Heart of Raven Black

by Vin Diesels Go-Kart

Chapter 16: Work'll do Ya Good

Shantytown wasn't always the decrepit war zone that it soon became known as to the rest of Columbia. The district was created by Fink to house workers and their families during the few hours of down time they were given between work shifts. The little pay that the workers of Finkton actually received often got spent at Fink approved bars, where the overworked lower class could drown their sorrows and find momentary respite from the daily strains that were all too often administered to a man or woman who found themselves in front of the assembly lines.

The town was constructed almost overnight; a place officially named Factory Worker Housing, which became the place where young Jeremiah would store his workers at the end of the day, like a child putting his toys back in the chest once he was done playing with them. After a few domestic disputes and a constant lack of utilities, Factory Worker Housing quickly became the Shantytown that it was seen as presently. Those who resided there were equally degraded, earning close to nothing each day. When the workers did get paid, they would not get actual currency, but instead would receive special tokens that could only be spent at stores of which Fink himself owned.

It was not uncommon to see men and women of color in the bowels of Fink's empire. They were considered second-class citizens, and therefore could easily be segregated to the lower end of the city. In order for America to function as America had always functioned, it became clear to the Founders that laborers would be needed, and needed in large numbers. The United States had only recently done away with the barbarism that was slavery, but the fires of that era had not yet completely died out. It was easy for Fink to find labor in the colored man, much like what had been done a mere forty-seven years prior.

Of course then the Irish began to arrive, and the Founders quickly realized that their drunken ilk would only hinder the good name of the white and bright who had already established themselves as superior in Columbia. It was then that they decided to cast the Irish in with the colored folk, thus unknowingly adding even more numbers to the ranks of the already growing Vox Populi.

Daniel wasn't colored or Irish. He was born in America and never left the country until his first trip to Columbia. The Zealot was not a sympathetic man, and never questioned the doctrines that oppressed those who had been less fortunate than him during their time in the floating city. The Order of the Raven was constructed on the idea that Lincoln was a devil and Booth was a savior for putting a bullet in the fiend's head. Everyone had their place in society, and the sixteenth president of the U.S. had effectively upset the balance of that hierarchy. However, Columbia would instill that balance once again, not with slavery, but with a free market economy. The Order would do it's best to maintain that reestablished hierarchy and Daniel would do his best to aid the Order, and he was damn good at it too.

Due to the Order's violent policies and the group's particularly racist views, Zealots had gained quite a negative reputation in Shantytown. Now, as Daniel landed in the streets of the slums and recombined into his hooded form, those who saw him quickly left the area and did not dare think twice about it. Crow's had always been known to come to districts like this and kill off one or two citizens just for the hell of it. The red stripe that ran down his mask also told the citizens of Columbia a rather dark fact about Daniel, which only further encouraged them to leave the immediate area upon his arrival. The Zealot was indifferent to their reaction to him. He was not there to feed his crows or even his own blood lust. He had a specific objective in mind and so long as they remained out of his way, the denizens of Shantytown had nothing to fear.

The Crow turned his attention to the rundown bar that was cozily tucked between two equally rundown apartment buildings. The outside was filthy; bottles littered the front doorway and the sign that sat above the entrance was splintered and crooked. Any words that had once been there to inform a passerby of the establishment's name had log since faded out of existence.

Daniel wasted no time, and briskly walked over to the saloon, opening the broken door and stepping inside. The hinges shrieked in resistance as the door closed behind him. The inside of the bar was just as pretty looking as its exterior, offering a venue that could only be aesthetically pleasing to a frequent drunkard who'd just downed their twelfth beer. An old record player now quietly projected a soft tune throughout the building. Daniel recognized it as one of Albert Fink's latest master pieces, and listened to the lyrics as he approached the counter.

"Does anybody really know what time it is
Does anybody really care
If so I can't imagine why
We've all got time enough to cry"

The Crow walked up to the counter, keeping tabs on the other customers who were having a drink. None of the workers cared for Zealots, for obvious reasons, but there were some who would outright attack the hooded figures on sight. Also if this was truly the bar that Daniel had learned of, then he was likely walking right into an ambush.

"Are you Seamus?" the Zealot asked calmly to the barkeep. Music continued to play from the music box.

"And I was walking down the street one day.
A pretty lady looked at me
And said her diamond watch had stopped cold dead.....And I said....."

