I cracked my eyes open perhaps an hour or so later. Scraps looked even more abused and the third dog remained trying to not get punched. They had stopped, and my limbs were slowly returning to me.

Not that it really mattered. I was tied up. Helpless.

"Hey boss, I think he's awake again." The unnamed underling pointed to me with a paw.

The leader growled. "Will you stop telling me that? It doesn't matter. In a few minutes, we ditch him and he goes to the mines. And then we get paid." She muttered under her breath. "Maybe I can afford to get some better help."

"I 'eard 'at." Scraps slurred. I rolled my eyes. I almost felt bad for the lead dog. I was still going to kill her later if I could, but her death would not be unpleasant.

"You were meant to." She said simply.

After quite a bit more of such entertaining, and yes I do mean that sarcastically, conversation, I was left by a large wooden door. Still bound. And left to my thoughts.

My thoughts were mostly filled with screaming at me for whatever they could try to find to blame me for as I tried not to go into full on panic. At least until the door opened and a large burly griffon picked me up. And when I say large, I mean that he picked me up under on arm and had to stoop to get through the door way that I was two thirds of the height of.

He unbound me with a slash of his front talons and for a brief second I thought about making a run for it. The moment passed after thinking about how easily those talons could slash me open. He pushed me ahead of him. "Get walking."

And around that point was the point that I realized that not only was I on all fours, I had no toes and balancing without toes was hard. I fell flat on my face trying to get in front of him. He sighed. "They over drugged you. Great... Such a shame. I was hoping those three were finally going to be profitable." He pushed me back to my hooves.

I was still trying not to panic over the fact that I had hooves. Or a snout. On the bright side, the dogs were gone. I took a shaky step forward and just barely managed to stay on my new wobbling hooves.

He nodded. "What is your name?" He pushed me forward.

"Ivan." I paused for a minute and tried to ignore how outclassed I felt. "Sir." I added after an awkward pause.

"Now Ivan. You seem like a bright zebra. What do you think has happened to the last couple of thousand of slaves who thought they could escape?" He spoke in an assuring voice.

At the word slave I tensed. "I imagine they died." Another pause. "Sir." Number one rule of life that I've found is to bow to authority until you can circumvent it. Then abuse it to the max.

He nodded. "Yes. Now, are you attached to the name Ivan?"

What kind of a question was that? "Yes sir."

"That's too bad. Do you know why?"

I had a bad feeling. "No sir."

"It's the same reason why I'm being so polite to you. Your new name is now Canary. You will respond to the name Canary and not Ivan. If any being asks for your name, you will give it as Canary. If you are to refer to why you are named Canary, you are to say it is your name and job title. My name is Terror. Your name is Canary. Do you know what your job is?" Terror. What kind of a name is Terror?

I continued walking, almost proud that I was slowly getting better at it. "No sir."

"Your job is to cast a simple spell that will determine whether a shaft has valuables in it. If there is toxic gas, we expect you to accomplish your goal anyway. If there are bats, accomplish your goal. After you scan for a period of a minute, you are to advance 100 feet into the shaft and repeat the spell. Then you are to report to whoever is in charge of the slaves there." He talked and I listened.

Still trying to worm my way into a good place with authority, I remained polite. "What sort of valuables? Sir."

"There is no need to be so polite. If we ever meet again after this it will be because I am killing you. You are searching for metal ores, coal, and gems. The spell will tell you which is which. Now tell me. How much magic do you know?" He continued pushing me forward.

I realized that he was distracting me even further so I couldn't find my way out as easily. "I know none. Sir." Hold back your panic.

"None? Truly? What do you remember before you came here?" 'Terror' stopped before yet another massive door.

I stopped as well. "I remember nothing. Only my name."

"Tell the first being who speaks to you that you require your garments and a ruby. And what is your name?"

"Ivan, sir." I turned when there was no reply.

He was giving me a massive death glare, the kind that read that he would strip the flesh from my body and use my bones to clean the blood from under his talons. "Your name is Canary. If you refer to yourself as something else I will personally kill you. Welcome to the Rej mines." The door opened and he pushed me inside.

The door slammed shut behind me. I was in what could best be described as an old fashioned military compound. There were 'barracks' on either side of me poorly lit by torches. Far off in the distance to the point I had to squint to bring it into focus, there were what I imagined to be arrow slits above a large cave opening. Torches had them well lit up. I walked forward slowly.

"A new arrival, eh? You're never getting out." The first being that I met was a shriveled up husk of a zebra who was clad only in a thin leather belt that had a small pounch dangling off of it. His eyes seemed dull and uninspiring. His hair looked like it was going to fall out. "I suppose your my replacement?"

I was really not liking where this was going. "My name is Canary."

