(Pro) More than Meets the Eyes

Prologue – More than Meets the Eyes

As I stood on the edge of the building, I contemplated what was ahead of me. The plain concrete ground on alley separating the two buildings on either side was the first thing that met my eyes. What would normally be filled with a few bums enjoying an old and rotten garbage meal or some kids coming home from school was simply empty, without a single soul rushing by or past my field of vision. The same could be said about the little view I had of the road; No cars, no groups of friends talking, not even a giant truck doing publicity of some sort of market that’s been around for too long. It was devoid of life. I smiled at the sight.

It was the perfect condition for what I was about to do, and I wanted to attract as less attention as I possibly could.

I turned towards the sky, closing my eyes to enjoy the soft, chilly afternoon breeze that swooned past my face, cancelling the effects of the heat from the sun, making my black hoodie slightly flap against my white T-shirt, with the same effect grey sport pants. This peaceful scene always carried me through everything in my life, both good and bad, and made me see what’s worth remembering, and my closed eyes served to complement that fact even more.

I outstretched my arms to let the air do its work on me. It was like the world slowed to a crawl around me. Images of my loved ones and our adventures flashed through the darkness of my closed eyes as plummeted to my inevitable doom, if I kept at it.

To be honest, while I was happy that I was reliving my experiences, it was sort of sad that I thought about this before jumping. Though it seemed like forever, a good minute passed before I leaned forward, eyes cracked open as I started to sense the wind change around me.

I was falling to the ground below.

My smile was still plastered on upon face as I plummeted to the hard concrete. The wind was now strong to the point that it dared to rip off the jacket that was clinging to my chest. Through my eyes, I saw the ground getting ever so close to colliding with me. Before it was too late, I inhaled deeply and moved into action.

Putting both of my arms over the back of my head I pushed, curving my upper body upwards and bending my knees to allow me to flip in midair until I was no longer in danger of landing headfirst. Instead, I took an upright position where my feet would land first on the ground. Once I made contact, my body instinctively rolled on the floor so my legs wouldn’t be crushed by the moment of the fall. After doing so, I used the momentum of the fall to stand back up on my feet.

After finishing my little performance, I dusted off the imaginary dirt off my clothes and inspected the damage – if there was any – to my body. Noting only that my legs were slightly numb, I decided that I could just walk this off. Other than that, I was perfectly normal - I mean, if you can call trying to kill myself in the name of parkour normal.

I heard raspy gasp coming from behind me. I turned towards the sound to see an old homeless man standing inside the dumpster, wearing torn up jackets and jeans covered with mud polka dots everywhere. The look of shock on his face and the shaking of his entire body was proof that he witnessed everything that I had done. Plus, the fact that my hood was on my head served as a booster for nightmares.

I threw the hood backwards to reveal my gleeful grin, along with my bald head reflecting the sunlight. Grey eyes gazed into the grizzled man’s brown pupils as he shifted in the trash.

As his feet touched the surface of the floor, I decided to initiate our conversation with a pleasantry. “Nice afternoon we're having.” I finally commented, my British accent clearly evident in my voice.

Unfortunately, this only got him to speed up his process as he fell from the dumpster and scurried to his feet before running to the street screaming ‘The end is nigh’ and ‘Lord help me’ over and over again. I’m pretty sure I made him mental or something. Once he turned the corner and got out of sight, I was left there, dumbstruck by the scene. I stared at the spot he was before, wondering what I'm done wrong. "Must've been in a hurry."

Shaking my head, I focused back to the task at hand; finding my way back up. It didn’t take me long to do so, however, as just above my head I saw an emergency escape ladder. “That’s convenient,”

<------------------------------->

“Hmm, interesting,” Announced a figure sitting in his stone throne, looking through the crystal ball in his hands, admiring the traits the human presented, as he watched it with careful detail and interest, just like he did for the past half hour. Mentally, he was passing the figure’s trial. He turned to the silhouette in the middle of the room. “What else can this creature do?”

This question got a laugh from the cloaked silhouette, which irritated the figure. “Oh, Ahuizotl, you have yet to learn that I cannot control or know about what these beings can and can’t do.” His dark blue and sickly green eyes blinked through the darkness as he motioned towards the ball. “You’ll have to see it for yourself.”

The one named Ahuizotl huffed in positioned, scrunching his face in irritation at the equine silhouette. Even though he was growing impatient of its antics and remarks he cooperated nonetheless. He gazed at the crystal ball just in time to see the human bouncing off another building.

<------------------------------->

I grabbed a hold of the ledge, my hands hanging on for dear life while my legs flexed against the building wall. Using my upper body strength, combined with the extension of the legs to ease the process, I lifted myself off the side and on to the top. With that, I pushed myself back on my feet and repeated the same thing for the upcoming apartments ahead of me.

This seemed to be turning into my routine; wake up, eat, run, run, run, hospital, rest, repeat. It was practically the same thing each day, with the only difference being the people that notice me. There was one time where a bunch of conspiracy theorists thought I was some kind of human surveillance camera. Another time where I was considered to be a paranormal entity possessed by the devil, which might have been the reason that old man ran away. Probably the funniest one was when someone took a blurred and low-quality photo of me and told everyone that bigfoot was now living in their town.

Thinking about the memories I’ve had – the confusion, the property damage, the broken bones - made me go back to why I was freerunning in the first place; the adrenaline. Ever since I had first tasted the rush I went past my limits to try and recreate that experience at every chance I got.

It was sort of like a drug in every aspect, except in parkour you get some exercise when doing it. It was the second best feeling I have ever felt, and since I didn’t have a girlfriend nor was I a rapist, I was going to have to enjoy myself with this.

My train of thought was interrupted by me colliding with an air duct I failed to see coming. The force of the impact took the air out of my lungs as gravity threw my body onto the stone floor causing a crack to sound from behind me.

With both the impacts from the front and back, I forced my eyes shut and inhaled a sharp breath, throwing my head back. “Fucking shit!”

<------------------------------->

Ahuizotl cringed at the scene that had transpired in the crystal ball. “That was absolutely unprofessional and moronic.”

“That tends to happen even to the best of us, though it isn’t as embarrassing as what he did.” Ahuizotl’s feature took upon a shape of disgust as he stared incredulously into the pony’s heterochromic eyes. “I’m just saying-”

“ENOUGH!” Ahuizotl slammed a fist on the armrest of the throne, causing small rubble to fall to the ground. “Is that your reasoning?” He looked at the cloaked figure with rage written in his eyes. “That is a requirement I need for the human that I’ll purchase – that he not make mistakes in my plans. Do you think that this… this THING-“

He pointed a finger towards the runner, who was currently having a hard time standing up. “Here’s the hospital part of my day, ” He said, coughing out the last part of the sentence, the tiniest bit of blood exiting his mouth. “Fuck, I bit my lip.”

“-is the best thing you could find in this world populated by… by…. how many are there again?”

The pony in drags’ smirk did not fade in the least. “Around 7 billion… give or take a few million. Impressive, isn’t it?”

“Quite,” Ahuizotl acknowledged with a raised brow, looking at the human that was still passed out. He had to admit; a planet entirely populated by this kind of species was intriguing to say the least. He was starting to think that calling this a new species was a complete overstatement. However, this only lit up another question he sought to get solved, rage still expressed fully in his words. “and out of all of those, you got me this embarrassment to everything that is intelligent?”

The pony chuckled at the question. “By the Gods no. Do you think I have time to search and carefully analyze an entirely new species of humans from several different regions with several different traits to pick the right one for you, and still try to accomplish the deadline of two weeks?” He stated in a matter-of-factly.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“I didn’t want to answer your question; I wanted to invalidate your question. These humans are just like the intelligent beings in this world, meaning that they can make mistakes for what they think is right, just like what happened to you.” Ahuizotl was about to make a statement but not before the pony added. “Also, it is impossible for somepony to do such a deed, considering all of that AND the little time I have to work on it.“

“Let me tell you something,” Ahuizotl half-yelled, nearly jumping off his throne. “when I give my subjects a task I expect them to accomplish it successfully - not with great effort, successfully.” Ahuizotl started out, his tone turning to one of commanding. “That is a decree that is set the moment you join me in combat. If you at any time disobey or even forget to obey this rule, I will leave your body in so much of a mess nopony will be able to tell what species you were.”

“Surprisingly, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that.” The pony said mid-speech. “Though it is weaker than most.”

Ignoring the comment, Ahuizotl continued. “Now tell me this, who are you to disobey?”

The pony didn’t take long to think of an answer. “Somepony who is not affiliated with you.”

The hybrid eyes opened wide in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“Well, in your little declaration you stated that rule is, and I quote: ‘set the moment you join me’. The flaw in your law is that I didn’t join you and I plan never to do so. I am just a merchant of humans you called over to strike a deal on a human you saw fit your description. I didn’t join you because of that; I accepted the job you put up. By that logic, I could have not done what you asked me to and I would never disobey the norm.”

“Then why did you choose to do this?”

“Because I wouldn’t be doing MY job.” He simply said. “That and I wouldn’t get paid.” He quickly added, though in a whisper.

Ahuizotl thought about answering with another anger-filled comment, but he chose not to. Instead, he rubbed his temples with his free hand-tail. “Let’s try not to change the subject this time.” He whispered mostly to himself. Regaining his composure, he got back to the matter at hand. Turning his attention to the figure in the middle of the room, he sighed. “Look, can we go back to dealing the human?”

“Alright, but remember; if you are dissatisfied with the human I bring you, after you specifically saw his good and bad traits, it’s your fault, not mine, that he doesn’t appeal to you.”

He didn’t even bother fighting him, he knew the pony would someone turn his words against him. Internally admitting defeat, Ahuizotl groaned as he pondering angrily at this. “What if I were to extend the dead line to-“

“Still won’t work.” The stallion interrupted, sending another wave of tired anger into the hybrid. The pony noticed this. “Look, I normally don’t do this because, you know, the customer is always right, but I’m tired of you pointing your unnecessary anger at me for doing my job. Frankly, I myself am getting mad at you, and since I don’t want to start an all-out war between our sides I’ll give you some options and you choose one. Then, I’ll be out of your metaphorical hair and never come back. How about it?”

Ahuizotl’s expression went from one of rage to one of shock– both for the fact that the figure in front of him sounded mature for the first time in a while and the options he was offering. Afterwards, it became one of curiosity as the stallion did not specify the amount of options. “How many?”

“Some.” The stallion informed him. “The first option is to take the deal, right here and now. You give me the bits, I give you the human, you do whatever it is you have planned for him or her and I never speak to you ever again in either of our lives.” Ahuizotl gave an eyebrow raised at that. What does he mean by that last part?

Nevertheless, he motioned for him to continue. “The second option is you don’t take the deal, though I doubt you will take that one. It would just mean that this whole exchange and all the politics involved was nothing but a waste of time. If you do end up choosing so, I will go on as if this never happened and you keep searching for someone else to satisfy your fantasies.”

“The third option is, what I think to be, the one you might pick, also being one I would never advise to any pony I have ever met.” The smile on his face has all but gone by the time he finished explaining, and the emotion in his voice had turned monotonous.

“Which is?” The hybrid questioned, putting the crystal ball that was now turned off in his hand-tail. In the hybrid’s mind, he could have sworn he heard a hint of malice in those words.

"War.” He announced without missing a beat.

Ahuizotl took a second to process what he said… before inadvertently bursting out laughing, threatening to drop the ball. When he saw this, the pony lifted a pure white hoof up, glowing the darkest of blacks. The crystal ball was engulfed in the same aura as the hoof before black flames surrounded the ball. When they dissipated, the ball vanished into thin air, leaving no evidence behind.

Ahuizotl didn’t witness the magic before him as he was still laughing in his throne at the supposed threat. Finally, he wiped a tear off his cheek, facing the veiled stallion. “A war? Do you really want a war with me?”

“If need be.”

“Do you have a death wish?”

“Do you?”

Ahuizotl laughed again. “Boy, let me tell you this; I had a lot of different scenarios for the end this meeting, but I never thought I would actually laugh at anything that comes out of your mouth. For the God’s sake, I thought I would kill myself if this went on. Oh my Gods, I’m laughing just from thinking about this.” As if on cue, the hybrid let out a monstrous cackle, nearly throwing him onto the ground.

Having had enough, Ahuizotl snapped his finger calling for his right-arm. A light brown, messy black and grey maned stallion, with a golden, red-eyed, skull wearing a white shirt, with a scimitar sheathed on his side, appeared beside him, eyes sternly gazing into the mystery stallion. “Dr Caballeron,” Ahuizotl addressed him. “Show our friend here what kind of ‘war’ he’ll start if he keeps this up.”

“Yes, sir.” Caballeron signed off with a salute before jumping into the same circle the pony was in. He pulled out the scimitar out from its resting place, firmly gripping it in his mouth as he stared down the figure.

He didn’t attack him immediately, though. Spitting the sword on his foreleg, he approached the figure. “I know what you’re thinking, and no, I didn’t stop because I sympathize with you,” Caballeron admitted, his thick prench accent making his words sound slightly mispronounced. “Unlike my commander here, I can give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you are right about this human race.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I’m a generous stallion, and as such, I shall give you the option to surrender in this battle. If you choose otherwise, then I shall be forced to attack you.” Caballeron smiled as he said this. “Take your time, I am a patient stallion.”

The pony stayed there, motionless and shocked, processing everything that was said to him. “…wow.”

“I know, I know, you would never expect one of Ahuizotl’s lackeys to-“

“Normally, I’m the one who says all that.” He interrupted, with a contemplating expression. “You even got the part about patience, word for word.” His features slowly turned morbid at the realization. “Oh dear, this can’t be good…”

This got a look of confusion from Caballeron as he scrunched his face. “…I’m sorry, but I am lost.” He took a cautious step forward. “What are you-“

“Are you afraid to fight me? Does something about me scare you? I’m sorry if I came on too strong for you, I just wanted to make a good first impression.”

