In the past week, Princess Luna had been more apprehensive than normal during her duties at night.  The dreams of her subjects were not something to be trifled with, yet there were more nightmares than most to dispel.  At first, it was small nightmares among two foals that caught her attention as even the smallest fear was a monster for a child.  An evening later the nightmares began to spread.  Some were small and easily quashed under her well trained hooves.  Others were not so mutable to her will.  Worried and frenzied nightmares of a mare that feared for her stallion's health and sanity.  Other parents that were terrified by the increase in infected human attacks soon joined later that night.  It was then that Luna came to a startling realization.

The small cluster of nightmares seemed to be centered around a small village near Hollow Shades.  As strange as the name was, Petrichor was somewhat fitting for the hamlet of only sixty three ponies.  When she had heard the name at first, Luna had to inquire as to what it meant.  In the end, it was fitting that a town that received little rain was named as such.  Petrichor was the scent of fresh rain on dry soil.  Odd that a group of ponies would choose an arid clearing to farm, but Equestria was full of curiosities since Luna's return from the moon.  Most perplexing was the domestication of wild humans into pets and labor stock country wide.  There was nary a filly that didn't own a human or knew a pony who did.

It was the fear of infected humans with the chaos and terror they bring that prompted the Princess to order a small contingent of her guard to Petrichor.  Providence it seemed that the soldiers had arrived the same day as an infected attack.  The initial reports of the attack were strange to say the least.  It had started simply, like most infected attacks did.  The cloister bells were rung and the guard attempted to seal the village while saving the foals they could.  Two of the infected chasing foals were struck down by an invisible assailant, before several of the humans charged into the forest.  From there it was easy cleanup until the guards found "him."

Over the years since her return, Luna had seen all sorts of interesting and strange things involving humans.  According to the report, this one fought the infected hand to hand before falling unconscious from his wounds.  What made it strange was the equipment and machines of unknown origin that were with and on the human.  Intelligent humans were considered a state secret, but they had been recorded before.  Some ponies believed there was a conclave of advanced humans living under the Everfree forest.  This male could be the link that they needed to find those groups.  When the flayed skin of the missing stallion was found in the Human's posession, Luna placed a gag order on the town about the attack. Naturally she assured the populace that their concerns and town will be well compensated for the trouble.  The mare and children of the deceased pony were taken care of as well.  All that remained was waiting for the now sedated human to be brought to Canterlot, brought to her.  Anxiously, she awaited news of the chariots carrying the now secret cargo and the creature within.  If found to be an asset like other intelligent humans, it could be redeemed.  If not, it would be put to the blade immediately for the safety of her ponies.  At this point, the latter looked the most likely.

Cold woke me.  Deep, bone weary cold.  At first my eyes refused to work, seeing nothing in the dim light.  I could tell I was sitting upright with a rough wall against my back, along with something cold and firm clasped around my neck and wrists.  Only one thing came to mind at the moment.

What the fuck happened?

As I became accustomed to the shadows that surrounded me, more detail began to come from the black.  Dull stone walls surrounded me on all sides, only interrupted by the pile of straw I was sitting on.  The theory about my wrists looked right considering every movement rattled a chain and scraped metal against stone.  That's when it hit me.

Oh shit.  The armored ponies...  

I wish I had thought of something better than that, but any other thoughts went out the window as flickering light flooded into my cell.  A door at the opposite end of the room was pushed open to reveal three washed out figures, all ponies.

Fuck my life.

"On your feet human."

Shakily, I inched to my now apparently bare feet and realized that other than underwear I was disrobed.  Scratchy straw dug at my feet when standing.  Oddly enough my leg didn't hurt at all, but I couldn't see it well enough to be able to tell what happened to it.  Under any other situation, the soft "clop" the pony hooves made could have been cute or amusing.  When they are walking into your prison cell, things take on a more serious note when they draw blades and point them at you.  The feel of cool steel against my throat was plenty enough to keep me from moving while the other two disconnected the chain from the wall before relinking it to what looked like a leash of sorts.  Definitely not confident about this change of situation.

It really didn't matter as the lead pony grasped the chain and began hobbling me toward the light.  Flickering torches revealed the trio to be some kind of strange pony.  Grey fur, gold lizard like eyes, and grey membranous wings adorned them under muted plate armor.  The moment I shied away from the group, the lead guard pulled sharply on the chain.  You can't really describe the pain that causes.  Hot, sharp, cold, all at the same time.  Apparently the collar wasn't just that.  Something more akin to a spiked choke collar for dogs came to mind while I choked and was dragged down the hall.  After a few feet, I managed to catch up enough to take the slack off the chain.  

The hallway was something you'd expect to see in a movie or reenactment of some kind really.  Hewn stone walls and floors only sparsely decorated with the occasional wall sconce holding a guttering torch was all I could see in either direction.  Step by chilly step, the walls passed while I tried only not to get choked by the obviously angry guards.  Thankfully I was smart enough to realize that trying to run would end up with me getting choked to death or stabbed, so onward into oblivion was the best and only plan.  Further we traveled, more light began to fill the tunnel until we arrived at a massive door.  Solid wood timbers were banded with straps of iron the width of my hand.  The entire monster door was inset in an iron and stone archway, yet opened silently as if it were well greased.

With a shove, the guards launched me into the room only to land on a soft carpet.  From my hands and knees, my view was limited but surprising.  Arrayed around me was all of my meager possessions in this insane world.  In the center of the room was a large wood and iron chair with shackles on it.  That thing filled me fear.  I remembered my medieval history after all.  Everything else disappeared when SHE stepped out of the shadows.  Dark blue fur, huge wings pressed against her side, a massive horn, but most of all was her eyes.  They were dark and light at the same time.  A deep blue, yet pitch black like the abyss inside a dying star.  

The guards took that moment to pull on the chain, dragging me bodily across the carpet toward the small bit of stone the chair rested on.    The rough fabric burned my hands and knees as I fought, thrashed, growled, and tried to get away.  Yet the guards pulled and dragged until the unforgiving stone pressed against my feet.  A shove brought my back against bare wood, and warmth dripped down my legs.  A leg crossed my vision, and I did the first thing that instinct told me to do while they locked my wrists down against the iron and oak.  I bit.  With every ounce of fear, terror, and revulsion in me, I bit the blue leg that was in front of me a moment before sharp pain exploded across my skull and the black claimed me again. Next Chapter: 07. The Void Estimated time remaining: 14 Minutes