Dyson, a Northern Mississippi slave from the American Civil War, woke up in Ghastly Gorge by himself. He has no idea how to escape, that is, until he meets her.
Dyson, a Northern Mississippi slave, wakes up alone in the Ghastly Gorge, a place where eeriness lurks around every corner. Luckily for him, a colorful pegasus runs into him. Will Dyson and his new companion escape from the hell of the Gorge, or will they succumb to its lifeless prison?
Special thanks to Barracuda Cyborg for helping me with editing this story!
Warning: If you can't handle the n-word, then you shouldn't be reading this story. It does pop up sparingly.
Reposted due to the accidental deletion of the account this was posted on. For more details, see this blog.
Two men sat on a porch. One drank from his trusty canteen, the cork holding on by a string, while the other looked out over the acres of land he owned, sporting a pipe in his mouth.
âMighty fine property you have here, Mr. Burr.â
The landscape was beautiful: fields of cotton and corn greeted the men, while the sun kissed the backdrop.
âThank you, Mr. Stockton. I appreciate your company,â Mr. Burr replied before taking a puff from his pipe. The resulting puff of white smoke slowly faded into nothingness.
âAs do I,â Mr. Stockon said, lifting his canteen.
Mr. Burr nodded. The two men were farmers in good ole Mississippi. They were neighbors in a booming enterprise of the era.
Unfortunately, the booming enterprise came with a price.
âAhâŚâ Mr. Stockton returned the canteen to his side and licked his lips. âYou know, Mr. Burr, I admire your... tenacity. Youâre able to keep a firm eye on your inventory. If youâll have me, I must ask for some advice.â
âOh?â Mr. Burr raised a brow. âWhat might that be?â
Mr. Stocktonâs black mustache formed with his smile. âHow do you keep these vermin in line?â
A few loud clicks of Mr. Burrâs black boots spurred a man from the farmstead. He was tall, colored, and skinny like a corn stalk. He wore a pair of rugged blue overalls that were fastened tightly against his frame. âYa called, Master?â
âBring me a horn of paradise, please.â
âYes, Master,â the man said, before he bowed to the two gentlemen and walked away.
Mr. Burr looked up at Mr. Stockton. âDoes that answer your question?â
âWell,â Mr. Stockton replied, gulping. âYou must enforce strict discipline, I see.â
âIf that is what you call it.â
Mr. Stockton looked out at the landscape. âWell, I must be off. I need to make sure the kids are in bed, and the wife isnât screaming at them again.â He rolled his eyes. âMay I swing by tomorrow afternoon to see how you conduct your harvest?â
Mr. Burr took another puff from his pipe. âOf course,â he began. He stood up and held out his hand. âYouâre welcome anytime, friend.â
âThank you,â Mr. Stockton said, giving his friend a firm handshake, before tipping his hat and making his way towards the exit. However, just as he was about to turn, he gasped and turned back around. âOh, by the way, I almost forgot! Will I be seeing you next Wednesday for the meeting at the Crossroads? Mr. Owens heard theyâre restocking!â
Mr. Burr gave a hearty laugh and bobbed his head. âMr. Owens always hears rumors of the Crossroads restocking.â
âHe always got tabs on the new shipments.â Mr. Stockton cleared his throat and buttoned up his jacket. âGlad youâre coming. Weâll celebrate on our selections with cheer, my treat!â
âIâm looking forward to it.â
âAs am I!â
Then, the light faded, and Mr. Stockton took off down the dirt path, leaving Mr. Burr on the porch.
âMaster, I got ya your drink andââ
The man took it and sat down in his chair. âThank you, Dyson. Now go get some shuteye.â
âThank ya, Master! I be up ân ready to work tomorrow!â
Mr. Burr did not respond to Dyson. He was too focused on the sun slowly fizzling out.
I wasnât sure where I was at, but I sure wasnât at the farm.
I just woke up in this place, laying down in some grey mush, like mud in the fields, but not that dark brown sort of earth. This looked more lifeless: grey and rough to the touch. The only life that came from it were little trickles of water weaving between the grains. When I felt the wetness of the earth, I stood and saw water coming down like buckets. I was a few feet away from the water that fell. I never thought water would just be streaming down from the sky like this.
Wherever this water was coming from, itâs high up there. I could only assume that, since the water was coming through this thick white fog. Iâm praying that it didnât rain, because if it did, then I could be facing a flash flood down here.
I werenât no stranger to floods back on the farm. Before all this, I slept in an old stable. Master let everybody sleep there since it was empty and got none of those animals no more. Theyâre all in the new stable, since the guards were complaining that the old oneâs roof was leaking fierce. They werenât lying either. Last weekâs rain storm had me floating on hay. My ma was furious, but she knew she couldnât do nothing about it.
Much like how I couldnât do anything about being in this very narrow place. It was grey, mucky, and full of stones. I knew for sure that I needed to find a way out, because thereâs no sign of any life here, but I was not sure if I should follow where the waterâs heading. There could be something else down there, something that could want to hurt me. I ainât wanting trouble.
My momma once told me though that thereâs this thing called a risk. Every single thing that we say, that we do; all that boiled down to the chance of dying. But that didnât matter none, thatâs because we were expendable. Thatâs what Mr. Stockton said, but my momma and papa didnât like him none. He just that black hat tipper, or that mustache twirler neighbor from down the road.
So I guess I needed to take a risk, like momma said. After all, my momma wanted me to try and be the freest slave there ever be. She didnât want me leaving, though. She didnât want another⌠Leo.
I took a head start and followed the stream. It led me into this⌠dip, like the ground just fell off. And the place got worse. It was all jagged and uneven, to the point where I gotta be careful where I walked. If I climbed down on it wrong, I could get some stones stuck in my feet. Luckily, there werenât no big leaps I needed to take. I only needed to risk just a bit.
I hopped down a couple parts before getting to this huge wide open space. All thatâs there was this huge boulder, surrounded in an orange glow. I wiped my brow, and I took a few steps toward it, hoping to take a breather and to get a better view up ahead.
And then, I heard a voice.
âLook out!â
Crash!
My head was spinning. My vision saw two grey blurs in front of me. And Iâm much farther away from that boulder than I should be, I think. Yet again, I couldnât tell if itâs because I was seeing it right or not. My hearing though was just fine. I could hear my feet shuffling against the dry grains.
âOofâŚâ
That pained groan wasnât mine. It sounded like a ladyâs voice for sure. I werenât sure how she wound up here. Last time I checked, I was the only one here.. I tried to stand up to see who it was, but my eyes werenât used to seeing twoâs, so I stumbled to the ground again in a thicket of dust, sliding just shy of the two boulders. My body thanked me for doing that, coughing up a bit of the lifeless grain.
Once I was done coughing, I staggered to my feet and tried to walk towards the boulder. While I struggled to gather myself, I kept hearing her pained groans. They came from behind the boulder. Curious, I pulled myself around the boulder to get a better look.
What I saw wasnât what I expected.
She were no lady. She was a small horse, but not one I had seen before. Most horses back home werenât very colorful like her, but her furâs a bright blue color, and her maneâs the colors of the rainbow. I couldnât see her eyes since they were tightly shut, but her muzzle was a lot shorter than most horses. Plus she had wings, and they didnât look too good. One of them was folded to her side, while the other was twitching in the opposite direction.
I stopped moving, frozen, as if I heard my Master hollering at me. There were many things I could do or say to the unconscious horse in front of me, but the only words that wanted to come out were of the realization thatâ
Slowly a man on horseback pulled alongside the dirt road. He kept his brown horse at bay, telling her to stay put, and hopped off. The horse neighed a reply, but it did not get a response. She snorted, before she laid under a giant oak tree, her head gracing the grass.
The man smiled, dusted himself off, and adjusted his black hat. He walked on the windy path in front of him, his shoes pitter-pattering against the dirt. The giant white mansion stared back at him, basking in the early fall heat.
After walking up the stairs to the front porch, the man took off his hat, and leaned against the railing. He wiped the sweat pooling on his head, slicked back his grey hair, and took a deep breath.
Knock. Knock.
The door rattled against its door frame.
âOne moment!â
The man stepped back and hung his head.
The door handle jostled, before the door swung open.
âHello, sir. How may I help ya?â
He sneered at the vermin, before clearing his throat. âI am looking for Mr. Burr, son.â
âOh!â the vermin squeaked. âYa must be Mr. Stockton!â
âYes, that I am.â Mr. Stockton rolled his eyes.
âLemme go git him. He be out back tellinâ âem whatâs what for the harvest!â
The vermin scurried off into the house, turning briskly behind a wall.
Meanwhile, Mr. Stockton stood frozen, his face contorted. Customarily, when a slave answers the door, they should offer the guest the most comfortable seat in the house. Then, once inside, they should ask the guest if they would like something to eat or drink, before tarrying off to get his or her master. Mr. Stockton knew this unspoken rule, but the slave that answered the door did not.
Mr. Stockton frowned and stepped back out, his eyes scouring the landscape from the front porch. His sluggish hold on the railing made him look hunchback, while his grey dusty suit reflected the burning gaze of the sun.
He thought for a while. Was Mr. Burr really the best option to go to for learning more about slave handling? Although the manâs expertise on discipline was strong, if a slave was not welcoming, then they did not understand the ruling in the first place.
While Mr. Stocktonâs mind was fielding whether to stay or leave, Mr. Burr was outside, managing the harvest. He watched the slaves gather the corn, their sweaty hands clasping onto each stalk with ease, while the cotton was picked slowly off in the deadly heat. A mother told her child to stay put, while she watched him hold the bag open to drop another small fluff-ball in.
Mr. Burr adjusted his pipe. âDonât haul that over there!â he shouted, pointing at two slaves with a bag full of corn. âOver in the corn barn! Do you want to be sleeping outside tonight youââ
A tap on his shoulder made Mr. Burr spin around in anger. âAnd what do youâoh, itâs you, Dyson.â
âYessir,â Dyson said, bowing. âSorry âbout that, Master. I got down here to tell ya that Mr. Stocktonâs out front wantinâ to talk.â
A scowl grew on Mr. Burrâs face. âWhy didnât you let him in?â
Dyson shrunk into his chest. âSorry, sir. I had to git to ya before the work started to be all rough.â
âAlright, son,â Mr. Burr said. His scowl faltered. âWeâll have a talk about this later, ya hear?â
Dyson nodded. âYessir.â
Mr. Burr walked past his slave, and ran into the house, leaving Dyson to walk amongst the stalks.
Quickly, Mr. Burr ran through the maze of his house, before spotting his friend on the front porch. âMr. Stockton!â
The grey-suited man turned around. âAh, Mr. Burr. You did not forget our arrangement?â
âNo-no-no, Mr. Stockton,â Mr. Burr said, walking out onto the porch. âI had not. My mind was focused on managing the harvest.â He wiped the sweat from his brow. âI figure youâre edging to see what makes my workerâs tick?â
Mr. Stockton glanced to his left and sighed. âNot if theyâre all like that critter that answered the door.â
âAh, no they are not like that. Iâll be discussing with him about proper etiquette tonight.â
That got Mr. Stockton tilting his head. âWhy not now?â
âBecause itâs time to harvest! Disciplining on a more⌠stricter scale requires the right time and place.â
Mr. Stockton hummed. âI see. Do tell in time, yes?â
âOf course,â Mr. Burr said. âNow come, my friend! Daylight is burning.â
Mr. Stockton nodded and walked into his friendâs home. âThank you kindly.â
The two men walked out back, much to the dismay of a critter looking on.
Safe.
I sighed and gently laid her near the cave entrance, while I collapsed on the opposite side of it, propping myself against its walls. It was a small little hole in the huge narrow valley. It reminded me of the shed Master had out back. The only reason why I knew this building existed was because I overheard him talking about it one night, after dealing with a couple of richer white folk. Whenever he stressed about something, heâd go there to rest on his favorite reading chair. There would be that old lamp flickering beside him, the glass looking like a woman when sheâs with child. And there would be the sound of silence, something that was far and few between on the farm.
Silence was hard to witness here, too: the water still raged on outside. It became part of the backdrop, as the distant sounds of a maddened demon pierced my ears. It made me wince as I heard how angry it sounded. There was no comfort here, just safety in an area away from the open dull space of this place.
I took a peek back at my plus one. The horseâs breathing finally started to calm, something that I was worried about before. Before, she had been breathing like she was running away from someone, but that changed a little while ago. She was just resting now, unaware of the screams of the night.
Well, until I spoke of her rest. She stirred, her eyes flickering and her neck craning to view her surroundings.
âWhere a-am I?â
Her eyes settled on mine, which were wider than a wagonâs tire. She pointed her hoof at me. âWhat are you?â
The question caught me off guard. I never have been asked this before, so I just told her what I knew.
âIâmma slave.â
She nearly tilted her head off that neck of hers when she heard me say those words. âA slave? In Equestria?â She eyed me up and down. âNever seen a slave like you before.â
Equestria? That place didnât sound anywhere near Mississippi. So there was no way I was even close to home. âI never seen a horse talk.â
âI am not a horse! Iâm a pegasus, buster,â she began, scooting towards me. She shoved me with that hoof of hers, pinning me against the wet wall. âAnd I am one of the best flyers around! Youâll never beat me in a race, Iâllââ
Her little rant skirted to a halt when her broken appendage made itself known. âAhh!â she screamed, before snapping to her wing. âWhat happened to my wing?â
âYa donât remember?â I asked. I got myself comfortable against the rough cave wall.
She tapped her hoof against her chin. âWell, I do remember hitting somethingâŚâ
âHitting me was the first something ya hit.â
âI did?â she said, groaning. âThen what was the second thing?â
âA huge rock. Saw ya layinâ on the other side, so I got on over and picked ya up.â
Her mouth formed into a small âoâ. âSorry for hitting you, if thatâs anything. Just didnât expect anyone down here in Ghastly Gorge.â
âGhastly Gorge?â
She raised a brow at me. âAre you not from here?â
âSounds like it,â I said, nodding. âIâm from Northern Mississippi, maâam.â
âIâve never heard of any place called Mississippi beforeâŚâ
âAnd I never heard of this place either.â
She frowned momentarily, those eyes downcast and her ears deflated, but it wasnât long before she scooted over towards me again and gave me a short smile. âGuess weâre going to go have to work together to get out of here, huh?â
âLooks like it.â I offered her my hand. âThe nameâs Dyson, maâam.â
âWeird, but everyoneâs got weird names nowadays.â That smile felt more real now, her pinkish eyes twinkling in the dark. âNameâs Rainbow Dash, but just call me Dash.â
âYes, maâam.â I felt her hoof in my palm. We quickly shook âhandsâ.
In the dark, I saw her grit teeth. âNever call me maâam. Dash is good enough.â
I smiled. âSounds good, Dash.â
Dash stood up, yawned, and stretched her hind legs. âPhew! All this crashing and stressing makes me want to sleep some more.â She turned to me. âBut it wouldnât be fair to you if I didnât watch over you. Are you wanting to take turns sleeping?â
âIs it really that bad here?â
âGhastly Gorge is an extremely dangerous place,â Dash began, sitting on her flanks. âThereâs eels that jut out from the walls thatâll eat you if youâre too close, and hydras if youâre near the cavernsââ
âOkay, I get your point.â I curled up into a ball. I didnât want to imagine any of those things right now. âSo do you want to get some more rest first?â
She surprised me by shaking her head. âAlthough I said I would, I donât think I should sleep now. Youâve been watching me for probably a while now, making sure Iâm safe. I wouldnât be Loyalty if I didnât let you sleep for a bit.â
I wanted to ask her what that meant, but my body failed to let me speak. A yawn escaped me, which made Dash chuckle. âAnd it sounds like you need it more than me.â
âWell if yaâre offerinâ...â My voice trailed off as I slowly laid down on the rough grains of the cave. Although it was a bit wet, the ground was still dry enough to sleep on. âThanks, Dash,â I added, mumbling it through another yawn.
As my body finally gave way, I heard her voice over the growls of the night. âSleep well, Dyson.â
And I did as she said, drifting off into dreamland.
The kerosene lamp brightened the room, while the world outside grew dark. Mr. Burr sat in his chair, his feet propped up on a smaller padded chair in front of him. The weekly Ripley Advertiser was open proudly in his hands, the large newspaper full of articles of his hometown. His hands gripped the huge paper, while his thumb rubbed the top of it with care, tempted to turn the next page.
On the other hand, Dyson stood still. His eyes were looking on at his master, while his long, lanky arms dangled at his sides.
âSir.â
The vocalization made Mr. Burr pause, his thumb stopping its caress, while the grip on the paper loosened. âYes, Dyson?â
A big old brown clock chimed in the farthest corner of the room. Dysonâs eyes darted to it. âI-I⌠wanted to ask you âbout Mr. Stockton, sir.â
Silence reigned for a moment. Dyson couldnât see Mr. Burr due to the paper that was blocking his view. But then, the paper was folded shut, set aside on his footrest. Mr. Burr gazed at his slave, and smiled. âOh?â He got up from his chair. âWhy do you ask?â
Dyson twiddled with his fingers. âI⌠was worried, sir.â
âWorried?â Mr. Burr let out a hearty laugh. âDyson, you and the rest of those negroes donât need to worry about Mr. Stockton. Heâs absolutely harmless to you lot.â
âItâs not that, sirâŚâ Dysonâs voice trailed off, his eyes flickering between the clock and his owner. âYou looked like you were goinâ punch him. I didnât want to have to yank ya off him.â
That nearly killed Mr. Burr, his hands holding his belly tight. âB-Boy youâre going to kill me with all this talk!â He took a seat back in his chair. âMr. Stocktonâs just grating on the ears sometimes. He tends to⌠say nonsense that I donât take kindly.â
Dyson tilted his head. âWhat did he say, sir?â
âNothing worth mentioning,â Mr. Burr said lamely. He bent down to grab his newspaper, and took a seat back in his chair. With a quick flick, his paper was opened again. He waved at Dyson dismissively. âLike I said, donât worry about it. If thereâs anything he says that worries me, Iâll let you know.â
âThank you, sir.â
At first, Dyson took a bow, and moved towards the door. But just as he was about to grip the handle to the door, he stopped and turned back. âMaster?â
âYes?â
âAre ya goinâ to the Crossroads tomorrow?â
Dyson heard Mr. Burr breathe deeply, making him shiver. âYes I am, Dyson.â He set his paper aside. âGotta after losing a couple to last year's storm, remember?â
Unfortunately, Dyson did remember. His gaze traveled to the floor. âI-I do, s-sir. Hope they be real nice. We be needinâ those new hands.â
âMhmm.â Dyson saw the back of his masterâs head bobbing, while his masterâs hand turned the page. At first, Dyson thought that his master had nodded to his response, but then he heard his masterâs voice hum to a beat, a beat that Dyson recognized. He was about to ask him why he was humming it, but Mr. Burr beat him to it.
âYou know, Dyson? I miss your motherâs tunes. Reminds me of my wife playing her piano,â Mr. Burr said. He hadnât turned around, but his head was no longer paying attention to the paper in front of him. The night sky was much more interesting.
âI do too, sir.â Dyson stood frozen, his feet numb. âMommaâs really good at piano.â
âThat she is, which is why I need you to do me a favor. Could you tell her Iâd really appreciate it if sheâd start again?â He turned to see Dysonâs stalwart stance. âSheâs the only negro woman I ever heard play that well on a piano.â
âIâll tell her, sir.â
âYou better,â Mr. Burr said with a smirk. âShe needs to start practicing. Iâd like for her doing that so I donât have to read in here anymore.â
âIs that why you come out here?â Dyson asked.
Mr. Burr shook his head, before he turned to his paper once again. He grimaced. âI feel⌠my wifeâs presence here. We used to come in here once in a while to get away from everything.â He paused and flicked to the next page. âYou remember that?â
Dyson walked towards him. âDefinitely, sir. I came out to serve ya both a few times. That wasâŚâ He paused, counting on his fingers. âFive years?â
âSix. Six years, boy.â The paper crackled a bit. âYou came with your family that long ago. And sheâs been gone for three less.â He plopped his feet back up on his other chair. âAnyway, when your mother does her playing, she makes the house feel more⌠home-like. It donât feel so empty, you know?â
Dyson wanted to say no, because he had never had that problem, but he nodded anyway.
