How long is she gonna keep watching me? I wondered as I lazily opened an eye to regard the lavender equine scribbling notes down on a scroll with a scarlet quill, both of which were suspended in a purple aura.

"Hmmm, bipedal, claw-like appendages on the end of forelimbs, very dexterous..." The mare muttered to herself as she sat in front of my cage, fluttering her wings slightly, "supposed pony-level intellect, but has refused contact for the past two days since capture, remains in a seemingly meditative state..."

Well... she's not wrong. I thought to myself, closing my eye and fading back into my trance. As relatively safe as it was here compared to the forest, waking up in a cage did not give me too much faith in the intentions of these equines. So I went to my default plan: observe, adapt, and escape. I grinned inwardly, my face remaining stoic, at least the last part will be somewhat easier, those little horses didn't even bother to move my sword.

I allowed my eyes to crack open again as I swept the room. The entire chamber seemed to be carved entirely out of crystal, lab equipment was set up neatly on shelves, large metal tables dotted the room, various ongoing experiments on bags of blood and... various other samples from me dotted them, and one exceptionally large table was set in the center of the room, surgical implements placed all around it. Needless to say, I would very much not want to be put on that table.

I tore my gaze away from the dissection table and to the far side of my room where two large double doors took the role of the room's only entrance and exit. Next to said door was a rack of lab coats and lying haphazardly underneath them was my sword and belt. For whatever reason, neither of the two equines I had seen since I regained consciousness two days prior had been able to move the damn thing. Unbuckle it? Sure, but anything more seemed to be out of their ability, much to the chagrin of a certain winged unicorn now busily scribbling notes about my sudden attentiveness to my surroundings.

I closed my eyes again and began to compile all the information I had accrued over the past two days.

Alright me, location first. I'm in a laboratory of some kind owned by the lavender pegacorn currently jotting down notes on me. The entire place is made of crystal except for the various shelves, tables and lab equipment, which were obviously bought in after this place was made. The lack of windows suggests that we're underground.

I took another glance around to confirm my assessment.

Next is the people... ponies in this case, I suppose. The pegacorn's full name seems to be Twilight Sparkle, she's been referred to as 'princess' a few times, so she's likely the one in charge here. Probably good hostage material when I get out. Next, is the unicorn that shows up every now and then to help with the experiments, answers to the name 'Starlight'. My best guess is that she's probably the princess' aide or student from how she seems to defer to Twilight. Again, good hostage material. Other notable names mentioned are 'Spike', 'Princess Celestia', 'Princess Luna', 'Applejack', 'Rarity', 'Pinkie', 'Rainbow Dash', and 'Fluttershy'. They keep using horse puns like 'everypony' in everyday speech.

Suddenly, the doors on the other end of the opened and Starlight trotted in, levitating a plate of apples in her magic. My mouth instantly watered, those delectable red fruits were the only vice I had developed during my time in this cage, which was kind of expected as they were the only thing they tried to feed me.

Starlight passed the fruits through the bars of my cage, setting them on the floor before I eagerly snatched them up.

"For all it's stoicism, it sure is excitable when food comes around." Starlight remarked, chuckling behind a raised hoof at my apparent antics.

Hey, fuck you lady! I'll eat my apples however the hell I want! I thought angrily as I viciously devoured the savory fruit.

"It's a 'he'." Twilight said offhandedly, off-hoof-edly? To her assistant.

I'm not even sure what's more disturbing, the fact that a horse just admitted to examining my junk, or the fact that she's so nonchalant about it. I thought ruefully as I took the core of the last apple and shoved it into my mouth, munching on it slowly.

"Right, because the cryptid can completely understands us." Starlight said dryly.

Fuck yeah I can understand you! I thought as I continued to chew on the apple core in my mouth.

Starlight turned to Twilight, "the others are here for the meeting, I actually came here to get you."

Twilight jumped as if she'd been shocked, "they're here already!? Oh no no no no no no!" She began to rush around the lab, hurriedly putting away various objects and grabbing a stack of notebooks that rested on one of the metal tables.

"What about the Phantom?" Twilight asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, princess. Spike volunteered to watch him, and I don't think he'll be getting out of that cage anytime soon."

As if on cue, a short, lizard-like creature with purple and green scales and emerald eyes entered through the double doors while carrying a comic book in his tiny claws.

I watched him warily, new faces typically meant new variables, and I really didn't need new variables right now. Regardless, my escape plan hadn't changed, these two mares had been talking about this meeting to discuss what should be done with me since yesterday and I needed to be long gone before they reached a decision, especially if that decision involved a lot of incisions on my corpse.

