256 BLB (Before Luna's Banishment)

The sharp sting of the whip on my already bruised and battered flanks made me clench the worn bit in my mouth tighter as I pulled the cart hitched to me. It trundled slowly across the barren field, laden with brick and mortar as I crept towards my goal of a fuzzy patch on the horizon. A lazy pony sat atop my burden, overseeing me and not easing the task in the slightest. I heard the all-too-distinctive swishing sound of his whip as it came down again, hitting me and causing another sharp stab of pain to shoot through my side.

“Move faster you useless zebra! We have work to do!”

I mentally snapped back at him, despite being unable to talk with the bit in. Besides, talking would only mean getting whipped again. Whipping meant next to nothing to me now, but talking would bring about pain with no point. There’s no way a pony would listen to a slave like me.

An hour later, we finally arrived at our destination. It was the foundations of some house where my fellow zebra slaves were working at drawing up the frame and nailing in supports. Of course, they were being watched over by the cruel ponies who wouldn’t hesitate to use their whip if they saw anything amiss. Even the unicorn overseer, who could have helped raise the house in a matter of minutes, just stood in the shade watching.

It all disgusted me. These ponies just sat back and let us slave under the sun, despite being more than capable of kind and gentle spirits. We had once been a proud nation, but we had become fractured by war. Even though I had never seen the plains of Zebrica, born a slave in Equestria as it were, I couldn’t help but feel a longing for it. There was nothing there anymore but the ruins of civilization and the nomadic tribes left, but as my brothers and sisters toiled in front of me, I knew that anything could be rebuilt. If our sweat and blood could be used to build some posh pony’s home, it could be used to rebuild our lives. But we needed our freedom. The freedom the ponies had taken from us to treat us like property.

I glanced around, looking for the pony over me. Instead of his perpetual presence a few yards from me, I saw that he had gone a few dozen feet away to talk to the unicorn. Perfect. All of the others were even further than that and not even paying attention to me. I wriggled a bit, loosening the old, battered harness around my shoulders. It had been ill-fitting for every zebra who had ever taken on its burden, built as it was for healthy equines. Easy to slip out of, though the ponies hadn’t seemed to notice. But why would they notice? We were just property after all, and not very well cared for at that.

I wriggled my body out of it, letting it drop to the sandy ground with a soft thump. I edged around the corner of the cart, spying the canteen of my overseer. I grabbed it and slung it across my shoulders before ducking around the back of the cart, hiding my body from sight. I took a deep breath and let it out, staring at the road less traveled before me. It led straight into the lands where ponies never went, but it was also south: the direction to Zebrica. The direction to freedom. The sun blazed overhead, but I had long grown used to that. Ponies may have had their wings and magic, but we zebras had grown to shrug off the heat like they would shrug off a balmy beach day.

I poked my head around the cart to see if the unicorn was still preoccupied with the pony who brought me here. He was, but now facing me. My eyes widened as I saw him look straight at me. I thought for sure that I would have been seized in his magic and hung up in one of the cages at the slave quarters, left to die and become food for the birds for even trying to escape.

But then, the strangest thing happened. He winked at me. While I stood perplexed, his horn started to glow with magic. I expected him to teleport to me, use his magic for some form of torture, or even to just disintegrate me on the spot.

To my surprise, it was the slaver in front of him that became surrounded by a field of magic. He stood still for a moment, then slumped to the ground. My eyes widened in shock and all I could do was stand there as the unicorn grabbed something and lit his horn before disappearing in a flash. There was an equally blinding flash right next to me, making me jump out of my surprised state.

“Relax, I mean you no harm. I’m not like the other ponies. I would have helped everyzebra escape before now if I could do so without losing my head. But I suppose I’ll have to settle for helping one at a time. What is your name?”

“M-my mother named me Silvari,” I stammered, utterly dumbfounded by the turn of events. A pony was helping me? Why? They all hated zebras; that’s the reason we were enslaved in the first place. We were not a free people because the ponies had taken our freedom away. We could not do as they did and be merry because the ponies had taken our freedom away. So what was this pony doing giving me it back?

“That’s a beautiful name.” With that, he lifted up my hoof, dirty and dust-stained as it was, and kissed it. The expression stunned me, but it was not hard to do that by this point. “Some call me Star, but that’s not as important as you escaping and heading south. Once you pass beyond the borders of Equestria, there will be plenty of creatures of all kinds willing to help you. The only thing is that you’ll have to pass through the Badlands.”

“Is that the canyon to the south here?”

