Mr. Burr looked out at the wonders of his work once again. The sun shined down on the fields where many diligently harvested the grains. Several of the guards were situated under the canopy of the trees, some on horseback while others stood with a watchful eye scanning their surroundings. Mr. Burr saw all of this and smiled, his eyes grazing over the bushels being hauled into the barns. However, as he saw those slaves of his, he felt his lips sag. He didn’t know why, nor could he even come up with a reason as to why. There wasn’t anything wrong with the picture in his mind. It was a scene of production.
But there was this noise in his head, like someone hammering a nail into his skull. And that noise reminded him, and gave him a sense of dread. Was there anything wrong with the picture?
Was there?
Mr. Burr blinked.
“Master?”
The word echoed in his ear drums, drowning out that construction in his mind. He turned away from his plantation to find the source, only for his eyes to land on the two he had been waiting for. It made those lips of his curl right back up, forming into a warm smile. However, Mr. Burr noticed as Dyson and Sable walked up to him that they chose to stick a bit of distance between them and him. They also looked on, giving him what Mr. Burr sensed were hesitant smiles. They were forced, and Mr. Burr didn’t like it, but he knew why. So he said nothing, and chose to give them both a nod before he adjusted his cap.
“Well, we better be off. The Post can get a bit… filled, if we don’t get a move on,” Mr. Burr stated. He beckoned them closer, which they did, if Mr. Burr defined closer as a couple of footsteps. Mr. Burr mentally shrugged, as he sighed and turned to the stairs. It was time to take the first steps down them, ever since the last attempt went so well.
Slowly, Mr. Burr progressed to the first step. He kept himself close to the railing, his arm looped around it just in case if he felt a bit woozy and needed some support. His legs felt wobbly as he lifted his right leg up and planted it down on the step below.
His foot found purchase, which followed by the second swiftly meeting its side. Unfortunately for Mr. Burr, that sudden adjustment cost him to slip, his arm being flung upwards into the air.
Mr. Burr gasped, watching as his hat fell to the ground, while he, on the other hand, stayed somewhat upright due to a familiar pressure which held him there. That same pressure slowly pushed him upright, before holding him still.
“Uh… Master?”
“Yes?” Mr. Burr said through his now shaky, raspy voice.
“You don’t suppose we could help keep ya steady?”
With a grunt, Mr. Burr was now propped up against the railing, his gaze trying to focus on Dyson, who stood like a giant in front of him. “And what do you mean by that, Dyson?”
Dyson appeared as if he was about to open his mouth, but Sable had nudged his side and scooted in front of Mr. Burr’s view with a smirk. “Massa I think he means to help keep ya up when you’re movin’ down them steps.”
Mr. Burr felt his eyes roll onto the stairs as they looked more and more like a mirage.
The man gulped. “Uh… yes, I see what you mean.” He coughed. “I’d much appreciate it if you both helped me down the stairs. Could one of you fetch my hat?”
The two settled into their roles: Dyson stood on the left of Mr. Burr, making sure to keep close, while Sable stood on his right, who carefully swooped in to place that cap of his on his head, while nestling near his arm. Mr. Burr felt his cheeks boil at what the scene looked like from another view: two slaves were pressing up against a slave owner like they owned him. He felt like he was breaking a law somewhere in Mississippi, yet he knew, somewhat, with confidence in his guards, that no one would report him if there was one.
As they descended down the stairs, a couple of guards spotted the three and approached them. The first was one that Mr. Burr knew well. He had hired the tall husky white boy after his father had decided the boy was not exactly well-behaved enough. Mr. Burr had struck a deal for him to become part of his plantation’s hired hands, something that the father steadfastly agreed to. The boy has since stuck around, usually keeping to himself and out of trouble. However, lately, Mr. Burr had observed the boy’s mannerisms. They had gotten worse as of late through a bad habit that the boy picked up from one of the other guards. One that involved harming some of the slaves.
Mr. Burr wasn’t too happy with that.
The other was a shorter, more skinny boy with big brown eyes. He was a very quiet one, one that was wanting to find some work for a nice salary. Luckily, Mr. Burr found him before any of the other owners could get a hold of him. He was a nice kid. Why was he walking around with this man?
“Say, Mr. Burr? Why’re these Negros helpin’ you down the stairs?” the husky one asked, his blue eyes burning fiercely at the two slaves in front of him.
