Cutie Mark Chaos

by hunter049

Pegasus Pony Prison

The blue foal whimpered. He'd been left in a small room, alone, although there was a daffodil sandwich on a plate and a glass of water as well as a bed. A door had bars as a window, but no doubt the door itself was locked.

Blue watched the door; no hoofsteps, no one seemed to be coming quite yet. His wings twitched at the thought of escape, particularly if the alternative was being sold and eaten by griffons.

Blue Zephyr probably couldn't outpace an adult griffon. They were hunters of the sky in the same way dragons could be on occasion, only the griffon had adapted to specifically eat ponies of all types. Honed sharp claws to keep a grip, wings longer than a pegasus's to outpace flyers and intimidate all, feathers that act as a cushion against physical blows, and intelligence to match that of their prey.

He curled into a ball as well as he could on the bed, quivering. The moonlight lit the room up a bit, and Blue's eyelids were feeling heavy. He yawned and let sleep claim him.

The next morning, he woke up with a smile on his face. "Ma?"

His smile vanished as he realized he was trapped by foalnapping ponies seeking to sell him, as they'd said. Blue noticed the food had changed; he recalled there had been a sandwich with water last night but now there was a plate with toast and a bowl of oatmeal, with a tall glass of milk to the side. The pegasus's stomach growled but he recalled his mother, Aqua Berry, always warned him to not eat food from strangers.

"Eat up, kid. No use in starving yourself." A low voice told him. He turned and saw a white unicorn watching him through the bars in the door.

Blue Zephyr's eyes widened and he forgot the food entirely. "Where am I? Where are my parents? Who are you? Why did you take me of all ponies? Why are you doing this? Don't you thi-"

"Enough!" The stallion stomped his hoof. "Now, eat and we'll see what I tell you. Here's a hint: don't talk so much and you might get answers faster."

Blue shrunk back and nibbled his toast. He refused to look the stallion in the eye.

A sigh came from the door. "Sorry, kid. Just that it always stresses most of us out, these foalnappings. Now, I'd rather, erm, make your stay as comfortable as possible. I might be able to get you some stuff you want. Anything?"

Blue Zephyr looked at him, head cocked slightly. "Do you have any comic books?"

"We might. What kind?"

"The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well."

The stallion smiled. "Alright. Sit tight." He left the window, and the blue pegasus ate his breakfast.

After finishing his milk, he hovered over to the window. He looked through to see a large room with a throw pillow on the ground and a few items scattered nearby. Blue guessed that would be where the white pony had stayed. He was probably the guard, keeping him from escaping.

Strange, though. For a bad pony, Blue didn't think this stallion acted like a bad pony. He seemed nice, almost. Blue Zephyr supposed that if this was how bad things would get, it wouldn't be so bad.

He nodded at this thought, before freezing. No, this was not the end game. The end game was a slow walk toward an oven to be roasted and eaten by griffons! Roasted if he was lucky, and if not, then... Blue shivered at the thought and huddled on his bed.

Eventually the stallion returned. "Here you are, kid. Plenty of comics." He teleported the small books into Blue's room.

"Thank you," the small pegasus said quietly. The unicorn nodded and walked away. Blue heard a faint squish sound, from the pony's pillow. He looked at the comic books in front of him, chose one, and began to read.

Blue Zephyr's mood lifted as he read of the superhero's missions. The hero wore a costume of black and purple: a black mask with blue eye fabric, a body coat of purple with a black cape, black hoof wrappings, and a purple hat with a blue ribbon. The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well hopped down from a low building rooftop and landed in front of a pair f thieves.

Blue Zephyr wondered if a hero could somehow save him. He doubted it would be one like Mare-Do-Well, but heroes came in all shapes and sizes. He sighed and read on.

The hero now had the thieves subdued. She looked around and to vanish into the shadows as the pony police arrived. The bad guys had lost and good had defeated it. Maybe the same would happen here.

Blue Zephyr's ear twitched as he heard voices out in the big room. He strained to hear them, but they were talking quietly.

He only caught a few words, like "hamburger" and "gems" and "bits." Blue paled. He did not want to be a simple meal for a griffon. A tear welled in his eye, but he brushed it off; he knew Mare-Do-Well would be braver than this. The hero would fight until she couldn't, and he would have to do the same.

Except he couldn't fight. He was too small and his father always joked about Aqua Berry's magic, warning their son that a unicorn could be a most dangerous enemy but obviously a powerful ally.

Blue smiled. There was always a way out if you looked hard enough, his mother said. With some luck, the unicorn guard would not always be an enemy and perhaps soon could be a friend and ally.

Blue Zephyr hoped so. He peeked and saw an earth pony with an orange coat and a long black mane leave the unicorn guard. The unicorn looked over at his charge and motioned for the pegasus to get down. Blue dropped to the floor and the orange returned briefly to say good night to the guard.

The unicorn wished the same to her and the orange pony finally left. Blue's ear flickered again, and he was sure it was just the two of them, Blue and the unicorn, once more. He hovered up to the bars once more and saw the unicorn watched his door, apparently waiting for Blue to pop up again.

"Can I ask you a question?"

The unicorn nodded. Blue asked, "What's your name?"

The stallion smiled. "I'm... Light Screen. What about you, squirt?"

Blue's nose scrunched at the nickname, but he answered, "My name's Blue Zephyr. Who was-" The pegasus clamped his mouth shut, and floated down, much to the unicorn's confusion.

Light Screen stood and as Blue sat on his bed he could see the stallion's horn. The guard looked through the bars and looked at Blue. "I'm sorry if I scared you the first time by yelling at you. Look, you can ask anything. I might not answer if I can't, but don't be afraid."

Blue looked at the unicorn, his violet eyes connecting with Light's blue ones. Blue trusted this bad pony; maybe he wasn't a bad pony at all! How many bad ponies ever apologize?

"Mr. Light Screen, who was that mare?"

The unicorn's smile faltered. "She's... What I am to you." He paused in thought, then smiled wryly. "Except she won't bring me comic books."

The small pegasus laughed. Yes, it seemed more and more that this was no bad pony, just a pony with a bad job for a bad stallion or mare.

"Light Screen, what's your cutie mark look like?" The pegasus, struggle as he did, could not gain enough elevation to properly see. The stallion beamed a construct of it in Blue's room to show the curious colt.

It was a glowing silver shield, the light glinting off in a starry fashion and giving the mark its own brilliance.

"Similar to yours, isn't it, Blue Zephyr?" The colt nodded. "Maybe our destinies aren't too different. Although considering why you're here, I should be afraid of that."

"Why aren't you?"

The white stallion smiled. "My own name. Light Screen. I've tried to be nice to the past foals, you know. None accepted what little comfort I can get them. Except for you. You're different. So maybe the destiny the Food Chain has picked out for you is not what will happen. And... It won't. I won't let it happen."

His face darkened for a split second before he grinned. "But we'll need to play it off as if we're not friends, and I'm just nice to you. Otherwise the others might catch wind. So shush, and read the books. I'll plan."

Blue Zephyr's mind tumbled over itself. He nodded and a tear welled in his eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Light Screen."

The unicorn nodded and walked over to his throw pillow, sitting down with a wink.