Fallout Equestria: And None Shall Follow

A choice to make,
a chance to take,
the wheel of fate spins on.

Flux and I spent the night in a guest room. It didn't surprise me that Forge had several, considering what I knew of his plans for the future. Even with the oppulent furnishings, I had trouble getting to sleep. All the revalations of the day just buzzed around my head until I finaly drifted off. The next day Flux had gone by the time I awoke. I found him sitting with Gem in her room, helping her through some pre-war school books. I left them to it. Forge met me in the dining area.

"Feel free to request anything you would like on the intercom." He said. "I've given orders that you are to get what you like, except from the armory." He raised an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, and your things have been brought into the study. I even had the colts saddlebags brought up." With that, he surprised me by leaving me alone. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. He was so certain his way was the right one that he was sure that, if I just thought about it long enough, I would come over to his side. So, I ate a quick meal and wandered out into the fortress. I roamed around, taking everything in. That is to say, taking in guard patrol times and checking wall defenses. Hey, I wasn't stupid, I knew getting out of here might just really on some sort of daring escape. And I wasn't thinking about changing my mind about this place. But that wasn't really the problem was it?

Forge. I had known him, albeit not very well. Son of Bray's blacksmith, the colt I never paid much attention to except when he glued my tail to the floor in class. But... now he was it. I had spent the past 15 years of my life searching for him, well, donkeys, and now that I found one, I was considering running away. I didn't know what to do anymore. I finally had found another of my own species, and he had chosen to embody all the worst qualities of that species. And that was the problem. I had to face a choice, leave him, travel the wasteland again, search for more of my own kind, and maybe never find them, or stay, ignore the evil he did, and try to be happy with my own kind. And he knew that. It was probably why he was so confident I would come to accept what he did. Because my only other option was equally unthinkable.
So, I ended up doing what Forge intended. Exploring the compound, viewing his operation. I couldn't make any decisions, not quiet yet. Not until I could see everything Forge was doing with this place. As I wandered, I found myself... Impressed. I had been in a few slaver compounds before. I had snuck into a few in my youth, looking for others from Bray, and later gone into a few right after the locals had gotten sick of missing persons and taken the group out. Usually it was just a bunch of pens for the slaves, housing for the slavers, and some defenses. If it wasn't for the armed guards though, and a couple pens near the gate, this place could have simply been an extremely well fortified settlement. The only ponies in chains were a few in the pens, which I guessed were for sale. The others were working fields, not in chains, but under guard. A bench of small shacks lined one side of every field, which I guessed were slave quarters. They weren't much to look at, but nowhere near as bad as many I had seen. Heck, some places didn't even bother with shelters for slaves.

What really awed me was when I came around a building and came upon an actual playground. Foals were playing on various equipment that must have been brought in. And they were obviously the children of the slaves. After all, slaver foals didn't need a fence around the playground and a guard. Still, these foals were playing. I could see smiles, and hear laughter. Checking the fields, I saw no foals working. At least, no young ones. The youngest pony working had one of those cutie marks, so I guessed they could be considered mature. I couldn't believe that. Foals, allowed to simply be foals. Even the best slave compound I knew would have them doing some minor work. And, as I watched the fields, none of the adults seemed miserable. No, I couldn't say they seemed really happy. But, well, maybe content was the word. They worked, well, like it was their job.

Then, I heard a bell ring, and all work in the fields stopped. Everypony stopped work and moved as one to a large open area were a bunch of tables had been set up in rows. A pony stood by several large vats, which I assumed held food. I guessed it must be lunch. And then I got another surprise as first a couple slaver ponies got food, then the slaves. Everyone was getting the same thing. And, when I went up to have a look, I was simply handed a bowl of some sort of vegetable soup. So, they got much better food then the average slave to. Had to be, considering slave and slaver alike got it.

I sat away from everyone and watched them as I ate. I was getting curious looks from slave and slaver alike. Understandable, the only other donkey they had likely seen was Forge, and he was the boss. When they weren't staring at me though, the slaves talked and joked, some even swapping storied with slavers who sat a little ways off. Again, like a lot of settlements I had been to. After a time, lunch ended, and the slaves went back to the fields, and the foals from the playground came up for food. They got the same as the adults, plus a bit of mutfruit at the end.
I wandered until close to sunset, when another bell rang, and the fields cleared. The slaves got another meal, then went to their shacks, where the foals joined their parents and all spent some time outside talking, playing, and generally acting as a community would. Then, with the ringing of a bell, they went inside their shacks. Realizing it must be a curfew, I made my way back inside to Forge's rooms. Inside, he was putting Gem and Flux to bed, a new foal-sized bed having been set up in Gem's room.

"I hope you don't mind." He said, seeing me peering in. "Gem wanted Flux in with her, and I saw no problem with it."

"No, its fine." I replied, waiting while he tucked the foals in and turned off the light.

"So, how was your day?" He asked me as he closed the door.

"Um..." I said, trying to think as we walked down the hall. "Fine. It's just... different then I expected."

"Let me guess, you thought you'd find lots of chains and whip?" He asked. I nodded. "Yes, that was pretty much what it was like before I took over. When I came into power, I changed a lot. Unhappy, underfed and beaten slaves don't work hard, and try to escape more often. Well fed and cared for slaves work harder and don't often try escaping. You wouldn't have seen it, but the foals even attend classes two days a week, to learn reading and other skills. And I give them all a day of rest once a fortnight."

