Frostpony: Of Hounds & Horses

Rini sat in near silence, only disturbed by the ever present hum of machinery outside but easily drowned by her breathing, if she paid it any attention.

Bramble’s fall wasn’t even half an hour ago, and her mind replayed it over it and over. That fateful moment he watched the cables fail and the crate fall, sandwiching the Diamidian between it and the ground.

She knew him for being an enduring spirit, one that could roll with the punches and put on a smile at once. It wasn’t the first time he’d been the focus of an accident, or had even been buried by his workload, literally in several cases.

Despite that however, Rini’s confidence in his ability wasn’t absolute and there was still an aura of uncertainty to whether or not he’d recover, let alone survive.

“At least Snap’s understanding, as many times as we stick each other with needles.”

Rini took another sip from her cup, allowing the cool freshness of the water to help sooth her head. She had to be careful not to let it spill over her cavity or it would have driven a fresh spike of pain into her, but she managed.

“I guess we’ll see if Brambles makes it. He probably will, he’s the type to forget what pain is and ignore it after all.”

She glazed over who to blame and quickly pinned it on the soldiers. They’d brought the Vehicle Bay here afterall, and if they were more strict with their safety measures this could’ve been avoided.

Of course they’d voided such practices for the sake of time. Only wanting to get the thing back in peak condition as quickly as they could so they could leave.

They needed the Rustbucket, it was the only thing keeping their trucks working. Sure they could leave now, but Caleb wanted it in the best possible shape.

“But why? How far is the next industrial town that could service it and their vehicles? With how much they're putting into it, it’s like they're expecting to make a big grand trip, but where? And why?”

Rini stared into the ceiling, cranking her mental cogs as she collected the puzzle pieces.

The military was going around covertly evicting ponies from their homes and dismantling their lives, but where would they go?

Several memories then flashed by her, ones of a newspaper her mom had bought home followed by a letter, both regarding her brother and one of the fabled, “Elements of Harmony.”

A foalnapping.

She remembered that day, how shocked she was, how red with anger her mother was and the letter of apology that followed after.

Some things were better left forgotten, but sometimes, even a buried memory could be worth its weight in gold.

At once, everything clicked into place and her eyes went wide. The mentions of a community centre from the letter Gale read, how they were going to draft him if he failed to pay bills and of course that poster hailing, “The Great Diamidian Community.”

“The ponies shall be put in their place.” Rini whispered, recalling how much those words sickened her.

“Slavery…”

Eyes grew wide as the realisation finally hit her.

“They’re going to put all the ponies into slavery.”

She knew it was all window dressing. She just didn’t expect the view to be so big.

“State…sponsored…slavery…”

Rini arched her head back towards the ground, her paws covering her face as she was once more struck with realisation. It’d become a recurring theme at this point, only this time the terrible truth had hit her in full force.

Was she the only one? Diamidians weren’t known for being particularly bright. Most were likely taking what the military said at face value or were warded off by their wording and terminology. Community service was a much nicer term than slavery after all. And most Diamidians would rather accept such a thing rather than raise a fuss.

“I…should do something, I need to do something. They can’t get away with this, not on that scale.”

Yet that left one question, was there anything she could do? Rini thought back to all the vehicles they had. The trucks, the armoured cars, all the sleds and of course the vehicle bay.

Without the proper facilities to create or fashion spare parts, they all required one thing to keep them running properly: The Rustbucket.

“They’d be stuck here without it. Unable to transport all the captured ponies to their slave camps.”

Once again the pieces were falling neatly into place and a plan was starting to form in her head.

“I have to talk to mom, get her angle on the idea. It’s not the vehicle bay itself they need, it's all the machining equipment inside it. No way I can just break all that and make it look accidental, even for a Diamidian that’s too obvious.”

Rini looked down at herself, her greased, black stained work gloves and the small tools that lined her padded work overalls.

“I’ve proved myself an asset here, they trust me. If anything they want me to work more, overtime around the clock. Snapjaw doesn’t like them, and maybe I can bring Cole into the mix, depending on his experience.``

With one more deep breath she picked herself up and turned towards the door. A new sense of purpose burning within her, ignited by the spark of rebellion.

From this point forward, her work was about more than a simple paycheck.

Rini arrived home late that night.

Not as late as when she’d overworked, but a couple extra hours would help ease her in she figured.

With weary eyes she turned the knob and walked through. “Mom! I’m ho-Errk!”

Before she’d finished announcing herself, Riley jumped from seemingly nowhere and bound her within a tight hug. Taken by surprise, Rini groaned from her mother’s loving grip.

“Rini my little pup, I’m so glad you’re back!” She said, her voice quiet and trembling.

“M-Mom!” Rini barely managed to get out as her lungs were slowly compressed.

“Oh, right.”

Riley relinquished her grip and the two separated. Rini caught her breath while her mother took a few steps back, her tail anxiously wagging. “S-Sorry dear.”

“It's…fine,” She coughed, patting her chest, “I know I was late again, it's gonna be a running theme.”

The two locked eyes and right away Rini saw her mother’s distress, in case her desperate hug wasn’t enough. Riley assumed a more neutral expression a split second later and turned away, attempting to hide it.

“What’s wrong mom?” Rini asked, following her into the living room. “Is Gale alright?”

When the two walked inside Riley raised a paw and looked up at the mounted clock, quietly closing each digit as she counted down.

