The light sound of hoof steps filled one of the great halls of canterlot castle, as Luna walked along it’s grand interior, flanked by two royal guards. The Alicorn mare let a small yawn escape her lips as she trudged down the hallways, doing her best to shake the tiredness from her eyes.

She honestly hated being up at this time in the day. The sun had only risen two hours ago, and she was still tired from her nightly duties. But, she and her sister had an important meeting today, so she had little choice in the matter.

She had considered trying to lie, maybe buy herself a few more minutes of sleep. But, rational thinking stopped her from going threw with the idea, no matter how badly she wanted to. Last night had left her particularly exhausted. It would seem that nightmares had become more frequent as of recently, and it fell to her to ease her subject worries.

And yet, as she walked the red carpeted halls, she began to loose herself in thought. Ruminating on the state of Equestria had become something of a favourite past time for the princess. Though, it wasn’t one she liked all that much.

It had been almost two years since her return from the moon, and she was still trying to figure out the world she had come back to. So much had changed, she had changed, so had her sister.

Firstly, their capital had changed, the sister’s seat of power was now located in Canterlot. Then there was the existence of Cadence, which completely blindsided her. The elements of harmony, Twilight sparkle. Her being forgotten by the masses which, hurt, she wasn’t going to lie.

And that wasn’t even mentioning the events that she’d already witnessed within the last year alone. It was mind boggling how much had happened in such a short amount of time.

There was her return to start. Followed by Discord breaking free of his prison, and then being set to stone again by the elements. Right after that was the changeling invasion of canterlot, which she herself was not present for. A fact that Celestia nags her about constantly.

Then there was the return of the crystal empire, and Discord’s supposed redemption. Not to mention Twilight sparkle’s ascension to an alicorn, and how she created a new type of magic. And she didn’t even want to think about the plunder seeds situation, where the element bearers needed to return their elements to the tree of harmony, and the mystery of the chest it revealed.

And then, Tirek managed to escape Tartarus, which was the worst thing that could have happened. And Discord betrayed them, and helped Tirek steal magic from ponies. Until he himself was betrayed, surprising no one. Twilight’s duel with Tirek, her loosing her magic, then opening the chest and receiving the power to defeat Tirek.

And a whole myriad of other situations they’d had to deal with, the latest of which being the changelings latest schemes. With Luna and her sister, along with the elements being kidnapped by Chrysalis. But they were saved by Twilight pupil, and her friends.

Surprisingly, the changelings managed to, well, change for a lack of a better term. Becoming better creatures by sharing their love instead of stealing it. And under the leadership of Thorax, had renounced their ways and pledged themselves to harmony.

She was, unsurprisingly, left exhausted by the past two years. Having to run from one fire to the next can be very tiring, especially when you haven’t been around for a 1000 years.

She had grown accustomed to the world she lived in now, for the most part. The hardest thing to overcome was how the ponies of Equestria saw her. For years they had lived with the legend of the terrible Nightmare moon, an evil monster who wanted nothing more than to plunge the world into eternal night. And they weren’t exactly wrong.

A small part of her found it funny, in a cruel way. The monster lived on in stories, while princess Luna faded from history. She had talked with her Celestia about it, and while she understood that it was hard for her to keep Luna’s legacy alive, it didn’t stop the sting that came with it.

She had been seen with fear for a large part of her return, but with help from Twilight sparkle and her friends, she managed to mend the relationship between her and her people. Even coming up with a new holiday for her, in celebration of her return. And with that holiday, came new appreciation for her night sky. She honestly couldn’t thank the mare enough for all that she had done for her, not that she’d admit it of course.

The change in how ponies spoke had also been a challenge for her. While she did appreciate less formal tones speaking, it was still a challenge to break out of her old habits. She still found herself slipping into her royal canterlot voice from time to time. And a part of her enjoyed scaring the daylights out of anypony caught in it’s range.

But as Luna lost herself in thought, she failed to notice the form in front of her.

