Danny could feel himself afloat in a void. He could only see darkness in his vision. He was unsure of what was happening. The man could hear ringing in his head, and a constant feeling of unsureness and entrapment in his gut made him shiver. Something about it felt familiar to the man, but he was unsure of how.
So, with no other option, he opened his eyes. Danny's blurry vision was greeted with a ceiling. A broken, molding ceiling, with tiles hanging or have already fallen. The only source of light beaming on him was from a small window.
Danny tried to move his arms and legs, but felt something pull them back hard. Able to see fully, Rand moved his head, seeing that his limbs and chest were strapped to a chair. He let out a defeated grunt and laid his head back on the small pillow that he was given, 'Shit. Not again...' he thought in annoyance.
The sound of a door opening with a loud creak got his attention and he turned his head to where he heard the noise, seeing bars. 'Must be a prison cell. Crap. What did I do?' thought Rand, confused by what was happening. Steps were heard, and getting louder. A shadow could be seen getting bigger as it got closer to him.
Surprisingly, the man expected an elder doctor or a prison guard, but what he got instead made his jaw drop.
It was a pony. Wearing clothes. Even Danny was surprised to see such a sight in his lifetime. And he had seen many bizarre things.
"Uh..." stammered Rand, who had nothing to say at the moment.
The pony waved a hoof and shook his head, "Do not be worried. We will not hurt you unless you are hostile. We just want to ask you a couple of questions."
'I-It can talk. Is this some hallucination or something?' Danny once more said in his head, wondering what was happening. He cleared his throat, "U-Uh, okay... So, you're a talking horse. Can I ask you a simple question? Why am I here? Is this even real?"
The pony nodded, "Of course. You were found unconscious right outside this very building. To avoid a panic, we merely brought you in here until things have calmed down. Like I said, you are in no trouble unless you are hostile."
"Well... I'm not hostile. You can take these off." insisted Danny, moving his strapped hands.
"Sorry, sir. But you must be kept here until we know for sure you're not a threat." the pony explained, "Oh, my name is Guard Watcher by the way. I'm going to basically interview you. And you are...?"
The man sighed, "D-Danny..." he whispered his name to the pony, "Danny Rand..."
Guard Watcher sat on a stool placed next to the cell, a soft sincere smile on his face. The look eased the man a little, getting the feeling that he was actually not in trouble, "Well, Mister Rand, what are you? You are not a pony, that's for sure. Nor are you anything that we in Equestria have seen."
Rand gulped, "I-I... I'm a human..."
"A human? There are no documents of such species. Do you know of where you come from?"
"Y-Yeah... Earth... New York." Danny answered honestly in one breath, "But where am I even at?"
"Equestria, Canterlot to be exact. I have no recollection of this Earth place you mentioned. Care to elaborate?" he suggested, writing some information on a notepad by holding a pencil in his limbless hoof. Danny had no idea how they did that.
"..." Danny was silent, unsure of how to continue, "I don't know how to explain this. This could be a dream for all I know. I'm a human from a world with other humans and now in a world of talking ponies and God knows what else. Can you just please let me out?" he asked again, moving his trapped limbs.
Guard Watched chuckled, "This is no dream, I assure you. Honestly, it feels like a dream for me seeing something such as yourself. I think we are making some progress here, Mister Rand."
"Danny. Just Danny." insisted the human, "And this is all new to me. So... How long am I supposed to be here for?"
"Until we get everything sorted out. Shouldn't take too long if we're being honest." the pony answered.
A sigh escaped Danny's lips. "Thank God. Can you take off one of these straps."
At that suggestion, the pony lit up his horn and removed the chest strap, freeing his torso. "Thanks..." said Rand. "But all of this... I shouldn't be here. I need to get home."
"I understand, Danny. But we can't have you wander this world freely. I have my orders." Guard Watcher explained, "But do you wish to explain how you got here?"
Danny nodded, "It's simple. I was stopping a shipment, found an object in there. Everything was black. I woke up here." he elaborated as much as he could.
"...I see. Well, I think I got all the information I need. If all goes well, you should be released tomorrow at the latest. In the meantime, I will see if there is anything for you to eat." Guard Watcher said. After that, he walked out, closing the door behind him to find him a quick meal. This left Danny to stew in his thoughts.
'How did I get here?' mused Rand, 'This doesn't make any sense. One minute I was in New York, trying to figure out what to do... But then... I wake up in a world with talking ponies... And people thought K'un L'un and my disappearance and coming back was unbelievable. I might need to head back to the asylum if this is actually real and not some dream.'
Danny closed his eyes, choosing to meditate and calm his thoughts.
"I-I have come back with information."
The figure faced the wall and nodded, allowing Guard Watcher to continue, "Danny Rand has arrived like you wished. He thinks he's being here for the safety of the public of Equestria. I have gotten the information you requested. It all adds up. This is the man you were looking for."
"I see. I think it is time we moved him. He has followed us here, albeit accidentally. But he cannot discover our presence here. Take him to the padded room. He's gonna have some company."
"A-Alright, sir." gulped Guard Watcher. He walked out with a plate of salad in his magic grip.
The figure growled, "You cannot be here, Danny, and I wish I wasn't here. But I have a debt to pay... Again."
"Danny! Wake up!"
The man awoke in his strapped bed. He forgot for a second and his arms were still as were his legs. The voice knocked him out of meditation and he groaned. "Ugh... Why did you do that? I was in the middle of meditating. Did you bring any food that wasn't a salad or a vegan meal?" he asked.
Guard Watcher shook his head, "My apologies, Danny. But I was given a request." his hoof held a jacket of sorts and tossed it on the floor. "I know you're going to argue otherwise, but my superior wishes to see you and requested that you wear this to ensure that you wouldn't dare to try anything funny."
