Escape From the Slave Market

by Apple Bottoms

Chapter 1

Author's Note:

[[Author's note: there are some uncomfortable discussions of sexuality as pertaining towards a child character in this chapter, but these are fully shown as depictions of a 'bad guy', and punished appropriately.]]

The air was close and uncomfortably humid in the dark, dingy basement that Blue Cat was led down into. It was only through his ship’s infamous name - the Darter - that he’d gotten an invitation to this exclusive black market in the first place. Some markets were for illicit gambling, or drinking, or mating; this market was for anything you wanted it to be.

This was the market where you bought and sold other living beings.

Blue Cat’s small, delicate ears twisted back and forth as his massive hooves hit the packed-dirt floor, and as his gryphon guide lead him forward, he realized that they were the only two beings down here not tied up. It wasn’t well lit, at the best of times, and even worse in the middle of the night; but he could see various bodies on either side of them, mostly curled up in sleep. A few turned wide, shining eyes on them as they passed, reflecting dimly back at him in the darkness, frightened or alluring in turns.

‘Slave markets’ were, for many, simply the euphemistic title given to bordellos, which were more or less legal than slavery depending on the region you were in. Gryphon-controlled regions, for whatever reason, tended more towards the real-slavery side of things; go figure, that whole ‘love one another’ bullcrap still ran deep in ponykin, no matter how far they wandered from Equestria. Still, to a trained eye, it was easy to tell that at least half of the beings here didn’t particularly mind being tied up, if it meant they still got paid at the end of the night. Those weren’t the beings Blue Cat was here to see.

“Um thinkin’ this one’s gonna be too lil’ for yeh.” the gryphon rumbled, coming to a halt in front of one of the low-walled stalls, where a too-small body was curled up, still deeply asleep. “Y’ell rip ‘er in half. Now, one o’ these other gaerls, they’ll show yeh a good time…!” he trailed off meaningfully, directing a half-plucked wing towards one of the sultry-eyed mares on the other side of the low stall.

Blue Cat broadened his shoulders and scowled at the gryphon, rising to his full, massive height. Although his ears were delicately wrought, they were the only part of him that could be described as ‘delicate’ in the least; he was built like a barn, broad on all sides, with short, powerful legs covered in a thick feathering that almost brushed the ground, and hooves like dinner plates. His denim-blue mane was short-cropped, befitting his station as a sailor on a slaver ship, and his dusty grey coat might have melted into the dimly-lit background of the slave market if it wasn’t for the paler, raised scars that traveled across his powerful form.

“Alrigh’, alrigh’! Far be it from me to question what kinda goods the Darter deals in!” the gryphon shifted backwards, his smile too saccharine to be sincere. The way his eyes kept darting to the heavy satchel on Blue Cat’s shoulder, too, showed his single-minded goals for tonight. The gryphon made a big deal of bending down to look at the little card by the filly’s stall - PONY: EARTH. GENDER: F. AGE: FILLY. SPECIAL. $$$ - before looking back at Blue Cat, putting on his best ‘apologetic’ face, his beak twisting downwards in an exaggerated approximation of guilt. “Ah, says she’s one o’ the special ones. Never had a stallion in ‘er, yeh? That’ll drive the price up, triple the usual cost. Virgins’ll always run yeh high, ‘specially this young. Now, one o’ these older gaerls -”

“I can pay.” Blue Cat ground out, and as the gryphon watched eagerly, he opened the satchel, revealing three heavy bags of gold coins.

“Yeh know,” the gryphon babbled happily, eagerly picking up the first bag as Blue Cat placed it on the ground before him, “I’ve always said, best to get ‘em nice ‘n young, train ‘em up right, make ‘em do anythin’ without even blinkin’!”

“Where’d this one come from?” Blue Cat asked, eyes shifting to the small, pale green body, turned away from him, its side - her side - rising and falling slowly in sleep.

“Eh?” the gryphon asked, clearly distracted as he dug his scaly claws through the bag of coins, all but cackling with greed. “Oh, we jus’ got that one in, last week it was. Came in from some kinda shipwreck, I think. Easy enough to swipe, no one’s watchin’ the little one while they’re’ll jumpin’ off the side of the boat, yeh?”

“Yeh.” Blue Cat rumbled in reply, his heavy brows furrowed as he watched the sleeping filly, her legs tucked in tight against her tiny body. She was so small, he could have almost covered her up with one of his hooves, all curled up like that. “Any others?”

“Neh, just ‘er. Everyon’ else was too grown to bother with. But a little one, that’s a rare find, easy to transport too. Oh! Silly me, you wanna get a good look’it the merchandise, oi?” the gryphon chuckled, and abandoned his bag of coins with badly-disguised reluctance, reaching down into the small stall to give the filly’s pale green shoulder a rough shake. As she slowly woke up, oversized ears fluttering and eyes blinking blearily (bright green, Blue noticed), the gryphon reached down, brushing the mane out of her face so he could admire the wide, shining eyes. “See, nice ‘n young, big ol' eyes you could break a heart with.” the gryphon flashed Blue a wink while the filly squirmed in his grip, trying to squirm away from his talons.

“S-Stop!” she wailed, small legs bracing against the low wall as she tried to twist away from the gryphon’s grip, but she could only make it a few inches before the rope tied around her neck pulled taut, leaving her struggling between the two extremes. “W-Wanna go home, lemme go!”

“Oh, hold still, yeh little brat!” the gryphon spat, grabbing both of her hind legs and dragging her back towards them, leaving her to wail and try to grab onto something, succeeding only in grabbing a small pile of straw that lined her pen. With a rough yank, he dragged her out of the pen, making her wail all the louder, awakening some of the other slaves in nearby pens. “Quiet down! Now, with’a big mouth like hers, you'll have to beat the screamin' outta her, so I recommend takin’ some’a the oil they sell at -”

But what kind of oil he should use, Blue Cat would never know; for at that moment he had shifted onto his front legs, twisting around so that his hindquarters faced the gryphon. Distracted as he was with the filly, he never even saw the pair of massive hooves coming towards him until they plowed into his face with a sickening crunch, all but flying through the air until he came to a halt in a limp, broken pile a few feet away.

The room grew silent, but the silence was electric; dozens of eyes locked on Blue Cat, horrified and thrilled all at once. What was he going to do next?

Comments

[Shocks]

human trafficking is my fetish

[Speedy Silverstreak]

Well first chapter was interesting. Well now I hope that little filly does find her way home. Also Blue Cat sounds like a badass.

[Apple Bottoms]

8113776 Thank you for the kind words! I am glad you like Blue Cat, I'm very fond of him too! Luckily I got three chapters written all in a flurry, so you get some immediate gratification!

8113694 I'm afraid this story might not be for you then! It primarily focuses on the evils of human trafficking, and it's not really a lighthearted or sexy sort of story. (I did tag it 'sex' though, because I know even brief mentions of sexuality might be off-putting to some readers. If that's too far and might be attracting readers who think it's a sex story, I can always take it off!) It's more about the emotional journey of someone trying to make a bad life good, and help those who are most in need. And I love the counterpoint of big, gruff characters having to deal with tiny, fluffy pipsqueaks!