Consciousness slowly came back to me. My memories were a blur. The last thing I remembered was being put in a van and being in more pain than I could physically bare. My eyes fluttered open, and I was greeted by a corrugated metal ceiling. I was laying on a cot, judging by how uncomfortable it was. I tried to sit up, but found I had been given a collar and was tightly bound to a leash attached to the bed frame. I tried opening my mouth but found I had a muzzle on. I looked around, confusion filling me.

I was in a long, rectangular room, with cot-like beds and small stations planted next to them. The only comparison I could make is one of those military bunkers where soldiers sleep. The more alarming part was that each bed had a pony in it, and all of them were fast asleep. One thing to note was that I was the only one with their collar chained to the bed, everyone else was leash-free. 

There was an unfamiliar weight on my hooves as I shifted around. I looked at them, and saw they were wrapped in casts all the way up to the shoulder. I also had bandages covering me from my belly up to the top of my neck, and lastly there was a tight belt wrapped firmly around my belly strapping my wings down.

I didn’t have long to mull any of this over, as someone, or shall I say somepony, began waking up. A cream colored mare slowly rose into a sitting position a few beds over, her mumblings reaching my ears. “Wha… where… am i?...” She quickly went from confused to scared and she screamed. It was like a tidal wave of reactions. More ponies woke up, more confusion, more screaming, all down the line, I’m pretty sure one or two of them passed out as well.

The door at the far side of the room opened. Everyone froze as in walked a man, who seemed like a giant compared to the ponies in here. Wait, that was Jack! Alongside him, a pony trotted in. Her fur was light-gray, her mane was split between lavender and cyan, with bright green eyes that were positively beaming and a wide smile on her lips. The only attire she had on was a collar, though hers was cyan akin to her mane.

 A commanding voice rang out from Jack, echoing off of the metal walls. “Everypony stand, and stay quiet!” Murmurs of fear and hushed voices could be heard from the ponies, a few of them getting off of their bed, “WHAT DID I SAY?” The speed at which everyone shut up and stood in silence was frightening. He walked down the line, glaring at each and every pony. Unfortunately for me, I was stuck in bed. Jack stood over me for a moment, eyes narrowed together, before pulling out a small clipboard and scanning it. “Oh, right, you.” He looked at me again and held out a palm. “Stay.”

I growled in reply. He leaned down towards me, only inches from my face now, his dour look causing me to whimper. He flicked me directly on the nose. I recoiled. Ow, that’s sensitive. “Bad pony.” I glared at him as he stood and kept walking.

From behind, I saw him grab something on his chest and he mumbled into it, “She’s awake.” I didn’t like the sound of that. He now stood at the end of the room closest to me, looking out at the ponies who stood in an uneasy silence. 

The gray furred mare was the first to speak, standing on the opposite side of the room. “Good evening everypony!” Her chipper demeanor was a stark contrast to Jack’s serious tone. She stuck her head forward slightly, tilting her ear towards the group of ponies, as if waiting.

A stallion responded eventually, “Good… evening?”

“There we go!” She smiled and stamped one of her hooves on the ground as a make-shift clapping noise. “That’s the kind of energy I like to see!” There was a moment of silence, everyone looking around awkwardly. 

Jack spoke after a moment, “Spectra?”

“Oh, right!” She giggled, “Sorry, I’m just so excited to meet everyone! My name is Spectra, and I’ll be introducing you to here!”

Another mare spoke softly, “Where is ‘here’ if I may ask?” 

“The Pony Playground Center, silly!” Spectra smiled. “Oh, you’re probably all real confused! Right, that makes sense. Sorry, this is my first time helping. So this is just the place where we gather up all the new ponies before we send’em over to the main building. Telling everyone the rules and all that good stuff.” 

As she was talking, Eric walked through the door behind her, and approached me. He saw my tentative look and put up a hand, “Easy, easy.”

“So anyway, we’ll be spending the evening teaching you guys the basics.” Eric undid my leash, picked me up, and began walking through the door behind Jack. “Right, so being a pony may seem weird at first…” Spectra’s voice trailed off as we exited the room. 

We were in a long hallway, though I couldn’t see much with how he was holding me. A white tiled floor rang out with the clicking of his boots. Cold sweat slicked my neck, evident fear in my eyes as I looked up at him. “Everything’s alright, Quin.” Eric cooed softly, rubbing my side as we passed through a doorway. 

