Fallout Equestria: Fly Away
By Freeflyingwolf
Chapter 10: Trials
”But to have a friend, and to be true under any and all trials, is the mark of a man!”--Charles Eastman
Working on a farm was not so bad once you got used to it. At least, that’s what Sunshy kept telling himself over and over. The first day was a small hell. It truly broke his heart to lead animals to their doom. But, when he awoke the next day, he discovered something that gave him shock, depression, happiness, and hope all in the span of a few seconds.
Brahmin could still talk.
Only some of them, though. Most of them had very few brains between the two heads. Only a few were lucky enough to be able to talk, a lot less were coherent. The first time he learned this was when he was woken up. A head of a Brahmin nudged him awake, offering her mouthful of hay to him; the other head chewed its own food with a glassy-eyed look. Out of habit, he thanked the mutated cow. And felt he had a mini-heart attack when she smiled and told him he was welcome.
A couple more of the Brahmin talked to him as he led them outside into the field. Most were rather incoherent, but full of nice and kind words. So even if their sentences didn’t make sense, their meaning was clear. Sunshy figured they still weren’t smart enough to understand what they meant or what he had done the day before.
“We understand perfectly, dairy.” A Brahmin calling herself Daisy told him when he muttered his depression to himself.
“Do you? Do you know how I led half of your friends or family to their deaths?” Sunshy stressed at the one smart head.
“Of course I know, dairy, but I heard the conversation you had with the zebra. I know you didn’t want to, but you’d be hurt if you didn’t. Besides, we know our fates. Half of us are for making babies and milk, the other were made to be meat. It’s not your fault, dairy. Keep your head up, and we’ll make this the easiest job you’ve ever had.” Dairy nuzzled the pegasus while her other head grazed blankly. Obviously, she was not entirely there. “Besides,” Daisy continued, “there are so few of us now, you won’t have to make more meat for a few years at the most.”
“Thank you, Daisy. Um, if I may ask,” Sunshy rubbed a hoof over his leg awkwardly, “how do Brahmin make babies anyway?” A strange out-of-the-blue question, but one he had been pondering since discovering Brahmin.
“All Brahmin have one head that’s male and one that’s female. We make babies asexually, don’t cha know.” Daisy proclaimed with a giggle. Okay, so the other head was a boy. “This here is Davie, say hi to the nice pony, Davie.”
Davie, the other head, chewed on his brown grass blandly with a thousand-yard stare.
“He doesn’t talk much.” Daisy told Sunshy unnecessarily.
Sunshy, having done all he really needed to, decided to fly over to Royal Lace’s side of the farm, making sure to keep low to the ground. Wow, it sure was surprising how much a pegasus could miss flying high when having a sensitive bomb strapped to their neck. He bet that if Rainbow Dash was ever in that position, she’d go absolutely crazy trying to take it off.
The yellow pegasus found Royal Lace pulling a plow that was swathed in her pink glow of magic. She seemed to be moving with ease as the plow moved with her. Sunshy landed beside her and was greeted with a warm, “Howdy!”
“Do you have some sort of spell on that plow?” Sunshy wondered.
“Ayep! It’s a ‘Come To Life’ spell, makes objects move all on their own and do what they need to. Just look!” Lacey pointed with her tail toward the north end of the field.
There were a good half dozen plows turning up dirt in small ruts, each one coated in a light sheen of pink. Sunshy was rather impressed with how Lacey could cast such a difficult-sounding spell on so many objects. He pointed this out to her and received a hearty chuckle.
“Naw, it’s a synch, brony. Sure, if I tried this on anything else, it’d take a lot out of me, but not plows. Them and I, we got an understanding, see? Comes from years of practice. Besides, you don’t expect a unicorn to do things the earth pony way, do ya?”
“Indeed ah did.”
The smiles on both the ponies’ faces vanished as they turned to Pretty Cow, who was standing in front of the oncoming unicorn pretend-pulling the plow. The pink glow around that one vanished, but the rest were continuing to move. There was still a faint glow around Lacey’s horn. They noticed that Pretty Cow had a dark red glow around her horn and a short whip with a half dozen tails floating next to her.
“Ah’m disappointed in yew, gurl. Do ya know what ah do to those who disappoint me?” Cow made it perfectly clear that it was not a good thing.
“I’m just surprised that you know such a big word, honestly.” Lacey replied.
Her floating whip smacked across the mouthy pony’s face. The mare screamed in shock and pain, her spell dying as she held a hoof over her injured area. When she pulled it away, Sunshy saw a nice row of lines that were weeping blood; one went across her eye, but had thankfully missed the actual organ.
