//------------------------------// // Act I – Slaves – Chapter 4 // Story: Sunset in the gods // by red-sun //------------------------------// Sunset, Applejack, Big Mac, Shining, Flash and Maud were in a cage in the middle of the mine, around thousands of slaves watching, in front of the cage there was a stone wall and above there was a terrace where Filthy Rich and his daughter Diamond Tiara watched them. Filthy began to speak. "Two nights ago one of my foremen was murdered!" His shout echoed loud enough for many of the slaves to hear. "And not only that! They told me that the ones who killed him were children!” He looked at the prisoner's cage: "How do you plead?!" Sunset gets up from the ground to answer. “We plead guilty sir!” "Listen up everyone, the defendants will lay themselves guilty!" Filthy sighs in disappointment, as if he had wanted more resistance. “Slaves like these would only sow discord in the mines, so he sentenced them to have their throats cut and use their bodies to feed the beasts!” “You can't do that! it would be unfair!” Filthy didn't expect Sunset to say that after admitting his guilt. "Why would you say it's unfair?! I manage these mines! I decide what is fair or not!” “Old Brother was a terrible foreman! He didn't share the food evenly! He mistreated some slaves! He gave privileges to other slaves in exchange for them being his personal gang! Things like that were not only unfair but also affected job performance! It was obvious that someone would end up killing him for it!” Filthy didn't like the way Sunset responded. Just when he was going to order the execution. A slave is heard screaming. "it is true!" "Because of Old Brother some of us haven't eaten in days!" yells another slave. “The foreman lied about the amount of production to make us work more!” "The foreman deserved what happened to him!" Filthy noticed how all the slaves began to complain about how Old Brother treated them. He then raises his arms to tell the slaves to be silent. "Given the recent information given, the death penalty has been reversed!" Screams of joy from the slaves are heard. “However, there is still the fact that one of my foremen was murdered! Each of you will have a limb cut off and…!” "This is so boring!" Diamond Tiara interrupted his father's sentence. "Daddy, why don't we make this more fun?" Filthy put on a happier face in front of her daughter. “Of course my little girl. what do you suggest?” Diamond whispers in his father's ear. "Alright, we'll do that." He gets serious to give another announcement. “I have decided to give you another option to the science, a week ago we received a group of Diamond Dogs! You will have to fight one of those beasts in the arena in front of everyone! If you survive five minutes I'll forgive you... if you win I'll reward you! what do you decide?!” Sunset looks at the others, as if she expects them to refuse but the look on their faces tells her to go ahead. “We accept the offer!” "Why did you accept the offer?!" Applejack screams. "Didn't you want me to accept?" Sunset asks confused. "NO!!!!" They all yelled at him at the same time. "But the way they looked at me... I thought they were urging me to accept!" "We were trying to tell you to refuse!!" "But they were going to cut off a limb." "And now we're all going to die... have you ever seen a Diamond Dogs?" "Of course I've seen them and I know how to fight them... you just have to follow my instructions." He told them with confidence since in his world he had seen and fought against that race, it couldn't be much different in this world. They kept walking until they reached the combat arena. In the stands you could see many slaves waiting for the fight. "Why did they have a place like this?" Flash asked. "They built it so that if there was any dispute between slaves they would solve it in a fight... that saved a lot of time". Maud said monotonously. At the top of the arena could be seen a box where Filthy and his daughter would watch the fight. "Daddy, what are the Diamond Dogs like?" "They are a breed of humanoid canines that live in the underground kingdom of Diamondia in the east of the continent, they are difficult to capture but they are worth it because they are excellent diggers." Filthy notices that the slaves have already arrived at the convate arena. "Wait here my girl I have to announce the fight". He signals to the guards and they throw some spears and swords into the sand. "Listen everyone!" He picks up an hourglass and turns it upside down. “When the five minutes are up the fight is over! Let the fight start!” Sunset, Maud and Big Mac quickly pick up some swords, Flash, Shining and Applejack pick up some spears then they all pick up a shield. “Everyone get together!” Sunset orders and the group obeys. One of the large doors in the arena opens for the Diamond Dogs to enter to battle. A roar is heard and a Diamond Dogs runs out to attack. It was exactly the same as the ones in Sunset's world except for one detail. “That thing is four meters tall!!” Sunset yells after everyone dodges the envestiadas. "Or not! I've never seen Maud so scared!" Pinkie yelled from the audience and everyone tried to look at Maud to see if she had changed her expression...she didn't. After recovering from the attack, Sunset began to formulate a plan. "Flash! I need you to distract the beast for a while!” "that?! because I?!" “You are the fastest of the group! Just keep him busy while I come up with a plan!” "Alright!" He says with resignation and throws the spear to the dog but it doesn't do anything. "Here! Try to catch me!” He yells trying to get attention. While the beast chases Flash, Sunset gathers the rest to tell them the strategy. "This is the plan." After saying his plan Sunset I wait for some objection. "Alright, let's start!" Sunset tries to get Flash's attention, when she succeeds she points to a part of the arena and Flash goes where she points. When Flash got to where Sunset was pointing he noticed that he was trapped between the dog and the wall of the arena but he wasn't afraid because he trusted Sunset. The beast slowly approaches Flash and before he could do anything, Sunset yelled. "NOW!!" The dog was so focused on Flash that he hadn't realized that the rest had discreetly surrounded and approached him, when Sunset gave the signal Big Mac and Applejack used their shields to hit both of the dog's heels, the beast falls to its