The long trot away from where these crazy ponies found me was hell. They gave me only enough to keep me moving and my body was having a hard time keeping itself together after three days of not much food or water and even what I got was usually scraps of their meals. I found out the trio were "Raiders" and they weren't the only ones. To think so many easily fell into the same life as these ponies was angering and saddening to me. The boss Whiplash smoked which explained his ruined vocal chords, but he was the least fucked up of them. Silent Wail or Silent as they called her ate this little things called Mentats and they seemed to make here crazier when she was taking them while her friend Chain Snake would stab himself with some sort of liquid which calmed the stallion down, but made his time without it unbearable.

'How can three ponies be such wrecks?' I knew that I they were the only three ponies I had met so far, but something felt off and it wasn't just with them. Sometimes I would look out to the wasteland and almost thinking the ground itself was suppose to be familiar, but nothing came to me. On day four is when change finally happened. I was sleeping quite calmly when I felt a kick to my side.

"Wake up Mustang!" The mare's voice said as I opened my eyes and rose to my hooves. Standing ahead of us was some sort of caravan with gruff ponies walking beside it. I could hear crying and some trying to sooth those who cried. Some of the gruff ones would shout at them to shut up, and mothers would tell their foals to please stay quiet. A smartly dressed stallion came up to us and Whiplash stood in front of me.

"Who Are you?" The smartly dressed stallion asked looking us all over with his eyes stopping on me. Whiplash cleared his throat to gain the stallion's attention.

"We're salesponies and this." He said pulling me forward to the stallion "Is our product to sell." Whiplash said. The stallion looked me over checking me for my muscles, bones, and hesitates for a moment when he saw my wings before checking them over. He pulled my mouth open to check my teeth and gums before stepping back to Whiplash.

"He seems in good condition. No medical problems, but those wings are something I've never seen before. What's your price for 'em." The smartly dressed stallion asked.

"Well for stock this clean and pristine I'd ask...500 caps." Whiplash replied. The other stallion scanned me with his eyes as if seeing if such a price was warranted.

"200" the stallion finally replied.

"350" Whiplash replied

"250" the smartly dressed stallion rebutted

"300" Whiplash stated. The stallion looked at me for the third time before sighing.

"Fine. 300 caps." The stallion replied before nodding his head to a gruff pony who went into the first wagon and came out with a small pouch of caps and gave it to the stallion who tossed it to Whiplash.

"Pleasure doing business with ya" Whiplash replied as the gruff ponies started escorting me to the caravan. I sat down in a wagon and looked around me. Next to me were a few other ponies including two mares with foals tucked close to their chest. One of the foals stared at me in curiosity.

"You're a big pony." the little colt said staring at me. I waited to see the mother's reaction before slowly patting the foal's head.

"Thank you little one." I said giving him and his mother a kind smile. As the others slowly got used to me in the cart, I curled myself up to sleep when I felt tiny hooves on me and cracked an eye open. The little foal from before had moved from his mother's grasp to lie down on top of me. I smiled and closed my eye to sleep.

"Wake up Mustang!" A voice called as I felt a hit to my chest from something. I opened my eyes to see it was one of the gruff ponies hitting me with the butt of his weapon. Gripping my sore gut, I stood up and walked out of the cart while he kept his weapon pointed to my back. I was forced into a line with all the other captured ponies form the caravan which was about 20 ponies. A very finely dressed stallion walked out in front of all of them with the leader of the caravan standing by his side.

"Welcome all of you to my lovely homestead. I am your master Mr. Harvest Sickle, but you shall refer to me as Master Harvest or Master Sickle. This shall be your home to benefit society around our little area. You see, this land around you filled with crops." Mr. Sickle said gesturing to all the fields of wheat and other crops growing. "You are to tend them so we may sell them to the various towns nearby as a part of the agreement they made. You shall live and work the fields for food and shelter, in exchange for your working here for life, the towns get fed, so they don't bother us here. The rules are simple to follow here just do what you're told and you get your necessities. If you don't You shall receive punishment at The Post." Master Sickle said gesturing to a metal sheet supported to stand up with ropes at the edges to tie a pony up. "The punishment can be quite severe. The last pony to break the rules by killing a fellow worker was tied and lashed till death." He said and this made all the mares and colts cower back.