It was a doctor’s office. Plain and simple. There was a countertop with various medications and paper work littered around it, and a few cabinets placed above it. A chair sat in the corner, and there was a patient’s bed in the other corner. Across from it was a window, though the curtains had been pulled closed. It smelled of mint, and was more intense than any scent I had experienced before. I wondered if that was a side effect of my new pony nose. He set me sitting down on the edge of the bed and wagged a finger at me. “Stay.” He grinned and exited the room, leaving me with my thoughts.

I wanted to escape, and my path was right there about five feet in front of me. Could I get the latch undone in the next few minutes? I had to try, right? I put some pressure on my front hoof as if to kick off of the bed, but the pain that crackled through it made me let out a muffled yelp. Alright, I definitely can’t walk right now. I’d have to attempt something later. I rubbed my casts together as if it would somehow help the soreness that was now present.

My ears perked up as the door opened and my head whipped over to see my new guest. A spritely older lady entered. Probably somewhere in her early fifties if I had to take a guess. She didn’t seem like the type to work for what I presumed to be a pretty underground business. “Good evening, Quin.” And yet she definitely did. I gave her a tentative look, unable to respond. “I’m going to be checking your vitals, and then the doctor will be in to answer any and all questions you may have.” It was almost like a normal doctor’s visit, if you took out the fact I’m a fucking talking pony. She ruffled through one of the cabinets before pulling out a blood pressure machine.

She went to my hind leg and wrapped it up, turning the machine on and humming quietly to herself. She got closer to me and I backed away slightly. Her hand reached out, resting on my mane and slowly petting it. “You’re one of the cutest little ponies we’ve gotten recently.” My cheeks rosened and I looked down. Being called ‘cute’ wasn’t something I was used to. The machine beeped, and she wrote down the numbers with a slightly concerned look. “It’s a little high… Well, I guess that makes sense.” Next she took my temperature, wrote that down, and then gave me a pat on the head. “That’s all for me, have a good stay, Quin!” She waved at me, and I waved back for some reason. I mean, she was nice if nothing else.

My next guest was a man, early forties judging by the wrinkles his face wore, with short, jet black hair and hazel eyes. He bore a soft smile, and wore a white doctor’s coat. “Hello, Quin. My name is Doctor Paisley, and I’ll be overseeing your care.” I didn’t like him already. The cadence of his voice was like the prick of a needle. Slow, pointed and painful. I backed up instinctually. “Now now, we’re going to behave here, right, Quin?” He approached me, a clipboard in one hand, scanning it with his eyes. “Quin. Pink pegasus mare. Handle with caution, will attempt escape at any given opportunity.” He paused, glancing up at me while saying his next sentence. “Jumped through a window four stories tall and proceeded to shatter her leg bones in an attempt to escape. Right.” 

He stood in front of me for a moment, eyeing me up and down in a manner that made me uncomfortable. “Let’s see what she’s really like, shall we?” His hands reached up to my snout and undid the muzzle, setting it off to the side.

He stood there in silence, looking at me expectantly. My mouth opened, about to ask the obvious questions of ‘where am i’ and ‘who are you’, but I already knew that. He waited patiently as I thought for a moment. “What do you want from me?” I whispered.

“A good little mare that will listen and obey.” My hind legs twitched in response. I hadn’t even gotten to look at my feminine parts and they were already treating me as a girl.

“And if I don’t want to do that?” The mild aggression in my voice made him snort.

“Well, someone gets to have a very bad time until they decide to act properly.” The combination of his smugness and his sharp smile was really irritating. 

My teeth ground together audibly, “Listen, you’re gonna change me back right now, or else… uhm…” My sentence trailed off.

He grinned, “Or else what?”

“Or else… I don’t know!” The exasperation rang clearly in my tone, “I don’t want to be a pony, and I also don’t want to do whatever the fuck you have in store for me!” His grin slowly turned into a chuckle. “Don’t laugh at me! You’re fucked up for doing this to me in the first place!”

He just looked at me with a confused smile, before finally responding, “Quin, if I may ask, why did you sign up if you find the idea of this so abhorrent?” 

My anger faded, “Well…” I paused, “I… I got drunk, and someone handed me a pamphlet to this place and I filled it out…” I looked away. 

