Lullaby saw Bedim pushed into the mud before Town Hall. The wet dirt splashed everywhere as rain pelted down like a storm of arrows. Lullaby felt every piercing drop like a knife. This was a nightmare. Just moments ago they were at home, sharing a moment as mother and son. Then a ghost from the past walks through the door reminding her how that wasn’t so. Add to the fact that everypony in town now thought he was a murderer. After the commotion with the body a few unicorn soldiers had appeared and placed Bedim into custody, taking him directly to see the commander for judgment.
Lullaby and the young mare, Pristine, rushed to Bedim’s side as he rubbed his aching head. The mob had carried him all the way to Town Hall, eager to see justice done, while Lullaby and Pristine cried for them to stop and consider things all the way.
A pony soldier at the head of the mob knocked loudly on the wooden door to the tall building. A moment later the door flung open with Commander Javelin and Honey in pursuit. The green mare seemed hysterical, begging Javelin to call this off.
“This is insanity and you know it!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. “You honestly think Lullaby’s son is capable of murder?”
Javelin shot the three ponies in the mud a stern glare and spoke to his soldier, ignoring Honey. “Is this him?”
“Yes, sir!” the pony replied with a salute. “The ponies of the neighborhood saw him standing above the body with what they presumed to be blood on his horn.”
Javelin narrowed his eyes on Bedim, a small grin peaking out. “His horn is red,” he muttered.
“Yes, sir,” the soldier agreed. “It’s not blood, but… we don’t exactly know what it means.” The pony took a gulp as he nervously returned his attention to Bedim.
“I didn’t kill anypony!” Bedim shouted, attempting to stand up in the mud.
Javelin snickered. “No offense, child. But that’s what all murderers say.” He walked forward, circling the three ponies as he studied Bedim.
“Please, commander,” Pristine asked with a look a desperation. “Why would you put Bedim through all this?!”
“Put him through this?” the unicorn asked with a raised eyebrow. “My dear, I’m only doing what settlement laws dictate must be done in the case of homicide.”
“But he’s your student!” Pristine shouted angrily.
Javelin pulled his head back shocked, then an evil smile grew across his features. “Oh, I see now.” He got up into Bedim’s face. “You’re the spy!”
“Spy!?” Lullaby shouted in disbelief. A strange murmur of hesitation and fear spread across the gathering crowd. Javelin wasted no time in using the hysteria. He trotted back to the Town Hall doors where he could be seen.
“That is right my fellow ponies. Spy!” he yelled with a stern face. He leaned down to whisper to Honey. “I think it’s time they all learned the truth, don’t you?” Honey frowned, confused to his words, then her eyes widened in realization. She tried to speak but could not cut through the volume of Javelin’s speech. “The truth, my little ponies, is that we have been guarding a secret from you. One that affects all of you! And that was not right. The truth of the matter is that this humble place, our home, has been afflicted with an epidemic. Something others might even call a curse!”
The murmur grew louder as ponies began to panic in the rain. Lullaby felt her heart beat faster as she felt the situation slipping further into chaos.
“A little bit ago I sent word to Canterlot of this… plague!” he deliberately changed the wording to increase the panic. “They sent over a doctor, one they thought would be able to help.” He motioned to Pristine and the young mare glanced nervously around at the eyes pinned to her. “However, our doctor, our chance at salvation, was intercepted by a pony claiming to be under my command.” He pointed to Bedim accusingly. “This pony right here!”
The panic grew abundant and murmurs gave way to aggravated arguments. Pristine frowned in concern but her supportive hug around Bedim did not diminish. Javelin walked back to Bedim and held his face inches away from him. “Are you a spy, boy? Do you work for whatever the source of our misery is?”
“No!” Bedim shouted angrily.
“What about your horn?” Javelin flicked the bright red horn over Bedim’s head. “Can you explain that?”
“I… I’ve just always had it,” Bedim stuttered back.
