Infectious

Ronnie struggled against the chains holding him to the wall. It had taken almost two full hours to get them on and it took almost triple that to get him into the dungeon. Felicity was being surrounded by a group of guards who were holding her back as she desperately tried to fight her way to her brother. She kicked, screamed, and flailed; but nothing she did worked.

"Let him go, he didn't do anything wrong!" She said as she continued trying to push her way through. Luna cautiously approached Felicity, keeping herself on guard just in case she decided to attack her.

"You're right, he hasn't, yet. You've said it yourself, the Infected are very dangerous and are capable of dominating a whole planet in mere months. We have to exercise extreme caution with a being such as this." She wanted Felicity to understand that she was just doing her duty to protect her subjects.

"I also said that he doesn't hurt anyone unless they attack him first, even then, if I tell him not to then he won't!" Celestia desperately wanted to believe her and had even tried convincing Luna to let Ronnie stay in the same room where they were going to book Felicity.

"Luna, I do not think this is right. I think that we should let Felicity and Ronnie stay together." Luna's head shot at Celestia in surprise.

"Sister, are you really declaring that we release him and put the lives of our subjects at stake. You heard the human, one bite is all it takes and it will start an epidemic." Celestia lowered her head an closed her eyes. "We simply cannot have a creature that dangerous wandering around. Not is he capable of spreading a disease, but that very disease is capable of dominating entire worlds. It is both unwise and foolish to keep him anywhere, but here. This is the only place where we can be sure he will bring no harm to others or spread the infection."

"Once upon a time there was a dark being, one who wanted to cast the world into eternal night..." Luna's eyes widened. She knew Celestia was talking about her, but didn't understand just where she was going with this story. " She deceived her fellow ponies, kidnapped the ruler of that land, and would either dominate or destroy all who opposed her. But, no matter how dark her mind was, the light in her heart never died out. It was only through love and friendship that she was released from the monster that had claimed her so long ago and show the world that she was more than just another nightmare. She was not darkness, she was the night. She wasn't a monster, she was my sister..." The whole room was silent, even Ronnie was listening intently to the story. He understood what Celestia was doing and in his mind that was just playing dirty; but he wasn't about to complain, especially since she was working in his favor. Luna swallowed a lump she had in her through before sighing in defeat.

"Fine, he may be free to roam the castle as he wishes, but I want eyes on him at all times. " Celestia smiled.

"Thank you, Luna." Luna put on a nervous grin.

"You heard them Ronnie." Felicity called out, "You can get out of their now." He nodded to his sister before ripping the chains out of the walls that they bound him to almost effortlessly.

"You mean he could have broken out at any time..." Luna said as her sister eyed her with a sly grin. "That's not at all comforting." Celestia's face dropped to one of disappointment. She wanted her to see that him choosing not to break out was a good thing, but she only saw it as him having the ability to leave whenever he wanted. Celestia's moment of victory was stolen by stubborn stupidity and beaten to a bloody pulp with a shoe. She dropped it though, happy that things were working in her favor. It didn't seem right to take separate a family, living or not. It had crushed Celestia when she had to send her sister to the moon, so she was well aware how much it hurt to lose a loved one. For them to still be around but you not having the right to see them, to hear them, to be with them. That kind of treatment, it changes you.

Two days pass since the arrival of the human and her beast brother. Celestia and Luna thought it would be best if they stayed in the castle permanently for two reasons. The first being that they wanted to learn as much about their world as possible, so the two would be interviewed by pony scholars and scientists every so often. Second, and most important, to keep an eye on The Infected as they called him. There had been no accidents like the one that had taken place in the dungeon. Their were moments where tension would rise, but it has yet to escalate to any physical altercations. It was late right now, approximately one in the morning. Luna was out on her balcony, watching over the land. There weren't any stirs in the dream world tonight, which left her satisfied, but slightly bored. Something had caught her eye, however. She spotted a black figure leaping from one part of the castle roof to another until it reached the furthest end where it took a seat and seemed to be staring at something. Luna took to the skies and approached the figure, wearing a disgusted look on her face when she realized what it was. Ronnie sat on the top of the building, his mask and glasses removed, and stared up at the bright shining moon.

"Fancy meeting you here." Ronnie's head quickly shot to the lunar Princess now standing beside him. "What are you doing out here? You should be in your quarters, not wandering around in the night." She was obviously not happy seeing him out here, that was clear in both her expression and voice. He grunted and turned his head back to the moon.