He sighed. “Great. Well, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Quin, but you’ve given yourself a one-way ticket to a brand new life. One that you’ll be living in whether you’d like it or not.”

“What?” Fear swelled up inside my chest, my voice stuttering, “You can’t change me back?”

“I’m afraid not.” He scribbled a few things onto the clipboard.

“You’re lying.” I whimpered.

“Quin, do I really look like the person to say something in jest for such a serious matter?” His annoyed look sparked something inside of me.

“You can’t just turn someone into a pony after they signed something and not be able to change them back! That’s so fucking wrong on so many levels! When the government finds out about this you’ll be fucked. This whole place will… will…” I trailed off as the look in his eyes grew deadly serious.

“No one is going to be finding out about this, Quin.” I backed up as he approached me. “You’re going to be a good, little, obedient mare by the time I’m done here, and those words will never leave your lips.” My head shook vigorously. “I’ve broken many ponies before, and I’m willing to do it again.” This guy was a fucking psychopath. 

“You’re- You’re insane.” I murmured, trying to scoot away from him.

“Heh, insane? No. Just good at my job.” His hand reached up, brushing a lock of my hair to the side, causing me to recoil slightly. He paused for a moment, staring into my eyes. “I can see it already, the pet pony that’s in that skull of yours. I just have to find it.”

“P… Pet?” My mouth shook. Is that what this whole thing was for?

“That’s your whole purpose now, Quin. You’re going to be someone’s pet. A belonging, property if you will.” My eyes went wide with fear. “That is, ofcourse, after you’ve been trained properly.”

Fear washed over me like a rising tide. I needed to get the fuck out of here the quickest way I possibly could. I looked past him at the window. I put a slight bit of pressure on my hoof again but it hurt too much to do anything of use. He just stared at me with a knowing smile, “Animals are desperate when backed into a corner, aren’t they?”

“I’M NOT AN ANIMAL!” I shouted.

He gave me a curious look, “Then what are you, exactly?” 

I froze. I looked at my hooves. “I’m…” My wings shifted on my back. “I’m… a…” My tail curled around my leg in fear, “human…” My ears were flat to my head. 

“And who’s going to believe that?” He chuckled as tears rolled down my cheeks.

“I have a name, and memories, and-” I spoke between hurried breaths.

“What is your name, then?” He responded.

His question caused me to yell back at him. “QUIN! My name is Qu-...” My mouth froze, my eyelid twitching as I just stared at him. I had nothing. It had all been taken from me. My name, my humanity, my identity. The only thing I had now was the body I had been forced into and a name planted into my mind that wouldn’t leave. The reality of the situation set into my mind. The fear and loss was overwhelming. I broke down into tears, covering my eyes with my hooves. 
 
I didn’t know what to do. I was stuck as a pony forever? Just like that? There had to be an answer, some kind of way out. Doctor Paisley gave me a sad smile, then left the room, leaving me with my thoughts. I stared at my hooves for a long time, my eyes lost. Was it game over? I sniffled and wiped my nose on a bandage covered hoof. 

My hoof throbbed. I looked down at it, wrapped in its white cast. I held it up, twisting it this way and that, and then did the same thing with the other one. These were my hooves. They were a part of me. They belonged to me. I looked at my hind legs, my belly, my cutie mark, my tail. I blew a few strands of my mane out of my vision. All of these things were mine, I had chosen them myself.

 I could feel something welling up inside my chest. It held the same warmth as anger, and grit. I wasn’t going to let anyone else own these hooves, and they were going to be free to do as they please if I had any say in it. He could be lying to me about changing back, and even if he wasn’t, I refused to be someone else’s property. I composed myself, letting out a powerful breath. The doctor thought I would give in to his little mind games. Fuck him, I know who I am. Even if I am Quin now, I’m my own… pony? Yeah, something like that. 

He re-entered the room after about ten minutes. I glared at him, and he gave me a curious look. “Someone’s awfully angry.” In his hands, he held a syringe. My eyes flitted between the needle and him. He set the needle down next to me, and I scooted away from it. “Afraid of a little needle?” He gave me a coy smile.

“Afraid of you fucking with my brain more than you already have.” I growled.

His look darkened, eyes narrowing in annoyance. “Well it seems your assumption is wrong, Quin. In fact, you need this needle. It’s a requirement. Well, if you want to ever walk again.”

I gulped, “What do you mean?”