Mr. Burr saw that and matched his glare in kind. “Because I’m still ailed by this disease, Alston.”
Alston rolled his eyes. “You could’ve just asked one of us to help you, sir.”
“Right, and how would I have gotten your attention?”
Mr. Burr’s voice, raspy as it was from his ailment, most likely made Alston more curious, if his exaggerated head-tilt was anything to decipher. “Aren’t we obligated to come check in on you once in a while?”
“Yes, a once in a while,” Mr. Burr replied sternly. He shifted his arms, hoping that the slaves next to him would get the gesture, before he took a step down the stairs. With a grunt, he continued on, one step at the time, while he kept speaking to Alston, his eyes never leaving him. “And that while tends to be later and later as the days have progressed. Although I have not conversed with you nor the rest of the guards on the matter, I am willing to confine myself with all of you to discuss it later, but—ergh,” Mr. Burr growled as he landed on the final step with a less than gracious hop. Mr. Burr carefully dusted himself off, before he smiled at his two slaves. “I have more important business to attend to, and these two are willing to help me carry out my duties.”
Alston sneered at the two slaves, while the other, more soft-spoken guard kept himself quiet, his eyes doing all the talking as they darted between Alston and Mr. Burr.
With a smile still plastered on his face, Mr. Burr addressed the second guard. “Henry.”
The one blinked himself back into his own stupor, which made him sputter out a reply, “Y-Yes, sir?”
“Come with me. I require your assistance today.”
“Aye, s-sir!” Henry said, before scurrying over to his side.
Alston looked gobsmacked as the four began to walk on by him. “What about me, sir?”
“Keep an eye on the rest of the plantation for me, Alston. And let the others know that we must talk in due time.”
“Very well, sir,” Alston said, bowing his head. He gave Mr. Burr a cock-eyed smirk. “We’ll make sure they ain’t runnin’ off while you’re gone.”
Mr. Burr and his company walked down to the edge of the street before the slave owner paused, and let out a shudder-y sigh.
Dyson was first to his side. “M-Master?”
Mr. Burr brushed him off and shook his head. “Nothing to worry about, Dyson. Just trying to make sure I don’t lose my breath in this heat.” He panted and wiped his brow. “Well, we better press on, shall we?”
The three nodded, even if one did not know of what was to come.
And neither did Mr. Burr, even though he had the letter slipped into his pocket, neatly folded to conceal his next move.
The walk over wasn’t as bad as Mr. Burr had imagined. Truly he was parched as they had strolled into town, but the thirst he desired would have to drink in the limelight of Ripley first. He kept his company close as they navigated through the town’s small center. Unlike most days where the town center wasn’t bustling, today was filled with many men. They were unlike the townsfolk, dressed in grey from top to bottom. Each man held a musket in his hand, perched on his shoulder as they marched through the town. Mr. Burr recognized a few and was willing to watch as the men walked by, much to the chagrin of his own company, who waited patiently for Mr. Burr to stop sharing his pleasantries with the men. The slaves had kept their distance, both from the scene they were witnessing and their guard, who was glaring at them with intent.
Mr. Burr smiled as he wished a man well. It was a young boy he had known from another plantation, now going to serve in the army. There were actually a couple just like him, and Mr. Burr was proud.
It was a tight knit community after all.
When the march had slowly dwindled, Mr. Burr walked back over to his company and adjusted his collar. “Sorry about that. A few of the men in that company had called me over and I had to indulge them. I hope they do return from battle unscathed.”
Dyson and Sable nodded, while the guard stood still.
Mr. Burr gave the three a smile. “Shall we continue? The Post is only a short walk now.”
The three gave him a stern yet simultaneously affirmative, one that made the three of them look at each other. Henry had looked away first, sighing as he adjusted his stetson too. He turned to Mr. Burr and asked, “Think ya need me to accompany you inside?”
“No,” Mr. Burr replied with a quick shake of his head. “Brought you along to keep watch of Dyson and Sable here. Thought it would be wise to have them out to see the town.”
The two were silent on the matter, and Mr. Burr knew why.
He sighed. “You know, you two don’t have to be afraid to speak.”
Sable blinked like an owl in a tree. “Ya sure, Massa? I don’t want to be a bother.”
“Neither do I, Master,” Dyson echoed. Mr. Burr felt the shake in the boy’s voice, which made him feel like maybe, just maybe, this may have been a mistake. “Don’t want no trouble with the rest of ‘em.”
