Based on Fallout Equestria. How a pegasus citizen from above the cloud cover was forced to the surface, and how she learned to adapt to a less than desirable environment there. Will she ever accept that she is a dashite?
The story of how a pegasus citizen of Thunderhead found herself betrayed over jealousy, and forced to the surface of the equestrian wastelands. After the many sufferings and adventures she goes through with land bound ponies, she learns the truth about what surface is really like. Her loyalty slowly shifts and she then has to question herself, is she really a Dashite? This story was inspired by Kkat's Fallout Equestria and Sombers Project Horizons.
A sunny day. It's something most pegasi take for granted, or I did. The feel of warm rays on my fur and feathers, the beauty of the light glimmering off of raindrops or condensation from the clouds, the vivid blue of the skies above... and somehow it all brightened my senses in other ways too. Depression wasn't something I often felt. I was an outdoors pony. Even from a foal, that's where I preferred to be. I hated being cooped up in a classroom with other foals to learn history. I'd spend my days gazing out the window at the cloud cover, pretending I was one of them. Who cares how the war started anyway? Who cares what ponies did two hundred years before I was born? I just wanted to play.
Play... it's something I don't get to do very often any more. These days I wish I had paid a bit more attention in history class. How the war started might be important now. I no longer live that sheltered life above the cloud cover. I no longer feel the warm sun that I'd taken so much for granted. I am a Dashite. Not by choice, at least not at first. If I'd paid attention to what started the war, maybe I could figure out what ponies could do to end it. Two hundred years after the fact, and we're still feeling the after math of it. Something I'd been sheltered from all my life until I was forced to the surface.
This is my story, maybe I should start with how a pegasus like me ended up in the wastelands. My hope in writing this? That somepony listens... somepony in the future or the present who makes those decisions about whether to drop megaspells or start wars on other species. If they could read first hoof what they were about to cause, maybe they would choose something different. Even the pegasi seem to be waging war with each other. Our own kind? Really? Somepony needs to stop it. I'm no hero, but maybe my story will open someponies eyes... just a little.
So lets start with my name. I'm Misty Haze, former citizen of Thunder head. I was a cloud farmer. If you're a surfacer you might not understand fully what that is, but we grow crops on the cloud cover. Not the easiest task with out soil, but we managed it. Apple trees, wheat, even strawberries. Oh how I miss those! My job was to tend the crops, harvest them, and get them to the market. I owned my own orchard and worked with a team. We were respected for being the food growers.
My special talent, forming mists. It's not that hard to do really, not if you know how to manipulate the precipitation in the air. The secret is in cooling thermals in the air so that the water vapor rises and condenses. That's just a fancy word for shrink. I guess it's kind of hard to explain to a surface pony but anyway, I learned to flap my wings and fan the air until mists formed, then clouds. Of course these days clouds often formed on their own, but not always where you wanted them. Yeah, as pegasi we could move clouds... but I'd like to think that being able to form them was a useful talent. Isn't it? Ok fine. My special talent was useless! At least above the clouds it was, but since I also knew how to grow things in unlikely places, my cutie mark was a combination of those two things. A cloud, with apple blossoms draping over it. Such a pretty cutie mark. I love blossoms! I was so proud of that cutie mark.
So my days would begin and end with tending crops. Spring was my favorite time of the seasons, all those blossoms to match my cutie mark. Even when I was off work I'd love to sit among the apple trees. That's where you would find me. Everypony knew that. Especially Thunder Clash. He was a captain of the local Enclave. That's our military, just in case you didn't know that. He was quite a good looking stallion, as far as stallions go. I don't think there was a mare alive who didn't have a crush on him. Well, cept maybe me. However, he certainly seemed to have his eyes on me. I couldn't help but blush when he looked at me like that. What mare wouldn't? I was the envy of most of my fellow mares in the orchard, but they weren't the only ones who noticed Thunders attention towards me.
Dawn Crusher, a black mare and also in the Enclave. She was not the nicest mare you could ever meet. She was a tough, no nonsense type of mare that you didn't want to cross, but she was very good at her job. Most ponies trusted her to keep the cloud cover safe. We all wanted that. No pegasus wanted surfacers to somehow infiltrate. Ewww... surfacers! They were all diseased and radiated. Crazy! They ate each other. At least that's what I was told. They were cannibals and slavers and ghouls. Monsters! I was so glad to live in the civilization of the cloud cover.
