Seeking Safety

Lilac picked herself up from the floor, her legs trembling. A mess of broken glass and the scattered remains of an unfinished meal littered the floor. She made her way into the kitchen, wincing. Coming up to a stop beside the sink, she turned on the tap. She carefully began to wash her face, clearing the dried blood from her bruised muzzle and upper lip. When she had finished, she turned off the sink, looking at her reflection in the window.

Violet eyes stared miserably back at her under a disheveled brunette mane. Her tawny brown coat was pale from too much time spent indoors, and the white marking on her forehead was dull. Bags hung under her eyes from lack of sleep.

She looked terrible.

Her bottom lip trembled, and she felt tears welling in her eyes. She blinked, and looked past her reflection out into the streets below. Hundreds of lights glittered in the night, their displays distracting her from the pain.

She'd been living in this tiny Manehatten apartment with her husband Fleet for almost a year now. In the beginning, things had been all right. Fleet worked as an officer, while Lilac had been happy to work in a nearby flower shop. Everything seemed to be going well for them, until Fleet became convinced that Lilac was having an affair.

It had all started when Fleet had begun working late. The precinct he worked in had been letting off officers, and this meant more work for those that remained. From seven in the morning to eight at night, Fleet was gone. One night on his way back from work, he came by the flower shop. At the time, Lilac had been helping a stallion find some flowers for his wife's anniversary. As it was, she was behaving the way she did with all customers: Smiling, making small talk and overall just being friendly and helpful. Even so, Fleet had always been the jealous type, and seeing her having a conversation with another stallion had set his blood boiling. The result had been a disaster, and the first of many nights that ended with him hitting her.

He was getting worse. Not only had he hit her tonight, but he'd also made a terrible mess of the dining room when he'd knocked the table over. Then he'd hit her again while she was still on the floor before storming out of the apartment. That was an hour ago. As she stood in front of the tiny window, Lilac knew that she had to leave. She couldn't stay here and keep hoping things would get better, otherwise he would undoubtedly end up killing her.

She had to get out. Now.

Quickly, she cleaned up the mess in the kitchen. Then she trotted to the bedroom and quickly packed a bag; pulling out random drawers and stuffing clothes into it, throwing on a jacket and tucking a bag of bits into her pocket. She hurried to the door, and without looking back she opened it.

Once she was outside the building, she took jumped into the first carriage she found and told the driver to take her to the train station. When they arrived, she paid him and trotted over to the booth to buy a ticket, biting her lip nervously when she saw a guard standing not too far away on the platform. Tugging her hood further over her head, she glanced up at the destination board. She wanted to get as far away from Manehatten as she could, but to her dissapointment the tickets for Vanchoover and Las Pegasus were sold out. The only option left was Ponyville.
She stepped forward.

"One ticket to Ponyville, please," she said.

"Yes ma'am. That'll be five bits."

Lilac quickly gave him the money, and he smiled as he handed her the ticket. "Thank you, ma'am."

Lilac gave a small nod. "Excuse me sir, but when does the train arrive?"

The pony glanced at his watch. "In about ten minutes, ma'am."

Lilac gritted her teeth. Ten minutes. This was going to be close.

She forced a smile. "Thank you, sir."

She turned away, and walked over to a bench to sit down, opting for the one furthest away from the guard. She tried to sit still, eventually beginning to chew the inside of her lip. What if Fleet was already home? Was he searching for her? What would she do if he found her? Hopefully he'd passed out drunk outside the bar again. All she could do was sit and wait, her ears straining to hear any sound of an approaching train.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the screeching of steel that meant the train had arrived. Heart hammering, it was all she could do to get up calmly and make her way to the platform with the other passengers that were waiting. Finally, the train's doors slid open. Lilac waited, chewing the inside of her lip as the passengers disembarked. When she was finally able to step into the train, she allowed herself to sigh with relief. However, as she looked out of the window, she froze. There, approaching the guard on the platform was Fleet, accompanied by his partner. Quickly, she made her way to the back of the train car and sat down, hoping they hadn't seen her. As she risked a peek out the window, she saw the guard from earlier point to the stallion selling the tickets. Heart in her throat, she watched as Fleet marched over to the pony.

Although she couldn't hear what was being said, Lilac knew they were asking questions about her. For a brief moment, her eyes met with the stallion's, and she felt as though her heart had stopped. She hardly dared breathe.

"No!" she mouthed at him. "Please, for the love of Celestia, no!"

The stallion's expression gave nothing away, and a moment later Fleet and the other guard turned away and headed towards the exit of the train station. Lilac breathed a sigh of relief, and the stallion gave her a sad smile.

"God speed," he mouthed at her.

Lilac closed her eyes, and let her head fall back against the seat. Then, as the last passenger boarded the train, the locomotive began to slowly move forward. Glancing at the ticket booth one last time, Lilac opened the window. She waved to the stallion, feeling tears of gratitude run down her face.

"Thank you!" she shouted.

The stallion merely smiled and waved goodbye as the train picked up speed. Once they were clear of the station, Lilac watched as the city was swiftly left behind by the locomotive. When at last the city was a mere collection of twinkling lights in the distance, Lilac turned her face to the far horizon, praying the train would take her safely to Ponyville.