“Hold on, I’m not-“

“Are you mentally writing your will? I know some ponies I’ve met that sometimes say things that don’t make any sense so they can stall me to write their will.”

“I don’t-“

“Does your family know that I was visiting you at work? Maybe they could have told you something about me, perhaps to be more careful. Maybe you didn’t hear them say anything, most likely because you’re a bad father?”

“Don’t bring my-“

“Wait, do you even have a family?” He asked. The pony leaned towards the victim of the barrage of questions, expecting them to be answered.

Caballeron sighed in hopes of relieving some of the stress building. It didn’t help much as he wanted. ”My family has no business in this matter.” He said informed through clenched teeth.

The pony waved a dismissive hoof, the same unnatural pure white hoof. “Of course, that was so silly of me,” He laughed mischievously, a smirk pursuing his lips. ”It’s impossible that somepony like you could get a mare.”

The doctor stiffened at this. His eyes glared daggers at the abnormality before him, a gaze so intense it threatened to pierce his very soul.

“Unless the mare you got is deaf, dumb or blind. Is she either, Mister Caballeron?”

“I know what you’re trying to do.” Caballeron said, the monotone increasing the seriousness of his mood. “I’m not one to fall easily into anyponies’ little mind games. You can say whatever you want about me-“

“Well, you give me a lot to work with.”

“-but as I’ve told you, I’m a very patient stallion.” Though he didn’t allow it to show, Caballeron anger rose. “But when you bring my loved ones into the problem,” He stepped on the tip of the hilt of the scimitar, causing it to jump off the ground, twirling in mid-air. “I’m no longer your friend.” At the right opportunity, Caballeron whipped his head on the sword, catching the sword, firmly gripping it in his mouth.

The pony gave his trademark chuckle. “You really don’t want this.”

The doctor narrowed his eyes at his target. I’ll make sure your pesky mouth will never utter another sound. He thought before galloping rapidly to his new opponent. Once the brown stallion got to a certain distance he leapt up, twisting his entire to form a spiral directly aiming at the cloaked pony’s neck. With determination in his eyes, Caballeron went in for the kill.

The pony raised his right foreleg in front him to block the attack. When the scimitar made contact, a clash sounded between them. Caballeron was shocked at what he was seeing; not only was the foreleg not dripping with blood, sparks flew out of the hoof itself.

With the force of spiral, the sword started to crack under the pressure. What are you? was the last thing running through the doctor’s mind before the sword broke, causing the stallion to fall onto the hoof of his opponent. The pony’s smirk did not fade during the whole ordeal as he pushed his foreleg forward.

Unbeknown to anypony looking, a black aura formed around the pony’s hoof. Holding Caballeron by the chest, the pony used the black magic to blast the stallion off of his grasp. Caballeron shot past the amazed face of the blue hybrid before crashing onto the other side of the room, creating dust and smoke around the area.

When the dust settled in, Ahuizotl took note of the damage; a crater, roughly around his size, on the wall, with several of the rocks built around it either turned to dust or were misshapen do to the impact. He’d hate to admit it, but the pony might be able to best him in the completion.

Looking beneath it, he saw Caballeron with cuts and bruises all over his backside, ranging from every size and shape, bleeding profusely from the gash on his head onto the hard floor. Two other ponies, one dark green and the other black, turned his body so he was faced up. There wasn’t any damage to the front of his body, except for the black burn mark in his chest. If Ahuizotl had to guess, its origin may have been from the explosion he heard.

“Sir,” The green unicorn, female from the sound of it, turned to her master, worried. “We need to get him some medical attention.”

However, Ahuizotl paid them no mind, as he was more interested in the mystery colt and the handy ability of his. Standing up from his throne, he made his way to the middle of the room. With every step on his way down, the mare got more desperate to receive an answer from her king. Figuring it was useless, she tended to the bleeding mess that was Caballeron as best she could. Until another figure came to help him.

“Sir,” Came another voice from behind, this time male, presumably from the black one, sounding as worried as the other. Ahuizotl recognized him as one of his spies, Silver Secret. “If we don’t do something immediately, he might die.”

Ahuizotl stopped in his tracks to turn to his lackeys, his face bearing no expression. “Caballeron’s health is none of my concern.” He informed, returning his focus to what was most important to him at the moment.

The duo looked at each other, trying to comprehend why their leader suddenly didn’t care about his second in command, but they didn’t have much time to think as the doctor continued to pour onto the floor. “We have to go, Song,” Silver broke the silence, directing to the desperate mare. “Put him on my back.”

With a nod, she placed the doctor carefully on his back with the aid of magic. When that was accomplished, they made their way to the hospital section of the hideout to save the life of their dear friend.

The cloaked pony saw all this and, with a shake of the head, announced the obvious. “You are a heartless beast.” When the duo made a left turn, he pursued his lips, turning to the hybrid in front of him. “I like you.” Ahuizotl simply stared at him through cold and lifeless-like eyes. The pony saw none of this. “So, do we have a deal?”

A hand appeared behind the hybrid, clenching the top of a wool bag, securely wrapping the entrance with a tight knot. The bag rustled slightly with the movement, the content giving itself a chunk sound as it did. This served to widen the smile on the pony’s face.

Swiping the bits off of Ahuizotl’s hand-tail with a rapid motion, the pony made his way to the exit of the cave. “You shall receive your human in approximately 24 hours. After receiving your human, the transaction will be completed and you can live happily with your plans fulfilled. Any and all complaints about your purchase will be thoroughly examined and ignored. Questions about your human’s eating or any other habit you can directly ask him yourself.”

“Anything else?” Ahuizotl tiredly asked after what he considered to be a full day’s work.

“Just one thing;” The pony halted, reaching for his pocket to take out black sand. Throwing it on the ground, the fumes from it enveloped his entire body in black tendrils. “No refunds.” He said through the smoke, his presence no longer there as the shadows faded.

(1) Witness the Pieces Falling Apart

View Online

Ch.1 - Witness the Pieces Falling Apart

“Here’s the hospital part of my day.” I groggily said, coughing out the last part of the sentence, the tiniest specs of blood shooting out of my mouth at every attack. As if on cue, a sharp pain erupted from my lip. I placed a finger on the pained area to realize my suspicions. “Fuck, I bit my lip.”

I hate it when things like this happen. It’s one of the disadvantages of freerunning; you always have to be focused on your surroundings to avoid getting hurt… as often. Some other folks have told me that this sport was not for me because I let my mind wander easily. I’m starting to think if they were right about this, than they were probably right about other things in my life.

Now I’m left here, trying to stand up from my failure, weakly and slowly as I did. Fortunately, I was on top of a building so I didn’t have to worry about other people watching. I could handle any sort of physical trauma that the environment and my own stupidity threw at me; surgeries and medication covers most of it while the rest heals on its own. What I can’t handle is the embarrassment, for very obvious reasons.

By the time I had fully stood up the pain in chest had subsided enough to become tolerable. Examining my chest, I looked to see if there was anything serious to worry over. After feeling the rib, in which the pain was originating from, firmly in its place, I deduced it was a dull pain and it can heal on its own. I sighed in relief.

“That’s enough activity for today,” I told myself with more wisdom than before. “it’s time to head home.” I began to look for a wait out of this roof. Perhaps when I get home I can work on fixing my problem with talking to myself. Not that I don’t like it, I like my alone time with my thoughts, but it gets weird after a while.

The first thing I noticed about my current location is that, from the looks of it, I was on top of a warehouse, standing on the center of two other buildings that were considerably larger than the warehouse itself, and the space between them was large enough to fit several giant containers being transported to different stations.

From behind me, I could see ships, carrying the same containers from near the warehouse but in larger quantities, parked by the docks. I heard some yelling from the ship to the docks, ordering them on where and how to put the containers safely on the ship, with the sound of the horns on the background. Cranes were coming to and fro the docks, the metal contractions lifting the boxes onto the rest of its others.

Realization hit me straight across the face as my eyes widened. I have trespassed on a docking site.

How did I get here?I thought as I walked towards the edge, taking note of what's below me. The amount of workers and machinery involved in the process of simply transportation was immense and frightening. Each one of them had a different job to attend to, and they all performed professionally at their doing, letting not a single detail go unnoticed. This promptly popped another question in my mind. How do I get out of here?

Simply jumping out of the roof was out of the question. I would get spotted the second I got off here. The other solution I normally go to in these situations were windows. I saw a few openings on the side of the warehouse but I had nowhere to grab to get there safely and, because I would out in the opening, the risk of detection was too big to follow through.

But then a thought popped into my head, quite possibly the most idiotic one of the day.

Maybe I can use the ventilation system?

I turned towards the air duct in question, slightly taken aback by the state it was in. The previous incident left a misshapen dent on the polished metal, making it seem like a manufacturer mistake rather than an actual accident. The fact that I was able to make such a dent on metal flabbergasted me. I wondered how I was able to make such damage before coming to realize that there were small imprints embedded on the side of the entry. 'Made in China' it said.

When I got closer and took a look inside, I saw it didn’t have any permanent damage; a couple of scratches here and there and a round shape standing out – or, should I say, in - in the duct, a paler contrast compared to the rest of the dusty inside. A simple knock with a hammer ought to clear the dent right up, but that doesn’t help my escape plans.

Peeking through the inside, I saw the first 4 feet of the slide clearly with the help of the sunlight, while the rest of the tunnel got darker and darker until, at the abyss, was entirely coated in darkness. I couldn’t even see the ending, just darkness. Nervousness crept up my spine as I gulped at sight.

I didn’t want to do this. I really didn’t want to do this. I was more than willing to give up my precious right leg so I wouldn’t do this. I have seen plenty of movies to know what the hell is going to happen if I get in one of these. They all end badly, but it was the only way to get out of here and even this was a long shot to success.

Looking behind me a second time, I made sure nobody was around to witness my next stunt. Given the green light, I grabbed the top of the entrance. Taking a deep breath, I readied myself for what was about to happen. Using my arms, I lifted my body so my feet would go feet first onto the ducts.

With a million protests from my mind and body, I descended into the darkness.

<------------------------------->

How did I know this was gonna happen? I wanted to vent my frustrations but I retracted out of fear of the amount of noise I would make.

Right now, I was making my way to the end of the tunnel, which shined a speck of light upon the duct. The tight walls around me turned my crawling into a squirming exercise to see if I could move an inch from where I was, causing my body to tire itself more easily than usual.

Due to the walls compressing me, my clothes were being dragged to my upper torso, leaving my stomach exposed. Every time I went over filters that I suspect were made for air conditioning my body threatened to push the bars past their breaking point, causing the silent approach that my plan consisted of to be thrown out the window - and like I said before, they were none.

To add insult to injury, dust, grime and other dirt-related nonsense filled every single atom of these ducts, filling my vision and sticking to my clothes, not only making it hard to move but it also hard to see where I was going. Combining this with the darkness rendered my task near impossible to finish.

The smell... oh good lord, the smell. I could feel my nostrils closing themselves at every breath I took, my body cringing and shivering greatly. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this is where the dead bodies are disposed. The sheer putridness was enough to make me hurl in disgust, nearing the point of vomiting. You’d think a company that organized would have half a mind to clean their gutters.

And the worst part?

I was squirming… backwards... facing down. I had to spin my head in a 90 degree angle just so I could see where I was going. I’m a fucking genius. I thought sarcastically, aggravated by the mess I put myself in. I wanted to get out of this place alive, not pissed off and covered in shit.

Having had enough of the ventilation, I stopped near one of the filters – and when I say ‘stop near’ I mean squirm over as I sensed it slicing through the epidermis of my skin – and used my right arm to push it down from its holding place, ever strengthening the grip until it broke. Hearing the screws hitting the ground was like music to my ears. Placing the metal bars on the inside of the vent, I gingerly and slowly headed down. The sudden scent of cardboard overcame my nasal cavities, a relatively nice change from the previous.

As more of my body exited the tunnel, the less strain it took to get out. When my legs were the only part left in the ducts I grabbed the two edges to not let my body splay on the floor. Once my feet made contact with the ground I let go of my grip.

Trying my hardest to wipe the gunk off my clothes I was able to remove enough dirt to make me comfortable in the attire, but it was still enough to infuriate me. Shaking my head disquietly, I turned to the inside of the warehouse.

Unlike the outside, the machinery in this part was mostly composed of forklifts, carrying shipments of boxes, big and small, all throughout the warehouse. The main difference was, while it may look like something normal for these men, it looked completely haphazard to me. The way that they picked up the boxes only to put them down again, how the forklifts left the storage space and came back in again, supervisors yelling out orders at every second. For me, it was a mess, but it seemed like they knew what they were doing.

Organized chaos I suppose.

After reminding myself that I was a trespasser and not a tourist, I hastily walked to the nearest exit on the right side of the building. Coming to a set of stairs, I looked down to see if anyone was near. Meeting no one in my line of sight, I ran the whole way down; all precautions I set were replaced by the thought of safety in my home.

I loved when things like this happened. Accomplishing events that other people thought to be impossible always gave me a sense of wonder.

The door was right there, in front of me, the excitement of seeing the exit caused me to speed up my walk, turning it into a sort of power walk. With the biggest grin in my face, I reached out, my hopes growing as I touched the doorknob to escape the scene. Just one more pull and I was out.

But my desire became despair as I felt a hand tug of my hoodie, yanking me away from the door. I was actually close to tearing up when I focused my attention on the culprit; one of the workers must have heard my footsteps when I came down because here he was, gazing angrily through the small line of sight left from his headgear at my now exposed and anxious face.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, authority ruling his rough demeanor, his muscular built ensuring that I wouldn’t leave his hand-lock so easily. This did not help me calm down as I shook slightly in his grip, frightened for my life. I tried to find the right words to answer his inquiry, but only shaky breaths were heard leaving my mouth. “Who are you?”