So on this bright sunny day, in the middle of spring, I was lazily relaxing under the apple trees, gazing up at the beautiful blossoms when ms Dawn Crusher approached me. I really didn't think anything of it. Maybe she just wanted to put in her order for some fresh apples?
"How can I help you Dawn?" I asked cheerfully. It was always wise to be polite to the Enclave. After all, they could arrest you, but I was pretty sure that's not what she was here for. I was one of the best behaved, most upstanding citizens of Thunderhead, Yeah, I was a goodie four shoes.
"Well, Misty, I need your help with something. You will benefit also. Its obvious that over time the apples are getting less tasty around here. Wouldn't you like some new species to add to the crop?" she asked. Looking into Dawn Crusher's eyes was like looking into a dark void. Black eyes, black fur, braided black mane and tail. You almost couldn't make out her features at all. She wore her Enclave armor which was equally as dark. The scorpion like tail piece at the back added to the sinister look of her. The question had taken me by surprise. Yes, apple tree's needed to cross pollinate and ours were needing some fresh stock to better them, but what did Dawn Crusher know about grafting tree's? Nothing of course. That's why she needed me. If we could improve the crop we'd both be honored for it.
"I would love new grafts for the orchard" I told her "But how? I suppose we could go to Neighvarro for some, but lately, it seems we just aren't in good standing with them. You'd know more about that military stuff than me of course. I'm just a farmer." I waved the statement off as if trying to act humble about my prestigious position as a food grower. However, I was very proud of my orchard.
"Neighvarro wasn't where I had in mind." she informed me. " I know of an apple farm not far from here, but it's below on the surface. Don't worry, I'm one of the best in the Enclave. If we go together we can avoid any dirt dwellers, grab some cuttings and fly off before they even notice." She sounded very sure of herself, but I was a little confused.
"Apple tree's grow on the surface? I thought nothing grew there. What about the radiation? Won't we be contaminated?" I'd heard so many stories about the surface. Mostly ghost stories told at slumber parties when I was a filly. Pegasi were prohibited from going there unless under orders. I suppose a trip like this with an Enclave officer was kind of like being under orders. Wasn't it? The thought of bettering my tree's was very tempting.
"Normally no, but I've been on patrol quite a few times to this area, and I assure you there are tree's. As for radiation" Dawn reached back and pulled a small bottle of fluid from a side pocket in her barding. "I have this, it's called Rad-away. It will purge any radiation we pick up. I like you Misty, I want to help make yours the best apples in Thunderhead. Wouldn't you like that?"
Say what? Dawn Crusher liked me? She'd always given me these looks that could kill when ever I'd noticed her glance my way. Then again I'd never seen her smile at anypony before. Was that a smile? Her lips were curled up so it could be classed as one. Her eyes didn't match the gesture though. Then again, they were so black who could tell?
"Of course I want that." I replied. Yes, it would be nice to corner the market, win the local fair for best apple pie and help my wonderful tree's to be healthier.
"Then why wait?" Dawnasked, with almost a hiss in her voice. "It will just be our little secret, Nopony needs to know we went to the surface for them. As a matter of fact, it's probably best not to tell anypony. Lets just go right now. My guns are loaded and ready in case we run into trouble. I'm due for a patrol so nopony will question my absence. You seem to be off duty so it's the perfect time."
Did I have any reason not to trust this? No, the Enclave were there to protect pegasus kind. I was a pegasus. I owned an apple orchard and was reasonably wealthy and upstanding. I'd never committed a crime, and I respected the Enclave for keeping the cities above the clouds safe.
"I'll just grab my cloak" I told her. I'd heard the surface was a cold place. No sunlight got through. It had to always be cold down there. Dawn followed me to the small cloud cottage that I lived alone in, then we left together. I didn't glance back, though I wish I had now. It would be the last time I saw that little cottage, at least for a while.