âKnew youâd understand. You a smart working negro. Thatâs why you donât work as much out there.â
âI know, sir. I appreciate your kindness,â Dyson said with a smile.
âI try, even in these times,â Mr. Burr said, before putting his paper down. He looked at the clock and saw the hands tick-tock their way near twelve. âWhelp, looks like itâs time for you to get some shut-eye.â
âYou not headinâ to bed, sir?â Dyson asked as he opened the door.
Mr. Burr shook his head. âNo, boy, Iâm too absorbed in these news articles to go to bed just yet. But you need to, so donât stay awake for my sake.â
âAlright, sir. Iâll be gittin to bed. Iâll be up for morninâ harvest!â
Mr. Burr laughed. âHope so.â
Dyson bowed and exited the room. âGood night, sir.â
âGânight, Dyson,â Mr. Burr replied.
When the door clicked shut, Mr. Burr smiled, and turned the page.
The sun woke me up, not Dash. There was a problem with that: she had told me she would keep watch. I didnât need that much sleep, so the fact that I even got what felt like forever made my mouth open wide, letting out a tremendous yawn. Rubbing the sleep off my eyes, I turned to look for the colorful-not-horse, whose rainbow mane was resting on the same grains as I. And she was, fast asleepâŚ
...snoring.
I nudged her, furious. How could she fall asleep? She was the one who warned me about this placeâs monsters, and here I was, nudging her in hopes of waking her up! Her body just wiggled to my touch, while her snores remained unaffected, loud as can be.
âDash.â I said with a bit of venom. I prodded her with a little more force, nudging her side with my knuckle.
It got her to mutter something in her sleep, but she wasnât budging, her hooves curling under her belly.
And thatâs when I saw it: a tuft of fur on her belly. It looked so fluffy that it could be the way to wake her up. I smirked and glazed my fingers over it andâ
âW-Wha, huh?â Rainbow Dash mumbled. Her eyes darted to and fro, before she craned her neck to me. âI⌠Dyson?â She tilted her head. âWhat are you doing?â
âTryinâ to wake ya up, thatâs what,â I said. âYou were supposed to wake me up when ya wanted to get some sleep.â
The mare let out a very sharp yawn. âSorry about that, Dyson. I didnât even know I fell asleep. One moment I was thinking about what Iâd do when I get home, and the next youâre tickling my chest.â
Dyson smirked. âWell nearly punching you didnât even wake you up. Hell, youâd probably sleep through a stampede if I let ya!â
Dash giggled, before letting out a short blow. âSounds like something Applejack would say.â She frowned. âProbably be worried just like the rest of the girls when they find out Iâm missing.â
âBest be on our way to meet âem, right?â I said, my hand outstretched. Helping her apparently earned me a confused look, a raised brow that twitched at the thought of me being nice, so I decided to continue, âNeed help up?â
She stammered out a reply, âS-Sure.â She put her hoof in my hand, letting me pull her up. It was an awkward tug, but she soon found her bearings. Unfortunately, her wing kept reminding her how not-okay she was, making her wince. âI hope my wing doesnât get infected. Thatâd stink having to be grounded at the clinic for a whole month.â She rolled her eyes, and stretched her uninjured wing. âI canât tell you how much I hate that place. It feels like I keep visiting it every week with a new injury!â
âWhatâs a clinic?â
Her brow really twitched at that one. Was that something I should have known? I just stared on as that left brow trembled uncontrollably.
âDyson, when we get back, I need you to talk to my friend, Twilight, because if you donât know what a clinic is⌠I wonder if you even know what medicine is.â
I shook my head. âCanât tell ya that either.â
Dash sighed. Her grit teeth and ruffled muzzle made her look like she wanted to punch me. Maybe not knowing things she knew made her irritated.
Or maybe she was alone with something she never knew existed, while having to deal with a broken wing. Sheâs stuck with me: a slave who she ran into while flying, and with no way out in sight, it's probably got her all rattled. These are only possibilities though, I donât know her well enough to just assume, much like she doesnât know me well.
She walked away from me, staring out beyond the cave. I walked beside her and looked down at her. âWhatcha lookinâ at?â
âHow did you get up here without wings?â
I wiggled my fingers. âThese work hard, Dash. I just climbed my way up.â
She turned to me, her mouth and eyes wide open. âWith me on your back?â
âDash, you is light as a feather on a chicken,â I said, earning me a glare. I put my hands out in front of me. âItâs true! I put you over my shoulder, and climbed. I didnât know this place, so I made sure to be not near the ground, that way nothinâ would snatch us!â I looked down at the gorge below. I could see the water trickle down. âGuessinâ ya want down?â
She nodded. âBut the ledge is way too thin for me, Dyson. I donât know if I can walk on it.â
I smirked at her. âWanna find out?â
âIs that a challenge?â
âTake it as ya may, Dash,â I reply, seeing her matching smirk. âI just givinâ you my thoughts.â
She stepped forward, and placed her hoof on the ledge. She was right, the ledges around us were extremely thin. This was where I stopped, since I knew trying to go higher was pointlessâall the ledges were too thin for my fingers to get a good grip. So I just settled in this cave, hoping that nothing would snatch us. We were⌠high up, just not even close to half-way. This place was huge.
I sat on the edge of the ledge, and prepared myself to head down. Meanwhile, Dash looked above us to confirm what I already knew:
âDyson, we canât go up either. Those ledges look super thinââ
âYeah, but them down there donât look like they ainât meant for climbinâ.â I began to dangle over the side. âYa ready?â
âDyson, I canât do that with hooves.â
Right, sheâs like a horse. âOkay, well,â I said, pulling myself back up. âGit on my back, and wrap your hooves round my neck.â
âOkay,â Dash said, doing as I told her. She draped herself over me, her forelegs wrapped around my neck. âLike this?â
I smiled. âYep, just like that.â I got back on the side of the ledge and began to descend. âKeep a good hold on me, alright?â
âIâll try.â Her voice sounded anxious. Was she thinking I was going to drop her? âDonât drop me.â
âNot planninâ to,â I replied, wearing a smirk.
The climb down wasnât rough as she thought, but it didnât mean that her added weight didnât add any strain. And I bet she wouldnât admit it, but she was whimpering the first few times I dropped down. It wasnât something I would make fun of her for, but from what Iâve gotten from her, sheâs very prideful, much like Mr. Stockton. And if Mr. Stockton was anything to go by, she didnât have the guts to admit it right away.
By the time we were closer to the bottom, my fingers were rough, and my muscles felt worked. I decided to check on my passenger to see if she was okay, but her fidgeting told me a different story, one of fear. âYa alright back there?â
âS-Shut up,â she stuttered.
I couldnât help but let out a chuckle. âJust checkinâ to see you ainât colder than a wagon tire.â I swing my body a bit. âCareful, goinâ for ânother swing.â
That got her to tense up, as I swung myself from one ledge to the next. âWhy did you do that?â
âLook to your left, Dash.â
She saw what I was seeing: a larger ledge directly to our left. It had a way down that didnât involve me getting strangled to death by a worried horse. She gasped, and said, âJust one more swing, Dyson, you can do it!â
I smirked and told her to hold on tight. And tightly she did, but she wasnât worried anymore. I saw that excited smile, before I took the plunge, swinging to the next grey ledge.
We landed just fine. Although scraping my knee was not part of the plan. I winced slightly, but it was just because the minor injuries hurt the most.
Dash hopped off my back, and kissed the ground rather graciously. âI have never ever said this, so if you told anypony, Iâd deny it outright.â She hopped in front of me. âGot it?â
âUnderstood, Dash.â
âIâm so glad Iâm finally on the ground.â
Hearing this was different. Never had heard someone say that they were glad to be on the ground. I get the feeling though. It felt good to finally not have to hear another person shouting at me to do something. So far, I did stuff on my own, or, well, with someone, that is.
âMe too, Dash.â I took a gander at the raging waves ahead of us that were racing down the unexplored valley. âMe too.â
It was night time, and the grocery was open late. That wasnât the norm around Ripley: the grocery closed early to ensure there werenât any drunks wandering the streets of the small town. But tonight was different. The Crossroads, known as the local grocery and inn to passerbys, had just gotten restocked of inventory, something that newcomers didnât know about. Many locals were willing to pay top dollar to get their hands on the new arrivals.
Mr. Burr was one of those high rollers, as he strolled in on his horse.
âWhoa there,â he said, his hands slightly tugging on the horseâs reins. The brown stallion responded in kind, coming to a halt before huddling close beside the establishment.
He quickly hopped off it and hooked it to a nearby wooden stable-rack. His horse neighed hard, which prompted Mr. Burr to talk him down. âThere, there,â he cooed, petting the horse. âItâs okay, Iâll be only gone for a minââ
âWhatta night, Mr. Burr!â
Mr. Burr nearly yelped as his gaze snapped to the man in the corner. It surprised Mr. Burr that he hadnât seen the man, but as he realized who it was, Mr. Owens was known for being sneaky as well as being hyperactive.
The man had a face of a young boy, his cheeks puffy and his face lacking any facial hair. His brown beady eyes beamed at anyone whoâd be passing by, and his attire of a clean white collared shirt, a black bow tie, a brown vest, and a cream sack coat matched his brown pantaloons and shoes. Safe to say, he was dressed to impress.
âG-Glad you could join us, Mr. Owens,â Mr. Burr said with a shaky tip of his hat. âMr. Stockton told me about your... excitement.â
The shrill screech that came from Mr. Owens nearly made Mr. Burr wince. âYou bet! Wilhelm was hollering âbout the new shipment, that I jusâ couldnât keep that ole yipper yapper of mine shut!â He stifled a chuckle. âRipley needed to know about this shipment! Itâs the best one this year!â
Mr. Burr raised a brow at that. âHow many?â
Mr. Owens came forth, and nudged Mr. Burr. This usually was a way of telling somebody to lend them an ear. So Mr. Burr did just that. He craned his neck low, while cupping his ear. Mr. Owens whisperedâŚ
âFifty-five!â
...and Mr. Burrâs eyes widened. âAre you sure, Mr. Owens?â
Mr. Owens gripped his vest in the center, while wearing the smuggest of smirks. âYou betcha! They brought these lot by the wagonsâsomething that Ripley hadnât seen since the beginning of the war!â
It was like a dream. Mr. Burr knew they were short on hands, so hearing about this⌠made him crack a smile. âThatâs great! I hope that I get something out these lot.â
âAll you have is hope when Iâm bidding you, Mr. Burr.â
Mr. Burr knew who that was. It was a certain someone who loved to toss out as much as he could, if it meant to make others go out of business. âYou might not want to start counting your chickens before they hatch, Mr. Stockton. There ainât going to be no prime negroes for your plantation.â
The two men approached each other with pleasant smiles. Then, they shook hands. âGood to see you.â
âSame to you,â replied Mr. Stockton. âCouldnât help but notice you and Mr. Owens talking up the market. Guessing you got the news?â
âIf you mean, the rumor of how many there are, then yes, rather⌠excitedly, as a matter of fact,â Mr. Burr said, while casting a sidelong glance at Mr. Owens, who approached the taller men with a short, embarrassed grin.
âWell, thatâs our Owens. Just a bit excited when word gets out about inventory.â Mr. Stockton twirled the end of his stache. âLetâs not keep the others waiting, shall we?â
The other two men nodded, and entered the Crossroads, or so Mr. Burr tried. He couldnât help but pause, while the other two men entered without hesitation. He thought he saw a light flickering across the street at the trading post. He thought that someone had forgotten to blow out their candlelight, but that was thoroughly dashed when the light brightened before his very eyes.
And when he blinked, the light was no longer there.
He shook his head and walked into the grocery, willing to disregard the phenomenon.
Inside, merriment was abundant. Men were happily drinking to the tunes of the ole South, while the barkeep was keeping tabs on the ones at the bar. Mr. Burr doubted that the upstairs folk didnât like this noiseâif any of them were still up there. On this type of night, no one was asleep. They were either drowning in liquor with friends, or making their way to a light brown door towards the back of the building. Behind that door was an area segregated from the freedom of alcohol, and a place that Mr. Burrâs company was eager to cash-in on.
ââBout time for the showing?â Mr. Stockton asked.
Mr. Owens shrugged. âProbably soon. Letâs get back there beforeââ
âHello gentlemen. Want some of the finest beer in all of Mississippi?â
Mr. Burr was about to respond with a polite response, but Mr. Owens beat him to the punch. âNaw, we gettinâ ready to see them back in the back!â
At first, Mr. Burr thought he saw the barkeep frown, but that changed when the man gave the three a bright smile. âWell, when youâre done, donât hesitate to come back out to get some of the finest drinks in the state!â
âThatâd be good. Weâll keep that in mind,â Mr. Burr replied. He gave Mr. Stockton a slight smile. âGo on ahead, I need to ask the barkeep something.â
The two men nodded, scurrying towards the green door of life, while Mr. Burr hopped on an empty stool and looked at his fellow man.
âWhatcha needing, sir?â
Mr. Burr placed a ten dollar banknote on the table, and slid it forward. âAs an apology for⌠Mr. Owensâ outburst.â
The barkeep smiled. âHow did ya know I was bothered by that?â
Mr. Burr shrugged. âIntuition had been a strong suit of mine since I was young.â
âWell, thank you kindly.â The barkeep gave him a nod. âYouâre a good man, MrâŚ?â
âBurr.â He said with a smile. âAnd thank you. I hope you have a nice night.â
âYou too, Mr. Burr.â The barkeep snatched the banknote and scrubbed the front desk with a towel.
The two men went their separate ways. One kept behind the counter, cleaning leftover liquid from the previous patrons glasses, while the other made his way to the brown door, his footsteps click-clacking against the floor like glass tapping against drunken memories.
After getting her off my back and onto that ledge, we made our way down, hooves and feet pitter-pattering against soulless dirt. I wondered if this was how it was going to be for the next few days, just walking and worrying every waking moment that something was going to get us. But that wasnât going to happen, was it?
I shook my head and looked at Dash. She was limping a bit, something that I didnât notice until she started walking down the ledge with me.
âDash, you alright?â
She stopped and looked at me. âY-YeahâŚâ Her grimace was showing her lie. âIâm doing fine.â
âNot buyinâ it.â I knelt down in front of her and took a look at her hoof. âYep, that hoof lookinâ beat up. Ya might want to be carefulââ
âI know, I know,â Dash replied as she rolled her eyes.
I raised a brow at her for that one. What was with that tone? But before I could figure it out, she was walking ahead of me. So I bit my tongue, and kept moving.
Time passed, and not a word was said. Dash was too focused. The only time she checked to see if I was here was if she didnât hear me close to her. Sheâd check back to see me lagging behind, something that she didnât take too kindly, telling me that sheâs âseen tortoises move faster than meâ. Not sure what she meant by that, but I decided to pick up the pace anyway.
And then, we met solid ground. There wasnât the fear of falling. Nothing but the grey grains and a raging stream of water. I thought sheâd recognize the water and ask if we should follow it, but instead, she walked past the thing, and continued her merry way in the opposite direction.
I rushed toward her. âDash?â
She turned around. âYeahâŚ?â
âWhy you goinâ that way?â
She raised a brow at me. âDyson, weâre like⌠a hop, skip, and a jump from the other side of the Gorge!â She looked at me with a wide smile. âIf we find a way up, I could lead us to Ponyville so we can get some help!â
That cliffside was huge. I think it might be bigger than the one we climbed down from. âBut Dash, thatâs really high up.â
âI know, but look!" She pointed at the ledges with her good leg. There were a lot of ledges, and they weren't as far apart as the ones we came down from. "They're so many ways of getting up this side that it should be way safer than where we came down from!" She snorted. "Besides, Iâve flown higher andââ
âYet ya canât fly,â I said, pointing to her wings.
Reminding her mightâve made her growl. Either that, or she was trying to fight the pain, if her lip bite and tightly closed eyes were any reason to believe.
âSo?â Dash replied with her grit teeth. She opened her eyes and quickly pointed her not damaged hoof at me. âYou just had me on your back through that climb down! You could easily carry me up.â
âThat ain't the point! I could drop ya andââ
Dash growled and stood on her hind legs. She then lunged toward me, hooking her forehooves around my neck. With a bit of strength, she bumped her muzzle against my nose. âListen, bub. Do we have much of a choice? Itâs either we go up, or we go face those hydras out there.â She shoved her left forehoof toward the screaming monsters to make her point. They sounded angry. She pulled back and smirked. âI donât think you and I are able to outrun them either.â
âThey fast?â
âWhen theyâre hungry, they are,â Dash whispered. That got my back all cold. âSo, what do you think?â
I think of a lot of things: the fields, what Master was doing that day, making sure my little sister wasnât running around, doing errands for MasterâI think sheâs staring at me a bit too muchâIt was definitely a good idea to not get killed by hydras. But what if we fell? What if we died?
But being stuck down here sounded much, much worse. There wasnât anything to eat down here. Sure there was water, but there were definitely things down here that wanted to eat us. Dying was not something I wanted.
So I guess everything made sense now. I guess thereâs only one thing left to say. âAlright, guess you win. Looks like we be⌠climbinâ on up...â
âAlright!â Dash yipped as she landed on all fours. Even though she was hobbling, she moved like she wasnât hurt that much at all. âLetâs get going, Dyson!â
As I watched her waddle way towards our first obstacle, I felt an aching, nervous feeling, like one of those ones that tickle your stomach until it starts to wretch. Maybe it was the possibilityâno, the reality that I was going to go climbing up yet another cliffside. We were not in the shape to outrun them. We have no other options.
I was nervous. Yeah, just nervous enough that I gulped down what little salvia I had left in my mouth. It wasnât that I was afraid to die⌠No siree. Not at all.
Mr. Burr walked in, taking in the view of the back of the Crossroads. It always smelled off here, but the inventory trickled owners to the place.
The door promptly slammed behind him, leaving the sounds of chanting and merriment in the next room.
Inside, the room was lit by candles. Each one burned intensely, casting an orange hue over the people inside. Many patrons were seated, watching an older looking gentleman take the stand. He took a pause to clear his throat, before he spoke with promise.
âGentleman, I hope yâall havinâ a great night!â
An owner down the line from Mr. Burr wanted to make his presence known. âI sure have! Whiskey in me good!â
He laughed. Some joined in with hearty good cheer, but the rest of us stayed quiet, albeit for the older man who promptly shifted his cap and leaned on the podium.
One of the fellows next to the boisterous man nudged him, before whispering a few words into his ears. The laughter died soon after, giving the speaker the floor once again. The speaker smiled, and cast his arm out to the door next to him. âWell if you havenât had a good one, then we can make your night much better. We got quite a good helpinâ of able negroes for you folks tonight!â
Everyone waited in anticipation, including Mr. Burr, whose face fell at the sight of the door. It was like a gate to a cage. He could see a few shadows in the back, but nothingmore.
Then, everything changed when they came in.
Mr. Burr took in the sight of the âinventoryâ. It was as Mr. Owens had said: fifty-five negroes of young and old hobbled their way in, chained together like they were just caught running. It wasnât jarring for Mr. Burr; he had seen this before, but not so many since the time he got into the business. Back then, many of them came: some close to sixty, but that was a rarity. Getting something as close to sixty at one of these was more than a sign of the market growing.
But the fact that these negroes were chained unsettled Mr. Burr. The only time they were chained up was when one of them was an unruly slave. That made him a little less valuedâand a bit more of a challenge for an owner to keep on the plantation.
Yet⌠now it was harder to tell. They were all chained. How was he to tell who was the best to pick?
Yet again, he also knew why they were chained. These folks donât want another Turner.
Another Nat TurnerâŚ
Mr. Burr felt his spine twinge thinking about that. If these lot werenât chained up, they would run over the buyers within seconds. The thought made him wish he brought his pistol.
