“Goooood morning Manehattan! It’s another fantastic day in the electric city!”

Franz did not share in the optimism. He was dead on his feet with a pounding headache and a high body temperature. Darkened veins ran up and down from where the bite had happened the previous day. The skin around it was black and stiff, like a burnt piece of wood. Franz’s immediate concern was to get himself over to his pony doctor and be insulted for several minutes by his patronizing questions.

Franz stood, half bent over since the apartment was pony sized, and walked over to his wardrobe. Sitting around and complaining wasn’t going to make it any better. He pulled out a shirt and trousers and quickly got dressed. The short sleeves exposed the bite mark on his arm – feeling self-conscious, Franz grabbed a bandage from the bathroom and wrapped it around his arm like a cheap mummy costume. That wouldn’t hold, Franz thought to himself, but it’d do for the walk to the doctor’s office.

The radio continued to blare a series of peppy pony songs for peppy ponies who weren’t infected by a homeless person hiding in a coat rack. The radio was one of the things that Franz hadn’t expected to see when he moved to Manehattan. Places outside of the city seemed like the wild west with no electricity to speak of. One of the things that confused Franz was that to some people in the country a radio was something completely alien. Back on Earth it revolutionized music, entertainment and news.

Manehattan was halfway to being a modern place to live. There were electric streetlights and radios and even rumblings of a cable car system being built by the Mayor. It was as close to home as Franz was going to get – the huge theatre district didn’t hurt as well. Franz opened the front door and walked out into the hallway outside of his home. The polished tile floors made sure that you knew when people were coming and going.

“Oh, good morning Franz,” an old voice called from his left side. Two doors down lived an old mare named Sunny Meadow. She was actually related to Poppy, a great-aunt. She looked the part, all wrinkles and greying fur.

“Good morning.”

She adjusted her thick framed glasses and squinted, “You don’t look so swell, did something happen?”

He tried to wave it off, “Just a bit of drama at work, not the usual kind of drama.”

“Oh yes, you’re working full time there now, aren’t you? Poppy was so excited to tell everypony about it.” Franz disagreed with Red Rope on matters of art, but he was a shrewd businessman. Franz used to have a part time job. Until Red Rope shamelessly took advantage of his in-person novelty to draw bigger crowds that paid more. Soon “volunteering” was a thing of the past. All of the major players got paid for their time and each successful show.

“Yes, last night’s show was a full house. Red is talking about fixing the place up with the extra money we’re making. Have you been down to see the show yet?” Franz leaned back against the wall to try and keep his balance.

Sunny shook her head, “Oh no, no, I’m not much for all that violence stuff!”

“It’s not real violence. There’s a unicorn hiding in the back who’s using a light spell.” Franz thought back to the meetings where they conceptualized the story of the play. His meek suggestion of physical violence drawing blank stares from every pony in the room. The fear of violence wasn’t a generational thing. Everything in Equestria was so friendship focused that even a simple plotline about two enemies was a tough sell.

Franz got the last laugh; it was raking in the bits.

“I’d better get going. I have an appointment at the doctor’s.”

“Ah, well don’t let me keep you.”

Franz walked to the stairs and began his descend to the ground floor. Some of the taller buildings in Manehattan were beginning to experiment with elevators, but his building was too old for that. The streets were as busy as usual, with taxi carriages and ponies coming back and forth down the main road. A few of them stopped to look at Franz before moving on.

Franz was already feeling terrible. He hooked a left and started the long walk to the doctor’s office.

---

“So what seems to be the problem?” Doctor Stethoscope asked. Franz stared a hole through the posters that plastered every surface and wall. Keep your teeth clean, how to spot hay fever, what to do when you’re expecting. The white walls and low drone of the electronics in the room did little to dull his headache.

“I uh, I was bitten the other day.”

“Bitten? By a bug?”

“No, it was a full-grown pony.”

The doctor shook his head, “I’d know if our teeth were sharp enough to pierce skin!”

“Well whatever it was left a nasty mark, it looks infected to me.” Franz pulled away his temporary bandage and showed the row of marks to the doctor.

He sucked in a breath, “Okay, that looks like it hurts.”

“It doesn’t actually, but I’ve been feeling ill since.”

The doctor pulled out a thermometer, “Let’s take your temperature first.” Franz held open his mouth as he clumsily placed it on his tongue. “Hm, it does seem that you’re suffering from an elevated temperature. Are you sure that you aren’t in heat?”

“I’m a stallion, humans don’t even have heat!”

“Details, details.” The doctor swung on his chair and levitated over a quill, scribbling down his observations on a piece of paper. “It’s certainly consistent with what we’d expect from an infection.” He glanced over at the injury and shuddered. “Are you sure that it doesn’t hurt?”

“Not now.”

“And is it bleeding?”

“No, it has scabbed over.”

“Good, so no stitches. It looks pretty serious - so I’m going to give you a large course of medicine. You need to take two of these every day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Hopefully it should clear those symptoms up.” The doctor pulled two wooden boxes out of his desk. “I’d like to take a blood test for you, but I’m afraid that our technician is out of town so we can’t get results for a few days.”