She walked straight into a human, sending the girl to the ground and herself stumbling back a bit from the collision. The guard behind her quickly grabbed her shoulder, allowing the mare to steady herself.

“Thank you.” She said to the guard that grabbed her, the stallion gave a curt nod in response.

As Luna looked down at the human below her, she saw the girls eyes go wide with panic upon seeing her. “P-princess Luna! Forgive me princess, I wasn’t looking where I was going! Please forgive me!”

The girl was practically yelling in fear, she quickly came to her knees and bowed to the lunar pony. And before Luna herself could respond, one of her guards spoke up.

“Damn human! Not only did you bump into her highness, but you’ve also wasted her valuable time! I should have you whipped for this.” The guard yelled angrily. The girl bowed even more, pressing her head against the carpet. That took Luna aback a bit. Such a severe punishment, and for what, bumping into her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” The girl continued to beg for mercy, as if she was expecting to be executed on the spot. From her peripheral sight, she could see that a small crowd of slaves and servants were gathering. Worst yet, a few guards had left their post and begun walking towards them.

And yet, for a moment, her mind ground to a halt. Luna had walked straight into this girl, and yet this human being threatened with harsh punishment for such a simple mistake, which wasn’t even her fault. It baffled her. Luna shook herself out of her stupor before anything else went wrong.

“Enough.” Her voice, though not loud, held enough weight behind it to cut through the the chatter of the gathered crowd. The guard ponies stopped in their tracks, as Luna brought herself to her full height.

The slave looked to her, scared amber eyes locking with her own blueish green. The girl looked down as quickly as she glanced up.

“This was a simple mistake, one of my own doing.” She stated, making every word sound like fact. She bent down and offered the girl her hand. The slave looked up at her again, but instead of fear, Luna saw surprise written into her face. Genuine shock that a pony would help her, and one of the princesses no less.
The girl took Luna’s hand, tentatively, and the alicorn mare pulled her to her feet. Luna looked around again, uncaring for the surprised looks of the faces of those watching them.

“This girl will not face any punishment.” She commanded, speaking more to the guards rather than the staff. She turned back the the girl, “You may attend to your duties.”

“Yes, princess. Thank you, princess.” The girl turned and quickly walked away, towards the direction of one of the castles gardens.

“I was also addressing the rest of you as well.” The crowd dispersed hurriedly. The slaves and staff walked off to handle their business, while the guards returned to their posts, standing sentinel over the hallways of the castle yet again. And yet, as Luna resumed her march, she could feel their eyes on her, the staff, the slaves, the guards. Each watch her with curiosity, anger, fear, and a small level of disgust.

Of all the things she had witnessed since her return to Equestria, the fate humans had been the most surprising to her. The humans were slaves long before she became nightmare moon, but she honestly believed that in her 1000 years of absence, Celestia would have freed them by now, or at least granted them some leniency. But no, they were still bound in chain, and their treatment had seemed to have gotten worse in some cases.

And every time she had tried to bring it up with her sister, Celestia brushed her off with some poor excuse. It was infuriating! Did she not trust her, did she not believe she was capable. Luna loved her sister, but she could be a real pain in the flank sometimes.

But, she stopped that line of thought as she approached the large golden doors that served as the entrance to the throne room. She shook the fatigue of the night from her form, and replaced it with grace that could only be acquired from years of practice. And as the doors swung inward, she walked through.

“Ah, Luna. There you are.”

—————————————

“Where are you from?” Hayden let the question fly, as he brought down the axe on the side of the tree once again. The axe struck the dense wood with a thunk. And as he pulled his axe free, Bronn struck the tree with an axe of his own.

“Uh, why are you asking that.” Bronn questioned as he ripped his axe from the tree, bark flying with it.

“Your accent. Your from the south.” He said, as he brought his axe up for another swing, “I am simply curious as to how someone from the south finds themselves this far north.”

“Ha, well you got me there.” Bronn answered as Hayden swung, “But yer right, I’m from down south. Appleloosa, born and raised. Not like that’s something to be proud of, considering how we’re treated there.”

