The dirt road stretched on as far as Sunny could see into the rolling hills outside Maretime Bay. Sunny sighed. The rumbling wooden wheels of Sir Bastion’s prison wagon crushed the dirt below as it trudged along, two huge bulls pulling it from the front. Sunny leaned against the rickety wooden railing surrounding the wagon, feeling the chafe in her hooves from the chains she had been promised by Sir Bastion.
And Izzy?
Izzy was a teary mess. A quiet one, but teary all the same. She hugged her back hooves and rocked back and forth, her head hidden between her hooves. Sunny wished her remorseful stare could bathe Izzy in comfort, though it did nothing for the scared Unicorn. Sunny was thankful for the sunhat hiding Izzy’s horn – she dreaded the thought of Sir Bastion knowing one of his prisoners was a genuine Unicorn.
“Izzy…” Sunny whispered, quietly and then becoming louder, “Why’d you do it? Why didn’t you just leave town, like we planned? I was supposed to be the distraction!”
Izzy sniffled and raised her tear-stained face so Sunny could see. Izzy’s quivering eyes were as large as the saddest puppy eyes in Equestria. Izzy looked away.
“S-sorry… but it was… b-because…” Izzy said between sobs, “I couldn’t… I just couldn’t… watch you like that.”
Sunny cocked her head and frowned.
“Why?”
With another sniffle, Izzy wiped her snout with a hoof and continued.
“What I… mean is… you’re so… so confident… and when you talk… it makes me feel… strong…” She looked back and locked eyes with Sunny. “I couldn’t bare… to see you so beaten… you know?”
Sunny studied Izzy as she retreated into the comfort of her hooves once more. Before Sunny could open her mouth to reply, the roaring laughter of Sir Bastion erupted from the front of the wagon. Izzy yelped and buried herself even deeper into her safe space, while Sunny shot daggers at the haughty leader of the military entourage.
“My word!” Sir Bastion cried, and Sunny could see his perpetual, wide smile. He was directing his words to the bull to his left. “These creatures are quite extraordinary, are they not, Nate?”
The mentioned page sprang up to his master’s side, panting with the stress of keeping up with the entourage’s pace. Sunny saw sweat pour form underneath his bronze helmet (not as ornate as his master’s) and cake his light grey coat.
“Y-yes!” Nate replied, joining Sir Bastion in gazing at the huge brown bovine with horns. It trudged along at a lumbering trot, its partner bull beside it, stalwart eyes positioned straight ahead. Neither bull seemed phased by the huge wooden structure on wheels it was pulling. They paid no mind to the ponies looking at them.
“Pray tell,” Sir Bastion asked, in what Sunny imagined was genuine incredulity on his part, “What do we pay these beasts? Anything?”
Sunny watched Nate shake his head.
“I t-think they just get free room and board — as far as that goes, when we are talking about animals, master.”
Sir Bastion hum-laughed, loudly and smugly.
“Indeed! And they say these beasts used to be intelligent like ponies!”
Sunny pulled her attention back to her friend, who was peeking tentatively through her hooves with wide, mostly white eyes. Her pupils were shaky pinpricks. She continued to sniffle.
Seeing that, Sunny got down low so she was eyelevel with Izzy. She smiled the kind of way she remembered her mother would smile at her when she hurt herself or got bullied in school.
“Hey, little doll. It’s okay. We’re fine. Nothing’s going to happen, I won’t let it. That’s a promise!” Sunny stepped back and put her hoof to her chest. “Hoof to heart!”
Izzy just stared forward as if whatever she was looking at were a thousand miles away. Sunny nudged her with the top of her head. Izzy seemed to shake out of her fearful stupor and turn her glassy eyes toward her friend.
Sunny said one word.
“Hey.”
Izzy’s lip quivered and she leaned into Sunny with a whimper. Sunny awkwardly wrapped her in a cozy hug, not expecting the sudden intimacy, but not rejecting it either. She rested her head against the back of Izzy’s neck and smiled with closed eyes at the warm feeling.
“Did you forget about that scroll in your mane?” Sunny quietly reminded, “Just show the Protector of the Realm when we get to the castle and she’ll definitely let you go — like you said, nopony wants another incident involving all the pony races to happen.”
