'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.'