//------------------------------// // Manipulate // Story: Smoke & Mirrors // by Doctah WAAwee //------------------------------// The newest addition to the caravan of humans was unceremoniously dumped in his new cell. It smelled of rusty nails and misery. "Wow, I think we just hit the jackpot Star. I've never seen a human in that good of a condition before!" said the only unnamed voice, the yellow one. The horse who killed Eve replied "yeah, none of the others can even hold a candle to this one. It's last master must of been one HECK of a breeder!" The voice of Rainsugar was heard, "Alright girls, stop your gawking and carry out your duties. I don't pay you to ogle them." "Yes ma'am." The ropes and blindfold were taken off, but the gag and the ropes on his hands where still securely in place. "How long will it be until we get to the market?" Asked Starlight. "About two months. By then it'll be nice and obedient...isn't that right?" Amias was still in shock, so all he did was stare blankly into space. Rainsugar chuckled. "C'mon girls, we got work to do. Get the hose and wash it down." They all left, leaving Amias to his own devices. The shock he was feeling slowly turned into something else... "Hit it harder then!" *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* His fist clenched behind his back. The whites of his eyes, ever so slowly, became a solid jet black. 'They killed her...and they don't even feel bad for her...Starlight.' His anger fortified his willpower, he looked around to see many other humans...these were different. There eyes looked...animistic...feral, they looked like they were beasts. And...they were pretty ugly, not 'middle aged fat guy' ugly, more like 'hairy gorilla sex face' ugly. The two next to him were lying down on the floor doing nothing. 'It's like she was putting down a...animal.' His eyes widened in realization...but then his mind, tempered from years of learning his trade, made another realization. 'They think i'm an animal...a dumb, stupid animal.' He started to chuckle...his dark brown eyes slowly became a creepy off-white color. 'I can use this.' He remembered that one of the ponies was going to come back to hose him down... Perfect. The clip-clop of hooves was heard, and the sound of a hose going off was soon followed. "Alright, bath time!" It was Starlight again... An almost evil smile spread across the lips of Amias. With almost no effort, he freed himself from his pathetic excuse of a binding. 'As long as they think i'm an animal, they're going to constantly underestimate me...' As the pony came closer to him, Amias set his plan into motion. "Alright new guy, time for your-" "Is this all your are?" Amias was throwing his voice, mimicking Starlight's voice. She stopped and looked around in fear. "W-w-who said that?" "You did." She slowly started to panic, hearing your own voice from out of nowhere would do that. Amias started feeling a sick pleasure in the utter confusion she was in. "N-no I didn't!" "Stop lying to yourself, you know why I'm here, why I'm talking to you, to myself." "W-why?" "Your pathetic state right now, did all your dreams and aspirations lead up to you hosing down and feeding a bunch of animals?" "N-no but thi-" "Is only temporary?" Amias looked directly to her face, by looking at her reaction, he knew he was right. It's those extremely huge, expressive eye's these ponies have, he can read her like a book. She didn't notice the 'animal' staring at her, she was to busy talking to 'herself'. She felt a chill run down her spine. Amias's suddenly changed eyes boring into her. "How many years have you been telling yourself that?" He made it sound like a rhetorical question. Her ears went down to her skull. "F-f...five..." "And in those five years have you even made a lick of progress? Your still taking care of dirty, malnourished animals. Your still under the hoof of some tyrannical bitch who tells you how to do your job even though you've been at it for five years...you killed that human because your co-worker was too lazy to give it care, your nothing but a doormat. I bet any stallion can just ask you to spread your legs, you FILTHY whore." She started crying lightly. Amias smiled. "Your nothing but a pawn in the hooves of everyone you know. No one actually likes you, they just can't believe how easy it is to get stuff from you." Her facial expressions said it all. "Everyone? What the hay-" "Yes, everyone. Every organic life form that has come in contact with you, even the humans in these cages are taking advantage of you. You work for horrible pay feeding and washing them while they sit there and do nothing but eat and crap all over themselves. The new one, whose mate you killed, will be better treated and respected because of his worth." Her fear gave way to anger as she looked towards Amias. He was staring at the ground, doing nothing. "It will get everything handed to it, it will get all the mates it wants. All it has to do is sit there and look pretty for some buyers in Canterlot. It's entire life will be nothing but content, while yours is a pathetic cycle of submissive-" "SHUT UP!" She screamed. She grabbed the keys that she had on her person (pony?) and opened the cell door of Amias's cage. 