The dark, humid room was silent for a horrified moment; but as Blue Cat turned to survey the damage he’d done to the gryphon, the filly’s tearful wail suddenly broke the silence, and the whole room erupted.
“Did you see that? He took out Velvet like he was a sack of potatoes -”
“I don’t know why he’d do that, he had so much coin -”
“I’ve never seen him around, is he from the capital you think?”
“Is this a raid? Goddess, I hope that’s not the type of soldier they employ anymore -”
“Is he going to hurt us?”
While the others chattered and whispered in the dim room, Blue Cat made quick work of his coins, replacing them in his satchel before withdrawing another item - a wickedly-sharp blade. With a sharp, panicked whinny, the pastel green filly curled against the furthest edge of her small pen, the rope around her neck digging into her flesh as she tried to twist away from him fruitlessly. But it seemed that Blue Cat had no time for her, for he moved on to the next pen, and as its occupant similarly squirmed away from him, he brought down the dagger in his mouth, hard - severing the taut rope holding them in place.
With a gasp, the mare rolled backwards, staring up at Blue Cat with wide, confused eyes. “Wh- Why are you doing this?” she whispered.
“You’re all getting out tonight.” Blue Cat growled, and belatedly, he realized that the entire room had gone silent again, waiting and listening to hear what he would do to the mare. “If you want to go, then you’re gonna have to follow me. Quickly and quietly. You don’t have to come.” he added, turning to address the room, before he resettled the knife between his teeth and moved to the next pen.
“Just don’t get in the way.”
As the tiny filly watched fearfully from her pen, still tied fast, Blue Cat moved through the dim room, businesslike, slicing through ropes where he found them, carefully releasing bound wings and tethered ankles. A few thankful, soft sobs could be heard in the darkness, and as he worked, several bodies slipped out of the room, vanishing into the velvety night outside. Still trapped in her pen, the filly squirmed, soft, tearful cries escaping her as her rope held fast.
At last, as he finished cutting the pony on her other side free, Blue Cat returned to the filly, and she cringed away from him fearfully. The dagger came down, just as it had before, slicing through the rope; but before she could dart away, he stomped on the rope, holding her still as he sheathed his dagger, and picked up the rope in his mouth.
“C’mon, kid.” he rumbled, his voice low and unkind, and the filly wailed, digging in her hooves.
It made no difference, because with a quick yank and a grab, she was held in one mighty foreleg, and then tossed up onto his back, broad and hard. She whimpered out a soft, tearful sound - but hung on, quivering against his grey coat. He seemed to pay her no mind as she cried, and he carried her towards the small, hidden ‘failsafe’ escape, used for the inevitable raids - and suddenly turned to hiss at her.
“Shut up, or you’re getting a rag. Got it?” he barked.
Her mouth snapped shut like a trap, and with a thick, tearful gulp, she nodded, hiding her face in the base of his mane as tears slipped silently down her cheeks.
The world began to move very rapidly for the filly, blurry with tears, high up on Blue’s back; one moment they were all crouched in the basement, close and silent as they breathed in the darkness, and the next they were outside, galloping through the night as the group of ponies and various creatures moved as one. Occasionally, one or two would split off, seeking out familiar haunts; some of them didn’t run at all, watching them lazily as the others fled the black market. Those with wings lifted off almost immediately, if they could; some were too weakened by months of captivity, and so they galloped. There were still quite a few of them when they made it to a train station, all the larger and spookier in the night. The filly on Blue Cat’s back quivered with fear, whimpering softly at the large, looming train cars above her, but a harsh hiss from Blue Cat quieted her.
“These are grain cars; they’re half full, goin’ to the next town over. Slavers aren’t allowed there.” Blue Cat informed the group in a low, harsh whisper, his eyes never still as they darted around the empty yard. “They leave at dawn. That’ll leave you a couple hours to find a car, hunker down and get hidden. If you get found, it’s back to the black market - so don’t get found.”
With that parting encouragement, the group scattered, a few offering quiet, fearful thanks to their (slightly terrifying) rescuer before melting into the darkness. Occasionally, the filly heard a train door slide open, or the rustling of many bodies making room for another; but otherwise, the train yard was silent.
Blue Cat stood until he couldn’t hear the sounds of their fellow escapees anymore, and turned away. He walked towards the furthest train car, dark and frightening, with a big, hollow, dark mouth yawning towards them, just waiting to eat them up! As the filly went stock still with fear, Blue Cat pulled himself up, grunting with effort, and the filly clung to his back in sudden panic, fighting to hold on as they plunged into the darkness.
A moment later, the pair were in the large, dark mouth, and with a tiny neigh of terror, the filly felt her tenuous grip on her rescuer suddenly go slack as he sat down, sending her sprawling into the darkness. She scrabbled backwards until she felt something scratchy at her back, and with panicked, fumbling touches, she recognized it as some kind of dried plant, like straw. Slowly, her eyes acclimated to the darkness, and she stared back at Blue Cat, eyes wide with terror, realizing that he still held the rope tied around her neck.