"Who's askin?" the barkeep replied, not looking up from the glass he was cleaning.

"A friend of Daisy's."

The man stopped cleaning the glass and looked up at the Zealot. Usually this was the part where he would drop the glass on the floor and beg for his life through fearful tears, looking at the Crow with horror and anguish. But the barkeep did nothing of the sort. Instead, he resumed cleaning the mug, stopping only to fully face Daniel.

"Don't know any Daisy there, boyo." the Irishmen responded, not even trying to hide the lie.

"Excuse me?" Daniel hissed. "Would you like to rephrase that? I don't think I heard a 'sir' at the end."

Seamus rolled his eyes. "Don't know any Daisy there, fucker." he said, smiling defiantly. "Now if ya don't wanta meet the maker tonight, I'd suggest you be turnin around and walkin right out that there door."

Daniel's eyes narrowed as he drew his sword, which only caused the barkeep's grin to grow larger. "I was hopin you'd opt to take the hard way out."

Five of them. That's how many Vox the Zealot had counted when he entered the bar. Now there were thirteen of the rebels pulling out weapons and tipping over tables. They must have been waiting in the backroom and basement, looking for a reason to show themselves. Seamus disappeared behind the counter as the music played on.

"Does anybody really know what time it is
Does anybody really care
If so I can't imagine why
We've all got time enough to die"

* * *

Trixie kept walking down the alleyways of Shantytown, navigating the narrow passages without problem, but not truly having any idea where she was going. Columbia looked massive during the ride up, so the unicorn had no idea how she was going to even begin searching for Daniel.

Would it have been too much trouble for those weirdos to give me an address and map?

She continued down an alley that led to an opening in the road. Unlike the area where she had landed, this part of town seemed to be a high traffic area, with humans walking in both directions, holding quiet conversations or mumbling to themselves. Trixie stayed in the safety of the shadows, studying the humans as they commuted. The first thing she noticed were their colors. While ponies boasted a plethora of different colors, humans seemed to be limited only to various shades of black and white. Their manes weren't all that exciting either; only being brown, red, or black it seemed. The next thing she noticed were their clothes. They were dirty and tattered, and probably hadn't been washed since their purchase. In fact, the whole area seemed filthy and gross. Trixie wondered why the rest of Columbia seemed so beautiful and vibrant. This was the complete opposite.

That didn't matter right now, though. The show mare couldn't get distracted by cosmetics. She had to find Daniel and it was important that she not get discovered, for that would lead to certain......

"Is you a unicorn?" a voice behind her asked. Trixie didn't jump or squeal, but she did curse her luck something fierce and wondered if her sneaking abilities were truly that poor. Slowly, the pony turned to face a human standing right behind her, leaning on an overflowing garbage can. She was female, by her looks and the sound of her voice. The human also seemed to be a child, standing only as tall as Trixie herself. She wore torn overalls with an oil blotched shirt underneath, and had skin of a darker shade.

"H-h-hello, um... human." the show mare managed to say.

"Hi." the child replied casually. "Is you really a talkin unicorn?"

Trixie hesitated. How did this girl know what she was? Did the humans learn about the various ponies already?

"I didn't mean to scare ya or nothin. I just didn't think unicorns was really real. My mama said they was just make believe, like the boogeyman. But then Father John told me they was in the Bible, so I didn't know if they was maybe alive back then and then went away or somethin or other."

The blue unicorn was now incredibly confused, understanding maybe half of what the human had just said.

"Yes, I'm a unicorn." she finally replied. "Who are you?"

"My name's Irene. What's yours?"

"Trixie."

"That's a nice name. Well, hello to ya Trixie. I bet you ain't from around here, huh?" the girl said, no longer leaning on the garbage can but keeping her hands in her pockets.

"That's, um, that's right." Trixie said. Clearly this human wasn't aware of the situation down below. Cautiously, the pony breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well let me welcome you to Shantytown. This here ain't much, but it's home to me and mama."

Trixie decided this child was harmless, and concluded that it was safe to ask questions. "What are you doing out here, Irene? Shouldn't you be in school or something?"

The girl shook her head. "Nah, us colored kids don't go to school. Well Father John likes to teach us some stuff afta Sunday mass; like history, geography, and math. He the reason I know my times tables. Multiplyin nines is easiest for me cuz of this nifty trick he showed me with my fingers. Wanna see?"

"Well actually, I really need to find......"