When I finally managed to find the words, all I could say were stutters and stammers. This further angered the man in yellow. “Don’t play dumb with me, it never works.” He said in fatigued fashion as he turned to make his way elsewhere, possibly to his manager’s office, with me still shaking in his grip, trying to think of a new way to lose him. ”You’ve got some nerve coming here; thinking you can trick me, of all people into-“

I… honestly can’t tell you what happened next in a better way than this. A ball of glass suddenly appeared above his head, a cloud of smoke surrounding it, making it look like it wasn’t there a minute ago. When the smoke dissipated, the ball crashed on the unsuspecting bulky man’s head, causing him to go wall-eyed before falling over unconscious.

The ball – which, at closer detail, was contrived of crystal – remained intact, like it had never been touched by anything since its crafting. It rolled out from near the man’s head onto my feet. Staring intently and with abnormal curiosity, I bent down to pick up the foreign object.

As I held it close to me, I noticed my reflection; apparently, my bitten lip was worse than I was expecting. It ran across my lip to where the stubble would be. Luckily it wasn’t bleeding. Just as I picked it up, the orb started forming black smoke around itself, my hands including. It disappeared just as I let go of it, startled.

By this time, all of my panicked nature had ceased to continue, only to be left in a state of shock, not even considering the fact that the magical ball just saved me. It formed too many question in my mind, one of which I don’t think it could be answered with basic logic. What was that all about?

My attention was then diverted to the figure laid motionless on the floor. The only evidence to him being alive was his chest movements. According to the bump on his forehead, I’d say the ball must have hit him hard. “I hope he doesn’t have a concussion,” I whispered to myself as I picked him up and dragged him to the staircase.

But as I did so, I glanced at his clothing, noting especially the yellow helmet and jacket, and I got an idea. I mentally grimaced. “Big guy, what size do you wear?” I asked nobody in particular.

<------------------------------->

The pony sighed, filling out the last line of crimson salt for the summoning circle, the upside down star now complete. With careful detail, he made sure not a single grain of salt was out of place or amiss, lest he wished for another failure. With a few corrections here and there, he back stepped to admire his work.

A smirk ran on his lips. Much like his other basement experiments, it was nothing more than successful, and the stallion had to take pride in this constant achievement. The gleam in his eyes turned shady as the memories that any sane being would think despicable got a cackle out of the stallion.

The rain poured out from outside, leaving large drops on the only window of the division. Thankfully, the pony loved a rainy day so it didn’t bother him in his labor. In fact, it served as fuel for his deteriorating sanity to find quiet in the most unusual of times.

His gleam got darker with this.

The pony then moved on to the following item on his mental list; two small, ancient-looking green jars stuck in mid-air, each one with a cork on the entrance, preventing whatever was inside to leave. They were held up by another four dark tentacles emanating with malice. The pony walked to the first jar, jolting to life, the restraints on it becoming stronger as the jar attempted indignantly to escape the tentacles grasp, but to no avail.

With his pure white hoof, he cast an enchantment on the fearful object. Miniscule, centipede-like magic burst from his hoof onto the jar, entering through the tiniest cracks of the cork. Moments passed before the object surrender to its creatures, the convulsions stopping altogether.

The stallion reached for it, lifting a faded blue leg towards the jar. When he wrapped a hoof securely around the handle, he stomped his right hoof on the floor causing the black tendrils to dissolve, letting the stallion be free with the jar.

Unscrewing the cork, the stallion prepared himself for the onslaught of tortured cries that followed. He was met with only one sentence, one single question that he was never expecting.

“What did I do wrong?”

The stallion stared, dumbstruck at the words, his grin now a frown. This is the first time anypony has ever shown self guilt for something somepony else has done, and he could’ve sworn he heard this voice before. However, his contemplation didn’t last long as the aroma of the subject from the jar caused the stallion to giggle, and he beamed at the jar. “Souls tickle.” He said, disregarding the voice that spoke out his sadness.

Strapping the cork back in, the pony did the same procedure with the last jar - though the cries were more violent – and carried both to the front of the circle. The one holding the ‘softer’ soul was placed directly in front of the circle while the other one, holding the screamer, was placed further away from them.

“Now,” The stallion stomped his white hoof once more, the eight tendrils fetching the next item in the far corner of the room. “the body” As he announced, a rusty cage moved onto his vision, the contents of it also being heard in the far end.

As it got nearer, the subject in question was in full view; a dirt riddled human could be seen, thrashing about and scratching the cage, trying his hardest to accomplish freedom, but his bloody fingertips showed that the cage did more damage to him than he did to the cage. The hair integrated in all his body parts and the skin hugging his bones suggested that this one either had no owner or was poorly treated by its handler. Whether the former or latter, the stallion did not intend to solve. All he did was leave the human in his screeching mess.

The stallion finally removed his drags with a single swift motion of the hoof. His features were now completely visible. Pure white wrapped around his right leg entirely, making it look like it was transplanted from a ghost, but it left the rest of his anatomy with its original hue; faded blue.

Instead of a cutie mark, his flanks were adorned with imprints of the same black tendrils, running from his tail to both legs of his hindquarters. In the center of the imprints was a large red eye with a serpentine iris, staring down at anypony of anything that came into its horizon. From a different perspective, the pony looked more like darkness than man itself.

His mane and tail were both kept in a long and unkempt fashion, bangs visible just above his brows, allowing every lock to flow freely, to create the impression of the stallion’s mindlessness towards his looks. Dark brown was the color that ran by his mane and tail, with a lonesome black streak that seemed to continue its route from the end of the mane to the tail.

The stallion entered the summoning ring, sitting on his hindquarters in the middle. He took one last look at the being I front of me, not giving up his attempts and furthering the tears in his body.

“Body,” he said, announcing the requirement necessary for the upcoming spell.

He then looked at the two jars in a straight line, the ones keeping the individuals’ remains. “Soul,”

He lifted a foreleg to the side of his head and knocked on it, the smirk not fading in the least. “Mind,”

After doing so, he reached the same foreleg to spawn the crystal ball that he saved from breaking due to Ahuizotl’s carelessness. With a flick of the hoof, he made it show the human that they had haggled for. “And last but not least,” he placed the ball on the ground next to him. “the subject.”

With yet another stomp on the floor, a capsule formed around all the items that the pony had gathered. The human had halted in his actions when he noticed the dust and oddity-filled room around him was now turning into darkness. Confused and tired, the mindless creature turned to, unbeknownst to him, the one responsible for this.

“Now,” the stallion lifted his hoof, magically opening the jars and letting the spirits fly at his whim. “for the extraction.” Pointing his hoof at the trapped human, the souls followed suit as they invaded the human’s body, controlling him to do the pony’s biding.

If the poor human had the ability to remember, the thing he would have seen were the duo-colored eyes of his captor, his devilish grin and the spirits of the ones that used to be.

(2) Stricken

View Online

Ch. 2 - Stricken

The door opened with a bang, clashing onto the wall supporting it, the knob leaving a small hole. A foot was the culprit, belonging to the supposed owner of the house, who was wearing the docking site’s yellow jacket and dented helmet, sweat drops falling underneath the hat.

As soon of the inside of the abode came into view, the man put his foot down and leaned against the wall, shakily sighing in relief as the stress dissipated from him. Walking inside and towards the kitchen part of the house, the man withdrew a couple of steps to remove the worker helmet and throwing it on the bin nearby, making sure the dreaded things never came in physical or visual contact with him. His face was finally recognizable.

Thank God that’s over with. Approaching the sink, I took out a recently washed glass and filled it with water, drinking the contents in a rush to soothe my dry throat. Filling it once more, I dumped the water on my face in an attempt to rid myself of the sweat building up. It worked for the most part.

Letting the water soak my skin in its cold state, I looked down at the attire loosely draped on my chest. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was wearing clothes underneath I would look like a douchebag trying to attract a woman in heat. The sweat from both mine and its previous wearer made it all the droopier. The jacket looked like it could fit a giant, making its current user to seem like a little person.

Feeling insulted, I tore the jacket off of me and onto the sink. Reaching for the correct drawer, I picked up a box of matches. Lighting one, I tossed it onto the work attire with a flick of the finger, the flames immediately appearing causing me to retract, surprised. I watched with gusto as the jacket continued to burn, changing its color from orange to blue as the cackling of the flames sang like music to my ears.

I momentarily thought of myself as a possible pyromaniac, but the release of stress from the day’s disaster made me not think too much of it.

Moments had gone by and the fire had not settled in the slightest – instead, it went from a light shade of blue to black. My grin faded into a concerned frown, brow raised in confusion and curiosity at the shift. Taking cautious steps closer, he observed the fire; it didn’t create any cackles anymore, it only danced on the little air inside the home. It also seemed to accumulate a pool of liquid of the bottom of the fire.

Having had enough of the burning flame, I took cautious steps to the sink, letting my eyes gaze into the abnormality a bit longer, and reached for the tap. The second his hand made contact with the metal the flame shot tentacle-like arms around the my face, locking itself in a death grip on the back of my head, causing me to scream and accidently tear the tab off its place.

Before I could react, all of the remaining flames turned into tendrils, the blob jumping up lively, plastering onto me, and covering the entirety of my vision in its odd and infinite darkness. In my panicked state, I could feel more tendrils wrapping on my head, tightening its bond, which made me all the more frantic.

Feeling breathless, and without a second thought, I made quick haste as he grabbed an opening on the side where the liquid hadn’t gone through and tried to push it off of him with several restrained grunts, not even thinking about the damage dealt to the furniture that I ran into.

The longer I maintained my position the less resistant the blob became as it slowly but surely detached from me. Seeing the light appear in the corner of my eye gave hope to my soul as I smiled underneath my ‘mask’, doubling my efforts of escape. The sound of tendrils snapping on the back of his head indicated that it was working, the blob screeching in desperation in an attempt to distract its victim enough to gain control again.

I cringed at the sound, the effects of it working as I started to hear a ringing in my ears before they began to bleed. Nevertheless, the two of us were at a standstill; I was using everything I had to take the creature away from my face while my captor went all out to weaken me. Despite its efforts, I was able to cut through the sound barrier, reassuring my dominance over this creature.

With the last of my power, I grunted even louder, ripping it off from me with another push, its screeching growing in intensity, causing us to be at a standstill. If only I could get it to shut its mouth, I would-

A blunt pain sounded from the back of my head, making me surrender my focus as I winced. Before I could question it further, another strike contacted, this one stronger and more aggressive than the first, ensuring its objective as I fell to the ground, all of my senses leaving my body as I entered unconsciousness.

The blob took this opportunity to finish its job, immediately clinging with its hold, filling my vision yet again with darkness, and my mind with sorrow at the loss of my freedom. ‘What’s happening to me?’I thought helplessly, letting the tears freely caress my cheeks.

Soon after, I could feel the tendrils running against the length of my neck, past my torso and wrapping themselves around my legs, effectively enclosing my body in a tight black capsule. I felt my eyelids get heavy, the darkness boosting the unconsciousness. I swear I could hear it cackling.

“Save your energy,” a rough voice sounded near my ear, though in a whisper. “you’re going to need it now more than ever.” With that, I fell in to my comatose state.

<------------------------------->

...Sentient… wake up…

You have to… Sentient… it’s your time...

….

…wake… up…

….

Wake up...

….

SENTIENT.

I jerked up with a gasp, panting heavily as the sudden change of tone caught me by surprise. After realizing I was brought back to reality, I calmed myself from my initial reaction, controlling my breath to a more calm and steady pace, remembering the woman in my dream calling out to, what I presumed to be, me.

Who was she? Where was I? Why was she calling me “sentient”? we’re all questions that I tried to wrap my brain around for the most logical answer, but failed miserably. The simple act of remembering what she said was enough to give me a headache. Thankfully, I shook it off before it got worse.

Pulling my focus away from that, I examined my situation. The bedroom I was in looked nothing my own. The room alone looked like something that belonged to a poor man in a house he made himself while the furniture, though lacking, said otherwise. If it wasn’t for the bed that I was laying in I would’ve confused this with the living room. The bed was big enough for 2 people to sleep on it, pearly white sheets enveloping my lower body in its warm, almost too hot, comfort, large amounts of pillows meeting my back and, consequently, absorving the sweat. According to how damp they were, combined with the same effect on my T-shirt, I’d say I’ve been sweating for a while.

Casting the white sheets aside, I sat on the edge of the bed, inspecting the rest of the room. Purple drapes hung over a large window, shielding my eyes from its blinding light but still lit up the room in its glow. A mirror stood in front of the bed, appearing to be unnaturally infused with the with the wall itself. For a room with so little put in, it sure looked very expensive.

What caught my eye were the walls; faded yellow covered the walls, and it looked like it wasn’t painted. When I set my feet down, I could feel grains of a strange solid substance crumbling from the pressure. Upon looking closer, I saw it was a combination of rock, straw and… sand?

As if today wasn’t weird enough... I thought, confused by the different contrasts of the room. Having had enough, I stood up from the bed and walked to the mirror. Besides the sweat soaked T-shirt, there seemed to be nothing wrong or awry about me. Which was odd considering the fact that I was fucking attacked and abducted with a moving black mass and a frying pan.

Now that I think about it, this doesn’t look like the usual place for a kidnapped victim to be in, it’s way too luxurious for any two-bit criminal to afford, so who the hell brought me here? What happened to the other guy in my house?. And I think I heard his voice through it all.

