The grey mare waited for a few minutes, to make sure that the attendant truly left, before pulling on the leather halter with all her newfound strength, with little results. Next Sophie tried to chew through the bindings, but it was something bound to fail as the halter allowed only the slightest opening of the mouth, not enough to leave permanent damage to the leather. Most of the other mares looked at Sophie with knowing looks and shook their heads, probably reminiscing of their own escape attempts in the beginning, while some snorted derisively at the feeble attempts when the filly didn’t give up.
Meanwhile Princess was studying the room, wondering the purpose of this sealed room and the prisoners themselves. For what reasons those mares were brought here like her and the thief, and not the other transformed horses? Why not the normal stables? There was something different in this place, and something told her that she would not wait long to discover it. All the other prisoners were calm and subdued, no one other but her neighbor bucking in frustration when all the efforts were in vain.
Finally the new girl gave up for the moment, and she leaned down to sate her thirst after all that struggling. Sophie drank the water in the trough calmly, in complete contrast from the previous moments, but it was the reactions from the other prisoners that clued Princess that this action had more weight than she originally thought. The horses that probably remained in the stall for the longest time sported something akin to amused looks, while all the others assumed a more resigned disposition, a behavior that made Princess fear for her first transformation victim.
It was after a few minutes that something convinced her that something unexpected happened to Sophie, because the filly stiffened while mid-sip, and only her nervously shifting tail was the only indication that the mare was not frozen stiff. The mare that until that moment had their attention on the new arrivals with restrained mirth finally let loose a loud whinny that passed for laughter at the subject of their entertainment, as Sophie leaned away from the water as if it was poisoned.
Tired and embittered by the whole situation Sophie shot a nasty glare at the amused mares, and laid down as best as she could on the floor, trying to not let the situation completely overwhelm her. Yet the filly was far more jittery than before, shifting nervously from time to time as if bothered by something, until after a few minutes Sophie started to pant softly, simultaneously giving the water a loathsome glare. Something was in the water then, because one nearby white filly followed the grey mare’s example and drank deeply, and like her predecessor she shivered before behaving the same way as Sophie.
Princess averted her gaze, and considered her hopefully successful escape, starting from the stable itself. The walls were solid and healthy woods with no weak spots, there were no windows in sight except on the roof as skylights, located only well outside her reach in the ceiling, and finally the doors were too thick to open up or break with a powerful kick, even more so that the ones in her old stall, so the mare could only wait for one of the attendants to unlock the only avenue of escape. But then… what? She was not a normal human being, and is she stayed a mare for long someone would surely report a wild horse wandering around, and then the zoo would be very grateful to reacquire one of their missing animals, provided that Princess could evade the minders of the stables and the personnel of the zoo. The attendant said that the transformation was permanent after mating, but there must be something more to that! The filly refused to believe the inescapable truth of the situation, she couldn’t remain a horse for life! She just couldn’t.
As she planned her next move her eyes met the knowing glint of an older mare’s gaze, sipping placidly the water that was probably dosed with something unpleasant, that could probably guess what Princess was thinking and did not have much faith in her chances. This was a filly that had given up and accepted her new role in life under the attendant’s urgings, and now looked at the other captives with something akin condescension, as if they all were misbehaving children that soon will be taught how to best live as the animals they now were should live.
Princess hoped to never become like her in the future.