They soon made it back to the kingdom, landing in the garden with a thud.
"We made it!" Crusher smiled, setting Parker down.
"And luckily we weren't spotted by the sisters," Xander agreed. "You're both safe now."
"B-But this is where the vampire king lives!!" Starcatcher shrieked. "The ultimate vampire king, ruler of all vampires!!"
"Well... you're kinda looking at him," Beejay smiled.
"…what." Parker stared up at the vampire king. "You can't be that vampire king! You look to nice!"
"Wow, why does everyone think me mean?" Beejay pouted.
"Want a smack to help remind you?" Xander's expression darkened as he grinned.
"Nope!" Beejay went behind his son in fear. In times like these, Xander was scarier than he could ever be.
"So... you're NOT gonna take our blood?" Parker clarified while Starcatcher hid behind him.
"Nah, I have a taste for someone else's blood~" Beejay grinned at Xander.
The other smacked him. "You are in front of CHILDREN!"
"Oh boy…" Crusher chuckled, shaking his head.
"Crusher! Your majesty!"
They turned to see Blaze dash over to them. Starcatcher immediately ran and hid behind a bush and hunkered low to prevent being seen.
"Oh, hey, Blaze!" Crusher grinned. "What are you doing up? It's really late."
"Couldn't sleep, the excitement about my new powers got me excited," Blaze laughed before noticing Parker. "Oh! Who's this?"
"This is Parker," Xander explained with a smile. "We rescued him from chains in Mika and Ara's kingdom."
"Oh, nice to meet you, Parker," Blaze smiled down at him. "I'm Blaze."
"Um, yeah," Parker approached, trusting him a little. "You too."
"Hey, where's Starcatcher?" Crusher wondered. "She was just here."
"Who?" Blaze wondered before turning to the nearby bush. "Is she that one over there?"
Starcatcher immediately gasped once she was spotted, and hunkered down, frightened.
"That's her all right," Crusher sighed. "But, no wonder she's shy."
He whispered to Blaze everything Parker told them about her, and the red truck gasped out of shock.
"Okay, what in the world? Are those sisters psychotic and mad?!" he cried out, flabbergasted.
"I know," Crusher nodded. "I think Father would have gone in there and killed those two if Parker and Starcatcher weren't there. I was hoping you might help me get Starcatcher out of her shell. We need to stop those sisters and bring justice to the ones they caused misery for."
"Okay, I'll try," Blaze smiled and drove over to the bush. "Hello in there."
Starcatcher let out a squeak before cowering. Blaze sighed.
"I know you're scared, cutie pie, but I only wanna be your friend. So... will you please come out? For your brother and me?"
Starcatcher peeked out a bit before glancing at Parker, who gave a smile and a nod. She held her breathe before crawling out from the bush.
"Wow... you're really pretty," Blaze smiled. "My name's Blaze. And your name is Starcatcher... right?"
The timid pegasus nodded, feeling a sense of comfort around this red truck. Crusher smiled.
"I knew you could get her out of her shell,"
"It'll take a little more time, but I'm sure I can get closer to her." Blaze chuckled.
"We should get them to a room to sleep in," Xander suggested.
"Follow us, guys."
They led the two into the palace. As they walked through the halls, there was a yelp and a squeak before Quizon slipped out of nowhere and landed in front of the group.
"Quizon? What are you doing up?" Blaze asked.
"I woke up when you woke up," Quizon said sheepishly.
"Oh…" Blaze chuckled as he noticed Starcatcher cower behind him. "Quizon, this is Starcatcher and Parker. They'll be staying with us for a while."
"New friends?!" Quizon's eyes lit up.
"Um... h-hello..." Starcatcher gulped.
"Hello!" Quizon beamed only to have Starcatcher squeak and hide more. "Huh? What's wrong with her?"
"She's kinda shy, buddy," Crusher smiled sadly. "Blaze and I are trying to get her to open up some."
"Oh…" Quizon frowned and nodded.
"Come on, Starcatcher, you and your brother will need some sleep," Blaze said.