I'd never been below the clouds before. They got thicker the deeper you went into them. Much harder to flap your wings and even breath. It became slightly easier to fly once we were below them, but it took my eyes a while to adjust to the dimness. Breathing was a little easier but the air was so stale. It smelt smoggy and rank. Below, instead of the beautiful white fluffy clouds I was use to, was dark, solid, ugly ground. Cracked in places and churned up in others. A few ramshackle buildings could be seen here and there, and in the distance, what appeared to be the remains of a once grand city. There were tree's, just like Dawn Crusher had said there would be, but they were gnarled blackened things. Very sick looking and barely alive. Being a pony who loved tree's I felt instantly saddened at the sight of them. Why wasn't somepony taking care of them?
Dawn was a swift flyer, being military trained but I was keeping up reasonably well. Surveying the ground I could not see the promised apple tree's at all, but we were heading towards a small cluster of trees with twisted branches reaching out desperately towards the cloud cover as if begging for some light. Foliage on them was sparse, and the leaves were browned and yellowed almost as if it was autumn instead of spring.
We landed among them. I was an expert on tree's. It didn't take me very long to figure out that these weren't apple tree's at all. I had no idea what species they were. Not Dawn's fault. She wasn't a farmer. How could she have known?
"I'm afraid you've made a mistake" I informed her as I reached out a hoof towards the bark of one of the sad looking tree's. I petted it sympathetically, wishing I could magically heal it. "These aren't apple tree's at all."
"On the contrary Misty Haze, I have made no mistake." She hissed between her teeth. That was when I felt her pounce on me. I'd had my back to her as I'd examined the tree in front of me, now I was pinned under her weight, which was heavier due to the armor she wore. I am no fighting pony. My wings spread out either side of me, as if on instinct. I tried to flap them uselessly then eventually gave up, letting them fall helplessly spread out at my sides. I had no idea how to get out of a situation like that. Shocked I gazed up at her.
"Dawn what are you doing?" I cried out. My voice was shrill and shaking with fear, not something I was use to feeling. Why would a member of the Enclave attack me? I'd done nothing wrong.
"Getting you out of my way" she answered with a snarl in her voice. "Pretty little Misty Haze, you just had to catch the eye of the very stallion I want. Nopony will stand in the way of making him mine." Wait, this was over jealousy? Seriously? A mare scorned over a stallion I was barely interested in?
I felt a pain snap through my right wing as her hoof came down hard on it. The crunch of the bones could barely be heard over my scream. I'd never felt pain like that before. Tears streamed down my face as my cries continued. My Goddess that hurt! My wing lay twisted beside me among several loose feathers. It was clear I wasn't going to be flying home any time soon.
"DAWN!" my voice screamed out as I finally managed to shape some words through my gasping cries of pain. "Why? I'm not interested in Thunder Clash" My words didn't seem to matter to her as I felt her begin to hog tie my four legs together with some heavy ropes. She wasn't exactly gentle about it either. They were tight and cut into my skin, ruffling the soft pale blue fur and leaving red raw rope burns underneath them. I was use to the other mares being jealous, but this way beyond what I'd ever expected. I started to regret the smug attitude I'd had about being fairly nice looking. Beauty had become my curse!
"It doesn't matter" she finally told me with disdain. "As long as you're around he won't even look at me. I always get what I want."
I lay there, struggling against the ropes but knowing it was pretty much in vain. Even if I could get loose from them I was no match for her. I'd never fought anypony in my life. I couldn't shoot a gun or engage in hoof to hoof combat. I was just a farmer!
I could hear the crackle of a fire as she built it. Was she going to kill me and burn my carcass? Was that the plan? Why bother? She could just leave me to rot on the surface. No pegasi would find me. I was soon to learn that wasn't her plan at all.
I heard hoof steps approaching on the dry ground. They sounded so different than they did on the clouds, or even on the floors of our dwellings up there. A loud clip, clop. The sound of them only added to my already rising fear. I could hear my own heart thudding in my chest.
"About time you showed up" I heard Dawn Crusher say. "I'm running out of time. I'll be expected above. You can do the honors if you like" The honors of what? I wondered. My wing was still throbbing in extreme pain, lying twisted out to one side of me. The left one I'd managed to fold but my right wing refused to move at all. I was laying in the dirt, and unlike the clouds, it had a nasty way of getting all over me. Embedded in my pale blue fur and dirtying my beautiful long blue and white streaked mane and tail. I'd always been such a proud, clean mare.