“Now start pullin’ those damn plows right!” Pretty Cow shouted as she used the whip held in her dark red glow of magic to repeatedly attack the pony on the head, forcing her to cower on the dirt, holding her hooves over her head. They took the attack that opened wounds bright red against her puce coat.
“Stop that!” Sunshy shouted at her. One thing he would not stand for was doing nothing as a friend was hurt.
“Yew want some too?!” The whip lashed across Sunshy’s face.
The poor pegasus’s small frame worked against him once again, as that attack sent him to the ground. He held a hoof over his injuries and then over his head as his owner repeatedly whipped him. The pegasus winced at every lash of the multi-tailed whip making more lines on his forelegs. Tears streamed down his face as he did nothing to stop his attack. He wasn’t strong enough, he would have his head explode if he did anything, and he hated himself for his weakness.
The hatred inside started as a flicker of a flame. Sunshy loved fire, despite its dangers. It was a friend, a companion, something that reminded him of Drakon. It kept him warm and safe. The fire in his heart grew with every attack from the whip. The whip had moved from his legs and was moving down his back. Sunshy bit his lip to keep from shouting as his back stung harshly.
He didn’t know when, but he stopped hearing Pretty Cow shouting at him. Something told him he was close to dying. Those wounds were seeping blood at an alarming rate and there were so many. He felt it when the whip stopped attacking him and opened his eyes to see why.
The flame grew larger and hotter when he saw the whip held in Lacey’s mouth. She was trying to forcibly tear the weapon away from its owner, who was using the ends of the whip to attack the puce unicorn. The flame engulfed his body, coating it with warmth like the sun did, but inside. Then he saw the red of his own hair and felt his body move.
Sunshy charged at the mare, his pain dulled as strength coursed through his body. He was strong now, stronger than anypony in the world! Stronger than even Zen, he bet! With a shout, he turned and bucked Pretty Cow in the face. At least, he was aiming for her face. With her incredible shortness and his freakish height, he completely missed her face.
Sunshy bucked the unicorn’s horn clean off from the base.
Pretty Cow’s levitation hold on the whip died as Sunshy put his rear legs down and turned. Her eyes wide, a hoof rose to her bleeding brow. She was in complete shock. Then the pegasus pushed the pony onto her side and began stomping on her side, feeling her ribs break under his hooves.
Lacey was too shocked at the complete turnaround in the pegasus’s attitude. The whip dropped from her gaping mouth. She did want to stop him when he reared above Pretty Cow’s head, intending to strike. A bullet whizzed past Sunshy’s head, grazing his uninjured cheek. The pegasus placed his hooves on the dirt beside the shell-shocked Cow, turning to the direction the shot came from, still seeing red.
The enraged pegasus found the zebra guard holding a Zebra Assault Rifle, standing unnaturally on her hind hooves to use the weapon. She shouted something that he couldn’t hear. Sunshy yelled wordlessly as he charged at the zebra yards away. Cussing, she took another shot at the pegasus, but he was a quick one. Sunshy moved his lithe body in fluid, small motions to avoid the spray of incendiary bullets. A move of his head to the right, left, lift a hoof a little higher, nudge his flank to the right, now duck. It was so simple to him, but the zebra guard gawked as she ran out of bullets. Only a few had grazed him, cauterizing their own wounds due to the enchantment of the gun.
Closing in on her, Sunshy saw a picture from Fallen Caesar Style flash in his mind. The pegasus made to charge head first, but feinted at the last moment and changed his body so that he was facing away from the zebra, his forelegs crouched, and his hind legs pointed at her. With that position, he swiped a leg under the zebra’s legs, sweeping her onto her back. As she fell, he pushed himself up, caught her gun in his mouth, and then he stood over her, the muzzle of the gun pointed at her head.
It would be so easy to pull the trigger, right between her eyes. Three enflamed bullets, straight into her brain and she’d be dead. And with Pretty Cow indisposed, he and Lacey could run away. Maybe he could use the gun to kill that bitch, too. It was all so clear and easy.
The assault rifle shook in Sunshy’s grip. Cerulean eyes stared down at the zebra’s own bright blue eyes. They were tinted green around her tiny pupils, reminding him of pictures of the ocean. Something caused by fear, or the glare of the sun above? What did it matter? She had shot at him!
“I don’t want to die.” The guard whispered, pleading, tears forming at the edges of her eyes.
Sunshy dropped the gun as though it was poison. He quickly stepped back, shaking his head and muttering a mantra of “No no no no no no no no nononononononono…I’m not a killer…”
A hoof placed on his shoulder startled the pegasus. Lacey was standing beside him, looking sympathetic. She pulled the pegasus into a wet, sticky, blood-coated hug. Sunshy sobbed as he let the reality of what he had done wash over him.