Feeling the uncomfortableness of the sweaty clothing cramping me, I took it off with haste. As I did so, I heard a gasp and a door shutting from behind me. With the shirt off, I turned to the door, wondering who that was. Someone must have seen me while I was undressing. I'm starting to think I wasn't in fact kidnapped, or if I was then someone must've rescued me.

I called out to whoever that was, but instead of sound, a sharp pain erupted from my vocal chords, causing me to cringe and almost lose my equilibrium. What came out was a roar similar to a tiger roaring in agony. What the fuck was that? I thought, clutching my throat to cool down. I called out again, but the same thing happened only the pain was intensified tenfold making me fall to my knees, gripping harder on the throat, eyes closed shut. Did my vocal chords fry or something? I was fine before all of this. Did they do something to my vocal chords so I couldn't alert anyone?

“Oh dear,” came a soft voice of a woman from the entrance causing me to look up. A horse-like quadruped stood there with a black hoof-like stump to its long muzzle, a concerned look plastered onto its face. It wore a red and orange mantle, covering most of its head and back, draping to its side but I could still see its brown… fur?

I think they call it a coat or a hide or something.

Big bright green pupils gazed worriedly into mine before they turned to its side. “Is it hurt?” she - according to the feminine tone - asked the figure next to her.

Another head popped out from the side of the entrance, this one with dark yellow fur and brown eyes, sporting the same outfit. If I’m not mistaken, this one was also female. “I’m not sure, I came to you when it was removing its clothing.” she said with a slight blush on her cheeks.

The brown one approached me, crouching down to eye level and ran her hooves throughout my whole body, examining the limbs, teeth, eyes and the sort for any kind of ailness. It was probably able to reach my chest with its head, but from my position it had to bent its neck.

All I did was stare, dumbfounded at the fact that there were talking horses right in front of me. They weren’t even normal looking horses; the way they moved, their expressions, their features, everything looked oddly decorous in my eyes, like an artist doing 3D paintings. Oh, did I also mention they can talk?

“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with him,” she concluded after finishing the… whatever that was. “I think he’s just thirsty from standing in the sun for too long,” she procceded to pinch my cheeks, her tone growing playfully. “Aren’t you, aren’t you boy?”

Boy?! I gaped at her in disbelief. Or at least, I wanted to but her baby talk and hard pinches deformed my face, souring my mood. Lady, last time I checked, 28 years is too fucking old to be a toddler. Hell, I don’t even look young.

Fortunately, the other mare watching us spoke up.”Um, Sierra, I don’t think you should do that,”

“Oh come on, Rain, he likes it.” Sierra, as she was called, said not giving up the slightest as she continued her playful assault by squishing my face near hers, but my annoyed expression held no amusement in her actions and served to prove her words otherwise.

Rain saw this. “I don’t think so,” she turned to look at me then back at Sierra. ”He looks pretty upset to me, and he’s been growling ever since you started.”

I’m… growling? I thought, and sure enough, I noticed a subtle rasping on my vocal chords, causing the so-called ‘growling’. It sounded rougher than my usual grunts or groans back home, and it also had a more animalistic tone behind it. Overall, I kind of liked it but that didn’t make it any more logical.

Sierra waved a dismissive hoof. “Don’t be such a worry-pants, he’s just excited that he wants to play.” she wrongfully informed, intensifying her petting, bringing back the annoyed frown on my face. Woman, I am so close to hitting you.

“Sierra,” the dark yellow mare affirmed, her words growing stern as she gazed at her intensely. “He just got out from being stuck in the desert in the middle of summer for Gaia knows how long. I’m sure that nopony would want to do anything that involved physical strain after that.”

Sierra pouted towards Rain. “Oh fine,” she said, releasing me from her grap, to my relief. She walked over to where Rain was before looking back at me. ”But I’m the one who gets to name him.” she stated, emphasizing her point to with hoof jabbing Rain's chest. This caused me to raise a brow.

Rain nodded. “Alright, but in the meantime, let’s leave him alone so he can get used to his new room.” She said, closing the door behind, leaving me alone with my thoughts. There were too many question forming on my mind for me to focus on a single one of them, so I tried to calm my nerves with deep and slow breaths.

Getting up off the ground, I made to the window, noticing that beyond the outlines shined the sunlight. Moving the curtains away, I cupped a hand to my eyes, shielding me from the blinding sun as I took in the view with my mouth agaped.

Houses made from the same material as this one covered part of the outside; some were in livable conditions, enough to support a couple, while others were run down or had crumbled down to just being debris. Horses, same as the other two mares, occupied the land, all of them with their own unique colour and combination existent in the array of the rainbow to the point where it would be considered intoxicating, talking to one another or running their individual business.

As for the rest, it could simply be described with one word; sand. When Rain mentioned the desert, she wasn’t joking. It’s what covered the entirety of the horizon and the streets which the horses walked on. The clean and clear baby blue skies gave it all the impression that it went on forever.

This brought a single conclusion to my mind. One that pushed through all the other, sending shivers down my spine if the answer I dreaded was the only one. I think there is only one answer to this question, and it depressed me.

I’m not home anymore, am I?

<------------------------------->

The blue stallion groggily opened his eyes as his mind came back to the real world. Blinking away the blurryness of his sight, the first thing he made out was the sunny blue skies above him. As reality slowly set in, Genesis could feel his body, splayed out, swaying slightly to the motions surrounding him. The items on his belt moved much more freely than the stallion, having no restraint - with the exception of the rope keeping them secured - to their movements.

The more he came to his senses, the colder he felt as he started to shiver from the change of temperature. With both of his hooves, he rubbed his chest near the heart to get the blood to circulate faster through his members, not allowing hypothermia to run its course.

He opened his mouth to grunt his frustrations, but instead of displeasure coming out, salty water came in, much to the surprised of the recovering stallion as he coughed out the sour liquid from his throat, causing him to stop what he was doing and stand in an upright position, paddling his hindquarters instinctively when he felt nothing beneath him.

Coughing the last drop of water, he then faced what he was swimming in. The deep blue ocean met him, the bottom below him seeming endless, and the stallion dared not to stop. To his sides, the ocean expanded to the point his every direction in nothing but water. The only thing remotely alive he could lay his eyes on were the fish, swimming ever nearer, curious at their new visitor.

With a bemused look, the pony whipped his mane to get rid of the droplets hanging on the tips causing the sea creature to scurry away, startled. Reaching for his belt, he took out a pouch containing the transportation powder he needed to get around. At least he came prepared for this situation. It had helped him get out of unknown ground before, it would be no different here.

Bringing out of the water and near his face, he watched the black water seep through the cloth, deflating as it did. Realization struck him as he looked down and saw a black trail going from his waist to the surface.

“No,” he desperately tried to gather powder back to the pouch, but the stallion’s frantic movements made the powder escape from his grasp easily. “No, no, nonononononono,” the stallion continued the failed attempts to catch even the tiniest speck. He knew that he had lost the only means to get back home.

Giving up, he threw his forelegs into the air, cursing at the heavens. “FUCK!” he yelled angrily, slamming his legs back down on the surface of the ocean. Smoke rose out of the stallion’s mouth as his irises grew dark in color, his right foreleg following suit.

“Who did this?” he asked nopony in particular, his tone getting raspier as the surface around him boiled.

<------------------------------->

The rustling of the cart was a sound that Chambers was used to, and he would’ve loved it if it wasn’t for the dead human or pony corpses it always carried. That he always carried. This time turned out to be a human. That meant that the cart was larger and heavier than normally.

He looked at his watch for the umpteenth time, noticing the same numbers as before.

14:49 the watch read, just like the other thousand times he checked. Or was it more in the hundreds, he could not remember. The alabaster stallion rolled his dark brown eyes, grunting at the mundane routine as he slumped his head, but the stench from the feet of the dead caused him to wince back up, his combed black mane and tail spiking in every direction.

Fixing the collar on his lab coat and straightening his dishevelled mane, he continued to his destination. When Chambers reached a wall with two parallel ways to go through, he went with the path on the left, like he always did, only this time he felt his cart bump into a familiar face.

“Oh hey Chambers,” the white mare asked, cheerful in her demeanor and her blue eyes. Her light pink tail, graciously drapped down her backside, and mane, tied up in a bun, with a hospital hat on top. Her cutie mark was a red heart, the same imprint as on her hat. She moved out of the cart’s way to allow passage. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

Seeing the pearl white mare brought a smile to Chambers’ face. ”Redheart,” he greeted her. “It’s alright. I’m the one who should’ve paid attention to where I was going. Sorry about that.”

“No, I was in the way, so it’s my fault.” Redheart protested.

Chambers sighed. Ever since he resumed his normal life when he got back from the mental institution everypony treated him like a newborn baby, not letting him take his part of the responsiblity for anything he did. It got pretty annoying pretty quickly.

“How about this,” he started, barely hiding his annoyance. “It’s both of our fault. We both are awful at paying attention, we’re both terrible ponies.” his irritation fazed to good-nature as he said this. He was displeased with her reaction, but that was no reason to bum his friend out.

Redheart giggled, ending the topic. She then turned to the body in the cart. “Is this the human that passed away recently?”

“Correct,” Chambers picked up the papers hanging the cart. “Male.Time of death: 14:49. Exactly one day ago. Deep laceration on the trachea courtesy of a kitchen knife, sliced through the jugular. Died from too much blood loss on the operating table. His owner hasn’t been found as of yet, probably doesn’t even know of his condition. Sad.” He listed off everything in the first page of the list.

“Murder?” Redheart questioned, with a raised brow.

“Guards said they found the human holding the crime weapon. It could’ve been planted there or it could be an accident. Not enough evidence to point out the correct option.”

“How old was he?”

“Well, the guys at the lab weren’t able to determine his exact age, as the deciding factors for it weren’t anywhere present in his body, so they had to hazard a guess with the evidence from his skin and bones…” Chambers flipped the page, scanning the answer. “17 years.”

Redheart’s eyes widened at this. “17? Most humans can’t live past 15.”

“Apparently, this one has set the bar for the age limit. It says here that he didn’t even show signs of bad health.” Chambers placed the papers back on the cart. “Everypony in this hospital is still in shock about this fella. I don’t blame them, if I were in their shoes I would faint just from discovering his age.”

Redheart turned to the deceased, feeling sorry for the tragic ending before turning to his carrier. “Why aren’t you surprised by this?”

“After you spent as much time as I did in an insane asylum, you tend to get used to the unexpected, the inevitable and the simply strange. Eventually, they turn into minor inconveniences.” he answered with confidence.

Redheart expression twisted into worry. “I still don’t think it’s healthy to go back to taking care of the deceased ones after a stressful year in a mental hospital.”

Chambers shrugged his shoulders. “This was my job before all the troubles, why should I stop?”

Redheart shook her head, disapproving of his choice of life, but didn’t push it any further. “Ok, I’ll leave to what you were doing. Try not to stress yourself too much, alright?”

Chambers reassured her with a smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

With that, they went their separate ways. Redheart going to check on her patients while Chambers drove his cart to the human section of the morgue. Pushing the door open with the cart, he made his way inside, where several metal drawers composed the far wall, all labelled with their individual numbers, all of them with various locks. The dimly lit, cold room sent shivers to anypony that entered it, but as a professional, Chambers shrugged the feeling off, with some assistance from the medicine he took.

As this was the human section of the morgue, the drawers were much larger compared to the pony drawers, able to fit a two humans without the difficulty of forcing them in. Because of this, it left a lot less room for the corpses, which made only a selected few humans to be able rest in peace in them. Those drawers were available to humans with very rich owners or humans with extreme biological conditions used for studies.

Opening drawer number ‘43’ with the respective key, Chambers pushed the human inside with one swift motion. Picking up the papers, he examined it a second time. “Have a good afterlife… Peaches.” Chambers laughed at the pet name. ”I’ll never understand why ponies give humans names like this.”

Vladimir…

Chambers jumped slightly, startled by the voice who spoke in a hushed whisper. Looking back at the entrance to the morgue, he saw nopony standing there. Checking around the room with a furrowed brow, Chambers concluded that he was alone in the room, with dead bodies as the only thing close to company.

Returning to his work, Chambers closed and locked the drawer, stuffing the key in his pocket before he transported the cart back to its station. As he made his way out, he heard the disembodied voice, crying over something he couldn’t figure out.

I was too late… I’m sorry…

Shaking his head, he turned to leave. “It’s not real, it’s all in my head. If nopony else hears it than it’s not real.” The formerly insane stallion recited, the old chant from the asylum still stuck in his head like a child's tongue on a frozen pole. “I need pills.”

As soon as he went out of view, the crying halted, replaced by assurance.

You don’t have to bear the burden anymore… another one is coming…

(3) False Bravado

View Online

Ch. 3 - False Bravado

“Come on, boy,” Rain commanded, tugging at the leash holding me, as we made our way through the narrow hallway. “We wouldn’t want to be late to meet your new owner.” She turned back to her front, guiding me to our destination, marching alongside Sierra sporting a defeated frown, and two armored guards, males from the looks of it, sternly looking ahead.

“It’s no fair,” Sierra complained, turning to her friend. “How come you get to walk him and I don’t?”

“Well, for one, you got to name him,” Rain explained, pursuing her lips into a cocky grin. “And because the trainer said that if you were to do so, your excited energy would be transferred to him, and it would be impossible to control him.”

Sierra pouted. “I still don’t believe what he says.”

“He’s the professional, so you’re going to have to trust him.”

“Can’t I hold him for just a little bit?” Sierra pleaded, giving Rain the puppy dog eye treatment.

“No.”

“But why? I only want to hold it until we get there.” she whined, getting on both my and Rain’s nerves.

I groaned, the muzzle strapped to my mouth muffling the sound of my humilliation as I was forced to follow. Rain noticed this and tugged on the leash, mistaking my displeasure for an aggressive growl. She then turned to the brown mare. “That’s why.”