'What are you doing? Abusing an animal won't make it any better.' "I don't care! You!" She raised her hoof up to strike him... Only to receive a palm to the face. Her head went back and she became completely still. "How did you not see that coming? Oh wait, you think i'm a dumb animal...huh, funny how that works." Amias used his regular voice, it was full of cold hatred. 'I never thought I'd stoop so low as to use hypnosis on someone...well there's a first time for everything.' "You will give me your food for the remainder of the time I'm here...is that understood?" She nodded "Yes." "And when I snap my fingers, you will wash me with the hose and bring the mare who ordered you to kill the female human you found me with. Make it seem like an emergency, understood?" "Yes." He chuckled darkly "now go, my pawn." 'I can feel the curly mustache.' He plucked two feathers from one of her wings. 'There are pegasi here too...*sigh* it feels like I'm in a storybook.' *Snap* She snapped out of her trance. "What the...OH! Almost forgot, time for your bath human!" She grabbed the hose and began to lightly apply water to him, instead of drenching him with a quick burst of water. When she was done she went back out of the cage, closed the door, and proceeded to subconsciously follow out the instructions that were given to her. She left with a smile on her face and a skip in her step. Amias redid the knot that he took out, to avoid suspicion. "I have to get Sunshiny (actual word) back to the new humans cage, it doesn't look to good and she's our human expert..." Starlight said to herself. She went to the cafeteria and started looking for her, she found her eating a daisy sandwich. The cafeteria itself was an extremely stark contrast to the dirty section where they store the humans. There was ample lighting, clean floors, and it smelled of food...glorious food. "Sunshiny! Quick, you have to come with me to the new humans cage! He doesn't look to good and can use some meds." Sunshiny dropped her sandwich. "That human is our ticket to the high life! We cannot let ANYTHING happen to him, I'll get my kit!" She barreled to where they stash the medication, and other human related things. "Celestia darn it! Rainsugar and her cheap flank didn't stock up on enough supplies! There's barely enough here to feed the humans for seven days, let alone the two months we're going to have them!" Starlight nodded "I think she's using the money for her own needs...but that can all be solved when we sell this human, we can retire early and finally stop this before we get caught on our code violations." After Sunshiny stocked up on her medications they rushed over to the cage to treat the said human. Amias could hear the clip clop of hooves on the dirty floor of the caravan. He smiled and waited. He lied down on the floor. The jingling of keys could be heard, then the sound of the door opening, and then the clip clops came closer and then stopped. "Alright you cash cow, lets see what's-" Amias's palm found it's way to her forehead, carefully avoiding impaling his hand on her horn. She adopted a blank look on her face. *Snap* Amais snapped his fingers and Starlight did the same. 'Time to know where the hell I am.' "First, you will tell me your name ." Sunshiny nodded slowly "my name is Sunshiny." Amias snorted "Sunshiny? Really?" She nodded "Yes" Amias shook his head "Moving on. Where am I?" "You are in Rainsugar's human caravan, he had plans to go to Canterlot and sell you for a substantial amount of money." "Humans are sold in this land for what reason?" "They are commonly used for hard labor. Some ponies keep them as simple pets, among nobles a well groomed and maintained human is a sign of high stature. Most humans do not have the looks that you do, so finding one is extremely rare." "How much do you think I would go for?" "The highest price ever put on a human was about 4 million bits, you could easily be triple that." Amias's eyes widened. A plan started to formulate in his mind 'Looks like I fetch quite a pretty penny...hmm...instead of escaping into the wild unknown, I'm going to let them sell me. I wouldn't be put to work, just paraded around to stroke some rich ponies ego. I could hypnotize them and live a life of doing nothing...' "What is the name of this country?" "Equestria. Ruled by Princess Celestia who raises the sun, Princess Luna who raises the moon, and the newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle." Amias sat there in shock, processing the information he was just given. 