Discord's Playground

Clover lay on the bed. Distantly, she was aware that there was another pony in the room, and that based on the rhythmic rocking of the bed, he was doing things to her.

“Ooh yeah, that’s so good, baby,” she said. By now, she could barely feel anything, so she had no idea if it really was good or not. However, appearances must be maintained. That was what they told her to say, what they expected her to say.

The stallion above her simply grunted and thrust even harder. He was approaching the end, finally. This one had wanted to take his time, to draw out his pleasure. While she may not have been able to feel her plot, her jaw still retained its memory of the stallion’s earlier activities.

While Clover maintained her vocal encouragement, her mind was elsewhere. After all, there’s only so many ponies one can service in a night and not become bored. She didn’t even want to be here, anyway.

In her mind, she was relaxing on a beach just outside Manehatten. Some small part of her conscious, the part that was still hers, remembered that day well. It was her last vacation before she’d... Well, before she’d ended up here.

Her partner let out a loud cry before flopping over. Clover looked back at him. He lay there, panting and with a glazed smile on his face. She tried to remember his name... Top, something.

“Top, baby, that was amazing,” she said with a purr.

“Of course it was,” he replied. “There’s a reason you’re my favorite, Clover.” He gave her a kiss, which she returned. He tasted like alcohol and sweat. She wanted to spit it out, but couldn’t. That wasn’t what they expected of her.

After the stallion pulled away he decided to engage in idle chatter, forcing her to lay there and participate. Finally, he stood up. “Well, as much as I enjoy your company, I’ve gotta get going.” He winked at her. “But I’ll see you next time I’m here, love.”

She sincerely hoped not. “I’ll be waiting for you, Top.” To seal the deal, she blew him a kiss, her tail flicking about. She almost gagged. The routine, the lines, that was all they cared about. If she didn’t act them out... Well, there were much worse things than being a sex slave.

Once he left, she stuck her head out into the hallway, looking down it, towards the opposite end. She looked away quickly, everyone working at the club knew what was down there. Those amongst the stock knew that being told to go down the right hallway, was a death sentence. Even if you returned, you’d never be the same, only waiting to die, waiting to be summoned down that hallway again. Only this time, you wouldn’t come back.

Shuddering, she sat on the floor in the room. As comfy as the bed was, it was also horribly unmade, the sheets stained with the various bodily fluids the two of them had emitted over the course of their liaison. The musk of sex had settled heavily in the air, invading her already overloaded senses .

Despite how the room looked, she knew that within minutes of her leaving, it would look pristine again, ready for some other pony to come and defile it once more. If the Playground was anything, it was efficient in its debauchery. She shifted uncomfortably, she could feel herself leaking.

A few minutes after Top had left, another pony appeared in the doorway. This one was also a stallion, but red coated and yellow maned. He was holding a clipboard in one wing. “Alright Clover, go get cleaned up and report back to the stockroom. You’ve still got three more hours left on your shift.”

So she didn’t have anypony waiting for their turn with her. Good. Though when Windy said “shift,” it was all she could do to not laugh. It wasn’t really shifts when she was forced to do this. Slaves don’t have a choice, that was something the club made very clear. Sure when her “shift” was over, she would be allowed to actually clean up, eat, and get some sleep. After all, she had to be kept healthy, but that still implied she had control of things.

Giving Windy a nod as she left, she headed towards the far end of the hall. There, a door led to the back areas of the club. Places that the privileged clients would never see, but those who work here were well acquainted with.

Her first stop was the shower room. She knew that her mane was askew and her coat probably had turned white with untold things crusted into it. She stepped into the shower and began to quickly lather up. They never gave slaves much time to freshen up.

A quick rinse off, some time spent in front of a dirty mirror, picking out any remaining undesirables from her mane, and she was standing in front of the door leading back to her world. With a sigh, she opened the door and stepped inside.

The stockroom was, as it always was, full of mares, as well as females from a few other species. There was Goldfeather, the gryphoness, and two zebras. They were picked the most, the zebras still being something exotic, but close enough to a pony for most clients to feel comfortable.

“Welcome back, Clover,” came a droning voice.

“Morning,” Clover greeted, turning to face the speaker. Morning Glow, as she preferred to be called, was a changeling. Her black, chitin covered body gave off a subtle sheen in the light of the stockroom, as her green mane fell around her face. Her muzzle was smiling, though the large fangs still unnerved Clover.