Mr. Burr cleared his throat. “That’s fair. Just don’t give them a reason to and you’ll be fine.”
As Mr. Burr turned around, he felt that all eyes were suddenly on him. He felt like a rifle was being pointed at him from the trees on the edge of town, and each step made him more weary of the next. Yet, as he and his company finally made it to the front of the Post, he realized that there was nothing to be worried about. Nothing at all.
He turned to address his company. “Don’t worry, it’ll only be a moment. Just have to get something sent out of town.”
With that, he turned and opened the door to Ripley’s Post, a small yet tall white building. Without any hesitation, he slid into the building, leaving Dyson and Sable with the hired hand.
Henry stood still for a moment, sparing a glance at the two slaves, before he shook his head. He walked past them and sat on the bench near the entrance to the Post.
Dyson and Sable both huddled up near the guard, but instead of sitting down they stood still, neither trying to get comfortable when there were watchful eyes aplenty.
Henry clicked his boot against the bench, before he looked at the two and sighed. “Pretty nice out, ain’t it?”
Neither replied.
Henry let out a brief snort. “I’d never thought I’d see the day that Mr. Burr would take a couple slaves into town.” He spared them another glance. “Heard from the other guards he ain’t huge on taking slaves to town.. You two better be thankful.”
Dyson turned to look at the guard, but Sable glared at him, which made him slink back beside her.
“Why are you both so quiet? I ain’t tryin’ to get ya in trouble. I just want to… understand somethin’.”
That got both of them looking at him this time. “And what’s that, sir?”
The question looked like music to Henry’s ears as he gave Sable a good look down. “I’m just tryin’ to get why he valuin’ you two the most out of the entire plantation.”
Dyson’s eyes widened. Sable tilted her head. “Ya think so?”
Henry whistled and leaned back in his seat. “Oh I know so. It’s what everybody hears nowadays. Dyson this, and Sable that. It’s interestin’ that he’s got you two on his mind a lot. Is there somethin’ I don’t know about?”
Sable and Dyson both parrotted each other. “No, sir.”
“Really...” Henry said. He hummed softly to himself before he continued, “Nothin’ at all?”
Dead silence was all he got. The silence contrasted the commotion around them, as people walked in and around the town’s center, some watching the troops continue to traverse through the town, while others were going about their day.
Henry sighed. “Guess there ain't anythin’ going on with you three then.”
The two slaves stood still as if they were frozen to the spot, while Henry took a sidelong glance at them, before peering down the road.
Nothing else was said. The only noise that they heard were the sounds of a drum playing to a steady rhythm.
Walking down a hallway never felt like this. There was always an end to it, and yet here I am holding a torch to lighten up our path, and it feels like we’re just walking in place, unable to get any further in the cave. I looked over to Dash, who had been kinda quiet lately. She barely muttered a word, which was such a different thing to see compared to when we were outside. She was always ahead of me, seeing what was on the next ledge, wondering if there was a cave where we stopped for a rest. She was now silent, her hoofsteps mirroring my footsteps, and I wondered if she was quiet because there was nothing to say, or if she was, possibly, losing hope.
Yet again, I didn’t know how horses thought. I only knew what I knew.
“So,” I muttered. My eyes weren’t on her anymore. Instead, I was looking away, hoping that it would invite her to look my way.
I could feel her gaze on my face as she spoke, “Something wrong?”
I turned to her and gave her a soft smile. “Nope. Just makin’ sure you’re here, Dash. Ya kinda…”
“Went quiet?” Dash asked. I nodded, rubbing the back of my head with my free hand. She rolled her eyes. “You thought I could keep talking, right?”
I let out a chuckle, one that I rarely used because if I did, I would’ve gotten an ear full from my mother. It was awkward, a sign of ‘weakness’ in her eyes. And I got that, but I’m not at home right now. I’m somewhere else.
Somewhere with a horse that nearly sneered at me for all that nonsense. “Pfft, what do you think, I don’t have an off switch?”
“An off switch?” I asked with an eyebrow hopefully raised high enough for her to notice.
She must’ve, as she nudged me with a hoof. “Y’know what I mean? It’s like a button that you press and it turns something on and off.”
I shook my head before my eyes widened. I know what she meant! “So, like one of those lamps?”
“Yeah! You know, the ones with the lightbulbs that grow really bright when you flick them on!”