He nodded. "Ay. So is mine." He handed me a notched red gem and I lifted it, balancing it on my left front hoof. I was shaky just from trying to do that. I looked at it and as far as I could tell, the marked gem was a ruby. He stared at me in an unnerving manner, close to adoration.

"What are the notches?" I asked curiously.

"Bite marks. Occasionally a Canary doesn't make it out of the shafts. Usually the gas will get them. It makes their muscles spasm and then you end up with bite marks." He gave me a hug. "You have saved me from that fate..."

I pushed him off of me. "What the hell! Get off of me you wrinkled freak!" I backed away from him.

"You don't understand! The things you see down there will change you! I remember things I never did. I don't even know what's real..." He seemed about to break down into tears.

I tried to well up pity for him. I really did. "Teach me the spell and give me the garments." I was a little giddy. Magic. Actual magic.

He looked down. "Fine. Take the ruby in your mouth." He was starting to remind me of a hurt puppy. I resisted the urge to kick him. I looked at the gem and swallowed back my displeasure at the thought of how many mouths it had been in. I placed it in my mouth.

"What now?" I said around the gem.

"Don't swallow it or they'll dig it out of your intestines." That really didn't make me feel any better about having it in my mouth. "Now... Close your eyes."

I really didn't want to take my eyes off of him. I shut them regardless and something was placed on my back. There was a click. "Tell me what's in the pouch."

"How am I supposed to know that without looking?"

"Just focus. Search it with your mind, not your body." This was stupid...

I must've sat there for a few minutes before I zoned out.

The best way to describe the spell is that the world crystallized and that trying to keep the world made of crystal was like trying to fill a bottle with your spit.

"One ounce of iron half an ounce of topaz and a about a quarter of an ounce of sulfur." My eyes shot open and I swayed quite a bit. "Wha..."

He went to my side and kept me on my feet. Canary was still helping me for some reason. The world was still made of crystal; I could see into the odd compounds. Unicorns with broken horns and griffons with clipped wings and dogs with large collars and bulky figures and bats and bats and...

I'm not sure when I passed out but I woke up and felt like my head exploded. Something dry and sticky was on my face and it tore slightly when I shifted. I cracked open my eyes and the world was blurry.

Canary was next to me and I stifled a scream. "Looks like you over did it. You've been out for an hour and it's almost time for my shift." He frowned and ran a hoof cloaked in slightly wet cloth over my face. My eyes slowly focused.

I nudged it away. "Why did I pass out?" I finally asked while trying to figure out how to stand up easily.

He nodded slightly. "You took in too much information. Canary, you almost died. A few blood vessels in your nose ruptured and you bled quite a bit. You'll be up and running shortly." He nodded again. I distinctly remember calling him a wrinkled freak and felt bad. He might not help me after this. He lifted a hand mirror in his mouth and walked over to me. It was the first look I got at myself. I was a freaking Zebra. Expletives cannot describe how much that hurt me but they can come pretty damn close. I had the same blue eyes I had back on earth but besides that I was unrecognizable. I tried to convince myself that that was my actual reflection and failed.

The reflection was of a standard Zebra from what I could assume. The eyes were bright and colorful, the face was striped. My new nose was black and my fur was a pale white though with the dust in the air I could only imagine that wouldn't last for long I had a poof of hair that slowly settled against my head. It was going to get in my eyes soon.

"I'm sorry for earlier. I was upset. I shouldn't have reacted that badly." I finally got back to my hooves. Clearly, I wasn't getting rescued from here any time soon.

He smiled faintly. "It's ok. I reacted much the same when I got here. But from one Canary to another Canary, keep your head down and maybe you'll live as a Canary as long as I have. I'm only 20, you know."

I looked at his wrinkled skin and made a face. "How long have you been a Canary?"

He smiled sheepishly. "I was brought here when I was 18. I am the longest lived Canary currently in the Rej."

"Where is the Rej?" I asked. Where the hell am I was more what I was thinking.

"We are in the Zebra isles, friend. All sorts of species are brought here for all sorts of purposes. Some, like us, are slaves who are blessed with a short time in the mines. Some are those that own the mines." I stared at him. It distantly occurred to me that he should be rhyming. And that I should be rhyming. And that something was wrong.

"Shouldn't we be rhyming?" I asked after a long moment.

He shook his head. "We are speaking the Zebra tongue. It is only when we speak another tongue that we are forced to rhyme. And why are you asking such silly questions?"

I opened my mouth to respond when a large earth pony walked in. "Time for your shift, Canary." Canary stood up and somehow knew it was he that was being addressed. The other Canary walked over to a dresser where quite a few satchels were and more than a few rubies. He gently tugged the leather satchel over his shoulder and then grabbed a ruby in his mouth and walked out. The earth pony turned to me. "Your next. In a few hours, it'll be your turn. Good luck Canary, and try not to die."

I shut my eyes again and tried not to think about anything. In a few minutes, I was back asleep.