The New Foal Institution

by Penguifyer

Prologue, Monday, and Tuesday

The New Foal Institution

By Penguifyer
“I just wanted to write a little story about people going to Equestria and back; and their connection with humans. It was to show how our world was compared to the heavenly paradise of Equestria; you can see why bronies would want to go there,” — Blaze, author of The Conversion Bureau

“Nothing that my eyes desired did I deny them, nor did I deprive myself of any joy… But when I turned to all the works that my hands had wrought, and the fruit of the toil for which I had toiled so much, see! all was vanity and a chase after wind,” — Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

---

“You’ve been to Haiti before. Just treat it like another mission trip that’s only thirty minutes away and you sleep in your own bed at night. It’ll only be for a week, too,” his youth minister assured.

“I hear you. What exactly is it, though?” Job asked.

The youth minister scratched his head. “I guess you are that young. You know those mindless human-turned-ponies that you occasionally see in the cities or woods? The ones from the war, like, eight-ish years ago?”

“Yeah?” Job saw less and less of them around town in recent years. He vaguely remembered one of his cousins fighting in the war and turning into one.

“Well, this is where a lot of them end up. Don’t worry about it, it’ll be fine.”

Job nodded, trusting his youth minister. “I don’t see why not.”

— — —

After a couple of weeks, the first day came. At the suggestion of his youth minister, he woke up at six am and followed his GPS 30 miles north.. Pulling into a long driveway, the forested landscape cleared and revealed a large school-like building surrounded by a field. Despite the large parking lot, only a dozen cars sat in it. Joe parked his car along with the dozen, stepped outside, and gazed at the building. Its vine-littered brick walls showed its age, yet its windows shined without blemish.

Walking inside, Job froze when he looked at the counter. Behind the desk sat a light blue pony with a dark blue mane and magenta eyes. She leaned her head against her hoof, flipping through the pages of a book. “Need something?”

“Uh…” He closed the door and walked to the counter. He’d never seen a pony talk in front of him before, at least in person. “I’m here to volunteer. My youth minister knows the guy who runs this place.”

The pony glared at him with drooping eyes, twitching her wings. “You mean Sam?”

“Yeah, him.”

She pushed her book aside and glanced at a clipboard. “Job?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

She tapped the keyboard beside her before sliding her book back in place. “Give him a sec.”

Job stood for a moment, unsure of what to do. After the pony glared at him, he stepped back and found a seat. He sat silent for five minutes. Every page flip from the pony stung his ears.

The door opened with a bang, causing both Job and the pony to jump, as a tall and slim man burst through. “Job?”

Job popped up. “Yes?”

“God, give me a heads-up for once,” the pony scoffed.

“Sorry about that,” the man smiled before turning to Job. “I’m Sam. I heard about you from your youth minister.”

“Yeah, he brags about me a bit.”

“No worries. Let me give you a tour of the place.” He turned back to the pony. “I’ll be quieter next time.”

“Yeah right,” she brooded.

Job followed along as Sam guided him through the halls. “Don’t worry about her. She’s a bit sassy but will warm to you after a bit.”

“Sure about that? I mean, I try not to judge…”

“You two will probably have to work together at some point. Just don’t push her buttons and you’ll be okay.”

“I guess.”

Sam stopped as they entered a large room full of couches, tables, and TVs with large glass windows lining the back wall. Dozens of ponies littered the seats playing games or watching TV. “Here’s the common room. Through the windows, you can see the east and west residential wings and the courtyard. The door to the left leads to the cafeteria while the door to the right leads to some reservable conference rooms, a gaming room, and the cuddle room.”

Job paused. “The cuddle room?”

“Yeah, let me just show you.”

Sam led through the door and down a short hall before opening the door to a dimly lit room. Inside, ponies lounged around on an assortment of pillows and cushions, cuddling in pairs, piles, or even alone under mountains of cushions. Ambient music played in the background while warm lights accented the calming atmosphere.

Sam whispered, “It’s pretty self-explanatory.”

Job stared in confusion. “Why?”

“The serum used to convert humans was imperfect, which means new foals never feel they’re fully inside their own bodies. Because of this, they love physical affection more than anything. It helps ground them in the real world. We based ours off sensory rooms used in treating autism.”

“So, does that mean they’re technically…”

“Not exactly, they share some similarities with autism and other disorders, but whatever is going on with them is completely different. We got…” He paused. “…someone here working on it, but we figured most of this out through trial and error.”

“Huh,” Job muttered.

