Once again, Midnight found himself in scenic middle of nowhere. It was nighttime and the moon looked to be in the waning gibbous state of the lunar cycle, which made Midnight groan.
Great… A least a whole `nother month until I can use full moon energy for another time-jump!
Sighing, he looked around, glad that his becoming a lunar pony had given him night-vision. Even if the moon wasn’t providing its guiding light, for Midnight the night itself may as well have been daybreak.
He hadn’t landed in any grasslands, which was honestly a refreshing start, but was instead surrounded by deep woodland. Somehow, Midnight’s instincts told him he was not in the Everfree Forest but he wasn’t in Whitetail Woods or any other forest or woodlands he knew of.
Then his ears flicked towards a sound they picked up and he looked to his right. He only saw more woods but then the breeze blew his way and his nose caught a scent he had not smelled for a long time. He sniffed some more, finding the scent appealing yet somewhere in his equine brain a voice, tiny and soft, was giving a warning but a rumble in Midnight’s belly drowned it out.
Following the smell, he walked through the woodlands, oddly unafraid of the darkness or the sounds of woodland creatures when his eyes began to notice a distant light behind a dense bush, his ears picking up the snap and crackle of what could only be fire, and the smell he was following was in the same direction.
Could be a campfire… Midnight thought but he wondered what that smell was.
Very carefully, Midnight slipped through the bush and managed to peer clearly enough through its foliage to see…
“A camp…” he whispered.
There was indeed a campfire, a nearby tent, something past it, but what drew Midnight’s initial attention was the spit over the fire, cooking…
Meat! Midnight realized as he saw it.
It looked to have been a wild pig, but Midnight felt his stomach turn as he realized, I like the smell!
This was further proof Midnight was becoming a lunar pony. His mentor had told him lunar ponies were omnivorous, and had no qualms eating meat. But then another thought crossed his mind.
If the camper eats meat, then the camper isn’t a pony!
Midnight raised the hood of his cloak and carefully made his way around the camp, trying to see who or what it belonged to. The tents were simple tarp tents, a few sticks forming a raised horizontal pole, over which was the tent tarp to form the shelter, the insides lined with crude blankets and…
Phew, what is that- cat or bird?!
Midnight snorted and saw hairs and fluff and feathers among the blankets, but then he realized, How do I know?!
His sense of smell was improving, no doubt about that. But now, instinct was telling Midnight to clear out, and he was about to obey said instinct when his ears perked at another sound. He looked past the tents and saw a group huddled together, metallic clinks sounding as the huddle moved, and Midnight’s night-vision saw the group was a bunch of ponies shackled and collared together with chains!
There were twelve total, unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi, mares and stallions. Their forelegs were shackled together, the collars around their necks were iron-framed wood padlocked tight, and a heavy iron chain linked them all together.
Midnight was horrified as he slowly approached. One of the ponies heard his hoof steps and flinched at his presence.
“No, no, it’s ok!” Midnight whispered gently as he lowered his hood. “I’m a pony, like you! I’m gonna get you all out of here.”
The pony was a unicorn mare, and Midnight noticed a strange metal ring on her horn. She looked at him fearfully before she whispered, “Run!”
“What?” Midnight asked, only for an explosion of pain in the back of his head sent him falling into darkness.
“Ooohhh…” As the light of awareness came back to him, Midnight groaned from a splitting headache.
He reached up to rub the back of his head, only to feel his other foreleg get yanked and the rattle of a chain woke him up.
“What the-”
Noticing it was day, Midnight found himself in what looked to be a large cage, his forehooves shackled together, something heavy around his neck, chafing uncomfortably as he managed to sit up, and as he peered through the bars of the cage he saw clouds. He managed to get closer to the side and felt his heart jump into his throat when he saw, not the ground, but the ocean, hundreds, maybe thousands, of feet below!
“Dear Goddess! Where the buck am I?!”
A loud clang made him jolt and he looked to see a griffin! It was a large specimen, obviously male, given its larger beak. His lion half was reddish brown while his eagle front had a grayish plumage accented purple, his wings easily dwarfed the wings of any pegasus, he wore a leather vest with a pack strapped to his back between his wings, and he carried a dane axe in one of his talons while the other gripped a length of chain that apparently connected to the top of the cage Midnight was in.
“Silence, pony scum! Just enjoy the peaceful flight, because believe you me! It’s probably the last peace you’ll ever have!”
“What do you mean?!” Midnight demanded, “Who are you, and where are you taking me?!”
“I am the Overseer in service to his venerable lordship, Hresvelgr,” the griffin answered with a wicked smirk.
“As you soon will be, slave!”
“What?! How dare you?! You have no right to claim ponies as slaves!” Midnight protested, only for the Overseer to slam Midnight’s cage again.
“Shut up! The sooner you make peace with your fate, the better,” the Overseer snapped, as he holstered his axe to a belt around his middle and dug something out of a pouch, which he held up in his talons.
Midnight felt his blood run cold when he saw it, My Time Stone!!
“Such a pretty bauble this,” the Overseer scrutinized the gem keen interest, “I think my lord will love it for his collection.”
“GIVE THAT BACK!!!” Midnight screamed as he charged his mana to his horn, only to feel a burning pain that made him cry out and slump to the floor of his cage.
The Overseer clucked a cruel laughter, “No magic from you, unicorn. That inhibitor ring on your horn will see to that.”
Midnight reached up and felt something hard and metal fastened tightly around his horn. Looking around, he saw the other ponies he’d seen before, all caged as well, and remembering the unicorn mare from last night had something on her horn too.
So that’s what it’s for!
The cages were carried by pegasi, all with collars with chains used as leashes by the griffins holding them.
“Anyway, slave, I’d save that energy were I you,” the Overseer gave Midnight such a predatory look it made his skin crawl.
“Trust me, because where we’re taking you? Heh-heh, you’re going to need it…”