He chuckled, though there was no mirth behind it, “Quin, I don’t think you realize the position you’ve put yourself in after your little ‘incident’. You didn’t just break your legs, you completely shattered them, and you’ll need this to fix them if you want to have the ability to walk.”

“Wh… what is it?” I looked at the needle. 

“Nanomachines, the thing that changed you initially.” I’d heard of them, there were some news articles I’d read recently about medical micromachines that could remove cancers and stuff. Apparently, they also turned people into ponies.

My look was slightly worried, “How do I know you’re not gonna fuck with my mind?”

“Quin, if I wanted to do that, I would’ve made you a little obedient drone while you were unconscious.” My eyes went wide. “I’ve done that very, very rarely, to be clear. Most ponies are teachable. Most.” He looked into my eyes. “I wonder if you are. I suppose that comes down to you, though. So tell me, Quin, would you like to ever walk again?” My wary look made him smirk. “It’s a genuine question, it makes my life easier if you don’t want to.”

I paused. “I… I would like to walk.” I didn’t want him to do anything to my mind, but on the other hand I really needed to be able to walk if I was going to be free someday.

“Alright.” He said nonchalantly, before turning and walking towards the door. 

Wait, what? “Wait! Where are you going? I said I wanted to walk!”

He turned back, looking at me with a cold expression. “Well, the Quin I’ve come to learn wants nothing to do with being a pony, so why should I fix her legs? I’m just wasting precious resources at this point.” I froze and looked down. He walked back to me. “Unless, ofcourse, I can be convinced she actually wants her new body to work.” Great, now we’re playing this game. I could feel the anger flaring up again. Alright, fine, I’ll play.

My voice was dripping with sarcasm, “What can I do to convince you, oh wonderful doctor.”

The smile on his face faded. The doctor put a finger under my chin, tilting me up to eye level, “Don’t get cross with me, Quin.” I went to respond, but his finger closed my mouth, “Remember that until I deem you ready to leave, you are under my rule.” My look faltered. “So, we’re going to do a little exercise, to see how ready ‘Quin’ is to accept her new life.” This had bad news written all over it. “Unless, ofcourse, she wants to be locked in isolation until she decides to act better. A few weeks alone in a room really changes someone’s perspective, you know.” My head shook vigorously in response, that was the last thing I needed right now, “Good. Now, let’s begin.”

He stood mere inches from my face, his hazel eyes burning a hole into mine, “What is your name?”

I responded after a moments’ hesitation, “Quin.”

“Good girl.” His lips spread into a small smile, “And what is Quin?”

“A… pony?” I replied, slightly confused.

He stopped to laugh for a moment, “Well, not exactly what I meant, but it's true.” The smile left his lips, “What is Quin’s purpose in life now that she’s a pony?”

“Uh…” I was confused. What did he mean? He mouthed the word ‘pet’ to me. My lips tightened as I met his eyes with my own glare. Fuck no, I wasn’t submitting to that. His other hand reached up, and he flicked my cast with a finger. Stinging pain sparked along my hoof. “Ow!” My look turned frightened as I tried to back away.

His hand held me there, a mirthless snicker leaving his lips, “I never said I wasn’t malevolent. So tell me, what is Quin’s purpose as a pony?”

“I…” I really didn’t want to say it. His finger raised up again, about to do the same thing. Fuck. “I’m… I’m a pet.” I watched in petrified silence as his hand reached up to my neck, though what he did next was very unexpected. His fingers dug into my fur, slowly scritching up and down on nerves I didn’t even know I had. Warmth washed over my neck, pleasure sparking up and down my body like electricity. My eyelids twitched. My hind leg kicked in response because of how good it felt. I let out an unexpected moan from his ministrations, “Ah…” 

“Good girl.” He said with a smile. The warmth on my neck spread to my ears after hearing it, causing them to twitch. It sounded different this time. Not because he said it differently, but now it held a ring to it. It bounced around in my head as I stared blankly at him. My ears flopped to the side, my tail went limp. Good girl. I… I liked that. It was like a factory reset happened in my mind. Things were different, yet entirely the same. I looked around wildly, but my gaze was always drawn back to the Doctor. I didn’t realize it but my mouth was open and I was panting for breath, my ears felt like I needed to pop them.

His head tilted to the side, his grin wide, “Since Quin is a pet pony, that means she’s going to be obedient to whoever her Master is, right?” 