âWeâll start with some of the younger ones, and work our way upâŚâ
Mr. Burr kindly tuned the gentleman out once again. At first, Mr. Burr worked his gaze down the line and back, seeing the young and old lined up in chains. But, then, as he scanned over the lot a second time, his eyes locked on to a boy, who, if Mr. Burr could estimate, was nearly the same age as Dyson. Although shorter than Dyson, the boy had longer and strong-looking arms. It looked like this boy could haul all the corn and bags of cotton by himself, something that made Mr. Burr imagine stacks of banknotes behind the boy.
And then, those banknotes dissolved, leaving Mr. Burr nothing but that boy to see. Mr. Burr saw the boyâs eyes, how big and blue they were, and how they were looking down the line, at an older woman whose lush bob locks told him the whole story.
Mother and son.
Another possible family to add to the collection.
Mr. Burr patiently waited for the speaker to announce the boyâs turn. Child after child were sold, some to the dismay of others, but he knew that this boy was the one he wanted, and the mother was part of the package. Hopefully someone didnât try to get his number. He didnât want to have to match.
âAlright! Looks like we got a prime loader here for somebody lucky enough!â The speaker said. âWhaâchur name?â
The boy sounded nervous. âL-Leo, sir.â
His voice didnât carry that well. Those nerves are an issue, but with a bit of work, heâd be good for the farm.
âAlright, now for those wonderinâ, this boy here is a prime negro who was taken from one of the plantations up north. Heâd been working the fields for a long while, so he doesnât need any training, and heâs been loading grain for a couple years!â The man turned to the boy fully and glared. âTurn around.â
The boy did, although his chains were clacking together a bit. Mr. Burr could sense that he was extremely nervous. The woman he deemed the boyâs mother did too. Her eyes were darting right to him, and she definitely gulped.
Then, the speaker lifted the boyâs shirt up.
âAs you can see, no signs of whippin', and the boy is certainly not fatigued! Heâs a perfect set of hands for any work neededââ
Mr. Burr didnât even give the man to finish his speech. He saw enough to make an offer. âIâll take him and that woman up a ways for twelve hundred.â
The crowd immediately snapped to Mr. Burr, as if he was outright delirious for making such an offer when the speaker wasnât finished. On the other hand, the supposed mother was looking at him, her eyes watering and her lips curling to a smile.
âT-Twelve hundred?â the speaker asked, his eyes opened wide.
Twelve hundred. Mr. Burr didnât lie with numbers. He counted high enough, did he?
âA-Anyone else have an offer?â
The room was silent. Not even the slaves muttered a peep.
âThen I guess you got them two Mr.Bââ
âTwelve hundred fifty.â
That voice. Mr. Burr knew that voice.
âMr. Stockton?â
The black hat was tipped in his direction. âI told you all you had was hope, didnât I?â
Mr. Burr groaned.
And the bidding war drew on into the night...
Hopping down from this huge hill was much easier than climbing up this.
âCome on, Dyson, you can do it!â
And the horse on my back was certainly not helping the cause.
âItâd be much easier if I didnât have ya wringinâ my neck!â
As if the strained words had weight, Dash had loosened her hold on my neck. âYeesh, sorry! I didnât know!â She nuzzled up against my back. âIs that better?â
âYes,â I replied. âNow keep it down, climbinâs rough enough like this.â
A whinny was what I got. A really irritated whinny. She definitely behaved like a horse when she wanted to: mad when she didnât get her way, and I bet if she got the chance, sheâd growl and possibly bite my hand off.
I grabbed onto the next ledge in front of me. I actually havenât even climbed up the cliff face. No, weâre just getting up to an area where we could walk up it. How did I climb up the side of this before? I mustâve been lucky, because thereâs no way I couldâve done this without some divine help.
Panting, I kept my system going: one hand in front of the other, the harsh grains piercing my hands. It made this charcoal skin of mine turn lifeless, but with a few pats on my pant legs, the dust was gone⌠somewhat. Only a little powder marked those pants of mine.
Iâm glad that these havenât gotten worn through. Had them since last winter. Most of our clothes got cycled outâunless you werenât working hard. If you were, it was great. If you were slacking, you were not getting another share until you were working. It⌠made tending the fields both motivating and stressful, something that, well, Master noticed when I was working in the fields.
I grimaced as the memory came into full. The sun was high when it happened, because boy, phew, it was hot that day. I remember none of us were moving that well. The sweat just stuck to my skin. Wearing a shirt wasnât good those days.
On this day though, we hadnât gotten a break the whole morning. I was used to working without a break though back then. I just moved through the pain. Or maybe⌠back then, I was used to the struggle. We were used to the struggle. We just moved around without yapping to the guards, and we didnât show them our pain. Nobody ainât giving us nothing, just another day to survive. Weâd get a new pair of clothes, some food, and some water, and then weâd get ready for the next day.
Master back then saw me just working hard, to the point of nearly falling over. And when I did fall, he was there in a split second, and told the rest of them to get under the trees to rest.
That day⌠he learned to give us a break.
But not to Leo.
I felt a tear drip down my face as I grabbed onto the next ledge. Why couldnât Master let him take that break? Was there something that I didnât know about? He couldâve... done more for us, but now Leo...
I tried not to frown. I tried. Itâs there though, now. I could feel my lips curling and such. Why? I didnât know. Leo didnât want this. He didnât want me being all upset over him. I paused and wiped my cheek with my arm.
I felt Dashâs look on my back, but she didnât speak up. She didnât even move none, save for adjusting her forehooves that were around my neck. It made breathing harder than it should. Every time I took one, I grunted. I groaned. I sometimes even growled. Yet she didnât loosen up again. Sheâs probably petrified.
I took one last breath and swung to the ledge and pulled myself up. My body gasped for breath as I laid there, looking up at the many more ledges I needed to climb. And then, I felt her hooves fall from my neck. I turn to see her rolled off me and onto the ledge.
Wait. On the ledge?!
âYou did it, Dyson!â She said cheerfully, looking over at me with glee.
âI made it?â My eyes flickered towards the ground around us. It was a large ledge, but nothing worth writing a letter about. There were still so much above us. âBut we ainât up there yet.â
âSmaller victories, Dyson,â Dash replied with an ear-to-ear smile. âLetâs take a break. We need to save all the energy we can get since we have much more climbing to do.â
âYa mean I have more climbing to do.â
âEeexactly!â
I groaned.
At least I wasnât upset about Leo no more.
Time felt like it tickled my hairs. It must be a way of telling me that I was alive, that this place was not a simple dream. These monsters and this horse were all real. We were real. Nothing else mattered.
So what was the matter, then? The fact that, well, I was stuck here with this horse? I didnât have a say in the matter. I mean, itâs better than being stuck with that hydra down the stream butâŚ
I shook my head and got up. Little rocks like these were hard to relax on. They pinched and stamped your back like whips cracking against scarred skinâmy stomach crawled. I donât need to remember him. Not yetâŚ
My body stretched this way and that. Arms bent. Neck cracked. Fingers (although grayed) flexed better than ever. Indents everywhere, but who cared? Not I. Not her. She was looking at the cliff. Why? I donât know. Curious? Spotting the cracks that could give me a tumble? She wasn't a worrier, was she?
No, thatâs not her. She turned and trotted on over.
âDyson, youâre up. Guess you were more tired than you let on.â
Tired of being choked to death. I rolled my eyes. âCanât say I was doing well in the first place.â
For some reason, she tilted her head. âWhat do youââ But then, she gasped. âI said I was sorry!â The tilt was no longer there. She was just looking at me like she was angry at me, but she still had some sort of smile wedged on her face, so I guess she wasn't mad at all.
âStill doesnât take the pain away,â I mumbled, my hand slowly grazing against my neck. It still hurt from her hooves leaning on it. Maybe Dash wasnât as light as I thought. Or maybe she wasnât a fan of falling.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. âYouâll live. Now, come on!â She started walking towards the cliff again, but not without beckoning me with her good wing. âWe need to get out of here and fast! The faster we get to Ponyville, the better weâre off!â
The sun was a bit lower in the sky than it was a bit ago. âAlright, hold your horses.â
I didnât see her stop, but I did hear her. She growled loudly, and boy was it a bit more aggressive than any other neigh I heard. âWhat did you say?â
âOn second thought, Iâm cominâ!â I ran towards her without a second to think. If I wanted to live, then I needed to not say that around her again. Didnât want to make her mad, since sheâs the only one who knew this place.
Now, as I looked at her, she didnât seem mad at all. In fact, she was brazen with that little smirk that wormed onto her face. âThatâs what I thought you said.â
After sharing a couple drinks with his friends, Mr. Burr walked out of the Crossroads with two new folks in tow.
The first was an older woman, who was a bit grave in her appearance. Even though her hair bounced happily as she walked, those lush locks couldn't compare to her dragged gait, which collected dust along the path to her new home. In fact, she didn't even look where she was truly going, her eyes downcast. Was there something the matter? Or was she just conflicted? Her face could tell a different tale, a mixture of sadness and relief, a downed woman with lips trying to curl up into a smile, as she brought her gaze to the second.
The second was a boy, a long and tall fellow who smiled back at the woman while he clawed at his wrist. It was, as if, he could feel that woman's presence every time she looked at him. Although, when they weren't looking at each other, their emotions seemed to differ. The boy's smile soon faded into obscurity, wrestled down by the chains that bound him to limited movement. They rattled and dangled like those ready for prison. The boy frowned, whether it was the sound or the fact of them existing was not known, but he frowned nonetheless, as he too walked to the jingle of corrections.
Out of the lot, Mr. Burr was smiling the most. He had finally done it. He had beaten Mr. Stockton in the bidding war, while still carrying a good deal of banknotes on his person. The only thing that worried him was that Mr. Stockton didn't boost the price as high as it could've been, which worried Mr. Burr at first, but now served as nothing but a warning not heeded. He had gained a foothold on the plantation. He had more hands to help him revitalize his force. Mr. Burr could see the banknotes flooding in.
ButâŚ
...
Mr. Burr hopped on his horse. It replied with a harsh neigh and a bit of impatient stamping to boot.
"Now, now, don't fret," Mr. Burr cooed. "These are just the newest slaves to the plantationâŚ"
Explaining it didn't help the matter. The horse was still an irritated horse, as it glared at the two newcomers.
Mr. Burr sighed. "Come close, boy."
The boy did as he was told, but not without some apprehension. He took a deep breath before he slid next to his new owner, which made Mr. Burr pause. "Yes⌠sir?"
He seemed like a nervous one, that was for sure, but Mr. Burr didn't want to start attaching labels so early on. This boy was a new one, if those chains clanking against each other had anything to say about it. What gave way that nervousness were those legs of his. They visibly shook where he stood. What was he afraid of? Was it the horse, or was it Mr. Burr?
"Are you alright boy?"
The boy nodded. "Y-Yessir."
"Now don't lie to me," Mr. Burr said sternly. "I'm just worried about you."
Instead of flinching, the boy's gaze went adrift. The ground apparently looked more of interest to him. "Mm sorry, sir. I⌠won't be a bother."
"A bother?" Mr. Burr craned his head towards the boy, peering down at him. "How so?" When the boy didn't respond, Mr. Burr hummed an affirmative. "I see⌠Well, when we get to the plantation, I will make sure that this is addressed. I do not want my slaves to be scared of me." He rubbed at his chin. "I think you shall see your time with me as⌠an experience."
The two nodded. The boy gravitated towards the older woman, who he held onto for dear life.
Mr. Burr couldn't help himself. Seeing the scene was both sad and confusing, but his body failed to let him see the difference any farther. Hell, he nearly had to stifle a chuckle. It must be that whiskey that was doing him in. Maybe some sleep would help fix him up.
"Alright, let's head on back. Make sure to stay close to the horse, unless you want to be shot by the folks walking about."
"S-Shot?"
"Of course, boy! Every plantation got some hired hands for that alone!" Mr. Burr said joyously. He let out a hearty laugh. "Look at it this way, at least mine are told when to fire!"
The two weren't laughing. They were just walking on while Mr. Burr harped about life in a world they never knew existed.
I guess I needed to focus on more than just climbing.
"So, what did you do as a⌠slave?"
At first, it sounded like she couldn't say the word, but then she said it with such bitterness. I didn't know why she sounded so upset over it. I mean, what was there to be upset about? That's what I was, a slave. The word didn't affect me, it was just a part of me, so while she was burdened with the word, I was keeping my mind focused on climbing, hoisting us higher and higher against the grit and grime of a place long gone. "I did quite a b-bit, actually. Moved some grain, helped my master with whatever he needed, and kept an eye out on the others that were with me."
The pony behind me gently grazed the back of my neck. It nearly made me shiver. I didn't get why she did that; Dash didnât seem like sheâd be the type toâ "Why didn't you leave?"
"The plantation?"
"Yeah! Couldn't you just bust out of the place?"
I knew the answer, but it was lodged in my throat. She didn't need to know the specifics. She didn't need to know about the pain. She didnât need to know about Master. She didnât even need to know about Leo. No, no. I didn't trust her with all that yet. Besides, she wouldn't understand.
"Dyson?"
I quietly hoisted myself up to the next ledge.
"Dyson?"
That sounded like how momma used to say my name. She was a bit more angry than this pony was, though. I knew that I needed to say something though.
But what?
I sighed. "You really want'a know?"
A neigh in response, with a tinge of a whinny behind it. What type of yes was that?
"I reckon that's a yes?"
I could sense her roll her eyes at that one. "Yes, Dyson."
"It's because they had a lot of guards around at all times of the day," I began, feeling the tension slowly leave me as I gripped onto the next bit of rock jutting from the wall. "Master was⌠afraid that we'd leave, even though it hadn't happened to him. Well, and there's another reason too, but ya might not like it."
"Well, I already don't like the fact that you were a slaveâ" A yelp interrupted her thought as I had to hop a bit too far to the left in order for us to get to a safer path. The heat that bore into my shoulder was certainly not from the sun. She picked up where she left off, "Slave's aren't a thing here in Equestria! The only pony who ever had some was Sombra, and well, let's just say he won't be enslaving anypony anymore."
"Who was Sombra?"
"Some King who wanted to enslave ponies up North. Unfortunately for him, my friends and I were around to stop him⌠sort of."
"Sort of?"
She hummed as I hopped over to the next ledge to my right. "Let's just say, it was more of Princess Cadance and Spike than me, but I still helped!"
Her wing flapped behind me. I knew that was not because she wanted to fly. "Sounds like ya wanted it all."
"N-No!" Dash stuttered, which caused me to chuckle. I had to keep still, because it was hard to concentrate on climbing when your insides were begging for air. "Dyson, come on! It's not that funny!"
I kept on laughing. She neighed once again, a bit more aggressively this time.
"You still haven't answered my question, Dyson."
And just like that, my laughter stopped. She flipped the coin back in my direction, and I was caught with my tongue stuck in my gullet. "IâŚ" I was about to reach for another ledge, to get this feeling away, but I couldn't. My hand wasn't working like it should be.
I gulped down whatever tension was in my throat. I had to say something here.
"Master⌠was like a second father to me."
I closed my eyes. I could see her eyes widen, those big ole pink things looking at me with fire in them. But I could imagine that muzzle contorting and such, like when Master got mad at me way back when for taking the wrong letter, the paper getting ruffled and bent out of shape. It wasnât a pretty sight with what he did afterwards.
I still remember the crackle of theâ
A fierce growl threw me out of the vision I was having, which made me open my eyes to make sure I was still holding on to the ledge in front of me.
"How could he? He enslaved you, Dyson!"
"More like saved me," I mumbled, as I began my routine again, my fingers rubbing against the rough rock. I could feel the pain sear through my dry, cracked skin, but I pressed on. âIt didnât matter. I didnât get no say. He⌠was so much nicer than the rest of them.â
For a while it was just the sounds of me breathing in for the next lunge, or grunting as I swung from rock to rock. She didnât talk, I didnât talk. It was like silence was the new one holding onto me, while I kept on going up and up.
Then, it stopped. I reached this ledge that jutted far out. I had to swing my body nearly horizontal to get to it, but with quiet little Dash in the back, I was able to get to it with ease. No more yapping in my ear, just a nice place to relax while⌠well, while I thought about what to say to her.
Was I supposed to say anything to her? I mean, the air had been pretty thick for a while there, since she found out about my Master. Not sure what the big fuss was, but maybe she didnât get it like I do. Thatâs it, thatâs all there was to it.
Still, maybe I needed to try to talk to her about it. It might be nice if I did that for her, especially since we were sitting on this pretty thick slab. Heck, it had enough room for us to prop up against the wall and watch the sun dip down further. It could even be a good spot to rest at, as long as we weren't looking down the whole time. Bet she would get stressed over that.
Or maybe she's stressed over my response.
I groaned, and it wasnât because I was pulling us up onto the ledge. Nope, my legs werenât numb, and my fingers werenât blazing like the sun. Not at all.
Crawling towards the wall, I let Dash hop off beside me, which she did, or well, tried, only she slid straight on her butt in a heap of fur and duress.
My back thanked me for leaving her there. She was light as could be for a horâpony, but she sure could make an impact after being on my back for a while. Iâll be aching until we get to whatever place she has been speaking of. Maybe that fancy clinic she was talking about knows how to cure a bad back.
For now, I stayed put, and closed my eyes. I could feel my heart pumping fast. It did this when I did too much for me to handle. Master told me to keep myself in check, because he didnât want me to keel over. I was someone he could trust within the slaves he had, so I had to be alright for anything to get done.
My voice hummed. Felt good to just lay and relax. This reminded me of the ole oak tree on the farm, the lone one that us little ones hid behind when it was cold, and when Master didn't need me to bring in a yield. He actually let me relax for a while, surprisingly, but whenever I was there, my back felt relieved, and warm. How Iong had we been climbing? Must been long, the sun was almost down.
âStill a long way to go.â
Dashâs tired tone told me to look up. So I did.
That wasnât what I wanted to see.
âHow? It felt like I was climbinâ for hours.â
She giggled rather hard at that. âThis gorge takes forever to get out of if youâre not a pegasus.â
As if she spoke the wrong words, Dashâs hurt wing reminded her of a story long since forgotten.
âA healthy pegasus,â she murmured through clenched teeth.
She was a bit of a ways from me now. Probably didnât want me seeing her stretch her legs (probably accidentally stretched her weak wing too). Since suffering was rough alone, why not have her a bit closer? She might not mind it, would she?
I patted the ground next to me. âHave a seat, Dash.â
The pony trotted over to me on her good three legs and set herself down. She didnât lean into me at all. Maybe sheâs still awkward about me being here. I was new to her, after all.
Still, she did like talking to me. âThanks,â she said. âI⌠guess we should talk.â
ââBout what?â
âYou know what.â Blank. As if her eyes were staring into me, expecting me to know what she meant.
Funny thing was I knew. âYeah, guess we should.ââ
Rainbow Dash sighed and looked out into the gorge. âIt stinks that you had to go through all that.â
I felt like I had to look elsewhere. The ground down there was something I wasnât too fond of, though. âWhat do ya mean?â
âBeing a slave? I donât think Iâd be tough enough to stick it to âem. Iâd want to get out as quickly as possible.â She shook her head. âNo pony like that gets to be in charge of me.â
Stick it to them? What did that mean? And being in charge of? I knew I was in his possession but he neverâŚ
âYouâd want to leave?â
She gave me that look like I was dumber than the rocks I climbed on. âOf course! No pony should do that to another! Itâs wrong on all sorts of levels!â
I looked at my fingers. They were grayer than before. âItâs all hard work that was meant for us, Dash. Thatâs all we got.â
She paused. A cloud floated on by. âHow many of them were there?â
I shrugged. âI ainât as good at countinâ as I was speakinâ.â I took one of my fingers, the longest one, and etched a little in the grit on the rock. âBut I was smarter than the rest of them, and Master knew that. So, he kept me close.â
Dash frowned. Why? Maybe there was something I wasnât getting. âYet you canât count?â
âI mean, I can count to twenty.â
âProve it,â she fired back.