The moment it struck nine o'clock a sharp, a distant horn sounded out.

Rini turned as if to look in the direction it came from. “What was that?”

“Curfew Rini, they’re running curfews now.”

She was about to reply, but her mother’s reveal killed her voice and her mouth was left agape. Instead, Riley gestured towards the couch and fetched herself a cup of water.

“You’d better sit down dear, I have the feeling we might be together for a while.”

Giving up on words, Rini just nodded and did as requested. Riley sat down next to her a minute later, cup to the side.

Both Diamidians sat in quiet silence, with their auras a cocktail of various emotions. Anger, grief, dread, sorrow, a hundred different knives hovering around their minds. Neither felt fit to speak first and for a brief time they simply sat, basking in the other’s presence.

Such tranquillity had to end eventually however, and Riley rose to the top.

“So…you wanna know how Gale’s doing?”

Rini nodded.

“Well, good news, they haven’t caught him yet. Bad news, he’s effectively homeless. Found them looting his place under the guise of an investigation.”

Riley looked onwards as her daughter slowed turned to face her. Eyes as wide as plates and pure horror overtaking all else. Yet she continued, her blank stare apathetic to even her own thoughts.

“Everything’s gone. All his furniture, decorations, personnel items, even his costumes got taken. Mutt I was talking to didn’t even know half the words he was saying, but at least he told me about the curfew.”

Now she turned to face her, and was greeted by Rini’s trembling lip. Her shoulders slumped and her breathing became erratic, the tell tale signs of what was to come.

Riley once more embraced her as the dam broke, and a river of tears streamed down her face. Slowly she rocked back and forth to help comfort her troubled pup, who endlessly struggled to utter a single word.

“-B-B-Bramb-b-b-bles…”

Once it’s been croaked out, she cried proper and buried her muzzle into her arm. Riley maintained herself and kept to the practice, one she’d played out a thousand other times. Patiently waiting for her to vent it all out.

“It’s alright, I’m here for you my little pup.”

Rini poured into her, soaking her sleeve and ruining a half dozen tissues before she’d come close to finishing. Whimpering and whining with her tail tucked away all throughout.

In the end, she was left panting and heaving. Every breath drawn with the effort of a mountain climb, her eyes pink and raw with worry and pent-up stress. In only a few short days she had our whole world flipped upon its head and such wear was taking a toll on her.

With a weight of her own, Riley watched as Rini drew away into her own corner of the couch.

She offered her that cup of water and for the second time that day, Rini took it and downed it. After shedding so many tears she needed to refill her glass.

It wasn’t often she let herself go like that, and deep down, Riley dreaded what she had to say.

“Brambles…he uh…” She struggled with words, each gravelled and quiet as mice. “Accident…there was an accident.”

Riley’s fear began to surface as she continued, taking gulp after gulp to help ease the passage.

“He fell, got crushed by a crate. They took him away…I don’t know if he’s okay.”

Riley cringed as light was made of her daughter’s breakdown, only able to reply simply. “Oh…oh no.”

Rini gulped down the last of her drink and looked towards her. Paws shaking as she clutched the cup.

“We have to leave. The mutt in charge of the soldiers…he’s going around foalnapping ponies, wants to rename the town to something more Diamidian. The military is running state sponsored slavery mom! And once they’re ready they’ll takeeveryponywiththemandmoveontothenexttown!”

“Okay! Okay, one thing at a time Rini! Try saying it all at once and your tongue will trip itself.”

Rini let out a nervous whine as she fidgeted with the cup. Breathing slowly and pacing her speech.

“Gale’s not an isolated case. Captain Caleb’s been going around quietly foalnapping all the ponies. I don’t know where they’re being kept, but they can’t leave Cherrywood until all their transports are ready.”

Her mother nodded and moved closer, patting her shoulder all the while she talked.

“They have this massive mobile workshop they’re using to fashion spare parts. Without its equipment they can’t leave, but I can’t just sabotage it. It’d be too obvious and the most I’d likely do is delay them.”

“Right, and you said you wanted to leave?” Riley was still trying to process everything that was being said.

“I-I don’t want to leave mom. I’ve lived here my whole life, grew up with the rest of the town. I don’t know anything outside.”

Riley sat up and gave her a solemn smile as she rested her arm around her shoulder.

“That’s not true dear, we both still know where your brother lives, and you know plenty about the wild. It's true I didn’t take you away from town or travel much, something I really should’ve done more, but I have every confidence you’re prepared for the wider world.”

Still tear stricken, Rini felt her words soothed her a hundred fold more than any promise of payment or pleasure. After so many changes, so many life altering actions and ill fates befalling her friends, Rini needed this.

And it couldn’t have come from a better person.

“You’re shown you can handle yourself just fine, Rini. Your father would be proud, I’m proud, and you should be too.”

“Your…not gonna protest?"

“I knew I couldn’t hold onto you forever. One day you won’t have me by your side guiding your actions, but I vowed that until that day came, I’d watch over you like a hawk.”

“T-Thanks mom.” Rini croaked.

“Don’t mention it. Now get some rest, you’ve had a long day. Don’t worry, we’ll plan this out together.”

The two hugged and just when Rini thought the well had run dry, she found yet more tears to shed. Not of sadness or sorrow, but of gratitude for her mother.

Much like the day, it would be a long night.