Snickers: A New Land

Morning came after a long and restful sleep for Red. He turned over on the sod he’d bedded on and looked out into the gloom of the cavern he was in. Light reflected through crystals as large as he was, in some cases, from an unknown source as he licked his dry lips. “Master?” He asked out of habit.

Slowly Red recalled the previous day’s events and frowned at the thought of calling out to a creature that used him for longer than he could recall. He scooted to the edge and climbed to his hooves, shaking for a moment to get the sleep out of his body. “Hello?” He called out at a slightly louder than speaking voice.

Looking around he smiled at his own living space, then the morning urge to pee came to his senses. He was about to go where he stood like he had since he was young, but he wasn’t tied to a post anymore when he woke up; he also didn’t want his new home to smell like his old one. Quickly moving to the exit tunnel, he scooted and climbed his way out and into the berry bush that hid the entrance.

He nipped a couple berries as he extricated himself and chewed the sweet bits while exiting. He went a few lengths away, found a nice mossy patch, and finally emptied his bladder. Once done, he went a ways ahead and listened to the quiet sounds of morning nature.

No whips cracked. No creatures shouted at him. No threats. No stallions. No mares. There wasn’t a creature that could control him for days walk in any direction. He noticed a chill on his cheek and wiped at the spot, looking at his hoof to see a wet spot. He snerked at the fact he was crying for once without pain or sadness being the reason.

He sighed and wiped his cheeks, then turned back to his bush. His bush, he chuckled. One of the first things he had that wasn’t related to his indentured servitude; and it was a bush covered with berries. A bed. A table. A cavern to call his own, and it was all thanks to a creature that he never imagined.

“Where is she?” Red asked as he took a couple careful bites of the berries and leaves.

He walked around the tree and bush before calling out. “Laxxie? Where are you, girl?” There wasn’t an answer for almost the minute he waited. “Huh… I hope she didn’t leave me like,” he bit his bottom lip. “Laxxie?!”

The leaves on the trees rustled in a breeze as the only reply. His nerves began to get the better of him and he started to worry about how to survive and what creatures could be out in the forest; which could be hungry enough to find a lone pony as a tasty meal. He hurried back into the tunnel and when he emerged he rushed to the bed and climbed onto it.

Heart heavy at the potential loss of his new friend, he began to cry.

“Red?” A voice called from the broken tree above. A second later there was a soft thump as something was dropped in followed by the timberpony herself.

Red sat up and grinned at the shadowed filly. “Laxxie! You came back… why didn’t you answer when I called for you?”

“You were too loud, that’s a good way to get a wolf after you. Here,” Laxxie said and lowered her head to the floor. “I got you a rabbit. It’s good for a pony to eat, right?

Red watched her pick up a little white rabbit in her mouth and he hesitated. “I… don’t know. Is it safe?”

Laxxie sniffed the bunny before she scooped it into her mouth. “Yup. Fmelfs goof.” She trotted happily to the center of the cavern and dropped it on the floor. “Eat up, it’s good.”

Red grimaced. “Shouldn’t it be cooked first, or something? I don’t feel hungry enough to eat raw meat, or meat at all.”

Laxxie looked at him with her lime green eyes. “Then cook it.”

“Can you… make a fire for me?” Red asked.

Laxxie shivered. “I don’t like to be too close to fire,” she admitted, poking the rabbit with a forehoof.

“Oh,” Red said, thinking it over, “I guess that makes sense. I don’t know how to start a fire, so what else is there to eat?”

Laxxie stood up and pointed a direction outside the cavern. “The garden, then?” Red nodded. “So, you’re not going to eat this?” Red shook his head. Laxxie leaned down and chomped harshly into the middle of the rabbit, earning a quiet whimper from the pony. She tossed it into the air and caught it with another crunch before she giggled and went to the wall.

Seamlessly, the timberpony climbed the roots to the ceiling and out of the cavern. Red felt his stomach ache in either hunger or nausea he couldn’t tell. He ignored it as he’d done hundreds of times before and quickly went to the tunnel and left to follow Laxxie to the garden.