Franz was concerned, “You don’t have anybody to handle blood testing?”

The doctor clenched his jaw, “It’s a new field, there are only a few experts in the whole country. Thankfully the need rarely comes up. She should be back in three days, so I’ll schedule a follow up for you.”

“I’m going to be pretty busy for the rest of the week.”

The doctor scribbled down another note, “I can see you in the evening if you’d prefer?” The note hovered over in his magic grip, Franz grabbed it out of the air. Doctors were much more flexible in Equestria since the healthcare system wasn’t chronically underfunded and booked from top to bottom. Franz stood from the chair and rolled his eyes. He got the impression that this “medicine,” a primitive form of anti-biotic made using some kind of magic plant, would do little to help.

“Thank you, Doctor, I’ll come by again if it gets any worse.” The Doctor rewrapped the bandage (properly this time.) Before he left, he stopped by the reception desk to pay for the service. The mare at the desk gave him a pleasant smile and told him to come again. Franz hoped he wouldn’t have to.

---

Franz had immediately taken one of his pills and crashed on a bench in the central park. He didn’t have anything else lined up for the day so relaxing outside seemed like a good call. He watched as many ponies passed by, playing and talking. He wondered what Poppy was doing on a day like this. Franz had always wanted to make more of an effort to spend time with his friends outside of work, but he was too nervous to ask.

One pony in particular caught his attention. An earth stallion with a bright yellow-lime coat and deep green hair. He was wearing some kind of Hawaiian shirt and was fumbling with a paper map. Franz could immediately tell that he was lost. The bystander effect was in force as none of the other ponies stopped to help him.

Why not? Franz thought to himself. He stood from the bench and approached the befuddled stallion with a smile. “Do you need some help?”

“Some kelp? I’d much rather get some directions!” The stallion glanced up from the map and his entire body froze in position like a statue. “W-w-what in Equestria!”

“I’m offering you help.”

“Oh! Ha, that was uh… a joke, yeah.”

Franz knew that he’d just misheard him, he had a strong accent after all. Trying to evade the social catastrophe that was rapidly approaching was more than most ponies would try to do though. So he gave him the benefit of the doubt.

“They sure make you fellas big round here, don’t they?”

Franz knelt down on one knee to get on his level and appear less threatening. “I’m not from around here, do you need some help?”

“That’d be fantastic! I’m Shady Palm, nothing much shady about me though – you can see me from a mile away!” He laughed at his own gag.

“Franz.”

He pawed at the map again with a frown, “I’m looking for the waterfront, but I can’t seem to get myself oriented! So much for Manehattan hospitality.”

“Yes, they’re pretty rude.” Franz pulled the map over and looked at the various red markings that had been made by some kind of pen or quill. Shady has clearly been on around tour around the whole city, to the theatre district, the statue, and even the old quarter. He wondered how he’d found his way around all those places without help, only now to get lost when trying to find the ocean.

Franz pointed at where they were in the park. “We’re here, facing here. If you keep walking straight this way, you’ll eventually hit the water. And then you can go up and down to wherever you want.” He noticed that the black veins had crawled from under the bandage and towards his fingers. He pulled his hand away before Shady could notice it.

“That’s excellent, thank you buddy!” Shady patted Franz on the back and put the map away into one of his many shirt pockets. “You know, I heard of you from a friend! You’re one of those… humens, aren’t ya?”

“Yes.” Franz’s arrival in Equestria was big news. Not world ending, this had apparently happened a few times before, but enough for him to be something of a celebrity for the kind of pony that kept up with newspapers.

Shady placed a hoof under his chin, “Is it true that you’re nocturnal?”

“Only if I want to be.”

He pointed his hoof in the direction of an invisible pony, “Ha! I just won a bet.”

Franz stood at his full height and looked around the park, “Come see my show, we’re at the Red Theatre every weekday evening.” The hustle never ended even when he was off work.

Shady nodded, “I can do that much. I’ll check it out sometime.” He turned around but swivelled again to where he started. “Which way was it again?” Franz pointed to the exit of the park, “Oh right, thank you again!” The neon pony set off with a skip in his step.

Franz watched him go, “Good deed for the day…” Hopefully karma would smile upon him and cure his illness. Franz wandered around the park for an hour before his stomach started making the sound that it usually made when he was hungry. Shady Palm’s mention of the waterfront had planted a seed in Franz’s mind, there were a lot of great restaurants out there.

So a walk down to the waterfront seemed like a swell idea.

Franz weaved through the busy streets of the city, eyeing each restaurant that he passed. Franz wasn’t sure what he felt like eating. There were a few restaurants that served meat-eating clientele, but they were almost entirely seafood. Franz was never that into it. They were also the places that got rowdy around lunch time when the daily rush started.

As he passed an alleyway he heard a loud clattering. He stopped and looked. Franz knew better to dive into a shady alleyway. Even if it was in a place as safe and friendly as Equestria. He already had one injury to deal with and didn’t need another. But when the sound turned from rummaging to a wail of agony, his caution went out of the window. What was another good deed anyway?