“Momma? Momma!”
The ponies ceased their hug and saw an earth pony colt standing over Pretty Cow. He was dark red like her mane, but with black stripes on his coat and had an alternating brown and maize-yellow mane. The colt was too young to have a cutie mark. He was standing over his mother, nudging her near-comatose body with his nose.
“She’s dead!” He wailed, sitting on his rump hard as he cried.
“No, no she’s not!” Sunshy quickly flew over to the mare and checked her vitals, just to make sure. “She’s breathing and has a pulse. She’s just in shock from losing her horn.”
“I’ve heard even breaking off part of your horn is the most painful thing a unicorn can experience. Probably as bad as a pegasus losing their wings.” Lacey told Sunshy, patting the colt on the back as he slowly calmed down, now knowing his mother wasn’t dead.
“You’d have to use a chainsaw.” Sunshy replied as he still held a bloodied hoof to his wing unconsciously, smearing it. Suddenly, he felt very dizzy. Blood loss will do that to a pony. “I need my medkit, Lacey.”
“Gotcha.” Lacey walked to the house, knowing that if she ran, she would bleed out more.
“Wha,” a sobbed hiccup, “why did you do that? What happened? Why are you hurt? Why were you trying to hurt Miss Stripey?”
“Your…your mother was angry at us. So I…I fought back.” Sunshy tried to put it as delicately as he could. How could he explain to a colt that his mother was an abusive slave-owner?
“I always tell mommy she needs to be nicer to her workers. And to take those stupid collars off, but she always tells me that you guys wear them as the new accessory. Fashionable or not, I’m not wearing one!” The colt wiped away the rest of his tears.
Oh Goddesses, what a terrible mother…buying slaves, treating them like shit, and lying about it all to her son.
“Good idea, you really shouldn’t wear one. I’d rather not either, but they’re…hard to take off.” Smooth, going along with the lie while not lying.
“Got it!” Lacey proclaimed as she floated the metal saddle boxes over to Sunshy. He turned to see her approaching, still coated in her own blood, but looking healthily less pale. She’d have to clean up before he could determine if her wounds were closed. “I had to stay at the front door because this damn collar started beeping. Used a magnetic spell, half the kitchen is in front of the door now. Oh, and I took a healing potion.”
“She’ll probably make us clean that up. I have something in here to clean you off.” Sunshy began rummaging around his recently-organized things. He was a little unhappy that his organized chaos was not as he was used to.
“No, you bandage yourself and take a damn healing potion. Goddesses know you’ve got plenty.” Lacey argued, sitting down on her uninjured rump.
“You’re a doctor?” The zebrony colt asked Sunshy with widening black eyes.
Sunshy nodded as he pulled out a weak healing brew, uncorked it, and chugged the thick, grass-colored zebra brew. Before their eyes, the blood slowed as wounds closed. Those on his face were the easiest to see. Then Sunshy opened a bottle of something milky white and then poured it on Royal Lace, starting from her head and going down her back.
Red steam rose from the unicorn mare’s body. The blood was evaporating into the air, leaving her coat a little softer and poofy. Her mane had flattened from the liquid, but as it evaporated, it fluffed up and out, appearing like a purple afro. Sunshy snorted a laugh before holding a hoof over his mouth, instantly regretting the taste of copper and pulled it away. The colt had no such qualms about laughing at her hair.
Lacey quickly took another cleansing potion from Sunshy’s bags and hastily poured it over the pegasus. It was her turn to laugh when his own mane poofed out into a red afro. The colt fell to the ground in hysterics as the adult ponies laughed at each other’s silly appearance.
“Wha happened?” Pretty Cow killed the laughter as she stood up on shaking short legs, wincing terribly at her injured side, which was already sprouting bruises. She used a hoof to wipe away the blood that had flowed over her left eye. Then, horror twisted in the slaves’ guts as she felt for her horn, and came up with only a wet spot.
“Mommy—“
“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY HORN?!?!” The mare shouted at the top of her lungs, glaring at the two other adult ponies.
“You deserved it.” Lacey replied stoically, smoothing her mane down to a manageable level with a hoof covered in her spit.
“WHAT WAS THAT?!” She shouted, screeching at an almost unheard level.
“Not like you can whip me anymore.” The unicorn floated over the whip and tucked it into her coat, only to have it plucked out by the zebra guard.
“She may not, but I can. Get back to work; I’ll take her to some professionals. Short Stuff, you’re in charge until we get back.” The zebra took out the buttons to the collars from Pretty Cow and rushed inside; the noise from inside told them she moved everything to where it should be. A few moments later, she came back and led the still enraged Pretty Cow to her caravan while the colt, Short Stuff, turned to the two ponies.