After finishing the fruit and vegetables he’d started the evening before, Red made a spot to fertilize future growth and left Laxxie to tend to the vegetation and melons, fruits, and berries. Red moved to the edge of the garden and laid down between some large tree roots on some soft detritus to watch Laxxie work.

He watched her go to where he’d gone to the restroom and grimaced. “Ew! Are you eating my… mess?”

Laxxie looked up from beside the tree, chewing slowly. She smiled and nodded. “It’s good for growing.”

Red gagged. “I thought you were grown already!” Laxxie pranced to the center of the garden and looked up into the warm blue sky as she rooted herself. “Now what are you doing?”

“Feeding. Sharing.” Red watched as she stood still under the sporadic sunlight that broke through the canopy for a few minutes, then she lifted her hooves one at a time. “There, the food is happy now. You can eat them again soon, once they are ready.”

Red licked his lips as he looked at a head of cabbage. Bright, green, white veins full of water. He got up noting his legs hurt less today than they had the day before. “When will they be ready?”

“You can eat any of them when the leaves shadows reach those branches,” she pointed to a tree and Red followed her point but did not see what she was talking about.

“What? What leaves, which tree? That one?”

“No… I will tell you when. So,” Laxxie started, “what is it like being a slave?”

Red looked at her with a hurt frown. “Why do you care?”

“Because friends care about each other, daddy says.”

Red glanced away. “He’s a smart pony, I guess. Fine; it was awful. I was tied to a post most nights with the water trough just at the edge of reach. I’d have to dip my hoof in it and drink that way… while standing in my own crap and pee because that’s where I could only go. I was worked pulling carts or carrying loads all day while nights that I wasn’t tied up were spent,” he stopped and felt tears filling his eyes.

“I was called The Bike and my wing was their handlebar. I don’t know what a bike really is, but I hate them if that’s what they’re used for. The mares wouldn’t touch me, though. They’d help me after the stallions and bulls were done, healing me from what they’d done through the day. Whipping me when I wasn’t working hard enough was never enough, they broke me every day…”

Red stopped when he felt firm legs wrap around his neck. He knew it was Laxxie, but he didn’t understand why. Affection was rare beyond a couple females that cared for him. He sat straight for a moment until she nuzzled him. He shook and then trembled, finally letting tears fall and cried to softly leave his muzzle.

“It wasn’t good what they did to you, but my daddy and family will make it better.”

Red cried louder and shook his head at random intervals. “N-no. I can’t go back; he’ll take me back, I know it.”

Laxxie patted his back. “No, he won’t. He’s a very good pony and won’t let you be hurt ever again. I promise.”

A minute passed as Red cried onto Laxxie’s back. “I… trust you, I guess. I mean, how much worse can one colt and a couple fillies be against my life until now.”

Laxxie pulled back to look into his eyes with her own. He looked deeply into them and leaned in for a kiss. She pulled back and shook her grassy mane. “I don’t… I don’t know about that, Red. My daddy is a prince and will talk to other ponies in charge to keep you safe, I know it.”

Red blinked a couple last tears from his eyes and, slightly embarrassed, nodded. “Okay, you’ve helped me so far. I trust you, and him. When can I meet him?”

Laxxie pulled back completely and placed her hooves in the soil. “I’ll ask and you can eat now while I do.”

Red cocked his head at her, then shrugged and went to eat again. “I shouldn’t kiss you anyway; you just ate shit.”

Laxxie giggled into a forehoof.

Daddy? Can you hear me? Laxxie asked through the void between them, not having tried to communicate with Snickers for a while now.

Yes? The answer finally came almost ten seconds later.

I made a friend. He wants to meet you. He’s very nice and big, but too skinny because he was a slave.

There was a silence that made her wonder if her message had been sent properly before Snickers replied.

Where are you? Are you safe? Is he safe? Do you need food or anything right away? Snickers asked hurriedly.