“Yes. Just head straight through it, don’t bother stopping for anything other than to eat and drink. If you need to sleep, find someplace off the ground. And take this.” He teleported another satchel to me, slinging it around my neck so that it mirrored the canteen of water I had stolen. “In there is food, more water, and a map to places where it is safe to rest as well as water sources, should you run out. The trek will take roughly four days.” He embraced me in a hug that I was too shocked to return other than softening slightly. He backed off and looked at me again. “Good luck Silvari. I’ll cover your escape. Now go, and be free.”

I looked at him one last time, trying to discern if he was just leading me wrongly or actually wanted me to be free. As much reason as I had to doubt him, something about his character made me trust him, even if it was only slightly. Besides, I had nothing to lose anymore.

“Thank you Star.”

I turned and galloped across the dusty, rocky earth and headed towards the canyon, running with ever-growing joy as I left my burden of slavery behind.

---

I felt the wind start to tug at my coat again, growing in strength with each passing minute. I looked down and started to see grains of sand shift with it, bouncing along the ground until the wind grew strong enough to pick them up permanently. I knew what was coming. I ducked from the wind behind a nearby rock—there were plenty of those in this landscape—and reached in the bag that the unicorn had given me. I grabbed a piece of cloth that was obviously designed to filter water and act as a protective covering should a sandstorm arrive. I had already used it twice already to keep going through the daily sandstorms.

“Thank you once again Star,” I muttered, reaching up to tie it around my head. Such decorations were so common among zebra culture that they were used even when the wind was completely still. I had frequently seen zebras at the compound wearing headscarves like the one I just tied. I had one myself, but it was left behind along with the rest of my life as a slave. The white of the cloth currently tied around my face reminded me all the more of the freedom that I now had.

Two days had passed since I had left the realm of slavery to be a free zebra mare. Judging by the map, I was only two days away from the end. The sand around me blew with even greater force as the long view I had become used to seeing became shorter and shorter as time stretched onward.

The rock I had picked to lean against no longer offered me shelter, sand swirling in from the sides to pelt my coat. I needed to find a cave; preferably an unoccupied one. I got up again and started to make my way through the growing sandstorm, following the slightly lighter rock that marked the path I could barely see. I didn’t dare take the map out again for fear of it being ripped away by the winds, so I blindly wandered forward.

It was not long before I saw the outline of a massive black object ahead. It was unusual, as the entire landscape around me was various shades of red and brown. I headed towards it, hoping that it would be some sort of shelter.

As I neared it, I saw that it was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was mostly dome shaped, like a sphere that had been broken in two and thrust into the ground. Its top vanished into the sand, but it looked like a spire extended up from the dome. Scattered across it were massive holes of varying sizes, the largest easily the size of an overseer’s house. It glowed from within them with a strange green light that pulsed like a heartbeat, slow and constant. Its outer shell was black, though lightened by what must have been years of sun. It was absolutely massive and steadily appeared larger as I walked towards it. I couldn’t see any signs of movement from within other than the light.

Finally, I reached its side, still cautious, but glad to escape the wrath of the sandstorm from at least one side. The sand continued to bite my flank, but I was lost in thought over the strange black structure. I touched it, expecting some sort of squishiness that went along with the green light. To my surprise, it was hard and smooth, not too unlike the carapaces of insects I had eaten. I couldn’t even feel marks where the sand should have carved grooves. I walked along side of it, searching for a hole close enough to the ground that I could take shelter in.

Eventually, making my way around it, I found one. It glowed weaker than the others and I stepped in, the hard, but somewhat slippery, floor easily supporting my weight. I reached up with a hoof and pulled the sand scarf from my nose and mouth, breathing deeply a breath free of sand. Curious, I walked farther inwards, idly brushing my flank against the walls. The tunnel itself started to slope downward slightly and I continued walking, drawn in by curiosity. The walls were made of the same black material as the outside, though they too were pockmarked with holes; the floor kept the same smoothness as the outside.

The green light grew more intense as I walked, gradually making it so that everything I saw was green. It finally reached a point where it ceased getting brighter and I knew that I was near the end. I had no idea how long I walked, but given the size of the thing I was in and how far I had traveled, it was quite a ways.

In front of me was a curved wall, glowing with the green light that filled the tunnel. It seemed to be its source. The floor leveled out and the walls turned to openings, leading off to the left and right. I warily slipped my bags from my shoulders and set them down, walking to the right.

The route led in a tight circle, always with the curved glowing green wall on my left. The entrance that I came from was the only way in—and out— from this place that I could see. I came around from the circle back to my bags.