“What work?” Short Stuff asked curiously.
“I just have to plow the fields. It’ll be done in a snap with a Come-to-Life spell.” Lacey proclaimed, smiling at the gawking colt.
“Do it do it do it!!” He bounced excitedly in place. “Mommy never does any spells other than levitating things! She’s so boring, but don’t tell her I said that or I get sent to bed with no dinner. Show me pleeeeeeeeeeze!”
“Alright, alright, kid. Do you have anything to do, Sunshy?” Lacey questioned the pegasus, who shook his head.
“I just had to place the Brahmin out in the field.” The pegasus shrugged with his wings.
“GASP!” Why did the kid say gasp? “You have to watch them all or else the bad doggies will eat them all!”
“Oh horseapples!” Sunshy quickly took off, zooming close to the ground as fast as he could, not bothering to care that he left his saddle boxes behind.
With his speed, the pegasus arrived in the field of grazing Brahmin in record time. They were all peacefully minding themselves, a few chatting with each other. All was peaceful. Sunshy sighed heavily in relief as he plopped down and wiped away the sweat from the exertion of sprint-flying. He certainly wasn’t built for such things.
The pegasus stood and stared at the horizon, wishing he had better perception. Not the first time since becoming a slave, he wished dearly to have Celly back by his side. Without her, it was like he was missing half of himself. The loneliness was an almost crushing burden. He missed Zen, too, of course, but Celly was his sister of twenty years.
“Here, dairy, have these.” Daisy said as she walked over to the pony, holding a pair of binoculars by the strap in her mouth.
“Thank you. Where’d you get it?” Sunshy asked as Daisy let the binoculars slip down around his neck.
“In the farm, silly dairy. Striped not-pony makes me hold them until the pony that watches us wants ‘em.”
Sunshy nodded before lifting the binoculars to his face, letting them rest on his face and using his hooves to hold them against his eyes. He scanned the horizon and felt his gut twist upon seeing smoke to the north. Closer to them was a group of moving shadows.
Concerned, the pegasus flew closer to the north end, but hung back when his collar started beeping. The shadows turned into a group of ostriches wandering over to them. The poor things were rather confused and lost. Sunshy was so relieved that they were not dangerous that it took a few minutes to comprehend what they needed. He was more than happy to give them directions to Nchi Kavu, as they wanted to find safe nesting grounds.
The pegasus spent a few hours pacing along the borderline of where the beeping was slow and where it sped up. He stared at the smoke in the distance, checking it with the binoculars every so often. He grazed on the tasteless dry grass when he got hungry. Eventually, he stopped pacing when Lacey came over with Short Stuff, as she was finished with plowing, planting, and watering.
The group went into the mansion, given a tour by Short Stuff, who insisted to be called Shorty. They opened the front door and the two ponies gasped openly. It was so…
Rustic.
Everything was simple and plain. They had expected Pretty Cow to go all-out making her house show off her wealth. But instead, it was so…quaint.
The door opened to a hallway, in which a den was off to the left, stairs to the right, the living room further right past the stairs, and the kitchen dead ahead. Everything was made of wood that seemed to have been recycled and cobbled-together. The work was professional enough, but the one who built it all was certainly not given much to work with.
The den room seemed to be more of a work office more than anything, with papers scattered everywhere, a few metal desks lining the walls, and a terminal. It seemed keeping track of a booming food supply business was not all fun and games. Curious, Lacey floated over a few scraps of paper, but set them back down, complaining that “The math hurts my brain.”
The living room held three couches refurbished to hold only clean pieces of material. The patterns and material were so random and varied. It was as though the couches were no more than a hodgepodge of some hoity-toity artist’s worst nightmares throw-up that solidified into the shape of a couch. Times three.
A radio sat on a table where a television would normally go, and between that and the couches was a table full of children’s toys. Shorty asked them to excuse the mess and led them upstairs. Minus one pegasus. The colorful winged pony was entranced in the radio, or rather, what came from it.
”Welcome back to my show. Red Stripes has learned more things that you should know.
Let me reiterate on a few days past, a happy act that came to pass. A gray giant pony has resolved the conflict of two hundred years. Sadly, the way he did so brought many tears. Blood was shed so very much, I hope this chaos does not happen to whatever he does touch. More ponies than one can count, he does have in large amount. I am not sure as of yet, where it is he hopes to get.
Stranger news comes in a stream, I hope information; I will gleam. Our new friends from Borderlands have vanished; I do hope they were not banished. They investigated a terrible place, a stable that was long ago made into a disgrace. Here are words from the one who issued them into this race.”