I shuddered as I watched the two ponies make their hurried exit, leaving me alone with Spike, dissection was not an option.

"I'd better not catch you doing any funny stuff, buster." The tiny lizard said from across the room. He pulled a stool up and sat down on it, flipping open his comic book, "nope, no one gets past Spike the Dragon." He muttered, emerald irises scanning the page.

I mentally facepalmed, A dragon, why the fuck not? We already have unicorns, pegasi, and magic wooden wolves, why not throw a fucking dragon into the mix!? Well, at the very least that eliminated one of his possible trump cards...

I waited until he was getting really into his book, muttering excitedly whenever something really caught his attention, before spitting out the chewed-up apple core, one end chewed to a narrow point. Grinning, I carefully slid my fingers up to the lock on my cage, the comically large keyhole wide enough to almost slip my pinkie finger in.

Did they really think I was dumb enough to be fooled by a lock this simple? I scoffed inwardly. The lock itself was a simple affair, rotating the metal plate inside would move the deadbolt enough for me to open the door from the inside. Gingerly, I slid the narrow end of the apple core into the lock, my improvised lockpick finding purchase on the all-important rotating plate. Come on, come on!

*click*

With that soft noise, the plate rotated under the pressure of the narrowed apple core, sliding the deadbolt far enough that the door to my cage swung open with a slight metallic groan. Piece of cake, I thought, grinning madly as I crept out of the cage, phase one, complete!

The noise caused Spike looked up from his comic book, our eyes locking for a single panicked moment. Oh fuck me sideways with a chainsaw.

Before the young drake could react, I was sprinting towards him, swinging my foot around in a roundhouse kick that sent the tiny drake flying off his chair and into a nearby wall, he slumped over, dazed from the impact.

"Sorry kid," I muttered, grabbing one of the discarded lab coats and tying him up with it, "nothing personal, but I'm not gonna be the next specimen on that table." And with that, I tossed him into the cage, closing the door and forcefully stuffing the remains of the apple core into the lock, barring anyone from getting a key in there.

With my guard securely locked away, I made my way back over to the double doors and picked up my sword and another lab coat, I knotted the coat around the sword belt in several places before cutting holes for my legs and slipping the makeshift diaper-pants on over my exposed nethers. "Hope this holds." I muttered as I pushed through the doors and into the halls outside.

Spike groaned as he slowly recovered from the mild concussion he'd just received from the supposedly 'harmless' cryptid.

Suddenly his eyes snapped open, the phantom's loose! He tried to use his arms to pull himself back up, only to find them bound in Twilight's favorite lab coat.

"Sorry about this Twilight," Spike muttered, blowing a jet of fire onto his bindings, burning through them.

He had to warn everypony, who knows what a monster like the Everfree Phantom was capable of! Reaching down to the burning lab coat, Spike rummaged through the pockets until he came up with the quill and notepad Twilight had been using earlier. He quickly opened the pad to the next blank page and jotted down a quick note:

Twilight, the Everfree Phantom's loose! Help!

Spike tore the page out and rolled it up before blowing a small puff of emerald flame over it, watching the smoke as it curled away.

He hoped it would reach her in time.

"Fer the last time, Ah'm tellin' you it's dangerous!" Applejack said, slamming her hoof on the central table of Friendship Castle's throne room, "any creature capable of fightin' off a manticore by itself is way too dangerous to be anywhere near ponies!"

"I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Applejack on this one, Twilight." Rarity chimed in, "the tale of what that... brute did during the fracas with the manticore is positively ghastly!" She shuddered, "I'm just glad our siblings got out unharmed."

"But they all said that he saved them!" Fluttershy said as loudly as she could, which amounted to a normal speaking voice by other pony's standards, "I'm sure he's just misunderstood."

"Sorry Shy, but I'll have to disagree with you there," Rainbow Dash said, "he ripped off a manticore's tail and survived a more than lethal dose of it's venom! As awesome as that is," she glanced around to the six pairs of eyes staring at her around the table, "which it's not. This thing is obviously something we shouldn't be messing with."

"Oooooorrrrr, he could be really super duper nice!" Pinkie Pie chimed in, bouncing in her throne with her usual energy, "Also, isn't the author structuring our statements the same way to keep track of who's already spoken in this scene? That's just lazy! Bad Villain!" She shouted, pointing with her hoof

Nopony, and I repeat, nopony knew what the heck she was talking about.