"Don't mind if I do" came the voice of a stallion that I didn't recognize. It was rich and deep with an evil undertone and a suave overtone. I heard the fire being stoked. Then the stallion circled around to where I could see him in front of me. My aqua blue eyes gazed up at him. He was an earth pony with a rust colored coat and a mane and tail in the ugliest green you could imagine. It hung in bedraggled and filthy stands half over one scarred eye. He didn't look, or smell like he'd had a bath in a very long time but what struck me the most was the sinister look in his deep brown eyes as he peered down at me. I'd never seen a pony with out wings before. To me, he looked deformed for lack of them. There were said to be a few unicorns in the big city, but I avoided that place. A wingless pony, and perhaps a heartless one too. It was very clear to me that this was a surfacer, and that could only mean trouble.
I struggled against the ropes. No use... I wasn't getting away any time soon. He held a branding iron in his mouth. One that every pegasus could recognize. It was a shaped into the cutie mark of the infamous and legendary Ministry mare, Rainbow Dash. It was a Dashite brand.
"I'm not a Dashite!" I protested, the tears not stopping as I sobbed. I didn't realize at the time how often I'd be repeating that phrase. No I can't lose my cutie mark! That determined who I was and I was so proud of it. My identity was about to be burned away and all because one stallion fancied me? How just was that?
He dropped the branding iron in front of me. "No, but you're about to become one." he informed me. "Or at least, appear as one." His voice sounded upper to middle class, which didn't match his appearance at all, and although smooth and almost patronizing, it had a dark expression behind it that spoke of a deceitful hidden agenda.
"Dawn Crusher!" I squealed in rage at her. As if that was going to do any good. She'd made up her mind to get rid of me. I should have been glad that I wasn't about to die, but at that exact moment the thought of loosing my cutie marks seemed far more devastating. She appeared beside the stallion in front of me, gazing down with an equally sinister smile. This time I had no doubt that it was a smile. A very unpleasant one.
"Sorry Misty" she said, but by the tone of her voice I could tell she was far from sorry. She dripped with sarcasm as she spoke. "I can't very well leave you here with out some story to take back home. So your family and the authorities will be informed that during patrol, I caught you trading your apples to the Dashites. Betraying our kind and risking contamination. Every reason to be labelled a Dashite yourself. Even if you did get back home, who is going to believe you over a respected member of the Enclave hmmm? Murder would have been much harder to explain."
Sadly she was right. No matter how upstanding a citizen I had been, they would still believe her over me. She seemed to have the perfect story too. All those hours I liked to spend alone day dreaming could easily be mistook as trips to the surface. I had no reasonable alibi.
If I'd thought my wing had hurt being broken, the first brand seemed to hurt even more. Searing pain through my flank, the smell of burning flesh and fur, but worse, my pride being charred away as I lost my first cutie mark. I gritted my teeth, trying not to cry out and give them that satisfaction, but the stream of tears on my face couldn't be held back. They flipped me over and I felt the second burn. This time I did scream. No more apple blossoms, no more cloud. Just a charred replica of Rainbow Dash's mark. All I knew of her was that she'd betrayed the pegasi, or that's what I'd been taught. I was disgraced.
I heard Dawn say her good byes and the familiar flutter of wings as she took off and ascended back to the cloud cover. I was alone with the earth pony and he was standing over me. He clipped something around my neck then around each hoof. Shackles and a collar. So the rumors were true... surface ponies were criminals, and I was now cowering under a slave trader.
"You are now my property and will refer to me as Master or Sir" he informed me in his smooth drawl. Fat chance! There was no way I was agreeing to do that. However I said nothing. All I could feel was pain and humiliation. What was there really to say? "You can forget your real name until you earn the right to have it back. You will speak only when you are spoken to and do exactly as you are told. Any attempts to escape or rebel will be met with punishment up to and including being whipped. Do you understand these terms?"
Oh I understood them. Didn't agree to them at all, but what was I to do? Still sobbing lightly I just nodded my head. I'd lost my cutie marks, my purpose, my identity, dignity, ability to fly, my beautiful orchard, the very sunlight I loved to spread out in and my home. Now I'd also lost my freedom and I was some dirt dwellers slave? Things couldn't get any worse. Could they?