Laxxie shook her head slightly, even though the action was moot. No, I have a garden I was going to surprise you with he’s eating from. I helped him make a small home in a hole underground. A cave, I think the word is. We’re a day’s trot from Frand in the forest.

She could feel him groan through the link. Can you get closer to the city? I’ll find a way to sneak him into my apartment if we can.

Laxxie looked back at the large red colt munching happily on a cabbage, then smiled. It’ll take a couple days before he’s strong enough for the trip, but we can make it.

There’s no rush. If he’s an escaped slave… I was one once, and I know being free at first is hard. Guide him, help him, and when you think he’s ready, bring him to the city. We’ll keep him safe.

Okay, daddy. I love you and miss you.

I love and miss you too, Pup.

Laxxie giggled loudly. I’m not your pup anymore, I’m a pony now.

I know. But you’ll always be my little Pup. I’ve really gotta go, but keep me up to date with anything that happens, or when you’re on your way.

Okay. See you soon. Laxxie thought as she turned back to Red, who was looking at her curiously. “What? Do I have rabbit on my muzzle still?”

Red shook his head slightly. “No, you just acted really weird.”

“Oh? I was just talking to my daddy with magic, he’s ready to meet you, when you’re ready. He said a couple days, do you think that’s okay?”

Red stood still for a few seconds as he thought it over, then nodded. “Yeah, that sounds fine. Maybe you can tell me about him, I bet he’s a real neat guy.”

Laxxie smiled. “He is. He’s the best pony ever! Well, close to it.”

Night came almost too soon and instead of hiding in his cavern, Red sat outside and looked up to the sky. He saw a dozen stars through the treetops and recalled looking at them a week ago, imagining flying with them in the sky. His remaining wing moved a little brining pain he forgot about.

He looked back and forced his useless wing away from his body about an inch before the cramps started in his back and he let it snap closed to his side again.

“Are you okay?” Laxxie asked softly as she quietly approached him from behind. “You look like that hurt.”

“It should have been cut off years ago like the other one,” Red lamented. “It’s useless and I’d make a better earth pony anyway. All I ever did was haul stuff around my master’s manor.”

Laxxie sat beside him, the side with the injured wing, and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I think it’s a very nice wing and you’d be very sad to lose it. My daddy won’t care about it, and neither will his herd or friends. They’ll like you very much, I’m sure of it. Why are you looking at the sky?”

“I like watching the stars. I like to think that each one is a free pony in the world and that means that we aren’t all slaves. But, I guess that doesn’t apply to me as much anymore.”

Laxxie looked between Red and the sky, then giggled. “You’re a star now! A big red star.”

They shared a laugh and Red wrapped a foreleg around Laxxie’s back. “Yeah, I’m a star now.”

Laxxie climbed down the tree roots to find Red asleep still from the night before. She crept toward him and nuzzled his foreleg. Red jolted awake kicking his forelegs as he tried to find purchase to stand up. “Yes, master?!” He called out. Laxxie didn't flinch back, but she stood looking at him. “Huh?” He asked blearily. He realized where he was and who had woken him up. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. You’re just confused when you wake up. Daddy was like that for a while when he first left home, too.”

Red yawned. “Yeah, that. Is everything okay?”

“Of course,” Laxxie chirped, “it’s sunrise and time to wake up. It’s the day we go meet my daddy!”

Red clenched his jaw. “Um, do we have to? I mean, I want to, but I kind of like it here.”

Laxxie nodded. “Yes, friends don’t lie to each other; you are my friend, right?”

Red sat up and blinked his eyes several times. “I’m your friend, Laxxie. You’re my only friend and I wouldn’t lie to you. I don’t want to lose your friendship after everything you’ve done for me.”

“Great! We’ll go after you pee and have breakfast at the garden. Hurry up, I haven’t seen daddy for almost a whole moon,” she urged and hopped twice before turning away.

Red groaned as he got out of bed and stretched, went to the tunnel, and left into the bush. He ate some more berries as he passed out of it into the cold morning air. He went to his usual pee spot and then followed his energetic friend to the garden, trying at the halfway point to race until he nearly tripped.

