Darkness surrounded her, and her eyes slowly opened to reveal a small elevator shaft, flashes of light blinding the cart every few seconds. The light flashed again, revealing a young mare with lavender fur, but was mostly covered by a large cloak. Her mane, which was violet and pink, was misshapen and shriveled, and the pony shrieked as metal shards scraped against the wall, and she bounced backward, slamming against the side. Her breaths were ragged and short, and boxes and tanks covered the entire floor.
W-Where am I? Her thoughts were cut short as a sharp growl emanated from a small cage on the other side, and the pony sluggishly crept forward, her eyes wide and freaked. Another scream emanated from her as the crate rattled again, and her hooves buckled under her, causing the small mare to slam into the ground. The flash of light came through the elevator again, and the mare's mind whirled as she realized what was in the crate.
It's a Timberwolf She finally realized, but her eyes furrowed with confusion as another realization flew into her mind. She didn't know how she remembered it, and her brain went into shock as...her brain couldn't remember. In fact, she couldn't remember anything. The mare was now shaking, her mane and fur on end, and she didn't notice when the lights stopped flashing and stayed. She only flew out of her trance when the elevator shaft came to an abrupt stop, swinging her up and slamming her head onto the top of her transportation. Her vision was now blurry and unfocused, and her hoof flew up and rubbed her forehead, passing by the small violet horn. A wave of comfort washed over her when the elevator slowly came to a stop, and she gasped as the top flew open, blinding her with a bright light. All was silent for a moment, and the mare stopped when a blurry hoof came into view, to which she slowly looked up and saw a cyan pegasus staring back at her.
"Day one greenie. Rise an' shine." The pegasus's voice was brash and forceful, no source of comfort anywhere in the tone. The pony laid, frozen for a moment, but gasped as the pegasus unfurled her wings and jumped in, blinding over to her and grabbing the terrified pony by the waist, cloak included. The young mare struggled for a while, but her escape proved fulfill as the pegasus just lifted her out, tossing her into the grassy ground below. As the pegasus swiftly flew back, and the mare's vision finally cleared, but her mind went to panic when she saw about fifty other mares standing around her, their eyes filled with confusion at the newcomer. Her horn ignited with a large, magenta glow, and many of the mare's gasped when the pony disappeared, but then returned to a place between a smile and a sneer when they saw their newcomer pony appear again a few feet away.
"Hey, we've got a Galloper!" One called out, but the mare paid it no mind and kept galloping forward, her eyes only focused on the weird open gates in front of her. Hard laughing filled her ears, but her mind turned to confusion as those laughs switched to concerned and even terrified yells and screams.
Why would they be screaming? It's an exit. She kept telling herself, but her crazed violet eyes widened when her front hoof connected with a root, sending her sprawling to the ground, landing harshly with a giant thud. Now dazed and confused even more, he mare stayed sprawled on the ground, barely noticing when the other ponies came walking over. Her legs and hoofs were numb, and the mare lazily lifted her head, looking up at the pony in front of her. An orange earth pony had her by the hooves, her gaze calm and focused and her muzzle set in a hard, straight line.
"W-Who are you ponies? W-W-Where am I?" The mare slowly asked when her breath came back, and the earth pony smiled, lifting the greenie up and placing her on down on her hooves.
"We're the Gladers, and this is the Glade. Names Applejack, and like Rainbow said," Applejack thruster a hoof out, pointing to where the cyan pegasus, who the pony now knew was Rainbow, was glaring at the two with burning impatience. " Y'all got to get ta work."
The helping hooves didn't stop swarming around her until the new pony had the dust and grass brushed off her cloak. Still blinded by the light, she staggered a bit. She was consumed with curiosity, but still felt to dazed to check her surroundings. Her new companions said nothing as she swerved her head around trying to take it all in.
As she rotated in a circle, the other mare's snickered and stared; some reached out and poked her with a hoof. There had to be at least fifty of them, their manes and coats matted with sweat and dirt, as if they'd been hard at work. They were all around her, all shapes, sizes and races, including Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies, their manes in various styles and lengths. The mare suddenly became dizzy, her eyes flickering between the ponies and the bizarre place she'd found herself in.