Yeah, they could. He rolled me off my side into a crouching position on the ground. I felt him climb over me his heavier earth pony weight bearing down on me. Oh Goddesses... NO! He bit down on my neck, gripping me between his front legs like a vice. I could feel his thighs against the fresh burns of my brands making then sting even more. My left wing flapped and hit the ground in protest, but that wasn't going to stop him. I let out a pitiful squeal as those dark tree's loomed over me, casting their shadows across my hide and the ground surrounding me as if to add their protest what was about to happen beneath their branches. I was about to loose one more thing on this terrible day.
As a young filly I'd always had this romantic fantasy that some day, I'd be swept off my hooves, fall in love, have a beautiful wedding and that my first time with a stallion would be something magical. No such luck. That dream had been completely robbed from me. Pain, humiliation, those were bad enough, but it was the loss of something deeper that stuck with me.
If I'd had enough tears to wash away all that pain, I would have shed them, but my tears eventually dried up and I simply endured it. I thought about home, trying to imagine the blossoms on my tree's and the feel of the sun on my fur. It wouldn't be the last time I'd envision all of that just to get through a difficult moment. I was determined not to let this destroy me. I held on to every piece of dignity inside myself. 'You won't break me' I mentally projected to the earth pony slaver who was holding my chain.
I was covered in the smell of the stallion who'd just raped me and desperately wanted to scrub it off! He'd made the experience far from pleasant. The more I'd protested and struggled the more he seemed to like that. By the end of it I felt so much less like myself. Even when he got off me, it was like his presence lingered, looming over me like a dark shadow that would follow me forever. Nothing would ever take back what he had taken away.
"Get up" he finally ordered, pretty much dragging me to my hooves by the collar. My injured wing stuck out from my side, distorted and twisted in an unnatural way. Several of my lovely light blue feathers were missing and at a glance, I could see the broken ends of the bones pressing against my skin. It still throbbed and I was unable to move it back to my side. The slaver yanked it in cruelly and then proceeded to tie both of my wings to my sides with ropes. He ignored my protests and cries of pain. Stupid earth pony! Didn't he realize I couldn't fly with just one? Probably not. Surface ponies weren't suppose to be all that intelligent. Not according to what I'd been taught. Probably brain damaged from too much radiation or something. I had a pretty low view of non pegasi back in those days.
The slaver then attached a chain to the collar around my neck and began to lead, and at times dragged, me along behind him. Earth ponies were so much heavier than pegasi, and this one was quite big and strong, I had no chance to pull back and resist. During the course of our travels he informed me that my new name was 'Brood mare' since that was now all I was useful for. He seemed to think that my foals would be more valuable to sell considering pegasus slaves were rare. Stupid Earth pony! I was no genetics master but even I knew that earth ponies were the dominant race and chances were that the majority of the foals would not inherit the double recessive gene. They'd most likely be wingless. My heart felt saddened at the thought of my own foals being bred and sold for slavery.
I trudged along behind him, watching as the mud covered my hoofs. I was not use to feeling it clog up under them. Gravel and clay embedded itself into the nooks and crannies of my hooves, making it difficult to walk. I stumbled a few times but he kept dragging me forward, seeming to navigate the terrain with no difficultly himself.
We were heading towards what appeared to be some kind of settlement. I could see the silhouettes of the buildings on the horizon. On the outskirts there were a group of run down sheds with boards barely nailed together to keep them standing. In front of one of these, was what appeared to be three ponies. It didn't take me long to realize that the one laying on the ground was... dead!
I'd never seen a corpse before and I was completely repulsed by the sight of this one, not just because she was dead, but because she appeared to be half eaten. I had to turn my face away and hold back my tears, that was, if I had any left to shed. There was a rank smell in the air which seemed to be coming from one of the sheds. The two living ponies hovering over the body were both earth ponies, a stallion and a mare, covered in blood, grime, dirty bandages, scars and wearing all kinds of junk that I assumed they thought was armor. Old tires, even a 'danger' sign had been strapped onto one them. If I'd thought the slavers mane looked unkept, these ponies were in far worse condition. Manes hanging in dread locks and full of Goddess knows what.