Hayden pulled his axe back from the tree. Taking a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow, he looked around the rest of the lumber ground. There were 8 of them cutting down trees, while 4 ponies watched them from behind, armed with whips and swords.

It had been two days since he had been brought to the farm, and it had gone as he would have expected. The ponies didn’t really care for them, in fact a few went out of their way to make their lives more miserable.
Pushing or shoving them to the ground, knowing that they wouldn’t fight back. That was one of the most common ones. But the people here took it well, simply getting up when the ponies finished laughing and continuing on with their work. He had done his best to fit in with the rest of the slaves here, helping wherever he could.

Bronn was a bit of a leader here, though he denied being put in any official status. He didn’t see himself as a leader, and didn’t want to be one. According to him, he was simply a man helping out his fellow slaves, and he didn’t have any actual leadership qualities. But, he always brought them food, and offered up his blanket to anyone who needed it. Bronn was a better man than he gave himself credit for. At least, that’s what Hayden believed, and he knew that many others here felt the same.

Gale had kept to himself mostly, simply getting on with his work. In the mornings a pony would come along to the barn and escort him to the farmhouse, where he would stay for the entire day, before being brought back to the barn again. He was certainly grumpy, as Bronn had told them. But Hayden saw the way he looked at the others, the glint of worry in his eye. He saw as Gale tended to the older among them. He was a grump, but he was a grump who cared.

And then there was Levin, the first person Hayden met when he arrived. Levin had been the most out of place there, he obviously wasn’t a labourer, and didn’t have any experience farming. The first day consisted of him trying to figure out how to use a till. He was talkative, and nervous. He was also one of the youngest among them, only 26, while most were already into their 30’s. He stuck close to Hayden and Bronn when he could, taking comfort in their presence.

They were woken up in the early hours of the morning and divided into groups. Gale had been led off to the farmhouse, while Hayden had been assigned to heavy labour along with Bronn and most of the other men. Which meant he was going to be doing a lot of heavy lifting for the day. Something he was not looking forward to. Levin had been separated from them; he and the other slaves being taken to the fields to farm.

And to start the day off, they had been ordered to cut down trees for firewood. Hayden was beginning to get a clear sense of what was expected from them here, and he wasn’t liking it.

“How about yourself.” Bronn’s questioning broke Hayden from his thought, “you got the body of a labour, yet yer talking like some canterlot noble fella. Kinda confusing, don’t ya think.”

“Fair enough.” He spoke as they continued with their work, “I grew up on an estate just outside of Baltimare. I was taken from there when I was 15, and have been passed around Equestria since then. I suppose I’ve picked up a few habits from the noble ponies I’ve been in the presence of.”

“Baltimare, huh. Heard it’s nice out there.” Bronn mentioned, growing more focused on his work than the conversation.

“It is, from what I’ve seen.” Hayden said. From there, the two continued to chop away at the tree in silence, their grunts and the sound of their axes being the only sound they made.

It took them another 20 minutes, but eventually, the tree above them buckled, and begun to fall to the side. They yelled timber, and stepped back out of the way, as the tree crashed into the ground. The pair then went to work removing the branches from the tree before cutting it into logs. They worked in peace, only grunting occasionally when a branch got hard to cut. After a few minutes, Bronn broke the silence.

“So, what were you doing before this.” Bronn asked.

“Labour.” Hayden said jokingly, chuckling as Bronn looked up at him, unimpressed with his jest. “I was helping build houses further south, before I was sold off due to budget cuts.”

Bronn gave a simple nod before responding, “well, before this I was a… a pit fighter.”

Hayden couldn’t help but look in surprise. He had assumed Bronn was a fighter of some kind, the scars on his body indicated as much, but a pit fighter. And from the solemn look on his face, it wasn’t something he was proud of.

When Bronn looked at Hayden surprised face, he smiled and laughed lightly. He was trying to play it off. “Sorry for dumping that on ya. I just figured that… well, since we were bein’ honest with each other, I should’ve… ya know.”