"Ah, it'll jus take a minute. Ain't nothin to it. Ask me what nine times four is."

"Listen, I really....." Trixie paused. The girl seemed to genuinely want to show her this trick, and the show mare didn't want to risk angering her. "Okay, what's nine times four?"

Quickly, the girl stuck all ten fingers up, bending down the forth digit. She then counted the fingers on both sides.

"Nine times four is thirty-six!" she shouted happily. Trixie looked around, praying no other humans heard that.

"Wow, That's... a very neat trick." she whispered, hoping Irene would follow suit.

"Yeah, math is my favorite subject. I always ask Father John to give me extra lessons afta Bible study."

"Where are your parents?" Trixie inquired. Irene's expression quickly changed from excitement to bitter sadness.

"Well mama don't get off work till tomorrow, and my daddy died a few weeks back."

Trixie felt Irene's sadness find its way to her. "I'm so sorry."

"Ah it happens. Most of my friends lost people in the factory too. Mama always said it was cuz daddy was overworked, but I don't know if I believe that. All the white folks say work does ya good." her expression brightened a little. "But soon, I'll be old enough to work the factory too, so I can help mama make tokens n she won't have to work as much. The white folks say there's always a chance to make it outta Shantytown, ya just gotta work hard enough. Mama says that's a load a bullshit, but I don't know. Father John says I ain't old enough to understand certain things, but I think I can understand the world a little bit."

Trixie felt sadness in ways she didn't think possible. How could this place be so horrible? Men, women, and children working themselves to death for the greed of others? The powers that be, promising them false hope so they don't complain when the man or woman next to them falls over dead?

"That's horrible, it's......barbaric.......it's slavery!" she said, daring to raise her voice.

Irene shrugged her shoulders. "That's life, but it ain't slavery. Mama said Mr. Lincoln got rid a slavery in 1865. I think she said the word was....abolished! Yeah, he abolished it."

"Wait, there was slavery before, like actual slavery?" Trixie asked, shocked. Slavery wasn't new to Equestria; most ponies have heard tales of the Crystal Empire's dark past, but it wasn't something at all prominent. Even when Sombra came to power, his oppression didn't last long before it was stopped.

"Uh-huh, mama said slavery been goin on for hundreds a years. She said it's just human nature for people to hurt each other. That's why the good book teaches us to love each other."

"Human nature....."

Trixie imagined hundreds of Sombras taking over towns, destroying houses and enslaving ponies. Images of smoldering ruins and screaming fillies made their rounds through her mind's eye. These things suddenly became very real possibilities, and all the more reason for Trixie to get the message to Daniel.

"Irene, do you know where I can find a man with a black robe on and a coffin on his back?" Trixie asked hopefully.

"The Crows? They's all around Columbia. Sometimes they come to Shantytown, but mama always rushes me inside when that happens. She said one a them took away my cousin Joanne and did awful things to her cuz she was said to be part of the Vox. Joanne wasn't a Vox, but I don't think they care really. Mama says they just wanna hurt people. Anyway, yeah there's a whole buncha them."

Trixie's hope was once again diminished. "Do they all have red stripes too?"

"Nope." Irene said, shaking her head. "I only seen one with a red mark on him. Actually, he was just around the corner a little while ago. I stayed and watched him when everyone else ran away. He went into a bar I ain't been in before."

The unicorn felt her heart rate quicken. "Is he still here?"

"Maybe. It wasn't too long ago I seen him." she replied.

"Please, can you take me there?" Trixie pleaded.

"Sure, I don't see why not. But them Crows don't take kindly to most folks I seen. You'd prolly do good to watch yourself." Irene warned.

"Don't worry, I know this one." Trixie muttered, and with that, the two quickly moved down another alley.

* * *

The hospital room was like any other hospital room that had ever been constructed; that is, it was sterile and uninviting. Applejack looked around the room with curiosity. Well, not really out of genuine curiosity, but after spending so much time in the room next to her unconscious friend, anything was a valid distraction for the admittedly bored farm pony. There wasn't much to the room aside from a bed and a side table with a lamp placed on top. It was very much like the room Rainbow had been in when she wiped out all that time ago. A heart rate monitor stood beside Rainbow's bed. It's screen was black and lifeless, and the steady beeping that the machine was known for made no such sound. After it was determined that the blue pegasus would make a full recovery, the doctors decided it was no longer necessary for Dash to be hooked up to the machine, so they turned it off and pushed it to the side.

