Twenty years have passed since the emergence of a new species in Equestria. Hailing from a land across a rift, these ‘humans’ as they called themselves, arrived brining peace and prosperity to the ponies of Equestria. Though two years later, everything changed. The rift holding the two planets together started to decay. Many of the humans tried to escape, hoping that they could reach the rift before its final departure. Just a few short hours later and the rift collapsed, severing the two planets from contact. With no viable means of survival, the humans turned to the benevolent goddess that had helped them years ago, establishing a permanent place in the heart of Equestria. But for most humans, they saw this as a chance to gain what they desired most. Power. With the advances in technology and several experimentations, the humans discovered a way to suppress a unicorn’s magical ability with the use of inhibitor rings. With almost no resistance from the powerless ponies, the humans took control of Equestria and dethroned her previous leader. These humans now rule Equestria while all ponies were sentenced to servitude as slaves for their new masters. A new and thriving market for slave ponies has boomed over the last several years, creating another submarket of slave hunters. For one particular slave hunter, his life is forever changed when all of sudden, he becomes the hunted.
Dirt Road Twenty Miles Away From Canterlot (10:30pm)
“Move along faster you stupid equines,” a skinny-pale man said, whipping the closest pony. The pony gave a yelp and began to trot faster, her muzzle bounded like the rest of the ponies, and tethered to a long metal rod used to move several ponies at once. The ponies continued to move in line, following the human that was guiding them. A few moments passed before a lantern in the distance caught the attention of the leading human.
“Hold up a sec boss. I think someone is coming,” the man said, pulling the ponies to the side of the dirt path, followed by the man behind them. Minutes crawled by, both the men watching the approaching lantern, wondering who was traveling at this time of night.
“Slow down there... I said slow down you stupid equine,” I repeated, raising my hand in the air to backhand the mare that was trailing behind me. The mare cringed in fear before I stopped and had a smirk of satisfaction on my face.
“That’s what I thought,” I said, turning my attention to the ponies on the opposite side of the road and then towards the two men guiding them.
“Good evening to you two,” I politely said, taking off my Bonnie leather hat and walking towards the two. The two men reached for their sides, an indication for me to stop advancing.
“I'm sorry, I don’t mean to be bother. I just got done chasing down this stupid little pony right here and was wondering if I am headed in the right direction. Is this the way to Canterlot?” I asked, both men still wary of the possibility of danger. One man then stepped forward to address me. He was relatively skinny, with pale white skin and greasy brown hair. His eyes gave off a glow of brown in the light of the moon and lantern. He was dressed in normal attire for someone in his line of work; a blue plaid flannel shirt and horribly discolored blue jeans.
“You are going the wrong way son. Canterlot is that way,” the man pointed, his arm extended in the opposite direction of where I was headed.
“Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have done if I walked all the way to Ponyville. I might end up like this one right over here,” I said, pointing to the mare behind me. The man that addressed me looked towards the dark blue mare before pointing his finger at her and stuttering.
“That... that’s Princess Luna,” the man said in shock. Upon hearing the name Princess Luna, the other man quickly pushed past his ponies and examined the mare I was escorting to Canterlot to sell.
“Holy hell, it is,” the other man surprisingly spoke. This man was larger than his partner, overweight to be precise. He had short red hair and similar pale white skin like his partner. He was dressed in the same attire, besides the color of his flannel shirt, which was red instead of blue, and a leather hat adorned his head. Both of the men’s eyes looked up at me, receiving a confused look from both of them.
“Who is Princess Luna?” I asked, receiving blank stares from both of the men.
“How do you not know who Princess Luna is? She is the sister to Princess Celestia, the one who was dethroned all those years ago,” The skinny man replied, causing me to think for a moment and then quickly smile.
“You mean that she is going to sell for a lot on the market then,” I thought a loud, a grin plastering my lips and thoughts of fortune running through my mind.
“Hey son, how would you like to sell her to us?” the overweight man offered, snapping me out of my illusion of fortune.
“Sell her? Why would I want to sell her? You just said that she was worth a fortune if she is indeed the Princess’s sister,” I retorted.
“Well yes. But Canterlot is so far away from here. We would be saving you a trip there and you would still make a killing,” the skinny one quickly responded, making me think for a moment.
“Eh, sure, why not. But it has to be a good deal. I would say that she would sell for around... thirty thousand dollars. Would you agree with that?” I asked, both men nodding at the reasonable price.
“Ok then, since you pointed me in the right direction and have to travel to Canterlot, then sell the stupid horse, I would guess around twenty seven thousand should be good. You both can make a decent profit and I wont have to walk all the way to Canterlot.”