"Ooh! But who will they stay with?!" Quizon asked.
"Uh... hmm... I didn't think about that..." Blaze hummed in thought.
"Well… maybe they could stay with me?" Crusher suggested.
"I think that would work, just until morning," Xander said.
"But, Crusher, keep your blood packets handy, just in case," Blaze whispered to Crusher, who nodded.
"Yeah, I will," Crusher nodded.
"What do you think, sis?" Parker asked. "Wanna give it a try sleeping with Crusher?"
Starcatcher looked hesitant but nodded.
"I'll come check on you in the morning, I promise," Blaze said.
"Good night, Blaze," Parker smiled.
"Goodnight!"
With that, Blaze led Quizon back to the room. Crusher led the two to his room, which was big and had two extra beds in case of guests. Pickle was sleeping on the main bed, snoring away with a smile.
"Make yourselves comfy," Crusher smiled.
Parker took one bed while Starcatcher slowly took the other. The sound of beds creaking woke Pickle, who yawned as he got up sleepily.
"Crusher...? What's goin' on...?"
"Shh, it's alright, Pickle, just some slaves we rescued from Mika and Ara," Crusher assured him, kissing his forehead.
"Oh, that's nice... going to sleep now..."
Pickle yawned and went back to sleep. Crusher laughed and set the blanket on him before heading to Parker first.
"I hope this will be comfy enough for you."
"Y-Yeah… thanks…" Parker nodded as Crusher helped a blanket around him.
"Don't worry-- Mika and Ara will never lay a tire on you again." Crusher promised with a smile. "We'll keep you both safe,"
"Thanks..." Parker smiled.
Crusher patted his head before moving to Starcatcher. She cowered as he set the blanket around her.
"It's okay..." Crusher soothed, patting her head gently. "Shh, it's alright… you're in a safe place,"
"But... what if those sisters find us again...?"
"We'll deal with them," Crusher assured her. "If they want you, they'll have to get to us."
"T-They killed my mama... right in front of me..." Starcatcher whispered softly. "They always told me I was worth nothing, and they're right..."
"Shhh, don't listen to them," Crusher frowned as he petted her. "You're not worth nothing. Everyone's worth something, don't worry,"
"But... I was never strong enough to stand up for myself..." Starcatcher did her best to wipe the tears. "They always hurt me and Parker, but I couldn't stop them... now I have those awful memories I'll never get rid of just because I'm... I'm a coward...!!"
It was then that she quietly began to cry, tears pouring down her cheeks.
"Starcatcher… shh…" Crusher sighed and gently held the filly in a small hug. "Shh, it's alright. You're young, no one expects a young filly like yourself to that brave to stand up to two vampire psychos. This isn't your fault, it's their's,"
"Y-You mean it...?"
"Of course I do," Crusher smiled and nodded. "They hurt you. They didn't have the right to hurt you. Whatever you're feeling… you have the right to feel it, and it's because of them you're feeling it. It's never your fault,"
Starcatcher nodded and snuggled up to him. Crusher giggled and gently rocked her until she fell fast asleep. Once she did, he set her down on the bed, placing the blanket around her once again.
"Good night, sweet girl. Me and Blaze are gonna be there for you and Parker... I promise."
With that, he turned to head to a corner of the room to watch over them while they slept.
X
"WHERE ARE THE SLAVES?!?" Mika roared out, zooming all around the palace.
"I chained them outside, but they weren't there!" Ara shouted back.
"WELL THEN, WHERE ARE THEY?!?" Mika snarled. "Those pests!! ARGH!!"
"Someone must have found out about them and took them someplace. But what good are they? All they do is whine, whimper and cry all the time!"
"Ugh, fair enough, but they were still SLAVES!" Mika hissed. "It's hard to find good slaves… on the plus side, whoever stole them would be killing them because of how useless they are,"
"Right, right…" Ara huffed. "But wouldn't that mean someone broke into our property?"
"Seems so…" Mika's eyes glowed red.
"So what do we do about it?"
"We track them down." Mika snarled.
"Let's go!"