I blinked once. Then I blinked again. The image she had given me was completely different than what I thought a lamp was. There’s a difference between some type of onion being set aflame, and a fire being flicked on in a clear bowl. Then again, this was a different world, so maybe they were into lighting onions on fire.
I shook my head. “Not at all. I was thinkin’ a little smaller, like one of those where you turn it and the flame pops up.”
Rainbow Dash stared at me before she tilted her head. “You have lamps like that?”
“Of course, Dash. What did ya expect?”
The mare shook her head, messing up her mane a bit. “I keep forgetting you’re not from around here, Dyson. And that’s weird, because you’re… you, while I’m just a pony.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, letting my free hand shift into what remained of my pocket. I waved the torch further ahead of us, only to be welcomed by the darkness. The flames slowly ate it up as we walked further and further down the cave.
Then, I heard her voice rattle in my ears. “Dyson?”
I looked down at her. “Something wrong, Dash?”
“Is it just me, or has the path gotten… narrower?”
I looked closely at the sides of the walls. She was right. I don’t think I was getting to the point that I was bumping into her a bit, something that I hope she wasn’t angry about. “Yeah, it’s closin’ in on us a bit.”
I watched her take a deep breath, before she turned to give me a smile. “Hopefully it won’t be a dead end or something, right?”
“Hope not,” I replied. I squinted my eyes a bit, just to see if there was something ahead of us that could be a sign, maybe of anything other than this, but nothing was showing up. Only darkness.
We kept walking for a while, until the passage was nearly too narrow for both of us to go down. I could always feel her side brush up against mine. I tended to ignore it though, it wasn’t her fault things were like this. It was mine. I let go. I made us fall down. It was my fault.
“Dyson, look!”
The gasp from Rainbow Dash made me squint ahead again. Then I gasped too, as we came up to a sudden change of pace. The passage suddenly widened, and there in front of us, was a channel, one that split off into two passages.
“Huh. Looks like you were right, Dash.”
My mumbles earned me a swift clip-clop stomp on the ground from Rainbow Dash. She glared at me while letting out a huff. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothin’!” I quickly fired out, looking away from her to see these paths. I walked up to both and took a look at both of them separately. The one to the left immediately curved to the left, while the one on the right kept going straight. For how long it would be was something I wasn’t wanting to find out.
I turned and looked at Rainbow Dash, who was currently sitting on her flanks, staring at me with a bit of a head tilt. Her ears were standing at attention, while her eyes were wide. I raised a brow. “What?”
The mare shook her head. “Sorry, I was spacing out a bit.” She got off said flanks and walked over towards me, taking a peek down the one on the left. “Whoa. So this one goes immediately to our left, while the other one…”
“Goes straight on, Dash,” I said flatly, my tone more gravely than the grains we were standing on.
Her ears had sagged, flopping against the back of her skull. “Well, what should we do?”
“I don’t know. We could go down either one.”
Rainbow Dash snorted at my reply. Not sure why. Seemed pretty sound, but she rolled her hoof in my direction with a smirk on her face. “Why don’t we just go down one of them to see what's down it?”
She pointed her hoof at the one on the left, which I took as her actually wanting to go down it. “So ya want to go down here?”
She shook her head at me. “No, Dyson. I’m just saying that we could down either one to see where it leads, y’know?”
“Right…” I said, which brought us back to our little issue, one that involved us maybe, just maybe, having to grasp at straws again.
Just when I was about to open my mouth to do that thing again, I remembered something. It was a long time ago, long before Master had brought on those new guards. Actually, long before even Leo had gotten on the plantation. See, my mother and I were real close. And when I mean real close, we were real close. She kept me at her hip whenever the guards came out, and she was set on making sure I wasn’t blamed for anything. She always would take the hit if need be, and it made Master a little bit agitated at her.
One day, I did something a bit stupid. I took a blanket from inside the plantation and put it in the barn where all of us slaves slept. Master wasn’t too happy about that. He didn’t know I took it, but he did know someone did. She was really wanting me to take the blanket I got from the living room and put it back where I found it, but Master had gotten riled up about it, said he would be not too happy if it just cropped up without someone ‘fessing up’. Since I was too young, my mother wanted me to see how it would possibly feel. So, she took the blame.
And that was when I became afraid of doing things like that.