“Yes, sir.” I said it without thinking. My hooves receded into myself. What were these feelings? Why did I say that? I looked around in confusion. This wasn’t normal at all.

“Good girl.” His response made me look up at him. I was met with more scritches that made me let out an instinctual whimper. I pushed my neck into his hand, but he retracted it.

My lips moved but no words came out. What was happening to me? He picked up the syringe. “Give me your leg please.” I stuck out one of my front hooves. He moved some of the bandages on my shoulder to the side, and slowly injected the needle. There was a small pinch, and then warmth washed over my leg. I gave him a confused look as he went to the other leg and did the same. “All done.” He smiled, and turned walking towards the door.

“What did you just do to me?” My words shook with fear.

He turned back, saying, “Just planting a few seeds, so to speak.” then left me alone.

How did a little bit of petting and a few words make me that suggestable? It was like I had lost control of myself for a second. Did the machines do that to my mind from the start? I rubbed my cast covered hooves against myself, shivering. I felt very alone all of a sudden. My head shook, I needed to stop thinking about it right now. 

As the jitters worked their way out of my body, I took stock of my situation. What did I learn? I had woken up surrounded by other ponies. Surely there were more people like me who didn’t intend for this to happen, and there’s definitely ones who don’t want to be a house pet. I tapped my chin. I also couldn’t do anything until my hooves were fixed, I was at their mercy until I regained my mobility. I didn’t have enough information, I’d need to wait until an opportunity presented itself. 

The door opened, and Eric walked in. He scooped me up in his hands, and god did I hate how easy that appeared to be. I was probably forty pounds soaking wet. We walked in silence, returning to the room I had woken up in, and all of the ponies from before were either asleep, or laying down. Though this time I noticed a good number of them had leashes bound to their bed frames. He set me down in the cot and tied my leash to the post, gave me a head pat, “Good night,” and a smile before leaving.

I laid there in silence, ruminating on what my life had very quickly come to. I was a living, breathing, talking pony. I had nothing of my past life. I also had absolutely no idea where I was. That van could’ve been driving for thirty minutes or seven hours and I wouldn’t have a clue.

A voice whispered to me from my left, “Psst! Hey, you.” 

I rolled over to look at them. A fairly pretty mare was laying in the cot, white fur coating her body and a cyan mane done into a cute style. She smiled towards me, “Hey, what’s your name?”

I hesitated for a moment, “Quin.”

“Nice to meet you, Quin. I’m Star.” She looked over her shoulder for a moment towards the door, then back to me, “You have your leash on, right?” I nodded. “That means you tried to escape, right?” I gave a more hesitant nod. “Some of the other ponies tried to during the group today.”

It looks like I wasn’t alone, “What happened to them?” 

“No one did anything too crazy, mostly a smack on the snout and being forced to walk around leashed to one of the guards, as well as being verbally rebuked.” Well, that didn’t sound too terrible. I noticed a hint of fear in her eyes, “Except for one of them…”

My eyebrows furrowed, she seemed a bit shaken by it. “What did they do?”

“One pony, a green coated mare, got physically violent with that gray mare who was talking with everyone, Spectra I think was her name? Anyway, the green one was dragged kicking and screaming away from the group.”

“Did they say where they took her?” 

“One of the guards said she was taken to ‘the hospital’ for severe punishment. They said she’s going to be stuck in isolation for a week, and would go from there. They said they have other things in store as well, but only for extreme cases.” A shiver rolled down my spine. That combined with what the doctor said about turning ponies into drones made this even more terrifying. “Are you still trying to escape?” I gave a shaky nod. “I think I am too, but we gotta play this slow.”

“Do you have a plan?” I asked.

“Not right now, but I got tipped off by one of the other ponies that there’s others in the main building thinking the same thing, they’ve probably got more information than I do.” I gave a nod in reply. 

I was curious what I had missed during my encounter with the doctor, “What did they have you do today?” 

“It was mostly an introduction to this place. They said that basically we’re trained to be pets and sold off, and that tomorrow- Eep!” She squeaked and looked up.

Jack was standing over her, glaring down. “Star, no talking at night, didn’t you hear them say that earlier?” 

“Sorry sir! I-” She got a small smack on her snout and flinched.

“Bad girl.” Jack looked over at me and I gulped. “Do you want that muzzle back on, Quin?” I shook my head. “Then stay quiet.” I gave an affirmative nod. Jack stood and walked away.