They stood in a large garden-like area, four ginormous stone walls covered in thick ivy blocking all sides. The walls had to be hundreds of feet high, and formed a perfect square around them, each side split in the exact middle into that was as tall as the walls themselves that, as the pony could see, led to confusing passages beyond.
"Look at the Greenie," Rainbow's scratchy voice came out of the group, thought the mare couldn't see where it came from. "Gonna break her neck checking out the new digs." Several mares laughed.
"Shut yer trap, Rainbow." Applejack's voice snapped back.
Greenie ignored them and focused back on the ponies surrounding her. She knew she must've looked out of it-she'd felt like she's been hit by a powerful magic blast. A tall pink-maned pony with a square jaw sniffed at her, her face devoid of expression. A short, small butter-yellow pegasus shifted lightly on her hooves, staring at Greenie with slightly scared eyes. Applejack just studied her, her green eyes narrowing as her left hoof leveled the brown Stetson hat on her blond mane.
"What am I doing here?" Greenie said, surprised at hearing her own voice when she was completely aware of doing it. It didn't sound quite right-was lower than she imagined.
"It's just normal," Applejack answered calmly, like this question was asked a million times before. "One mare comes here every month, along with food and supplies." she quickly thruster her hoof outward towards a group of mates who were pulling, or lifting with magic, the barrels and crates out of the elevator shaft.
"Which Keeper she gonna get?" A hyper voice yelled from the back of the crowd.
"I told you, Lyra," A iron-like voice responded. "He'll be a Slopper-no doubt about it." The pony giggled like she had said the greatest thing in the world.
Keeper? Slopper? The words popped out the mares mouths like it was the simplistic thing in the word to understand, but Greenie's mind whirled with questions. It was like her memory loss had stolen a chuck of her language-it was disorienting.
Different emotions battled in her mind. Confusion. Panic. Curiosity. Fear. It what was laced through it all was a feeling of dark, utter hopelessness, like the world has ended for her, had been wiped from her memory and replaced with something terrifying. She wanted to flee and think this was all a dream.
The flat-maned pink pony was talking: "Even do that much-bet my liver on it." Greenie still couldn't see her face.
"I said shut your holes!" Applejack yelled, her eyes burning with fury. "Keep yapping and next break'll be cut in half!"
It's their leader. Greenie realized. Agitated by how everyone was gawking at her, she turned around and focused on the place Applejack had called the Glade.
The floor of the garden-area looked like it was composed of stone or concrete blocks, most of them cracked and split, filled with long vines and weeds. An odd, misshapen wooden building near one of the corners of the square was covered in mostly gray stone. A few trees shaded it, their roots like gnarled hooves digging into the rock for food. Another corner of the compound held gardens-from where she was standing Greenie recognized corn, grains, and fruit-trees.
Across the courtyard from there stood wooden pens holding sheep, pigs, and cows. Did she eat meat? She couldn’t remember. A large forest of trees filled the final corner: but the closest ones looked crippled and close to dying. The sky overhead was cloudless and blue, but Greenie could spot no sun hanging in the bright sky. The creeping shadows of the walls didn’t reveal any help-It could be early morning of late afternoon.
Greenie looked back at her captors, feeling slightly unnerved but desperate to ask questions.
Captors? Where did that come from? She scanned their faces, swiftly taking in their expressions. One mare’s eyes, flared with hatred and distaste, stopped her cold. He looked crazed, and Greenie wouldn’t have been surprised if she had come at her with a knife. She had a dark-violet mane, and when they made eye contact, the mare shook her head and strutted away, walking towards a greasy iron pole, which Greenie noticed she stared at with honor and complete disgust.
Shaken, Greenie stared at the mare’s back until she turned and took a seat.
Suddenly Applejack-who looked about twenty to twenty-one-trotted forward. She wore no rags: only the Stetson hat perched on the top of her mane, which she leveled every few seconds. Other then the permanent scowl, there was nothing frightening about her at all.