knees and supports itself with its hands on the ground but at that moment Shining and Maud attack the dog's wrists in the same way, causing him to fall on the ground, finally Sunset runs on the beast's back and with his shield hits him hard on the back of the neck leaving him unconscious. There was a long silence and Sunset stared at the diamond dog and noticed some cracks on his neck. "You are also a slave." she whispered. "Yessss !!!" Pinkie yells and then the rest of the audience. No one expected them to win. "I almost died!" Flash yells and falls on his knees. "Yep". Bic Mac replies as he picks Flash up. "Hey sugarcube, was the fight against the Diamond dog part of the plan?" “Would you rather have a limb cut off?” THE NIGHT BEFORE THE TRIAL "My plan is based on the fact that Filthy Rich is not an incompetent person." "And what makes you think he's not incompetent?" "You may not have noticed, but the food rations are enough for everyone and it's not little, we just didn't eat well because the foreman gave preference to his companions, good blankets were distributed to all of us so as not to have problems sleeping and the hours of rest are well distributed so that we can all rest well” “Yes, you are good at noticing those details.” Shining said. "But that also means that he knows that if he keeps the slaves in good condition they will be able to work better, also to avoid riots and anarchy in the mines... that is where we will need your help." Sunset takes aim at Pinkie and Night. "They have to get the slaves to support us." "But how are we going to do that?" “Speak in our favor, let him know about the incompetence of the foremen, little by little the other slaves will support us causing a disturbance in the trial, so Filthy will worry that the slaves do not mutiny. Then you will have no choice but to think of a sentence other than death.” "Do you think the other slaves will play along?" "They plow it since Old Brother was not well liked for his methods." "Okay... my fault for asking." And Applejack bumps fists with Sunset. "I'm happy we're all alive." Maud said. "what's the plan now?" Filthy gets up from her seat to speak. “Winner, as promised, I will reward you for that! Ask for anything and I will give it to you!” Sunset wasted no time in speaking. “Mr. Filthy Rich! Please allow me to replace Old Brother as the foreman!” That request surprised everyone. “I know very well how the work of a foreman works and I know that I can do a good job!” Filthy is thoughtful. “Being a foreman... Although there are precedents of child slaves who have been foremen, those were special circumstances, and you're also a newcomer...! Fine… you will become a foreman… Only if the rest of your friends give up their share of the reward!” "We quit!" "We quit!" "We quit!" "We quit!" "We quit!" They all said at the same time surprising Sunset she thought she would have to try to convince them but none of them doubted. Filthy didn't expect that but she couldn't back down in front of all the slaves. "You can go... As for you, girl, the guards will take you so they can put the foreman's mark on your arm." Filthy leaves and Sunset separates from the group to get the mark placed on her. "That hurts". Sunset was complaining about the pain in her arm after they put the foreman's mark on it. Velvet was wiping a wet cloth over the burn on Sunset's arm. "I'll try to be more careful, Your Majesty." Everyone was gathered to know how to talk about the situation. "How does 'foreman' feel now? Does it feel good to have some authority?" Applejack asks sarcastically. Sunset rolls her eyes. “Applejack has been like this since they put the mark. Are you going to bother me all night?” "We gave up our share of the reward to get you the job of foreman... I'd say all of us are within our rights to bother you." Flash says as he laughs a little. "I guess that's fair." Admits Sunset. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it." “The truth is that I thought that not all of you would survive but you really surprised me. Tell me how did you know how to defeat such a big beast?" Limestone asked. “That was awesome Sunset! I also want to know how you knew how to see a Diamond dog!” Pinkie said excitedly. "I'm also curious... it's like you know how to handle a giant." Twilight says. And everyone was expectantly waiting for Sunset's answer. A LONG TIME AGO “Grandpa Gruff! Grandpa Gruff!” A little unicorn filly walks into an old house. "Why wake me up? Did you get into another fight?” A grumpy old griffon asks. "Yes!" Says the filly proudly. "And I won!" "I hope you haven't used magic... you know how angry others get when their children arrive with half their feathers burned." "I didn't use magic, I just hit them the way you taught me." "Well done my little pony... Why was the fight?" “I found a gold coin and the others wanted to take it away from me”. He says the filly and hands the coin to the griffon. "Why are you giving it to me?" "You promised me that with every coin I gave you you would tell me a story." The old griffin smiled and nodded. "Okay, what story do you want to hear?" "I want a story about the Arimaspi war." "Well... the first thing you should know before starting is that the Arimaspis are gigantic creatures and..." Sunset smiles at the memory. "Maybe one day I'll tell you." Pinkie pouts. "I wanted a story." Limestone places her hand on Pinkie's shoulder. "Maybe one day I'll tell you that story." "But good job encouraging the slaves to support us." Sunset notices that everyone was quiet. "something happened?" "Your Majesty... none of us spoke first." "What do you mean?" “It was amazing! We didn't have to start anything! It was the slaves themselves who decided to talk instead of us starting!” Pinquie replied. "But how?" Sunset wonders disconcerted. “Many saw how badly you and Old Brother got along. The slaves admire you for how you stood up to him." Sunset thinks while everyone is silent again. "Then Your Majesty... What is the plan now that you are the foreman?" Velvet says trying to change the subject. Sunset looks at her group and asks. "Maud, how long would it take to finish the escape tunnel?" "If we continue at this rate, the tunnel would be ready in six years." "Six years?!" “Yes, the further we advance in the tunnel we will have to move the minerals and stones that we excavate further and we are not many people”. "Not yet". They all look at Sunset.