“I…I feel so terrible.”It was the guard zebra, Salai. ”I sent them there, knowing it was dangerous. They didn’t have to go, but they did. I shouldn’t have…opened my damn mouth. They were just so nice that I…”*bleep* “I knew they’d check it out for me…”
“What’s worse…Brother Strong Peace came back, looking for Tall Soft Heart and he stopped to tell me all about what they investigated. Turns out they had been ambushed outside of some damn stable that grew plants. Not just any plants, too,” *bleep*“ing evil plants that kill you for a sick”*bleep*”ing joke, like the plants can laugh. I’m sorry for the swearing,” Oh, the bleeps must have been censoring out the swear words…”it’s just…I feel so responsible. Anyway, Brother Strong Peace told me that they were ambushed by some backwards tribals that went in different directions.
“He suspected that they all had meant to sell the three as slaves, but he escaped when they ran into raiders. From the directions he gave, it seemed as though Tall Soft Heart went to Oasis, but we told him we would handle that if he was. So he went north, after Soaring Brave Spirit.
“Yesterday, right after Brother Strong Peace left, one of our own returned with news that Tall Soft Heart was being held as a slave in Oasis, as I suspected. Chief Fluffy Doom was furious. He gathered his biggest magic battle saddle, but a team of guards went out first, to negotiate without the need of bloodshed. They returned with the news that he had already been sold and the slavers would not say to whom. So they stayed and Chief Fluffy Doom went to Oasis with his weapon.
“They had until high noon today to give up their information, but refused. That damn place is a crater now.” Sunshy gaped. Surely that wasn’t true? No one could…But that was his name, after all. ”Good”*bleep*”ing riddance too. That place was an eyesore, to be sure. We bought as many slaves as we could to set them free all the time, but we don’t have infinite money here. I admit, now we’ll have a harder time finding the slaves, but I’ll stay optimistic that this sends a message about how we feel about slavery. Hopefully, some a-holes looking for fast caps will think twice about selling lives.”
“And that was Salai, a swearing, but nice guy. I hope all you listeners will take a note; selling lives is not a joke. What the guard said is true, and I am not yet sure if I should be blue. Oasis is gone, done in by Chief Fluffy Doom’s brawn. Nothing is left but a crater, and not one sign of a traitor. Tall Soft Heart, the medical pony, is still lost. I have to wonder how much he cost.
Pardon me for the joke; I am merely trying to cope. The loss of a child is always sad and I only wish to once again be glad. If any of you children have something to say, do not hesitate, do not delay. Find one of my couriers, so that I will not be a worrier. I wish you all the best of luck, and I implore you to give a buck.” The Red Stripes DJ ended on laughter before cutting into a song.
“Sunshy?” Lacey asked, walking over to the pony. “Are you okay?”
The pegasus started and noticed she and Shorty were standing next to him. By their looks of concern, they had heard the news too.
“Who are all those with silly names?” Short Stuff asked with that childish cuteness.
“Tall Soft Heart is me, Brother Strong Piece is my friend Zen, and Soaring Brave Spirit is my adoptive sister, Celly.” Sunshy explained dully. He was excited that Zen was at least safe, but worried about him and his sister.
“Don’t worry, brony. From the sound of it, they’re probably out looking for you right now.” Royal Lace comforted the pegasus with a pat on his shoulder.
“I know they are. I’m sure we’ll be out of here in a few days at the most.” Sunshy smiled at the unicorn mare.
“You’re not going to leave me, are you?” Shorty asked with a quivering lip and sad eyes.
“No, no, kiddo. Come on, let’s go make some sandwiches.” Lacey smoothly lied.
The little lie did not faze the child, as he was still sad. However, he followed the mare into the kitchen with Sunshy. The unicorn mare opened the refrigerator and levitated out the scarce amount of non-meat products. Then with some bread and some unnecessary flare to entertain the child, she made three dried grass and daisy sandwiches.
When the three had finished eating, the door opened with a bang, startling all three. They all froze upon seeing Pretty Cow standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Good news, she had her horn re-grown. Bad news, she was pissed and levitated out her whip. She shrieked at the two slaves and flung her whip around haphazardly, scaring them into running past her and outside of the house.
However, as soon as Lacey made it to the door, she was held by her tail. Sunshy skidded to a stop, turned, and went to help her, but she was pulled back inside and the door slammed. The pegasus knocked on the door frantically. It opened hard and fast, throwing him back. At the door was the zebra guard, who kicked the door closed and walked over to Sunshy.
“You’d best get the Brahmin back into the barn and sleep there again. Miss Cow isn’t too happy with you two.” She warned the pony.
“What’s going to happen to Lacey?” Sunshy asked, trying not to sound scared.
