Murky paused amid his blubbering and bargaining for his life, 'You poor thing'? That sounded almost compassionate, which was reason for even more worrying for the runtiest pony in all of Fillydelphia. He felt even more scared, concluding that this could only end in an even more slow and painful death than he was expecting moments ago. There was already no chance of escape, Stern's talons wrapped almost entirely around his malnourished form, he imagined she could just squeeze the life out of him if she so chose.

A grin spread itself across Stern's face, menacing as anything else she did given her reputation and overall position in the society of Fillydelphia. A second griffon lands nearby, approaching Stern from the side with a curious look before she spoke in a sly tone, "Oh cap, I didn't know that was your type." she jeered, pointing a sharp talon at Murky held aloft in Stern's hand. He didn't dare speak up, four razor sharp guillotines wrapped around his body, he'd probably live a few minutes more if he held his tongue.

Stern's head rotated just enough to face an eye at the second griffon as she continued, her taunts going to a more casual tone, "You thinking of sharing?" she asks. Stern's feathers ruffled, making her seem larger in her apparent frustration as she replied with a hateful "No. He's mine." Murky's eyes went wide, by Celestia's glorious flanks they were going to eat him! He probably would have wet himself in sheer terror had he actually drank enough water, instead he could only shiver in her dangerous grasp.

"Aw come on, you know how hard it is t-"

Stern growled, her wings ruffling further, turning to face the second griffon, "What part of 'fuck off' do you not understand, cadet?"

The second griffon straightened up and all to quickly evacuated the area with a hasty "Yes ma'am!"

Stern's gaze softened as it returned to Murky, "No running." she said, setting him down on the ground and letting go of his fragile form. The slave instinct kicked in, overriding Murky's desire to run for his life and beg Wicked Slit to let him into the steel mill. The heavy doors were locked, and given how fearful she'd looked earlier, chances are she was willing to let the griffons have him if it kept the rest of them safe.

Murky stood there in the dirt shivering and quietly sobbing his eyes out over his impending death as Stern undid a few buckles near her neck and back, as her armor clattered to the ground. Sharp pings of armor plates banging together meshed with the thumps of the same plates against the dirt, a cacophony of banging percussion in his sensitive ears. Stern approached, her armor laying in the dirt while he was shown a softer side of all griffons. Beneath the armor was soft downy feathers and fur. The griffoness walked almost directly over Murky as her belly drug across the top of his head, brushing his mane back.

In spite of the looming fear, Murky still took notice of how soft the griffon's belly was. While he'd only ever really thought about being this close to a mare, in some of his more unscrupulous dreams, he was forced to take into consideration that there were indeed lady griffons. This peaceful moment was not to last, however, as a set of talons enclosed around Murky's lanky little neck and forcefully guided his muzzle across Stern's belly with a sensual slowness.

Didn't... Didn't mares only have two of those? Murky wasn't a pervert! He didn't look at mares like that! He just drew them with a fine appreciation for beauty! It didn't make him a pervert to see what he saw! Eight... Stern had eight of them, and his face had been guided across all of them through the griffon's excessively soft fluff. He was going to die anyway, right? It... It couldn't possibly make a difference if he...

Murky's lips parted slightly, a single moment of contact as Stern froze up. Her talon's loosened, almost letting go of his neck. "That's the idea." she says overhead, "Let's see how you do."

In surprise, he backed his head away, the talons tightening and bringing his muzzle back to rest on her teat. "Nope." she chides, not yet losing patience, but from his experience, that kind of tone could get very mean, very quick. Murky's lips parted again, daring at the risk of death to have a drink from Stern's clearly swollen teat.

Griffon milk, or at least from Stern, was sweet and thick, at least thicker than water. Murky wasn't sure how it's taste was in comparison to regular food or whatever free wastelanders ate, given he'd never been free enough to eat anything but scraps. Though stacked against the cheap and watered-down oatmeal slop he was used to, or at least when his meals weren't stolen from him by bigger ponies, it was... It was really good!

Stern was all too generous, letting the little runt of a stallion fill his belly for what was probably the first time in his entire life. The nutrient dense fluids were technically meant for griffon hatchlings, but because they were born with beaks, griffon milk was an inconvenient byproduct that came every year whether or not they mated during heat season, and due to the communal nature of griffons, even in the presence of other griffons' hatchlings they'd begin to swell. For the griffons of Fillydelphia in such a large roost together, it was a near-constant problem that reached a very frustrated crescendo each year during heat season. In the red eyes of Red Eye, the problem was easily quelled by restricting food rations and allowing the griffons to "recruit" slaves to help them with this biological curse. Sure, work would falter temporarily, but the unity between species it helped to garner was more than worth it.

Murky finally disconnected from Stern after nearly a half-hour, the worries of being killed had long-since faded and been replaced with a newfound love for griffons, specifically Stern. Murky Number Seven sat down, then sloped onto his back in the dirt. It may not have been truly comfortable, but the relief from constant pangs of hunger made it tolerable, until he noticed Stern was still staring down at him, her cheeks flushed a mild shade of red. She didn't look like she was about to kill him, which was easily considered a big win for Murky.

The outside world slowly came back to Murky through the milk-soaked stupor. He'd apparently given Stern what she wanted, he needed to get to work! Murky's worries flooded back, the apparition of Wicked Slit in his head not only enraged at him for his tardiness, but disappointed he'd not been killed by the griffon. The door to the steel mill seemed a million miles away, even when it was just a few steps.

A few short steps Murky was unable to take due to something... Gripping his tail.

"Don't think I'm done with you, I've got you for the next seven days at least." she says, her voice reminiscent of Red Eye's devilishly charming tone. Murky laughed nervously, unable and unwilling to pull himself from Stern's talons as she lifted him up again and took off into the sky headed for... Well, Murky didn't know.

Author's Note

😂 Dang , Murky sure can tweak a teat. 🤠🥛

I'm not done with this yet, but I do want to put it out there now.