Javelin sneered and drew his face closer to Bedim’s ear so only the young stallion and those around him could hear. “Are you a witch?”
Bedim gritted his teeth as anger flared through his body. A dark corona appeared around his horn as his eyes grew dark. “I am not a witch!” he shouted. A dark pulse bellowed from him, knocking back both the crowd and the ponies closest to him.
Lullaby scrambled up from the mud and let out a shocked gasp as she saw the dark energies around Bedim recede. She had hoped this day would never come and now that it had it was worse than she ever imagined. Bedim grew panicked as he noticed the havoc he had caused.
Pristine lay a few feet away in the mud, unconscious. Honey had been knocked over as well, the green mare now mouth agape at the display of power she’d just witnessed. Only Javelin who had dug his hooves into the mud and dirt stayed aloft. His eyes widened as an evil sneer crossed his face. He lifted his head high so that everypony could hear.
“You see his power!” he shouted angrily. “You see how he hurts even those that protect him!” He pointed to Pristine and Lullaby. Lullaby tried to get up to argue but was cut off by Javelin again. “Pray tell, just who did this… witch kill?” Stressing the word “witch.”
A unicorn soldier stepped up to answer. “A journalist for the local newspaper, sir. One, Rumor Mill.”
“Ah,” Javelin sighed and returned his gaze to Bedim. “So a journalist figured out your nasty little deceit and tried to tell the truth. Only for you to cut him down!”
“No!” Bedim replied with a slightly scared demeanor. “I swear I didn’t do it! I’m not a spy and I’m not a witch!”
Javelin would not let him speak for long. “Ponies, I ask you, will we allow this outsider to get away with his transgressions?!”
The fearful murmur of the crowd had now turned entirely against the young stallion. Angry shouts of affirmations echoed through the square. Lullaby caught sight of more ponies beginning to converge on the scene, Crisp being one of them. Bedim’s best friend gasped in disbelief as he saw him lying in the mud and his mother on the ground. Crisp rushed to his mother’s side, eagerly asking what was happening. Lullaby could not hear but whatever Honey said made Crisp’s face pale and the stallion sank to his knees.
Javelin continued. “Will we let this spy simply escape to warn his brethren that we are on to him!?” A loud “NO” chorused from the crowd.
Lullaby glanced up at the sky as she saw a red blur speed in and land in a big splash of mud between Javelin and Bedim. His mane and coat were soaked through, as if he’d been flying in the rain for hours. His eyes were red as well. Her heart seemed to lighten as Gladius stared down his uncle.
“This farce ends now!” he shouted angrily.
“Stand down, boy,” Javelin hissed. “You don’t want this to turn into something you’ll regret.”
“You have no proof!” Gladius shouted, his face twisted in anger. “You want to do something this dreadful to somepony who’s still a child?” He turned to the crowd. “You all should be ashamed!”
A slight murmur of concern rippled through the crowd. Gladius held a lot of sway, some might say even more than his uncle. Javelin pushed his nephew aside. “Are you telling me that you’re not afraid of this boy? Afraid of what he can do?” He pointed to Bedim and shouted loud enough that he dwarfed the thunder in the skies. “Even if he didn’t kill this pony, who’s to say he won’t? We know he’s a spy and we know he’s a witch!” He waved an accusing hoof at Gladius. “You’d sacrifice the safety of our people to protect the feelings of a mare?”
Gladius froze as his gaze shifted to Lullaby. Her eyes were pleading, filled with tears. Gladius just had to help her, if not who else would?
Gladius ground his hoof into the mud as he seemed to ponder both his uncle’s words and Lullaby’s pleas. He grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut in concentration. Suddenly they burst open. “The Mines!” he shouted.
A new murmur of confusion passed through the crowd and even Javelin seemed startled. “What?” he asked.
Gladius walked forward and placed his hoof on Bedim’s shoulder. Bedim looked up as the red Pegasus gave him a sorry look. He returned his attention to the crowd. “You have no proof he’s a murderer or a witch!”