"Beautiful..." He managed to choke out of his cold throat. Luna raised a brow at him.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The m-m...moon." Luna stared at him silently for a few seconds.

"You think the moon is beautiful?" She asked, wondering just how he would respond.

"It...is. Always l-loved the...moon." It took him a minute to finish saying this, he was still regaining his ability to speak. Felicity had been trying to help him since he turned. Luna, despite not liking Ronnie all that much, was fairly pleased with the compliment.

"It takes a lot to keep the moon in top condition, I'm glad you admire my work." She said, a hint of cockiness in her voice as she took a seat beside him.

"Admire...work, but still a...bitch." He said, not taking his eyes off of the moon. Luna was taken back by his sudden insult, but didn't address it. Though she saw it a rude and unnecessary, she strangely enjoyed being talked at like that. Something about not being treated as if she were royalty always seemed to give her some sort of secret joy. Part of her always wanted to just be a normal pony, perhaps that is why she feels this way whenever she is around Ronnie. Since moving in he had always insulted her and acted like she's nothing to him, not once did he ever bow, call her princess, or even straighten his posture when she was around. It was as if she was an average Joe, if you will, approaching a complete stranger. Despite that it did feel kind of nice to not be treated as a goddess, it was also one of the many reasons she disliked him. He showed almost zero respect to her and her kingdom, his manners were so sloppy they were practically non-existent, and every time they would try to reprimand him for something he did he always blamed it on the fact that he was dead and it wasn't his problem; he also made a habit out of dragging his fingernails across the walls, leaving long scratches all through the corridor.

"You know, maybe if you were a bit more polite to others you would have friends." She commented

"Dead don't...nnneed f-friends. W-w-what's your...excuse?" He took his eyes off of the moon in time to see her expression turn sour.

"I have friends!" She retorted, mentally cursing the excuse that he never failed to use in any given situation.

"Yeah...guards a-and statues..." She scoffed at him, but did not take her eyes off of him. "Without your...kingdom, you'd have...nothing..."

"I would not have nothing! Without my kingdom the only thing I'd lose is my wealth and I'd still have more than you."

"Name one th-thing you w-would have, that I d-don't."

"A pulse." Ronnie stared at her blankly before chuckling softly at her insult. Luna felt her anger disappear as a steam of giggles started flowing out of her. Before long they were cackling and howling with laughter. It had almost taken a full minute for them to finally recollect themselves.

"At least...you h-have a s-s-sense of...humor..." Luna smiled upon hearing this. This was something he could enjoy. When he was alive he refused to hang out with anyone that couldn't take a joke. He found a sense of humor to be one of the greatest aspects that someone could have. "You're k-kind of cute to." This comment caused her to blush heavily.

"You should really go back to your room. Come on, I'll take you back myself." She reached out to put a hoof on him, hover Ronnie had different plans. He pushed himself forward off of the roof. She gasped in fear as he plummeted to the ground below them. He fell rather quickly, but he managed to land on his feet. Luna flew down to to Ronnie, expecting him to be a pile of mush on the ground. Much to her surprise though, he was standing up and had no visible damage to his body. She landed beside him, with a glare that could burn holes through wood. "What are you doing!? Are you trying to get yourself killed!?"

"I'm...already dead..." She grunted in irritation, turning her head away from him. If she looked at him, she thought, she might hurt him. Her eyes found their way back to where he had jumped, then back to where he had landed.

"How did you survive that? I understand you're not technically living, but your body should have imploded from such a fall." Luna was very curious, no pony could survive something like that and she wondered if maybe it was a trait that all humans had, infected or not.

"Hunter..." He simply stated.

"...care to explain?"

"Different...breeds of in-infected. Hunters are g-g-given strength in...muscle a-and bones." Luna was suddenly very interested. She had no idea that their were different types of infected and was rather curious at the different types and what abilities they may possess. She would ask about it, but she wouldn't ask him, she couldn't stand his inability to speak properly. It's taken minutes for him to say one full sentence before.

"Well, as I said earlier, you need to go back to your room. Is that clear?" He reluctantly nodded at her before crouch on all fours and leaping onto a nearby roof, repeating the process until he made his way back to the window he had sneaked out of. "Interesting..."