“Nothing harsh, I assure you. She isn’t the one who bucked Miss Cow’s horn off. Now shoo, off with you.” The zebra used her hooves to make a shooing motion.
The pegasus reluctantly slipped on his saddle boxes before he returned to the field of Brahmin and led them inside the barn, where he made a bed in the same spot as last night. Sunshy slipped his boxes off before he lied down, a little surprised to find a few of the Brahmin lied down around him. He smiled; knowing thing would turn around soon enough for him and his new friend. With that comforting thought, he settled down to sleep.
“—tellin’ you, it’s a damn boy.”
“Who cares, the thing’s tied down. Just fuck ‘em and slit him open.”
“I ain’t no colt cuddler, you fuck.”
“Doesn’t matter, it looks girly enough.”
“Problem is, it’s a damn buck.”
“Then I’ll fuck the thing, you pussy.”
Sunshy woke groggily, feeling pain in the back of his head. He groaned at the shocking amount of pain and tried to rub the back of his head, but found his legs were restrained. Through the panic, his brain informed him that he was pinned down by ropes on his back. His legs were held far off, in a spread-eagle position.
“Fuck, we took too damn long, now he’s awake.”
“Half the fun is hearing them scream, right?”
Sunshy opened his eyes and saw the one thing he hated with all his heart.
Raiders.
The zebras were coated with blood, grime, and dirt. Their manes were chopped short and spiked, as were their tails. Their boarding was made up of spiked metal and scraps of leather. They had madness in their smiles, and the desire to see the world burn in their eyes. Though he was upside-down, so what he saw, mixed with his brain pain, made everything a little fuzzy to his head.
The Brahmin were more or less safe, Sunshy was thankful to find. They were all outside, as he could hear their braying and yelling. There were more raiders shouting at the Brahmin, and he could hear the cries of the mutated cows in pain. Okay, not safe, not safe at all.
However, he had more pressing matters right before him.
“I’ll leave you to it, Spikes.” One raider slapped the other on the butt before leaving.
“Hey there, friend. How ya feelin’?” Spikes asked with a sickening grin.
Sunshy tried to respond, but felt his mouth was too dry. His mind was working at lightning speed and yet felt sluggish. Fuck, did they drug him? He wouldn’t be surprised.
A glinting caught his eye.
“Not sayin’ anything, huh? Not surprised, that was a nasty blow we had to give ya. But we couldn’t let you wake up and wake the rest of the farm too early.” Spikes chuckled and moved around to Sunshy’s rear half. As he passed, the pegasus saw the zebra’s glyph mark were four spiked hooves, imitated what he wore around his hooves.
Cold fear paralyzed the pegasus as the zebra stamped his front hooves down on either side of Sunshy’s middle. He didn’t have to hear the previous conversation to know what this sick fuck was planning.
“Wait.” Sunshy pleading without trying to sound too scared. He hadn’t expected it, but the raider actually paused. So he grasped his chance. “You don’t wanna have…this much…fun” hold back the gag, “sober…right?”
Spikes gave the pegasus a confused and skeptical look. Sunshy put on his best poker face.
“You holdin’ out on me?” Spikes asked, taking the bait. Part of Sunshy told him he’d have to start playing poker.
“In my mane, there’s some drugs weaved in. I’m a doctor, I made them myself. Gives you one hell of a trip, to calm down panicking patients.” Shit, Sunshy was not a liar; he could hear how weak his voice and lie were.
“What? Should’ve searched you better, damn it.” Spikes moved away and over to Sunshy’s mane. Oh thank the Goddesses, he bought it. “Ahah!”
Sunshy braced himself as the zebra bit into one of the cylinders that was indeed woven into his mane. While he had expected the raider to rip it out, he instead used his spiked hoof-blade to cut it free. Then he spit it out and tore the red hair away from the cylinder containing some green concoction.
“The fuck is this?” Unsurprisingly, the zebra could not grasp the simplest of concepts.
“Push the little button on the end, other end.” Sunshy instructed. Spikes did as he was told and dropped the cylinder when a needle point popped out of one end. “Just stick it in your leg and it’ll do the rest.”
Spikes chuckled before he picked up the needle and stuck it in his front leg. The green liquid inside poured into his bloodstream automatically. The zebra made a look of pleasure, an instant response to a drug in his system, despite the true nature of the drug.
“What is this, anyway?” Spikes asked a little too late.
“Concentrated Manticore poison.” Sunshy replied with a blank visage.
“Wha—“ Spikes didn’t manage to finish his sentence.