Javelin jumped to protest. “But he’s-”
“No concrete proof as of yet!” Gladius finished. “Therefore you cannot harm him! We are all bound by the laws of the Triumvirate!” The crowd grew silent, eager to see where Gladius was going with this. Even Lullaby and Javelin had quieted down, the mare’s cries now stopped. “Instead, if you’re so afraid of him, why not make him work off his presumed guilt!”
A small murmur of realization echoed through the square. Lullaby now knew where Gladius was going and it might have been even worse than what Javelin had planned. “Send him to the mines!”
The ponies in the crowd began to mutter an agreement. Pretty soon a chant had begun. “Send him to the mines! Send him to the mines!”
“Enough!” Javelin shouted. His utterance seemingly making the rain stop. All in the square grew quiet. Javelin glared at his nephew, but surrendered to a complacent grin. “Fine. You want him in the mines? I’ll take him to the mines!” He leaned in closer so that only Gladius could hear. “But it will be my choice where he goes. Javelin returned to the Town Hall doors and ushered a unicorn soldier to take Bedim with him.
The soldier grabbed the bound stallion and pulled him away. Bedim reached out to Lullaby as he passed. “No, wait! Mom!” Lullaby held her hoof out and grabbed her son’s. They shared a moment of tears as he was pulled away once more. Bedim glanced at the unconscious Pristine before leaving, a look of guilt on his face.
Gladius sank down and draped a hoof over Lullaby’s sobbing shoulder. She turned her head and began to cry into the stallion chest. Gladius pulled her close. “He didn’t do it,” she cried. “He didn’t do it.”
“I know,” Gladius whispered, his face a cacophony of emotions. “I know.”
Lullaby took a deep breath trying to get her bearing. She pulled away from Gladius and stared at the stallion. “I know you did what you could but…”
Gladius sighed, his face full of guilt. “I swear! I will find who did this.” He grit his teeth to the point of cracking. “And they will pay.”
Lullaby nodded reluctantly and glanced across from her. The white mare was still unconscious. Crisp had regained enough sense to begin to try to help Pristine up but he was nowhere near strong enough. Lullaby lifted herself and walked over. Crisp gave her a beleaguered look. “Let me get her,” she said calmly as she placed a hoof over Pristine’s shoulder and her head underneath the mare’s foreleg.
Honey did not seem capable of standing or even making eye contact with her friend. Her eyes were filled with tears as she tried to hold her cries in. Crisp got up and looked between his mom and Lullaby. “So what do we do now?” he asked.
Lullaby looked at Pristine’s sleeping face and Honey. “I think we need to talk about a few things.”
----------
Bedim felt the soldiers push him down outside Town Hall. His face smearing the mud. “Hey, what are you-” He tried to call out but was immediately interrupted by the a loud snap. A jolt of pain shot through him starting from his forehead. “GAAAAAAAAAAHHH!”
Bedim looked up to see that the soldiers had forcefully removed his horn by stomping on it, leaving a red stump behind. His vision began to blur as dark spots encroached and he lost himself to the dark void of unconsciousness.
The next thing he knew, a large sack was yanked from over his head. Bedim struggled to adjust his eyes to the bright red sun that shown down. As his vision began to clear he noticed the sun was dyed such a color from the various acrid smokes and hues rising from the terrain around him. The ground was a flat tundra with the mountains mere yards away. No grass or flower grew and almost all the space was covered by tents and cabins. Large machines were affixed to the sides of excavated mountains and worked tirelessly drilling holes into the hard rock, smoke trailing from their exhausts. Bedim saw several unicorns in military uniform working tirelessly to power the awful machines.