“So how was he?”

Clover sighed, going to sit against the wall next to Ruby, a unicorn and her best friend. Since the curtains over the window were down, they were free to do whatever they wanted in the room. “The same.” She lowered her voice, trying to sound masculine. “Oh yeah, suck it good. Take my rod you whorse. I’m gonna fill you up.” She coughed, reverting back to her normal voice. “It’s insufferable.”

Morning stood in front of Clover. “Yeah, they are all kinda the same.” She licked one of her fangs. “I still think you ponies are missing out, not being able to taste their emotions.”

“That’s just creepy,” Ruby said.

“Tasty, though,” Morning chirped.

Clover sighed, leaning back against the wall. “What did you dream about this time?” Ruby asked.

The mare smiled. “Manehatten. There’s a beach there. Sure, it’s crowded, but there’s still nothing like laying out in the sand. The waves crashing into the shore, foals playing in the surf, it’s all so... innocent.”

She looked around the room. “Nothing like this place. There’s no innocence down here.” She knew what was two rooms over, in the final stockroom. Sometimes, one of the foals could be heard crying. Sometimes it was because they missed their parents, wanted to go home. Other times... They’d just come back from their first visit to a room, with a client.

It twisted her heart every time she could hear them. Even after three years of being stuck down here, she wanted to hold them close and save them from a life like this. Foals should be living the Manehatten dream, not be stuck in this hellhole. But she couldn’t even save herself, much less anypony else.

Ruby laid a hoof on her shoulder. “But there is still innocence left. Just, like you say, not down here.”

“It’s been three years since I’ve even seen the sun. I’m starting to forget what it feels like.” Clover turned to Ruby. “Will I ever see the sun again?”

“Of course, someday.”

“Stop lying to her, Ruby,” Morning said. “You know what it’s like down here. Nopony sees the sun. The only way out of here, is through the right hallway.”

“Shut up, Morning,” Ruby countered.

Clover gently patted her friend’s hoof. “It’s fine, Ruby. Morning’s just being her usual, crabby self. While her delivery may be lacking, she is correct.”

The unicorn looked like she wanted to say something more, but thought better of it. Morning lay on the floor, making herself comfortable, unperturbed by the unicorn’s words.

Idle chatter floated around them as the mares passed the time until they were either chosen, or their shift was up. The curtain hadn’t been raised in a bit, so it was probably a slow night.

“Hey Clover?” Ruby asked.

“Yeah?”

“You’ve been here for three years, and I don’t think that I’ve ever known just how you came to be down here.” She cleared her throat. “I mean, you know how I got here, my parents selling me as a filly and all, but what about you?”

Morning perked up, engaging her own curiosity,. “Yeah, you talk about vacations in Manehatten and other places, so you had to have had money.”

Clover grimaced. “I suppose I don’t mind sharing.” She looked around. “It’s not like we’ve really got any secrets. Not down here.”

There wasn’t a mare down here who had maintained their independence. At some point, every pony broke down and cried on another’s shoulder. It was all they could do to hold on to each other and not go crazy. All of them, they were their own family. Whatever had brought them down here, all they had was each other.

Sometimes though, there had been mares who had refused to cooperate. It wasn’t long before they took a trip down the right hallway, and nopony ever saw them again.

She leaned against Ruby, resting her head on the other mare’s shoulder. “I used to have money, sure. I may not have been rich, but I had enough to get by, with plenty leftover to go on trips and the like. Wanna guess what I used to do?”

Morning spoke up. “Well, your name’s Clover, and your cutie mark is a four leaf clover. So... gardening?”

Clover laughed. “Not even close. I was an accountant for a large firm.”

“Then what’s with the name and cutie mark?” Ruby asked.

“It means that I’m lucky. A four leaf clover is a symbol of luck. I had a talent for simply being lucky.”

“So how did you end up down here?”

“I’m getting to that. Patience, Ruby.” Clover gently swatted her friend. “See, here’s the thing about luck, it comes in two types: good, and bad. I’m a lucky mare, but it’s not confined to just having good luck. Though most of my life, I’d had nothing but good luck. I had a great job, a nice apartment, even a stallion that I loved.