I looked at Star, and mouthed ‘good night’, she gave me a smile and did the same. It looks like I had an accomplice.

~~~~~~~

Plap. Plap. Plap. Wet slapping noises caused my ears to twitch atop my head. I rolled over and groaned, it was too early for this. Quiet moans reached my ears, slowly growing louder and louder. I turned over in confusion, and was greeted with a very curious sight.

A mare and a stallion, bound in coitus. She was bent over her cot, the stallion railing her from behind. In between sloppy kisses the mare was freely moaning into the air. I looked around, noticing a few other ponies had awoken to this spectacle. A soft blush covered my pink cheeks. I hadn’t even considered any kind of sex in this body yet, and two ponies were already fucking in front of me. I felt a small, unfamiliar stir in my nethers, both parties looked appealing right now. I shook my head. I wasn’t really considering that, right? The mare’s moans grew louder, reaching a fevered pitch.

The door opened across the room, Eric walking in, equally as confused as the rest of us. “What is… going on…” His speech slowed to a pause as he just stared blankly at the two.

The mare was completely unawares, taking her pounding with great joy. The stallion to his credit noticed him enter, “S… Sorry! Ah~ we- nngh- she wanted to, and she smelled- Oh! Good!”

Eric sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers, “Just… don’t get cum everywhere, please.” The stallion gave a hurried nod as the mare cried out for him to fuck her harder.

The stallion grunted as the mare cried out, both of them collapsing in the cot as their mutual orgasm was shared. It woke up more of the ponies, though none made a comment. To note, there were a few other ponies who looked like they were aroused about as much as I was interestingly enough. 

Eric coughed, gathering everyone’s attention. “Uhm, well, good morning ponies. Today’s the big day where you get sent over to the main building, but first we have a very special activity in store. If we could all form a line at the door, and we’ll be heading out momentarily. Those of you with leashes will have a guard walk you there, so just stay put.” The ponies gathered around, chatting quietly. Eric smiled at them, before looking in my direction. He approached me, his hazel eyes beaming. “Hey Quin!”

“Hi.” My tentative look was met with a smile.

He knelt down, reaching his hand out and slowly petting my mane. “Feelin’ better after your little accident?”

I shifted around and nodded. “Yeah…” God I hated how good it felt to be petted.

He sighed. “I’m sorry about that night, I feel like I could’ve approached you better. I’ll take the blame for scaring you in the first place.”

“It’s okay.” He actually cared. It made me feel a little better about this whole thing.

“Well I’m gonna pick you up here if you’re okay with that, since you can’t really walk.” I nodded in reply. 

“Where are we going?”  I gave him a curious look.

“Uh, you’ll see.” He chuckled.

I sighed, I didn’t like the idea of a surprise, but it seems I didn’t have a choice. He undid my leash and scooped me up in his hands, gently scritching my mane or my side. I felt safe in his hands, weirdly enough. I’d barely interacted with the guy and I liked him a lot already. He called out to the ponies, taking point at the front of the line. “Alright everyone, follow me!” 

We exited the room, going into a long hallway, taking a few turns. There was a tense silence holding tight over the group, though Eric’s smile washed away any fear I personally had. He wouldn’t have anything bad in store for me, right? Eric opened a large, metal door, kicking a door stopper into place to keep it open. “Alright ponies, we’re here!” We entered a large, open, conference hall-like room. 

There was a congregation of about twenty or thirty people in the room, all of varying types. Short, tall, skinny, big. Some in professional business wear, others in more casual attire. “Stay in line please!” Eric called out. The last of the ponies with leashes and guards holding them trickled in, standing near us. The group of people smiled and waved, before forming their own line opposite of us. It was like a very strange standoff you’d see in those old cowboy films. Ponies vs humans. It was slightly comical honestly. I noticed as well off to the side Doctor Paisley, the nurse, and a few others waited, chatting amongst themselves. Eric called out to him. “Doctor Paisley, would you like to do the honors?”

“Ofcourse.” He smiled. He walked between the two groups, facing the ponies. “Good morning, everyone. These fine people here,” He motioned behind himself, “Are going to be your caretakers. Masters, mistresses, or whatever they deem you call them. You’ll be taking the next few minutes to grow acquainted with one of these people, and you yourself will choose which one will be your caretaker. Please remember though, that your decision is final, and you will not be able to change caretakers for the extent of your training. Choose wisely.”