'WHAT THE HELL!? RAISING THE SUN AND MOON!? THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS!' Amias took a deep breath...actually several, in fact. 'Magical talking ponies that can raise the sun and the moon...if it isn't for that fact that I can feel pain I would think this was a dream...or a nightmare.' "What are they like?" "They are extremely nice and benevolent ponies. All three of them have a horn and wings and are capable of extreme amounts of magic. " 'Hmmm...maybe if I play my cards right, which I always do, I might be able to get home.' "Are these conditions present in all Equestria for human care?" She shook her head. "No, there are extreme violations in codes for the treatment of humans here. The greed of the owner of this caravan is to blame." "Rainsugar?" "Yes." 'Looks like I just got unlucky...and so did Eve...' Amias got angry when he remembered that he grit his teeth in anger. Then something strange happened. Starlight and Sunshiny stared to look like they were in pain. Before long they were on the floor and clenching their heads with their forelegs. Amias noticed this and was shocked. 'Am I causing that?' "Y-y-yes." they both answered. Amias's eye's widened, he was at a loss for words. If they can hear him in his mind... Amias took a deep breath to calm himself. Both of the mare stood up again and had the same blank look they had before hand, still under his control. He noticed that he had some cuts and bruises from the 'arrival'. 'Tend to my wounds?' He thought. Sunshiny opened her medicine pack and began to tend to Amias's wounds. He was ecstatic, to say the least. 'Mind control powers!? When did this happen!?' He couldn't believe it! He already had a way to make someone do something against their will, but now he can do it with his mind! He's going to have to develop this... But since he didn't want to risk making their brains explode, he decided to stick to what he knew for now. He needs information from these ponies, not their brain matter spattered all over the walls because he got distracted. Amias started to chuckle, what else could have changed in him? He looked around to the other cages... Most of the humans were severely malnourished. They sat in the cages with a dead look in their eyes, like they gave up any chance of living. "Who are you going to sell these humans to?" Starlight replied "you were going to be sold in Canterlot as a pet human, but the other's are being sold for their meat in the griffon kingdom...though the consumption of humans is completely illegal throughout the entire world." "So, she's dealing under the table?" "Yes, actually we were on our way to a black market deal outside of Equestria. Griffons don't care about the state of humans, all they care about is if they're meat is not rotting when they're sold." He had to fight to keep his anger under control, he's never preoccupied himself with animal cruelty and the like, but now that he is seeing it from the other side of the cage...well if he ever got home he would donate to his local pet shop, he promised himself that. "What is the closest town we can go to?" Sunshiny answered this time "it is a town called Ponyvillie, two weeks journey from here as I recall. We were going to go straight towards the griffon kingdom with no stops." Amias raised his eyebrow "Why?" "Because it is equestrian law that if a caravan or any other means of transportation involved in the selling and transaction of humans stops at a town, city, or checkpoint to resupply, then all humans in the care of the said means of transportation must have a physical. It was a law passed by Princess Celestia herself to limit any mistreating of humans during transport." "...So you and your colleges were just going to let them all starve for two months until you reached the kingdom?" "Correct." He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a second to calm down. "...What is the average life span of a human?" "That all depends on the owner. A wild human's life span is about 10 to 15 years, a well cared for and maintained human can life up to 25 years, and the humans on this caravan were going to be sold for their meat." 'Wow...i'm 25.' "How old do you suspect I am?" "About 5 years old." 