“That stallion, his name was Big Top. He ran a carnival. Things were going well for us both. At least, I thought so. Until the day that I got a message from Big, asking me to meet him at our favorite coffee shop.”

Clover’s smile turned wistful. “I had dreams in my head of him finally proposing to me.” Her smile faded. “I was naive. I met him there, and he told me that his carnival had fallen on tough times. He’d been forced to borrow money from some shady ponies, money that he couldn’t pay back. He said that he had an idea how to clear his debt, but he needed my help.

“Stupidly, I said yes, whatever he needed. I had money in savings, I’d give that to him. He asked me to follow him, so I did. We left the shop, and headed down the alley next to it.”

Her muzzle curled down into a frown. “There, three ponies jumped us. Two of them held me down while the third congratulated Big on delivering me to them.” Unbidden, a tear slipped from her eye. “That... that bastard, had sold me to them to pay off his debt. The two holding me down took turns using me, while the third forced Big to watch, all the time asking if this is what he wanted.”

With a hoof, she wiped her eyes. “He said yes, that they could have me. I didn’t fight, or try to run, or even scream. All I could do was stare at Big as he betrayed me. He, he left that alley, left me behind, and he didn’t even turn around to look at me. He didn’t even once say that he was sorry.”

Clover felt herself being hugged by Ruby. “Hey, it’s ok. You don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to.” Even Morning looked upset at the story.

“No. No, I want to continue, to tell somepony my story.”

Ruby nodded, still holding her close. “Ok.”

“I was taken back to their hideout. For awhile, they were content to just use me, pass me from member to member like some toy. I raged, I screamed, I bit and punched and fought, but they’d just laugh. All the while, I could see Big’s face in my mind.

“I don’t know when it was, but eventually my spirit broke. I would just lay there and let them do whatever they wanted. They got bored, and one day I found myself being sold to Discord’s Playground.” She waved a hoof around her. “So here I am now.”

The other two were silent for a long moment. “Wow,” was all Ruby could say.

“What did Big Top look like?” Morning asked. “I can take his form and you can say everything you’ve always wanted to say to him.”

“Way to be insensitive, jerk,” Ruby said, rolling her eyes.

“Hey, it can be therapeutic. You have no idea how many ponies choose me just so they can have rage sex with somepony they hate.”

The two of them continued to argue, with Clover just watching. She knew that Morning meant well, but she also wasn’t sure what she’d do if she ever saw Big again. She might break down crying, or maybe even try to kill him. Or maybe, they’d just talk.

She shook her head, forcing herself to stop thinking about Big. “Hey, Morning?”

The changeling stopped arguing with Ruby. “Yeah? Wanna take me up on my offer?”

“No. I want to ask you a question.”

Morning paused briefly. “Well, ok. I guess, yeah.”

“Why are you down here?”

Morning blinked. “What do you mean, ‘why?’”

Clover gestured to the changeling. “You just offered to impersonate Big for me. And I know that you can disguise yourself as anypony just by looking at a picture of them. It’s why you’re so popular. So I ask again, why are you down here? You could easily just disguise as a member and walk out of here.”

Morning grimaced. “Heh. Figures you’d be the first one to ask me that.” She stood up, pacing. “What do you know about changelings?”

Clover frowned as the thought. “Well, you feed on love, and you can change your appearance.”

“Yes, but there’s a lot more to us than that. We don’t have to feed on love, though it does give us the most energy. Any emotion can work, though emotions like anger and rage can be difficult, and they taste awful.”

She stopped pacing and stared at Clover. “Down here, do you have any idea how much lust flows? How much love? I can gather enough energy in a night to feed myself for a month. In a week, I’ll be set for a year.”

“So why stick around?”

Morning sighed. “Because I’m not here for me. I’m here for my hive.” She held up a hoof, forestalling any questions. “I’ll explain.”

She dropped the hoof. “See, every changeling belongs to a hive. Each hive has a Queen who rules over it. I’m a collector, I go about seducing ponies and collect their love energy to take back to the hive, where it gets used to feed the hive.

“Once a week, a fellow member of my hive comes down here and requests me. There, I give him everything I’ve collected over the past week, and he takes it back to the hive.”

Morning smiled. “By being here, I’m feeding my entire hive. I don’t have to hide who I am, ponies come to me, give me their love, their lust.” She waved a hoof around. “By me being here, it’s made life for my entire hive so much easier.”