Stepping forward, I examined the glowing wall more closely. From it, I could see a very faint movement, as well as the throbbing of light that was visible from outside. From what I could figure, it was alive and creating the light, and the light’s pulse was the heartbeat of this strange material. Tentatively reaching out a hoof, I touched it. It was squishy, vastly different from the chitinous material I had encountered before now. But my mind didn’t have long to dwell on that matter.

“Greetings, mortal.”

I yelped in surprise and staggered back, tripping over my bags as I stared up at the wall in wonder. A voice had just sounded in my head, deep and old. It was the voice of an ancient being, one who had been here since the world was young. Ancients were not to be disrespected, as I had been taught frequently as a young zebra. They were spirits more powerful than any mortal and deserved to be treated with the utmost respect. And if one talked, I listened. I hesitantly reached out a hoof again, connecting with the surface once more.

“Apologies, did we frighten you?” The voice was different, this time a female. Her voice was light, though touched with caring.

“Only a little bit. It is a great honor to speak with beings such as yourselves.” Awkwardly, while still keeping a hoof on the surface, I attempted a bow. I heard a laugh from the female voice, cheery and soothing.

“We do not stand much on ceremony here, but your gesture is much appreciated.”

“Indeed. Tell us, what is your name?” the first voice rumbled.

“Silvari.” I answered. I was in complete awe, never in my wildest dreams thinking that I would find spirits here.

“A beautiful name. I am she called Volucris and this grumpy fellow is Vicis. We are the Hive.”

“The… Hive?” I questioned.

“Yes young one.” Vicis echoed through my mind. “You stand at its center; its heart if you will. It has been here for many ages, sprung from one of the seeds of Yggdrasil. We are its keepers, and we have been awaiting the arrival of one such as yourself.”

“If you wish, you may enter in and become the queen of the Hive, a ruler of an entire nation.”

“M-me? Wouldn’t you want a pony instead?”

A deep laugh sounded through my mind. “Nay little one. A pony would not do to be the ruler of the Hive. Their spirits are not fit for this blessing.”

A thrill of happiness went through me as I was told that I was better than a pony, at least at something other than labor. I lifted another hoof, leaning my entire weight on the glowing green wall. “What do I have to do?”

”Enter.” They said, both ancient voices sounding at the same time. As they did so, the wall in front of me slid down and I removed my hooves from it. It became flush with the ground, allowing me to see inside.

I took a step forwards, then another one to enter into the strange place. The ground was soft and springy, almost identical to the green wall on the outside. Probably the same material, as this one also gentle pulsed with light. When I stepped on the surface, paths of pure green light along the floor walls lit up, the light running through them like water in a stream. I stared upwards as the light raced to the top of the chamber, a top far off that I couldn’t make it out even as the lights became fully lit. Looking down from the far-off ceiling, I turned my attention to the center of the room where three objects rested.

The first was on a white pillar streaked with blue lines. It was a stone wing, shaped like a bug’s would be. It was elaborately detailed, from the veins running through it to the delicately punctured holes in the wing. The pillar itself had a single plaque that read “Volucris.”

Turning to the second pillar, I saw that it was black with streaks of green running through it, not unlike the outside of the hive and the rest of this chamber. It too had a label: Vicis. The item itself was a stone horn, though pitted with holes in the sides. Even still, the spirals that were typically on a unicorn horn wove around them. It made it seem as if the holes were natural, not missing from damage.

On a hunch, I started to reach out a hoof towards the horn.

“I would not do that little one. Touch it and your mind explodes from exposure to my essence. You can’t handle it just yet.”

Doing as he asked—it was never wise to ignore an ancient—I removed my hoof from near the horn. Assuming the same would happen with Volucris’s wing, I turned my attention to the third item. It sat on a pedestal behind the two other items. It was an orb split in two, one side black and the other white. The two sides were not constant either, consistently swirling around and over each other to create an effect not unlike oil and water shaken together. It looked like glass, that rare substance hanging in the overseer’s office. It looked to have something suspended within it, causing it to glow from within. I peered closer trying to see it, but the swirling vapors and lines of black and white obscured my vision.

“Should I touch it?” I asked aloud.

“Are you ready to become more than you are?” I swallowed, then nodded my head.

“Then pick up the orb young one.”

I picked up the orb, my nerves tingling in my leg as I did so. I lifted it and was able to read the sole word carved on its surface before it shot a tingling sensation through my entire body, dropping me to the ground and sending the orb out of my hoof.

“Change.”