“Bronn, you don’t have to explain to me. I’ve had some experience with the pits myself.” Hayden spoke honestly. Now it was Bronn’s turn to be surprised.

“Really? What happened?” Bronn asked.

“I was sold off because my fights were not ‘entertaining.’ I would try to stop the fights without killing anyone, and that wasn’t profitable to them.” He cut the final branch on his side. Standing up, he prepared to start cutting the tree into logs.

He wasn’t lying. His time in the pits were as awful as anyone else’s. The screaming, the blood, the begging. If he could go the rest of his life without stepping foot in another arena, he could die a happy man. But, he tried his best to end his fights with as little bloodshed as possible, using his hand to take his opponents to the ground.

He remembers the look on the organiser’s face as the crowd boo’d him, disappointed with the lack of death. He couldn’t help but let a small smirk make its way to his face as he reminisced on it. He would cherish that look for years to come. The lashes he received because of it however, not so much.

“Heh heh, that’s how it goes, right.” Bronn said, as he stood up to do the same, “these ponies preach their ‘peace and friendship’ crap. But when it comes down to it, their the worst of them all.”

Hayden could only nod in agreement as they continued to slave away.

—————————————

2 hours passed, and the rest had finished up their work, cutting down trees and separating them into logs. 4 of them were taken back to the fields to continue the days work, while the rest would have to take the wood to the store house. Hayden was lucky enough to be taken to the field. While farming could be hard at times, it was still much preferable to dragging logs across a farm. And they had just arrived when they heard yelling coming from the field.

“What in tarnation.” Bronn said as they made their way over to the commotion, trying to see what was happening. As they walked further into the field, they saw the source of the shouting.

There, they saw Levin standing in the middle of the field, his hands held out in front of him, and trying to talk to the pony yelling at him. The pony, Hazy blow, if he remembered correctly, was standing just a few feet away, and was yelling both commands and threats towards Levin.

Hayden began walking faster, Bronn and the others following close behind. It wasn’t until he got closer, that he saw a young girl on her knees, hiding behind Levin. The poor girl couldn’t have been older than 13.

“Listen, just wait a second! We can talk this out!” Levin yelled, panic seeping into his voice. Hazy blow grew closer to them, a hand on the whip at his side.

“Shut it, you damn primate! Either you move, or I whip you both.” He threatened.

Hayden could see fear seep into Levin’s face at the pony’s threat, he didn’t know what to do. Hayden and the rest finally arrived, joining the small crowd of humans that gathered around the 3. The ponies, meanwhile, took up place behind Hazy glow, making sure the rest of the slaves didn’t get involved in the confrontation. Both watched as the scene unfolded in front of them, the humans looking on with worry, while the ponies had a look of slight anger at Levin’s defiance.

Hazy glow sent a hateful glare towards Levin as he stepped closer, “last chance human. Move.”

Hayden watched as the pony pulled the whip from his belt. But, surprisingly, Levin stood his ground, preparing to be whipped in defence of the young girl behind him. Anger radiated from the red furred pony, which was amplified by the words of the ponies behind him.

“You gonna let some lowly human treat you like that, hazy.”

“Whip him till he drops!”

“Show those monkeys their place!”

Hazy glow whipped the ground besides him, a grave warning. But Levin stood his ground as the pony drew back his whip again, ready for the harsh punishment of his defiance. The girl behind him still knelt on the ground in fear, not daring to move.

Hayden watched from the crowd, Bronn standing next to him. His hand shifted into a fist, and he begun pushing his way through the gathered people. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he wasn’t going to let them get hurt like this. He had gotten to the front of them before a voice called out.

“What the hay is going on out here!” The familiar voice of diamond quill reached his ears. Hayden stopped just at the front of the crowd, standing ready to step in if he needed to. But for now, he resigned himself to watching again.

Diamond quill came barging threw the crowd of ponies. Annoyance and frustration being the two feeling written into her face. She looked around the scene, her eyes darting from Levin to Hazy glow, who she locked in on.

