[b]Saddleshire Ruins, Equestrian Wastelands[/b]

The small unicorn shuffled closer to the fire, shivering. Her auburn coat was unhealthy looking, covered in scars and weeping wounds that occasionally excreted drops of bloods and pus. Her limbs were spindly and delicate and her mane had been completely shaved off in some act of cruelty. The horn on her head pulsated softly as a piece of firewood was dropped onto the fire from the small messenger bag on her shoulders, which grew smaller by the hour. Around the fire were her fellow slaves, all similarly thin and sickly. There were eight in all - another three had long left the group. The Earth Ponies stared into the fire in a dream-like state, all stuck to their own thoughts.

'L-Lank? Are we s-safe yet?' came a small voice from across the fire. Lank the Unicorn paused before speaking. ''I won't let anything happen to you'' she croaked back. ''You should get some rest, all of you. It's been a long day''. The ponies didn't move but continued staring into the fire, stuck to their own thoughts. In reality, Lank didn't know if they were safe. Two weeks ago, eleven slaves had escaped the clutches of their slavers and they had been followed ever since. However, their pursuers hadn't been seen in over three days and nights, so the group had tried to persuade themselves they had given up. Lank knew better than to be so optimistic but she would never admit it to the group. She had become the leader of these ponies and they all looked up to her. Admitting failure to them was like giving up and she hadn't given up yet. Lank didn't know where she was going. They all followed her regardless. She was their leader. Their god. No pony questioned her decisions or plans, they just went with it. These ponies had spent their whole lives following orders and it would be a hard habit to break.

'What shall we do tomorrow?' asked a buck to her left. She felt tempted to say 'I don't know! Stop asking me! Don't rely on me!' but bit back her lip. 'We will continue heading west' Lank answered simply. The buck nodded and broke out into a fit of coughing. He spat mucus and blood into the fire. They were getting worse.

A long, sharp whistle screeched through the ruins and all ponies sat up, the spell of the fire broken. 'What was that?' whispered a mare. 'The wind?' answered a buck, his voice betraying his true fears. 'When have you heard the wind make such a noise?' hissed the mare back to him. 'Hush' said Lank suddenly, standing on her feet. 'Let me listen'. The ponies all silenced immediately. Lank strained her ears, her heart pumping at eighty miles an hour. The only sound was the cracking of the fire and a slight breeze dragging dead leaves across the ground. She looked all around, trying to find the source of such a noise. The fire cast a long shadow on the wall behind her and the edges of her vision were pure black, the fire having ruined her night vision. Lank became acutely aware of the sound of pumping blood in her ears, the dry taste in her mouth and the breeze that rustled the bristles where her mane had once been.

A rustle came to her left and she spun around immediately. A whip lashed across her face and the unicorn slave was sent reeling. 'Right, you useless sods! Get on the fucking floor or you'll get the whip' came a roar from the darkness. All ponies jumped to their feet, ready to assist Lank. Out of the darkness came five unicorns, their faces covered. One mare burst into tears when she saw that there was no escape and a buck growled in frustration. The slavers had caught up to them. 

The slavers moved quickly with their whips, circling the group of enslaved ponies. Their whips licked the bare flesh and the sound of cries carried across the ruins. The last cries of freedom these ponies would ever have.

[centre]***[/centre]

'Good job, gentlemen!' said a cheery Decimus, entering the doorway of the husk that had served as the slaves hide-away just an hour ago. The fire had been stamped out, the slaves beaten to submission and all chained together in a long line. Sacred Grey skulked in after Decimus, avoiding the tear-filled stares of the ponies and staying close to the Zebra. A roll-call had already began, a slaver moving up and down the group reading from the brands that were on every ponies flanks. 'ID number 345, earth pony buck' shouted the slaver to his companion, who promptly ticked a name off his list. The pregnant mare, who had been sobbing the whole time, began a wail as the slaver roughly held her flank down to read the brand. 'ID number 48-SHUT UP, YOU FUCKING MARE!' he screamed at the pregnant mare and struck her with his whip again and again until her wails became light sobs.

Sacred cringed and looked away. He always hated the cruelty the slavers showed to their stock but he constantly reminded himself of the caps being paid for this. The roll-call continued uneventfully as the other slaves feared the whip. Decimus smiled at Bliss warmly as she approached him, her own whip slowly wrapping itself around her chest. 'Good work, Bliss. You didn't kill a single one!' 'It was hard but I got through remembering you'd be disappointed with me' she said, her tone dripping with the faux-sweetness she was infamous for. 'Oh, you' grinned Decimus, blushing slightly. Sacred spat on the ground in disgust but bit his tongue. Decimus could take sarcastic or mean comments pretty easily (however rarely Sacred said them) but Bliss would turn on the Prench pony the second Decimus wasn't around to save him if he said anything particularly mean. 

Something else was bothering Sacred. It had seemed almost too easy re-capturing these slaves. And there were so many! In all his career, he had never had such an easy time capturing eight ponies. They'd barely put up protest to being captured again and there were eight of them! Sacred would of at least thought they would of had a weapon or something. They all looked a weaker too. It almost seemed like they were ill.

'All right, eight in all. Three still missing. We'll start taking them back now, yeah?' called a slaver over to Decimus. 'Yup! We'll head back to your people in one go, no rests, sod the other three. I can't wait to get out of this bleedin' desert! Sacred, lead the way!' said Decimus cheerfully. He was clearly happy with the result of tonight. Sacred nodded and bounded out the door. ' The slavers all whipped the ground and began whooping loudly as they herded the line of chain-ganged slaves into a line to follower their tracker. They took up a formation around the slaves as the exited the husk of a house to the street and began a slow walk back into the desert.

It was to be a walk that Sacred couldn't wait to finish.