He stepped forward. “First, we’ll have the leashless ponies choose, as they’ve been the best behaved.” A few of the ponies next to the guards grumbled. “Being a good pony has its benefits, you see?” He smiled and motioned towards the people, “Go ahead, everyone.”

A few of the ponies looked at each other. One of the braver ones approached a woman, who knelt down and smiled at them. After a moment, the mare smiled and stood next to the woman, “I choose her.” She called out.

Doctor Paisley nodded. “Alright.” He looked at the other ponies standing around nervously. “Well, go ahead, you don’t have to go one by one.” A few more walked forward, and the process continued. Eric walked me over towards the Doctor, and I pushed myself into Eric more out of fear. 

Eric spoke first, “Doctor! You said you wanted to talk to Quin before all this happened.”

“Oh, right.” His sly grin made me whimper. He took me from Eric’s hands, and walked me a dozen paces away from everyone else. He held me at eye level. “Quin. You don’t get to leave here until I say so, remember?” I nodded, he had said that yesterday. “I’m thinking of letting you move onto the next phase of having a caretaker now, but I need to know something.”

“What is it?” I whispered. 

“What is your purpose?” His head tilted slightly to the side, his hazel eyes sharp in their glare.

“To…” I grit my teeth together, “To be a pet pony.” I looked back.

“And Quin is going to be an obedient pet pony, right?” I nodded. “Because if she’s not, she comes back to me, and Quin gets to have a very bad time until she decides to be one.” I gulped and nodded again. 

“Yes, sir.” I stuttered out. I had to agree for now, until I could find a way out. Also, this guy was fucking scary. 

His lips broke into a smile. “Good.” He walked me back over and handed me to Eric, who’s bright, beaming smile eased the tension in me slightly.

I took a small breath to calm myself down, then looked up at Eric. “Eric?”

He booped my nose with a finger, “That’s Mr. Eric to you silly, and yes?”

“When do I get to choose?” I looked out at the people then back to him.

His smile strained slightly, “Well, uh…” He stumbled over a few words, “Because of your escape attempt being a bit more, uhm, dramatic? They’re gonna have you pick last.” 

“Oh…” I frowned and looked down. Well that sucks.

“But that’s okay! Everyone here is awesome, I’m sure you’ll like whoever you get!” Eric’s reassurance made me nod. After the main group of ponies picked their caretaker, then the leashed ponies were walked over by the guards. I started looking at my potential options for who I might be stuck with. 

There was a fairly overweight man in a suit standing there. He seemed to wave at every pony that passed by him. He had a big, white beard, almost looked a bit like Santa Claus with how jovial he was, though within moments of me thinking about him potentially a stallion picked him. Damn it.

The next two I looked at were taken within moments before I even really got to think about it. There were three people left now. A short woman, dainty in build and a pensive look on her face masked by a smile. A gentleman who I could only describe as ‘John Smith’ with how plain he looked. And lastly, a very tall man. The last one was intimidating. He was a few inches over six feet tall, much taller than anyone around him, and had bright green eyes that pierced everything they looked at. His face wore a small beard, trimmed neatly and he had short brown hair atop his head. He also seemed incredibly muscular judging by how his button up fit him.

I watched in tense silence. The woman was picked by a gray bat stallion with a pink mane, and the plain guy was taken by an equally plain mare. I gulped, as the tall guy looked at me. I looked up at Eric, pawing at his chest gently, “Uhm, Mr. Eric?”

“Hmm?”

I glanced at the man again before I looked back at Eric, “Can… Can you be my caretaker?”

“Uh…” He chuckled nervously, “Well uhm, not exactly Quin, I don’t really do training.” He saw my look in response to that and put up a hand. “But you’ll see me a lot! I work most of the security shifts, so you’ll see me around.” I gave a resigned nod. He walked over to the tall gentleman. “Here you go, sir.” It was a little funny actually, he handed me over like a fucking package. I was waiting for Eric to give him a paper to sign. The man held me, looking down at me with those green eyes. I couldn’t look him in the face.

Eric smiled at me, then up towards him, “Take good care of her, okay? She’s really sweet I promise.” 

“Ofcourse.” His voice held a certain gravity to it, it was deep, yet soft. Okay, slightly less intimidating now. 

“Bye Mr. Eric.” I waved a hoof towards him.

“See ya later Quin!” God I wish I was with him.