"Everypony! Calm down!" Twilight said, slamming her hoof on the table to break up the squabble, "its obvious that something has to be done with this cryptid. However, releasing the Everfree Phantom back into the forest might not be a viable option."

"What do ya mean, Twi?" Applejack asked.

"What I mean," Twilight began, gesturing to Starlight Glimmer, who bought over a stack of notes and charts levitating in her magic, "is that his appearance correlates with the appearance of that pillar," she pointed to the crystalline obelisk that had grown between her and Rainbow Dash's thrones, "and more worryingly, the strange monster activity that's been occurring in the Everfree." Starlight unrolled a large overhead map of the Everfree Forest before clearing her throat.

"As all of you are aware, monster sightings and encounters have increased in both the Everfree and White Tail Woods," Starlight explained, pointing to a series of multicolored circles dotted around the center of the Everfree, "these are all the typical hunting grounds of the major predatory Everfree species. Red are timberwolves, blue are hydras, and black are manticores. And these," she traced her hoof to a series of circles much closer to the edge of the forest, "are where our latest estimates place them now."

"So you think that this 'Everfree Phantom' is the cause of all the monsters moving closer to Ponyville?" Rainbow Dash asked, cocking her head to the side.

"That's the only viable theory we have to go on," Twilight said, rubbing her eyes with her forehooves, "there aren't any signs of deforestation deeper in the forest, so the sudden appearance of the Phantom is the only thing we have to go on. His species is so dissimilar to anything in the entire taxonomy of Equus that-"

At that moment, a flash of green flame burst out in front of Twilight as a rolled-up piece of note paper landed on the table.

"Is that a note from Spike? Poor little guy probably got lonely being stuck with-" Rainbow Dash began, stopping when she saw Twilight's paling features as she read the note, "what's up Twi? What's wrong?"

"The Phantom got out, he's loose in the castle. We have to recapture him before he gets into Ponyville."

"Where the hell is the exit to this goddamn place!" I gasped, slowing my jog to a stop, letting myself catch my breath a bit.

This place was built like a maze, all the crystalline halls looked the same as all the others, and there were doors everywhere. How the hell those ponies had been able to navigate themselves through this place was beyond me. I wrenched open the nearest door to reveal yet another broom closet which promptly spilled it's contents all over me.

"Fucking broom closets!" I yelled as I roughly shoved aside broom and mop handles which had smacked me over the head.

If I ever lay eyes on another goddamn supply closet, it would be too soon, I thought darkly, casting a hateful glance back at the spilled cleaning implements. Seriously, how many fucking broom closets does this place have?

I continued my way down several halls, my eyes darting around for any sign of an exit. Leave it to me to get lost in a maze when I need to get gone as soon as possible! The longer I take, the more likely that they've already discovered my escape.

"There it is!" A voice cried from down an adjoining hallway.

FUCK YOU, MURPHY!!! I spun and barely managed to bring my arms up to deflect a flying kick from a rainbow-maned cyan pegasus, the hardened keratin of her hoof grazing my forearm and forcing me back a step, gritting my teeth as the pain of the impact set in. That's gonna bruise.

"You're going right back in that cage, big guy!" The pegasus cried out as she dove in for another kick.

Too close to dodge! I thought as I shifted my stance, grabbing the pegasus' leg as she dove in and flinging her back the way she came before sprinting down the opposite hallway.

Can't let them find me, gotta lose them!

"Where do you think you're going?" The pegasus called, rounding the corner gaining on me.

Dammit! I spun around to face her, raising my arms, looks like I'll have to do this the hard way.

She twisted around to kick at me again, but this time I was ready. Stepping aside from her line of attack, I bought my arm around in a hook and clotheslined the mare, causing her to gag as I twisted and flung her to the floor before raising my left fist for a knockout blow.

Only to find that same arm caught in a noose, being yanked back the way the pegasus had come from. The fuck!?

"Ah gotcha, Dash!" Called an orange pony with a blond mane, her southern accented voice slightly muffled by the lasso clenched between her teeth.

"Thanks AJ!" The pegasus said as she popped up and slammed her forehoof across my face, causing me to see stars.

Growling, I grabbed the rope that had tied itself around my arm with my left hand, pulling on it. The orange mare held her ground, leaning backwards to compensate for the sudden tug. That's when I made my move.

Sprinting back the way I came, I hooked my right arm around the mare's head, yanking her upwards. The mare, yelping as she lost her balance from the sudden slack in the rope came along easily as I slammed her onto her back, allowing myself to fall onto my own back before pulling myself up and winding the rope around her legs multiple times, hog-tying her before pulling my hand from the noose.