Izzy just sniffled quietly. Sunny rubbed her back with a hoof and continued.
“You don’t have to get involved with my stupid plan. I don’t want you to suffer because of me.”
The two mares maintained their embrace and the rocking motion of the wagon calmed both their sets of nerves. The sound of the wagon in motion, like a creaky wooden groan of despair, was oddly hypnotizing. Sunny heard whispers from behind her. The other prisoners. “Traitors of the Realm”, as Sir Bastion called them.
“What’s going to happen, do you think?” she heard one young male voice ask.
“Nuttin’ good, son. Nuttin’ good t’all,” was the response from an older stallion. “Ah heard stories. Tales for young foals, p’haps. An’ folks like us goin’ to Castle Rockhoof ain’t got a happy endin’ after them tales is told.”
Sunny felt Izzy shake as she continued to rub the Unicorn with a gentle hoof. Sunny stared straight forward with worry and swallowed hard. She closed her eyes and entered her thoughts.
Don’t forget what’s at stake. This is mom and dad’s dream — MY dream. It’s worth the risk!
Sunny opened her eyes and frowned at the cracked wooden inside of the wagon. After a minute or two, she moved her neck upward, and Izzy slowly slipped out of the embrace at the same time. Sunny could barely look over the side of the wagon and through the wooden railing.
The countryside, which she had only seen a few times in her sixteen years, was a craggy, rocky mess of grey and reddish-brown stones. Small cliffs and stoney hills were the “trees” of the Western Shield — the most barren and boring place in all Equestria, no doubt. Tufts of coarse yellow and off-green grass stuck up at places, but most of the ground was light-brown, dry dirt.
When Sunny hazarded a look over the other side of the wagon, over the heads of a few fellow traitors, she saw the sea in the distance. They weren’t too far from the coast and the salty shore.
Seeing the distant gulls created a tiny hint of a smile on Sunny’s face. A scraping sort of sound drew her gaze downward. She saw that Izzy was wearing strange contraptions on the ends of her forehooves. Long wooden needles with blunt points came out of the leather glove-like contraptions, and Izzy was using them to twirl dark green yarn around more dark green yarn from inside her seemingly bottomless saddlebags.
“Uhhhhh,” Sunny groaned in utter confusion, cocking her head. “What ARE those? And what are you doing?”
Izzy’s eyes were wide, and she fixated on her task, sniffling every so often.
“Knitting. I’m going to knit… so I won’t think about anything else.”
Sunny scrunched up her mouth and sat on her flank.
“Knit-ting? What’s that?”
Izzy replied quietly, still working diligently on her knitting.
“You loop the yarn with the needles around and around itself until it forms something. Sorry, my explanation isn’t very good.” An ever-so-tiny smile creeped onto Izzy’s face. “I like to make stuffies. My nana taught me how to knit. She always liked making clothes, but I prefer stuffies.”
Sunny watched with spinning pupils as Izzy’s needles spun around and around. Izzy’s movement looked like that of a pro, every twirl purposeful and exact. Izzy’s bottom lip quivered and Sunny looked up to see her friend’s eyes welling with tears again.
“I wish Rye Rye was here…” Izzy whimpered.
The wagon hit a large stone underneath and everypony was bounced into the air momentarily. Izzy yelped. Sunny forced a smile and stroked Izzy’s mane, unsure if her action was welcome at first. Sunny and Izzy met eyes, and Izzy also forced a smile. Sunny asked a question.
“Who is Rye Rye? You said that name before.”
Izzy’s smile transformed into an earnest one and her knitting picked up.
“Oh, Rye Rye is the family’s guardian – whenever one of us has to leave Sire’s Hollow, he comes, too. All the fam—” Izzy stopped midsentence and sucked in her lips. She shook her head and Sunny’s eyebrows curved downward.
“Izzy?”
Izzy cleared her throat and smiled again. She resumed speaking.
“Anyway, Rye Rye is my good chumchum. He really cares about me and the family. We sort of grew up together. I can tell him anything, and when someunic—”
Sunny leapt forward and corked Izzy’s mouth with her hoof. Sunny looked behing. None of the other prisoners had seemed to hear.
Sunny silently shushed Izzy and Izzy threw her hooves up to her mouth.