The changeling looked Clover in the eye. “So that’s why I’m here. It’s because I want to be here, because me being here is helping so many others.”

“But what about what you have to do?” Ruby asked, shocked.

Morning shrugged. “It’s not much worse than what I had to do out there. At least down here, my options are much more varied about which disguise to take.”

Green fire surrounded Morning, her form glowing and changing shape. When it dissipated, Clover recognized the famous pop singer, Sapphire Shores, standing there. “Someponies just want to fuck their idol.”

More flames, and after a moment, there was Octavia Melody there. “Others want to see the demure, quiet one debase herself for them.” A hoof slid back and underneath her tail.

Again, she changed. This time it was somepony that Clover didn’t recognize. “Some just want to screw their foalhood crush.” Morning’s smile faltered slightly. “And some? Some want what they can’t have.”

The flames were brighter this time, making Clover blink. When she could see again, a little filly stood where Morning had been. The filly looked up at Clover. “Daddy? Why are you in my room?”

“That is disgusting,” Ruby said.

The changeling retook her original form. “I never said it was glamorous. But it works.”

“How...?” Clover whispered. “How can you do something like that? Like that... filly?”

For once, the smile on Morning’s face dropped. “Most of the things ponies ask me to do, it’s mostly famous ponies, or friends they couldn’t have in their normal lives, for whatever reason. Those I’m all okay with.”

One of her hooves scuffed on the ground. “But there’s a few who are real sick and twisted bastards. I’ve had more than one stallion show me a picture of some young filly or colt. Sometimes it’s their own foal, other times it’s a friend of their foals.”

The scuffing hoof stamped hard on the floor. “It makes me sick, every time I’m forced to do something like that.” She bared her fangs, snarling. “I wanna just... teach them a lesson.”

Slowly, she calmed down. “But then I remember why I’m doing this. I remember that my brothers and sisters are counting on me. That, even if I have to suffer a bit, it’s worth it. For them. The reason I’m down here? It’s not for me, it’s never been for me. It’s for everyone else.”

Clover got to her hooves, moving over and hugging Morning. The changeling tensed up at first, but gave in, wrapping her own hooves around Clover’s neck. “Thank you for sharing that with us, Morning.”

“Well, you shared your story, so it only seemed right.”

Clover planted a kiss on Morning’s cheek. “What was that for?” the confused changeling asked.

“For showing me that there is still some good left down here.”

She didn’t think it was possible, but Clover swore she saw Morning’s chitin take on a reddish hue around her cheeks. “Er, well... You’re welcome?”

The back door swung open. Clover looked over Morning’s shoulder, curious who was coming back. Instead, the red face of Windy stared inside. “Hey Clover, you’ve been requested by name. Room sixteen.” He then trotted away, leaving the door open.

Clover sighed, pulling away from Morning. “Another fan,” she said dryly.

Morning gently pushed her. “You’re gonna become more popular than me at this rate.”

The mare flicked her friend across the withers with her tail as she walked past. She could hear the changeling chuckling.

There was no point in getting ready, the client would be waiting for her to be there. She’d get to the room first, then press a button, letting the two mares at the front desk know to send the client in.

It only took her a minute to reach the room. It was pristine, the bed perfectly made, the carpet cleaned, no traces of it ever having even been used. If it weren’t for all the moaning filtering in from the hallway, she’d almost believe that she was back outside, at some hotel.

Pausing only to tap the button on the wall, she lay herself across the bed. Her tail covered herself, but she still tried to look inviting, sexy. After several minutes, a pony appeared in the doorway.

“Hey there, big boy. Ready for—” The word’s caught in her throat as she actually saw the pony. “B- Big Top?”

Standing in the doorway was indeed, her former coltfriend, the one who sold her into slavery in the first place. It had been years, but he still looked the same. The same dusty brown coat, the same black mane styled like he’d just fallen out of bed, and the same cutie mark.

“Hi, Clover...” he said. A small smile graced his muzzle.

Clover stopped breathing. Her vision narrowed until she could see only the stallion. Her heart hammered in her chest, as numerous conflicting feelings raced around in her mind.

Anger fought with rage which battled with terror who warred with sadness. There were so many emotions competing, she simply froze, unable to do anything.

