blackmesh forced his mouth open and the person holding the cup poured it into his mouth. David started screaming, but soon stopped as the anaesthetic kicked in.
*****
David opened his eyes. He was floating. He realised this must be one of those 'conversion dreams' he had been told about. He could see stars all around and floating rock. On one side of him was a representation of a herd of earthpony slaves. On the other was a representation of a herd of the original party-coloured equinoids that he had seen in holo-shows. As he watched, they slowly merged together.
There was a noise behind him.
He turned around. Behind him was a strangely large equinoid. It had a white coat and a very strange mane and tail, almost like it was a portal to another dimension. It also had both a horn and wings. He recognised from the holo-shows that this was Princess Celestia. There was one difference though. Her eyes were crazed, and her neck was severed, with what appeared to be purple blood coming out. As David watched though, the neck slowly started repairing itself.
Another large equinoid appeared. It had a dark blue coat, and an equally strange mane and tail as the other. It also had wings and a horn, which was glowing. It spoke one single sentence.
'We will be back.'
Then everything faded.
*****
'We are getting less newfoals these days.'
'Heh, then that means people are following the rules now. Looks like they're scared of being ponies, eh?'
'I guess so.'
David groaned. He struggled to sit up. As he tried, he realised that in place of hands he had hooves. He groaned again.
'Looks like this is my life now.'
There was a noise outside of, of, where was he anyway.
David looked around. He was inside some sort of stable. There was hay on the ground, and what appeared to be a water trough and a feeding trough. There was also a saddle and some reins on the back wall.
Suddenly, a human's head popped over the stable door. He looked back to what David assumed was his mate.
'Yup, he's awake.'
The human turned back round. 'Okay, listen here. You cause any trouble, you'll be the elite's dinner. I heard that Equestrians make very tasty meals. You just be a good horsie, and you might live, got that shit?'
David nodded.
'Right. Feeding is in half an hour. Tomorrow you will get training. I have to tend to some of the other newfoals now, so don't go anywhere, not that you can.' The human snickered as he left.
David sighed. He tried pushing the door open, but it was made out of the new development, woodcrete, which was very strong but looked and felt like wood, made for people who needed strong materials but also wanted pleasing aesthetics. He sighed again. The days of post-conversion euphoria were long gone. He decided to check himself out in the mirror that was on the stable door. He had a dull brown coat with a blonde mane and tail, and blue eyes. Newfoals only ever came out in dull colours now.
He yawned. The anaesthetic was still slightly affecting him. He decided to lay down in the hay and have a small rest while he waited for feeding. He closed his eyes. But he couldn't fall asleep. He was still a bit curious, so he decided to look around to see if there were any other stables around him and if there were others in them.
He leaned his forehooves on one of the walls and looked over it, surprised at how agile he was with his new body. Over the wall, he could see other stables with other ponies. On this side, there was a white stallion with a brown mane and tail and brown eyes. There was only one stable on this side. David decided to check the other.
On the other side there was three stables. The closest stable had a black stallion with green eyes and a white mane and tail. The next one on was a chestnut mare with a black mane and tail and blue eyes. The last one was empty.
David looked over his stable door. There was no humans, though there were probably guards outside. He saw a holographic clock on the wall, which said that it was a quarter to one. He guessed that feeding time must be at one o'clock, which meant that fifteen minutes had already passed. 'Time sure does fly,' he thought to himself.
'Hey, up here.'
David looked up. The black stallion was looking at him over the wall. 'What?'
'Come talk to me,' the stallion replied.
David leaned his forehooves an the wall again.
'I noticed you are new here,' said the stallion.
David rolled his eyes. 'What gave it away?'
The stallion kept talking. 'I only got here yesterday. The government punishes such stupid little things with conversion. All I did was steal a little bread. What did you do?'
'I tried to steal an elite's creditstick,' David replied.
'Woah, that's big. Anyway, my name's Alexander. Yours?'
'David.'
'Well, David, I guess that's that. It's nearly feeding time, so we better get down before the humans get here. Talk to ya later David.'
'See ya later Alexander.' David realised he felt a little better after talking to Alexander. He had never talked to many people before, because he didn't trust anyone. David had never felt good about talking to someone until now. He found that interesting. Maybe conversion hadn't changed as much as he thought it did. He felt better than he had ever felt before. It almost felt like conversion wasn't a punishment.
Suddenly he heard a door bang open. 'FEEDING TIME!'
He heard something being poured out of a bucket. Some food and water fell out of dispensers in the ceiling into the troughs. There was hay, with a few flowers mixed in, and some alfalfa as well. David realised he felt really hungry. He almost literally dived into the trough and started sucking it up like a vacuum cleaner. He was also extremely thirsty. After eating and drinking, he felt really sleepy. He closed his eyes again, and this time he managed to fall asleep.