I held my hand up, and pointed at each of them one by one. She heard them all, and then some.
â...eighteen, nineteen, twenty!"
She smiled, but it felt so forced. I wonder why?
âWell, you werenât lying, but thatâs sad that you only know so little.â
âWhy do I need'a count higher when I donât need'a?â
Dash scooted closer, and quietly leaned up against the wall. âMaybe when we get to Ponyville, Iâll get my friend Twilight to give you a few reasons to count to a million.â
âSounds⌠great, Dash.â
How high was a million?
I yawned.
Apparently I fell asleep with her beside me. It must not been long, because here I was, sitting where I was before. I stretched a bit, and looked to see...
...she was not there.
âDash?â
âOver here!â
She had gone a little further down this big rock.
âWhy ya walkinâ with your weak hoof?â
âOh, now youâre worrying about that?â
I get myself up to find her hind. âYou know what I meant!â
I walk down the little edge to see another thing I wasnât expecting to see.
âYou found this here cave?â
âYep!â she said with a bit of a hop. I gripped at my heart. She nearly made me keel over! âSorry, did I scare you?â
âWhen you come hoppinâ out there like ya want me to fall off this here ledge, how am I supposed to react?â
âCarefully?â she said with a head tilt. Silly pony. âLook, come on, letâs actually sleep in here for the night! Itâs so much bigger than out there!â
âReally?â I asked, stepping into the place.
âLook how much space we got to work with!â She raced around like there was no place like home. âThis is going to be much nicer to crash at! Thereâs no eels to get us, and itâs wwaaayyy safer than being outside with those hydras!"
She was right. Those guys could have killed us if we stayed out there. Donât know why she didnât wake me upâ
âTried to wake you up earlier, but youâre a heavy sleeper. Iâm going to have to figure out a way to wake you up without knocking you upside the head.â
âKnocking me upside the head!?â
I felt gobsmacked there. Was that why I felt a sudden headache?
She laughed. âDonât worry, Dyson, I didnât hit you! It was a joke, yeesh.â
Frowning, I told her how it was. âTerrible joke. I actually felt my head hurt when you said that."
An eye roll was what she gifted me. âYouâll be fine. As long as youâre in shape, and we're well-rested, we'll be out of here in no time!â
âYa really think so?â
Her grin was ear-to-ear as she spoke all happily, âOf course! Youâre way better at climbing than anypony I know!â
âEven though we have a long way to go?â
âHehe⌠ever heard of an exaggeration?â
It was my turn to roll my eyes. Ignoring that. âWell, I don't know 'bout you, but I think it's time to get some shut-eye. Good night, Dash.â
"Alright, g'night, Dyson."
I tried to find a comfortable rock to lean against, but to no avail. It was just a wet, open cave that gave little to no comfort. Thankfully, I curled up near one that didnât make my back scream in pain, so I closed my eyes and let my mind drift.
Thisâll be the last night I have to deal with this, anyways.
I walked outside. Mr. Burr was there, standing across the road from me. He was there, smirking at me, like he knew something was going to happen. It⌠made me want to walk further down the road.
Master never made me feel uncomfortable like that. Heâs not like that. Heâd make sure I wasnât overheating or sick. He needed me around. HeâŚ
My gaze fell towards the road.
It was dark. I could barely see Mr. Burr before. I could only see his face.
I turned back around, and he was gone. Where did he go?
I stood still, scared straight in place. Maybe he just went to get a lantern. Yeah, thatâs it. He knows the way home.
And so should I⌠but where was home? It was down the road, right?
A loud bang rumbled in the air. Must be one of those guards shooting again. Guess home was just down the road. Guess Mr. Burr was letting me know to get on home or somethingâŚ
...but that smirk. Why did he give me that look?
Another shot screamed into the night. That must be a gunfight Iâm hearing. That ainât no single one! They donât shoot that fast!
An explosion erupted near my feet. I stumbled to the ground. I looked at my legs.
They were fine.
What was going on?!
And then, I saw her.
I was at the plantation, just down a ways. Apparently she was near me? Why was she near me?
I shook my head. This couldnât be real. This canât be real. She ainât dead. She canât be dead. Sheâs fine. Momma, ainât she? Why she not moving then, huh? Why she ainât moving!
Momma, please tell me she fine. Tell me all the way home.
To put it in short, Mr. Burr was not alright. He had spent the whole of last night tossing and turning in his bed, his mind tortured by last nightâs merriment. He felt like he could collapse at any minute, holding onto the railing on his back porch for support.
Luckily, he was not alone. Beside him was a young negro woman. She was short, slender, and had natural curls in her hair, although she hid most of them under her head wrap. Her appearance wasnât nothing to sneer at. In fact, she was the one who kept the others in line. She made sure they werenât slacking, hauling all that grain and cotton to their respective areas. Mr. Burr appreciated her being in charge of the harvest. There were no mistakes when she was looming over them.
So why was she next to him? Wasnât she supposed to be out harvesting with the rest of them?
âIâm⌠fine.â The words struggled out of his mouth, as his stomach churned and his head burned a blazing fire. He couldnât let her see him in pain. She could tell the other slaves. He had to redirect her, away from the grimace he tried to hide. âHow a-are the rest of yâall doing?â
She paused, clearing her throat. âGood, Massa. New ones doinâ well. Grain be put in the right places. Lots of cotton, too. We git more here soon!â
"Good, good,â Mr. Burr breathed. Each breath he took felt rather strained. He nearly clutched his chest at the feeling, and boy did that woman notice it. She had steered herself closer to his side. He put out a hand to stop her in her tracks. âIâm f-fine,â he said through a cough. âJust a slight fever.â
âYa want me to git Mr. Morris, sir?â
Another cough erupted through Mr. Burr at the sound of that name. âNo-no,â he said. He didnât need physic. Not for something like this. âIâd like t-to speak to Dyson, though, if you c-can find him.â
âSaw him a bit ago, Massa. I git him quick!â
âThank you.â
He watched her bow before she had left him, scurrying down the steps in search of Dyson. Mr. Burr shakily sighed. His hands weakly clamped onto the railing, as if he held onto it for dear life, but he wasnât desperate. He wanted to see the fruits of his slavesâ labor. So, with what little energy he had left to spare, Mr. Burr tried to will himself up, trying to peek his head over the railing. Through his squinting eyes, he saw his slaves harvesting under the hot sun, while his guards, the few that were left, fiddled with their muskets under the shade of the trees. Some even shouted at the slaves from afar for their 'work'.
His brow furrowed at that, even though he smelled money in the air.
The headache from yesterday got worse. Felt like my head was being split open. Seeing took a lot of effort; everything was blurry, and to make matters worse, there were⌠voices. They spoke to me here and there, but nothing sounded right. All of it was just a jumbled mess. A mess that was too much to take in.
That⌠scared me, to say the least. How could we get out of Ghastly Gorge if I was feeling like this? If I took one wrong moveâŚ
The thoughts that kept pounding inside my head careened to a halt when I heard Rainbow Dashâs soft snores. I looked over to see her sound asleep, her head resting against her forehooves. She wasnât affected by whatever I had, she was just fine laying there as comfortable as one could be in a cave.
I took a deep, shaky breath. Maybe I needed to calm down, blink back a bit of the pain, and bite my tongue. That should do it.
Breathe.
Anxious air left me. Suddenly, I felt my muscles begin to relax, slumping against the wall I was propped on. There was no crick to pester me, only a headache that lingered like a ghost, and that alone felt better than feeling a world of pain. It was enough to put a short smile on my face, and it also made me want to move.
So I got myself off the wall, stretched my arms and legs, and crawled over to the slumbering horse.
She looked so innocent, like a dog napping in the grass. I wanted to reach out and pet her, but that didnât seem right. So, instead, I decided to be more like a friend, like Leo, and wake her up in the most annoying way possible.
Poke.
Her muzzle scrunched up in response, like one of those instruments back home that crumpled when it breathed. She let out a brief blow, before stirring from her sleep. It made me lightly chuckle, but that soon stopped when her gaze came to me.
âD-Dyson?â she said, slowly pawing where she believed I was.
Of course she couldnât see me, not when she looked like she was about to fall asleep again. âRight here,â I said, grabbing her hoof gently and pulling it towards me.
She slid her body over to get a better look at me, eyes lazily blinking. âW-Whatâs happening?â
Her voice cracked even more when she was drowsy. I didnât expect that. âGâmorninâ to you, too.â
âAlready?â she muttered. She tried to use her forehooves to rub her eyes, butâwait she could do that?âa yawn decided to escape her first. âAhh, why does it have to be morning?â
âWhy not?â
She frowned and shook her head. âItâs nothing⌠Iâm just being selfish.â
Selfish? The word just stuck there, as if plastered to the wall. Was tempted to ask her what she meant, but she had already shuffled away from me. She was heading straight for the light, which I now noticâack!
âDyson?â
Immediately, my eyes were tightly shut, while my hands shaded them from the sun. âSorry. Been havinâ a hard time.â My brain pulsed at that. âI-I woke up w-with this⌠poundinâ in my head. And I⌠I beââ
As soon as I tried to say something, the world as I knew it grew dark, and my body collapsed onto the floor.
âDyson!â Dash shouted. She nearly made me leap out of my body, as she quickly came to my side and nudged me away from the light. She got me to the back of our cave, where she propped me upright once again. Except I felt her good wing gently wrap itself around my back.
All the while, I had my eyes closed. I couldnât open them, it hurt to just look at something outside. Was I being punished? What did I do to deserve this?
A growl, much more frustrated than ever, told me all I needed to know. I made her mad. I knew she wanted out now, but I was here, messing it all up. My head was angry at me too. No food, no water. It was telling me I was stupid. Shouldâve gotten some water before we got up here.
Just thinking about all that made my lips turn drier, if it was even possible.
âMaybe we should rest a bit moreâŚâ
Her murmurs broke the negative thoughts in me. Yeah, sleeping would be nice. Maybe itâll go away and I can be better tomorrowâ
âNo, that would make my head worse,â I said lamely.
And that just made paradise, lost.
âWell, what else could we do?â
I didnât want to say it, but I had to. We had to get out of here, and there was only one way for us now.
âUp.â
âUp?â
âYes, Dash. Up.â I sighed. âThink my headâs hurtinâ because I didnât eat or drink none.â
As if on cue, Dashâs stomach made itself known, a loud growl echoing in the cave that I nearly thought was another one of those hydras outside.
âGuessinâ youâre hungry too,â I said, gently opening my eyes to see her face.
For lack of a better word, she had her forehooves cupping her chin. When she saw my gaze, she huffed and let them fall to her sides. âYeah⌠you got me thinking of hayburgers from back home.â
âHayburgers?â I said, raising a brow.
Dash bobbed her head. âMhm!â She gently clopped her hooves together and gave me a short smile. âThey have a little hay patty in the center that tastes soooo good! When we get back, you should try some with me.â
My burped at that one. âI⌠donât think I can have that, Dash.â
âReally?â She gave me a little head tilt, and a little ear twitch to boot. âWhy?â
âHay donât sit that good in me. It just makes my stomach flip.â
âOhâŚâ Dash murmured. She glanced away from me, her eyes peering at the light outside the cave. She mustâve forgot Iâm not like her. I don't have wings. No fur. No muzzle like hers. Iâm different. Iâm a slave. She mustâve realized that now and wasnât saying nothing.
It seemed like she was just trying to figure me out. Sheâs been a lot more interested in me than I thought. Nobody asked me this much.
âYou⌠all eat hay usually?â
Dash looked back at me now, a short smile on her face. âNah. But hay tastes absolutely awesome. Youâre missing out!â
"I'll take ya word for it," I said, chuckling. She did too. Our giggles bounced around us for a bit. Then there was nothing. Just a scream that reminded me of what we had to do.
âDash, are ya⌠ready to go?â
At first, there was no reply. It was like my question fell on deaf ears. I was about to open my mouth to say it again, but she butted in with a stern, âNo.â
âNo?â
She sighed and walked over to me once again. She held out her good hoof. âIâm not, but we have to, right?â
âWe doâŚâ I said, staring at that hoof of hers.
âAre you ready, Dyson?â
Another pulse surged through me. I winced, but kept myself together, taking her hoof in my hand. âIâm sure. Would not be askinâ if I ainât,â I replied. Those rays werenât looking so bright anymore, but it still hurt to look at them.
âGreat!â she exclaimed with a smirk. She pulled me up off the ground. I let go of her hoof and dusted myself off. "Enough talking! Let's get going. You and I can get the real deal when we get back to Ponyville!"
With that, she turned, and trotted away fro me. I stood there, frozen, reflecting on her words. I knew what she meant. She was itching to get out of here, and I was too. She promised me a lot when we got back to her hometown. How I was going to count to a million, how I was going to learn what a clinic is, and how I'm going to go out and get some food with her with her friends. It was a lot that she said I was going to do... and yet, it didn't feel like I was being held against my will over it.
Yet again, who am I to choose? Even if she let me choose, I'm a slave. I've always been one. A slave to the land. A slave to my thoughts.
A slave to everyone else but her.
âSounds good, Dash."
I couldn't help but smile as I followed her into the light.
Dyson was out in the fields. It was the beginning of another day of harvest, and he had just gotten finished with some minor duties inside the estate. His master had him working with one of the new older negro women, who, surprisingly, looked younger than what he had thought. She introduced herself as Lucinda, and that she was surprised when his master had picked her and her son out at the same time.
âI thought that white man was jokinâ when he said he wanted both of us,â she said as she scrubbed the floor with a towel. âNone was buyinâ in bunches like that⌠especially the ones that knew each other. Yet... he did.â
It made Dyson think how his master did the same for his family. His sister, his mother, his father; all of them were bought at the same time by the one he calls master. Why? What did he see in them? It still struck Dyson as odd, since his master talked like them, walked like them, even thought like them at times. He couldnât do anything about it though, couldnât even voice his thoughts to his master. He didnât have a choice.
But they did.
Which made his mind drift to her son. His name was Leo. Dyson was standing next to him now, although if someone came by, they might not see the boy. Dyson dwarfed Leo by far.
Leo was quiet. He hadnât said much to Dyson since he arrived. A simple hello was all he muttered, before getting down to work, hands gripping the nearest corn stalk and slicing the bottom with his small scythe.
Maybe Dyson could change that.
âHey, Leo!â
That got the boyâs attention, his head turning back towards Dyson. âHow do ya know my name?â
Dyson sighed and bent down. âWorked with your momma inside the house. She mentioned ya soâŚâ
âShe did?â Leo asked. Dyson nodded curtly. âShe must be happy Iâm here at least.â
âAt least?â
Leo sliced another plant with his scythe. âMama and I got separated from my sister when we got here.â
âAt the plantation?â Dyson asked, wide-eyed.
Leo shook his head and moved towards the next plant. âNo, when we got to Mississippi.â The corn plant fell as he continued. âI tried to grab her from one of âem white folks but he pushed me away. Told me and my ma to know our place.â
Another plant fell. Dyson watched as he hoisted a few of the stalks over his shoulder and placed them in a bundle behind him. âYa think ya might see her again?â
Leo paused and turned to look at Dyson. His lips had sagged down, and his brows crushed in defeat. âI hope soâŚâ He wiped sweat from his head. âWhat about you?â
âJust got me, my mother, my father, and my little sister.â
âYour whole family is here?â Leo said, his eyes nearly falling out of its sockets..
Dyson nodded. âYep. Master bought all of us at the same time!â
The boyâs head hung low at the sound of that. Dyson frowned.
Silence pervaded the area. Dyson had even joined in, having walked back to grab a small scythe of his own to work with Leo for a bit. His master wouldnât mind.
Besides, Dyson wanted to get to know Leo. Was it because he was new, or was it because Leo looked kinda like himself? Dyson couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew one thing. He needed to get to work before the guards started talking. With a quick step, Dyson fell into line, working a little bit ahead of Leo. âSo, what ya think of Master?â
âHe different,â Leo replied bluntly.
âHow so?â
âHe likes jokinâ a lot.â
Dyson tilted his head. âHe does?â
Leo gripped the plantâs stem tightly, before he brought his scythe upon it. âSays he tells âem when to fire.â
âYeahâŚâ Dyson murmured. There werenât that many guards out today, but a couple still could be seen on horseback or holding their muskets.
âHow many are there usually?â
Dyson turned around. âWell, there be about eight of âem out mostlyââ
âOnly eight?!â Leo practically shouted. He dropped his scythe to cover his mouth with both of his hands. He earned a glare from one of the guards, which Dyson saw from the corner of his eye.
âSorry,â Leo said, scrambling to pull himself back together. He picked up his scythe and grabbed a couple more corn. âThatâs not a lot for a place this big.â
Dyson sighed. âMaster told me somethinâ about âem beinâ short around here. Says most called up to go to war.â
âReally?â A soft hum could be heard from Leo. Dyson raised a brow. âDyson, this is great! We could⌠you knowâŚâ
Dyson knew what he was alluding to. âNo, Leo. I canât.â
âWhat do ya mean?â
âMaster needs mââ
âNo he donât!â Leo growled out. âHe donât need none of us! Dyson, they wouldnât be able to catch us andââ
âLeo, theyâll shoot you before you even think about leavin'.â
âAnd what? Thereâs way more of us than them! We can take âem!â
Dyson felt a presence linger over him. One that he knew wasnât truly there, but the ever-watching eye of a guard from that oak tree down by the road was staring directly at them. He needed to steer this conversation elsewhere, or itâll only be time that heâd trudge on over and really ask whatâs going on.
âLeo thatâs not theââ
âPoint? Dyson you been here for how long?â
âA few years before the war even startedâŚâ Dyson murmured. âBut what difference does that make?â
Leo dropped his scythe and picked up some of his bundles he left behind. âA lot! I mean, youâve been here for so long. Have you ever thought what being free was like?â
âNo⌠Iâm fine here.â
Leo stopped walking, dropping the bundles he had to the ground. âW-What?â
Dyson cleared his throat. âMaster been nice to me and my family. Although rough in the beginning, Master and I been good to one another.â
While Dyson chipped away further and further down the row, Leo hadnât. He was frozen there, which worried Dyson. Had he said something wrong? He was just telling Leo the truth. Nothing else to tell but the truth.
It took a couple more stalks for Leo to regain himself. He had just bent down to pick up his bundles when suddenly, a voice called from afar.
âDyson!â
Dysonâs head popped up from where he was situated. It was that young negro woman from before. âSable!â
Her head wrap bounced as she carried herself toward the two boys. âFinally found ya!â She paused to control herself, panting all the while. âMassa needs ya!â
âHe does?â
She looked up and nodded. âHe lookinâ weak. Said he had a slight fever.â
Dysonâs eyes widened. âWhere is he?â
âOn the back porch.â
Dyson dropped everything and ran towards the estate.
Leo looked on. âDoes Dyson really care about him?â
Sable nodded. âHe does. Massa important here. There ainât none like him. He saved us from the others.â She turned to look at Leoâs progress. âYou better too. Guards ainât too nice.â
Leo gulped and looked down at his blunder. He tried to pick them up carefully, but his heart was beating faster than he could grip them. âSorry.â
âDonât be. Just keep ya head down and ya do fine,â she said softly, patting him on the back. Leo slowed his pace and picked up the remaining stalks.
Neither of them saw Dyson running into the burning red glare of the sun.
I couldnât believe that I was doing it again, but I was. Rainbow Dash was on my back, gripping me from behind like her life depended on it, while I took these hands of mine and carried us up this wall. I never had done something like this before, so having gotten this far was a good thing. When I was back in Mississippi, good times were hard to come by. I always worked. Master always had something for me to do. At first, times were tough; Master didnât let me get off so easily if I made mistakes.
âGod damn negro, not listeninâââ
He used to be very⌠aggressive. Angry. It could be because he felt like he was on top of the world. That I couldnât be like him, or more. Iâm always a slave. I didnât get a choice to go beyond that. I just obeyed. Yet, he realized who I was, and who I could be. He said it to me after Iâd been there for a year.