Big Top stepped into the room. “You look good.”

The mare’s eyes narrowed. “I look good? That’s all you have to say after all this time? After what you put me through?” She slid off the bed, her look dangerous and wild. “Tell me why I shouldn’t rip your head off right now? You’ll be dead long before anypony comes to save you.”

Her vision turned red as rage won out. She took another step forward. To his credit, Big stood his ground.

“I’m sorry, Clover,” he said. “I didn’t-”

“Didn’t what?” she cut him off. “Didn’t know what would happen to me? You sold me to some scum gang. What did you think was going to happen? Did you even think? What was going through your head when you woke up and decided to sell your marefriend into slavery?”

“I didn’t have a choice!” Big shouted.

Clover reached out with a hoof, gripping the door and slamming it closed. The entire frame rattled and a large crack appeared in the door itself. “You always had a choice. You chose to borrow that money, you chose to not pay it back. You chose to use me to save yourself.”

The mare moved until she was muzzle to muzzle with Big. “And now you’ve chosen to come find me. Why? So you can revel in what you’ve done? Or to pity me?” She spat at him, the saliva landing on his cheek. “I don’t need or want your pity.”

She turned around, walking back over to the bed. “Leave, Big. Leave and never come back.” Her voice was low and dangerous.

“Not until you hear me out,” he said.

She almost threw him out of the room and left. She’d be reprimanded, but it would be better than having to deal with him. Her good sense won out in the end. “You have two minutes.”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I didn’t have a choice with what I did.” She could hear him move closer. “Yes, I borrowed money from them. And yes, I borrowed a lot of money from them. I needed it to keep the carnival afloat. Business was rough then.”

“Why the hell didn’t you come to me? I could have helped you. We were partners, lovers, supposed to work things out together, you selfish bastard.” Clover still didn’t turn around to face him. Maybe if she just didn’t look at him, the anger would go away.

“Because I didn’t want you involved with those ponies. I was too deep in the hole to ask you for a loan, I needed more than that. So I had to turn to them, or lose everything. If that happened, I’d be totally broke, and relying on you for everything.”

She could hear soft hooffalls on the carpet. He was moving around, probably pacing. He used to do that when he was upset.

“I borrowed the money and everything was fine for a time. I was making back my payments to them. At least, until those fucking changelings ruined everything. When they invaded, it caused ponies to be afraid, to not go out anymore. My carnival was dead, no money coming in.

“Quickly, I was even deeper in debt than the first time. And then the enforcers came along. They would threaten me, break my machines, harass my workers. They told me they’d take everything if I couldn’t pay them.” He stopped moving, letting out a sigh. “One day, their boss came with them.”

Clover felt a hoof land on her shoulder. Angrily, she yanked it off. “Don’t touch me.”

“Sorry. Old habits.” There was a pregnant pause before he continued. “The boss, he called himself Blood Stroke, came to my office one day. He said that the warnings and threats were done. The next time they see me, I’d better have the money, in full, or they would take what they owed from those around me.

“You remember that picture I kept on my desk, the one of us that Daisy took outside our favorite café? He pointed to that and said ‘it would be a shame if something were to happen to Clover.’”

Clover’s ears perked up at that. “What?”

“He knew you, Clover. He started telling me all kinds of things about you. Where you worked, where you ate lunch, where you hung out, where we lived. He even knew your usual schedule. He- He threatened to kill you.”

The mare’s front legs were shaking, making her glad that she was sitting down. “So what, you sold me to them to save me?”

“I had to! It was either that or they killed you. At least then I knew you’d be alive.” Finally, he entered her field of view, sitting in front of her with a pleading look on his face. “Clover, I have never regretted anything more than I have forcing you into that situation. Ever since that day, I’ve been working and saving, trying to get the money to buy you back. To set you free!”

“I am not some commodity to just be passed around!” she shouted. Her hoof stabbed him hard in the chest. “Do you have any idea what my life’s been like since that day? No, of course you don’t. Though since you got to watch those two enforcers fuck me in that alley, you probably have a pretty good idea.”

He opened his mouth, but Clover cut him off. “No. Don’t speak. Just listen. Ever since that day, I’ve been forced to do things to ponies, stallions and mares. I’ve been passed around a room like a party favor. I’ve been beaten, tied up, suffocated. I spend every day being used by ponies who just want my body. I’ve been forced to do things to other ponies, simply for their pleasure, or the entertainment of those watching.”