Danny groaned, "Just like New York..." he muttered to himself, "You know what? Fine. I just want to get out of here peacefully."
"I'm glad you agree. I will untie the straps and I will leave you to put on the jacket." Guard Watcher insisted, using his hooves to unstrap Danny, allowing him to stretch and sit up.
The man rubbed his wrists and legs, getting feeling back into them after feeling numb. "Thank you. But you know I'm done with the insanity straight jacket thing, right? I've done it once and... let's just say it wasn't any fun."
The pony nodded, "I understand, Danny. But it is for the best."
Deciding that he wouldn't be doing himself any favors by refusing to comply in a new world until he was situated, Danny got up and had the jacket placed on his body, his arms unable to move with how tight it was put on. Guard Watcher escorted the man down the surprisingly empty hallways, which Rand noticed, "Hey... Where's everyone else at?"
"In another division. It was a decision that you were left here alone to not intrude on the others." the pony lied, lightly shoving Danny forward, almost making him trip as a result.
"Hey. Watch it." scolded the man, turning his head to scowl at the pony in annoyance.
"Sorry." Guard Watcher replied, gesturing for Danny to turn down the dimly-lit hallways. Rand was reminded of the hospital he was put in when he arrived back in New York, thought to be crazy. Except he admitted that it was a little more eerie, considering there was no one else in the building with them.
Once Danny arrived at a room with their door open, he was shoved inside, the door closing behind him. The man swiftly got back to his feet and accidentally ran into the door as a result, falling on his back in pain. "Agh!" he grunted, landing on a padded surface which cushioned his fall.
Once his blurry vision ceased, Danny took a good look behind him, rolling on his stomach to fully see what was in here with him. Because he could tell he wasn'f alone. 'Of course I'm not. It was a trap. I fell for it again.' he thought, clearly angered that he was at a disadvantage,
"Hey hey. Looks like the new guy's havin' trouble." one of the ponies chuckled. He cracked his neck in anticipation, "I say we do the boss a favor and finish the job."
"Yeah..." the other three agreed.
Danny closed his eyes and attempted to move his body, feeling a hard kick to his side, and another to his chest, knocking the wind out of him. 'Boss? These ponies were sent to kill me. I arrive in some strange horse dimension, and they try to kill me. If I wanna get out of here and get answers, I have to focus my chi and break myself free...' he mused, feeling a hoof land on his face, leaving a bloody mark. Danny grunted in pain, coughing.
The ponies continued their wreckless assault, using their hooves to kick and punch him as much as possible, "The boss is gonna be happy once he hears about what we're doin'."
Annoyed, Danny closed his eyes, doing his best to ignore the stinging pain that surrounded his entire body at this point. He could feel blood dripping on his cheeks and he was about to pass out from being kicked in the chest so much. But he fought it off. And he focused all his energy into one thing.
His fist.
Once he felt himself in a meditating state, Danny knew that the time was now. Within his straight-jacket was his fist, which began to glow a bright yellow, shining through the cloth material. As one of the ponies lowered his hoof to Rand's chest, a loud ripping sound was heard before the sound of cracking followed. The pony cringed for a second and then screamed a moment later, holding their broken forehoof in their other one.
Danny's fist was stretched out, revealing that his fist has broken his hoof. He used his power to break free of the padded jacket and flipped to his feet instantly, dodging the blows of the other ponies and knocking out the one whose hoof he broke with a hard punch. One of them had a horn on their head, which the man could not believe he was alive to witness.
The pony with the horn began to shoot something out of it, directed at Danny. The man jumped to the wall, leaping over the magic projectile and reared his fist back as he descended from his small leap, his fist colliding with the unicorn's face. "I'll admit... I didn't see that coming." he whispered.
Turning around, Danny saw a pegasus charging after him in midair. With one swift motion, the man ducked underneath the attempted ariel attack and grabbed one of his hooves, slamming him to the ground and pinning him there. "So... This is how you have fun? Beating the shit out of the defenseless? I was trained to stop scum like you." he whispered to the pegasus, using one hand to hold their hoof down from recovering.
"P-Please... Don't kill me..." the winged pony pleaded.
Narrowing his stare, Danny swiflty flicked his arm downward, bending the pony's hoof in the opposite direction, a snap sound came and a scream followed. The pony staggered back to his hooves once Rand let go, but his face was greeted with his fist, blood and teeth spitting out of his mouth as Rand's hand collided with the pegasus' cheek.
There was one pony left, Danny realized, turning his body around. The man faced the last pony standing, and he seemed to look rather smug. "You should know somethin', I'm the best fighter out of these knuckleheads. You ain't gettin' past me as easily as you did the others." he warned.
Danny smirked, "Really?"
With a yell, the pony charged forward, running on his hind legs and a hoof reared back. Rand remained still as the earth pony newred him. Once he was close enough, Danny spun and jumped performing a spin-kick strong enough to make the stallion stagger backwards in confusion and pain. "You got lucky there..." he lied, wiping the blood from his face.
Danny extended a hand and gestured for the stallion to try again. His fist began to glow yellow again and with a powerful right hook, Rand landed a direct hit to the pony's stomach, his eyes threatening to bulge out of his face. The stallion gagged at the feeling and held his aching stomach before collapsing on his back.
With his Iron Fist still active, Danny made sure to make a hasty escape and punched the locked door off its hinges, tossing it across thr hall and bouncing off a wall. The man ran as fast as he could through the barren, dull hallways before someone realized he was gone and found himself blocked off.
Holding his fist with his palm, the man inhaled sharply and reared his arm back. Danny then punched the wooden barricade so hard that it shattered into splinters, giving him a way out.
Stepping outside, Danny realized he was in the middle of a forest. With no where else to go, he bolted as far as he could go until he could reach a town.