“You’re no fun.”

I closed my eyes, slumping my form in a sigh. Every fiber in my body begged to be freed from this imprisonment, my mind wished for these straps to be broken by a miracle that never came. The thought that I may never see my family again already saddened me to no end and this ‘pet’ status of mine was rubbing salt on the bloody wound.

It had been full day since my self revelation of this new world, when the weight of the whole situation collapsed on my shoulders and drove me to an angry state of depression. I was emotionless in that time, all of the possible scenarios that ran to my mind kept me alert throughout the night and day. Some of them enraged me to the point where I broke the furniture in the room.

More of those equines did check up on me, to see if I ‘got used’ to my new room or to see what the noises were all about. I didn’t let them stay for long. Whenever someone came in to check on me I growled and roared until they left, slamming the door shut in the process. Even a ‘human trainer’, for whatever reason, came in to try and ‘claim my territory and gain my trust’ as he put it, but when he corrected me with a jab to my side I punched him across the face, knocking him out. I had to personally throw him out that time. Got nothing but stink eyes when they saw him on the floor. I didn’t care though.

When the night hit, they all left me alone to rest, and I was thankful for that, even when my face didn’t show it. Sleep didn’t come easy for me that night, and when it did it wasn’t worth it. The dreams I got were always the same; my family and friends standing in front of me, smiling at me, motioning for me to come to them. I ran as fast as I could, but the more I got closer to them, the more they moved away from me until they were just a speck of light in the dark. I woke up sweating and breathing heavily everytime.

When the sun rose, I was barely able to keep my eyes open. My shirt was completely dampened in my bodily fluids, giving it a light grey hue, almost identical to my eyes, instead of its original pearl white. It was also uncomfortable to wear, the shirt hugging my body tightly and exposing my chest, but it was the only shirt I had on me. I could use my jacket to cover my upper body, but that only served as a temporary solution.

Due to my sleep deprived state, I wasn’t able to react fast enough to the armored horses that came barging in, locking me in an unbreakable grip against my bed while another one strapped a muzzle on my mouth and tied my wrists with a piece of rope. I attempted to resist them as best I could, but I gave up, knowing that it was useless to fight a losing battle. This might be the depression talking, but like I said; I stopped caring.

And that’s where I am right now. Being escorted by the first two horses I first saw, to a place where the next strange abomination this world has created will make me his or her bitch. The thought of becoming someone’s pet has crossed my mind in the past. I always associated it with a fetish thing or a lifetime choice, and I was okay with it as long as it didn’t involve me. In this world, however, not only did it involve me, it seemed like a normal every day thing for these creatures.

God damn it, this rope is really chaffing my wrists. I thought in the middle of my mental rant, the pain increasing as time passed by, but I went back to my one-sided discussion to take my mind off it.

The worst part about all this wasn’t anything I mentioned before. No, this award goes to the name that Sierra gave to me. The audacity of her choice of name has put her in my list of cunts that I never want to interact with in my life. A name that whenever someone speaks of it makes me want to punch a hole in the wall for the absurdity of itself. If I hear that name one more time, I swear to the God of this world and the other that I’m gonna-

“Whiskey, don’t make us wait up,” Sierra called out to me, Rain pulling the leash to bring my pace back on the same one as them.

Whiskey…

Fucking WHISKEY!

It’s already bad enough I have to put up with her childish attitude towards me, but have her personal problems dumped all over me in the form of a name that should not even be considered a name in the first place?

If my hands weren’t tied up, I’d lash out on her. I thought, staring daggers at the back of Sierra’s head. I hope she’s thankful the guards are here.

Putting the drama aside, we approached a door at the end of the corridor, barely high enough for me to pass through without me ducking under it. When we entered the new room, my eyes widened at the sight.

A red carpet, stretching to the far end of the room, where two silhouettes stood. Several armored guards covered its sides, obstructing my vision from the rest of the division. I could feel their cautious yet stern eyes pry into my very soul. I could only wince as we made our way to the two of them. As we got closer, I could hear the two silhouettes speak in the same off-colored english dialect as the two mares that I was following.

When we stopped a set of stairs leading up to a golden throne,two other horses stood, discussing with one another over a matter that was unknown to me. They looked like polar opposites. The tanned one on the left had a combed back black mane, and wore very extravagant clothing; he - if my gender analysis is correct - had an orange robe, with yellow stitching on the ends of his legs and neck area, drapped over his body, covering any fur on his body with the exception of his head, and white patches on his shoulders. On his forehead was a large red dot. He reminded me of an indian prince.

The one on the right was of the same colour, with a kempt dark grey mane and short tail with a small black streak running in the middle of both and a beard to match it, sporting casual wear - if you could call it that. All he had on was a plain white and baby blue striped shirt, with nothing to cover his lower body, with two tattoos of a leash on either side of the flanks. At least the other one had the decency to wear clothes to cover his parts. Fortunatelly, he didn’t expose to much of himself for me to call him out on it. Even if he was, I couldn’t say anything due to my loss of vocal chords.

As I kept staring at the stallion in the shirt, a thought lingered into my mind. I feel like I’ve seen him before, but where? And how?

When the horse in question caught me staring, he bent his head to me, pulling my focus to his black eye.

OH, that’s the ‘trainer’ from yesterday. I smiled morbidly under my muzzle. Still don’t regret it.

As the trainer took notice of me, he spoke up. “Ah, looks like you finally got him out of bed.” He stated in an accent that made him pronounce the words exactly as they were without abbreviation. He approached the guards, a sincere smile on his smile on his face. If I didn’t know ay better, I’d say that smile was forced. ”I’m sorry I had to call on you for help, but desperate measures had to be taken.”

With a salute, the guards returned to their respective stations, marching at either side of me, facing in. The trainer then turned to Rain. “Have you any problems with getting him out?”

“It wasn’t that hard, to be honest. I expected a lot of bitemarks on all of us by the time we got here. When the guards tied him he didn’t resist much, eventually he submitted. And when I walked him he abliged without question.” Rain stroked my side. “I think he’s starting to warm up to us.”

“Just like that?” The trainer said, sound slightly surprised. “No problems at all?”

“Well, he did growl once on the way here, but I corrected him afterwards just the way you taught us. It went normally from then on.” Rain answered with confidence.

The trainer nodded slowly. “Very good. Very…” he grew silent, contemplating on what the yellow mare said with a hoof rubbing his chin, appearing almost quizzical about the occurence. For someone who deals with humans, you aren’t very experienced. On that matter, why do you deal with humans? “Good, now if you would be so kind as to hand me the leash?”

Sierra whimpered, catching everyone’s attention. “Oh hush, you.” Rain commanded, giving the leash to the ‘professional’. She then directed herself to the other stallion on the stairs, waiting for his cue for something, along with a dejected Sierra.

“Your services are not needed at the moment. You may go.” The indian stallion ordered with a dismissive hoof. Rain and Sierra bowed, inching backwards away from us until they were out of sight. The display made me think that this horse was an actual prince of this terrain; the sole ruler of this place, and my new owner. Those two mares that left must have either been his maids or his wives, and I wasn’t too keen on finding out which one.

I’m not gonna lie; I became frightened for my life. The tone of voice he used in his command told me that he wasn’t the the type of prince to be messed with, and it showed, He wasn’t taking shit from anybody, and the things I did in that room is an indication that I am in very big trouble.

However, I didn’t let my fear overcome me. If I wanted any chance of escaping this nightmare I had to keep my head up high through it all. The fact that I was alone and that these horses weren’t helping me in the least only made me wish all the more for the relaxing touch of freedom.

The prince turned to me with a frown, examining me from top to bottom, and back to top, nodding as he did so. He then spun around, walking up to his throne and sitting down, crossing one leg over the other, a condescending look plastered on his face. “Is this the human that Lima rescued from the desert?”

One of the guards on my left side took. “Yes, sir.” I furrowed a brow. Who’s Lima?

“The same human that was bleeding from his head?”

“Yes, sir.” Looks like my assailant did quite the number on me, I took a quick look around the large room, noting the only ones in here were the guards, the prince, the trainer, and I. But I don’t see him anywhere around here. I need to investigate this more in the future.

“The same human with the abnormal marking on his chest?”

“Yes, sir.” Marking? I raised a curious brow.

“The same human that injured the trainer, scared half of the attendants of the palace, and startled the other humans into rough-housing the cages and nearly breaking out?” I perked up at the information. There are other humans here? I glared incredulously at the stallion. Why is he keeping them under lock and key?

“Yes, sir.”

Nodding, the prince’s condescending glaring eyes locked on with mine, the corner of his lips curling down to a questioning frown. He put a hoof to his chin in thought, while I returned the same angered glare, taking ragged breaths under my muzzle-strap, awaiting whatever fate he ordered on me.

The second the stallion’s mouth opened, a blue mare trotted to his side carrying two bags on either side of her. “Prince Claudius, Doctor Oscar would like a word with you.” she said with a sense of urgency.

‘Claudius’ sighed, slumping his form, rubbing his tired eyes with hoof before addressing nobody in particular. “May we postpone this meeting on a more convenient time? Gaia forbid if I can get more avaiable space on my schedule.”

“Of course, of course,” the trainer chimed in. “Um… you wouldn’t happen to have a cage where he could stay for the time being? Preferably one with other humans so that he may have some social interaction to calm down?”

“Certainly,” the prince nodded towards one of the guards. “Would you please take our little pet here to the human quarters?” he then turned to the trainer. “I would like to have a word with you while we walk to my next destination.” I growled internally. Call me your ‘little pet’ one more time and the next thing you’ll be wearing is plaster.

The trainer nodded, handing the leash over to the guard. “Remember; calm, cool and assertive. If he starts acting up, correct him with a small jab to the side.” the trainer said in a matter-of-factly. With a salute, the guard took the leash into his hoof and twisted towards my next locale. And like the prisoner I was, all I did was follow, unable to protest or fight my way there.

When we reached the door on the right side of the lounge, he opened it with a single push, guiding through the hallway that looked identical as the one I went before with Sierra and Rain.

As we passed by the many doors on the sides of th hall, other horses would often poke their head out, curious about the human in the leather strap, muttering among themselves about me attacking their fellow men and women. There were a few exceptions where they would look at me for a second, eep or squeak in ridiculous fashion, intimidated by either my stature or something else.

I sighed everytime they did this. Truth of the matter is, I really didn’t want to give a bad first impression and become a monster in the eyes of everyone here, but the way they treated upset me, and I couldn’t think of anyway else than to snap at them. I guess it’s too late for that now, I thought as the guard and I made it to the far end of the hall where a wooden door stood. That ship has long since sailed.

Picking up a key from the pocket of his armor - however that worked -, he gingerly unlocked the door. The intense smell of feces instantly hit my nostrils, causing me wince back, nearly losing my lunch. The guard tugged at the leash. “Come on, boy. Meet your new roommates.” he said, trying to sound professional, but I could see from the tears in his eyes that the stench had the same effect on him.

Unclipping the leash off from my collar, he shoved me into the room - albeit with a little too much force as I fell face first onto the pavement - before I heard the loud echo of the door shutting behind me. Good lord, it smells like something died in here. I gagged before ungracefully pulling my head up from the ground - my hands were tied in my back - , wherein I met a pair of hazelnut eyes and blonde bangs.

A human female, possibly around 5 feet if she were to stand up, stood there on all fours, eyeing me blankly, with her head cocked to the side. Her mudded body, in combination with the smell emanating from her, told me that sh hadn’t shower . Her gaze didn’t hold any emotion, or if it did I wasn’t sure what it was. If her dirty and slick form is any indication of it, combining it with her stench, I’d say she hasn’t bathed in quite some time. As she kept staring, I broke the eye contact to-

TITS! My eyes widened in shock as my mind raced, my cheeks heating up a furious red causing me to stand fully erect - in more ways than one. This didn’t stop the woman as she moved forward and sniffed the tent in my pants with curiousity. Without my hands to help me push her away, I slid to the side in hopes of avoiding her lingering wishes.

However, the woman was stubborn as she kept coming back to me each time I pulled away. After the fifth time or so, my annoyance got the best of me and I growled at her, effectively stopping her tracks with a wince. She then walked - oh, sorry, I meant crawled - away to play with a red ball in the corner, not caring that she was naked. I shook my head. That girl has no shame, I see.

My gaze span to the other humans in the room. Much like the blonde woman, they were naked, dirty, and reeking of dead people. I can feel it in my tongue. I thought, gagging at the end. All of them gawked at me like deers in headlights, completely unmovable by anything that brought them back to attention. A moment later, they went back to their separate activities, acting as if I wasn’t there anymore.

That was odd. Shrugging, I wasted no more time in trying to escape. Jumping at the right time, I was able to place my arms in front of me by bending my legs in mid-air, allowing my arms passage. With my hands at my semi-disposable, I pulled down my muzzle, finally breathing a sigh of relief. I regretted it, however, as the stench of shit intensified. Pushing through my sense of smell, I began to gnaw at my ropes, while silently praying that the guard didn’t come soon.

It took me some time to find the best position to bite down, as my kept getting in the way of my nose and vision. Thankfully, after some struggle, I was able to recieve good results, resorting to cut the rope on the wrist rather than the middle. I calmed a little thanks to that, but I still remained in a panicked state. The sooner I got out of here, the better.

Minutes seemed to pass on like seconds as I clinged to the last strand of rope in my mouth, loosening its grip on my wrists. With one final pull, the ropes untied themselves before falling gracefully on the floor. I smirked at the deed, victory overcoming my every thought.