“Twenty seven thousand sounds a little expensive. We would have to wait and find the right buyer to get thirty thousand for her. How about twenty four thousand,” the overweight man counter offered. I thought for a moment before shaking my head.
“That still seems a little low for her. How about this, twenty five thousand for her, and you let me have a little fun time with one of your mares,” I countered offered. The men had a somewhat look of disgust on their face, but soon agreed.
“Fine there sonny. We ain’t gonna question what you are into. Everyone knows that this is becoming more popular anyway,” the skinny man replied. I smiled and shook his hand to close the deal.
“I just have different tastes is all.” A laugh soon left me as I handed over Luna to the two other slavers. I then went to inspect their selections of mares, hoping to find a good one. My searching stopped when my eyes fell upon a unicorn, eliciting a small smile from me. The unicorn was lavender colored and had a dark purple mane and tail with stripe of pink and purple running down it. I leaned in close to the mare, looking her up and down before saying anything.
“We are going to have a little fun here in a moment,” I said, seeing her trying to look away from me, small tears in her eyes. I then returned to the two men, standing in front of them as they counted out my money. The men finished counting out my money, me quickly recounting it to make sure it was all there. I then smiled and shoved the money into my jacket pocket, walking with the men over to the mare I chose.
“So tell us son, how did you manage to catch yourself that mare. It must have been a hell of time chasing her down,” the skinny man said, stopping in front of the mare I chose. I laughed and shrugged my shoulders.
“Well honestly, these stupid ponies will believe anything,” I laughed, then continued on.
“Well, if you really want to know, I lied to her. She came barreling through the woods and ran into my camp I had. I am just starting out as a slave hunter and was on my way to capture one. The next thing I know, she is pinning me to a tree with her magic, a look of anger on her face like she was about to kill me. I smoothed talked my way out of it and told her I was a friend. Then I offered her dinner with me, which she accepted. Apparently she was too ignorant to think I wouldn’t try something, like drugging the meal so she would pass out. It took a while for the drug to kick in though, so I had to make small talk with her and try to befriend her more so she wouldn’t run off. I even told her that I promise I would help her find all of her friends, and help restore Equestria to its rightful owner,” I finished, the three of us laughing uncontrollably.
“Ha, these ponies really will believe anything they hear,” the overweight man said. I laughed for a few more seconds before I heard the sound of a muzzle slide off the unicorn. My eyes turned to her and we stared at each for a few seconds before I spoke again.
“And you really want to know the funny part?” I asked, both men still recovering from their laughs, but nodding their heads.
“I wasn’t lying to her,” I blandly stated, receiving a quick look from both men before I reached at my side and pulled out a revolver. I let out four shots at the two men. Each shot hit their mark, both in the chest of the two men. Both men fell to the ground, dead or near death. I smiled and looked at the unicorn that had wide eyes at the moment. I then walked towards Luna, taking out my boot knife and cutting her free from her bonds. I did this to everypony that was tethered to the metal rod, along with removing their muzzles and ring inhibitors if needed. Everypony then looked at us, speechless and unsure of what to do with their freedom again.
“Loyal subjects, we have freed the from thy imprisonment. Make haste to Ponyville, for that is the only safe place for us ponies. Now go everypony, go and live out the rest of your lives in freedom and peace,” Luna exclaimed, receiving bows from all the ponies. The ponies then quickly galloped away down the path, leaving just Luna, Twilight, and myself with the two men.
“What... what is going on?” Twilight nervously asked, receiving a smile from me.
“We will explain everything later. For now, you just need to come with us. We need your help in restoring this land back to its former glory,” Luna nodding her head in agreement. All Twilight could do was slowly nod her head in compliance.
“Who the hell are you?” I heard a raspy voice ask, followed by some coughing. I walked over to the man that lay near death’s door, smiling at the question. I raised my gun to his head before responding.
“Name's Leo. See you in hell,” I profoundly spoke, pulling the trigger and sending a piece of lead through the man’s frontal lobe and through the back of his head. I put the gun back into its holster, then began searching the dead bodies for anything of value. The only thing I managed to find was an extra ten thousand dollars stashed in the larger man’s pocket of his flannel shirt. I stuffed the money into my pocked and then walked next to Luna. With a nod from me, Luna’s horn began to grow and the three of us were teleported to a safe location.
Leo’s Manner
A bright blue light filled the downstairs basement, blinding everypony around it. After a few minutes everypony’s eyes adjusted to the darkness again. I slowly made my way to the foot of the stairs, navigating by memory until I found the light switch and flicked it to the on position. The room was quickly lit with florescent lighting, making everything around Twilight and Luna visible. Twilight’s eyes went agape when she scanned the room before her. It was a workshop of sorts, but most of the machines in the workshop she did not recognize. Before she could ask any questions I interrupted her.