She smacked his chest hard enough to knock him over. “Every single day since that first one four years ago has been hell. I’d have given up long ago, but I take solace in the other mares down here. They’re all going through the same thing I am. We’re a family, it’s how we survive this place and the things that happen here.”

With slow steps, she advanced as she was speaking until she was right over him. “Do you even know what they do down here? I’ll spare you the details, but just know that if I go to Tartarus after I die, it’ll be better than this place.”

She stepped off of him. “Thank you for telling me the truth. Now, leave. Leave me to the life you sold me for.”

There was silence in the room as he lay on the floor, looking up at her. “I didn’t come here just to see you, Clover. I came here to free you.”

“You what?” she bit out at him, anger still coursing through her veins.

“I said that I’d been working for four years to gather money. I have a lot saved up. I went back to the gang, but the boss said that he’d sold you to this place long ago. So I investigated, and finally found somepony willing to let me in here on a guest pass. Some stallion named... Straight Stitch, I think.”

He got up, shuffling over to her and pulling her into a hug. She wanted to fight him, but the familiarness of the embrace was too much. It shattered her defenses. “Clover, I have a lot of money. I’m gonna buy you back from the club, set you free. I don’t care if I never see you again after that, but at least you’ll be out of here.”

Clover closed her eyes. Thin trails of liquid seeped out from under her eyelids, falling on Big’s coat. She sniffled. “You stupid bastard,” she said.

“What?” he asked.

“You stupid, selfish bastard. You don’t get it.”

“Get what? What’s going on, Clover?”

“Maybe if I was still with that gang, or another gang, you could buy me back. But once I was sold to this place, that was it. I’m never going to leave here.”

“I have bits.”

“Then get a membership. But you can’t buy a slave from the club. We’re not for sale. No slave has ever left this place. Once you come down here, you can forget about ever seeing the sun again. Or your friends or family. Or anypony other than members, guests, workers, and the other slaves.”

“Why won’t they sell you to me?”

Clover reached up with a hoof, wiping at her eyes. “Because the club enjoys secrecy. This club exists because it’s a secret. If they were to start letting slaves roam the streets, then that secrecy collapses, and the club gets shut down, and everypony involved with the club, both members and workers, gets arrested. Nopony wants that, so we stay down here, where nopony notices us.”

Big pulled back from the embrace. “That’s terrible.”

She nodded. “It’s life, though. I haven’t been outside since I got here three years ago. And there’s no way I’ll ever see the outside.”

“None at all?”

She smiled grimly. “There’s one way. Remember how you got to this room? You turned left at the intersection. If you turn right, and go down that hallway, then that’s how a slave leaves.”

“Then let’s go. Right now. We can make it, come on!”

Clover shook her head, several tears being flung away. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because those are the kill rooms. That’s where slaves go to be killed by members seeking entertainment or pleasure. The only way a slave leaves the Playground, is in a body bag.”

Big’s mouth flopped open and closed like a fish gasping for air. “That- I had no idea.”

“It’s just how life is in the Playground, Big. I’m stuck here until I die. A slave for life.” She reached out, touching his cheek. His own hoof covered hers as he leaned into her touch. “There’s nothing you can do for me now, except leave. Leave this hellhole and never come back.”

“I can- I can tell others about what goes on down here.”

“Then you kill us all.” At his blank look, she continued. “In the event of a raid against the club, poison gas will be pumped into the stockrooms and backrooms, killing everypony there. It ensures that we can never speak about what goes on down here.”

Gently, she let her hoof drop to the floor. “No. Just leave and forget about me and this place. I- I’ll be fine. I’m used to it now.” She tried to give him a smile, but it came across as more of a grimace.

“Clover...”

Unthinking, she leaned in, kissing him deeply. His forelegs came up and pulled her close, a gesture she returned. They held each other, seeking brief comfort in each other’s presence.

She remembered this. She remembered how he smelled, how he felt in her grasp, how he tasted. She remembered the comfort he gave her, the love that once flowed between them.

When she pulled back, he was smiling. At seeing her crying face, his smile fell. “I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Clover.”