Placing my muzzle back on my mouth to lessen the stink, I rubbed my reddened wrists in an attempt to relax the burning sensation. Scanning the room, I could not find anything to aid my soreness, with no medicine lying around and all the water being drank by the people in an animalistic fashion from a doggy bowl. Have any of you no shame? I conveyed my thoughts with a shake of my head. I really wanted to say something.

The light from the sun caught me by surprise at it stung my eyes from the side, causing me to wince back with a hand covering my eyes. Turning to where it shun, I took notice of the square hole, buildings being seen from the distance. As I walked closer with a cocked eyebrow, the image of the desert came into view along with other houses. Standing on the brim, I noticed the streets of this village were near barren. Two or three horses wearing the same themed clothes met my sight., chatting among themselves.

The desert looks more populated than this. I turned back to the other people with an incredulous expression. Why are you all still here though? It’s not like there is much stopping from leaving.

I whistled to one of them, her head perking up. Spinning her head to me, I signalled towards the entrance of the village, not too far away from where we were. She cocked her head, eyeing me like before. With a confused furrowed brow, I motioned again to the entrance, and she responded by going back to the bowl. I sighed angrily, rolling my eyes at her obliviousness. I don’t have time for this.

Using my arms as support, I jumped through the ‘window’, running towards the entrance as soon as I touched the ground. The aforementioned horses gazed upon my direction, but I was too busy with determination to care about the witnesses. I was already tasting victory and I didn’t want lose it.

I waited for that familiar breeze to help me carry my body across this trial of fire, but what I got instead was more heat absorbed into my skin, making me sweat all the more through my dampened shirt. My determination ceased slightly because of this. My jacket definitely wasn’t doing me any favors either.

Fortunatelly, the entrance was close to the palace. When I approached the open, I slowed my pace to a walk as I got closer to the desert, my grin turning into an exhausted frown. I skitted to a halt. The amount of sand beyond the village, the sand particles blowing into my face, the sun burning up the ground to a close resemble of lava gave me second thoughts about my recent decisions.

Yes, I wanted freedom, but did I want to risk my life for it? Do I want to go back and forget about what I escaped here for? Would I rather die or live a life of embarrassment? What if the road ahead is worse than what I'm leaving behind? I felt dejected about this. Life threw me a curveball with this new world for whatever sin I've commited, and now when have my freedom in arms reach, I think of turning away and walk the path of shame back to the place that brought me nothing but humiliation.

I glanced over my shoulder to the palace, noting its giant proportion compared to the rooms I was in. If someone were to live there, they would be treated with the most superior of honors, everything given to them on silver platter. Yet, I'm treated like an animal... which is what I've been lately... an enraged animal. I guess I sort of deserved that treatment

I wasn’t even certain for if crossing the desert would be a good idea. Hell, there probably wouldn’t be any other civilization around for miles. Then if I died, my body would go unnoticed long enough for the sand to create its coffin around. God, why am I so afraid?

My greatest hope for survival would have to be with the ones who thought lowly of me. I didn't want to be known as someone's pet, but maybe some day I'll be able to explain to them that I'm smart, even though I have no idea how with my current reputation. Perhaps I should get along with the prince, that trainer, Sierra, Ra...

What the fuck am I saying? I thought, furious at myself for letting the anxiety and depression take control of my better judgement. Of course I don't want to patronize with those slave owners. I'm a good man, I wouldn't ever in my life side with the enemy.

I stare at the horizon ahead, my train of thoughts coming to a stop. I breathed in hope, and exhaled the bad karma, the sweat still present on my brow, before dashing into the further unknown.

(4) Out of Control

View Online

The sun hung itself on the horizon, the big orange ball of flame’s heat rays diminishing its purpose of frying anyone it came in contact with. It slowly sunk lower into the earth, making me smile slightly under my muzzle from the nice turn of events. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the sun to set when I ran through the desert, though it could’ve come at a time when I still had the energy.

The soft breeze could be felt through my sweaty garments as I wobbled and limped past the heavy grains of sand, my feet dragging along the path causing a trail of uneven sand to be created in my way. I tried to take a normal step, but the time I spent running wildly the treacherous desert with the heat radiated made me tired faster than usual.

A brisk wave shot through the air causing bits of sand to collide with my eyes. I promptly stopped the sand with a hand protecting my eyes. I hated when that happened, it was never a good sign. It was in its early stages of night.

From what I know, the desert is only a safe place in the evening. The day is always too hot and the night’s too cold, but the evening was the perfect balance between the two times with a short window of oppurtunity to do anything in it. For the moment being, I didn’t worry as I simply basked in the cool air. However, I wasn’t prepared for the day, and I am even less prepared for the night. Another bad thing about sweaty clothes.

I hope I find safe haven and quick. I thought while looking around for any life near as a shiver went down my spine. Pretty sure I won’t survive much longer.

Probably shouldn’t have ran so fast last time when I escaped, now I don’t have any stamina left to go faster. Good thing they didn’t see me leave, they would have followed me and catch the second I was at my weakest. From their looks, I could tell they were trained to resist the heat. I can at least be thankful for that.

The more I limped across the dune, the more sand invaded my sneakers, isolating my feet in its intense fire. It felt like I was one of those shock entertainers walking on a bed of molting rocks. Every step was filled with searing pain as it burned my flesh. My usual huffed complains whenever this happened were replaced with a sound similar to a rottweiler when it’s scared and injured. Needless to say, hearing it coming out of me was creepy.

Although that could also be a mirage. The sun might be frying my brains enough for me to experience shifts in my surroundings for me to question whether its real or not. Like a well I passed by an hour ago. At first I thought it was a my mind playing tricks on me. I kicked it in hopes of seeing its reality. Too bad I also felt its reality.

And now I’m having arguments with myself, that’s just great. I escaped a village, you’d think I would at least have some quiet time with myself. Apparently, I didn’t want any of that.

As I kept up with my train of thought, the ground grew stale beneath me, my feet no longer sinking in the sand with each step. Now the ground seemed to have turned to stone with a layer of sand above it. My eyes widened, the simple change of path reviving my spirit of determination as I kept on walking to the end of this.

I looked ahead of me. There were no more dunes, and no more mirages to occupy the emptiness. I saw the smallest hints of grass and weeds sprouting on the road, secured safely behind the protective shade of the rocks on their side. It was no longer a wasteland of no escape, it was turning lively in colour, causing me to stop on my tracks and gaze at its wonder and beauty.

I smiled under the muzzle.

I kept on.

<------------------------------->

The sun had already set in the horizon, the shift into the night much quicker than it was back on Earth. Instead of hours, it took only a couple of seconds for the night to take over. The stars that appeared, though very beautiful under the moonlight, were gleaming unnaturally bright in the sky. I’m not even gonna comment on this, if this world has taught me anything.

I’m going insane. I thought, clutching my arms tightly around me as I shiver uncontrollably from the freezing cold air. Shaky, foggy breaths escaped my mouth as I walked with more hurry through the climate. Sweat still continued to pour down my back. My white-turned-grey shirt was now a dirty shade of yellow, a eerily close resemblance to piss. I was questioning whether or not to take it off.

Even though all these things tied me down, my mind still wouldn’t budge from my objective to find civilization, or maybe even a place to survive the night. I faltered heavily, but I knew that if I didn’t maintain a positive attitude towards this issue, I would cease to see the light of day again

I growled at the trial.

I kept on.

<------------------------------->

I didn’t even try to keep my mind off the pain as I trekked on. If I had to guess what it is, I’d say that I had dragged my shoes for so long, the corroded through the soles to the point where my feet fell through the sneaker. I even felt was seemed like blood soaking my socks with every step. It could be just sweat build-up, but I was pretty much mindless at this time.

All of my willpower faded completely through this journey. No mirror had to be out in front of me to see that I no longer held life, or any sort of an emotional glow in them. They only showed a grey and black cesspool devoid of anything human. The memory of my family and friends back home had since been erased along with them, replaced with the desire for the solace and comfort of warmth, and the cooling sensation of water running down my throat.

The one thing keeping me going was something I didn’t know I had; instinct. The basic level of animal intelligence which humanity was able to surpass and become sapient creatures had come back to help me out of here. I’m not sure if I should be thankful, scared, or both. Mostly, this was all getting on my nerves.

Either way, I kept on.

<------------------------------->

I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! I screeched at the top of my lungs, the sound echoing into the chilling night, carrying out my anger for the residents crazy enough to be on this nightmare. Even though I was unable to speak, the disturbing silence around me told a thousand tales of a million words.

I recognize I’m not the best kind of person. Much like every humans being, I’ve had my share of hardships and embarrassing moments in the past, and I learn from all those experiences to make myself a better man. While I sometimes make the same mistakes twice, I always know what I’m doing is wrong and repay the debt until I feel is complete

However, I do not understand that some sort of sick son of a bitch would drive themselves to put me, of ALL FUCKING PEOPLE, in an environment which makes my insanity become the most normal part about me. Why me when there are so many other people back home that are so much better than me at everything I do?

What kind of God would allow this?

My hands held my head as I tried to piece together everything that happened in the last days to see if there was a connection somewhere, but as I did so, flashbacks of my own life raced by in seconds. They moved at breakneck speed, too fast for me to make out anything in them besides a continuous blur, and they clouded plans for escape.

And there I was, stranded in the middle of nowhere at night, sore and smelling of month old laundry, fighting between my thoughts in a useless and neverending battle to see which one of them is the most unforgiving. My thoughts had a mind of their own, and it was taking its toll on me. That’s what I get for standing in heating sun for too long.

But it’s no longer sunny so why am I so damn crazy? Shouldn’t the effects of the rays have been gone by now? Why can’t I stop fighting myself? Why AM I fighting with myself?

Thoughts of the palace swirled back and forth to my mind, the way Rain treated me with sorrow, as if I was an injured animal. The way Sierra only wanted to play with me to make me happy again. The way the trainer was only doing his job, but I had to complicate everything. I know they weren’t doing the best they could when it came to me, but that was just because they didn’t know I was smart. It would’ve been a lot different if I just upright told them I knew what they were doing.

I let my arms fall. Is the desert making me think of imaginary scenarios or… The regret I set aside was hitting with full force, making me drop to my knees. I couldn’t help but shed a single tear. It slid down my cheek, leaving a trail of mourning woes, before cascading to the sand and becoming nothing but a drop in the ocean. Is it just everything that happened… in retrospect? Was I too blind with anger to see the real intentions? Was I… I’m...

I screeched again, grabbing the collar of my stained shirt. With the strength given to me from the adrenaline rush I pulled it apart, the weak fabric giving away immediatly, tearing up from the middle as the satisfying ripping noise broke out, accompanying my roars, the muzzle unable to contain the noise. The cold air hit my chest as I tossed on the ground, but the rush made me ignore it.

It was almost like a million memories and emotions released from my body and revealed for the world to gawk at. My weaknesses, my ambitions, my dreams, my failures, the longer I screamed, the more memories flew by my mind, causing me to shed more tears and scream even louder as I shred through the now useless piece clothing, the crumbling jacket falling off consequently.

This neverending cycle continued, time seemed to have stood still around me as I reached my breaking point, my breathing getting shorter as my screaming turned into a barely audible wheeze, my throat just as a sore as the rest of me. As my screaming subsided, they became muffled, the muzzle doing its purpose of withholding my whines and groans.

I broke down in tears, letting my body subside to the tirade of emotions that followed. I fell on my side pathetically as the tears came out freely like floodgates, soaking the ground to a more concrete resolve. My cries of anguish filled the desert, sounding like a child that lost his mother, which was partially true in this case. I didn’t care, they’re was no one to hear me anyway.

No one to help me through these dark times.

No one to lift me off my feet.

No one who cared.

There was only me.

I stood up, using my arms as a support as my legs were already weak. My legs still wobbled, but I quickly balanced myself. Leaning down, I picked up my discarded clothing and held them close to my chest to keep me warm. I shed one last tear, sniffing as I did so. With a final sob, I forcefully dragged my live corpse along the road, leaving a small, wet puddle behind.

I hated it here.

I was gonna die here.

Yet, I kept on.

<------------------------------->

“Hmm, very interesting,” Oscar mused in a heavy germane accent, rubbing a chin in thought as he looked through the data on his sheet, a small and almost juvenile grin on him as the more he read it, the more he became filled with unbelievable wonder.

The lab ordered many tests once the biped had entered the medical area, all the while a mare tried to get in with him, crying out to the doctors to help her, nearly bawling her eyes out, but she was kept secure by the castle guards attempting to calm her down. The human was not in critical condition, save for the blow to the head, but was still kept in their care.

He flipped the page, landing on a picture of the human he just so happened to examine earlier. He - according to the brief ‘confirmation’ from both him and the nurses - was lying on the examanation table, with his upper body stripped of the abnormal clothes it wore as he showed a look of pain and fatigue. His arms splayed outwards, courtesy of the other nurses, showing of some hair on his armpits; something unusual to be seen in a human.

His stature appeared to be very well built, even more so than any other human that the professional doctor had examined before him. Oscar, for a moment, thought of any sort of medical or chemical reaction to him as a reason for his muscles, but the scans showed no sign of any enhancement drugs in his system. This led them to believe they were naturally grown.

His teeth were also victim to the abnormalities found in him; the medical team discovered the his teeth were smaller and less sharp compared to other humans, though they seemed just as effective. They also found at least two teeth, one incisor and one canine, with their corners missing. The team suspected abuse from its previous owner because of this, though that, accompanied with the fact that he was bald, was the only piece of evidence working in its, and their, favor.

On his chest, a mark stood, which temporarily frightened the nearby personnel into fleeing the room. A hesitant poke later was revealed that it was just a marking embedded on the chest instead of what the doctors thought it looked like. “Peculiar one, aren’t you?” Oscar questioned, like he thought the human in the picture was going to asnwer.