“Hey Twilight. I think there a few ponies who would love to see you,” a grin on my face as I headed up the stairs. Twilight looked at Luna, who gave a nod of approval before they both started to ascend the stairs.
I continued down the hallway where the basement led up to, and then to the main room that sat a few different ponies. Once Twilight entered the room she immediately stopped and stared at the eyes of the ponies looking back at her.
“Twilight!” a multitude of voices called, tackling her into a group hug. They all continued their embrace, me watching idly from the couch while I smiled at the scene of friends reuniting. I stood up from the couch after a few moments before I walked into the kitchen. Once there, I opened the fridge and pulled out a loaf of bread, with several things of cheese and lettuce. I closed the fridge door and began to prepare multiple sandwiches for everypony. Halfway through sandwich making, I heard the soft patter of hooves approaching. When I looked up, I saw Luna standing in the doorway, a gentle smile on her face. I smiled back and continued to make the rest of the sandwiches. Luna slowly walked in my direction, stopping only a few inches away from me.
“Thank you Leo,” she said, her voice sincere and loving. I continued to make the last sandwich before responding.
“It’s nothing really. It’s just a little something for everypony to eat,” I calmly spoke, receiving a partial but friendly glare from Luna.
“You know what I mean Leo. Thank you for reuniting everypony and trying to save Equestria,” she finished, followed by a small bit of laughter from me.
“Just trying to do my civil duty as a decent huma...” I stopped, not wanting to finish that last part. I sighed and grabbed the tray of sandwiches before turning to Luna with a neutral facial expression.
“Thank you Luna. It was you who saved me Princess,” I whispered loud enough for her to hear before I made my way into the main room with the tray full of food.
Everypony had now taken a seat and were intently listening to a story that Twilight was telling, most likely one that happened in the past few years while she was separated from her friends. I set the tray down on the wooden coffee table that sat next to all of them. Everypony quickly dove into the sandwiches, including Luna and myself. After taking a few bites out of my sandwich, I set it down on the coffee table and walked over to the fireplace. I laid a few logs with an old newspaper underneath them before striking a match and lighting it on fire. The newspaper shriveled as it burned, catching the dry logs on fire a few seconds later. I then sat down on the couch again, listening to Twilight tell her story. The story itself was bearable, just another story of a cruel master whipping his slaves to move faster or work harder. My stomach churned as the story progressed, but relieved itself when she finished.
“And then I was teleported here by Luna and... and... I actually don’t know the human’s name that saved me,” Twilight admitted, me raising my head from its lowered position to meet eyes with the mare. We stared at each for a few moments before a cyan, rainbow-maned Pegasus blurted out my name.
“His name is Leo Twilight. He saved all of us actually,” Rainbow said, Twilight quickly looking at her and then at me.
“Is that true?” she asked. I nodded my head in acknowledgement.
“Thank you Leo. Thank you for everything you have done,” Twilight said, the other ponies agreeing with her, giving small praise to my deeds.
“It’s nothing really. Besides, I don’t really deserve praise for doing the right thing. Just the satisfaction that I know I am making a difference and making ponies lives better,” I said, all the ponies smiling.
“Well thank you again Leo. I thought all humans hated us. It is a nice change to finally meet a human who is willing to help change Equestria back to it’s former self,” Twilight replied, me nodding my head in agreement. Twilight smiled before looking around and noticing a certain orange earth pony was missing from the group.
“Hey, where is Applejack?” Twilight asked, Luna shaking her head this time.
“We don’t know Twilight. Leo just got done researching where you were. That was why we were able to find you on that dirt road to Canterlot. Leo saw that a shipment of ponies was supposed to be coming in and that you were listed as part of that shipment. Now that we have you safe, we need to find Applejack and then all the Elements of Harmony will be together,” Luna stated, Twilight and the others nodding their head in understanding.
“And then we rescue Celestia. Once we do that, I am positive you can use the elements of harmony to rid this land of my kind, and restore harmony and peace within Equestria,” I boldly stated, a passion in my voice and posture as I spoke.
“What about you? What are you going to do when all of this is over darling?” Rarity asked, receiving a shrug of my shoulders as an answer.
“I have no idea actually. The only thing I can truly say is that I will restore this land to a time before we humans plagued it or I will die trying. After that, I have no idea what to do with my life,” I spoke. All the ponies, including Luna looked at me for a few moments without a word spoken between any of us. I was the one to break the silence, standing up and stretching.