My mother came back to us later in the day. She looked a little rattled, and I asked her what happened. She said she fell down the stairs, but I couldn’t believe that. She was great at moving around. Ever since that time, she started moving a little slower. I found out why.
She had pulled me aside that night to talk. She told me not to do that again, while also telling me something that she wanted to tell me for ages:
“Now, listen here, Dyson. And ya listen good!” my mother had said, her words echoing in my mind. The angry whisper had continued, “Ya better not do that again. That ain’t yours for you to use, so don’t go ‘round thinkin’ you own the place.”
I remembered what I said back then. Something along the lines of: “But momma I—”
“None of that, Dyson!” she had interrupted me with. “I’m tellin’ you ya better be thinkin’ next time ya try to take somethin’. Ya better be thinkin’ about you, and thinkin’ about us.” She had glared at me fiercely, one that had burned this moment in my mind. “We have only a sliver of choice, it’s up to ya to make the right one.” She had smiled at me back then, her teeth looking more rotten the more I imagined them— “There’s no tellin’ what they do to ya when they catch ya. And I wanna show ya what they did.”
She had then turned around and showed me. I could never forget those scars. I don’t know why Master had done that to her back then, but I do now. I took something that was precious to him, something I didn’t know at all. Even so, I shouldn’t have taken something. I should’ve thought. It was my fault she got those scars. It was my fault.
I shook my head and looked at Rainbow Dash. “We don’t need somethin’ to help us figure this out. Let’s just go down one and get this over with.”
I could feel Rainbow Dash’s gaze settle on the back of my head as I passed, something which made her scramble to her hooves. “W-Wait, where are you going?”
“Well since ya looked left, we’re goin’ left!” I replied, my voice booming in the tunnel. She shook her head at me, making me stand still, frozen in place. When we heard nothing but the echo’s soft fade out of existence, we both collectively sighed.
Then, she spoke. “We should probably keep quiet. Don’t want to wake up a cave eel or something.”
I nodded and pressed on, but not without something that nearly made me jump out of my skin. Rainbow Dash had trotted up from behind me, suddenly hopping in front of me with a smile on her face.
“Did I scare you?” Rainbow Dash asked, craning her head at me.
“Kinda,” I replied, which got her to let out a little chuckle.
I rolled my eyes as we both fell into silence. All there was was the sound of our hooves and feet hitting the ground again. Slowly, Rainbow Dash fell back into line, favoring to stay by my side again. It was a bit unlike her, but ever since we’ve been down here, she’s been a little bit more comfortable walking up beside me. Still, I took a peek out of the corner of my eye to see if she was okay, and she seemed to be, if those lips on her muzzle slightly curling upward was anything. So maybe she was fine.
Either way, we kept on going, even if it meant having to walk until we saw a light.
Some time had passed. I don’t know how long, since there’s no sun to tell us what time it was, but I knew one thing was for sure: she and I haven't talked in a little. Granted, there wasn’t much to talk about without trying to force something out of thin air. I mean, we’re surrounded by grey grains all around us, some even darker than the others, but there wasn’t much else. It was pretty hard to breathe down here too, something that both her and I were very aware of. So maybe us not talking was keeping enough air for us to breathe.
I waved the torch around again. There really wasn’t much down here at all. And it felt like it was getting really hard to see anything now.
I felt Rainbow Dash rub up against my side. Looking down, I saw her eyes latch onto mine. She gave me another happy smile, but this one felt a little bit more forced. It’s obvious as to why.
“Ya need to rest?”
Rainbow Dash blinked, and her brows furrowed. “What? Why?”
“Nothin’, just thought we might need to rest.”
The pony shook her head. “And sleep in a cave like this that doesn’t have a way out?”
I blinked. “Uh…”
“Look, we need to keep going. There’s gotta be something up ahead that’ll help us out.”
“Why do ya say that—”
Suddenly, the ceiling above us gave way, and I don’t mean that it fell on top of us. It just stopped existing. Darkness bound above, and the wall went higher, higher than either of us could see easily.
“Told ya,” she said proudly, puffing her chest out. “Always go with your gut!”
I saw that smirk on her face. It was very, very smug, one that I rolled my eyes at and waved the torch around. “Keep havin’ that gut feelin’ then.”
“Will do,” she said with a mock salute before falling in line beside me. We walked around this cavern, making sure to keep ‘extra quiet’ to make sure no one else knew we were here. Thankfully, this particular cavern was vacant, save for a few extra rocks that we hadn’t seen before. Some were jutting out from the ceiling, while others were coming up from the ground. They were very pointy and long, and they weren’t exactly inviting.
