And so the first pattern began. She stayed quiet and kept the room clean the best she could. She gathered everything she counted as garbage and waste, like food she couldn’t eat or the loose feathers she had removed during preening, in the stink-bucket in the corner. She noticed it would sometimes have been emptied while she slept. It was a relief to know that was taken care of, but she didn’t like to know he could come and go in the room while she slept without her noticing. She thought that loud clicking noise of the lock would wake her up, but apparently she slept more heavily than that. It wasn’t like her sleep made her that much more vulnerable; she already was at his mercy even when awake. But it still felt… scary. Creepy.
If she stayed quiet and kept clean, he would reward her with food and water. If she behaved she wouldn’t get physically punished. No pain, no starvation.
But her stay in the wooden room didn’t become any less maddening. She wanted to get out; she wanted to see other ponies again! To be free, to fly, to run, to just get out of there and be able to breath fresh air again!
She couldn’t even ask why she was kept locked away like this, since talking only angered the griffon. No matter how hard she thought about it she never found any reason, any excuse for locking her away without an explanation. Nothing she had ever done in her life could make her deserve this treatment.
Right?
And all that time at her hoof. Sunny Rain had no idea how to pass the time and make it easier. She would lie in bed and dream, dream about flight, even dream about doing her job. Pushing around clouds, gathering water for rain, all the things a weather patrol pony would do. At least it was something to do.
Sooner or later she would think about her family, although she would often try not to. She missed them. Even the times she would be far away, exploring to see parts of Equestria she always wanted to visit or to meet the migratory birds and lead them back home for the summer, she would always be around other ponies. But now there was nothing to keep her from missing them. Her parents, her siblings, her friends, her uncle, her aunts… She reached a point where thinking about them just hurt, because it reminded her of how alone she felt.
If she just knew a reason for all this! So she could make up for whatever wrong she had done! She would do anything to see the face of another pony again. Anypony - didn’t even need to be somepony specific, she didn’t had to know them. Any company would do.
She kept failing to keep track of time. She had somewhat figured out how to tell time of day by checking the small stream of light from the window. But even her sleep schedule was all over the place, sleep was all she had to pass the time without going stir crazy and do something radical. So many times she was ready to simply scream and shout, to kick everything around her in the room, to somehow break down the door or the bolted windows and escape. Not very likely though. It would only cause the griffon to come in and punish her and it was the thought of that which kept her from throwing such a fit.
***
The loud clicking of the lock awoke her from her state of apathy, watching the beam of light move across the floor towards the wall. She raised her head from the bed to look over at the door. Nothing she could do but simply await what the griffon would bring to her this time.
As always he stood in the doorway and blocked it with his big frame. Staring at her lying on the bed, always keeping his eyes locked onto her as to make sure she was there and not going to do anything rash.
Sunny Rain sat waiting, staying put as he stepped into the room slowly.
“We are going outside.”
The pink pegasus blinked, at first not registering the words since she was surprised to hear him talk. That happened only very rarely and had often been a quick order before or after punishment for her behavior. Wait… Outside?
The big griffon saw he had her full attention now. He raised a taloned hand out in front of the pegasus. Watching her eyes going wide as she saw the item he held out to her.
He was holding a collar in his talons. With a leash and everything.
“No way am I wearing that! I-“
Instinctively she stopped her protests, closing her mouth at the warning glare from the griffon. He held the collar out to her, the other hand beckoning her to move off the bed and come closer. He couldn’t be serious about that. That was just too humiliating; she was a pony for Celestia’s sake, not some kind of pet.
Her hesitation turnede the warning glare from the griffon even darker, scarier. But she stood her ground. She was not going to accept a treatment like that.
He was surprisingly fast for a creature on his size. He had lunged himself forward, his taloned hand now wrapped around her throat. Effortlessly pulling her up from the bed. Not giving her a chance of basking her wings to make up for gravity’s pull as he slammed her back up against the wall.
She barely managed to gasp, air knocked out of her while held around her throat. Her hoof desperately pawing at the hand holding her throat, she fought for breath. Her back pressed up against the wall she couldn’t use her wings, there were no space for them to move.
“Ngha-haaah! St-Stop…!”