The sound of the door behind him opening caught his attention as he turned to see Prince Claudius entering the room. A smile adorned the doctor’s lips as he waved a hoof at him. “Ah, Mister Claudius.” he called out. ”So good of you to come,”

“Hello, doctor,” He greeted in a monotonous tone. “I came here as soon as I heard your summoning. Is there anything you found out about this new human of ours?” Claudius asked, looking around the lab for any recent discoveries that he didn’t know about.

The doctor adjusted the glasses on his muzzle. “Well, there is a lot to talk about with this one, but I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible. I know you’re a busy stallion,”

“You would be the first to notice.” Claudius half-confessed as the doctor handed him the sheet of paper containing the subject of the matter. The prince took note of all the human’s features, stopping at the red mark imprinted on his chest. “Peculiar one, isn’t he?”

Oscar chuckled at the comment, reminding himself that he had said the same thing not two minutes ago. Leading him on to the far side of the room, the doctor reached a metal door. “Yes, his anatomy is not one I would ever consider to be normal. I would even go so far as saying astonishing,” he reached into his coat pocket, picking out the key to the respective door.

Claudius flipped back to the first page, ignoring the higher than average levels of the cells in his body recorded. “An expert doctor such as yourself, amazed by some human with large pectoral muscles?” he asked incredulously, thinking if the old stallion was starting to lose his mind.

The doctor shook his head. “Of course not, I have seen many cases like this one in my time,” he retorted, inserting the key into the lock and turning it, causing the giant doors to open. Gazing at Claudius over his shoulder, he added. “But then I took a closer look at him."

(5) A Change of Scenery

View Online

“How is he holding up, Rosary?” a black unicorn with a messy brown mane and tail asked the doctor on the other side of the room. Looking down at the burnt mark on his chest of his comrade, the stallion couldn’t help but cringe at the sight. He had hoped the damage wasn’t to severe, but the odds weren’t working in his favor.

The blood red coated doctor did not meet eye contact as she shifted through the pages. “His condition is stable, though we aren’t sure when he will wake up.” she informed, checking the patient’s IV and heart rate on the monitor. “If he wakes up,” she added monotonously, emphasizing on the low probability.

“Do you have an estimate?” Silver asked as he took a seat besides his fallen comrade, gazing at his scorched chest. He cringed and gagged at the stench of smoking meat that followed.

“Given the resources we have, it might take weeks before he comes back. Months if you count rehabilitation,” the doctor placed the board down on the bed, turning to the comatosed Caballeron. “The mysterious colt did quite the number on him. It’s a miracle he doesn’t have any serious or permanent damage.”

“Yeah… a miracle.” he spouted bitterly. “I’ll give that bastard a piece of my mind when I find him...”

Rosary then turned to the other stallion, feeling pity in the deepest pits of her heart, but kept the same stern expression. “Silver, you should go tell Ahuizotl about this, tell him to hire another one to replace Caballeron until he gets better,”

Silver Secret frowned deeply. “He doesn’t care for him anymore,” he somberly informed her. “He would’ve been dead if Song and I didn’t carry him here.”

The doctor tore her eyes from the unicorn to the unconscious body of her mentor, sighing sadly. “I’m not surprised. It was doomed to happen,” she muttered loudly, going back to check her machines. “You’re welcome to stay if you wish. Not everypony around here stays to watch over,”

“Makes me feel like, sometimes, I’m the only one who cares…” he trailed off, leaving the doctor to go back to her own duties as he sulked in his somber mood. He couldn’t blame her nonchalance; he knew she was one of the ponies in the guild that had seen more unspeakable acts than the others. He knew she cared, but she thought it as useless at this point. If he had anypony to blame, it would be himself. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… you know…”

“Don’t be. We need at least one pony here to help of us all to get out. If not you, then who?” Rosary stated with the slightest hint of hope in her step, not taking her eyes off her equipment.

He nodded in agreement, sinking back to his friend’s lap. Why didn’t I stop him? he thought, gazing at the gaping face of Caballeron. A large blue tube filled his mouth, a bulge on his throat indicating its passage to his lungs, inflating and deflating every now and again. Beeps were the only sound breaking the sickening silence of the room, other than Rosary excusing herself to attend to another patient and the door shutting behind her.

Silver sat there, chin resting on the edge of the poor excuse for a hospital mattress, contemplating on the unwelcoming events that brought them to where they were. He remembered it like it was yesterday, which made him feel more ashamed than he had been. All he could do was pray to Celestia and Luna for his friend.

His moment was short-lived as the doors opened again, revealing a slightly dark green unicorn, with a messy and dirty white mane and short tail, a shining microphone on her flanks, scanning the area. When her eyes laid upon Silver, her eyes turned to distress as she trotted slowly to him. “Silver,” she called out from behind him.

The stallion in question looked at who it was. “Oh, hey Song,” he deadpanned a greeting, gazing back at Caballeron, as did her.

“Ahuizotl called for you,” she sadly stated. It took all of her willpower not to sulk in beside Silver. “You better get there quickly, he’s been losing his mind more ever since he still hasn’t received his human,”

“Tell him I’ll be with him in a moment,”

“But he told me to call you right away-”

“Well how about you go back and tell him to stop being such a whinny little asshole!” he bellowed unexpectedly in absolute fury, echoing throughout the room, teeth barred to restrain the build up of anger from the emotions and memories.

Song stayed there in stunned silence, fighting back the tears from the sudden outburst. Although she agreed wholeheartedly with Silver, she still couldn’t stand anymore of the wailing of everypony. “S-S-Silver, y-you know I c-can’t do that…” she stammered nervously, taking a deep breath to calm down. “Please… Ahuizotl’s already b-broke half of the r-room when I got there… I don’t know what else to do.” she pleaded, as the tears flowed freely.

Silver sighed, slumping his form as he hated when he yelled at the victims of tragedies he was apart of. He grasped Caballeron’s almost lifeless hoof, holding it tightly as he closed his eyes. ‘Caballeron… Song…’ he thought in reassurance. ‘I made a promise to you two, that you would live to see the light of day again. I promised to your families you two would get home safely, and by the love of the Princesses I will keep that promise.’

Silver stood up from his chair, glancing back at the mare as guilt took over. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell,”

“It’s okay, you’re trying to keep it together, but you’re doing better than everypony else,”

“Trying isn’t enough here. It’s either succeed or fail, and I don’t plan on doing the latter,” Silver interrupted, trotting past Song as he made his way out of the emergency room, addressing the mare who followed closely behind him. “Where’s that damn ape?”

<------------------------------->

The hard sand provided no comfort whatsoever as I awoke from my slumber, my eyes parting to see the usual blurs of the morning. Blinking them away, I made out the dark rock piles that composed a former well surrounding me, protecting me from the infamous heat of the outside desert. It was about the only good thing keeping me from dying and I found it out of pure luck.

Or maybe not. I’m pretty sure I passed this well, like, four or five times before, though some of them might have been mirages.

I sat up in the uncomfortably tight crawl space, hitting my head on the board closing the well, picking up the now yellow, dry sweat-stained shirt I called a makeshift pillow and my hoodie-blanket as I pushed up the board. The incoming sunlight was to be expected, and I squinted my eyes from the sudden change of contrast and temperature. You’d think the sand would take longer to absorb the heat after such a cold night, but fuck me right?

Throwing the board off the well, I placed my hands on either side of the walls, boosting me up to a stand as my legs hadn’t recovered enough from last night. I stretched my back, taking a deep breath as I felt something was missing. The sand invaded my mouth, causing me to cough violently and to remember what I forgot.

Reaching back down, I grabbed the muzzle I removed to help me sleep. It was quite possibly the only time I saw this; it had a very… ‘wild’ design, so to speak. Leather pelts sewn in together in different shapes beige with black rope tying them together. On either side, three holes protruded in stripe form, allowing its wearer to breathe. They looked like cat whiskers. Honestly, kind of adorable.

Funny how in the most dangerous situations I’m still able to think about cats, I thought, making sure the muzzle wouldn’t fall off before I vaulted over the well, the hard sand doing a number on my still slightly numb feet. I mentally groaned as I looked around, trying to spot the way I came in from with one hand covering the light, and another holding what’s left of my clothes on my shoulder.

I couldn’t find a single clue as to where I was, if I was closer to civilization, which way I came from or how I was gonna get out of here. At least fate took pity on me as I spotted train tracks near me. Curiosity got the best of me when I walked to it, checking to see if the desert was playing with me again.

Thankfully, as I placed my hand on the track, my hand didn’t faze through it, instead meeting cold steel. I ran my hands by it a couple of times, finding it still being there, but as I did, the steel began to tremble as the sand around it parted ways. I think I knew what it meant, but I didn’t hear anything.

I cocked a brow at this as a noise in the distance was brought to my attention, the silence breaking with every passing second. Standing back up, I gazed into one of the ends of the tracks just as a train of the darkest of blacks sped down my way, honking its horn, smoke rising off its pipe.

I yelped, instinct kicking in as I jumped back, falling hard on my back, narrowly missing the train zooming off to its destination. I couldn’t help but smile, gazing at the locomotive with glee when the perfect opportunity was right in front of me. It rumbled loudly as it was supported by many carts behind it, in case I failed at jumping on one of them.

Picking myself up, I ignored my aching spine as I sprinted to the side of the train, wrapping my hoodie around my waist. It was significantly faster than I ever could be, so I found it to be hard keeping up with it as the each chance was lost. Looking down, I saw the wheels of the train, as well as the bars holding them in place, spinning them in order.

Taking a deep breath, I leaped on it, with one foot on the bar ready to leap again to an open window on the cart. The bar spun quickly, causing to lose my balance, but I caught my footing with my second leg. In that moment of success, I felt the sandy wind rush to my face, making me blink away the nuisance. Glancing up at the opening, I bent my legs downward, bouncing onto the only entrance to the cart, gripping the wooden window with my feet maintaining my position.

YES, finally! I thought in triumph, mentally bringing a fist to the heavens. Now, all I have to do is get in and-

A blood curling scream interrupted my thoughts as they echoed throughout the cart and my head, causing me to lose my hearing and footing, inevitably collapsing off the train to the hard ground yet again, rolling ungraciously several times before coming to a full stop. This time, the adrenaline wore off, me groaning as I felt the pain from the two falls come back.

I sat up, breathing heavily from the shock, rubbing the possible wound on my back, staring at the train that was slowly lost in my line of sight. I rose to my feet, cringing as I did so, dusting off the dirt glued to my hoodie. I threw the piece of clothing back on my shoulder.

Returning my gaze to where the train once was, I sighed. Damn it… Tearing my eyes away, I took notice of the tracks, the first normal idea of the day popping up in my mind. Follow the yellow brick road, I guess. I thought, climbing up the tracks, putting my hands in my pocket. I always found that simple action to be very relaxing somehow.

Though for some reason, my hands decided to run themselves on my testicles as I felt… relieved? That can’t be right. Why am I so glad I still have my balls?

<------------------------------->

A rock flew over a grey pegasus stallion with a short, sickly green and blue mohawk and tail, sporting a teal buttoned shirt with small, black vertical stripes, who ducked under the incoming projectile that ended up crashing on the wall. “Okay, Mr. Zotl, I must ask you to calm yourself or you’ll bring this whole place down with you,” he said in a matter-of-factly, as Ahuizotl brought his fist down on his already broken down throne armrest, not focusing on him. “Or continue doing whatever it is you’re accomplishing here. It’s your stuff, not mine,”

“That lying, thieving scum of the earth!” he bellowed, throwing the broken pieces of the throne onto opposite sides of the room. “If he thinks he can take my precious bits and run off on our agreement unscathed, I will hunt him down to the ends of the world and show him the limits of my abilities,”

”Poetic,” the grey stallion admitted. ”Of course, you’re free to do so, though you’d have to find him first,” he added, shaking his head.

Ahuizotl screamed at the top of his lungs, turning suddenly to the grey stallion in spite. Pouncing inches from him, Ahuizotl grabbed him and lifted him off the ground. “Aralis, I swear to the gods I do not need your snarky commentary.”

“I am merely speaking the truth, my good man,” he said, unfazed by his assailant.

“Need I remind of the last pony that was ‘merely speaking the truth’ in my lair?” Ahuizotl threatened as his grip tightened.

Aralis coughed, yet persisted. “Oh yes, I do remember. You sent one of your lackeys to do your dirty work. Gotta say, smart choice. Really, it was, ‘cause if it was you that guy would’ve knocked you out of your flank like you were nothing. Then your other prisoners - Oh, I’m sorry, minions - would take the opportunity and run for the hills, leaving you to die without even a second thought to it,”

Ahuizotl seethed. “What makes you think I won’t kill you right here?”

Aralis chuckled, the tightness intensifying. “You know I’m the only competent pony here,”

Ahuizotl growled, glaring daggers that could pierce the souls of whoever got caught in them. He knew he could easily crush this puny pony in his hands like a bug. To watch his inside slowly crawl out of his mouth while the regretful pegasus wailed and begged for the torture to end, only to come out as flooded gurgles would be music to his ears. He chose not to, refraining from the strangulation, as it was an arduous task to find someone worthy of serving him without having to worry about him escaping. All he could do was glare and snarl.

Aralis, however, maintained his victorious smirk plastered upon his lips, despite the protest from his body telling him to stop angering the monkey-cat abomination. Ahuizotl’s hold loosened enough for the pain to subside, confirming the pegasus’ suspicion. It did not take much to convince Ahuizotl when it came down to business.

Mumbled conversations interrupted their civil conversation, causing the two to turn to the entrance, wherein Silver Secret and Charming Song stood, talking among themselves. When Ahuizotl’s eyes fell on the stallion across the room, Silver quickly saluted his superior as Song caught up with him.