One of them approached the slaver and in a voice that I could barely recognize as a pony she said "fresh meat". A crazy grin curled up on her face, revealing dirty, blackened teeth; several of which were missing. On closer inspection I noticed that her coat was bare in patches, revealing unhealthy looking skin beneath that was scabbed up by either lice or a fungal infection. The very sight of it made me want to itch myself all over.
I heard a click as the slaver pony pulled out his gun and pointed it at them both, making me glance his direction. I opted to cringe behind him, not wanting to become the fresh meat they were referring to.
"I suggest you stay back, and get on with your meal. I'm passing by with this slave, whether you like it or not." He told them in his deep, sinister voice. As strange as it may seem, I was suddenly grateful to have a 'protector' of sorts. Alone and unarmed, I would probably have become their dinner. I was neither skilled, nor equipped for a confrontation of this kind.
"Raider ponies have boom sticks too" said the stallion in front of us, pulling out a cut off rifle and aiming it at my bold protector. "It's two against two and your little slave there doesn't look like she will put up much of a fight." I must have looked pretty pathetic, cowering behind him like a frightened bird. He was right, I couldn't fight my way out of a wet paper bag.
"Trust me," My slaver assured them. "My gun far out matches yours. Take a step forward, and you're paint." He snapped his weapon into gear, holding it with, what seemed to me, to be expert precision. No saddle to strap it to like the Enclave used, he held it in his hooves with his mouth on an extension which would operate the trigger. "Don't be stupid" he warned them. "You cant' win against me"
To my knowledge, all surface ponies were stupid, had half a brain, and were crazy. The two ponies in front of me helped cement in that opinion by charging forward to tackle him; ignoring his warning. Teeth bared, eyes crazy, and still grinning from ear to ear like this was some kind of game to them. The first one had knives strapped to her hooves. She slashed at the slaver, making a deep cut on his shoulder which stained his coat crimson but he ended her rather swiftly with a quick shot from his fire arm, splattering her remains over both of us in a shower of blood.
I screamed. I couldn't help it! It was bad enough to be covered in dirt, now I was covered in pony remains as well? Before the second raider could fire his weapon, the slaver had leapt forward to secure him in a head lock. I froze as I watched, the two grapple together, unable to look away even though every sense inside me said not to look.
The slave trader threw the other stallion to the ground, bending and twisting his front leg back at an awkward angle, causing him to drop the broken down gun. This caused the raider to react by kicking backwards, landing his back hooves into the slaver and tossing him backwards several feet.
The two stood to face each other with angry scowls on their faces, the slave trader pawing at the ground and grunting angrily to intimidate his opponent. Then they reared up and struck at each other with their front hooves, squealing, as stallions do. The sound struck fear through me. I'd never seen such a savage display in my life before! Oh sure we'd had play fights as fillies and colts but nothing like this. These two were set on a battle to the death and who ever the victor was, I'd be his prize. I was hoping the slaver would win. Being a slave was better than being lunch.
As I watched my mind began to click over. 'Run Misty' a little voice in my head prompted. 'This is your chance' but run where? The township was no doubt full of more deranged surfacers. Back where I'd come from wasn't very appealing. The cloud cover was out of reach with a broken wing, and even if I could fly, the brand on my flanks made it impossible to return home. The loss of my cutie marks was as if I'd metaphorically had both my wings permanently broken. Up was out of the question. I made a random decision and scrambled to my hoofs, attempting to gallop forward. It's not the easiest thing to do when your legs have been shackled together. I fell right on my face, into the dirt. Scrambling back up, I starting off more carefully at a trot instead.
Before I had gotten very far, I felt a sharp zap go through me as my slave collar lit up in a spark of magical energy, causing me to reel to the ground in pain. As a pegasi, I didn't know that much about magic, but I knew what lightning was from bucking rain clouds just for the fun of it. The zap I'd felt, was most assuredly lightning in nature. An electric shock? Glancing back, I saw the slaver pony approach and slam his hoof down on the trailing chain that acted as my leash.
"Not thinking of escaping, are you?" He asked, his deep voice seeming to resonate and threaten me to the very core of my being. In his hoof, I noticed that he held some kind of device that I didn't' recognize. It ebbed with a magical aura. I could only assume that the source of my zap had come from that device. "If you stray too far, there is also a bomb fitted to you, so I'd suggest sticking close by me, unless you want to join the raiders as red paint."
