Chapter 4
The bus ride was quiet for many reasons. First, the electric engine driving it made it so the only noise being heard was a small whir of the electric engine and the tire noise along the pavement. The second reason was that the bus was full of people just like David. Far from home, unsure of what was ahead, and the dreaded unknown of what it was going to be like living their life as a pony.
It had been a long time since David had ridden in a vehicle of any type. Vehicles of any kind were reserved for the most critical functions in society now. He suspected that being given a ride here both helped drive home to the pony recruits how important their role was in the world and to speed up the process enough making it difficult for those to potentially change their minds during a long travel to the training center.
David glanced at the driver of the bus. The man had made several disgusted faces at them as they got onto the bus and David had immediately taken a disliking to the man. As he looked up to the front now, he could see that the man had wrapped a cloth around his face leaving only his eyes open. David understood in that moment why the man had been making faces. Like David, most everyone on the bus was filthy. Clothes were disheveled and though he could no longer notice it, he was certain that everyone smelled awful. The self-awareness of his smell now ate at him. He couldn't wait to shower and remove the embarrassment of it all.
The training facility that he was going to would change him from the smelly person he was into a hard-working and sought after pony. At least, that was the intended goal. The training had been designed by those who were absolutely familiar with the process of breaking a person down and rebuilding them into something completely new to be used for whatever purpose. The military.
The military was still very much in existence and active. Service for it was highly selective and not available to many. Those ending their enlistments had an opportunity to help run the training for the soon to be ponies. The drill and order was needed in such spaces. The bleed over from it all was noticeable from one that knew where to look.
The name for the training facility had become known as "Pony Boot Camp". The name borrowed from a tradition with the Marines calling their new recruits "boots" and for the fact that the pony's hoof boots they wore with the high heel like stance and the horseshoe bottoms were often the defining item that made that click in the pony's brain that solidified their new identity.
Late that evening the bus arrived at their final location. Like everyone else on the bus, David kept his eyes glued to the windows anxiously trying to take in all the sights he could of the new place that would be his home for the near future as he trained. The darkness made this impossible and everything flashed by in dull blurs with the occasional yellow hue light casting grossly long shadows across courtyards.
At the final stop, a man stepped up onto the bus and gave the recruits directions as to where to go and how to line up outside the bus. David decided the man either no longer had a sense of smell or was so used to this barrage on the senses that it no longer affected him as it had the bus driver. David felt a small ping of guilt thinking about how long they'd have to air the bus out after they had all left. He shook the concern out of his mind though. He had more important things to focus on at this point. With a deep breath, he stepped out into the cool night air.
David found himself in what looked like a large parking lot. Within moments a man with a clipboard began yelling at them, calling off names and telling them to get into some semblance of a formation. David had no idea what the man was talking about. The man's yelling only increased, now filled with frustration. The man quickly set them up in columns front to back that was four deep and a row that was ten people long. A convenient box of humans.
"This is a formation, and this is how you will form up every single time you are told to, understand?" The man shouted to the group. Four separate formations of people all replied that they did. The man was not impressed and yelled louder than ever before asking if they understood. The group, understanding the man wanted to be shouted back at responded in a much louder tone this time. David stifled the urge to smile at this, thinking it was ridiculous.
A few people filtered out of the building that the formations were facing. The man with the clipboard yelled to the formations, "These are your stable leaders. I am the Stable Master, and these stable leaders report directly to me. Underneath the stable leaders are many stable hands in training. Together, you and the stable hands will work towards graduating and joining the workforce to provide services to this great country and keep it from failing as several other countries already have." The man paused. Nobody in the formations said a word. Turning to the stable leaders the Stable Master said, "Stable Leaders, take charge of your groups and start getting them inprocessed."
A tall man with a medium build and dark hair walked up to David's group. In the equestrian theme of things, the man looked like he was wearing riding pants and riding boots. "Ok pony recruits listen up. I am Stable Leader Andrews and this is pony group three. The next several days are going to be a blur as we push you through the various stations. At the end of getting in processed, you'll look like a pony but it'll take you the next few months to get you to actually
be