“Hazy, mind explaining why you’re about to whip one of our new slaves.” She said, the question sounding more like a demand. Hazy quickly stiffened up at her gaze focused on him.

“Diamond, well, that kid over there stole a loaf of bread, so I was going to punish her. Then this monkey stepped in the way and refused to move, so I was going to whip them both.” He explained nervously.

The teal mare crossed her arms, and her glare hardened as Hazy glow finished talking, “A loaf of bread. You caused a scene, held up the work, and nearly whipped one of our new slaves, all over a loaf of bread.”

The young stallion nodded his slowly head as he answered, “Yes.”

“Hazy, go to my office.” She ordered sternly. The red pony slumped his shoulders as he made his way to the farm house, “And the rest of you, get back to work!”

With that final yell, the crowd of ponies and humans quickly dispersed, returning to their previous duties. Diamond quill turned and marched back to the farmhouse with an angered huff, grabbing Hazy glow by the shoulder as she passed. Hayden almost felt sorry for him, almost.

Taking his eyes of the pair. He turned towards Levin and the girl, quickly making his way over to them. He could see that Levin had slumped in relief, more than happy at his narrow escape from his punishment. He put his hands on his knees and let out the breath he was holding. Hayden put his hand on Levin’s shoulder as he came to stand by him.

“Are you alright?” he asked. Levin looked like he hadn’t been harmed, but he wanted to make sure. That and he wanted to make to be sure he wouldn’t faint.

Levin looked up at him as he spoke, “other than the crippling fear, I'm fine.”

He couldn’t help chuckle at his response. At least his sense of humour was intact if nothing else. Hayden then turned his attention to the girl behind him.

“And you, young one. Are you hurt?” He kneeled down, looking over the girl. Like Levin, she didn’t have any visible injuries, but he wouldn’t leave it up to chance.

“No.” She said, shakily. It was obvious that she was still in shock from all of this, but he needed to get her out of here, and back to the barn. He wanted her away from the ponies, in case another one tries their luck. It wasn’t likely, but he’d seen more than a few ponies throw away their careers to, ‘put some humans in their place’ as they put it. So the further away from the ponies, the better.

“Can you stand.” He asked. The girl gave a nod, before standing up. And as she stood, Hayden could see a loaf of bread clutch in her hands, a bit dirty, but still edible.

And as Levin turned around, ready to speak, he stopped as the girl hugged onto his waist.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She said hurriedly, with far more energy in her voice. Levin looked in surprise as she thanked him, not entirely knowing what to do. He lowered his arms onto her back, lightly patting her.

“Uhm, your welcome?” He said in an unsure tone. He looked at Hayden for a moment, almost asking for help. Hayden simply looked on with a smile, amused at Levin’s predicament.

The girl let go of him and took a step back, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just wanted to thank you for saving me.”

“Well, uhm, I didn’t really save you, I just got in the way.” He answered, not knowing what to say.

“Well, thank you for getting in the way then.” The girl said, a smile coming to her face. “I’m Alice, by the way.”

“Uhm, Levin.” He said.

“I’m Hayden.” He heard footsteps behind him as he answered, already knowing who it was.

Bronn came from behind him, and stood by Levin’s side as he spoke, “I gotta admit scrawny, you’re a lot braver than I thought you were.”

He put his hand on Levin’s hand, showing his approval of his actions. His mood darkened a bit however, when he turned towards Alice.

“Now, Alice,” Bronn began, before kneeling in front of the girl, “why did you steal the bread? You know the consequences for that kind of thing, and your damn lucky you managed to escape from ‘em this time.”

Alice looked down in shame for a moment, putting her hands behind her back before answering, “well, the other kids were hungry. And jace kept crying, no matter what mom did. So I thought that, if I could get everyone some food, then they would be happier. Their feeding us less and less now.”

For a moment, it looked as though Bronn would berate her for her actions. Instead, he merely sighed, and turned away from the girl.

“Ah get ya, kid.” He said solemnly. He turned back to the girl, a serious expression on his face as he continued, “but you can’t do something like this again, okay? This is serious, Alice.”