“Force of habit! Sorry!” Izzy whispered, her heart visibly pounding like a drum. She leaned into Sunny’s ear to finish her thoughts. “When someunicorn tries to cause us trouble on the road, Rye Rye steps in and takes care of it. I don’t like fighting.”
Izzy pulled back and Sunny smiled at her.
“You’re pretty lucky to have somepony like that as your… ‘guardian’, you said?” Izzy nodded. Sunny continued speaking quietly. “Wow, you really are royalty or something, aren’t you?! A guardian!” Sunny’s smile widened, and her eyes came alive. “Hey! You never did tell me your family’s name! You remember it now, right? What is it?”
Izzy’s pupils darted about and she sucked in her lips again. Sunny didn’t seem to notice the dodge and continued her questioning.
“Your Cutie Mark is so weird – like, in a cool way – so it must be interesting. It doesn’t have anything to do with going around and talking to ponies, so…” Sunny finally caught on to Izzy’s dismissiveness and pouted.
“Hey,” Sunny asked, “Is this you being worried still or are you keeping secrets from me?”
Izzy’s ears perked up and her mouth formed into a pearly-white smile.
“My Cutie Mark! Yeah, that’s right! It’s not about talking to ponies at all,” Izzy relaxed back against the wagon wall and closed her eyes with a contemplative hum. Sunny sat back as well next to Izzy. The Unicorn opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly opened her eyes and her brow curved. She leaned towards Sunny and whispered.
“Oops! Sorry! I almost forgot I’m telling a Unicorn story in the middle of the Dirt Realm.” Sunny frowned but didn’t press the subject, as she assumed Izzy used the derogatory term accidentally. Izzy continued, “My Cutie Mark symbolizes loving care and attention placed in the art of knitting. Long ago, my ancestor worked alongside the Gem Princess, and because of that, when the Unicorns came together as one tribe, the Gem Princess gave our family this Cutie Mark!”
Sunny blinked rapidly.
“She gave you the Cutie Mark? I heard that Cutie Marks just sort of… appear. Like, randomly.”
Izzy nodded.
“I don’t think anyuni — PONY! WAIT! I-I mean, anyearthpony…!”
Sunny bit her lip and studied the other prisoners. One of the other prisoners, perhaps the older stallion she heard earlier, did raise a bushy, white eyebrow. His wrinkled forest green form was worse than Old Man Withers. Sunny smiled sheepishly at him and he grumbled before returning to stare at nothing.
Sunny turned back to Izzy, whose hooves were up to her lips again. Izzy cleared her throat and tentatively leaned into Sunny.
“S-sorry! Only certain families get Cutie Marks now, because Unicorn magic is gone from Equestria. It passes on from generation to generation. But in the past, Cutie Marks were given to certain families for their service to the Gem Princess and the other important Unicorns. This was right after the Great Betrayal. I don’t know how Earth Ponies or Pegasi got their Cutie Marks.”
Sunny put a hoof up to her head and closed her eyes. She groaned.
“The Great… Betrayal? Is this another historical event I haven’t heard of?”
Izzy softened her expression as if looking at a sick pony.
“You really didn’t pay much attention in history class, did you?” Sunny shrugged. Izzy continued, “Well, I don’t know if Earth Ponies have the same story, but when I was growing up, I was taught that—”
A loud snore tore through the air. Sunny and Izzy peered around for the source and found Sir Bastion lying across the back of one of the bulls and sleeping. Even in his sleep he mocked those around him with an arrogant display of noise that nopony could possibly ignore. The other soldiers pretended not to notice or care, though the page, Nate, kept shooting a worried glance towards his slumbering superior.
“Ridiculous!” Sunny cried, gripping the wooden railing at the front of the wagon and closest to Sir Bastion’s snoring, heavily-breathing body. “Hey! Wake up! Are you seriously just going to sleep? Right NOW!?”
Izzy pulled at her friend’s hoof.
“Hey, uhh, maybe just let him sleep? Sorry, but I feel a lot more comfortable when he’s not awake…”
One of the soldiers approached Sunny and Izzy and tapped the railing with her spear.
“Hey! Quiet! You are lucky to not wake up the Left Hoof when he naps!”
