Claw, Hoof, and Feather

Claw, Hoof, and Feather

Thoughts of a Unicorn

All the slaves felt their bodies ache from the work and whip strikes of the day as they trudged back to their sleeping quarters, their muscles burning from overuse, and their hearts and heads even more tired than before.

Birdie’s regret for starting that story was shared by many, as they had chosen to listen to it instead of getting some rest –what little they were allowed to have—for another day of hard labor.  Cobbler was among them in that regard, feeling stupid since he had already heard and experienced much of the tale.  The blue unicorn let out a wince as he sat upon the cold stone floor, his body especially sore with the very recent cut in his side that had scabbed over.  Slowly, he brought his brown eyes up to gaze at the last one to enter the cramped sleep space, or rather, to be dragged in by the Diamond Dogs.

Once again, it appeared Birdie had collapsed from exhaustion at the end of his shift, or at least that was how it seemed to Cobbler.  It usually happened every other day, because of the sad fact that the green hippogryph was not used to such harsh conditions, even compared to the other slaves.

From what Cobbler had seen, that particular hippogryph was not built for either straight-up combat or hard manual labor.  He was smaller than an average-sized adult griffin, even if larger than the average pony, and his build was more akin to a Pegasus, not an Earth Pony or a Unicorn, the more practical slaves for heavy labor.

It was all so troublesome, having to watch out for Birdie.  From the day they met, he had been quite a burden…

--

It was just another day for me until you came along, wasn’t it, Birdie?  I was just minding my own business at Roan’s edge, gazing out into the forest… and then I saw you break through the tree line.

I thought of you, at the time, as a strange, if not hideous, green monstrosity.  From the distance I first saw you standing at, you were covered in grime, your feathers out of place, and so forth.

The smell of dried vomit when you got close had not helped either…

So, yeah, I decided to take you in for a bath, because I’m a nice stallion like that.  Sure, I knew that Roan was a tense town in terms of racial relations, being so close to the border between Equestria and Gem Fido, but you were just so filthy and looked as if you were starving –though I can’t imagine why, considering all the greenery around you—for a meal.

I dared not to touch you physically, though.  Again, you were just so filthy, too much so for me.  That’s why I had magic.

Oh, you had squawked and struggled when the orange aura of my levitation spell surrounded you and forced you up into the air, but I had not cared.  In fact, I daresay I had found it hilarious.

“You, sir, need a bath.”

With those words, I had clamped your beak shut before you could let out another single syllable of protest, and then I carried you off into town.

Oh, if only I had thought about just how badly the townsfolk would take your presence, otherwise I would have been more discreet and hidden you away.  I should have realized taking you into town was a bad idea from the start, especially with the looks of scorn the other Unicorns and the Earth Ponies were sending our way as I carried you.

So I guess it’s as much my fault as it is yours that we’re both trapped in slavery.

Still, once I had you inside my home, I immediately set to work filling up the tub with hot water and dunking you head first into it.  I could not help but to grin in the face of your unease and sputtering.

“Now, now,” I had chastised, “don’t struggle.  Your coat is extremely filthy.”  I had levitated the soap and brush with my magic as well, still keeping you pinned with your beak shut and only your head above the water.

Now, I’m not ashamed to admit that I was one of the most arrogant and snobbish unicorns you would ever meet, my friend. I was proud of it, in fact, just as I was proud of myself for making you squirm as I scrubbed every speck of dirt away.  It was good times, Birdie.  Good times.

Still, once you were clean, I had finally allowed you to tell your story.  Truth be told, I still have trouble believing Discord plucked you out of some random café in some ape-ruled dimension and inserted you into Equestria.  Not even Daring Do herself had described such a mad idea in her books.

Still, I offered food and lodging, and you had gratefully taken it, even offering to pay me back once you had employment.

So, just to be friendly, I took you out to eat at one of the restaurants… and of course, what do you know what happened.

We were drugged by our drinks, strapped up so we couldn’t escape, and finally imprisoned, waiting for the next time the Diamond Dogs came through Roan so we could be carted off north toward Gem Fido.

And all the while, I wanted to blame you for appearing, for turning my life onto its head and making my family and friends betray me… but I couldn’t.  I just couldn’t blame you for things that were not your fault.  You didn’t drug me.  You didn’t decide to go into town with me.  You didn’t mean a single bit of harm… and my fellow ponies in Roan could not see past their racial paranoia.  You had even apologized as you had put together why we had been carted off.

In one fell swoop, you had gone from being some soul I took a bit of pity on to my only friend in the world.

It’s kind of hard to blame a guy whom doesn’t have a real name, anyway.  I mean, really?  You were so content with the abridged moniker you were going by in these mines, “Bird-Pony”, “Birdie”, and so forth?  You looked more like a “Key Lime” or a "Lime Sorbet" to me… but yeah, those are pony names.