“I w-wanna go b-back t-to my m-m-mo-m-myyyy!” she wailed, the terrified sob she’d been biting back all night finally rising to her lips as hot tears began to roll down her cheeks.
“Kid, c’mon - don’t cry, you gotta be quiet!” Blue Cat hissed, shooting a panicked glance to the open door of the train car, his ears twisting back and forth in worry. “C’mon, be quiet - SHUT UP!” he barked sharply, and as before, the volume shocked her into silence, leaving her bottom lip quivery and eyes glassy with tears.
“You don’t - Cel’s bells, kid, you’re gonna get us killed.” Blue added, belatedly, and it sounded softer, almost like he felt bad for yelling at her. The filly wasn’t sure if that was possible, but he wasn’t yelling this time, and he looked a tiny bit less scary than he did a moment ago. He was looking at the bales of dried grasses around them, and calling, softly.
“Tilik? You in here, buddy?”
With a soft, frightened cry, the filly darted away from the pile of straw she had been cowering in front of, as it had begun to move. Now, cowering against the veritable pony-shaped mountain of Blue, she watched in horror as the pile of grain shook itself off, resolving itself into the shape of a pony - a small pony, only a little bigger than she was.
He looked much different than she did, with all of those … stripes. Stripes? When did ponies have stripes? But this one did, most definitely; he was a pale lavender color, like a cloud just before the dawn, with light blue stripes all over him! He had a brushy mane, with the same blue and purple stripes as on his body, and a funny looking tail, wiggly and brushy just like his mane. His eyes were dark blue, and they focused on her keenly, suddenly noticing she was there.
“K’anta’ki afen Blyuu?” he asked, round ears perking towards her as he rose from the pile of grass, his nostrils - with a solid blue muzzle, no stripes there - flaring as he came closer to her, sniffing at her curiously.
But the filly was in no mood to make friends, and she yelped fearfully, trying to hide behind Blue as the little zebra came closer, whimpering when the rope around her neck pulled taut again.
“C’mon, Tilik, she doesn’t wanna play with you.” Blue Cat rumbled, but it was a gentler rumble; it was the kind of voice her daddy used, sometimes, and it made the filly start to cry all over again. Even though she tried to mask the quiet, gulping sounds of her sobs, Blue Cat heard it all the same, and first one narrow ear twisted towards her, before the full, muscular length of his neck shifted to follow. He was so big, she’d almost forgotten! She cowered against the bales of grain instinctively, trembling as she tried to hide her face in it, hoping he would lose interest in her again.
“C’mon, now, it’s … shit. It’s alright, kid.” Blue rumbled, in the same soft voice that sounded like Daddy, and it only made her cry harder for missing him. It had been so long since she’d seen him! What if he had forgotten about her, after all of this time? What if they had a new baby, and they didn’t miss her at all? These thoughts seemed even worse than being kept as a slave, and the soft, gulping tears quickly morphed into full-throated sobs, sharp and hiccupping.
“Shit.” Blue repeated, his ears flattening against his blue mane. “Shit. Don’t - c’mon, kid, please.”
“Blyuu?” came the soft, curious voice, and the striped colt emerged from around Blue’s side, peering up at the massive stallion with bright eyes. “Blyuu? Filia crrrat?”
“It’s alright, Tilik. She’s just scared.” Blue murmured to the little striped fellow, and as the filly peeked out from the edges of her eyes, she watched as the large, terrifying stallion lowered his muzzle, and gently bumped between the colt’s ears, smoothing down the brushy mane. He wasn’t very good at it, it seemed, since the colt’s head dropped a few inches with the force of the stroking, but he took it in stride. The colt smiled, some of his anxiety seeming to lessen as he curled up beside Blue, folding long, spindly legs under him. With a soft sigh, he laid his head against Blue’s shoulder, and watched the filly with sleepy, half-lidded eyes.
Blue looked at her, next, and he met her eyes for a terrifying moment before she managed to wrench them away from him, whimpering anew.
“It’s alright, little - fuck, you really are young, don’t even have your mark yet.” Blue Cat interrupted himself softly, frowning as he looked down at her hip, still bare of her cutie mark. It seemed so long ago that she had been worried about when she would receive it; it felt like a whole lifetime ago. “What’s your name?”
The filly held still for a long time, as long as she could stand it; she was afraid of him, but she was more afraid of his silences, like the terrible silence before he had kicked the evil gryphon. He hadn’t gotten up during the whole time they were getting all of the slaves out; she was afraid he might never get up. But he was a bad man, a bad gryphon; he was bad, but that didn’t mean he - didn’t mean he deserved -
“It’s alright.” Blue Cat rumbled, softer this time, and the filly realized she was trembling. “You don’t have to be scared anymore. We’re going to get you home to your - mommy and daddy.” Blue said with some difficulty, ears flicking back and forth. “But you have to tell me your name, so we can find them.”
She trembled against the bales, her fear of angering him warring with her natural instinct to stay quiet, and after a few moments she finally spoke. “W-Watermelon Seed.”