Sunny glared at the mare soldier, and she glared back. Izzy pleaded.
“Sunny, s-stop!”
Sunny closed her eyes and plopped onto her behind with a huff, leaning against the wagon wall again.
“Fine, whatever! At least he stopped talking!”
On that que, Sir Bastion started to shout slurred words in his sleep.
“F-filthy… Unicorn… muhhh… TRAITORS… traitors to the… Realm…”
Sunny stewed and she heard some of the soldiers chuckle at their leader’s sleep talk. Izzy hurriedly began to knit her yarn creation once again while humming a tune.
Sunny closed her eyes. The wagon trudged along at its slow pace, the afternoon sun trying to keep up as it too made its way forward in the sky.
At some point, Sunny felt her body start to slide toward the back of the wagon. She opened her eyes, and indeed the other prisoners were sliding as well. Izzy was gripping the wagon wall, so Sunny did the same. She peeked over the wagon again and realized the bulls were taking the wagon up an incredibly steep hill.
The bulls, of course, took zero additional effort in climbing the massive hill, their tough, muscular hooves built for such journeys. Sunny did see, however, that the Earth Pony soldiers had lagged behind. Sir Bastion was not perturbed in the slightest by anything that was happening from his bed atop the bull, but Sunny and Izzy had to hold on tight to the railing to avoid falling out as the wagon’s angle became sharp.
The bulls reached the top of the hill and with sighs of relief the passengers in the wagon let go. Sunny scanned the wide swath of countryside on the left side of the wagon as the wooden vehicle descended the other side of the hill. With blinking realization, Sunny felt her body shift toward the front of the wagon, so her and Izzy had their faces pressed against the railing.
And behind them, the entire collection of prisoners slowly slid to the front. With a deadpan expression, Sunny felt all the Earth Pony bodies press against her. Somepony even apologised for his proximity.
As the wagon approached the bottom of the hill, Sunny managed to turn her head enough to see ahead on the dirt path. What she saw made all the other ponies gasp as they too noticed.
There were three ponies dressed in fine clothes — definitely traveling Earth Pony merchants, Sunny had no doubt — and… some other creatures.
Sunny’s heartbeat picked up. “What are those things?” she asked with her face still tight against the railing. Izzy grunted as she forced her own head to look down the dirt path. She saw the collection of creatures then produced a shrill, sharp cry.
“DIAMOND DOGS!”
The other prisoners’ ears perked up and the fear set in. A stallion screamed in Sunny’s ears and tried to scramble to the back of the wagon. Sunny was lost, trying without avail to move to see behind her but could not. The other prisoners, and Izzy, were all trying to get to the back, and eventually were able to as the bulls reached the flat terrain again.
Sunny alone stood at the front of the wagon, rubbing her sore, railing-indented face. She looked back at the terrified collection of prisoners and rose an eyebrow. She turned back toward the dirt path and scrutinized the approaching “Diamond Dog” forms as the wagon got closer.
There were three of them – one for each Earth Pony merchant on the road. The biggest of the Diamond Dogs, and the first that Sunny noticed, looked like a huge, bipedal dog with a droopy lower jaw and a fat upper maw with round cheeks that rested against the bottoms of his huge eyes. His muscles, whether the rippling biceps of his arms or his bulging leg muscles, reminded Sunny of fairy tales about monsters. He wore a simple tan vest and loose green trousers, and he was hunched over.
The other two Diamond Dogs were not as memorable, though they were muzzle to muzzle with one merchant each, and the Earth Ponies looked happy to see the wagon for a moment.
“Listen here, pony,” the largest of the Diamond Dogs said in a dumb, booming voice. The presence and volume of the Diamond Dog did not seem to bother the bulls in the least, nor did it wake the snoring Sir Bastion.
The largest Diamond Dog picked up one of the Earth Pony merchants and brought him in front of his massive canine face. “If you be good pony and show us where pony town is, then we—” The large Diamond Dog noticed the wagon. Sunny steeled herself as she heard hushed whimpering from the back.
Sunny narrowed her eyes and glared at the Diamond Dogs. She looked around and then back towards the hill – she didn’t see a single soldier. She turned back forward, and the Diamond Dogs were already trudging forward to say hello. The merchant Earth Ponies had run off.