The zebra gurgled, blood foamed at his mouth, his pupils shrunk drastically. Spikes fell onto his side, having a seizure. After inhaling as much as he could, Sunshy let out a loud shout for help. He had his eyes shut closed, so he could not see the zebra slowly dying painfully next to him. He heard the noise of his shout being drowned out by gunshots and yelling outside.
Sunshy stopped bothering to yell at that point. He turned his head away from the body and waited for the noise to stop. Eventually, the gunshots ceased and the braying of the Brahmin were the only sounds. Sunshy shouted for help once again and was rewarded by the sound of Pretty Cow shouting mixed with another shouting.
The doors to the barn were slid open with grunting force. He heard Lacey and Pretty Cow shouting as they rushed inside to his side. Pretty Cow levitated out a serrated blade and cut the ropes holding Sunshy down. Royal Lace levitated Sunshy once he was free and turned him right side up, setting him down in the rough middle of the barn, away from the corpse.
“Oh Goddesses, Sunshy, are you okay?” Lacey questioned unnecessarily.
“No he ain’t, dummy. Hey, sonny…did that scumbag waste of air…did he rape yew?” Pretty Cow asked with shocking sincerity.
Sunshy shook his head and stared blankly at the ground much like a Brahmin. Royal Lace sat down next to him and placed her hoof around his back in a one-leg hug. Pretty Cow used her magic to levitate the pegasus, but found it was too much of a strain. Lacey moved away and used her magic to help Pretty Cow lift Sunshy into the air.
The two unicorns floated the pegasus to the house, Lacey whispering comforting words to him as they walked. Pretty Cow pushed her door open. Her magic and Lacey’s magic imploded, dropping the near-comatose Sunshy to the floor. Confused, he looked up and saw their shock and disgust. So he looked forward to see why they had those expressions.
Sunshy ran out of the house and puked. Then he cried after emptying his stomach. The image was burned into his mind forever.
The zebra guard had her hooves pinned to the top of the wall in the kitchen. Her outfit had been torn off to make it easier for the raiders. Her stomach was gutted open; her organs pulled out and turned into terrifying streamers. The blood was everywhere. Her face was frozen in the expression of fear.
Sunshy cried hard as he flopped down to the ground, forcing his eyes to stay open. He saw that image whenever they were closed. But still, they closed. He just wanted this damn day to be over. Of course, the gunshots ringing inside told him that it would not end for him just yet.
It felt like hours passed before Pretty Cow walked outside to sit beside Sunshy. He figured that in that time, she had buried the guard—Goddesses, he didn’t even know her name—and kept her son from panicking. Part of Sunshy wondered how she lied her way through this mess.
“Ah’m so sorry, boy. About everything. Ah know ah didn’t treat yew the way ah should’ve, but…really, ah was scared. Ah’ve got a son and a profitable farm, see? Can’t take chances bein’ too nice ta everypony. So ah gotta be a real hardass so no one wants ta fuck with me. Ah swear ah’m not such a bitch. Will yew forgive me?”
“Only if you’ll forgive me for bucking off your horn and stomping on your side.” Sunshy told her cautiously in a quiet voice.
“‘Course ah do. Like ah said, ah was being a bitch and ah’ll be damned if ah say ah didn’t deserve it. ‘Sides, the nice doctor the next town over fixed me right up. There was no reason fer me ta use mah whip like that on yew poor folk. Ah just try to get mah reputation as a mean bitch so…well, so what just happened won’t happen. Guess it ain’t a solid plan after all, huh?” Pretty Cow had her ears lowered and tears stinging at her eyes.
“Not really. You need to know how to choose who to act mean to and who to appreciate. I know we’re just slaves, but all studies show that workers respond better to positive reinforcement. So instead of whipping Lacey for her Come to Life spell, you could have congratulated her for how efficient it was.”
“Actually, ah’m really embarrassed about all that…Ya see…ah never learned any spells other than levitating. Ah’m illiterate, see? Ah c’n read numbers just fine, but ah never learned my letters. Grew up as a farmer, and mah maw and paw said it was like teaching a Brahmin to sing: it was nice, but a luxury not worth the expense.”
“So you got jealous of Lacey?” Sunshy asked. He could not see it, but he guessed she flushed in embarrassment by the way she was positioning herself.
“Yeah…’m not proud of it. Mah temper is real short. ‘S nother reason why ah forgive ya. Always known ah have to work on mah anger, but never can. So ah blew a fuse seein’ her do something ah can’t.”
“Shorty gave us a tour of your house. When she saw the room with all the papers, she floated a few over. Then she put them right back, complaining that the math hurt her brain.” Sunshy smiled when a laugh escaped Pretty Cow. “You don’t have to be jealous just because she knows something you don’t. You know math better than her. I’m surprised you don’t have some convoluted formula for a cutie mark.”