âDyson, if you werenât such a lowly nigger, I wouldnât mind havinâ you as my son.â
Son. Master hadnât ever had one of them. No daughters either. Just him and his wife, who we used to call Mother Burr. Donât know why they couldnât have one kid at least. Imagine the kid would be much like Mr. Burr, for sure. Sadly, thatâs all I could do now. Imagine what could have been. This also reminded me of why Master was so angry.
When his wife was no longer there, Master turned grim, an empty white man who couldnât accept himself. He, for the first week, couldnât even get out of bed. Heâd have some of the other slaves come in, but they would come out with no order or request, except for them to leave him alone. Iâd ask them to give him some food and water for the day, hoping heâd let that be, which he had done, accepting the food even though he didnât feel all too well.
After that week, I never heard him speak out so aggressively again. He let me run errands in town more. I felt⌠free for a time, or rather, more free. Something in Master just... changed, and I welcomed it wholeheartedly.
However, even in another world, as I put my hands to the test, his presence lingered. Not sure whyâ
âDyson!â
Rainbow shouted into my ears. I had been swinging from one ledge to the next, completely lost in thought. She sounded like she wanted to talk.
âSorry, Dash. Ya need somethinâ?â
She growled, and even whinnied a bit. âNot really, just thought you went deaf for a second.â
âDeaf?â my voice raised a bit at that one. âWhy ya sayinâ that?â
âI was trying to ask you something and you just⌠didnât hear me,â she said, breathing softly near my ear. âIs there something bugging you?â
I tried to say something, but my lips were as cracked as the wall. I tried to dampen them, my tongue reaching out to lick my lips, but even my tongue felt withered. I still pushed what I needed to say out there though, âTo be honest, yes.â
âYou donât have to tell me, I undâwait, really?â
I hummed to myself. âYep. Got lots on my mind.â
âAbout what?â she asked. I could feel her head resting just below my shoulder blade.
âWhat it was like back in Mississippi.â
A gentle lull hung over us, as I swung ourselves up to the next ledge. Did I get her all mad again? Was she upset I was thinking of that place, a world that would be fine with making me a slave? I couldnât turn my head around to get a glimpse of what she looked like. I bet she looked like she was frowning, ears laying back against her head. Yet, she would still raise a brow at my words. She a curious one. Curious about my past. Thatâs what she seemed interested in for the past couple of days.
A neigh confirmed my thoughts. A bit aggressive, like she just forced a blow out of her nostrils. What was she thinking about?
âDyson?â
âY-yeah?â
I felt my face heat up. I stuttered. Hadnât done that since Master had tried to punish me for talking to a lady in town long ago.
âWhat was it like?â
I paused, my hand nearly reaching towards the next little rock jutting from the wall. âWhat was what like?â
âMississippi. Being a... âslaveâ. Your... âmasterâ.â
I took a deep breath and took a lunge for the next rock. It gripped into my palm so effortlessly, yet I could not feel my hand at all. It just felt like powder, with bits of smaller grey rocks mixed in. I kept us there, my feet gripping around those little jutted pieces, while I gathered my thoughts.
âIt was an interesting place,â I began. âPeople there were⌠different. Master wasnât my first. Had another that was way worse.â
âW-Worse?â
Her voice cracked when she said that. Made me think of the words I needed to say. Didnât want her worrying too much about me. âYep. He hated my father. Made sure to not give much room to breathe, so to speak.â
I swallowed, my saliva flooding my throat. It was hard to recall this memory. My head had been good to me so far through this climb, but even it sent surges of pain down my spine. âP-Pa got a lot of l-lashes. Ma had to keep an eye o-on him andââ
âDysonâŚâ The pony behind me cooed softly in my ear. âPlease, donât go any further.â
âIs it uncomfortable for ya?â I asked.
âKinda⌠I didnât know your kind was as bad as SombraâŚâ
Her mumbles trailed off, as I willed myself up to the next ledge. Dash didnât seem like the type to just let things go, but I knew I wasnât in the right state of mind to be saying all of this. Still, I had to do it. She had to know.
âNot all of them were that bad, yâknow.â
âThey⌠werenât?â
I tilted my head. âIn Mississippi, there were free people, and then there were people like me. We just so happened to be different than them.â
I heard Dash sigh behind me, the air that escaped her nostrils tickled the hairs underneath my ear. âDoesnât sound cool at all to me. I couldnât imagine being singled out like that.â
âAre other ponies different colors?â
âYeah!â Dash excitedly replied. âYou remember Twilight? Sheâs purple and has a huge horn and wings!â
I swung to the next ledge. âReally?â
âUh-huh!â She sounded like my sister when she wanted to ask for some of my bread. âTotally purple! And Applejack? Sheâs an apple farmer, and sheâs orange!â
âOrange fur?â
âYeah! And then Fluttershy. Sheâs my best friend and sheâsâŚâ
I started to ignore her as he talked about her friends. It reminded me of my mother, who tried to rant about our previous owner in the mucky shed we slept in. It got old, much like hearing her ramble about her friendsâ multicolored fur. No use when I needed to make some progress, then we could talk about it.
While Rainbow rambled on, I spotted a ledge above us that was wider than the rest, but the path to it was very confusing. I had to swing my way to the left and then follow the rocks in an outward fashion to get to it. Maybe then we could rest for a bit before continuing on uâergh!
âDyson, are you alright?â
Another bit of pain surged through me. âDonât speak to anyone about this, Dyson. If you do, Iâll have toââ
I shook my head, frantically looking around for the sound of that voice. It was him, wasnât it? Was he here? Mr. Stockton?
The woman in the room screamed in pain as another flick of the whip cracked against her skâ
âDyson?â
A nudge from a hoof of my passenger sent me back to where I was. I blinked away the images of back then. What was happening to me?
âIâŚâ
âLetâs get up there, Dyson, okay? We can rest up on that ledge for the night.â
I look up to the ledge she was talking about. The same one with the rocks that jutted in the opposite direction.
All I had to do was lift us up there.
I reached out andâ
She looked at me, begging for me to do something, but I knew I couldnât do anything. I just kept my mouth shut, blankly staring as the shadow of the whip which flicked back behind the man. Why was he like that?
ânearly slipped, but I regained control, my hand gripping onto the rock once again.
Rainbow Dash had yelped when I almost missed my mark. She wasnât too pleased about it either, shouting my name and thensome.
âDonât scare me like that!â
Why did I always do something like this? Making mistakes is for a slave that donât belong here. I shook my head. I needed to get these thoughts out of my head. I needed to focus. I needed to breathe. For myself. For Dash.
I sucked in a dry pocket of air. It felt terrible in my lungs, bearing a fire that set my body aflame. However, I had to keep on breathing it in. I would be fine afterwards. Iâd be free from this torture. Iâd be free from everything here, for now.
âKeep going, Dyson! Weâre almost there!â
âNow get going, youâre burninâ daylight.â
I reached for the first one. My right arm extended out in full.
It didnât take much effort. I had a good grip on her, and the energy I had behind that made me swing for the next.
âDo you want to meethim again?â
I grimaced and shut my eyes. I donât know why, but these thoughts of mine were hurting my head. Why now? I was so close to getting out of here and my body was failing me. Why? âWhy canât you help me? Canât you see what heâs doing to me?!â
I nearly missed that rock too, but I used what little weight I had on my feet to get a second shot at it. Got her with a vice grip.
My heart was racing. One more and weâll be able to rest for a while.
âJust one more!â
âWait here, Dyson, while I go get you the letter for your Master.â
The air that rushed through me sent my body for one final jump.
And thenâŚ
The sound of a musket firing behind me. A body lurching back. A boy just like me. I fell to the grouâ
Suddenly, the world fell to a blur. My legs gave out. My head hit me full force, and everything just looked different.
âDYSON!!â
She was still latched on to me, but not like I remembered it. She was above me now, and I was looking far down below. Air rushed between my arms and legs. I felt as if I was weightless, and all I could see was how the world looked from this far up, and how fast it was coming so close to us.
Wait, close to us?
My eyes widened. I could hear Dash frantically flapping her good wing, trying to angle us somewhere else, but I couldnât see too well, everything was a blurry mess of grey. All I could do was be a passenger who was hopelessly hopeful that maybe this wasnât the end.
But as my body arched back, I felt the pain wash over me, probably like Leo did, tasting the world that some slaves said was between life and death.
I was⌠warm. I didnât know dying would make me feel warm, but I was. I had my eyes shut though, didnât want to accept that I was gone. Yet, I knew my time of suffering was ending, and I could finally sit at the right hand with the Father. Thatâs what they taught me, anyway, them folks at the other plantation.
Yet, I hadnât heard of angels or any of the stuff I heard about them saying there was. All I heard was just noise. It wasnât loud noise, just⌠noise. So, knowing I had nothing more to lose, I opened my eyes.
I was not expecting anything that I saw. I was in a room. There were no windows, and there wasnât even a door. It was just four walls around me. I was sitting on a wooden chair at a rickety old looking table, and a tall white candle burned eagerly a small flame.
And then my eyes caught her. She was beautiful, if I ever could call someone that. She had skin darker than the soot from a fireplace, and eyes that were as blue as water Master drank. She had long, black hair that was straight as can be. She had a black dress on, and a dark purple crown resting on her head.
Didnât know God looked like that.
âI am not who you think I am, Dyson.â
My eyes widened as her words carried a new weight on my chest. She was not God?! âThen how do ya know my name?â
She gave me a warm smile. âI am the one who dreams. I see what you see. Know how you are. Know of your kind. I would like to know you, but I am barred from seeing it. I can seek more, if you'd allow me.â
"Allow ya?â
She nodded. Her eyes looked softly into mine. âDo you allow me to see more of you?â
I couldnât feel myself breathe, but if I could, I would. My heart would be racing, and yet, it did not feel like it was there. I felt nothing, but a whole lot of something. Just a dull bit of pressure right where those words hit me before.
Since I had no choice, I nodded slowly. âYes, maâam.â
That earned me a glare from her. âDo not feel like you must agree. I⌠shanât indulge further if that is whatââ
âN-No, maâam. I⌠accept,â I stuttered out. âYou know more of somethinâ that I don't...â
As I said those words, the room began to change. There was still no door or window, yet it felt like one was open, as a cold gust of air overcame the room. It nearly had blown the candleâs flame out, but it stayed still, only slightly affected by the wind. I could feel itâs chilling presence as it had passed too, the air sending a freezing sensation down my spine. However, as quick as the wind came, so did it leave.
During that sudden change, I had not once seen the womanâs face. Even now, I couldnât read her, and I could understand why. The candlelight was not picking up her face. I blamed the wind for this, but the woman was also leaning back in her chair. Was she doing that on purpose? What was this woman thinking? More importantly, who was she?
âNo, I am not doing this on purpose. I only... wish to be comfortable with you. And as for what I am thinking, and who I am, I... you will learn soon.â
Her voice was soft, yet so intense. I couldnât help but lean in more. I was numb to it all, but I wasnât numb to her words. âThen who are you?â
She leaned forward, her face being lit up by the candle. She gave me a toothy grin. âI told you. I am but a dreamer.â
âA dreamer?â
âYes, one oversees others who sleep.â
I was sleeping? âYa mean Iâm alive?â
âYes, Dyson. You are.â
It was like I was falling again, except faster. âH-How?â
âThat⌠I am not sure. You are alive though, otherwise I would not be allowed here.â She mustâve seen how my face looked and held back a laugh with her hand. âI will⌠elaborate on that, then. I have the ability to oversee otherâs dreams. How that is is of my own accord: I must have a connection with the other userâs magic with this world.â
âMagic?â
âYes, magic is part of this world that you are now in. I know you are not of our kindââ
Of our kind⌠I gasped. âSo are you one of those ponies too?â
She nodded. âI am.â
âThen why are youâ"
ââone of your kind?â she interrupted. I bobbed my head rapidly in reply. She giggled. âI must be of your kind so you may not fear me. I⌠had found out about you from observing Rainbow Dashâs mind, and decided to extend my reach to you, therefore I must become like you to assure you I am not a threat. However, I found something alarming about you.â
I tilted my head. âWhat is that?â
She took a deep breath and said, âYour mind is in constant turmoil.â
âTurmoil?â
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. âYes. For years, every single person, place, or thing that you encountered... you have reacted to them as if you were numb to them all. It's as if throughout your life, you... you had one thing in mind. Yet now, in our world, your mind is free to roam, and everything has hit you all at once." The woman paused, cleared her throat, and looked at me with a slight tilt of her head. "It has made youâ" She pointed a finger at me and smirked. "âvery hard to connect with.â
I found myself wanting to know more, but she was right, my mind was all over the place. I was so⌠anxious, by everything, that nothing was making sense, but I hadn't thought I had this happen to me for years. And I was numb to it all? That I had a one-tracked mind? What did she mean? "What do ya mean this has happened for years?"
"If I explained it to you, you would only just be hearing my words, not discovering the truth. This is part of your quest. Something that I mustn't indulge further. One must learn by doing, yes?"
I felt a beat in my chest, one that pulsed throughout me. And then, the dull pressure returned. "That's what my momma told me."
The woman laughed. "My mother has said that as well. You know, maybe you and I are not so dissimilar after all."
I smirked and fired back, "And I'm glad that ya ain't like the horses back home. From how Dash reacted, it sounded like somethin' terrible!"
If the woman could have laughed harder, than she did, her arms clenched at her stomach. She kept laughing for a while, until she ran out of breath. She breathed deeply and looked over at me with a toothy grin. "M-My stars⌠I had not laughed that hard in a millennia. Horses are a bit... complicated. They have such long faces and very crass ways of living, yet, there are so few where we are, so few that they are seen as a myth now." She sighed and put her hands under her chin. She beamed over at me. "You are a pleasure to talk to. I am much more eager for your arrival. And from what I saw in her dreams, Rainbow Dash is too.â
âShe is?â
She smiled. âOf course. However, I mustn't tell you the details. Besides, I refuse to interact with her dreams at the moment. I can only ease the tension she feels. If I did anything more, she'd be begging me to tell her friends to save you both, and although I want you both back as soon as possible, I feel that something needs to be learned here."
"Learned here?" I asked. What did she mean?
She sighed. "I know of your path. Of your nature. Of you." She leaned back in her chair once again, submerging her form in the darkness of the room. "This shall change, since Rainbow Dash will guide you. Therefore, I must not interfere.â
That meant Rainbow Dash was alive too, but she⌠was my guide? This womanâpony refuses to interact with Rainbow Dashâs dreams? What did all of this mean?
âI can interact with her dreams, Dyson, but I shanât. Itâs my choice. I have already earned my freedom. You, on the other hoof, havenât.â
âYou can hear my thoughts?â
âYes, because you allowed me so, remember?â
I blinked. I remembered how she looked. She had done⌠something, and that something mustâve made her hear my thoughts.
âExactlyââ
âMaâam, pardon me for sayinâ thisâŚâ
She saw my gaze and smiled. âYou are pardoned.â
âThatâs very⌠awesome.â
The woman giggled at my choice of words, the pressure leaving my chest as she laughed. âIâm glad that you are learning from our dear friend. She⌠has a way with her words that I have struggled to possess.â
âYes, Rainbow Dash does... have a way with words, maâam.â
âGlad you see that too.â Her smile faded away. âYou understand what I am telling you, though, correct?â
I nodded. âYes, maâam. You⌠are tellinâ me that I need toââ I felt the pressure linger in my chest once again. âLet go.â
âYes, what ails you now is what ailed you then. You had been asked before about freedom, yet you felt free already, didnât you?â
Her soft voice made me shiver in my chair. âI⌠thought that before. But ever since Master changed after Mother Burr passed, Iââ
âYou felt as if it were your duty to stand by him?â The woman hummed softly. âI see. Trauma and fear willed you forth, did they not?â
She knew the answer, but she wanted me to say it. All those dry grains⌠that dry air⌠it was lodged in me again. âI⌠I did look at Master that way. B-But he helped me and my family survive. No other one had done that for me andââ
âYet he hurt them too, did he not?â
âYes butââ
I felt the room quake as she stood, her hands thrusting onto the table. âThen it should be obvious to you. Tell me, do you know what I am saying to you?â
I fell silent. My body was stuck in place. I could control my gaze, though, and I knew I had no right to look at her. Not one bit.
She sighed. âI see. Your quest will tell you this, I am sure.â
The room stopped shaking. I saw her out of the corner of my eye scooting the chair back. She was probably sitting back down in her chair. The only thing that stayed the same⌠was the pressure in my chest.
âI⌠donât know what to say maâam,â I said, voice dry as can be.
âDyson, you donât need to say much more. All I need from you is one thing, and then I will leave you to your quest.â
I looked up to her. âAnd what is that?â
She stared into my eyes. âPromise me youâll complete it.â
âPromise ya?â I asked. âHow do I promise ya that?â
She shook her head and told me my answer. âYou reap what you sow, I suppose. I will keep watch over your dreams if you can keep Rainbow Dash and yourself in one piece.â
I felt my senses start to come to me. My legs, my arms, my heart; the numbness was gone. For the first time, I felt great. I felt ready. I feltâŚ
âI will do my best, maâam.â
âThen I will see you when you complete your quest, Dyson. Farewell.â
Then the candle fizzled out and the room was plunged into darkness.
It had been a long while since Mr. Burr had felt this way. Weakness was not something he would want to show, and this fever had put him out there for all of his slaves to see. Fortunately for Mr. Burr, he now resided in his bed, secluded by the four, white, cracking walls around him. The discoloration in some spots turned what was once pristine white into a light grey. A brown chair stood battle-scarred in the corner. Next to it, a window sill that peered out into the world beyond. And then a candle, in case Mr. Burr decided to read, much like his wife had done. Mr. Burr took a shaky breath.
It was hot in the room. It wasnât because of the heat outside. No, Mr. Burr was covered in the bed sheets. It was all Dysonâs idea to hide Mr. Burr in his own room, away from the rest of the slave population. âYouâll be comfortable, Master,â Dyson had said to him. Comfortable mattress, yes, but not in temperature.
He unfolded the sheets back a bit, letting his body breathe. He was tempted to try and squirm out of bed to crack open the window, however, his legs reminded him of how this fever took over. His legs were hard to move. It felt like trudging through murky waters, except there wasnât any water like that in his estate. How a simple fever could make him this weak was beyond Mr. Burrâs comprehension. All he knew was that he was sick, most likely with something that his wife got.
Mr. Burr shook his head. There was no need to be thinking like that. Heâll pull through, he had to. These slaves got nowhere else to turn to. They should know that. YetâŚ
Outside, the sky began to fade away, the red sun falling further and further out of view. Soon, heâd have to have one of his slaves come in and light the candle by his bedside, or maybe grab that lantern outside in the shed and put her next to him. That would make him want to read the Ripley Advertiser too andâ
Mr. Burr didnât want to admit to his own issues. He felt like his mind was cursing him. Every little waking moment he had now reminded him of every little waking moment he had with his wife, and that he wouldnât get her back andâ
âPromise me youâll take care of âem, my love.â
He sat under the covers, wondering if heâd upheld those words that tortured him.
Two days had passed since Mr. Burr had been under the care of Dyson, who simply said a couple days of rest would help him. Unfortunately, that remedy was a very slow cure. His body felt worse despite the rest he had gotten, and at this point, he did not feel hungry, just incredibly thirsty. He had asked Dyson before for water, but Dyson had heard from one of the other slaves that giving Mr. Burr any sort of water or food would increase the likelihood of death. So, when Dyson had advised him against drinking or eating anything, he had followed through.
Mr. Burr licked his own lips. There was very little saliva left on that palette of his. The rest of his body felt limp, and he didnât feel like getting up out of his bed anymore, even if the sheets made him feel like a furnace at the blacksmith. Unfortunately, what little sweat Mr. Burr had on his face wasnât going to fix his tongue nor his hunger. Frustratedly, Mr. Burr let out a long sigh, and attempted to pull the sheets back from his body.
That was, until Dyson made an entrance.
The door flew open, slamming against the door jam. Suddenly, both Dyson and Sable flooded into the room, clambering to his bedside.