“Well, it is getting pretty late. Twilight, I need to show you where your room is so you can make yourself at home. If you would, please follow me,” I said, walking up a spiral staircase and then down a short, wide hall that was filled with bedrooms. We walked past the first set of doors and arrived at the third door on the left.
“Ok Twilight, this is your room. I have taken the liberty to design it myself, with the help of Rarity and input from your friends. I hope you like it.” I then pushed open the door and walked in followed by Twilight. Twilight’s eyes quickly shot around the room, admiring everything about it.
“This... this is amazing. I can't believe this is my room,” Twilight spoke, completely shocked of her new living quarters. The ceiling was decorated with different galaxies and constellations painted on a dark blue background. The walls were also a dark blue background, but were covered with white writing. Upon closer inspection, Twilight realized that the writing was that of different phrases, spells, and monologues from some of the most renowned books and scholars of her time. Her bed had dark blue sheets and a dark blue comforter with stars sewn into it. Along one of the walls was a fully stocked Mahogany bookcase and desk with several quills, bottles of ink, and writing paper. On the other wall, shown an open door that led to a small bathroom also decorated in a similar style. Twilight had tears in her eyes as she took another step into her room. She began to cry lightly, worrying me for a moment.
“I'm sorry, do you not like it? I can always get it redone,” I spoke caringly, Twilight shaking her head.
“I love it. It’s just that I haven’t had a room for myself in over four years. This... this is the best thing anypony has done for me. Thank you,” Twilight said through her tears, hugging me around my waist. A sense of happiness filtered through my body as I returned the hug and stroked her mane.
“No problem Twilight. I'm just happy you like it,” I said, Twilight pulling away from the hug and wiping the tears for her eyes.
“How about you get some sleep. You have had a very long day. Tomorrow you can read to your hearts content and visit with your friends too. Also, I will be going into Canterlot tomorrow to see if I can locate where Applejack is. If you need anything, please make a list of what you need and I will be more than happy to get it for you.” I said, Twilight nodding her head.
“Ok. Goodnight Twilight, I will see you in the morning,” I softly said, leaving Twilight in her new room. Twilight nodded and wished me goodnight as well. I gently closed the door before I entered back into the hall. Looking at the stairs, I could see everypony retiring to their rooms for the night.
“Goodnight everypony,” I called to all of them. They all smiled and wished me goodnight as well, all except for one pony in particular. Luna, who was trailing behind the rest of the ponies, was more awake than tired. She stopped in front of me and had a soft expression on her face.
“Are you going to bed as well?” she asked. I shook my head no before walking towards my door with her at my side.
“No. I think I am going to meditate for a while. You are more than welcome to join me,” I offered, Luna accepting my offer with a nod. I smiled and opened the door at the very end of the hallway, entering my bedroom followed by Luna. We both made our way to the balcony and positioned ourselves comfortably on it. I looked up at the moon and night sky before giving a sigh of relief. I then closed my eyes and tried to wipe my mind of any and all images, sounds, or thoughts that would come to it. Another minute or so later and I was completely entranced in my meditation. It was only after two hours of meditation and the soft patter of hoofsteps that I found myself reemerging from my trance like state. I looked over to my right and noticed that Luna had left. I then heard my bedroom door open and close, but as silently as it could be done. I waited on the balcony for another few minutes, not meditating, but thinking of my past and all the wrongs I had committed. I soon stood up and made my over to bed after closing and locking the balcony door. I stripped off my shirt and pants, and then clothed myself in basketball shorts and a new pair of boxers I had Rarity fabricate for me. I was almost in bed when a soft knocking could be heard at my door. I got up from my bed and answered it, assuming it was Luna. To my surprise, Fluttershy was standing in front of me, looking down at the ground and using her front hoof to paw at the floorboard. I stared at her for another moment before speaking.
“Did you have another bad dream again?” I asked, Fluttershy nodding her head. I opened the door even more and allowed the mare to silently walk into the room with me. Once she was in, I closed the door and proceeded to get into bed, Fluttershy still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.
“Come on Fluttershy, you know the drill,” I said, Fluttershy lifting her head up and smiling softly. She gently hovered to the other side of the bed and slid under the covers with me so that my chest was facing her back. I put an arm around her and began to stroke her mane in an attempt to calm her a bit.
“Was it the same dream as last time?” I asked, Fluttershy nodding her head. I continued to stroke her mane and reassure her that everything was going to fine. After a few more minutes of soothing, I could hear quiet snoring coming from the mare next to me. I stopped stroking her mane and just positioned an arm around her for a sense of protection before I began to fall asleep; the excitement from the day quickly pulling me into a deep slumber.