“It’s ah long story, Greenie,” AJ started to say, her green eyes piercing with warmth and sinister cold. “Piece by piece, ya’ll learn-ah’ll be takin’ ya on yer’ tour tomorrow. Till then…just don’t break anything.”
“Then tell me,” Greenie called out, desperately trying to keep her voice even. “Tell me the story.”
AJ glanced at her comrades, rolling her eyes, and Greenie studied the crowd again. Her estimate had been close-there were about fifty to sixty of them, ranging from pegsi to unicorns and earth ponies. They were all young adults like Applejack, who seemed to be one of their oldest.
I don’t even know my own age. Her heart sank at the thought.
“Really,” Greenie asked, her voice losing all sense of courage. “Where am I?”
AJ trotted over again to her and sat down, the crowd of mares following and packing in behind. Heads popped up here and there, mares leaning in every direction to get a great look at the scene before them.
“If ya ain’t scared,” AJ started. “Ya ain’t pony. Act any different and ah’ll throw you off thah Cliff because it’d mean ya insane.”
“The Cliff?” Greenie asked, blood draining from her face.
“Suck it,” AJ said, rubbing her Stetson. “Ain’t no way tah start these conversations, ya got me? We don’t kill shanks like yah here, ah promise. Just try and avoid being killed, survive, and whatever.”
“Boy,” Applejack said, then ran her hooves over her blond mane and sighed. “Ah ain’t good at this-you’re the first greenie since Sunset Shimmer died.” Before she could say more, another mare, the pony with the flattened pink mane, trotted forward and playfully slapped her hoof across Applejack’s head.
“Wait for the bloody tour, AJ,” She said, her voice high and squeaky, with a touch of a dark hum afterwards. “Girl's gonna have a heart attack, nothin’ even been heard yet.” She bent down and slowly extended a pink hoof towards Greenie. “Name’s Pinkamena, or Pinkie, I really don’t care which one you call me, and you might as well forgive our klunk-for-brains leader here.” Greenie sluggishly reached out and shook the mare’s hoof-he seemed a lot nicer than Applejack. Pinkie was taller then AJ too, but looked about a year or so younger. Her mane was dark pink and completely flat and cut long, flowing onto her backside.
“Ain’t got time to be nice, Pinkie.” AJ said, grabbing the mare and pulling her down, and Greenie froze as she glared at her again.
“Old life’s over, new life’s begun. Learn the rules quick, listen, and don’t talk. You got me?” Greenie looked over at Pinkie, pleading for help. Everything inside her hurt: the tears that had yet to come burned her eyes.
Pinkie nodded. “Greenie, you get her, right?” She nodded again. Greenie radiated hatred, wanting desperately to blast someone with her horn. But she simply nodded, her eyes glossed over.
”Good that,” AJ said. “First Day. That’s what tahday is for you, Greenie. Night’s comin’. Gallopers’ll be back soon. Tour tomorrow, right after the wake-up. Pinkie, get her a bed to sleep.”
“Got that.”
AJ’s eyes returned to Greenie, narrowing. “A few weeks, ya’ll be happy n’ helping. New life begins tahmorrow.” And with that, AJ turned and pushed her way through the crowd, heading for the stone-covered building in the corner. Most of the other mares trotted away then, each giving Greenie a lingering look before they moved.
“What did I do?” Greenie whispered, not meaning for anyone to hear. “What did I do...w-why did they send me here?”
Pinkie slammed a hoof on her back. “Greenie, what your feelin’…all of us have felt it. We’ve all had a First Day, come out of that dark shaft. Things are bad, and they’ll get much worse for you soon, that’s the truth. But down the road a piece, you’ll be fighting.” Pinkie had barely finished her sentence when a sudden, shrill scream tore through the air. The barely human shriek echoed through the stone garden: Every mare in sight turned to look toward the source. It came from the wooden building.
Even Pinkie had jumped as if startled, her muzzle creasing with concern, and Greenie could only watch as she started to gallop off, only turning back once.
“Find Fluttershy, tell her she’s in charge of your sleeping arrangements.” Greenie just dropped to the ground, and shrank back against the bark of one lone tree, wishing she would wake up from this terrifyingly horrible nightmare.