âMaster, are you okay?â
âNoâŚâ Mr. Burr muttered, his voice strained. He shifted under his sheets. âToo warm in here, and Iâm feelinâ like I got run over by a runaway stagecoach.â
The two slaves looked back at each other. Mr. Burr raised a brow at the two.
âIs this how Iâm supposed to feel?â
Sable looked downtrodden, her head hung low. She twiddled her thumbs. âNot, exactlyâŚâ
Mr. Burr hummed to himself. âWhat other options do I have?â
Dyson piped up first, âHow about we get ya a bit of food andââ
âMassa donât need to eat none,â Sable stated rather sternly, her eyes glaring daggers at Dyson. She turned to Mr. Burr once again and smiled. âMassa howâd ya feel about bloodletââ
âNo way in hell Iâd do that! Anything involving blood would be what that damn physick would say, and I'm not wanting to visit him anytime soon.â
The sudden burst of energy shocked the two slaves, their eyes widened at his words. âMr. Morris wouldnât do that, Massa!â
Sableâs words echoed in Mr. Burrâs ears. He grimaced as he remembered what Mr. Owens told him about those âinsane medical contraptionsâ Mr. Morris had in his office. âI wouldnât put it past him, Sable. Heâs one of them.â
Dyson rubbed the end of his chin with his hand. âThen if Master ainât too comfortable on Mr. Morris, what ya think we could do?â
Mr. Burr knew that question wasnât for him. It was for Sable, who just tilted her head in response. Silence settled in, only the chiming of a pendulum clock in the living room was to be heard.
Then, Sable gave Mr. Burr a short smile and said, âMassa, have ya gone to Church?â
âNo,â he replied, shaking his head. âBeen stuck here for the past couple days, and last week the church was closed for⌠ârepairsâ.â
âThen ya at least prayed, havenât ya?â
Mr. Burr raised a brow at her. âYes, I have, Sable. Lordâs prayer, every single day I wake up. Is this going somewhere?â
Sable nodded. âThey say if ya pray to God, then he help ya get betterâŚâ Her eyebrow twitched. âI done what I can, Massa. It in Godâs hands now.â
âWhat aboutââ
âDyson!â Sable exclaimed. âFeedinâ him ainât going to do noneââ
âHow do ya know that, Sable?â Dyson tilted his head at her, his eyebrows furrowing. âWe got no other options! And if none of them other ones ainât workinâ, then we need to give this one a try!â
Mr. Burr smiled as the two argued about him. They were like siblings: a son and a daughter, both arguing about what they should do to help their father. Yet, as Sable gave a loud huff through her nostrils, he knew who they were again. Not his children. They were his slaves. Hell, those two werenât even siblings. How could he think of them like that?
âWe could just put a cold towel on his head.â
âWhy ya say that, Sable?â
âMassa said he was hot, right?â
âVery,â Dyson replied, scratching his head. âWhy a cold towelâoh, oh.â
Sable smirked and nudged Dyson on the shoulder. âNow ya be usinâ your head, Dyson.â
Mr. Burr tried to stifle a laugh, but due to his dry throat, his laugh turned into a coughing frenzy. The two slaves turned their attention to him, but he waved them off. âJust dry is all. Canât even laugh when feeling like this.â
Sable sighed. âWell, maybe we should give him a bit of water andââ
âWait, are ya sayinâ what I think youâre sayinâ?â
Upon hearing those words, Mr. Burr saw Sableâs eyes roll hard. He was worried that those eyes of hers would fall right out of her head. Yet, they did not. They just glared at the two of them as she walked towards the door. âMaybe ya might be a bit right, but Iâll believe it when I see it.â She gripped on the doorknob and turned it slightly to the right. âLet Massa rest for tonight. Iâll get him some of that water, while ya get him that candle lit.â
Dyson raised a brow. âWhy we needinâ to light that candle?â
Sable turned back around and peeked her head back in the room. âCuz he been eyinâ it like he got somethinâ with it!â
Mr. Burr suddenly felt his face burst into flames, his cheeks warmer than even the fever that plagued him. He wanted to hide under the covers, but he did not want to show his slaves any sort of weakness. He needed to be strong. He needed to not look at the candle andâMr. Burr looked at the candle.
Dyson chuckled. âMaybe youâre right too, Sable. Master lookinâ at it right now!â
âNeither of you will utter a word to the others about this,â Mr. Burr growled, glaring at the two in his midst.
Even though they knew of what ailed their slave master, Dyson and Sable stood up straight, or at least Dyson did. Sable was nearly out the door, still peeking in to see what was happening. She did though, step in to show that she did care, despite how she spoke. âSorry, Master. We wonât tell a soul,â Dyson said, while Sable just gave a very curt nod.
âGood,â Mr. Burr said. âOh, and while youâre at it Dyson, can you fetch me my newspaper for the day?â
Dyson gave Mr. Burr a grin. âThat I can, Master.â
With that, the two slaves left their owner in his lonesome, the door slowly creaking shut in their wake.
The last thing I remembered was sitting in a room with a woman who claimed she was a dreamer. She said she supervised everyone elseâs dreams. She also told me how she was not like me, and how she was like Rainbow Dash but not like her as well. She was able to see me, and hear what I was thinking. It was⌠way too much, yet I was able to get what I needed out there, while⌠well, wrapping my mind around this entire quest she told me about.
However, I was not there now. I was on the ground, sort of, washed up on a little shore-like area. I felt like I got run over by one of them horse drawn carriages. Every single part of my body was aching, and as I tried to pick myself up off the ground, I felt every muscle scream in agony. I groaned in response, trying to stretch what pain that wore me down, but my leg was surely not going to cooperate. Guess I had something wrong with my leg. However, my body aching was the least of my worries.
I realized that this place was dark, and I couldnât see a thing. Only a light from across the way, where a pool of water lay. Since I saw no other light like it near me, I had to guess thatâs where we fell down from, especially since a small stream of water filtered in from that beam of light. I took a look at the shore and bent down, quickly taking a scoop of water in my hand and gulping it down. Thinking it was okay to drink, I took a couple more handfuls before I wiped my hand off.
I was pretty dry to the bone, well, except for my right arm. My arm was still soaked from probably being in it while I was barely on shore. That view turned for the worst though, as I realized there was barely anything left of my clothes to salvage. Shirt was all torn to pieces, while what remained was soaked and dirty. My pants were one of the few things to survive, luckily, as there were only a few small tears. However, where those tears were, so were a few instances of blood.
I winced at the sight of it. The blood looked like it had dried up, but it still didnât look that good. Iâm lucky that nothing else happened and that Rainbow Dash wasâwait where was she?
âD-Dash?â I sputtered, a dry cough making me nearly keel over.
I quickly hobbled along the little shoreline that was here, only to find that she was here. It took me a bit of balance, but I found her just a little ways down the line. That did soothe my mind a bit, but her condition did make my heart race. That strained wing of hers? Bit more bent now. And that bad hoof? There was a bit more blood on it than before. I didnât want to say it was all hers though, It could be from my body, knowing how much the fall tore me up. But maybe it wasnâtâall I knew was that we mustâve fallen into some other stuff on the way down, or maybe landing in this big water-filled cave did have a huge impact on us.
That wasnât the worst thing I saw, though. Even though she was much more damaged than before, I nearly fell over when I saw her eyes werenât open. She was breathing, though, which made me fall to my knees, both thanking whoever watched over us that she was alive, while also checking her over for any other injuries. It didnât appear like there was much else, only minor scratches across her frame. I sighed a sigh of relief, and held her close. That woman said she was my guide, and if I had already broken my promiseâŚ
âYou reap what you sow.â
I frowned, watching as her chest heaved in and out. It was like she was desperately trying to breathe, something that made me act quicker than I thought. I had pulled her further from the shoreline, up higher on this landmass in the cave. I tried to wake her up, but her body wasnât having it. Her muzzle was all scrunched up, and her eyelids were twitching. Was she⌠dreaming?
A whimper was what I was awarded for that thought. She definitely was dreaming. Was she dreaming of us falling again? Was she wondering if she was dead? Or was that woman telling her something too? I didnât want to know for sure, I just wanted her to wake up.
I just wanted her to wake up.
My eyes widened. I grabbed a hold of her and started shaking her.
âDash, wake up!â
She began whimpering more. I couldâve sworn she said my name tooâ
âDash! Dash!â
My shaking mustâve done something. Her eyes flicked wide open and she let out this shrill yelp that sounded like a mouse getting stomped on. Then, she turned to me, blinking. âIs that you, Dyson?â
âYes, Dash!â I practically shouted, my voice echoing in the cave. âWeâre alive!â
I watched as she let out a dry, cheery giggle, before coughing like I did too. She pointed at her throat. âT-Throatâs dry, eh heh.â
I gave her a short smile. âMine was too.â I looked over at the water next to us. âYou could drink from here, yâknow?â
Dash looked over at it, eyes glazed. âI donât know about that, Dyson. It⌠looks kinda dirty.â
âWhat choice do we have?â I asked her.
She shook her head. âNot muchâŚâ She let out a coarse laugh. âSorry, k-kinda out of it at the moment. That fall got me thinking⌠less straight than n-normal!â
Slowly, I watched her get up. I held her close, just to make sure she didnât fall over and bend that wing of hers even more.
âThanks, Dyson,â she breathed. Her eyes fluttered shut and she gave me a weak nuzzle. âTell me when I n-need... to b-bend over.â
I raised a brow at that. âWhy? Canât ya see?â
Her eyes, those pink orbs, they looked like they were swimming in her head. âI⌠c-can see, just not well. Headâs hurting⌠a lot.â
âThen Iâll guide ya, Dash,â I said, trying to keep myself steady. I brought my hands gently to her chest, and interlocked them together. Then, I slowly leaned forward. âLean into âem.â
She did, slowly, even craning her neck. Eventually, her mouth found water, lapping at it like a dog on a hot summerâs day. I couldnât help but smile. âTaste good?â
âY-Yep!â Dash said, although it sounded like she was gargling some of the water. She tapped me on my chest with one of her hind hooves, signalling for me to pull up. So I did, pulling her away from the water.
I looped one of my arms around her body. She fell into me as a result. She let out a laugh. âI feel drowsyâŚâ
âDonât sleep none, Dash. Not goinâ help that headache of yours.â
She sighed. âYouâre rightâŚâ She gently brought her head close. âWhat do⌠you think we should do, then?â
I frowned. âI donât know, Dash. We need to find a way out of this here cave, but I can barely even see ya!â
I watched as Rainbow Dash blinked rapidly. She took it in the surroundings and smirked. âY-You mean you c-can't see, Dyson?â
âWait, you can see?â
âYep!â she began, chuckling. âItâs a bit⌠b-blurry, though but if you keep holding me up, I-I can get us through here!â
I shook my head. I couldnât believe that she could see with her being that weak. Guess thatâs what horses can see, even though, well, they could easily get scared by a mouse scurrying across their pen. But she wasnât exactly a horse. Like one, surely, but not all the way. She wouldn't be afraid of a mouse.
It wasnât important anyway. My mindâs like a mouse too, going all over the place. I pulled Dash back towards me. âIâll do my best.â
She gave me a weak smile. âThen letâs find a way off this little shore!â
We hobbled along the edge of this thing. There didnât seem much of a way up to the higher portion of this mass, but as we tried to walk, I felt as if we were going up. It was nice to feel a bit of progress in each step andâoof!
I nearly broke my foot as I tripped over something. Dash didnât see it either, I guess, yelping as she fell into me. âWhat we just trip over?â
I turned around and picked up the offending piece of⌠âWood?â
She gasped. âWhyâs there wood down here?â
I looked back behind us, back at that hole that had the light in it. It mustâve drifted over like those branches I saw in the water. But⌠why?
âI think that some wind brought this down here,â I said to her. âThat light across the water is where we fell in, so it mustâve drifted onto this here shore.â
I could see part of her head bobbing in the dark. âP-Probably, which means we could make ourselves some torches, too.â
Torches. I remembered what those were. They werenât with the greatest of memories, but for now, I did not need to hear or see those.
âYou see any more of them, Dash?â
And so the hunt for wood began. We kept on searching near the shore. Soon, we collected a nice hefty bunch in my hands. She brought herself close, making sure to match my pace. We walked in and around this place, climbing further and further up. Eventually, we saw another light, one that barely lit up where we stood. We had gotten to a flat part of this place, a grey piece of clearing that looked like a great place to lay down.
Dash mustâve read my mind, she collapsed to the ground in a heap of feathers and pain. âThatâs enough moving for right now.â She looked over to me. âYou think you could keep watch over me while I sleââ
âDash, ya canât sleep, remember?â
She whined, letting out a harsh blow through her muzzle. âB-But!â
I walked over to her and smiled. âNo excuses, maâam!â
âI t-thought I told you... not to call me, m-maâam,â she growled through seething teeth.
A rather familiar feeling emerged from me, one that I had felt when Master was sick, or when I couldnât help myself and let my mouth run off at Leo. I guess I had never truly recognized what it was. A sense of⌠self? I couldnât wrap my head around it, I knew who I was after all. Had always been a slave. Yet, here I was, letting the shiver race down my spine. I slowly pointed a finger at her, and smirked. âIf you thinkinâ of sleepinâ, then I get to call ya that⌠maâam.â
At first, that shiver turned into a queasy feeling that stayed in my stomach. Yet, it stopped when I saw Dashâs reaction.
âOkay, okay!â she exclaimed. She shoved her forehooves at me, as if to push me away. âThen you better start trying to get that torch ready. Just, talk to me while you do it, okay?â
âSure, Dash,â I replied. Grabbing a couple large chunks of them, I began to grind them together like I saw Master do that one time.
Rainbow Dash made sure to maintain her distance while I did this. She probably didnât want to get any wood or ash in her eyes. But she didnât stay too far away, either. I could tell that she was watching me intently, about a leg's length from where I was sitting.
I turned my head towards her. âSo, what do you want⌠to talk about?â
âI donât know,â she began. Still couldn't see her well, even if this light was here, but I could hear her playing with the grey grains of this place too. âThereâs... a-a lot that we could talk aboutâŚâ
âLike what?â I felt my words just tumble out of my mouth.
I heard her pause. She let out a frustrated sigh, and rested her head on her forehooves. âAnything else but this place.â
Ghastly Gorge was all Iâve gotten to see of this place Dash lived in. I didnât even know what to ask, but I knew she had been asking way too many questions about me, so I should be asking her some.
âWhatâs Equestria like?â
Dashâs ears perked up, and scooted closer to me, allowing me to see her more clearly. âEquestria⌠is pretty huge. L-Lots of different ponies to meet, and even other creatures.â
âCreatures?â That question got Dash nodding. âLike what?â
The pony bit back her lip, and closed her eyes for a moment. âLetâs see⌠Griffons, Hippogriffs, ChangelingsâŚâ Her eyes fluttered partially open. âL-Lots of d-different ones! They all talk just like me.â
âThatâs way different than where Iâm from,â I replied. She tilted her head. âOnly people like me can talk.â
âReally?!â she exclaimed, only to hold her head tightly with a forehoof. âAgh, canât really get too excited, m-my head is killing me.â
âWish I could help ya with thatâŚâ I frowned, slowing my pace with these pieces of wood. Why they wouldnât spark was beyond me. They werenât wet.
âTalking helps a bit,â Dash said dryly. She lifted her head for a brief moment before plopping it right back down on her hooves. âW-Was that why you said you were surprised a⌠ugh, horse, could talk?â
âYa,â I said, nodding. âThey⌠ainât much of talkers. All they did was whine and growl at us, except for Masterâs horse. He liked me a lot.â
A piece of bark fell off the side of one of the chunks, but still no spark. How much longer did I need to do this for?
I groaned, suddenly speeding up my pace. I was tempted to grind these down at this point.
Dash took notice of the sudden change and sighed. âIâm glad you donât think of me as a horse anymore.â
I turned to look at her, and tilted my head. âWell, I thought of ya like that cuz thatâs all I knew. Never thought Iâd get run over by a flyinâ pony.â
She smirked. âYeah, and horses around here are far and few between. Theyâre⌠really creepy.â
âReally?â
âTheir faces are so longâŚâ
I swore I saw Dash shiver when she said that, and itâs kinda funny to think that they see horses as creepy. They were just a smaller version of them, after all.
I chuckled. âDonât worry. Iâll defend you against âem.â
She rolled her eyes at that. âYouâre so weird, Dyson.â
âNot as weird as you, Dash.â
With that, silence filled the room for a while, except for me grinding away at these chunks of wood. I kept my arms steady and ready, hoping to see just a little flame, but nothing happened.
I sighed, throwing my arms in the air. âThis no use! This wood donât want'a catch fire!â
âDonât give up just because you donât see anything,â Dash declared, her smile much stronger than before. âThe faster we are, the quicker weâre out of here! Then, I could show you how awesome Equestria is!â
âIâll take ya on that offer, Dash,â I said. I gave her a smirk. âYa seem like youâre feelinâ better already.â
âLike I said, talking h-helps!â her voice cracked a bit. âI have to get better. I... need to get us out of here!â
For some reason, I felt my heart twinge at that. It wasnât her duty to take this all on her own. I promised that woman after all. I knew Dash was supposed to be my guide, but she didnât need to carry this on her own. We were going to get out of this here hole and we were going to go see this world of hers. And⌠I was going to...
Be free.
That woman wanted me to say this to her, yet I couldn't. I thought I knew what felt like being free, but I didn't, that's what she told me. It scared me... yet, it somehow motivated me more than ever.
I reached out and pulled her close. âNo, we have to get out of here. Weâll do this together, okay?â
Rainbow Dash looked at me like I had something on my face. Was she not expecting that? Didnât she say before that we had to work together to get out of here? But as her smile widened and her head nudged into my side, I think she mustâve forgotten. It didnât matter. I wasnât going to let this gorge beat me, beat us. Even if my arms felt like they were going to fall off, Iâd keep on going until this torch was lit. For Dash. For me.
Mr. Burr stirred underneath his blankets. He was semi-awake, drifting between wanting to get himself out of bed and wanting to sleep for a few more minutes. This sleepiness was caused by his illness, something that has slowly felt less and less wearing over the past few days.
It was all thanks to those two slaves of his...
Mr. Burr couldnât help but smile. He was happy, something that he hadnât felt since he had gotten sick. Each day he had felt stronger. He even was able to muster enough strength yesterday to finally go outside, even if it had taken him a minute or two to collect his breath after going down a few steps. It had filled him with a sense of pride. He was getting closer and closer to beating that sickness that had plagued his wife andâ
His eyes snapped open. Mr. Burr grimaced, reaching out to save what little sight he had left from the attack that penetrated his window. The sun had nearly blinded him, but using his arm, Mr. Burr shielded himself from the light, while he hid himself under the sheets to take cover from the sunâs shine. The man grunted, holding his head tightly. He really needed to get some curtains to cover the window. Why he hadnât gotten any made was a mystery to him.
Mr. Burr sighed and scooted away from the window. He then rolled back over, peeked his head out from his covers, and stared at the ceiling. It stared back, nothing but white paint welcoming the plantation ownerâs eyes. The clock chimed in the other room, behind closed doors.
âUghâŚâ Mr. Burr groaned weakly. âWhere is Dyson?â
As if on cue, the man heard a pair of footsteps walking up to his bedroom door. He smirked, knowing who was going to come walking through the old rickety thing.
Suddenly the door flew open, hitting the door jam with a ferocity that Mr. Burr feared could injure anyone within its range.
Dyson stepped in first. âM-Master? Yâawake?â
âY-Yes, Dyson,â Mr. Burr replied, still holding his head. His brow furrowed. âHowâre things goinâ?â
Another voice chimed in to answer it, one that drew him closer and closer to proclaiming that God was waiting for judgment day. âDyson and I are doinâ well, Massa!â
In arrived that woman that was darker than any night sky he could think of. She had been a saint, and an advocate of the devil, if he had any say to the labels. She had done well for Mr. Burr, since she truly cared even though her methods⌠were a bit unsuccessful (or nearing a physickâs level of insanity). Luckily, Dyson was there to keep Miss Sable in check. The tall negro had keptâMr. Burr paused, and tilted his head. Dyson's lanky arms and tall figure were misleading. Boy was as sharp as a bayonet. He was stronger than most of the slaves there. He had more sense than some of his guards. How he had gotten a slave like Dyson in his possession made Mr. Burr stay still, frozen, as the two approached his bedside.