'So...I'm basically a child in this world.' "Where is Rainsugar at this moment?" "She is currently in her private chambers in the lead car." "Can you bring her to me?" "We cannot, she does not deal in the affairs of human care. She hates them and would not step foot in the containment facilities under her own power." "If she hates humans, why does she own a caravan full of them." "Human sale, whether it be legal or illegal, is the most profitable market in Equestria today." "...So she did it for the money?" "Yes." Another plan started to form in his head...he couldn't let these humans get sold to be eaten, sentient or non-sentient, they are still his brothers and sisters in a way. "How many peop-...ponies are in this caravan?" Starlight replied to this question "there are forty staff hands right now, most of them consisting of unicorns. Wild humans are generally stronger than ponies, but harbor no resistance to magic." 'I'm no ninja...i'm gonna have to find a opening.' "Where are they now?" "They're having lunch right now." "Where is Rainsugar?" "She always has her food brought to her private quarters." 'Spoiled bitch...' "How could I get to her quarters?" "You would have to unlock the door leaving this caravan, and find a way to get to the front car without getting spotted, or wait until everypony is asleep." "...Okay, you can leave now. Lock the door and go." They both walked out the cell, locked the door, and left. 'Looks like I'm going to have to wait a while...' A couple of minutes passed until Starlight brought not only...gruel of some kind, but a tray with a very delicious looking sandwich. "I realize that your our one way trip to the high life and out of this dirty hole...I might get hungry, but it'll be worth it." She put the food on the floor, took of Amias's gag and left. When she was out of sight, Amias went towards the food and took a decent bite out of the sandwich... And promptly spit it out. Gagging and wiping his tongue with his index finger...several times. 'Ugh! Ugh! Eww, eww, eww! What the hell IS in this sandwich!?' He peeled back the bread of the disgusting sandwich to reveal... Daffodils. Daisy's and daffodils. 'How the hell am I supposed to eat this!? It's like they think i'm a-' He stopped his mental ranting for a second, then he face-palmed...hard. 'This is a lunch made for a pony...not a human. Why didn't I think this through, I should of asked her to bring something a HUMAN could eat...I'm an idiot.' He looked to his left to see a guy lying there doing nothing...he looked very starved. 'Maybe humans in this world can digest plant matter...or something.' He reached across the cage to try and put the food next to him. 'I really hope this guy doesn't have rabies or something.' He poked him with the sandwich...nothing. Poke... Poke... Goddamn poke! Amias looked to see that the human had flies all over him...and he wasn't doing anything about it... Amias suddenly felt colder...he was dead. He looked to the right, and the human in that cage had flies all over his body too... His heart started pounding. His entire life he has regarded human life as...well human life. The life of another sentient being... Now seeing humans literally starved to death in cages...on purpose made him want to vomit. The reality of what Starlight revealed to him finally set in...these humans were nothing but meat and money to these ponies. They spent the already HIGH amount of money they got from selling humans on themselves, and not even buying enough food to tide over the humans until the next deal. It made him want to cry, it made him want to be held by someone... '...How can they be so cruel to them?' He scolded himself for once thinking of a plan that only benefited himself. He would never be able to live with himself if he just let this continue on while he was being spoiled by rich people...ponies. He knew what he had to do. He had to bust out of this cage, sneak into Rainsugars quarters...and 'persuade' her to make a stop into the town called Ponyville... He wouldn't let this go on...his humanity wouldn't allow it. After what felt like a few hours, small window outside told him it was night time. He once again got out of the bindings that were restricting his hands. He stood up and walked towards the lock that was between him and justice. "This lock is pathetic. Rainsuger is a cheaper bitch then I suspected" he took out the feathers he plucked from Starlight, and started fiddling with the lock. 'Starlight, Rainsugar, Sunshiny, Twilight Sparkle...what the hell kind of names are these? Geez, try something original.' *Ta-click!* 'Too easy.' The door opened, and he stretched out his body. He hasn't stood up in a while. "Time to poach these poachers."