"You heard him. Now get to work!" the right hand pony shouted and everyone was moved to a shed where all the adults were given tools to harvest and the children were given little buckets which were to pour water on the plants. I was hitched up to a large plow blade and was sent to a marked out area for a new field. The blade was dull so I had to pull hard to get it to dig properly and had to stop for rocks to be dug out before going again. I didn't know how to react at first to be honest. On one hoof I had work, food and shelter, but on the other I had no freedom. Still it was a question to me about which was more important to a pony with no memory food or freedom.

As night came everyone was ordered to the rickety sheds not too far behind the manor. Stallions fell to the floor from soreness, some rambled to themselves as their minds cracked from fear and mares cried at their new lot in life. The older slaves tried to keep the new ones calm while I trotted to the back of the shed and slowly rested sat down before lying down on some old hay. Every pony stared at me which I wondered why, but didn't mind it before closing my eyes to sleep.

"Mister...mister big pony?" I heard whispered at me. I opened an eye to see a foal in front of me. "Can..Can I sleep here on the hay?" the foal asked. I looked around then back to the foal before just simply patting the hay softly as the foal moved over to sleep on the pile. I don't know why, but I smiled to simply see a foal so peacefully go to sleep near me as I went back to sleeping. The next morning was going to be another day of hard labor for all of us.

A loud bang woke everyone up. Apparently they fired a "race pistol" that fired loud blanks to signal the start of work round here. I stumbled to my hooves as I felt something grab my fur to see the foal holding me like a stuffed toy. I smiled before picking him up with my mouth and putting him down before leaving for work. Today the older slaves worked with me to harvest the wheat with sickles and so I learned how to cleave the plants for harvesting. AS the day progressed I heard a shout come out.

"What are you doing you little bastard! Why aren't you working?!" A slaver called I turned to see it was the foal I had seen this morning lying against me. The foal was being lifted in the air by unicorn magic with a whip in the magic as well.

"I'm sorry. I was sleepy I didn't here the alarm!" the foal said scared to get hurt. The whip was reeled back and I felt an instinct kick in as I sprinted to the foal to save him.

"That means nothing!" the slaver replied as the whip swung forward with a loud crack and I felt a searing pain. The foal looked at me and so did the unicorn slaver.

"What are you doing?!" The slaver shouted. I plucked the foal out of the magical grip and placed him behind my head.

"Please don't hurt the colt. It my fault he was still asleep because I din't wake him up." I said bowing my head in respect trying to protect us both. The unicorn snarled.

"You will hand over the child for his punishment or You shall be punished.!" The unicorn snapped back. I stood stock still adnused my large size to lean over the pony.

"Leave. The foal. Alone." I said in a deep voice. The unicorn flinched a little but then gave a frustrated growl.

"Do that again and I'll have you receive the worst torture I can give." the unicorn said trotting away with an angry glare. I breathed out with a hiss as the pain of the whip finally hit me. The foal looked at me. He was probably ten by his size and wasn't the foal I had met on the caravan. The foal had colors similar to a bottle cap I had seen during meal time in the hoof of a slaver guard.

"Why'd you let him hurt you? You're the big guy you could have beaten him." The foal said looking at me both with worry and anger at the guard.

"I didn't want you hurt, and I wouldn't know how to fight anyway. Now come You need to get to work so he doesn't hurt you again." I said as I gave a bucket to the foal and he got to work whilst some of the stallions stared at what I had done. I sling myself back up to the plow and went back to work as I felt the pain in my hoof and warm blood trickle from the gash into my thick fur. As I worked a fellow slave, a mare, came over and wrapped bandages around the hoof to prevent infection before leaving with a slight wave. I don't know how, but I had a feeling that she hadn't had permission to do that, but I was thankful she had anyway.

When the day ended I was greeted by many of the slaves of our shed and some thanked me for protecting the boy. One even offered to teach me self defense to which I simply told him I'd think about. As I took my place on the hay at the back the little foal came over and laid beside me.

"Where's your mother? wouldn't you prefer her with you?" I asked the colt. He looked at me and I saw a slight twinkle of water in his eye.

"I don't have one." He said. I simply lowered my head sad for the foal before pulling him close to me. He smiled again and curled up to me and as I was about to sleep he spoke. "Hey mister...can you be my big brother?" the little foal asked. I was confused to hear this, but I knew he just wanted to repay me and I gave him comfort much like a brother would.

"Alright little one. I'll be you big brother Mustang." I said and the foal hugged my fur the best he could before closing his eyes with a cute smile and I soon joined him in sleep...

Author's Note

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