Glancing past him, I could see the remains of the two raider ponies lying on the ground in a sea of red. Yes, they'd wanted to eat us, but I still didn't like seeing them that way. It was obvious that the slaver pony was an adept fighter that I couldn't possibly hope to contend with. As much as I'd been grateful that he'd protected me from being eaten... I also feared him. I lowered my gaze to the ground rather than look at the remains of the ponies, only to have my chin jerked back up by his hoof as he glared into my eyes.
"No more attempts to escape." He warned me. "You belong to me Broodmare, Is that clear?" I said nothing, which apparently was the wrong answer because he struck me across the face with his hoof, leaving a welt under my eye. "Is that clear?"
"Yes" I answered feebly, only to be struck a second time, causing me to squeal and cower down in front of him.
"You say, yes Sir or yes Master" He instructed. Neither option sounded appealing to me, but I picked what I believed to be the lesser of the two evils and muttered,
"Yes Sir"
I immediately hated myself for saying it. Was I this easy to break down? I was a proud pegasus, raised with high standards, an upper class citizen who was far above this filthy damn dirt dweller. Could my pride be taken away so swiftly with out much of a fight? Two nasty smacks across the face had served as a reminder that yes I was that easy, but the rapid beating of my heart told me 'no, you're just going to survive and bide your time till an opportunity presents itself.'
As I battled with my own thoughts I felt a tug at my leash as the earth pony continued down the road, dragging me with him. What was left of my pride and self worth, I buried deep inside me for safe keeping.
We came to a small township where I laid eyes for the first time on bedraggled surface pony citizens. Most of them skinny, all of them pretty dirty and poorly dressed in the remains of what I assumed use to be clothing. Most of them didn't appear very happy with their lives. It was like a dark cloud of depression was over this city. Each pony just going through the motions of life, taking one day at a time. It's true I did not like surfacers, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for these ponies.
Several of the ponies were milling about near a huge body of water. I'd never seen that much water collected all in one spot before. I could hear the lap of waves splashing against the sides of the dock but even more fascinating, was a small vessel floating upon the rippling water. I'd also never seen a boat before. It was nothing like the Enclave sky ships. It was much smaller, made mostly of rotting wood, and this particular one was in very bad repair, paint peeling from the sides and looking like it had seem much better days.
Much to my dismay, I was led onto the boat. I was taken below deck and then thrown into a cage like a piece of cargo. The slaver locked me in and ascended back up the stairs. I was glad to see the back of him for a while.
It wasn't a very big enclosure, but I didn't feel like standing anyway. I lay on the cold floor miserably trying not to relive all that had just happened to me. "Stop thinking" I told myself. I kept my eyes shut in an attempt to block it all out.
Despite that I still had my cloak on, it had been left draped up over my back, leaving my brands to air. Despite being tied to my side, the broken right wing still jutted out, twisted in an awkward way. I struggled to move my other wing, feeling it start to cramp up, the ropes digging in to me. I didn't notice the mare in the cage right beside me, but she had apparently noticed me.
"That injury looks bad" she said, her voice low and gentle. I reluctantly opened my eyes to look at her. She was a sandy colored earth pony with a cream mane and tail which was unbrushed and straggly. She was also shackled and collared like I was. I said nothing back. Just couldn't find the words.
"It looks broken" She continued. "Did Rocky do that?"
The slaver hadn't mentioned his name, not that I was suppose to use it anyway. "Sir or master" he had informed me. It didn't matter, the answer was obviously...
"No, a member of the Grand Pegasus Enclave did" Even though I'd said the words out loud, I still found them hard to believe. I'd always thought the Enclave to be honorable protectors of pegasus kind. To be betrayed by one in this way was such a let down. Everything was crashing down on me and I really just wanted to lay there and give up, not discuss the horrible past. Especially not with a surfacer.
"Slide over, let me look at it" the earth pony mare offered. I really didn't trust surfacers, but nopony else was around offering to help so I slide over as close to the bars as I could. She reached through with a hoof and touched my hurt wing causing me to wince. "Those bones need re aligning" she concluded. I was surprised that she seemed to know what she was talking about. "Your wing won't heal correctly like that."
