The sky was just turning dark as the gates of Fort de Beaner shut behind them. The fort was illuminated by fire-lit torches, that burned harshly among the city of tents and slave paddocks. They were met with another large group of slavers on the inside, who greeted their friends cheerily. "Ay, Derp Hoof, where've you been?" one shouted. "Work, mate!" called back Derp Hoof. The slavers dispersed from the group and headed towards a collection of tents that lay at the end of the beaten path. The slaves were rounded up and taken in the opposite direction, leaving four ponies standing with their backs to the gates. Sacred craned his neck to try and catch a glimpse of his beloved Lank before she disappeared forever. She caught his eye briefly and he felt his pulse race. 

It only slowed when she was out of sight and he felt a pang of sadness as he realised he probably wouldn't see her again.

Left in the group were Buckskin, Decimus, Bliss and Sacred. The fort wasn't actually as big as it looked. A lot of it was wide open space that eventually led into a small settlement of tents or a paddock before leading back into a few hundred feet of open, dusty space. The walls went in a semi-circle shape, with the entire camp in the shadow of a particularly rocky hill. Years of abuse from the weather had eroded away all dirt from the hill, leaving its rocky skeleton exposed to the elements. It looked rather smooth at the top before coming to steep drop that would land you in the middle of the fort. Along the walls, armed slavers patrolled the catwalks, keeping a close eye on the area outside and inside the wall.  

"So, Buckskin, er, is this the only way in and out?" asked Decimus, knocking his hoof off of the metal gate. "Yup. Otherwise you'd have to climb the walls or dig under, which is next to impossible with all the ponies we have around here" answered Buckskin, an edge of pride in his voice. "Yeah, only way you're getting out of here alive is on a cart out that there gate".

"What if you're not alive?" asked Bliss dryly. "Then we burn your corpse in a bonfire" answered the slaver simply. "Now, come on, we'd better not keep the Grand Beaner waiting!"

Buckskin led them down a beaten track towards the largest cluster of tents. He whistled as went and seemed to have a chipper air about him. [i]What is he so happy about...[/i], thought Sacred. It took him a moment to realise it. [i]Oh. He's going to get paid for this[/i]. He sighed and began walking faster to catch up to his companions. As the tents and paddocks grew thicker around them, so did the audible cries and whip-lashes. The slaves were coming back from a hard days work doing....whatever it was the Grand Beaner had them do.

"What do your slaves do, Buckskin?" asked Sacred, heightening his voice slightly so the slaver could hear him. "Well, fuck my ass and call me Momma, you're from Prance, ain't ya!" exclaimed Buckskin. "My Pa was from Prance". "I-I see" replied Sacred, somewhat put-off by the slavers enthustiastic reply. "Even taught me a little Prench. Erm, [i]J'ema-pal Buckskin! J'beet en Fort De Beaner[/i]...Is that right?" said Buckskin, his face crinkling with concentration. "[i]Oui[/i]" lied Sacred, cringing at the slavers terrible pronunciation. "Well, you asked about these here slaves? They do almost anything you tell them too! Minin', whorin', fightin', liftin', carryin', draggin', burnin', growin, raisin', cookin'....erm, Celestia, I can't think of anything else right now. But they do a lot, lemme tell ya! Why, you interested in one?" said Buckskin. He spoke fast. Almost too fast for the Prench tracker to comprehend.

"[i]Non[/i]" he answered. "Ju-just curious...". Secretly, he wondered if Lank was for sale. But he didn't dare ask with Decimus in earshot. "Anyways, little buddy, what's your name? Wait! Say it in Prench!" grinned Buckskin, hopping over a drain that stank made Sacreds eyes water. Sacred took a running jump to get over the open drain, stumbling on the other side. "Erm..[i]Je suis Sacre Gris[/i]" he replied. But Buckskin wasn't listening. He was too busy laughing at the misfortune of Bliss.

Bliss had slipped jumping over the drain and landed straight in the muddy water, shit and piss that stagnated at the bottom of it. "Hooo-weee, you dumb mare!" cackled the slaver, tears forming in the corners of eyes. Decimus held a hoof out for Bliss to climb out. She glared at Buckskin as she pulled herself other side of the drain, who was clutching his stomach from laughter. "I shoulda' warned ya, mare! It gets pretty damn slippy around here!" he guffawed. Sacred didn't laugh and stepped away from the giggling slaver. He knew Bliss too well. She wasn't going to take this lying down.

As she opened her mouth to retort, Decimus quickly jumped in front of her. "Hah! Hah! It's very funny, no?" he faked a laugh before glaring at Bliss. "Don't you fucking dare". Bliss bit her lip as shitty water ran down her snout before mouthing a bad word in Buckskins direction and looking at her hooves in anger. She stank worse than usual and she was splattered with mud, horse shit and water. [i]An improvement[/i], thought Sacred, sneering slightly.

"Well, anyway, you can have a bath before you leave. The Grand Beaner might not like that stank but he'll understand, I'm sure!" chuckled Buckskin, wiping a hoof across his eyes. A few slavers saw her and laughed audibly from the flaps of their tents. A glare from Decimus sent them running, however. "Not now. Don't even think about it" he hissed to her as they continued trotting after Buckskin. She muttered something in reply that Sacred couldn't hear.

No doubt it was rude. 

Buckskin continued speaking loudly to Sacred, even introducing him to a few of his slaver friends as they weaved their way through the tents. The tracker could almost feel Decimus' eyes on him, so he acted politely and pretended to listen to Buckskin moaning about the quality of slaves going down. It felt like an hour, crossing over shit drains, hopping over corpses and wincing at the cries from the paddocks. But soon they found themselves at the largest and most extravagant tent of them all. It stood out from the tents around it due to the fact it had a small, hastily erected wall around it, complete with heavily armed guards. 

In Fort de Beaner, it seemed everyone was heavily armed but these guys were covered from head to hoof in leather and all swung rifles threateningly. They all wore masks with meshes in front of their faces. The tent was a deep maroon colour and covered an area of fifty feet altogether. Compared to the tiny, white tents that composed of most of the Fort, this was a mansion. Buckskin stopped at the entrance and hailed a guard. 

"Yo. I'm here with the guys who brought in the most recent batch of slaves" he said. The guard looked at them all dubiously for a moment before hopping through the tent flaps for several moments. There was an awkward silence as Decimus shifted his feet uncomfortably and sighed deeply. He was not looking forward to this.

"Don't worry 'bout it, Decimus. Beaner might be having a good day" smiled Buckskin, probably being sincere. As if on cue, as he said that, came a roaring from the tent as the guard scurried out. Sacred heard a snippet of swearing and screaming coming from within. "Or not..." muttered Buckskin. Decimus groaned loudly and put a hoof to his face. "This is going so wrong..." he muttered.

The guard panted as he looked around at the group. "His Beanness the Great Beaner says you can go in. All of you apart from her. He doesn't want slave shit on his new carpet" said the guard, his nose crinkling at the smell of sweat and shit wafting from Bliss. She opened her mouth to complain before Decimus interjected loudly. "That's fine! She can wait here with the guards, can't you, [i]Bliss[/i]?" he hissed the final word. Bliss' lip curled in anger before she nodded.      

"Okay. Lets go meet the Great Beaner, then!" grinned Buckskin, giving Bliss a wink before he disappeared into the tent flap. Decimus groaned again before following the slaver in. Sacred gave a nervous look to Bliss, who only glared at him and to the guard before heading through the flaps. 

He distinctly heard the guard whisper "Good luck" before he found himself within the office of the Great Beaner.