âMaster?â
Mr. Burr knew that Dyson had called to him, but his mind was too enraptured by these thoughts that ailed him. They told him that he still thought the same before his wife died. These two in front of him? Although he had felt that they were more alike with him, they werenât of his kind. They were still his possessions, his property, yet, the words felt⌠vile to even think of. They tasted so dry, even if he hadnât said the words that plagued his mind. It tempted Mr. Burr, the poor man licking his lips.
Mr. Burr gripped onto the sheets in front of him and shook his head. He gave the two a slight smile. âSorry⌠thought I saw something behind you both.â He cleared his throat before he continued, âIâm glad you both are doing well. Howâs the harvest?â
Sable nodded very enthusiastically. âHarvest doinâ well, Massa! Got all of âem in line out there!â Her face, however, slightly fell, something that nearly made Mr. Burr raise an eyebrow. âLittle Leo been bit of a pest thoughâŚâ
âHow so?â Mr. Burr asked.
Dyson rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. âHe got mad when a guard tried howlinâ at him from the trees out back.â
Mr. Burrâs right hand gripped the blanket tightly. That was a behavior he had never expected from the new arrival. Leo had seemed very responsive when Mr. Burr had met the negro boy, but since he was incapicated due to this illness of his, he had not seen what the boy had become, something that Sable and Dyson had seen first hand. Mr. Burr frowned and loosened his grip on his sheets. âIs he okay?â
Sable was about to answer when Dyson shoved his arm out in front of her. âLeoâs fine, Master. A few words were said, but I got him away, sir! He restinâ under the old oak tree before he returns to the fields!â
For some reason, Mr. Burr noticed how Sable had reacted to Dysonâs tone. She tilted her head and pursed her lips, before she leaned on the wall beside her. She let out a brief snort, almost like a warning shot that she may eventually strike him down if Dyson interfered again, but that wouldnât happen, not in front of Mr. Burr. He knew she wouldnât want to cause a ruckus.
Unless it involved bloodletting. Then she would be fine with that.
âIf thatâs soâŚâ
âThat it is, Master,â Dyson said, nodding. He gave Mr. Burr a nice grin. âYa feelinâ better now?â
Mr. Burr shared his slaveâs excitement. âI am, boy! Feelinâ like I could walk down to town today!â
Sable got off that wall of hers and looped an arm around Dyson. She turned her attention to Mr. Burr, giving him a grin. âYa really think so, Massa?â
He grinned back devilishly. âI do. You two mind accompanying me?â
The words felt so fluent. Yet the reactions felt coarse. âYou want... us to go with ya, Master?â
Mr. Burr knew what Dyson was referring to. The both of them were⌠well, his slaves. Heâs heard Mr. Stockton prattle on about not bringing more than one slave with you at all times, unless they either were chained up or he had a couple guards escorting him. However, with his guards being too busy rattling on with Leo, Mr. Burr wasnât so sure if he could trust them with keeping their mouths shut.
Besides⌠he needed to show these two something. If he was to get past this, then maybe, just maybe...
Mr. Burr nodded. âYes. Who else on this plantation is going to keep me balanced?â
Sable spoke up first, âWell the guards could help you with thatââ
âYes, and I could already hear one of them hootinâ and hollerinâ over seeinâ that lady down near the Post.â
Sable shook her head, like she was disappointed. She probably understood what Mr. Burr meant, and Dyson⌠well, he stared on, frozen, his eyes unmoving. Mr. Burr couldnât help himself, letting out a laugh. âThe look on your face Dyson tells it all.â
That got the boy blinking like he just woke up. âSorry, Master.â
âPfft⌠ainât nothinâ to be sorry about. Thatâs why Sableâll be with ya.â Mr. Burr looked over at the woman, who was twiddling with her thumbs. âRight?â
She jolted a tad, suddenly going from that confident smirk to a mouse squeaking in the corner. âR-Right, Massa. Gotta⌠keep him in line.â
Dyson glared at her when she said that.
Mr. Burr felt his lips curl up again. âThat ya do!â He pushed himself upright, and began to slide off the bed. He landed on two feet with a bit of a wobble. Sable was there to catch him if he fell, but he didnât need her to, he knew what to say here.
âThank you, Sable.â
She blinked twice before stuttering out a reply, âY-Youâre welcome, Massa!â She looked at Dyson, who simply shrugged, before looking back at him. âYou sure ya both of us goinâ with ya?â
He smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at first, but when nothing came, she opened her eyes and listened to his words, âIf the past few days were anythinâ, then I think ya both wouldâve given me a reason or two already not to trust ya.â He let go of her. âBesides, I think if I went with only Dyson, heâd have his head stuck in the clouds.â
Dyson shook his head. âNo, Master. I ainât like that! I was just thinkin'...â
âThatâs what they all say,â Mr. Burr replied, smirking. He dusted himself off. âHow about ya give me a few minutes to change and weâll head out?â
The two suddenly looked like deer trying to run as fast as they could. They filed out of the room, saying affirmatives louder than they shouldâve. The door, this time, closed softly with a little click.
Mr. Burr sighed and shuffled to his dresser. âGoinâ have to have an earful with those guards before I leaveâŚâ
It had been a while, and nothing had changed. I was still trying to get these two chunks of wood to spark. Unfortunately, there had not been a single one. I was getting tired again, my arms and hands aching from angrily grinding the chunks together, but I pressed on. I wasnât going to be beaten by them.
Rainbow Dash had watched me this entire time. I could feel her breathing over my shoulder. Every so often sheâd snort in my ear, probably making sure she wasnât falling asleep. I turned around to check on her, but I couldnât really see her face. However, one time, I did. I caught her nodding off, her pink eyes closing shut, but I nudged her a bit with my elbow, getting a yelp in return. I saw those eyes flicker when she woke up.
I frowned. I knew why she was keeping herself up. I told her she wasnât allowed to because of her wing. She didnât want to bend it any more than it already was. It⌠wasn't something I should be thinking about right now. I should be focused on this stupid fire. Yet, I was thinking about how much pain she was in. How her wing looked. How she still had a headache that reallyâI needed to get this out of my head out so I could focus.
âHey, Dash?â
She hummed a response. âMhmm?â
âWhat did ya do for fun back home?â
I felt her head rest on my shoulder for a momen, before she pulled away. âFor fun, huh?â In the dark, I heard her tap her a hoof on the ground, before letting out a brief blow. âFlying, definitely. Itâs the most awesome thing I do⌠well, besides saving Equestria with my friends.â
âSaving Equestria?â I blinked a bit at that. âWhat do ya mean by that?â
âMy friends and I⌠we go help other ponies. Sometimes itâd happen in Ponyville, and other times it wouldnât. It didnât matter where. Itâs something that weâve always done.â She paused, taking in a deep breath. âI see it as a way of spreading how awesome it is to be happy with others that care, yâknow?â
âAnd what does spreading awesome mean?â
âSpreading awesome?â She squeaked out. I nodded, and watched as she looked at my hands. âWell, it just means⌠that I want to show others t-that thereâs a good side to everything. I want to be friends with other ponies, so I can learn from them, and I want them to learn from me, too. I want them... to know that I wonât l-lead them empty-hooved. I want them to be happy, as I am.â I turned to see her white teeth forming a grin, while her gaze looked into mine. âThatâs what I do. Thatâs why Iâm Loyalty.â
âLoyalty?â
She hesitated, pawing at the ground, before she approached and briefly nuzzled my back, which caused me to stop rubbing the two chunks of wood for a moment. âThe Element of Loyalty. Iâll never leave my friends behind, and you better remember it.â She smirked, before continuing, âIâm the second best Element of Harmony ever, in my opinion.â
I sucked in a bit of air. It was a lot to take in. This injured pony behind me was like a protector or something. Like a guard, but... better. She cared about others, and⌠she was my guide. The guide to complete my âquestâ.
I smirked. âWell Iâm glad that I have the second best Element of Harmony ever with me.â
Rainbow Dash giggled weakly. âAnd Iâm glad youâre not some crazy alien.â
âCrazy alien?â
âYou know what I mean,â Dash said quickly. I didnât, but I kept my mouth shut. She took the opportunity to bring her hoof close to my hand, something that nearly made me jump out of my skin. âYou know, those logs wonât light up themselves.â
I grabbed at the chunks again. If she could see my face, my cheeks would probably be red right now. âS-Sorry, Dash. Got lost in our conversation andââ
âDonât worry about it, Dyson. I got lost in it too.â I still felt her behind me, but she no longer was near my shoulder. She moved a bit to my left, if my ears werenât lying to me. She laid herself on the ground, watching from afar. âIâll keep you focused on getting this done while we continue talking, okay?â
Gulping, I returned to scrapping the pieces together. âSure thing, Dash.â
âGreat! Now⌠let me finish answering that question you asked meâŚâ
âWait, ya ainât finished?â I asked, putting some more pressure on one of the pieces.
Her snort was all I heard. âThat would be totally uncool to think that I only just fly and save Equestria all the time.â
âWell what else do ya do?â
The sounds of the two pieces of wood grinding together made her take pause. Then, she cleared her throat. âOther than the usual cloud-smashing, I... train.â
âYou train? For what?â
She sighed. âThereâs this e-event in Ponyville coming up. Itâs called âThe Running of the Leavesâ. Itâs a race that me and a couple of my friends do. Problem is⌠that although Iâm the best flyer in Equestria, I donât run as fast as I fly, and Applejack knew that.â
I tap the side of one of the chunks. âSounds like the two of ya are rivals.â
Rainbow Dash chuckled. âYeah, and last time, we competed for last place.â
âWait, what?â I asked. âLast place?â
âY-YeahâŚâ Sounded like she wasnât proud of it. âWe were too busy with our heads in the clouds that we lost focus of the race.â I could hear the grains behind me shift. âNeither of us won medals that day, but it wasnât about that. I just wanted to beat Applejack.â She properly neighed at that. âIâll make sure I beat her this time around, and win the race too!â
I stopped and turned to where I thought she was, smiling all the while. âWhen we get out of this gorge, I be there to watch ya race.â
However, I was wrong. I felt her presence closer, like she sneaked up behind me once again. She whispered into my ear. âThanks, Dyson.â
âN-Not a problem.â I stuttered out. I turned my attention back to the two chunks. I heard her retreat to my side once again, giggling to herself. After a bit more rubbing, I saw something. A yellow little light. It bounced off the piece of wood and into the dark. âDid you see that?â
Rainbow Dash gasped. âYeah, it sparked.â She trotted in front of me, her eyes wide as can be. âIt sparked!â
I could hear her trot in place, picking up dust in her wake. She was excited, and I was too. Iâm close to getting this fire started. All I needed was to keep at it andâŚ
âYou can do it, Dyson! Just keep going!â
Those words of encouragement was all I needed. I ground those two suckers together with all the rest of the strength I had in me, and, suddenly, they became aflame.
âHolyâŚâ I muttered.
A proud orange and yellow flame rose from my efforts. It stood happily, building up to be quite an impressive flame. It was feeding off the excitement of the pony beside me. âYou did it! Dyson, we got a fire!â I heard the pat pat pat her hooves made against the grains. âQuick, get one of those longer pieces, and light it!â
I was way ahead of her. I grabbed a couple of the drier, thicker pieces of wood and brought them close to the flame. I stopped, momentarily, entranced by it. This was of my doing, a fire that I made with my two hands, without anyone forcing me to do so. It⌠was not because of Master. I did this. This was mine.
This was ours.
Without any hesitation, I plunged them into the fire. The fire roared in response. It engulfed them to the point that I knew they were lit. I pulled them out and there they were: two torches that burned happily.
âThis is perfect, Dyson!â I could see her now, twirling in place. âNow we can see⌠whatâs around us.â
I looked at what she saw, and gasped too. The cave was much larger than I thought. A high ceiling with darker grey walls, all with rocks that hung from the ceiling like chandeliers. It was⌠alluring, yet hopeless at the same time.
And then I saw the tunnels.
There were three different tunnels. The outer ones both were narrow, and spread out to each end of the landmass. The other, more central tunnel, was large and looked like it curled on itself. The two of us were⌠taken in by this place.
âDash, thereâsâŚâ
âThree of them. I see that.â She tilted her head, muzzle scrunched at them.
âYeahâŚâ I said, my voice trailing off. My feet felt frozen where I stood. I waited for her to speak. She was my guide, after all.
Yet, she didnât act like one. She piped up, âWhere should we go, Dyson?â
She left the decision in my hands. That was not what I was expecting, yet I did not disobey. I was aâŚ
I sighed. There were three tunnels, we could explore each without going down them fully. It could make the decision easier, let alone safer for us.
âWell, we could split up and see where they lead.â
I could hear her hum a bit as she took in my words, but then, as I looked over, she shook her head at me. âWe could, but⌠separating isnât the best idea. And plus, if thereâs an eel down in one of theseâŚâ She shivered, tensely shutting her eyes. âI donât think I could handle being down here alone.â
âFair,â I replied. I tapped my chin, trying to think of something else.
Like always, she spoke first, âOh, Dyson, I know! Letâs pick one at random and take it!â
âAre you sure thatâll work?â
Her lips curled up into a smile. âOf course. You got any other ideas?"
âNope!â
âThen itâs settled!â Dash announced proudly. She then turned away from me and looked at the tunnels.
The cave was silent. I stood there, unmoving, while I watched Dash closely. She was using her hoof, nodding it off each time she passed one, and then when she got to the last cave in line, she jotted back to the first. She kept repeating this same pattern, all while she spoke underneath her breath. I couldnât tell what she was saying, her voice was as quiet as a mouse. However, the last three words rang clear:
âYou. Are. It!â
Her foreleg was outstretched, and her hoof was pointing down the middle path. The large one with a path curling down.
âLooks like we goinâ down the middle, Dash,â I said. I slowly approached it, waving my torch at the mouth of the tunnel.
âGuess we are,â she replied, coming to my side.
I brought my arm around where her shoulder would be, being extra careful of her wing. âStay close, okay?â
âOkay,â she murmured and nuzzled my side. âIâll try.â
âYou better,â I said, tussling her mane. She let out a brief blow in response.
Nothing more was said. Nothing else had to be said. It was time. We took our first steps into the tunnel, slowly descending into the world of the unknown.
Mr. Burr looked out at the wonders of his work once again. The sun shined down on the fields where many diligently harvested the grains. Several of the guards were situated under the canopy of the trees, some on horseback while others stood with a watchful eye scanning their surroundings. Mr. Burr saw all of this and smiled, his eyes grazing over the bushels being hauled into the barns. However, as he saw those slaves of his, he felt his lips sag. He didnât know why, nor could he even come up with a reason as to why. There wasnât anything wrong with the picture in his mind. It was a scene of production.
But there was this noise in his head, like someone hammering a nail into his skull. And that noise reminded him, and gave him a sense of dread. Was there anything wrong with the picture?
Was there?
Mr. Burr blinked.
âMaster?â
The word echoed in his ear drums, drowning out that construction in his mind. He turned away from his plantation to find the source, only for his eyes to land on the two he had been waiting for. It made those lips of his curl right back up, forming into a warm smile. However, Mr. Burr noticed as Dyson and Sable walked up to him that they chose to stick a bit of distance between them and him. They also looked on, giving him what Mr. Burr sensed were hesitant smiles. They were forced, and Mr. Burr didnât like it, but he knew why. So he said nothing, and chose to give them both a nod before he adjusted his cap.
âWell, we better be off. The Post can get a bit⌠filled, if we donât get a move on,â Mr. Burr stated. He beckoned them closer, which they did, if Mr. Burr defined closer as a couple of footsteps. Mr. Burr mentally shrugged, as he sighed and turned to the stairs. It was time to take the first steps down them, ever since the last attempt went so well.
Slowly, Mr. Burr progressed to the first step. He kept himself close to the railing, his arm looped around it just in case if he felt a bit woozy and needed some support. His legs felt wobbly as he lifted his right leg up and planted it down on the step below.
His foot found purchase, which followed by the second swiftly meeting its side. Unfortunately for Mr. Burr, that sudden adjustment cost him to slip, his arm being flung upwards into the air.
Mr. Burr gasped, watching as his hat fell to the ground, while he, on the other hand, stayed somewhat upright due to a familiar pressure which held him there. That same pressure slowly pushed him upright, before holding him still.
âUh⌠Master?â
âYes?â Mr. Burr said through his now shaky, raspy voice.
âYou donât suppose we could help keep ya steady?â
With a grunt, Mr. Burr was now propped up against the railing, his gaze trying to focus on Dyson, who stood like a giant in front of him. âAnd what do you mean by that, Dyson?â
Dyson appeared as if he was about to open his mouth, but Sable had nudged his side and scooted in front of Mr. Burrâs view with a smirk. âMasta I think he means to help keep ya up when youâre movinâ down them steps.â
Mr. Burr felt his eyes roll onto the stairs as they looked more and more like a mirage.
The man gulped. âUh⌠yes, I see what you mean.â He coughed. âIâd much appreciate it if you both helped me down the stairs. Could one of you fetch my hat?â
The two settled into their roles: Dyson stood on the left of Mr. Burr, making sure to keep close, while Sable stood on his right, who carefully swooped in to place that cap of his on his head, while nestling near his arm. Mr. Burr felt his cheeks boil at what the scene looked like from another view: two slaves were pressing up against a slave owner like they owned him. He felt like he was breaking a law somewhere in Mississippi, yet he knew, somewhat, with confidence in his guards, that no one would report him if there was one.
As they descended down the stairs, a couple of guards spotted the three and approached them. The first was one that Mr. Burr knew well. He had hired the tall husky white boy after his father had decided the boy was not exactly well-behaved enough. Mr. Burr had struck a deal for him to become part of his plantationâs hired hands, something that the father steadfastly agreed to. The boy has since stuck around, usually keeping to himself and out of trouble. However, lately, Mr. Burr had observed the boyâs mannerisms. They had gotten worse as of late through a bad habit that the boy picked up from one of the other guards. One that involved harming some of the slaves.
Mr. Burr wasnât too happy with that.
The other was a shorter, more skinny boy with big brown eyes. He was a very quiet one, one that was wanting to find some work for a nice salary. Luckily, Mr. Burr found him before any of the other owners could get a hold of him. He was a nice kid. Why was he walking around with this man?
âSay, Mr. Burr? Whyâre these Negros helpinâ you down the stairs?â the husky one asked, his blue eyes burning fiercely at the two slaves in front of him.
Mr. Burr saw that and matched his glare in kind. âBecause Iâm still ailed by this disease, Alston.â
Alston rolled his eyes. âYou couldâve just asked one of us to help you, sir.â
âRight, and how would I have gotten your attention?â
Mr. Burrâs voice, raspy as it was from his ailment, most likely made Alston more curious, if his exaggerated head-tilt was anything to decipher. âArenât we obligated to come check in on you once in a while?â
âYes, a once in a while,â Mr. Burr replied sternly. He shifted his arms, hoping that the slaves next to him would get the gesture, before he took a step down the stairs. With a grunt, he continued on, one step at the time, while he kept speaking to Alston, his eyes never leaving him. âAnd that while tends to be later and later as the days have progressed. Although I have not conversed with you nor the rest of the guards on the matter, I am willing to confine myself with all of you to discuss it later, butâergh,â Mr. Burr growled as he landed on the final step with a less than gracious hop. Mr. Burr carefully dusted himself off, before he smiled at his two slaves. âI have more important business to attend to, and these two are willing to help me carry out my duties.â
Alston sneered at the two slaves, while the other, more soft-spoken guard kept himself quiet, his eyes doing all the talking as they darted between Alston and Mr. Burr.
