Name: Gale

Sex: Female

Age: 30

Occupation: Body Guard

Appearance: Completely pitch-black, gold eyes, muscular build

Session Number: 1

“Hey,” the griffon greeted after scaring the shit out of me when I opened the door.

“G-Gale?”

“That’s me,” she answered blandly as she looked me up and down. We both stood in the doorway for a few silent moments as we took in each other’s features, her more so than me, before I stood to the side to let her in.

“I’m sorry, come in.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Leading her into the sitting room, I motioned for her to sit in the chaise longue as I gathered my things. When I sat down, I found her sitting in her seat facing me instead of lying down like everyone else somehow knew to do.

“So, what’s on your mind?” I started, choosing to ignore her and focus on my drawing.

“A lot of things; I don’t know where to start.”

“Alright, how’s your work going?”

“As well as protecting stuffy nobles can go.”

“Well I wouldn’t know, so enlighten me.”

“I work for a private agency that gets hired to protect nobles when they do their, ‘business.’”

“So I assume it’s going well considering how peaceful this world is.”

“That’s right.”

“…So?”

“I guess I’m not feeling very fulfilled.”

“Why’s that?”

“I took up this job when I moved here thinking I could find some sort of excitement, but as you said, it’s too peaceful. Nothing ever happens when these ponies have their shady meetings.”

“So you want something to go wrong.”

“Yes and no. See, I used to be a soldier back in the Griffon Kingdom. Despite the peace spreading throughout the world, it’s been my family’s tradition to join up and help protect the kingdom. But, I had to leave because of an… incident.”

“You got bored?”

“The opposite, actually. There’s no end to the in-fighting and rowdy griffons, but no. It’s something a lot more personal…”

“…I’m listening,” I confirmed as I looked up at her after a long silence.

“I… I was raped,” she stated surprisingly flatly, making me freeze and focus all of my attention on her, “fresh out of boot camp, I was stationed within the king’s castle. I had heard that there weren’t any other females in the castle besides the royal family, and I confirmed those rumors when I arrived at the barracks… I hadn’t even made it a week before the others started making strong advances on me. Obviously, I turned them down; I was focused on doing my duty and I was doing it well, but they didn’t take kindly to that. So, one night, after I had finished my rounds and was showering, a bunch of them cornered me, and…”

“You don’t have to go into detail if you don’t want to.”

“I-I’ll skip to the good parts then, heh,” she chuckled uneasily as a slight look of discomfort appeared on her face, “…They kept me there all night and into the morning. As some finished their rounds, they would switch with the others that had to report in. When that morning rolled around and the captain was looking for me, he found me tied up and surrounded by his best. The worst part though… when he ordered them to leave and it was just us two with me still tied up… even in my disoriented state, I could see a familiar look in his eyes that all the others had… In that moment, I was the most scared I had ever been; more scared than I was all night. The one griffon I thought I could count on, the one I thought was saving me… he wanted to do what all the others had already, but he didn’t. He cut me loose and took me to the infirmary. The next day I was relieved and moved back in with my parents.”

“…Did you tell them?”

“No… I haven’t told anyone. You’re the first,” she admitted as she looked at me sadly.

“If you don’t mind me asking, when did this happen?”

“About twelve years ago.”

“And you’re how old?”

“That’s the question I’m supposed to mind you asking,” she joked with a small smile, “I’m thirty.”

“Well,” I sighed as I rubbed my face, “while I know this isn’t exactly uncommon back in my world, it doesn’t make it any less terrible. This is the second time I’ve met someone it’s happened to and all I can say is I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to live with such a terrible secret for so long.”

“It’s not that big a deal. I-”

“Like hell it isn’t!” I exclaimed, startling both her and me, “…I-I mean, *ahem.* That sucks, er- it’s a shame that happened.”

“…I guess it is,” she replied as her small smile returned, “well, I’m feeling a lot better now that I’ve finally said that, and I’m sure you’re tired of listening to me anyway.”

“You can stay longer if you like.”

“That’s alright,” she declined as she got up, handed me her money, and headed for the door, “I have to get to work in a little bit anyway.”

“Well, feel free to come back anytime,” I said as I opened the door for her.”

“I just might,” she said with a smile before leaving.

Observations: Despite the subject matter, she didn’t seem to be too bothered about discussing what happened. I on the other hand, still find the subject a little difficult to talk about. Maybe griffons have a higher constitution than both ponies and humans, but I’ll need to meet more to know for sure. With her being a few years older than me, I’m sure she knows a lot more about life so I won’t try to give any advice, not that I have any to give on this issue. She seems like a tough lady, I’m sure she’ll be fine.

Author's Note

If this one seems a little off, it's only because I've never dealt with rape in any context before. From what I understand, some people react this way, but certainly not all. I guess I should say that if I'm ever being insensitive in some way, let me know; only some of the things that I'll write about, I'll have some personal connection to.