TCB Mankind Triumphant: Pony Life
David tried to open his eyes. It felt like they were stuck together. Eventually he managed to open them. He looked around. He was surrounded by other ponies, much smaller and more colourful than him. Some had horns or wings. They were all ignoring him. In the distance he could see what looked like a giant soap bubble.
David tried to move around but his hooves were stuck to the ground. He looked down and saw that his whole body was transparent. 'That must be why they are ignoring me,' he said to himself, 'Because they can't see me.'
Suddenly there was an explosion in the direction of the bubble. All the ponies and some humans that were wandering about turned around in shock. David looked back at the bubble. Where it used to be, there was a giant ball of light that was expanding rapidly. It got brighter and brighter until David had to close his eyes. Suddenly, there was a much larger explosion, then silence.
David opened his eyes. Where the ball had been, there was a huge crater. All the people and ponies around him were murmuring. Suddenly, it seemed as if someone had pressed fast forward. David watched as the months passed by, the other ponies' magic fading, their colours becoming duller. Eventually, they lost their magic, unicorns lost their horns, pegasai lost their wings, and earth ponies lost their strength and plant growing powers, they all lost their bright colours, and grew closer to the size of a regular farm horse, just like David.
Everything went black. When David could see again, he could see his old human self, as the serum got poured down his mouth. He could see as his skin turned white, like dough, his body grow larger and change shape.
Now he was in his stable, looking at his sleeping self. Someone banged at the door and called something out. His sleeping self stirred.
*****
'Hey, get up! It's time for you to get trained! Get the hell up!'
David groaned. There was another bang at the door, which fully woke up David. 'I'm up! I'm up!' he said.
'Good,' said the human, 'Now, I'm gonna take you to the trainer, don't struggle, or you'll be horsemeat.'
David waited as the human put the reins around his muzzle and the saddle on his back. The human led him towards a fenced of area.
'Now,' the human said, 'I don't want to do this, but the trainer says I have to. He says that I have to let you do whatever shit you need to do, if you know what I mean. So you go do that while we wait for him, and don't cause any trouble.' The human put David in the enclosure and took his reins off.
David did what he needed to do and went back towards the human. 'Okay.' The human put the reins back on David. 'I can see the trainer over there, so I'll leave you here.' The human fastened his reins to the fence and walked away. David turned to where the human was pointing to see another human walking towards him.
'Well howdy there!' The human spoke in a Southern drawl, which was rare nowadays. 'Name's William, but ya' can just call me Ol' Bill.' Bill leaned over and whispered in David's ear. 'Ah' kinda feel sorry for ya' guys, being forced to be an animal and all. So here, ah've' got something for ya'.' Bill held out his hand. In it was a red apple, which was becoming common these days.
David bit into the apple. Instantly he was hit with sensations he had never had before. To him, it seemed as if the taste of the apple was life itself. It was as if the apple was the only thing in existence, and that nothing existed without it. Nothing else mattered in that moment but the apple. As the sensation faded, he noticed he had eaten the whole apple, even the core. Apparently, he was capable of digesting apple cores. Interesting. David noticed Ol' Bill grinning.
'Alla' them have that reaction. Ah' can't even begin to imagine what it must be like. I wish ah' had tastes like that.' A look of sorrow crossed Bill's face. But it soon was replaced by a smile. 'Well, time to get training.' Bill unfastened the reins. 'First, ya' gotta get used ta' people climbing onto ya' back. Try and not move too much.' Bill starting climbing onto the saddle. David flinched, but tried to keep still as Bill said. 'There ya' go. Now, if someone does this' – Bill gave David a light kick on the side – 'that means start moving. Let's do that again.' Bill gave another light kick. David started walking. 'Good, now let's go a bit faster. If someone does this' – Bill gave a slightly harder kick – 'That means go faster.' David moved into a trot. 'There, I think you're getting the hang of this! Now, if someone pulls left or right on the reins, go in that direction.' David and Bill practiced that for a while. At first, David made a few mistakes but soon enough he got the hang of it.
'Okay, there is one last thing for me to teach you today. If someone pulls back on the reins, it means slow down or stop.' Bill pulled on the reins, and David slowed down and eventually stopped. 'Very good!' Bill looked genuinely proud. 'Let's do a bit more practicing, then I'll take you back to your stable.'
After about half an hour of practicing, Bill took David back to his stable. As he removed the saddle and reins, he talked to David. 'Thanks for being so well behaved. Ah' love teaching Newfoals, except for when they're fussy. I hate fussy Newfoals.' After Bill finished putting away the gear, he turned and smiled at David. 'It was fun teaching you. Ah' can't wait till our next session!' Bill closed the stable door, and David could hear him walking away. He smiled to himself. Bill was probably the only decent human being David had met so far.
Suddenly, he could hear the sound of humans struggling. He leaned on the stable door and looked over it.