“Ah, Silver, so good of you to come,” Ahuizotl said less-than-enthusiastically, putting down Aralis before walking up to the duo, leaving the pegasus to his own, popping his spine back in place.

“You called me here,” Silver deadpanned, staring intently as Ahuizotl toppled over him in height. He could sense Song shivering in fear behind him. “Is this about the human merchant?”

“Yes…” he hissed venomously. “It seems it was wrong of me to hire him. The fool managed to run off with a sizable portion of our income,”

“Sizable?” Silver’s ears perked up. “No bag that small can contain something ‘sizable’.”

Ahuizotl glanced over his shoulder at Silver. “You’d be mistaken, my dear spy,” he snapped his fingers at Aralis, who reached into one of his pockets, throwing a bit onto Ahuizotl’s palm. “You see, the payment that you tend to use is the ‘bit’, which can be made of either gold or fool’s gold, or foal’s gold as you call it. However, there is something above this.” he brought his hand near the unicorn’s line of sight, as he noted the silver shine on the coin, yet there was something else to it, something he couldn’t put his hoof.

Ahuizotl’s hand retracted, letting himself admire the eternal beauty of the mineral. “Platinum,” he announced proudly. “This little thing is much, much more valuable than your petty gold, for it is impossible to find this kind of mineral anywhere. It can only be crafted by the most expert of scientists, unicorns and blacksmiths. Even then, the process is long and strenuous. So much so, it’s one of the main causes of death in laboratories. “ he chuckled at the end of his tirade.

“Hey, I know this,” Song pointed out, as she appeared beside Silver. “They say whoever has at least one piece of platinum can feed an entire nation for a whole lifetime!” she explained as Ahuizotl glared at her, causing her to shrink back behind Silver.

“You are… correct,” he stated bitterly, throwing the coin back at Aralis, who caught it with a wing. “And the fool took enough of those to conquer whichever location he pleases,”

Song gasped in shock, taken aback by the predicament, while Silver held a bemused look. He would’ve sorry for the mutant ape, if he actually was.

Aralis nodded, trotting up to Ahuizotl. “Exactly, I cannot stretch how screwed up we all are. And we wouldn’t be, if this man wasn’t blinded from his masculinity being challenged by a bum in drags,”

Ahuizotl growled, his anger practically pervading on the air. He snapped his fingers as a pale yellow mare emerged from the dark, scurrying to Ahuizotl’s side, bags pronounced beneath her eyes screaming out exhaustion. The ape whispered a command to her ear, to which she nodded understandingly, mouthing a quick ‘Yes, sir’, trotting back to the darkness. “Anyways, I’m pleased you two came over so quickly. I was growing impatient,”

“Understatement of the year...” Aralis muttered out of earshot, following the yellow mare with his gaze until only hooves tapping on rock was heard. He turned to Ahuizotl as she disappeared. “May I ask what that was for?”

“No,” Ahuizotl said dryly. “Song, has anypony found anything on the whereabouts of that stallion?”

“Uh… um, n-no s-sir,” Song half-whispered, shaking nervously as the big ape glared down at her, frown deepening, demanding her to continue. “B-b-but we were able to determine his approximate location based on the, um… black p-powder he left behind…” she trailed off, no longer meeting his gaze. Silver placed a foreleg on her back in assurance, but she ignored it out of fear.

“And…?”

“There were…” she stopped for a moment, drawing in a deep breath before continuing. “A lot of substances that told us we should be careful about him,”

“How come?” Aralis inquired.

“The ingredients for it involved something you’d find… inside animals… mostly humans… and ponies.... ” she nearly choked in disgust as the bile built up in her throat, shaking her head back to the matter at hoof. “Besides that, we used a simple tracking spell on the powder, and we found a house where he might be living in. We can’t be sure though, but it’s our best bet,”

“Is that so?” Ahuizotl said, cocking an eyebrow as the yellow mare came back, struggling to carry a scimitar the size of a full grown pony on her back, panting heavily all the way, sweat dripping from every inch of her body. “Interesting… seems like our little friend is not one to be taken lightly,” he took the sword off her back, admiring the fine craftsmanship of the blade and its curvature as she sighed in relief.

She rose slightly with shaky hooves, but a tail-hand cut her off, locking her in place. Taken by surprise, she whimpered helplessly. “Aralis, Silver, Song, I need you and Rosary to pay the fool a visit to his abode and deliver a message from King Ahuizotl. Also, see if you can find the human along the way, it’s bound to be with him. I’m sure you know what to do afterwards, Aralis,”

“My job, got it.”

Aralis grinned and began trotting to the entrance, but a hand stopped him in his tracks. “One more thing,” the grey pegasus peered up at a scowling Ahuizotl. “I just want you to be aware of what happens when you infuriate me,” in one swift motion, the blade came down.

Song gasped loudly, shaking furiously, hiding her face in Silver’s coat, who gazed at the mare as he suddenly felt mortified for his life. Aralis simply frowned, hoping he hadn’t gotten any blood on his shirt.

The mare never saw it coming, mouth agaped as the life drained from hazel pupils, the ghostly white lapsing her vision until there was nothing left. Her head fell of her neck, falling unceremoniously on the ground. The blood shot freely from her decapitated neck, creating a massive pool of blood. Ahuizotl, lower body covered in the crimson liquid, let go of her lifeless body as it twitched madly for a short time before settling.

Ahuizotl then dragged the mare’s head to Aralis’ feet, the flesh coming in contact with his coat, though he paid it no mind. “If the human is not returned to me, or you fail your mission in any way, this--” he poked the mare’s head. “--will be you,” he then walked over and sat on his throne, resting his head on one hand. “Now go.”

Swallowing thickly, Silver turned to the exit, with Song on his foreleg, who was tearing up at the sight. Aralis stayed behind until the duo left Ahuizotl and him alone. “You’re being serious, huh?” Ahuizotl did not respond. “In that case, permission to bring… her along with us?”

Ahuizotl snapped his eyes to him. “Her?” he asked in confusion.

“Yes, her,” he repeated more clearly. “I’m aware you’ve been using her to impose discipline and plant fear on your subjects, but we might need her to do as much damage as we can if the stallion refuses to cooperate. So why don’t you let me take her off your shoulders?” he smirked darkly.

Ahuizotl rubbed a hand to his chin in thought, weighing in on his options. At least, he tried. All he could think about was how much he wanted to see the stallion beaten, bruised, chopped up and bleeding on the ground. If anything had the power to do that, it would be her. On the plus side, if she couldn’t do that, then he could order her to attack the grey nuisance in front of him. To him, it was a win-win situation. “Permission granted,” he stated.

“Good,” Aralis smirked, trotting over to the less darkened part of the room, wherein two large gate doors stood. He brought his hoof to the door, tapping multiple times in a rhythmic pattern, stopping and stepping after feeling the rocks trembling.

The doors opened to yet another, more enclosed environment, a medium sized, bolted cage in the middle with a couple of holes on it, looking like it had had better days. Aralis couldn’t see the thing that was in it, but as he approached the cage, he noted it was glaring at him with golden pupils like slits, its chaffed ears perked up. When he was inches from the cage, the thing pounced, trying to claws at the grey pegasus without mercy, growling and snarling wrathfully as it tilted the cage with its strength and anger.

Aralis chuckled as the claws came close to cutting him with every strike. “Perfect…”

<------------------------------->

I’m so fucking thirsty, I thought, wiping the sweat on my forehead with an arm, cupping a hand over my head to glimpse at the town ahead, as well as a train station, possibly for the one I tried to get into earlier. The sight caused me to sigh in relief as there was a brand new bounce to my step, urging me to hurry onto said town. For the first time in a while, I smiled.

As I entered the remote town, I looked upon all of its inhabitants; horses. This time, they were much shorter than the ones back at the desert village. The desert horses were able to reach my chestal area in height, a couple of the guards even surpassing my own, but these barely made it past my waist. Much like their anatomy, their muzzles were also fairly smaller than the previous, though I could tell their genders from that; stallions had square and pointy muzzles while the mares had softer ones, for a lack of better term. Not to mention they dressed differently too.

Perhaps too differently.

None of these horses have pants on, I grimaced at the unwanted observation. Never in my life would I ever hear myself utter these words… or rather, think them. Shaking my head at the possible awkwardness, I proceeded forward through the town, scanning the many establishments and buildings around me.

I have to say, for a western place - I assumed, if the leather jackets, cowboy hats and moustaches told me anything - it doesn’t look half bad. Vibrant colors, not too flashy, inviting environment. I was almost afraid this whole town would break out into a Wild ‘West Side Story’ kind of musical hoedown and I’d be caught in the middle. Definitely better than being in the crossfire of three angry, dirty, ugly, pistol wielding gentlemen.

And the horses seemed nice too… that came out wrong, but I’d still socialize with them if given the chance. Their cheerfulness certainly was contagious.

A bump on my leg followed by a couple of sniffs interrupted my expedition, turning my head to see an overweight man, sniffing along my shoes to my pant legs. I kept my gaze on him, questionable this guy’s mental stability before he began moving up to my ass. I yelped loudly, jumping away from the naked man - surprise surprise -, glaring at him with a mixture of disgust and shock while covering my butthole.

The man peered up at me with an innocent expression, shocked from my sudden motion. I removed a hand away from the cheek, slapping the man hard across the face. You fucking bastard! Have you no shame?!

Right then, a dark brown mare with a white mane and tail galloped between the two of us, smacking the man lightly upside the head. “No, bad Mustard, bad!” the angry words, if you could call it that, got a puppy dog pout and whine out of the human as he cupped to arms to his chest. It really creeped me out. God damn it, Mustard. What the hell is the matter with you, sniffing assholes and acting like nothing happened?

The mare then turned to me with an apologetic look. “Hey, you okay there… big… fella…?” she fell silence as her gaze drifted slowly towards my body, mouth parting in an ’O’’.

Um… what’s going on? she kept staring at me with half-lidded eyes, eating me up with her eyes as she bit her lip. My eyes, on the hand, widened, struck with realization when the woman licked her lips. I backed away from her, denying any fulfillment of her perverted fantasies. I was lead to believe the humans here were treated like dogs, why is she so horn- oh god, does bestiality run afoul here too? I cringed, having walked quite the distance from her as I turned to the road.

The mare saw my escape attempt as her head perked up. “Aww, where ya goin’, handsome?” she called out to me in her texan manner of speech, disappointment and lust strickening her tone.

Oh, so I’m a stud now good to know gottagobye! I rounded a corner, increasing my pace to jogging speed, leaving that extremely perverted woman to her own devices. I dared not to look back, just hoped that crazy bitch wasn’t giving chace. If she was, then I hoped the legal or justice system in this town was against human abuse and attempted bestiality. I can’t even imagine a world where that’s okay.

In a way, I couldn’t help but feel sort of bad for Mustard as I did kind of understand his pain. After all, I did get called ‘Whiskey’ one time, and at least I didn’t have to tolerate that mare. However, fuck that bastard. Perhaps these were more than good reasons to throw away the ‘socialize with the horses’ idea. Or anyone, really. The humans have proven to be dumb animals and the horses to be the equivalent of slave owners. Which meant I was alone in this place, which then meant I was alone on the matter of returning to my planet, which meant I was screwed.

I slowed down, the exhaustion overtaking me as I checked around to see if there anyone had followed me. When I saw neither horse nor human, I looked for any source of liquids to quench my thirst. The answer came in the form of a bar, with an aptly titled ‘Handle’s Bar’ sign above, stationed nearby. I chuckled dryly at the pun, approaching the establishment’s swinging doors and coming inside.

It looked like any other kind of bar,but the inside of the bar was devoid of customers, with empty and dusty wooden chairs and tables adorning the center. A bar stood in the far end of the room, stretching to each side of the building, many dusty beverages and liquors stacked on the shelves behind it along with a mirror, as barstools occupied the front of the bar. Dart boards, pictures of a grey horse with a handlebar moustache shaking the hooves of other horses in suits hung on the walls, possibly from the owner of this place. A little outdated, whenever I am, but with a little clean up here and there, this place could attract some customers. Thank goodness it’s not; I have have it up to here with horses for a long time.

I pulled up a chair and sat down with the hoodie on my back, detaching the muzzle from my mouth as I slumped back, my aching legs satisfied with the shifting of the weight. I placed my muzzle on the table, albeit a bit too brash as the dust flew off the table, crossing my arms across the wood to let my head rest after the eventful day. I closed my eyes to help compose my thousands of thoughts in my head.

I wish I was wrong, but what I said earlier was the truest statement I ever thought; I am alone in this world. I am alone in this world. I can’t talk, I’m almost naked, thirsty and starving and there are so many things out there that could kill me I can’t even keep count. That kidnapping son of a bitch is still out there too, and I don’t know where he is, just left me stranded in the middle of desert to die. Honestly, who does that?

Though, it leads me to wonder… what about my life back on Earth? It’s been a day since I came here so there must be a missing persons report on me if I was gone for that long. Or do they file it after two days? Whichever it is, my mother must’ve heard the news by now and is worried sick about my whereabouts, contacting all the police stations and family over me. I grimaced even more at the fact that, since I’m in another world and there’s no one to help me, means I’m either gonna die here or not coming home anytime soon.

No, I slammed a fist the table causing it to shake. I mustn’t think like this. I won’t let what happened to my father happen to me. I will come back home no matter how long it takes me or whatever comes in my way. I smiled at my determination, though hesitantly thought. But… where do I start?

Shrugging my shoulders, I shifted to a more comfortable position as sleep seemed to take me once more with a final question in my mind. Who the fuck names someone Mustard?

Your Human and You: Run

by Heath of Tragedy

(Pro) More than Meets the Eyes

(1) Witness the Pieces Falling Apart

(2) Stricken

(3) False Bravado

(4) Out of Control

(5) A Change of Scenery