With a smile still plastered on his face, Mr. Burr addressed the second guard. âHenry.â
The one blinked himself back into his own stupor, which made him sputter out a reply, âY-Yes, sir?â
âCome with me. I require your assistance today.â
âAye, s-sir!â Henry said, before scurrying over to his side.
Alston looked gobsmacked as the four began to walk on by him. âWhat about me, sir?â
âKeep an eye on the rest of the plantation for me, Alston. And let the others know that we must talk in due time.â
âVery well, sir,â Alston said, bowing his head. He gave Mr. Burr a cock-eyed smirk. âWeâll make sure they ainât runninâ off while youâre gone.â
Mr. Burr and his company walked down to the edge of the street before the slave owner paused, and let out a shudder-y sigh.
Dyson was first to his side. âM-Master?â
Mr. Burr brushed him off and shook his head. âNothing to worry about, Dyson. Just trying to make sure I donât lose my breath in this heat.â He panted and wiped his brow. âWell, we better press on, shall we?â
The three nodded, even if one did not know of what was to come.
And neither did Mr. Burr, even though he had the letter slipped into his pocket, neatly folded to conceal his next move.
The walk over wasnât as bad as Mr. Burr had imagined. Truly he was parched as they had strolled into town, but the thirst he desired would have to drink in the limelight of Ripley first. He kept his company close as they navigated through the townâs small center. Unlike most days where the town center wasnât bustling, today was filled with many men. They were unlike the townsfolk, dressed in grey from top to bottom. Each man held a musket in his hand, perched on his shoulder as they marched through the town. Mr. Burr recognized a few and was willing to watch as the men walked by, much to the chagrin of his own company, who waited patiently for Mr. Burr to stop sharing his pleasantries with the men. The slaves had kept their distance, both from the scene they were witnessing and their guard, who was glaring at them with intent.
Mr. Burr smiled as he wished a man well. It was a young boy he had known from another plantation, now going to serve in the army. There were actually a couple just like him, and Mr. Burr was proud.
It was a tight knit community after all.
When the march had slowly dwindled, Mr. Burr walked back over to his company and adjusted his collar. âSorry about that. A few of the men in that company had called me over and I had to indulge them. I hope they do return from battle unscathed.â
Dyson and Sable nodded, while the guard stood still.
Mr. Burr gave the three a smile. âShall we continue? The Post is only a short walk now.â
The three gave him a stern yet simultaneously affirmative, one that made the three of them look at each other. Henry had looked away first, sighing as he adjusted his stetson too. He turned to Mr. Burr and asked, âThink ya need me to accompany you inside?â
âNo,â Mr. Burr replied with a quick shake of his head. âBrought you along to keep watch of Dyson and Sable here. Thought it would be wise to have them out to see the town.â
The two were silent on the matter, and Mr. Burr knew why.
He sighed. âYou know, you two donât have to be afraid to speak.â
Sable blinked like an owl in a tree. âYa sure, Masta? I donât want to be a bother.â
âNeither do I, Master,â Dyson echoed. Mr. Burr felt the shake in the boyâs voice, which made him feel like maybe, just maybe, this may have been a mistake. âDonât want no trouble with the rest of âem.â
Mr. Burr cleared his throat. âThatâs fair. Just donât give them a reason to and youâll be fine.â
As Mr. Burr turned around, he felt that all eyes were suddenly on him. He felt like a rifle was being pointed at him from the trees on the edge of town, and each step made him more weary of the next. Yet, as he and his company finally made it to the front of the Post, he realized that there was nothing to be worried about. Nothing at all.
He turned to address his company. âDonât worry, itâll only be a moment. Just have to get something sent out of town.â
With that, he turned and opened the door to Ripleyâs Post, a small yet tall white building. Without any hesitation, he slid into the building, leaving Dyson and Sable with the hired hand.
Henry stood still for a moment, sparing a glance at the two slaves, before he shook his head. He walked past them and sat on the bench near the entrance to the Post.
Dyson and Sable both huddled up near the guard, but instead of sitting down they stood still, neither trying to get comfortable when there were watchful eyes aplenty.
Henry clicked his boot against the bench, before he looked at the two and sighed. âPretty nice out, ainât it?â
Neither replied.
Henry let out a brief snort. âIâd never thought Iâd see the day that Mr. Burr would take a couple slaves into town.â He spared them another glance. âHeard from the other guards he ainât huge on taking slaves to town.. You two better be thankful.â
Dyson turned to look at the guard, but Sable glared at him, which made him slink back beside her.
âWhy are you both so quiet? I ainât tryinâ to get ya in trouble. I just want to⌠understand somethinâ.â
That got both of them looking at him this time. âAnd whatâs that, sir?â
The question looked like music to Henryâs ears as he gave Sable a good look down. âIâm just tryinâ to get why he valuinâ you two the most out of the entire plantation.â
Dysonâs eyes widened. Sable tilted her head. âYa think so?â
Henry whistled and leaned back in his seat. âOh I know so. Itâs what everybody hears nowadays. Dyson this, and Sable that. Itâs interestinâ that heâs got you two on his mind a lot. Is there somethinâ I donât know about?â
Sable and Dyson both parrotted each other. âNo, sir.â
âReally...â Henry said. He hummed softly to himself before he continued, âNothinâ at all?â
Dead silence was all he got. The silence contrasted the commotion around them, as people walked in and around the townâs center, some watching the troops continue to traverse through the town, while others were going about their day.
Henry sighed. âGuess there ain't anythinâ going on with you three then.â
The two slaves stood still as if they were frozen to the spot, while Henry took a sidelong glance at them, before peering down the road.
Nothing else was said. The only noise that they heard were the sounds of a drum playing to a steady rhythm.
Walking down a hallway never felt like this. There was always an end to it, and yet here I am holding a torch to lighten up our path, and it feels like weâre just walking in place, unable to get any further in the cave. I looked over to Dash, who had been kinda quiet lately. She barely muttered a word, which was such a different thing to see compared to when we were outside. She was always ahead of me, seeing what was on the next ledge, wondering if there was a cave where we stopped for a rest. She was now silent, her hoofsteps mirroring my footsteps, and I wondered if she was quiet because there was nothing to say, or if she was, possibly, losing hope.
Yet again, I didnât know how horses thought. I only knew what I knew.
âSo,â I muttered. My eyes werenât on her anymore. Instead, I was looking away, hoping that it would invite her to look my way.
I could feel her gaze on my face as she spoke, âSomething wrong?â
I turned to her and gave her a soft smile. âNope. Just makinâ sure youâre here, Dash. Ya kindaâŚâ
âWent quiet?â Dash asked. I nodded, rubbing the back of my head with my free hand. She rolled her eyes. âYou thought I could keep talking, right?â
I let out a chuckle, one that I rarely used because if I did, I wouldâve gotten an ear full from my mother. It was awkward, a sign of âweaknessâ in her eyes. And I got that, but Iâm not at home right now. Iâm somewhere else.
Somewhere with a horse that nearly sneered at me for all that nonsense. âPfft, what do you think, I donât have an off switch?â
âAn off switch?â I asked with an eyebrow hopefully raised high enough for her to notice.
She mustâve, as she nudged me with a hoof. âYâknow what I mean? Itâs like a button that you press and it turns something on and off.â
I shook my head before my eyes widened. I know what she meant! âSo, like one of those lamps?â
âYeah! You know, the ones with the lightbulbs that grow really bright when you flick them on!â
I blinked once. Then I blinked again. The image she had given me was completely different than what I thought a lamp was. Thereâs a difference between some type of onion being set aflame, and a fire being flicked on in a clear bowl. Then again, this was a different world, so maybe they were into lighting onions on fire.
I shook my head. âNot at all. I was thinkinâ a little smaller, like one of those where you turn it and the flame pops up.â
Rainbow Dash stared at me before she tilted her head. âYou have lamps like that?â
âOf course, Dash. What did ya expect?â
The mare shook her head, messing up her mane a bit. âI keep forgetting youâre not from around here, Dyson. And thatâs weird, because youâre⌠you, while Iâm just a pony.â
âYeah,â I mumbled, letting my free hand shift into what remained of my pocket. I waved the torch further ahead of us, only to be welcomed by the darkness. The flames slowly ate it up as we walked further and further down the cave.
Then, I heard her voice rattle in my ears. âDyson?â
I looked down at her. âSomething wrong, Dash?â
âIs it just me, or has the path gotten⌠narrower?â
I looked closely at the sides of the walls. She was right. I donât think I was getting to the point that I was bumping into her a bit, something that I hope she wasnât angry about. âYeah, itâs closinâ in on us a bit.â
I watched her take a deep breath, before she turned to give me a smile. âHopefully it wonât be a dead end or something, right?â
âHope not,â I replied. I squinted my eyes a bit, just to see if there was something ahead of us that could be a sign, maybe of anything other than this, but nothing was showing up. Only darkness.
We kept walking for a while, until the passage was nearly too narrow for both of us to go down. I could always feel her side brush up against mine. I tended to ignore it though, it wasnât her fault things were like this. It was mine. I let go. I made us fall down. It was my fault.
âDyson, look!â
The gasp from Rainbow Dash made me squint ahead again. Then I gasped too, as we came up to a sudden change of pace. The passage suddenly widened, and there in front of us, was a channel, one that split off into two passages.
âHuh. Looks like you were right, Dash.â
My mumbles earned me a swift clip-clop stomp on the ground from Rainbow Dash. She glared at me while letting out a huff. âWhat do you mean by that?â
âNothinâ!â I quickly fired out, looking away from her to see these paths. I walked up to both and took a look at both of them separately. The one to the left immediately curved to the left, while the one on the right kept going straight. For how long it would be was something I wasnât wanting to find out.
I turned and looked at Rainbow Dash, who was currently sitting on her flanks, staring at me with a bit of a head tilt. Her ears were standing at attention, while her eyes were wide. I raised a brow. âWhat?â
The mare shook her head. âSorry, I was spacing out a bit.â She got off said flanks and walked over towards me, taking a peek down the one on the left. âWhoa. So this one goes immediately to our left, while the other oneâŚâ
âGoes straight on, Dash,â I said flatly, my tone more gravely than the grains we were standing on.
Her ears had sagged, flopping against the back of her skull. âWell, what should we do?â
âI donât know. We could go down either one.â
Rainbow Dash snorted at my reply. Not sure why. Seemed pretty sound, but she rolled her hoof in my direction with a smirk on her face. âWhy donât we just go down one of them to see what's down it?â
She pointed her hoof at the one on the left, which I took as her actually wanting to go down it. âSo ya want to go down here?â
She shook her head at me. âNo, Dyson. Iâm just saying that we could down either one to see where it leads, yâknow?â
âRightâŚâ I said, which brought us back to our little issue, one that involved us maybe, just maybe, having to grasp at straws again.
Just when I was about to open my mouth to do that thing again, I remembered something. It was a long time ago, long before Master had brought on those new guards. Actually, long before even Leo had gotten on the plantation. See, my mother and I were real close. And when I mean real close, we were real close. She kept me at her hip whenever the guards came out, and she was set on making sure I wasnât blamed for anything. She always would take the hit if need be, and it made Master a little bit agitated at her.
One day, I did something a bit stupid. I took a blanket from inside the plantation and put it in the barn where all of us slaves slept. Master wasnât too happy about that. He didnât know I took it, but he did know someone did. She was really wanting me to take the blanket I got from the living room and put it back where I found it, but Master had gotten riled up about it, said he would be not too happy if it just cropped up without someone âfessing upâ. Since I was too young, my mother wanted me to see how it would possibly feel. So, she took the blame.
And that was when I became afraid of doing things like that.
My mother came back to us later in the day. She looked a little rattled, and I asked her what happened. She said she fell down the stairs, but I couldnât believe that. She was great at moving around. Ever since that time, she started moving a little slower. I found out why.
She had pulled me aside that night to talk. She told me not to do that again, while also telling me something that she wanted to tell me for ages:
âNow, listen here, Dyson. And ya listen good!â my mother had said, her words echoing in my mind. The angry whisper had continued, âYa better not do that again. That ainât yours for you to use, so donât go âround thinkinâ you own the place.â
I remembered what I said back then. Something along the lines of: âBut momma Iââ
âNone of that, Dyson!â she had interrupted me with. âIâm tellinâ you ya better be thinkinâ next time ya try to take somethinâ. Ya better be thinkinâ about you, and thinkinâ about us.â She had glared at me fiercely, one that had burned this moment in my mind. âWe have only a sliver of choice, itâs up to ya to make the right one.â She had smiled at me back then, her teeth looking more rotten the more I imagined themâ âThereâs no tellinâ what they do to ya when they catch ya. And I wanna show ya what they did.â
She had then turned around and showed me. I could never forget those scars. I donât know why Master had done that to her back then, but I do now. I took something that was precious to him, something I didnât know at all. Even so, I shouldnât have taken something. I shouldâve thought. It was my fault she got those scars. It was my fault.
I shook my head and looked at Rainbow Dash. âWe donât need somethinâ to help us figure this out. Letâs just go down one and get this over with.â
I could feel Rainbow Dashâs gaze settle on the back of my head as I passed, something which made her scramble to her hooves. âW-Wait, where are you going?â
âWell since ya looked left, weâre goinâ left!â I replied, my voice booming in the tunnel. She shook her head at me, making me stand still, frozen in place. When we heard nothing but the echoâs soft fade out of existence, we both collectively sighed.
Then, she spoke. âWe should probably keep quiet. Donât want to wake up a cave eel or something.â
I nodded and pressed on, but not without something that nearly made me jump out of my skin. Rainbow Dash had trotted up from behind me, suddenly hopping in front of me with a smile on her face.
âDid I scare you?â Rainbow Dash asked, craning her head at me.
âKinda,â I replied, which got her to let out a little chuckle.
I rolled my eyes as we both fell into silence. All there was was the sound of our hooves and feet hitting the ground again. Slowly, Rainbow Dash fell back into line, favoring to stay by my side again. It was a bit unlike her, but ever since weâve been down here, sheâs been a little bit more comfortable walking up beside me. Still, I took a peek out of the corner of my eye to see if she was okay, and she seemed to be, if those lips on her muzzle slightly curling upward was anything. So maybe she was fine.
Either way, we kept on going, even if it meant having to walk until we saw a light.
Some time had passed. I donât know how long, since thereâs no sun to tell us what time it was, but I knew one thing was for sure: she and I haven't talked in a little. Granted, there wasnât much to talk about without trying to force something out of thin air. I mean, weâre surrounded by grey grains all around us, some even darker than the others, but there wasnât much else. It was pretty hard to breathe down here too, something that both her and I were very aware of. So maybe us not talking was keeping enough air for us to breathe.
I waved the torch around again. There really wasnât much down here at all. And it felt like it was getting really hard to see anything now.
I felt Rainbow Dash rub up against my side. Looking down, I saw her eyes latch onto mine. She gave me another happy smile, but this one felt a little bit more forced. Itâs obvious as to why.
âYa need to rest?â
Rainbow Dash blinked, and her brows furrowed. âWhat? Why?â
âNothinâ, just thought we might need to rest.â
The pony shook her head. âAnd sleep in a cave like this that doesnât have a way out?â
I blinked. âUhâŚâ
âLook, we need to keep going. Thereâs gotta be something up ahead thatâll help us out.â
âWhy do ya say thatââ
Suddenly, the ceiling above us gave way, and I donât mean that it fell on top of us. It just stopped existing. Darkness bound above, and the wall went higher, higher than either of us could see easily.
âTold ya,â she said proudly, puffing her chest out. âAlways go with your gut!â
I saw that smirk on her face. It was very, very smug, one that I rolled my eyes at and waved the torch around. âKeep havinâ that gut feelinâ then.â
âWill do,â she said with a mock salute before falling in line beside me. We walked around this cavern, making sure to keep âextra quietâ to make sure no one else knew we were here. Thankfully, this particular cavern was vacant, save for a few extra rocks that we hadnât seen before. Some were jutting out from the ceiling, while others were coming up from the ground. They were very pointy and long, and they werenât exactly inviting.
âDyson, look at that!â
âAt what?â I said, turning around to see what she was staring at. The mare had her hoof pointed up towards this platform above us, one that had another route to go down.
Yet another cave or tunnel?
âYa want to go up there?â I asked.
âThatâs the only thing that looks like a tunnel of some kind! Itâs the only option we got.â
I frowned. âWell letâs get a little closer to see how to get up there.â
We walked closer to this ledge where it was situated. Unlike scaling the side of Ghastly Gorge, this looked much easier to handle. In fact, she didnât even have to latch onto my back. It was like this had been made easier for us, save for a couple of little platforms that I assume Dash would have to try and hop up. Should be easy for her though, even in the state she was in.
âLooks like weâre gonna have to walk up a few of these ledges before weâre up there.â
Rainbow Dash sighed. âDonât worry, this looks way easier than what you were doing earlier.â
âThat was what I was thinkinâ,â I said, before clearing my throat.
She laughed softly to herself which was odd, since I didnât think I said anything funny. Yet, here she was, clutching at her chest as she laughed to her heartâs content. Her laughter eventually died down, but she hadnât noticed what I had done. I smirked as I watched her head dart around, searching for me. She hadnât noticed that I had already started hopping up the platforms, which made me stifle a chuckle from where I was standing.
Unfortunately, she heard that, and saw where I was standing. âWhat, how did youâŚ?â
âGet up here?â I asked. She dumbly nodded at me, which made me almost burst into laughter. âYou were too busy laughinâ to notice.â
That got her a little bit irritated. She growled at me before she started to hop up to where I was. I watched as even though she was slightly angry, she still took her time, being extra careful with her wing. I knew Rainbow Dash didnât want to injure herself again, let alone make that wing of hers worse.
I stopped and waited for her to catch up. I wasnât waiting to meet my maker, but rather I was worried, since this next ledge was higher up than I thought. I could still probably leap and pull myself up, but for her, it wouldâve been nearly impossible. So I watched as she kept on hopping up towards me, eventually settling right beside me with a huff, panting all the while.
âOutta shape?â
âShut. Up,â Rainbow Dash breathed out, which made me chuckle. âAnyway, why did you wait for me?â
I bent down a bit, which I hope she realized was me asking her to get on my back. âGotta get you up there somehow. This the only way I could think ofâurgh!â
She hopped on without saying anything, which completely caught me off guard. She nearly wrung my neck with how she latched onto me, making me wince when she realized her nearly fatal error.
âSorry!â she yelped out.
âNot a problem,â I replied weakly.
I propped my torch up against the wall of the cavern and leapt up. It was definitely a much easier jump, one that felt practically effortless as I pulled us up to safety. The mare slowly got off my back and onto her hooves. She turned around and craned her head over the ledge from which we came.
âHuh, we were way higher than I thought.â
I turned around and looked down the same ledge. The flames danced at the spot where I left the torch, and I realized that maybe I need to hop down just to get it.
So I did just that. With a bit of effort, I was able to retrieve the torch and hop right back up to her. That whole talk about it being higher up was just talk. She just made it out to be higher than it was. Maybe it was because she was a pony or something. Whatever the reason was didnât matter. All I knew was that we were up here in one piece, and that the entire, little hopping-between-dried-up platforms adventure was enough for us to take a few moments to breathe.
After we relaxed a bit, it was time to get up and head through the tunnel that Rainbow Dash had pointed out. Thankfully, she was right once again as I waved the fire over the entrance of the tunnel. Peering into it, I gasped, and smiled. It was going straight back to where we came! And it was going even further up.
âDash, this is great. Itâs goinâ back the way we came!â
Rainbow Dash smirked. âYou can thank me later once weâre out of here, big guy.â
I was about to say something about âthanking herâ when I realized what she called me, which made me raise a brow at her. âBig guy?â
Rainbow Dashâs smirk fell off her face. She blinked once, then twice, then three times before she looked flushed in her cheeks. âUhh, letâs not talk about that.â
I shrugged. Not sure what that nickname was about. All I knew was that this could lead us to a way out of here. If it wasnât then weâll find another way out. Thereâs no way this cave was going to keep us here.
I took a deep breath and stepped into the new tunnel with Rainbow Dash in tow.