Slowly, ever so slowly, he walked into the darkness. His feet brushed against discarded garbage that people hadn’t thrown away properly or had spilled out of the dumpsters that lined both sides. At the far end was a lone door. Whoever was here was hiding somewhere. The only place they could be was behind one of the dumpsters.

Franz’s head was constantly pivoting left and right, checking every nook and cranny in search of the mysterious voice. He was starting to doubt his decision to come into the alley in the first place, but he was too far in now. The voices of the ponies on the street grew ever quieter.

CRASH.

Franz’s veins ran cold as the scattering of paws meeting concrete emerged from a tipped over bin. It was a stray cat. “Little bastard.” Franz held his chest as he tried to calm his newly elevated heartbeat. The fear was all in his mind, he’d scared himself.

CRACK.

Franz didn’t know what was happening, or why the floor was approaching so rapidly without his consent.

---

“Jesus, fuck!” Franz wheezed. He was on some kind of hard floor, the place where he’d gotten knocked out a second earlier? No, there was no sound anywhere. He must be somewhere away from the street. “Who the fuck…” His head throbbed. Somebody had hit him, and he felt every bit of it. It was dark. Too dark to see his own hands. He felt around – the floor was tiled. He was indoors.

He pushed up onto his knees and took a moment to regain his balance. They’d really done a number on him. Franz was frustrated. He seemed to stumble from misfortune to misfortune, so much for being rewarded for his community service. “Karma’s a bitch.”

Franz knew he was a bit abrasive sometimes. But most ponies never complained about it, if anything some of the people in Manehattan were even meaner than he was! Yet he seemed to find trouble like he had a cutie mark for it.

“How do I get out?” Franz asked himself. He held out his arms and shuffled forwards in search of a wall; a wall that never seemed to arrive. Wherever he was - it was big. “Hello? Is anybody there?” he shouted.

A blue eye opened. Franz froze up again. He recognized that eye.

No, not just the one. Hundreds of them, all staring directly at him. The dull glow illuminating the outlines of the numerous bodies that covered every surface. In the centre came one more, a pair of green, catlike slits that stared into his soul. He shuddered.

“Oh, it seems that our guest is awake,” a voice purred with malcontent.

“Who the hell are you? Where am I? Did you punch me?”

“You ask too many questions.”

The lights flickered on. The first thing that Franz noticed was that the eyes were attached to a few dozen identical clones. Black chitin and insect-like wings. A low buzz coming from some of them. The warehouse they were in had been converted into some kind of makeshift home, with green pods placed where space permitted. Storage containers opened and looted, before being turned into temporary rooms with chairs and other pleasantries. Windows cut out from the metal and wood. It was like a tiny city, all contained within one building.

He could hear the sound of rushing water. The docks. They were at the docks.

In the middle of the audience was one pony who stood tall above the others, her individualism represented by characterful eyes and flowing green hair. “You are an interesting little thing, you smell like one of mine, yet you look like a shaved ape.”

She approached and circled around Franz. Her separated tongue flicked at the air like a snake. “I am Queen Chrysalis, and these are my brood.” Franz didn’t know what kind of queen lived in a dockside warehouse, but he wasn’t about to piss her off by asking. One of the blue-eyed ponies hopped down from a crate and limped over.

“He smells like Buzz, Buzz where?”

“Who is Buzz?”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes, “Buzz is one of us. He has gone missing.” The other creatures hiss and whisper amongst themselves. It seems that it’s a hot topic.

“So you brought me here… because I smell like him?”

“Yes, smell like Buzz, Buzz where?”

“I already told you, I don’t know where he is…” Franz thought about it for a moment. He smells like him. “…Unless, he might have bitten me yesterday.”

“He bit you?” Chrysalis asked. “That fool. Where was he hiding?” She seemed incredibly desperate to know.

“Where I work. He’s long gone now. Scrambled out of the window and ran away.”

“I knew he’d cause trouble,” Chrysalis raised her voice, “That buffoon will be the end of us all.”

Franz was angry, “Who was making that noise in the alley? Did you do that to lure me in?”

The small creature shook his head and held out a small wooden block with wooden pegs coming out of the top, “Ponies booby trap their alley, I step on.”

“That is just a toy.”

Chrysalis interrupted, “Yes, yes, all very good. Now if you’ll excuse us. You three! Go find him!” She pointed her hoof at a group of them, who saluted and flew out of an open hole in the roof.

“Uh, so… is that it?”

The Queen stared Franz in the eyes. “Do you know who I am?”

“No, not really.”

She thought on it for a moment. “Don’t tell a soul what you saw here creature. Lest you incur my wrath!”

Franz stood and dusted himself off. “Alright. I’ll keep an eye out for your… friend. I guess.”

“If you please.” Franz couldn’t help but notice the rows of sharp teeth that filled her maw.

“Good talk, thanks.” Franz shuffled past the Queen and power walked to the door – shutting it behind him. As soon as he left the noise started anew, with the leader barking out even more orders. “What is wrong with this city?” His stomach rumbled. Worst of all, he was still hungry.

Next Chapter: Chapter 2: Commissioned Without Reason Estimated time remaining: 30 Minutes