Sam guided him out and up the stairs, leading him to a hallway lined with small rooms with hospital beds. “Here’s the clinic. We can’t send new foals to the hospital, so we have to do it ourselves. There’s also a lounge right to the side if you ever need a break.”

As they passed the rooms, Job couldn’t help but notice the ponies laying on the beds. Their eyes stayed still, giving no notice toJob and Sam walking by.

“And here…” Sam led him into a small room with a strange metallic bed covered in wheels, wires, and coils. “…is our crown jewel. There are two types of new foals here: Awares and Unawares. Unawares are what you’d expect, ‘mindless creatures—’” he made air quotes with his fingers “—robbed of their former selves. Awares, however, retain their human memories and nature thanks to this device.” He kicked the bed. A clang reverberated around the room. “It doesn’t come without its own costs, though.”

Sam walked out of the room, Job following suit, and stopped outside the door.

“And that’s it, apart from a few things here and there. Today, all we got planned is some painting and maybe miscellaneous things afterward. You can go home early tonight if you want. One more thing, room 301 is open if you ever need to stay overnight.” He handed Job a key before walking away, leaving Job alone with several cans of paint and a paintbrush.

The work dragged on and on for the whole morning with him finishing just before noon. Since he brought his own lunch, he didn’t bother leaving the room. After he ate and rested for a few minutes, he heard a voice outside the door.

“Uh, hey…”

He jumped and stood up, recognizing the voice of the pony from the front desk. “Yeah?”

She held a hoof to her chin, dodging her eyes from Job. “I need some help and Sam said I should ask you.”

“With what?”

“I’ll show you.”

“Okay . . . um, I never caught your name.”

“My name?”

“Yeah, you got one right?”

She paused. “Just call me Blue Wing.”

“Blue Wing?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”

Job nodded, thinking the name was odd.

She led him to the cuddle room and pointed to a couch. “Sit over there; I’ll be back in a bit.”

Job did as she asked, unsure what the point was. Once he sat down, he heard a faint snicker through the doorway.

Within a minute, a female pony, presumably a new foal, hopped onto the couch with him. She crawled next to him, stuck her muzzle next to his face, and sniffed. Smiling from the smell, she stepped in place before laying down and resting her head on his lap. Job’s muscles tensed, uncomfortable as the pony relaxed and drifted to sleep. Another snicker came from the doorway.

Five minutes later, Job had a male pony snuggled up to his side and another female pony curled up around his legs. The urge to squirm permeated every bone of his body. A snicker grew to a giggle and Job realized he’d been pranked.

He nudged the ponies off of him, stood up, and stomped to the door. By the time he turned the corner, Blue Wing darted out of the hallway and out of sight. He turned around and found Sam chuckling.

“Are you serious?” blurted Job.

“What? Are you too pure to hug someone?”

Job paused, nearly enraged. “That’s beside the point!”

“Don’t take it too seriously. She does that to everyone on their first day.”

Job nearly shouted. “How the hell am I supposed to work with her?”

Sam raised his hands. “I swear she’s not a dick. She’s just a little… well… she takes some getting used to.”

Job lowered his voice, coming to his senses. “And you let her get away with it?”

“To be fair, everyone here is used to it already.”

“Used to what?”

“Petting and cuddling new foals. It’s something you kinda just have to do, especially when it’s really important.”

“I don’t get it. How? How can petting be that important?”

Sam paused and let out a deep breath. “Believe it or not, but petting can be the difference between a new foal being an Aware versus an Unaware. It’ll make more sense once you see it, if you see it.”

Job leaned against the wall. This was gonna be a long week.

— — —

Tuesday went by relatively smoothly. Job spent the whole day power-washing the exterior of the west wing of the building. He didn’t mind it though since few new foals left the building.

As sunset came, he noticed Blue Wing slip out of the building and trot around to the other side of the building. Curiosity drove him to follow her, but she was gone when he did.

Job did notice her come inside again as he packed up for the day. Watching her through the windows, she walked into a room with two other ponies. One was a female with pink fur, purple hair, and a horn on her head. The other was also a female, but with yellow fur and pink hair; she also had wings like Blue.

Blue walked up to the yellow one who laid curled up on her bed, poked her, and sighed. Blue then turned to the purple one who also didn’t acknowledge her. She then stumbled to a chair, sat down, and cried.

Job peeked through the window confused. How was this the same Blue Wing that pranked him earlier? Stepping away from the window, he decided it was best to not get involved.

Comments

[Bahamuttone]

Hmm what does TCB mean?

[NotaPony420]

Sick story bruh

[CapNTilfy]

10389532
The Conversion Bureau.