“Well, ya gotta know how ta run a business if’n yew wanna make any money. Make sure yer not gettin’ scammed.”
“I’m really happy to know you’re not another heartless pony the wasteland corrupted.” Sunshy stated.
“Ah believe all ponies are good at heart. Just takes somethin’ to make ‘em realize it. Fer me, that was mah boy. Ah love him to death and make sure nothin’ll hurt him so long as ah’m alive.”
“What about his father?”
“Don’t got one. Ah got knocked up after too much booze in Roaming. Few months later, Short Stuff came along and ah had a new purpose in life. Before, all ah wanted was to make money and that meant stomping on a lot of good people along the way. Mah boy really softened me up.”
“What was the guard’s name?”
“Dunno, only said we could call her Miss Stripey for all she cared. Shorty did, obviously. Ah really do wish ah had learned her real name. Then again, ah never tried too hard to learn it.” Pretty Cow sighed. “The things yew wish yew had done…now that yew can’t…”
“My friend and sister are looking for me. If they come, can I go with them?” Sunshy asked cautiously. His heart was crushed when he saw Pretty Cow shake her head.
“Don’t get me wrong, boy, ah hate keepin yew two as slaves. It’s just…ah have to save money somewhere and ah only have enough to spare to keep one worker that ah can pay.” She sounded genuinely sorry.
“Have you tried offering a share of food as payment?” Sunshy offered.
“’Course ah have. Workers never take it, though. Rather have money to waste in Roaming.” Pretty Cow stamped her hoof down.
“How close are we to Roaming?”
“Good week’s walk away, ah reckon.”
“Anything to the north?”
Pretty Cow stared up at the starry sky with a full moon. She placed her hoof under her chin as she pondered, tracing out a mental map.
“A raider’s nest…then ah town that makes money as a zoo…and then the snowy mountains…maybe a few small towns scattered around.”
“I bet Celly was sent to the zoo…” Sunshy pondered.
“Who?”
“My manticore adopted sister. It’s a long story.” Sunshy waved a hoof.
“Manticore? What’s that?”
“They have the body of a lion, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion.”
“Lions, huh? They got them in the Caesar’s Legion. Yer Mantithingy might go over well with them.”
Royal Lace trotted outside, looking exhausted. Her usually well-kept mane and tail were mussed and splattered with gore. Her hat kept most of the gore out of her mane. Her prized shotgun rested in a pocket of her coat. She trotted over to the two and sat down beside Sunshy.
“I finally got out the last of the raider bodies and sent Shorty to bed. How are you holding up?” She asked Sunshy cautiously.
“Ah’ll take my leave.” Pretty Cow said as she stood and walked into her house.
“I’m fine I guess…” Sunshy responded weakly.
“No one is fine after being almost raped.” Royal Lace shot back.
“…That was the first time I ever killed anyone.” Sunshy hung his head.
“That was not anyone, that was an evil fuck who did not deserve to be alive. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“It’s not right or wrong…it’s that I took a life…” A sob escaped him, “I wanted to be the virtue of kindness. How can I, after having so much hate in my heart for these raiders? For actually killing one of them? I killed a zebra, Lacey…”
“Sunny, I’ve known you for all of two days and I know you’re the best damn holder of the Kindness virtue.” Then she did something he really should have expected.
Royal Lace leaned over and kissed Sunshy. The pegasus reacted with a violent jump back and held his hooves over his mouth. Then he saw the hurt and shock on her face and lowered his hooves.
“I…I like stallions, Lacey.” Sunshy rubbed a hoof on his opposite leg, staring at the ground awkwardly. Really, he did not have to deal with such emotional trauma so rapidly. Emotional rollercoaster, much?
“Oh…I understand. Sorry, I probably…shouldn’t have done that…I just…thought it would…I wasn’t thinking.” Lacey held her hooves over her face and shook her head.
“It…it’s okay. I just…need to sleep all this off.” Sunshy stood and walked over to the barn, letting Lacey walk back into the house.
Sunshy sighed as he led the remaining Brahmin back into the barn. Only around ten had been killed, and Sunshy felt terribly selfish to be happy that Daisy was one that survived. He knew that he would probably have to bury the dead, or worse, take their bodies to the slaughterhouse. Right now, it didn’t matter. He just wanted to sleep. So he lied down on the other end of the barn from where he usually slept. Thankfully, the body was gone. One less thing on his conscience as he slipped into his recurring nightmare.
Level up! You are now level 10!
Unarmed is at 20
Perk added! Iron Hoof: Your unarmed attacks do +5 damage, even if you’re wearing some unarmed weapon, such as spiked shoes.