"I seriously don't think he cares" I grumbled, referring to the slave trader. He'd dragged me along for several hours with out bothering to check it. "I don't think he wants me flying off" I concluded. Not that I could anyway... Even if I had two good wings, I still had a bomb strapped to my neck.
"You're probably right, but when it comes to being a slave, you just need to learn how to train your slavers." her voices sounded slightly amused as she gave me a sly wink.
"Wait what?" I asked, my ears perking forwards. "Isn't that a bit backwards, don't they train the slaves?" I'd already had it drilled into me that I was to do as I was told or face the consequences.
"Oh yes they sure think they do, but I've been a slave for a long while now, and trust me, you learn how to manipulate your situation. You have to appeal to what you know about them. Learn what they really want and then use that knowledge to your advantage. They're greedy and selfish, especially this one. Molthrak Rocket thinks more highly of himself than he really should. These are all weapons you can use against him."
I was amazed by how wise and knowledgeable this earth pony seemed to be. She was also very well spoken.Not what I had expected. I had been led to believe that surface ponies were unlearned and stupid but this mare certainly seemed to have her wits about her. "It's all about survival" she concluded "Wait and see. You'll learn. By the way, My name is Chamomile, but Cammy will do."
I noticed the herbal cutie mark on her flanks. I wasn't a herb grower, but I knew what they were. When you're a farmer you study all kinds of plants.
"I'm Misty Haze. You're a gardener?" I asked her, indicating her cutie mark with my hoof.
"No" she replied. "I don't know how to grow plants, just use them for their natural properties. I have a talent for alternative remedies, that's why Rocky likes to keep me around. Chems are expensive and can be very hard on a pony physically. The old natural ways keep a pony healthy with out the ill effects. He finds me useful so he doesn't sell me. I'm also very good at first aide and other medical procedures but I wouldn't call that a natural talent. Just something I've learned over the years."
The thought of being sold horrified me. Bad enough to be owned, beaten, forced to do things against your will, but to just be sold like property as if you were some object to be possessed. I shuddered visibly. The idea of using plants as natural remedies fascinated me. Under different circumstances, I would have liked to have learned more about it. Cammy seemed to be a pony who appreciated plants. The kind of pony I could get to like, even if she didn't have wings. If only weren't stuck in a couple of cages on a boat heading who knows where...
"So tell me... " Cammy queried, interrupting my train of thought. "How does a Dashite become a slave?"
Her question was simple enough but the first words out of my mouth were.
"I am not a Dashite!" I said it with conviction. No way was I going to submit to that title. They were traitors. I was not! "I was tricked and betrayed," I continued. "I have never done anything to hurt the pegasi, nor will I ever." My words came out far more angrily than I had intended them to.
"Calm down winged one" She said in her smooth even voice. "I've known some pretty honorable dashites in my time. You needn't be so defensive. With that brand on your flank that is what you will be seen as. There is no shame in that."
I reminded myself that I'd never accept it. Never! I turned my head to gaze at the brand, catching a glimpse of the apple blossoms sticking out beneath it. I sighed deeply. There was no healing that wound.
Chamomile moved to the other side of her cage and laid down to rest seeming uninterested in further conversation with this 'non dashite'. It was quiet except for the creaking of the boat as it moved on the water. I didn't mind the movement. It reminded me a little of the cloud cover. An ever shifting surface.
I took the time to gaze about the cabin, and take in my surroundings. There were several cages, most of them empty except for the excrement that had been left behind where ponies had obviously been. It was dim, but as my eyes adjusted I spotted the shape of a dark blue pony huddled up on a bench opposite my cage against the very far wall. She was not caged, but had been chained down by all four legs. The leash on her collar was latched to the wall with a lock on it. I could see the rise and fall of her body as she breathed so I knew she was alive.
I noticed that she was a unicorn, and on her horn was some kind of ring like device that I learned later was to inhibit her magic. Her lavender eyes were half closed and even in this bad lighting, I could tell that there was no light of hope left in them. She stared straight ahead, miserably, looking like the most broken down and forlorn pony I'd ever seen. She didn't acknowledge me, her stance was low and helpless. Was that my fate? To become like her? Were my metaphorically broken wings destined to become a broken spirit too?