“Dyson, look at that!”
“At what?” I said, turning around to see what she was staring at. The mare had her hoof pointed up towards this platform above us, one that had another route to go down.
Yet another cave or tunnel?
“Ya want to go up there?” I asked.
“That’s the only thing that looks like a tunnel of some kind! It’s the only option we got.”
I frowned. “Well let’s get a little closer to see how to get up there.”
We walked closer to this ledge where it was situated. Unlike scaling the side of Ghastly Gorge, this looked much easier to handle. In fact, she didn’t even have to latch onto my back. It was like this had been made easier for us, save for a couple of little platforms that I assume Dash would have to try and hop up. Should be easy for her though, even in the state she was in.
“Looks like we’re gonna have to walk up a few of these ledges before we’re up there.”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Don’t worry, this looks way easier than what you were doing earlier.”
“That was what I was thinkin’,” I said, before clearing my throat.
She laughed softly to herself which was odd, since I didn’t think I said anything funny. Yet, here she was, clutching at her chest as she laughed to her heart’s content. Her laughter eventually died down, but she hadn’t noticed what I had done. I smirked as I watched her head dart around, searching for me. She hadn’t noticed that I had already started hopping up the platforms, which made me stifle a chuckle from where I was standing.
Unfortunately, she heard that, and saw where I was standing. “What, how did you…?”
“Get up here?” I asked. She dumbly nodded at me, which made me almost burst into laughter. “You were too busy laughin’ to notice.”
That got her a little bit irritated. She growled at me before she started to hop up to where I was. I watched as even though she was slightly angry, she still took her time, being extra careful with her wing. I knew Rainbow Dash didn’t want to injure herself again, let alone make that wing of hers worse.
I stopped and waited for her to catch up. I wasn’t waiting to meet my maker, but rather I was worried, since this next ledge was higher up than I thought. I could still probably leap and pull myself up, but for her, it would’ve been nearly impossible. So I watched as she kept on hopping up towards me, eventually settling right beside me with a huff, panting all the while.
“Outta shape?”
“Shut. Up,” Rainbow Dash breathed out, which made me chuckle. “Anyway, why did you wait for me?”
I bent down a bit, which I hope she realized was me asking her to get on my back. “Gotta get you up there somehow. This the only way I could think of—urgh!”
She hopped on without saying anything, which completely caught me off guard. She nearly wrung my neck with how she latched onto me, making me wince when she realized her nearly fatal error.
“Sorry!” she yelped out.
“Not a problem,” I replied weakly.
I propped my torch up against the wall of the cavern and leapt up. It was definitely a much easier jump, one that felt practically effortless as I pulled us up to safety. The mare slowly got off my back and onto her hooves. She turned around and craned her head over the ledge from which we came.
“Huh, we were way higher than I thought.”
I turned around and looked down the same ledge. The flames danced at the spot where I left the torch, and I realized that maybe I need to hop down just to get it.
So I did just that. With a bit of effort, I was able to retrieve the torch and hop right back up to her. That whole talk about it being higher up was just talk. She just made it out to be higher than it was. Maybe it was because she was a pony or something. Whatever the reason was didn’t matter. All I knew was that we were up here in one piece, and that the entire, little hopping-between-dried-up platforms adventure was enough for us to take a few moments to breathe.
After we relaxed a bit, it was time to get up and head through the tunnel that Rainbow Dash had pointed out. Thankfully, she was right once again as I waved the fire over the entrance of the tunnel. Peering into it, I gasped, and smiled. It was going straight back to where we came! And it was going even further up.
“Dash, this is great. It’s goin’ back the way we came!”
Rainbow Dash smirked. “You can thank me later once we’re out of here, big guy.”
I was about to say something about ‘thanking her’ when I realized what she called me, which made me raise a brow at her. “Big guy?”
Rainbow Dash’s smirk fell off her face. She blinked once, then twice, then three times before she looked flushed in her cheeks. “Uhh, let’s not talk about that.”
I shrugged. Not sure what that nickname was about. All I knew was that this could lead us to a way out of here. If it wasn’t then we’ll find another way out. There’s no way this cave was going to keep us here.
I took a deep breath and stepped into the new tunnel with Rainbow Dash in tow.