“Okay.” She agreed, looking at him with the same look of seriousness. Or, at least, she was trying to.

“Now… you still got that bread?” He asked, smiling as he did. Without a word, the girl showed him the loaf of bread in her hands. “Atta’ girl. Now go on back to the barn, and make sure every kid gets a piece of that. I’m counting on you.”

“I will.” And with that, Alice ran towards the barn. Running threw the field and past many other slaves.

Hayden heard Bronn’s chuckling as he stood back up. But, as he glance over his shoulder, he could see the rotten eyes of the ponies watching them. They were still angry from earlier, and something told him that they wouldn’t tolerate them wasting anymore time.

“I believe that our break is over.” He said aloud, Bronn and Levin took glances to the ponies themselves. With a nod, the three of them made their way back to work.

“Say, Levin. I never asked, what were you before this.” Bronn enquired as they walked.

“Oh, I was an assistant to an unicorn mage.” He answered matter of factly.

Bronn looked at him with a… less than impressed face, raising an eyebrow at the assistant’s answer.

“Well that’s… pretty underwhelming. Least it explain why your so bad at farming.” Bronn admitted as they begun their work.

“Hey, I’m not that bad.” Levin complained in a low voice, careful not to draw the attention of the guards.

“Really, cause it looks more like your trying to sweep floors, rather than till dirt.” Bronn laughed.

Hayden tuned them out as he worked, half listening to the pair’s bickering. He simply reflected on the day. He thought on Bronn’s words, and what he’d told him. He thought on Levin’s bravery. He though about the girl, Alice, who’d stolen from the ponies, and risked her safety, so that others could eat.

And then, his thoughts turned to his escape. None of the plan’s he’d come up with would work, all of them leading to his death or recapture. As well as harsh punishment for the humans here.

And if what Alice said was true, that they were being fed less and less, then he didn’t have long before they were barely given scraps. The ponies were most likely keeping the food to themselves, and giving the humans enough to keep them alive. Why waste precious food on lowly slaves, right.

But, it wouldn’t sustain them for long, certainly not threw the winter. It was only a month away but they were already feeling it’s effects. That and there proximity to the crystal empire wasn’t helping. If he was going to escape, it needed to be before winter set in. At least then he’d have a chance in the wilderness.

He didn’t have a plan yet, not an effective one at least. For now, he would bide his time until he had a better chance. But for now, farming called.

“Just because I was an assistant doesn’t mean that I’m not good at doing other things, Bronn!” Levin said harshly.

“Oh yeah, how’s yer cookin’. Or, better yet, how’s your cleaning.” Bronn teased.

“Well, I believe that Levin’s skills are something to be proud of.” Hayden said.

“Than you. See, Hayden get’s it.” Levin thanked, looking at Bronn as if he’d won.

Hayden couldn’t help but smirk, “though Bronn is right, your tilling skills are terrible.”

“Ha! Take that scrawny.” Bronn celebrated.

And from there the bickering continued, but honestly, neither of the three minded it. It was fun, a small ray of light in there bleak situation. And the wind blew, and the sun peaked, as they worked the day away.

Author's Note

Well here’s chapter 2. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a one hitter quitter.

I’m liking the direction it’s going so far, and I have plans to how things are gonna go. But again, right now it’s going to be a little slow, picking up speed in later chapters.

So, we see more of Hayden, and his time on the farm, and the rest of the small gang that’s gathering. Also, more information on these guys, and how they act, as well as their back rounds.

As it stands as of right now, 15 people give this story a thumbs up. And 7 a thumbs down. But, ya know what, I’m alright with that. 15 people like this story, and 3 others commented on it, so I’m happy. As long as 1 person enjoys this story, I’ll keep writing it.

Anyways, tell me of any grammatical errors or writing mistakes I made, I’m sure there’s a few in there. Give me feedback. Tell me how much you love or hate it, I’m fine with both.

And feel free to critique me in anyway you see fit. Goodbye, and have a lovely day.