A solid kick was made to the back of his head as Bedim was pushed forward into a line of other ponies that seemed to be in just as much disarray and confusion as him. Bedim saw that a few of the others were unicorns as well, their own horns broken as well. The pegasi in the line winced harshly as they tried to stretch their wings, revealing a hollow hole through the center. The earth ponies had their back legs shackled together with a chain connecting to a harsh metal collar around their neck. Any attempts they made to buck their way free would probably only end up hurting them or breaking their neck. A tall dark brown unicorn with a soldier’s uniform approached the line of ponies from Bedim’s side. A deep frown on his face.
Bedim furrowed his brow in worry, feeling the dried blood around his horn crack. He began to breathe heavily as the unicorn approached. “This is the mines, isn’t it?” he whispered anxiously.
The brown unicorn smiled grimly and leaned down to him. “Oh, you’ll wish you were at the mines soon enough.” He grabbed Bedim’s mane and roughly shoved his face to stare at a large gaping hole that had been cut into the side of the mountain. “Welcome to the Pit.”
The Pit, as the unicorn called it, was quite apropos. The top of the hole reached nearly fifty hooves above into the crag and came down into a nearly right angled decline into the heart of the mountain. Bedim watched as he saw other ponies, much like him and the others in the line, walk into and out of the hole. The brown unicorn let go of Bedim and began to walk along the line of new recruits/prisoners.
“You are all here for one reason,” he began, pacing back and forth. “You are the worst that society has to offer. Thieves. Cheats. Swindlers.” He paused in front of Bedim. “Murderers.” Bedim grit his teeth, the sensation sending a shockwave of pain from his skull and horn stump. “This is where ponies like you are sent to be forgotten! Nopony is coming for you. Nopony cares about you.” He stopped his pacing and now turned to face the line. “However, all hope is not lost. This is a work camp and so you will work. You will attempt to repay your debt to society. You will even receive a small stipend. And when you’ve finished repaying that debt, then you may go free. Free to do whatever you wish. But let me assure you,” he smiled grimly once more, a small diamond tooth gleaming from the sun, “that will be a long time coming.”
The unicorn waved a hoof and Bedim and the others were ushered into a small barracks. Four rows of cots were lined tightly into the small space with two other cots resting on top of each bed like bunks. The unicorn spoke again. “This will be where you sleep, eat, and,” he pointed out the window to a small rusty spigot sticking out of the ground outside, “even bathe. Morning duties are at 5 am! Breakfast is served outside at 6! Mine work until 2! 15 minutes for lunch! Mine work again until 7! Hour for dinner! Night duties at 8! Then to bed at 10!” The unicorn grinned maliciously once more. “So smile. You will have some time to yourself. However, keep an eye open.” He pointed to his right eye and smirked. “Cause we’ll be keeping a close eye on you.”
The prisoners were given the next ten minutes to choose their bunks. Bedim chose the middle cot of a bunk on the far right. A green Pegasus took the top with a dark blue earth pony taking the bottom. Bedim tried to introduce himself. He leaned out of his bunk and put his hooves on the edge of his top bunkmate’s bed. “Hi, I’m Bedim.” The Pegasus merely rolled over with his face toward the wall, refusing to make contact. Bedim frowned and went back to his bed, leaning down to lower his head over the edge at the bed below. “Hi, I-”
“I heard,” the earth pony spat at him. The older stallion seemed to lounging in his cot, crossing his legs and resting his head on his crossed arms and pillow, his face pointed at the bottom of the bed above and his eyes closed in relaxation. The pony had a yellow mane and what appeared to be a set of scars around his mouth. His cutie mark was obscured by scars as well. He opened one eye and gave Bedim a stern glare. “You really think anypony’s gonna care about your name?”
Bedim blushed and pursed his lips. “Well, it’s just easier that way if we all know each other’s names, right?”
The earth pony laughed and opened both eyes to stare at Bedim. “Seriously?” he asked with a smirk. “You’ve never been to prison have you, kid?”
“No,” Bedim replied hastily, rolling over in his own bed to look at the bottom of the bunk above him.