"Hey!" Cried the pegasus, flying at me with fury in her eyes, "get off her!" She tackled me, forcing us both to the ground, the both of us fighting for purchase, I snarled as I threw her off after slamming the my fist into the side of her head, dazing her.

I'm not going back in that cage, you can all go fuck yourselves. I thought as I scrambled to my feet, sprinting down the hallway away from my two opponents.

Rainbow Dash shook her head, clearing the fog from the blow to her head, "ugh, did somepony catch the driver of that cart?" She moaned.

"This a'int the time fer jokes sugarcube," Applejack said, using her teeth to try and undo the knots the Phantom had used to tie her legs together, "you've gotta get after that varmint, ah'll be fine, just go!"

Rainbow Dash nodded, pulling herself up to her hooves and unfurling her wings, "don't worry AJ, I've got this!" She said, taking off, chasing after the fleeing cryptid.

Fuck off already! I thought as I heard wingbeats growing closer.

Growling in annoyance, I rounded a corner, ducking into the next door I saw, forcing my breathing to slow as the sound of wingbeats flew past.

"Finally," I sighed in relief as I slumped down next to the door, catching my breath. "Goddamn horse people, just couldn't let me die in peace could they?" I muttered, running a hand across the large, star-shaped scar on my abdomen. Not that I really wanted to anyway.

With a sigh, I pulled myself up and examined my surroundings.

The room I found myself in was a lot larger than the lab I'd been caged up in, it had a large domed roof and several crystal tables seemingly grown out of the floor, but what really caught my eye were the bookshelves. There were bookshelves everywhere, even built directly into the walls, "someone sure likes to read..." I muttered softly, running my hands over the various tomes on the shelf nearest to me. What drew my curiosity even more was that some of these books looked half-destroyed. Some singed, others with torn-up covers, some of them even looked as if they'd been ripped in half or crushed.

"Guess this isn't the first place you guys have been stored, huh?" I said, pulling a newer tome from it's brethren. The book was a hardcover tome with a brass plaque on the cover inscribed with what I assumed was the book's title. I examined the script-like writing on the plaque, but I couldn't make out a word for the life of me. But I can understand them, and from the responses of the three kids in the forest, they can understand me. I wonder if there's some sort of magical influence involved that translates speech... Judging by the conversations about magic I'd heard during my captivity, these ponies had a spell for just about anything. But who cast it? And why?

And that just begs another question: do I try to salvage the situation with diplomacy? I shook my head and replaced the book on the shelf after mulling it over a bit, no. They had every indication of my intelligence both from witness testimony and the fact that I was wearing clothes that were likely made with professional handiwork. Despite that, they still stripped me and put me in a cage like some animal. I don't know they're motivations or thought process, so escape is my only option. I can decide my next move once I'm safe.

Resolved, I turned back towards the door, only to be stopped cold, my hand on the doorknob, by a high-pitched, overly-cheery voice, "hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!"

I turned around, only to come face-to-face with the barrel of a cannon.

OH FU-

*BOOM*

The sheer force of the blast sent me flying through the doorway and into the hallway beyond, sending me crashing to the floor, pieces of confetti raining down around me. FUCK THAT STINGS!!! I screamed inwardly, suffering in silence at the multitude of new paper cuts that now covered my body.

"SURPRISE!" Shrieked the same voice as an offensively pink mare with a curly mane and baby blue eyes popped out from behind the cannon.

I scrambled to my feet and took off in the opposite direction.

Nope, not dealing with that. Nope! Nope! Nope! SO much nope!

"Hey wait! Come back here!" She cried, shoving the cannon into her mane before chasing after me.

I added another 'nope' to the growing list of 'nope's'.

"Not so fast, monster!" cried the cyan pegasus from the other end of the hallway, "we've got you now!" She cried triumphantly, galloping at what I assumed to be her top speed, wings outstretched.

I don't think so, I grinned madly, picking up speed towards one of the walls.

"Where do you think you're going, buddy?" The pegasus asked, nearly right on top of me.

My grin widened as I leaped onto the wall, running along it for three steps using the friction of my bare feet and hand before kicking off, sailing over the shocked expression of the pegasus while flipping her the bird. Yeah, you just got juked hard. I thought, laughing inwardly.

I landed on one knee, thrusting out a leg to kick her in the flank, causing her to fall flat on her face with a soft shriek. I snickered before sprinting down the hall, leaving the downed pegasus and her friend to eat my dust.