“I know, Big. But it’s time for you to leave. Please, just go. Go and live your life, be happy.”

Reluctantly, he let her go. Slowly, he backed up until he was at the door. “Goodbye, Clover.” They stared at each other for a moment, before he turned, opened the door, and left.

Her hoof reached out to where he had just been. “Goodbye,” she whispered. Her hoof pulled back to her body, where she buried her face in her hooves, tears spilling over.

She was still crying when Windy came to get her. “Okay, head back to- What’s wrong, Clover?” She heard him come into the room. “Was he rough with you?”

She shook her head. “No,” she said around her tears.

“Well then get ahold of yourself. You’ve still got two more hours left.”

The mare tried to stop the tears, but she couldn’t do anything. Trying to stop them only made them fall harder. Soon, her body was wracked by sobs.

“Oh hell. Nopony’s gonna want to pick you acting like that,” Windy said. “Go on and take off. But you’re starting your next shift two hours early to make up for this.” He left the room.

It took her several minutes, but Clover got herself under control enough to stand and walk. With slow, shuffling steps, she headed down the hallway towards the back rooms. For once, she didn’t even notice what was going on in all the open rooms.

Heading through the back hallways, she entered a dimly-lit large room filled with cots. There were ponies, and a few non-ponies, sleeping on some of them. She headed to the one that she always used. There were no assigned cots, though most slaves preferred a certain one. It was an unspoken rule which cot belonged to who.

She crawled onto the cot, covering herself with the blankets. Burying her face into the pillow, she felt the last of her tears leave her body.

“Clover?” she heard a familiar voice ask.

Turning over, she spied Morning in the semi-darkness of the room. Wiping her eyes, she forced a smile. “Hey, Morning.”

The changeling came over and sat down on the edge of the cot. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Morning gave her a blank look. “Clover, I’m a changeling, remember? I can feel your emotions. They’re all over the place.”

“Cheater,” Clover replied.

Instead of responding, Morning just leaned over, drawing the mare into an embrace. “What happened?”

“You remember that stallion who sold me into slavery?” At a nod from Morning, Clover continued. “Well, he was the one who requested me.”

Morning gasped. “What? That bastard! What did he want, to gloat over you or something?”

“No. He wanted to apologize. He told me the whole story, about how he sold me into slavery in order to save my life. He told me about how he’s spent the last four years saving up the money to buy me back.” She expected the tears to come back, but she was all cried out.

“I had to tell him that it just wasn’t possible. That I can’t leave here.”

Morning tightened her embrace. “I’m sorry, Clover.”

The two held each other for some time, the changeling providing comfort to her friend. At some point, they had lain down, side by side on the cot. It was a tight fit, but they made it work. Clover suspected that Morning had altered her size or shape somehow.

“Hey Morning?”

The changeling turned her head towards Clover. “Yeah?”

“Can you get a message to Big? Like when your hivemate comes to collect your energy, can you get him to pass along something for me?”

She thought for a moment, her tongue unconsciously rubbing along one fang. “I suppose so, sure. What do you want to tell him?”

“Can you just let him know that... That I forgive him?”

Morning smiled. “I can do that. But why? He’s responsible for you being in all of this. How can you forgive him?”

“Because there’s no point in holding a grudge. And there’s too much sadness and anger down here already, I can’t keep holding on to what I brought in from the outside.” She breathed deeply. “I want— No, I need, a clean slate.”

The changeling patted her friend. “Ok. I’ll get two-eighty to deliver the message. Just, don’t tell any of the others about this, else I’ll just be constantly asked to deliver messages to the outside world.”

“I promise. Thanks, Morning.” Clover kissed the changeling on the cheek again.

“You’re welcome. Now come on, let’s get some sleep.” She tried to leave the cot, but Clover wrapped her forelegs around her midsection. “What?”

“Stay with me tonight, please?”

Morning smiled. “Ok. I can do that.” She settled back into the cot, the two of them curling up together.

Clover felt a comfort from her friend, something she hadn’t felt in four years. Not since the last time she and Big slept like this, the day before her life changed.

Everything may have changed, and her life was vastly different, but at least she had friends to help her through it. She, Morning, Ruby, the zebra twins, all the others, they made an odd family, but they were also the only thing keeping each other going each day.

She fell asleep to the feeling of her friend pressed against her.