Doctor Paisley stood in front of the group, looking at each pair of pony and caretaker. “Alright, that about does it here. I hope everyone has a wonderful day.” He paused as he looked at us. “Oh! For you.” My eyebrow quivered as the Dr. pulled out a small paper and handed it to him. He put it in his pocket and gave the Dr. a nod and a smile.

The group dispersed, most of us heading through a set of double doors. I looked up at him as he held me. While each of the other caretakers I looked at were all talking to their ponies, he walked in silence. Did he not like me? Was he bad and no one else wanted him? These thoughts swirled around in my head, my eyes darting around. God, maybe I do regret trying to escape if it meant he was the one I’m with. Or maybe it just meant I needed to double down on my efforts to run. Either way, I didn’t like the start of this ‘relationship’.

We approached a set of doors, and that’s when I heard him speak more than a word. “Welcome to the Pony Playground Center.”

A vast, open room greeted us. It was dome-like in shape, concrete walls as the base with the top third of the dome being a glass roof, revealing an open, blue sky with a few clouds. Filling the room was a smattering of tables, chairs and benches, a play place, a small self-serve bar with various beverages and snacks, and a large, sprouting oak tree sat directly in the center of the room. Directly across from us on the opposite side of the dome was a set of double doors, with a small apartment building logo placed above said doors. On our left side was another set of doors, and it had a science lab logo. On the right was a set of doors and an office logo. I looked straight up, and saw that above these doors was a hospital plus sign logo. At each door was a set of guards posted on either side. Filling the room were many ponies accompanied by humans.

“Wow…” Man, there really were a ton of ponies and people. Did this many people actually enjoy it? 

My pensive look made him chuckle. “It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?” I nodded in reply. We continued on, heading towards the apartment logo. 

I asked him tentatively, “Where are we going?”

“To my room.” I nodded in response. We passed various ponies, some of which he gave a wave to, or a hello. We reached the apartment logo and passed through the doors. It looked exactly like an apartment setup, which I guess I should’ve expected. Rows of rooms on each side, though at the end of the hallway it leads out to another set of doors. We approached one of the elevators on the side, taking it up to the sixth floor. 

There were a lot of apartments, and this complex seemed huge. “How many people live here?” 

His head bounced back and forth for a moment before responding, “A few hundred, it’s almost entirely employees and the ponies they’re training.” 

“Oh…” Wow. I didn’t think something like this would attract that much attention.

“This is quite a large operation.” He noted.

My eyebrow raised as I looked at him, “How does this get kept out from the public eye, then?”

He chuckled, “The same way the government keeps its business underwraps from the public with its thousands of employees. Hiring people who can keep secrets, and, well, frankly money does help.”

I nodded. I guess that made sense. Money talks. Or, well, keeps you from talking in this case. We entered the room designated 6B, and I was greeted with what I guess was going to be my new home. It was a very large, open room. Along the right wall was a small kitchen area, with a breakfast bar sitting in front of it. Past that was a dinner table and a few chairs and a bench. At the far end was a small living room type area. A coffee table surrounded by a few couches and a TV along the wall. On the left wall was a door, then an office area with a computer and a few bookshelves.

He brought me to the door, and we entered a large bedroom, furnished with two beds, one large and a small one next to it, a door leading to a bathroom on the left, and a dresser on the right, with a small workout area planted in the corner, a bench and free weights littered around it and a punching bag hanging down. I noticed along both far walls of the rooms was glass paneling rather than a wall, revealing my first glimpse of the outside world.

We were above the tree level, in the middle of a lush forest, with rolling hills in the distance. The last thing to note was a small balcony area, though it looked locked. He took me to the large bed, took off his shoes, and sat down. He held me in his lap, and now our size difference felt even larger. I was like a child in his giant grasp. He took out the paper the doctor had given him, and slowly read over it. 

After a few moments of tense silence, he spoke. “Quin.” I looked at him. “That’s a pretty name. I like it.” His lips broke into a smile, before it faded as he kept reading. Oh god, it was probably telling him all the awful things the doctor might have written down about me, or my escape attempt.

“Uhm…” He looked at me as I awkwardly clicked my casts together. “What’s your name?”

Our eyes met as he spoke, “You will call me Master.”