"Wow Dashie! He sure got you good!" Pinkie said, standing over her friend.

"I'm gonna get that pervert..." Rainbow Dash growled, a furious blush blooming across her features.

Pulling herself up, Dash took off after the fleeing cryptid, "come on, Pinkie!"

"Comiiiiiing~" Pinkie Pie tittered, following after her friend with her usual bouncing gait.

"This has to be it," I muttered gazing up at the immense double doors before me, the monolithic structure almost mocking me with it's sheer size. Bracing myself, I began to push against the door, only to have it swing open effortlessly as if it were a normal sized door made of wood. I yelped as the loss of resistance caused me to fall facedown on the floor.

"More magic I guess. No way those doors should've opened this easily." I groaned as I pulled as I looked up to see yet another hallway. Are you kidding me!? God, just kill me now and be done with it! I sighed and waited for the big man could load up his Remington when the sound of hoofsteps reached my ears. There are well defined gaps in between each hoofbeat... not the ones chasing me then. Their pace is too slow for that.

Nodding, I crept silently as possible down the hall to avoid drawing attention, only to have the source of the hoofsteps come around the door behind me.

"Was this door open last time?" Twilight asked her three companions.

"Ummm... I don't think so," said a butter yellow pegasus with a pink mane replied.

"Then who-" A white unicorn with a purple mane began before all four mares stopped dead in their tracks, all of us doing our best 'deer in headlights' impression.

Did I mention I despise you, Murphy? I thought ruefully before taking off in the opposite direction.

"He's headed for the map room!" Starlight cried, her horn flaring.

"Wait, Starlight! Don't-"

All I heard was the sound of shattering glass and a pained yelp from Starlight as I continued down the hall, the hell was that? I wondered, reaching the end of the hall and entering a room with a round table.

The room was structured similarly to the library, a high-vaulted ceiling in a circular room. Directly in front of me was a round table, surrounded on all sides by six large thrones, each bearing a different-colored gem towards the top to the thrones. With a start, I recognized them as the exact same gems from the weird crystalline tree in the forest. Directly above the table was a giant chandelier made out of the roots of a giant tree, strings of multicolored crystals dangling down from various points across it, glinting in the light of the windows above. A large, out-of-place obelisk sat between two of the thrones.

I frantically looked around, spotting another set of double doors across the room. I ran for them only for the doors to slam shut and vanish into the walls. "No no no no no no no!" I mumbled, feeling for any sign of the wall there, only finding smooth crystal in it's place.

The hoofsteps reached my ears again, "Dammit!" I hissed, turning to face the group of ponies, the pegasus leading the charge as all seven mares and the tiny dragon I'd kicked across the lab.

"End of the line, buster!" Crowed the cyan pegasus, "nowhere to run now!"

I reached back and gripped the handle of my blade, "you're totally wrong about that, horse." I said, the stunned silence from the eight other beings in the room was all the encouragement I needed, slowly drawing my sword with a rasp of metal on wood, "there is a way out, through all of you!" And with that I charged, sword at the ready to cut the persistent pegasus down and carve a path through her companions.

Don't hate me for this. I thought as I raised my blade against the pegasus, ready to bring it down.

Only to be stopped when golden chains wrapped around my arm and the blade.

"What!?" I shouted, looking back to see the chains extending from the obelisk in the center of the room. With a metallic clanking noise, the chains began to retract, yanking me backwards, "NO! NOT LIKE THIS!!!" I cried, scrabbling at the chains to break them off, to no avail.

I continued my struggle as I was dragged sword-first towards a slot built in to the obelisk, the ponies and dragon watching with looks of horror on their faces. With a final tug, the chains forcibly pulled the blade into the slot, lines of blue light appearing on the pillar in a circuit-like pattern before a female voice echoed through the chamber.

Bearer of Courage confirmed, lifting restrictions and downloading Bearer consciousness... complete.

With that, the obelisk spat out the blade and began to glow with a blinding white light. When it faded, what I saw was something no one could've seen coming.

Standing in place of the obelisk was a crystalline throne. One with a gem shaped like a silvery flame on it.

Author's Note

OH SNAP! not sure if anyone saw this coming or not...

Who caught the Bronies React reference?

Do you think Randy Orton would approve of the use of his signature move?

In all seriousness, the MC will be revealing his temporary name in the next chapter. (Amnesia, remember?) But I'll leave the decision up to my readers this time! You have three days to input your answers here.

As always, leave your opinions and feedback below! THIS WRITER LIVES FOR FEEDBACK!!!