“Ooooo,” the largest Diamond Dog cooed in a dimwitted voice, “Whole wagon of ponies. For Douggie? Douggie lucky day!”
Sunny noticed that the light-brown-furred dog creature had a star-shaped scar above his left eye. He scanned the entire wagon, then laid eyes on Sunny. She didn’t drop her glare. The two fought to maintain ocular dominance; neither won. A voice from a different Dog called out.
“More slaves! More slaves for Dog Empire!”
It was one of the smaller Diamond Dogs that had called out. The largest Dog, Douggie, broke his gaze with Sunny and looked to his companion instead. The smaller Diamond Dog, like a runty looking chihuahua, was jumping up and down and giggling.
“SHADDAP!” Douggie roared, and he smacked his yipping companion away. The third Diamond Dog, Sunny noticed, probably didn’t have many thoughts going on in his empty dalmatian head.
Sunny snapped.
“Hey! That was pretty mean! What way is that to treat your friend?”
Douggie’s head swiveled back toward Sunny and the Earth Pony noticed that his left eye was larger than his right. He snarled.
“He not my friend, slave! He just runt! You worse than runt; you be HIS slave soon! You shaddap too!”
Sunny shot back.
“Yeah right! That won’t happen, you big weird overgrown bulldog!”
Douggie stood in front of the bulls and they came to a stop noticing that something large blocked their path. Douggie looked into their eyes and grunted. The bulls started to sweat and Sunny noticed that their eyes looked fear struck. Douggie cocked his head and Sunny realized he had spotted Sir Bastion.
“Who dis pony? Weird pony who naps on cow.”
Douggie picked up Sir Bastion effortlessly, and Sunny felt a mix of joy and sorrow watching him get ponyhandled. Douggie had Sir Bastion in one big paw and was staring with deep focus. Finally, the Knight of the Realm opened his eyes to a rude awakening.
“What th — DISGUSTING! A MUTT BRAIN!”
Sunny watched as Douggie’s eyes widened and he cried out in pain as Sir Bastion forced his huge fist open and escaped with seemingly little effort. Sir Bastion made noises of disgust as he landed on his hooves and Douggie tried to wave away the pain in his hand.
“Utterly detestable! Despicable mongrel!” Sir Bastion cursed. “How dare you touch this armor with those furry sausages! Now it will have to be washed ten times VIGOROUSLY by my page! I hope you’re happy!”
The soldiers, including Nate, arrived, and Sunny figured Nate must have heard what his master said as he groaned with annoyance. The soldiers stood back from the altercation, but Sunny saw no fear in their eyes. They looked excited and expectant. The smaller Diamond Dogs were standing behind Douggie and glaring. Douggie roared.
“Me no care about pony troubles! Me take slaves now!”
Douggie reached down toward Sir Bastion and the Knight simply leapt out of the way. Sunny couldn’t believe that despite the situation, he was still smiling wide.
“Hah! Slaves, you say?” Sir Bastion said with a laugh. “What an interesting idea! You overpowering ME and taking us all as your slaves!”
Sir Bastion tossed his head back and laughed much like he did, pompously, back in Maretime Bay. Even in the situation, Sunny couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Izzy had crept over, shaking like a wet cat, and peeked over the edge of the wagon to see what was happening.
Once Sir Bastion was content that he had laughed enough, he shook his head.
“How about a challenge, mutt?” he asked Douggie, who had pulled back a bit out of a mix of surprise and fear when Sir Bastion began his fit of laughter. The large Dog stared blankly at Sir Bastion, who continued.
“I’ll let you hit me one hundred times, as hard as you can, right in my face. And if you make me move EVEN one inch, you can take us all back to your little mutt country and make us your slaves” — Sir Bastion put his hoof to his heart, closed his eyes, and smiled just a little wider — “Knight’s honor!”
Every single pony, even the soldiers who seemed to support Sir Bastion, gasped. Sunny couldn’t believe what she heard, her eyes darting between Douggie and the obviously insane Earth Pony Knight.
“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND YOU’LL DIE!” Sunny screamed. Sir Bastion didn’t look at her, but Sunny saw the gleam in his smile before he replied.