Without a warning she fell to the floor, as he released her from his hold. She lied there in a heap, greedily gasping for breath in big gulps to fight back the lightheadedness the treatment had caused. She did not fight back as he leaned down and put the collar around her neck, she barely even noticed him doing it as she still recovered from the shock. Feeling it tightening around her neck though – that she felt.
Another gasp from the small pegasus at the testing pull of the leash - that was very uncomfortable. She flinched as he leaned down towards her again, the collar tightening around her neck more as he pressed a claw down between it and her neck. Then he loosened it, surprising Sunny Rain. Testing with his claw again to see how much space there was between her skin and the collar until he was satisfied that it wasn’t too loose or too tight.
She would have preferred to be completely without it, but wasn’t going to air that opinion.
He rose up on his hind legs like times before, a hand clutching the leash connected to her collar. With a light tug he turned to the door to lead her out. A stubborn part of her had her put her hooves down on the wooden floor hard to not just let him pull her along, this was still very indignifying.
That only rewarded her with a much harder tug, powerful enough to pull her off of her hooves. He didn’t give her time to recover as he began moving, pulling the mare along across the floor. She gasped, trying to get a protest out but the tugging around her neck made it hard to get enough air for any words. Her hooves flailed over the wooden planks below her, trying to get herself up while she was kept moving and pulled along.
Not until he stopped was she allowed a chance to breath and stand up again. Trembling and wheezing from the rough treatment. She had a moment to notice that she was finally outside of that dreadful bedroom, now in a new room. A bit bigger, more furniture. A fireplace by the wall. A window with simple blinds and not just bolted shut. The items hanging on the walls and the furniture making it look like a mix of a livingroom and a kitchen.
Then light hit her and she squinted her eyes, turning her head to find the source. She felt a breeze against her face. He had opened the door out, blinking against the light too as he took his time to adjust from the dimness of his hut to the sunny day outside.
Sunny Rain wasn’t thinking, simply acting out at a whim. Outside! It was so close! The outside!
She ran for it. Out the door, out into the fresh air, the taste of nature and life in the air itself. The warmth of the sun’s light, the coolness of a gentle mountain breeze, the freedo-
A hard tug and she was down on the ground, landing hard in the dirt. Another tug and she was pulled off of the ground by the collar, hanging with her legs jerking as she gasped for breath once more.
Not given time to recover from the shock and use her wings, she felt the ground connect with her again, hard. Knocking what air she had out of her chest, turning her gasps to pathetic coughs. She stayed there on the ground, shaking and trembling, allowed time to recover her breath. She felt a shadow moving over her and looked up to see… him. As dark and gloomy as ever, the rage in his eyes making her flinch.
“I-I’m sorry, I…”
She clasped her hooves against her mouth to shut herself up. Staring terrified up at the griffon, expecting more punishment for daring to speak up. She was roughly pulled up by the leash again, but this time up to a height allowing her to reach the ground with her hooves. Standing again she was pulled closer to the griffon as he leaned down his head to be at level with her. Just glaring into her eyes, the message was clear. Another stunt like that and he wouldn’t be as gentle again.
Sunny Rain nodded to show she understood the silent threat.
Seemingly satisfied the griffon continued on his way with the pony following behind him as far as the leash allowed. Trying to shove aside the shock so it couldn’t poison the experience of finally being outside again. Outside - in the breeze, the fresh air, the light. Her eyes did feel a slight burn from the light after being stowed away in the dimness of the hut for so long, but she didn’t care.
Looking back she could see it wasn’t a very big hut, probably only made up of the two rooms she had seen. All wooden planks, squeezed in between the trees surrounding it. Hidden from the air, this place was probably left undisturbed by any travelers passing the mountains from above.
She turned her head to look forward again after nearly stumbling over a small rock, to better keep an eye on where they were going.
He was leading her to a small creek, stepping into the cooling water and dragged her along with him. It was very shallow, just a few inches but it was a nice, cooling feeling over her hooves. Something new and different from the wooden boards she had been surrounded by for so long. Not feeling any tugs on the leash to keep going she leaned down her head to quickly lap up some water, drinking eagerly. Fresh and clear mountain water.