Applejack was the only other pony in the room. After she got back to the farm, it was only a moment or two before that strange flash blinded her like a bat for a good minute or two, as she had the misfortune of looking directly at its source when it happened. Then not too long after she regained her sight, a pair of guards came and asked that she wait for her other friends at the hospital. That all seemed so long ago, now. The earth pony had been waiting there alone, occasionally looking outside and seeing the Royal Guard moving back and forth across town. Every time she saw them, a knot in her stomach made itself present. She knew the feeling, and it indicated fear. Applejack wasn't a fearful pony, never was, but she wasn't dense either. The pony knew that something bad was happening. All the evidence pointed to it.

This wasn't Thomas anymore. Daniel wasn't going to save Equestria from bandit overlords or flame spawns. He and the other humans had their own agenda, and it likely didn't involve making friends. Unbeknownst to most ponies, Applejack would regularly visit Thomas' final resting place. She would talk to the human, not thinking he would actually respond, but simply allowing her imagination to believe that perhaps he could somehow hear her and enjoy her company. It was the least she could do after everything he did for Apple Bloom and the other crusaders, not to mention the whole town. He had shown such an act of selflessness and courage that it was hard to believe he shared blood with the monster that was now there.

"W-what's going on?"

Applejack's head turned around so fast she could hear her neck crack. The pony now looked at Rainbow Dash as she struggled to open her eyes. The time that it took Applejack to clear the room was impressive, taking only half a second to cross the entirety of it, while still managing to stop on a dime. She was now right next to her waking friend.

"Rainbow Dash! Thank Celestia, I was bout ready to buck ya awake." the blonde sighed in relief.

"A-a-applejack, what happened? Where are we?"

"We're in the hospital. Don't worry everypony is fine, but ya had.......an accident and ya were out cold for a spell."

The rainbow maned pegasus put a hoof up to her head and lightly touched it, wincing in pain when it made contact.

"Ouch, my head!" she cursed.

"Now quit fidgetin, ya ain't done recoverin yet." Applejack warned. Rainbow reluctantly nodded, resting both hooves at her sides.

"Where are the others?" she asked.

"They're comin. They just had to take care of some things first, but they're comin." Applejack assured. She was never a good liar, but she tried to make herself believe she was telling the truth as much as her conscience would allow in order to not give off the regular tells that betrayed her on the few occasions that she did lie. Rainbow Dash didn't seem to notice though, still fighting off the foggy weariness that came hoof in hoof with extended periods of unconsciousness. The truth was that Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy should have all been at the hospital by now. The guards had been sent to find them as well, and Applejack knew her friends well enough to know they wouldn't leave town for any reason while one of their friends was in trouble. Spike was also MIA, which confused Applejack even more than the others, since he apparently had been sent straight here by Twilight herself. She couldn't think of any reason they wouldn't be here right now.

Well, there is one reason.....

Applejack shook the tormenting voice in the back of her mind out of her head. There was no time to think like that.

Nothin bad happened to my friends. She quickly corrected. Though as time had gone on, the validity of that declaration seemed to be growing weaker and weaker.

Comments

[SCP Pinkamena]

Well, happy Rainbow's back up! Now, all that's left is to find the name of that song, and get Trixie to the Head Zealot!
(Oh joy, now we can DIE watching the only hero of Equestria, and probably the whole of Equues, get killed in some petty bar fight... how wonderful...)
((Oh come now, you're just picky...))
(I like seeing my variables come to play, not yours!)

[Xray]

inb4 Rapture

[Villain84]

Awesome chapter! Great job setting each scene from each individual character's perspective. The scene with Irene was really touching too. I like her.

Can't wait to see what happened to the rest of the main six. Did the Vox get them? And what does Fitzroy have planned anyway? What did she send her boys down to do. Can't wait to see how Daniel faired in that bar fight either! Looking forward to the next update!

[Villain84]

I was wondering. How old is Daniel if he was around for when Columbia was built? And for that matter, how old did Thomas live to be? Are they in their 30s? 40s? What?

[Vin Diesels Go-Kart]

2783571 Daniel wasn't present during Columbia's completion in 1893, but he traveled to the city not long after that. He was most definitely there when Columbia seceded from the United States in 1901, staying loyal to Comstock and the Founders. Age wise, I'd put Daniel at about 37 years old.