--

Finished with his reminiscing and self-exposition, Cobbler watched as the exhausted hippogryph had been literally tossed into the room, landing harshly on his strapped wings and letting out a weak squawk. Slowly, the blue unicorn inched over and lay beside Birdie, back to back.  “Hey, pal,” he whispered, not wanting to disturb the other exhausted slaves.

With a slight groan, Birdie opened one eye.  “Evening, Blueberry…”

“Blueberry” was the first half of Cobbler’s name and as far as Cobbler had always been concerned, quite embarrassing for a stallion.

“…”  Cobbler sighed.  “I won’t beat around the bush, Birdie…  You’re weak.”

That lemon yellow eye gazed directly at the unicorn.  “And that’s news?” he asked with pained sarcasm.

“No, Birdie, I mean you’re really weak,” the blue unicorn responded, still in a whisper.  “You can’t keep up the slave’s pace much longer.”

“… I know…” the viridian hippogryph responded.  “But what else can I do, Cobbler, escape?  That’s nearly suicide.”

“Nearly,” Cobbler responded with emphasis.  "And so is staying here, for you."

“… You can’t be serious, Cobbler.  You can’t be…”  With a slight groan, Birdie pushed himself up to sit on his haunches and gaze at his friend with clear disbelief.

“Of course I am.  I’ve been thinking about this for about a week.  What do we have to lose?” Cobbler responded harshly.  “Really think about it, Birdie.  We’re both alone, and even in the couple of months we’ve been here these other slaves are relative strangers.  If we can stage a revolt, you and I can bust out of here, or at least one of us can get out.”

“… And you called me crazy when I first told you about Discord bringing me here,” the viridian hippogryph responded with a shake of his head.

“Discord is one thing.  Rotting in slavery is another,” the blue unicorn responded.

“… Could that line be anymore cliché?”

“Look, Birdie, do you want to get out of here or not?”

“… Yes,” Birdie hesitated, “I want to get out of here… but are you sure we can’t try getting the others out as well?”

“Two slaves won’t matter too much, at least in terms of chasing us once we’re out of the tunnels.  If we literally do attempt to take all of them with us, they won’t stop hunting our tails even for a minute.”

“Damn it,” the hippogriff responded, hanging his head.

“Hey, hey, chin up,” Cobbler responded, lifting up Birdie’s head by his beak.  “Look, if it makes you feel better, and as stupid as the idea is, someday we’ll come back and free them, alright?”

“… Okay…” Birdie responded somberly, clearly not truly convinced.

“Birdie, look at me you naive idiot,” the blue unicorn commanded.  “I promise you that we will return here and free them, you got that?”

“Got it,” Birdie responded immediately, nodding his green-feathered head at the so-called promise.  Had he really been convinced?  The blue unicorn was not so sure.

“Great,” Cobbler smiled, patting Birdie’s left shoulder blade with his right hoof.  “Now, get some rest.  I’ll set up the final preparations before the end of the week.”

The hippogryph nodded and lay back down beside him… and ever so slowly, he finally began to drift off into the land of dreams.

Blueberry Cobbler watched his friend with those dark brown eyes, before turning away slightly, once again laying back to back with the hippogryph.

“We’re going to get out of here, pal.  I will make sure of it.”

--

AN:  Yeah, it’s a crappy exposition chapter, this time told more from the view of the blue unicorn known as Blueberry Cobbler, not Birdie.  Sorry.

But yes, that’s how Birdie and his friend I kept mentioning got to being a pair of slaves.  It wasn’t in some grand defeat after a battle, or a magnificent yet failed struggle for freedom.  He’s not Griffin, Echo, Mango-Jack, Knightmare, Aoi, or any of those badass Pieces.  He and his friend both got drugged by Cobbler’s fellow townsfolk, whom were paranoid about non-equine races already, and carted off to Gem Fido, Birdie for being part non-pony and Blueberry Cobbler for association.  And… they’ve been at this for months.  In the timeline of this, Birdie missed all those canon events from Season 2, aside from, of course, Discord bringing him to Equestria.  He missed Nightmare Night, Cider Season, Hearth’s Warming Eve, and of course the Canterlot Royal Wedding and Changeling Invasion attempt… That last part goes on in this story during Birdie and Cobbler’s attempt to escape from these particular mines in Gem Fido.

I just wanted to get this out of the way, and I admit it could have been written out much better than I did it.  If this chapter doesn’t get a single thumbs-down, I will be happy, but also very surprised.

Also, I see I’m getting a few readers putting this story on their Favorites, and I give thanks to them for that, but it would also help me greatly –perhaps more- if comments and constructive criticism were given as well… not just alerts about my one story being put on Favorites lists.