Sunset

He wasn’t sure how long he was here, or if he was ever going to get out of this. The darkness seemed to become darker and more black every day, or what seemed to be the day.

Brownie Button was working in an iron mine, pulling carts full of rock and other things. Brownie may be a draft horse, but he was never made for this type of work. Pain filled his back and joints as he pulled a wooden cart full of rocks to the camp, where the cart would be taken from him, and another cart would be attached to his harness, which he would pull back down into the mines to be filled with rock.

There were few breaks, not a lot of water, and not enough food.

Brownie did this every day, this the looming threat that he would collapse. And collapsing only meant one thing: death.

Brownie had to keep going, not just for himself, but also for Goldie Sugar and their foal. It was tiring, and many days, he wanted to give up. But something in his chest reminded him that Goldie was going to save him, and every pony in the camp.

So he kept walking on, doing his best to stay alive and take care of his unborn foal that depended on him for so much.

But one day, something happened.

Brownie was walking into the mine with the cart on his back. He was in pain and walking started to become a daunting task. Simply putting one hoof in front of the other was becoming a challenge.

But then, he heard the crack of a whip and the searing pain on his flank. He looked up with tears welling up in his eyes. Standing above him on a rock was Crystal Mud, holding a whip with his murky green magic. He had a strange, sadistic smile on his face as he leaped down to Brownie.

“You need to work faster my little pony,” Mud said, cracking the whip on Brownies side again. Brownie cried out in pain. Crystal mud started to laugh.

“Yelp for me you colt, cry!” He said, whipping Brownie again and again.

Brownie silently screamed, tired out from everything. The cart was suddenly filled with rocks, and he found himself in the middle of the camp, being lead around and beaten with that dreadful whip.

“He’s such a little workhorse, isn’t he?” Crystal Mud said, striking the whip upon Brownies side. The laughing of soldiers filled Brownies ears.

He was being a show pony for a bunch of sadistic ponies.

He had enough of this. He gathered up all the strength in his back legs and kicked the wooden cart away from him. The cart shattered, and he took off, running away from the hellhole of this camp. He galloped, faster and faster, feeling the energy surge through his muscles. It felt great. He realized he was being chased, so he did his best to run faster.

He never realized he had so much speed in him, it was always Goldie who was a fast sprinter and good jumper. He lept over fence posts, and other strange things. Many ponies around him cheered him on, looking up from their work.

He smiled and kept running.

But he never realized that what was left of his harness snagged on a fence. Brownie Button was stopped, and he was pulled backward. Like if you stretch a rubber band taut, then release it. That’s what happened to Brownie. He was thrown into the fence. In an explosion of splinters and wood, he crashed through it and fell the ground in a heep.

He looked around and saw the sadness in the eyes of the ponies looking at him. Many turned their faces away, sadly, knowing what was going to happen to him. A tear dropped down a little colts face, scared and realizing what he was about to witness.

“I’m… sorry…” Brownie Button said sadly.

He heard the hoofsteps behind him, and he laid on the ground, tired and out of breath. He looked up, and saw the piercing eyes Crystal Mud, looking into his soul. Brownie cringed and got ready for the explosion of a bullet through his head. Second by second passed, and Brownies eyes stayed shut tight, waiting for death. He thought of Goldie, his unborn foal.

But the bullet never came.

He opened his eyes and saw something that shocked him more than anything before. Crystal Mud was looking down at him, with warm eyes, full of pride. Crystal Mud grabbed Brownie’s hoof and helped him up.

Crystal Mud turned to the soldiers, and said, “I’m gonna… well… have some fun beating with this stallion in my tent. You are dismissed.” The soldier ponies trotted away, commanding that the onlooking ponies “Get back to work.”

Crystal Mud walked an exhausted Brownie Button to his huge tent and pushed the hurt stallion in quickly. Then Crystal Mud stepped in and zipped the tent shut with his magic quickly. Brownie collapsed on the ground, looking up at Crystal Mud with fear in his eyes. Crystal Mud trotted to a barrel in the back of the tent and drew up a cup of water.

He trotted up to Brownie and offered the water to Brownie.

“What are you doing to me?” Brownie asked with all the strength he had, “Torturing me? I’m already too tired, why don’t you cut to the chase.”

Crystals ears went back, and he looked away. Then he said something that kind of shocked Brownie Button to the core.

“That was not me.”

Brownie blinked and looked at Crystal Mud with the most confused face he had ever had. He tilted his head to the side and adjusted his glasses.

“What do you mean that wasn't you?! You were the one who enslaved all these ponies, and beat them all! What do you mean that wasn’t you?!” Brownie Button said angrily, standing up and backing Crystal Mud into a wall. Crystal Mud looked at Brownie with a confused face too.

“I… I was forced to.” Crystal Mud said, turning his face away from Brownie. He closed his eyes for a minute, squeezing them shut, then reopening them.

“I’m a pawn of Sombra’s… I was taken prisoner like you.” Crystal Mud started off, “I was going to be sent to a slave camp, and my husband and two coals were being taken away from me.” Crystal Mud looked at Brownie, then looked down.

“The only way I am able to get them back is to work this Celestia forsaken job for a few years. Once I meet that quota, I will have my children and husband back.”

“Wow,” Brownie Button gasped, “That’s pretty, dark.”

“It is…but,” Crystal Mud all the sudden had a hopeful look in his eye, “I heard my family is being transferred to another slave camp not too far from here. I thought since you are a pretty strong-willed pony, that you would help me free all these ponies here, and free the ponies in the slave caravan, including my family.”

Brownie looked suspiciously at Crystal, and asked: “how do you know about all of that.”

Crystal leaned into Brownies ear, and said, “I have some, connections.”

Brownie faintly smiled, used his magic to lift up the glass of water, and drank deeply. He put down the glass, then asked, “How can I trust you?”

Crystal then used his green magic (that went from murky green to sparkly clean green) and pulled a picture out of a crate.

It was a picture of a wiry pegasus with a baby pegasus and a toddler unicorn. The pegasus baby looked a lot like Crystal Mud.

“Is that… your…”

“Yes, that’s my family. The little ones are older now, but they still shouldn’t be slaves.”

“No one should be a slave,” Brownie said, looking at the whip marks on his flanks.

“I… I’m incredibly sorry… let me get you something to clear those up.” Crystal Mud said, walking to a chest and pulling out a strange potion. He gave it to Brownie to drink, and he looked at the bottle suspiciously.

“Could this hurt… foals?” Brownie asked, looking at the potion.

“What do you...oh.” Crystal Mud reacted looking at Brownies larger belly, “It won't. My husband took it when he had my foals.”

Brownie gulped down the potion, which instantly stopped all the pain and healed the scars and scrapes on his body.

“You know what.” Brownie said with a belch, “I actually trust you, say what's your name?”

“My name?”

“Yah, Crystal MUD can’t be your real name,” Brownie said, pointing to Crystal Muds green gem cutie mark.

“Well, see, my name is Crystal Iris.”