The earth pony snickered. “So what you in for?”
Bedim didn’t reply for a long time then he sighed, “Something I didn’t do.”
The earth pony scoffed. “Aren’t we all?” He lifted himself from the bed and stood to look at Bedim. “Titus. That’s my name.”
Bedim gave Titus a look before extending his hoof in greeting. Titus accepted it. “Glad to meet you Titus.”
A soldier unicorn was coming around inscribing names on the bed posts for the prisoners. He came to the three on Bedim’s bunk as he read from a list. “Top to Bottom,” he said. The Pegasus above said his name and the unicorn shot a tiny controlled blast from his horn to inscribe his name. Bedim was next.
“Bedim Hush,” he stated. The soldier searched through his list and nodded, inscribing the name on the bed post. Titus was the next to reply, the earth pony taking a look at Bedim’s bedpost.
“So you’re name’s Hush?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, why?” Bedim replied. Titus pointed to the name and Bedim noticed a slight difference. The sign on the bedpost read “Bedim Haze.”
Bedim frowned as he got up to follow the unicorn soldier. He stopped him a little down the row. “Excuse me,” he grabbed the unicorn’s shoulder turning the soldier around to face him, “my name is wrong. It’s Bedim Hush not Haze.”
The soldier looked over his sheet and shrugged. “Huh, must be a clerical error.” He went back to what he was doing. Bedim frowned as he tried to push him further.
“So are you going to change it?” Bedim asked, anger starting to swell.
The unicorn turned back to him and smirked. “You get your name back when you’ve repaid your debts. Till then,” he pointed to Bedim’s bed, “consider that the name you were born with.” The unicorn went back to his duties and Bedim grit his teeth as he trudged back to the beds.
Titus gave a mocking grin. “It’s okay, kid. I think you’re much better as a Haze. Kind of suits you.” He patted Bedim on the back and returned to his bed.
After a few minutes a loud horn was heard from outside. The same brown unicorn from before entered the barracks and magically loudened his voice. “Alright, scum! Afternoon bell! We’re gonna fill your bellies and then… you’re gonna start the rest of one of the longest days of your lives!”
The prisoners trudged out in a single file line and came to a long table set up in the middle of the camp with several large pots of steaming gruel. Bedim could see that the most of the gruel had already been picked clean, most likely by the other prisoners already in the camp. He doubted there could be enough for his own group. Titus lagged behind him catching sight of the dwindling food as well. “Damn, warden, treating the new guys like this,” he muttered. “We’ll be lucky to get a spoonful.”
Sure enough when Bedim’s turn had come around there was barely any left. He managed to spoon a few globs of the edible muck. It didn’t look appetizing in the least but he still had to eat something. Bedim sat with his back against a cabin as he ate his meal alone. Titus coming up alongside him to sit.
Titus took a big slurp of the meager portions in his bowl and set it down. “Don’t make anything like it,” he smirked with a shiver of revulsion.
“You can say that again,” Bedim muttered, staring into his bowl.
“No, really. Don’t make anything like it.” Titus smiled, making Bedim turn to him and smile as well. The two sharing a brief moment of laughter. Bedim took a deep breath and simply shoved the bowl up to his mouth, taking down gulps of the gross gray mass. He pried it away and stuck his tongue out in revulsion, trying to scrape what remained off of his tongue. Titus chuckled. “Yeah, it’s an acquired taste.”
The older stallion laid his head back on the wall as he stared half lidded at the commotion of the camp before him. Bedim set his bowl down and looked nervously at Titus. “This might sound weird but could I stay close to you?” Titus’ eyes widened as he turned his attention to Bedim. “You seem to have it all figured out and I… well, I really don’t think I’m cut out for this.”
Titus frowned as he pulled his legs in closer and turned to fully face Bedim. “How old are you, kid?”
“Sixteen,” he replied. “Seventeen this march.”
Titus sighed and leaned his head on the wall once more, giving Bedim a crooked look. “And how old do you think I am?”