While the pony drank the griffon sat down next to the creek. Letting her enjoy the moment of being outside, as long it lasted. He had taken her out to keep the pegasus from going completely stir crazy, hopefully this would work to keep her behaving properly. A little treat, despite the way she had behaved up until now.
When Sunny Rain had had her fill of water she dared to stretch her wings to let every feather feel the warmth of the sun upon them. Just as refreshing as the cool water filling her stomach. She first dared a glance at the griffon when no longer sensing his eyes on her. He was looking up at the sky, seeming to search for something. Making her look up too, only to see a bright blue sky with the occasional small cloud. Clouds would often drift away into such areas, even when the sky was supposed to be clear. She had hoped to move from her usual task in the weather patrol to search for and gather such stray clouds. Just to get to fly about more freely and see more broad horizons than from her daily job of just watching over one certain patch of the sky.
She glanced back at her captor. He was still gazing at the sky, not seeming to pay much attention to her. She moved her focus to the leash in his claws. Not directly clutch around the leather strap but still held onto it. Maybe, if she just moved fast enough…
Not giving herself time to think the plan through she decided on the spot to use the element of surprise and made her move. With a jerk of her body she yanked at her leash to free it from his grasp. Surprisingly it work, she felt the leash fly out from his hold. Not wasting one second she turned around and went into a sprint down the creek. Heart pumping, she spread her wings to take off. Could she outfly a griffon? Could she outfly this griffon, despite her weakened condition after her long captivity? Maybe his big, bulky size meant he wasn’t as fast in the air as a small pegasus.
She dared to hope as she fought to take air. Not looking back to see if he had taken up the chase, only focusing on making her wings obey. Maybe filling up her stomach with so much water had not been such a good idea.
She got into the air without being stopped, without feeling powerful talons grabbing for her or shredding her apart. Don’t think, just fly. Fly and escape, don’t think of what he’ll do to you when he… if he catches up to you. Just keep going!
The griffon had been caught by surprise. Busy watching the sky for any trespassers in his parts of the mountain, at least what he called his parts, he had not expected the pony to be foolish enough for such a stunt, to try and run for it and take flight. It gave her a head start, which he allowed her after gathering himself.
Then he was into the air after her. Despite his size he was fast, a griffon’s superior wingspan compared to a pegasus’ puny wings. She was flying in a panicky way, probably not even caring about what direction she was going as long it was away from him. He allowed her the attempt to teach her yet another lesson about breaking the rules.
Sunny Rain already felt a pain in her side, her breathing and the movements of her wings weren’t in proper balance, she was already short of breath but didn’t care. She couldn’t fight the urge any longer and dared a look back. The leash flailing behind her from her collar, but no sight of the griffon. Not even down on the ground by the creek. So, where…?
Her only warning was the shadow passing her, something above blocking the sun. She didn’t have time to look up before she felt the weight press down upon her. He had proven himself faster than she had expected, flying up high above her to dive down on top of her with a precision of a bird of prey. She felt claws grab onto her, felt skin getting pierced as gravity took over, her wings unable to keep flight as she was pressed downwards by the weight of the diving griffon.
The world was spinning, she couldn’t even scream as she watched the blurs of colours she identified as the incoming ground grew closer and closer too fast for comfort. Then he spread out his wings to end the dive with a glide, straighten up over the ground horizontally instead of keeping the crash course straight down. Still holding onto her with his front claws as he broke the glide and landed on the ground on his hind feet.
The pegasus trembling in his hold, blood dripping from where his talons had dug into her coat. Not meant to make deep damage, only to scare her by showing how easy it was to make her bleed. And he wasn’t done yet. Raising her up to throw her to the ground, the pegasus gasped and coughed at the rough treatment. Her whole body aching. Before she could gather herself she was rolled onto her back and felt a weight press down onto her chest. Looking up she saw him looming over her, a backpaw pressed firmly into her chest, just enough weight to press the air out of her and keeping her from sucking more in.
This was it. This was how she was going to die. At the mercy of this… this monster!
She gasped desperately for breath but couldn’t expand her lungs enough to suck in any air, the paw weighting down on her too heavily. Her hooves scraped pathetically at the paw, her throat convulsing as she tried to force it to make sound, to plead, without the needed air.
The edges of her already blurry vision was growing dark, the darkness taking in more and more of her vision until everything finally went black.