“If this big dumb mutt could kill me, I’d have died a hundred times before from the far worse things I endured. Just stand in there and watch!” Sir Bastion roared with laughter again. “Not that you can leave anyway, Sunny Starscout! Hah!”
Sunny went from actually being worried about Sir Bastion to hating his guts again. Douggie stepped forward, casting a shadow down over the stallion who usually casted shadows over others. Douggie chuckled a slow-brained chuckle.
“Fine, me turn you into pudding, then me take slaves. You too talky to be good slave anyway.”
Douggie swung one hammer-like fist behind his back. Sunny covered her eyes as she heard the dire “woosh” of him swinging forward. A blunt “thud” made it obvious to Sunny that the punch connected. She dared to look.
Sir Bastion did not seem to have moved. She still saw his smile. Douggie rose a fat eyebrow.
“What dis trick? Move!”
Douggie did the same as before and swung back then swiftly swung forward. Sunny swore she caught some wind from the sheer power of the swing. But when it again connected with Sir Bastion’s face with its dull “thud”, the Knight of the Realm didn’t budge. And his smile did not drop.
Douggie’s face reddened and he frothed at the mouth.
“STOP! ME HITTING HARD! WHY NO MOVE?!”
Again and again and again he swung. Sunny was in awe. 5… 10… 15… 20 hits connected. Sir Bastion, through it all, stood like the statue of Rockhoof.
Between what turned into a flurry of punches, Douggie snarled madly.
“DO YOU KNOW WHO ME IS? ME BIG SHOT! ME BIG TIME DOG! LEARN PLACE, PONY!”
Sir Bastion’s unwavering smile didn’t even twitch, from what Sunny could see. The stallion’s hard features barely moved as the flurry of dog fists pounded away. Douggie’s fat cheeks wobbled intensely as his entire body shifted with each rapid punch. The sheer force of each attack made Sunny cringe. If she had taken just one of those hits… well, she definitely wouldn’t be standing. For that matter, neither would most of the structures in Maretime Bay…
Sunny figured she had wandered into an old pony’s tale. What was that day she was even having? First, she was being told a whole load of nonsense by Old Man Withers (which she still didn’t completely believe), and the next thing she knew a giant dog man was wailing on an Earth Pony stallion covered in heavy bronze armor as if it were all just a foal’s game.
Eventually, Douggie got tired. He let his tree-trunk arms fall to his sides and caught his breath with heaves of his massive chest. Sweat poured down from his forehead. Sir Bastion didn’t move a muscle, save an entire inch.
Sunny scanned Bastion’s grinning face. It was definitely roughed up in spots, and there were cuts, bruises, and patches of red. But Bastion continued smiling. Eventually he ever-so-slightly shifted his body so that all four hooves splayed out further and he assumed an aggressive stance.
“That was your one hundred hits,” Bastion said clearly and loudly. Douggie continued to catch his breath. Every other creature was holding his or hers.
Suddenly, Sunny saw just a momentary flash of rage on Bastion’s face. He swiveled himself around on his forehooves and aligned his backhooves with Douggie’s face. Bastion contracted his backhoof muscles into his midsection and, without ritual or warning, he bucked Douggie’s face. It was like a cannon blast, and Sunny definitely felt the rush of air blow her back slightly.
The crunch of Sir Bastion’s hooves connecting with the Diamond Dog’s immense visage made Sunny physically cringe. The buck sent Douggie skyward like the fastest flying fish Sunny had ever seen. It was as if Douggie was just a basehoofball, and Bastion a home-run-hitter. The two smaller Diamond Dogs watched with unhinged jaws as their superior rapidly became a tumbling speck in the distance.
Bastion, without even breaking a sweat, continued smiling and chuckled.
“Do I know you are?” He answered the then-departed Dog in a mocking tone. “Who cares who you are, mutt?”
The soldiers were quick to cheer and call out to the Left Hoof. They vigorously chased away the smaller Diamond Dogs, who ran off like scared rabbits without their big boss to back them up. Izzy was fully upright and a strange, shocked noise escaped her open mouth as if her brain had misfired. Sunny didn’t think she’d ever be able to close her mouth again.
“Now,” Bastion asked his trusty page, Nate.
“When shall we reach the River Crossroads?”