That made me pause, thinking. Then, I said the only thing that came to mind. "Why?"

"Excuse me?" He asked, looking thoroughly confused.

"Why do all this?' I said at last. "Your a Slaver. Who cares if you beat them and work them to death for a little more profit. It doesn't make it any better. If you wanted to be nice and kind you could have released everyone and started a farm, not all this. So, why bother?"

He glared at me. "Because I never wanted to be a slaver." He half growled. "I became one to keep myself and my daughter from starving in the wastes. But I saw opportunity, and I took it. I built farmland out of a swamp, reinforced the wall so that nothing short of an army could breach it, and improved the lives of everyone here. Most of the slaves here don't leave, they work the fields with their family. We sell more food then slaves, and make more. The few slaves we sell are cared for well while they are here, and I try to sell family members together."

"You say I could have been a farmer. Could one farmer have done half that? Could I have drained this much swampland? Built a sturdy wall? Kept my daughter alive even? No. I had no one that would have helped me, not without a stake of their own in it. Now, with all I put in place, think of the community I could build. Enough donkey's to work the land and there would be no slaves needed. This fortress could keep us safe from all but the worst foes, and with the food grown here, we buy as many allies as we need."

It took a moment for me to process this, and after a moment, I could only voice one protest. "But its all built on slaves."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "And if that is so wrong, why did you enslave that colt." I sputtered, but before I could protest, he continued. "Face it Scrounger, you've treated that foal worse then those I own. I had the whole day to speak to him. You know what he told me? You gave him no food when he was hungry, left him injured when you had medicine, drug him through radiation without a thought, and barely offered him companionship or protection. You didn't even bother learning his name. And he knows he has to follow you, because he wouldn't survive a day alone." He stepped up to me, staring me in the eyes. "So tell me, how isn't he your slave?"

I stood there, stunned, unable to speak. It wasn't true. I had just helped toughen him up. And yeah, I probably could have learned his name after his first week without dying but... but what really? I hadn't even considered it before but, hearing Forge now... had I really been that bad?
Seeing my stunned silence, Forge spoke up again. "Think about it, and get some sleep. We'll talk in the morning." And with that, he walked off.
He was wrong though. I didn't sleep that night.
....

The next morning dawned to my relief, and I rolled out of bed as the sun finally rose about the wall. I hadn't slept, my mind rolling over Forges words again and again. I dozed off only momentarily to dreams of Flux in chains, begging me for just a little food. I stumbled out into the dining area only to find Forge already there, waiting with cups of some sort of brown beverage that smelled foul. But when he handed me a cup, I drank it down anyway, and felt my head start to clear.

"I can see you had a lot to think about." Forge said calmly, sipping his own cup. I just glared blearily at him and kept drinking. "We'll, I thought today I could show you the firing range set up outside the wall." He continued. "Shade told me about that strange weapon you had built into your pack saddle, and I thought Flux could use some weapon training."

I just grunted, to tired to do much in the way of thinking or talking. I just waiting, drinking the strange tasting drink until Flux and Gem awoke and we ate breakfast. Then, Forge had Gem go play in her room while I got my pack saddle. Then we headed to the range. A couple slavers accompanied us out the gate and guarded the open space built up against the walls, watching the swamp for anything that might try and creep up on us. The range wasn't much, just a few targets set up in an open space between the wall and the swamp.

"We have to do shooting practice out here." Forge explained. "Inside a ricochet off a wall could be deadly. Now, could you show me that... weapon in action?' He asked, waving a hoof at my pack saddle.

I shrugged, readied Practicality, and fired, sending several pieces of copper pipe downrange to embed themselves in a target.

"impressive" Forge said, moving closer to examine Practicallity. "How in Equestria does this work?" I went over how Practicallity worked in general, and he seemed quiet interested. "Fascinating. I can see how practical a weapon this is for a scavenger. Any useless junk becomes an instant projectile."

I nodded, and Forge turned his attention to Flux, who had brought his saddlebags to the range, as he had nothing else to holster his pistol in. He first brought the old pistol out, and Forge talked him through getting shots downrange, a couple actually managing to hit the target. Then, Forge told him to reload, and turned to me.

"So, any thoughts about how long you plan on staying here?" he asked. I froze. I hadn't made any desision, I hadn't had the time. And Forge seemed to know that. "I'm not talking about forever." He said. "Just how long for now. I know you'll want to leave, think things over. But I thought I would ask. It would be nice to know how long to expect you."

I just stared, unable to think. Gah, it wasn't like I was deciding the rest of my life, but I knew, even with my sleep deprived brain, that he was asking for more. He wanted to know how far I was caving. The longer I stayed now, the more certain he would be that I would stay forever. But I wasn't ready to give in. Yes, his words had started to make it clear I wasn't the good person I had always assumed I was, but to live here, on the backs of slaves? No, I couldn't... could I? But I wasn't going to find that out. We had both turned our attention from Flux, who, instead of reloading his first gun, had pulled another, a semi-auto, from his saddlebags.

"Hey, how do I work this..." He started to ask. But as he turned, his magic levitated the gun with him. There were a great bang, and I watched in what seemed like slow motion as Flux's head snapped back and he crumbled to the ground, face frozen in one last expression of shock.

Trait Lost: Hope Rises

New Trait: No Hope: -5 to all stats