Bedim gulped and rubbed the back of his head in apprehension. The side of his mouth twitched as he tried to form an answer. “I don’t know. Thirty six?”
Titus scoffed and held his hooves over his stomach as he roared out loud laughing. When he was done, the stallion wiped away a tear that wasn’t there and turned back to Bedim. “I’m nineteen,” he proclaimed.
Bedim’s mouth fell agape and he immediately slammed it shut. “But… But your so,” he stuttered.
“It’s the scars isn’t it?” Titus motioned to the collection of scars around his mouth and hind quarters. “They do tend to get me into the big boy places without anypony asking questions. Kind of why I’m in this mess.”
Bedim folded his forelegs and frowned. “Why are you here?”
Titus smiled. “Can’t be a hypocrite now, kid. You tell me yours, I tell you mine.”
Bedim sighed and looked at the ground. “I was… blamed for a murder I didn’t commit.” He left out the mention of witches.
Titus didn’t seem to mind the confession, merely nodding his head. “That’s some tough breaks there. Me? I got busted trying to sneak out of a general store with a hoof full of sweet corn. Times got a little hard, y’know?”
Bedim nodded in agreement. “So this is your first time at one of these places?”
“Technically, no,” Titus replied with a shrug. “First time in a mine, yes. First time in prison, no.”
“Did those happen in prison?” Bedim asked as he pointed to Titus’ scars.
Titus frowned and got up from the ground. “Let’s keep a few secrets to ourselves shall we?”
Bedim got up as well, just as another horn blew. The brown unicorn, now identified as the warden, drew near to the mulling crowd. He smiled grimly, showing off his diamond tooth. “That’s the end of lunch! I hope you enjoyed it cause it’s going to be another five hours till you can eat again! Single file, ladies! It’s time I introduced you to the Pits!”
The group followed at a slow pace as they approached the eponymous Pits. Bedim gulped hesitantly as he neared the lip of the deep cavern, its interior barely lit by hanging lanterns giving off flameless magical light. He set himself and stepped into the mine feeling himself slide as he trailed down the steep incline. When they had reached the bottom the prisoners had begun to break from a line formation and turned into a small formless crowd. Many more lanterns hung from the walls illuminating a small flat outcropping of rocks in the large atrium-like area. The warden stood atop it.
“Here’s where we give you your assignments. The Pit is split into sectors. Once your sector is determined report to your sector and a sector head will tell you what to do. Obey your sector head and nothing bad will go on your records.” The prisoners began to murmur in hesitation before the Warden coughed once to silence them again. “And this goes without saying… but stay aware cave-ins.”
The warden began to list off names and sectors. Bedim and Titus were called to Sector 34. A soldier proceeded to march them deeper into the tunnels toward their workplace. Titus leaned over to whisper to his fellow as they walked. “You ever mine anything before?”
“Nope,” Bedim shrugged. “Though I can’t imagine it’s going to be any easy without a horn.” He gave a pained look at his forehead and the dried blood that still caked it. “It’s going to take years to grow back.”
“Least you’ve got your kickers, kid,” Titus motioned to his chained back legs. “I used to buck my way out of every situation. Can’t exactly do that now.” He rubbed his hoof over the tight metallic collar on his neck.
Both stallions did not notice they had stopped. The soldier had begun to talk to another pony in a hard hat and a golden badge right below chest. He was an earth pony but he had no chains which said he wasn’t a prisoner. The pony came over to them as the soldier left. “So, fresh meat, eh?” he mused, his voice dry and gravelly. Now that Bedim got a look at him, the pony was almost as ashen black as his surroundings. Bedim didn’t know if that was from the environment or his natural coat. The pony noticed him staring and brushed his chest revealing a bright yellow coat. He smirked. “You’re just gonna blend into the background, ain’t ya? Be careful we don’t lose ya.” Bedim gulped. Day one.