Near the door, there were three humans holding a struggling mare. The mare was much smaller than normal, and had a lavender coat and a blue-ish purple mane and tail with a streak of pink and dark-ish purple. But the thing that David was focused on was the horn on her head.
Author's Note
Did I try too hard with the Southern drawl?
I know nothing about riding horses. Don't judge me.
TCB Mankind Triumphant: Pony Life
'Careful, Careful! Watch out for the horn!'
David watched as the men struggled to get the unicorn into the stable. They had to constantly duck to avoid the horn, which was swinging around wildly. Eventually, they forced her in, and slammed the door shut.
'Where the hell did that come from?' one of the men exclaimed.
'I don't fucking know,' replied another. 'I thought they were gone.'
'Well, it'll definitely get us more customers at the fun fair tomorrow,' said another. 'I bet they will be glad they picked us!'
The men exited the room, still talking as they went. As soon as they left, all the ponies started talking to each other.
'Fun fair? What fun fair?' asked David.
'Last week, they told us about this fun fair that we would be going to,' Alexander replied. 'Apparently it's one of the first since the Great Collapse. We are supposed to be in the "Pony Riding" stall.'
'Oh that makes sense now. Anyway, what about this unicorn?' asked David.
Alexander appeared to be deep in thought. 'Maybe serum error? No that can't be it. Strange, I feel like I recognise that unicorn. Strange, very strange.'
Everybody went quiet as the door slammed open. 'FEEDING TIME!'
Same food as before. This time, David ate slower, to try and savour the taste. It didn't taste as good as the apple, but it was still quite good. Also, there were a few carrots mixed in this time. They tasted strange, kind of spicy, but not at the same time. David decided that he liked the new taste. It was much more complex than as a human, and he found that a good thing.
David felt tired again. He'd been sleeping much longer recently. He guessed it was his body replenishing itself after his conversion. Suddenly he found his legs locked together. He had no idea how he did it, but was too tired to care, and fell asleep standing up.
*****
'Wake up, come on let's go!'
David woke up. He couldn't remember any dreaming. Strange. He found his legs were still locked. He managed to unlock them.
Suddenly his door swung open.
'Come on, follow me.'
David, along with the others, followed the human to an area where their bridles and saddles were put on. David noticed the unicorn had no saddle, and was also looking very frightened.
'Listen up! All of you, except for you –' The human looked at the unicorn '– are going to give rides at the fair for people who pay for it. You have all had basic training, correct?'
David and the others nodded in unison.
'Right. Don't cause any trouble, now get in the carts.' The human directed David and the others into carts, which were connected to vehicles next to a large fair wagon, or at least, that's what it looked like. David was put with the white stallion. The unicorn had one for herself.
The driver started up the engine, and they drove off.
*****
They arrived at the fair. As the stall got set up, David and the others were put into temporary stables, except for the unicorn, who was in her own show-area. Soon enough the fair was in full swing. David could see a lot of people taking holopictures and holovideos of the unicorn. One time there was even people that were recording a holoshow.
Someone came over to the desk near the stables. It was a woman with a young girl, about 5 or 6 years old.
David's stable was opened.
'First customer. Cause, no, trouble.'
David waited as the girl was lifted onto his back. He was then led around a short route a couple of times, and then she was lifted back off again. David could see the girl wanted to keep going, and David felt a little sorry for her. But, unfortunately, they had already gotten as much as they payed for.
David was led back to his stable.
As the day went on David and the others gave rides, mostly to children, but a few adults as well. They also participated in hand feeding, which was where people could hold hay in their hands and feed it to David and the others.
There was on girl which played with his ear, which he flicked back in annoyance. After he was led back into his stable he was startled when he heard a voice.
'Hello. This is a recorded message. Proceed as normal until the stable doors are automatically flung open and the alarm is sounded. When this happens, turn right and then turn at the second left into the alleyway. Make sure the unicorn is following. Press the door handle to unlock the secret passageway. Thank you. Please crush this so no-one can find it.'
A tiny speck of metal fell out of David's ear. He decided to follow the message and crushed it under his hoof. He wondered who it was that wanted him. He decided to wait and see if it was true.
Later that day, still nothing had happened.
'Heh, I guess it was just a pra–' David was cut off by the alarm. The stable doors swung open and David could see a handler with a purple stain on his shirt slowly turning white and doughy. David stood and stared for a moment. He looked up to see a gunfight going on. Some people were shooting bullets that splashed purple liquid. David recognised the new shape the handler was becoming. David started running. He turned back to see the others following him, including the unicorn. He took the second left into the alleyway. 'Ok, what was the instruction? It was... Press the... door... handle.' David pressed his hoof against it and the door opened. Straight ahead a piece of wall disappeared to reveal a secret passage. David and the others went through the doorway, which closed behind them.
The passage way twisted and turned, and kept going downwards. Suddenly, David turned to come face to face with a human. The human grinned and said, 'Welcome to PER headquarters.'