Eating a variety of vegetables, he was ready to follow Laxxie to Frand. “Are you ready now?” Laxxie asked as she hopped in place.

“Yeah, I guess,” Red said as anxiety filled his being. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”

“Okay, follow me.”

A step turned into a thousand paces before doubling again and again as the day slowly passed from morning to afternoon and then evening began to fall. All the while, between long bouts of silence, Laxxie would talk about Snickers and what she knew of his herd and friends. Red was nervous about meeting a gryphon, but was told it would be safe, especially with Snickers there.

Finally, Laxxie told him to stop; which he did so suddenly he nearly stumbled forward. “We’re here. Daddy will be here in a moment with a couple friends. Stay quiet, just in case.”

Red squatted low and did his best to hide in the detritus while rustling came from beside them. His heart raced as the group approached and when they entered view he nearly bolted. Four ponies wearing cloaks with the hoods up entered the small clearing Laxxie was in. Laxxie rushed to one of the creatures and glomped it.

“Daddy! I missed you, I’ve been a good pony and helped my new friend, Red, stay alive.”

Hoods were drawn back and Snickers returned the hug. “I missed you too, Pup. I haven’t talked with you for weeks, sorry about that. I’ve been going to therapy, that’s a place to help me with what happened with the bandits.”

“Laxxie, it is good to see you after so long,” Kiwe said with a smile. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon formed a square around the timberpony, all happy to see her.

Laxxie removed herself from the hug and turned to face Red. “Hey, come over here!” She said enthusiastically.

Red stood and quickly trotted to the outside of the group, all facing the very thin red colt. Red stopped at the edge of the group and lowered his head. “Yes, I’m here.”

“Oh, my,” Diamond Tiara said, “he’s so thin.”
Silver Spoon nodded as she stood by Diamond. “Are you, like, okay? You look so tired and, like… uh, I dunno.”

Snickers pushed between the two while Kiwe walked to the outside of the herd. “So, you’re Red, huh?”

Red lowered his head more. “Yes, master.”

Snickers frowned. “Don’t call me master, I’m not your master… I’m your friend.” Snickers said as Red looked up to him from his lower position. Red stood tall and Snickers’s eyes widened at the large colt. “Wow,” he whispered.

Diamond Tiara looked aside to her stallion and a smirk crossed her lips. “What’re you looking at?”

Snickers blinked and looked aside to Diamond. “He’s huge, is what. Look at him, he’s practically a stallion.”

Silver Spoon looked him over. “He doesn’t have a cutie mark yet, so he can’t be that old. But yeah, he’s pretty big.”

“Regardless of his size, we should make haste returning to our apartment in Frand,” Kiwe advised. He lit his horn and golden magic pulled a cloak from his saddlebag. “Put this on.”

Red stepped forward. “Yes, master.”

The group frowned. “We’re not your masters or mistresses, we’re just ponies, like you. I’m Snickers, this is Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. The last one of us is Kiwe, he’s a great colt, too.”

Each nodded as they were introduced. Red looked between them and smiled a little. “O-okay, I’ll do my best.”

“That’s a good start,” Snickers said as Red looked at the cloak. Kiwe helped the red colt slip it on and pulled the hood over his head. ”Hey, look at you; ready to sneak into the city like a spy.”

Red adjusted his hood. “A spy, sir?”

Snickers sighed and pressed a forehoof to his head. “This is gonna be a long walk.”

“Yes, sir. I apologize, sir… for annoying you.” Red responded.

Snickers nudged the fillies away from him as he stepped to the larger pony. “Look at me.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m not your master and you’re not my slave. My name is Snickers… sometimes Aquelis, but we’ll cover that when we need to. Call me by my name.”

“Yes, Snickers.”

Snickers rolled his eyes and turned back to the others. “I’ve seen this before. He’s indoctrinated, completely broken, or almost. C’mon,” he said looking back to see the colt’s eyes moving to the ground, “let’s go to your new home.”