3/24/2058

South Palomino Desert, Outside Faith…

3:58am…

My head, my body, everything hurt. It was as if my insides were on fire burning a hole in itself, but the worst was my chest. It burned like it was being stabbed by searing hot metal pole after resting on a pile of lit coals. Everything was dark, not because I hadn't opened my eyes, but because somepony had blindfolded me, my legs were held together by metal shackles and to my dismay I found that they were bolted into the ground, for when I tugged on them, no sign of resistance was shown. Though most of my senses were taken from me, I could still tell that I was outside, I felt the winding moving around me, I heard crickets, and the buzzing of flies. I could feel the cool air on my fur, it felt almost heavenly after what I had experienced back at the river. Everything felt quiet now like the world was devoid of noise, devoid of pony life, I guess the battle had drained me of my reality. But wherever I was I needed to get out, and get back to Faith to see if mother made it out alright.

I tried to move, I lifted my legs and I arched my back, my body protested my actions but my eager mind pushed me on. I tried to move, but only then had I come to find out, my fore hoofs were also bound. They were roped together unable to move, I was stuck lying on the ground, helpless. I started to panic, the only thing I could do that at the moment felt right. I flailed as hard as I could, I tried my hardest to get free, but nothing I did helped at all. I tried to scream, but I then I realised my mouth had a cloth wrapped around it, tied around the back of my head.

I couldn’t scream, I could see, I couldn’t move, everything around me was a mystery, my location unknown, and I had no clue who held me captive. And the only thing I could do was mumble, flail around my bound body, and cry out for nopony to hear. But through my movement and sobs, I heard something, it was distant at first but soon, it became louder. The sound of grinding steel on rock. The sound of somepony sharpening a knife, and by the way he or she was sharpening it, a very long knife. I didn’t like it at all, I needed to get out, and needed out now. My shackles rattled as the ground around me thumped with my movement.

And just like that the foreign sound stopped. It was then replaced with a quick snapping sound and the loud clicking of mechanical parts. Once the clicking stopped, I heard hoofsteps, they were coming towards me, they felt heavy, the pony that approached sounded as if he wore metal armor for it clunked and shifted and grinded against itself as the pony grew closer.

A wave of fright overtook my body, I stopped moving as my muscles tense up, my heart pounding faster and faster with each step the pony took. My breathing becoming shorter and shorter by the second. Just before me, the individual stopped walking. I tried to turn my head to get a better view of the stranger before me, but all I saw was darkness.

“So, you’ve woken up, excellent,” His voice broke the silence as I turned to where I thought stallion stood, his voice was as rough as sandpaper and it was bitter and deep. From where it came from, I could tell he was tall, taller than I had expected. Maybe it was because I was on the floor, and he was standing up right, but even then, he seemed taller than most stallions.

“I want you to listen very carefully, because failure to retain the information I will bestow upon you, may result in your expiration. Your next actions will determine the relationship between you and me. Also be advised, following my instructions is a much better alternative to death, you have my humble word. But if you choose death above life, I will be very displeased,” He spoke once again. It felt as if his words could kill me, like at any moment he could snap, lash out and tear my throat out. I was all ears, I cleared my mind of any other thoughts, and stood extra still. The only thing that remained was the pony that stood before me, and the words that would keep me from my death.

“I am going to relinquish you from your bondings and when I do so, you are to face front and walk out of the tent you currently reside in. Once you do that, sit down next to the fire,” I began to nod in agreement. He began to walk slowly, passing me on my left side, his heavy hoof falls stopping next to my head. It then felt as if he had leaned into me, his breath was on my neck. I could feel him their, inches from my head. I began to shake out of fear. I had no idea of his intentions. He then spoke, this time quiter.

“And, if you even think about running, or grabbing any weapons to aid in your escape, I’ll introduce you to my twelve inch reinforced steel friend somepony I'm sure you will not like in the slightest. And trust me, he can definitely run a lot faster than you can,” I quickly nodded as he moved behind me. I wasn’t about to test if he was bluffing or not, so I played along as well as I could.

I heard the clanking of chains as the hoof clamps came undone, I didn’t move. I waited for the sound of his voice, my next set of instructions, my only lifeline at this point. My heart rate slowly increasing by the second, as sweat fell from my forehead. Soon, the stallion made his way to the front of me and began fiddling with the rope bondings. Soon my hoofs felt the release of tight bondings the tightness slowly fading away. It felt much better to say the least. Then came the blindfold.

The pony made his way around to the back of me, and in an instant, the darkness fell away.

Light, a sense of freedom had returned to me once again, it was a relief, yet I was still trapped with this Stallion. My life rests in the ponies hoofs, a pony I haven’t even seen yet, and don’t trust at all. But from what I could see, which wasn't much, made me feel alot better. The walls of a tent were made out of a tanish cloth like material held up by wooden stilts. A sleeping mat rested towards the front, farther away from me, and out the entrance a roaring fire burned away surrounded by small red rocks.

“Move forward slowly, no sudden movements,” Came the stallion behind me. I stood up, slowly and steadily as best I could, my body aching and protesting, but I carried myself on. I slowly wandered outside the tent making my way to the fire. The heat, though my body was burning inside out, felt cozy in a way. It felt welcoming, inviting, for once. I saw a log a few meters in front of it, it had been sunken into the ground, as if acting as a makeshift seat.

“Sit down, now,” He said behind me, as if breathing down my neck with murderous intent. So, trying my hardest, I quickly took a seat, the bandages rustling along as I took a more formal resting stance. I then heard his footsteps walk off to the left of me. His presence finally easing up. But relaxing as it was, I wanted to see him, I wanted to see his face, my captor had hid it until now. So I looked slowly to the left, my eyes pushing against their sockets, forcing my head to move. And soon enough, there he was, walking along next to the fire, finding his own seat on another log to the left of me.

Everything I thought about him, was true. He was a massive individual. He sported a dark and withered blue coat of fur with a thick black mane that crossed over his neck and fell down far bellow his dark orange eyes. He stood as tall as the fire raged, which was about over six feet tall. He was a hulking pony, his legs and fore hoofs covered in a steel plated armor, tied together by leather looking straps, His chest was also covered in this same type of armor effectively making him nearly bullet proof from the front. On his mid section he carried a heavily modified carrying saddle, it looked as if it could carry twice amount of supplies a normal one could. It looked worn and tired as if it had been on the road for a long time and had seen its fair share of dust storms. It was also colored differently, it had this dark green color to it. Olive green maybe? Whichever it didn’t matter. He sat down and pulled up a pencil from the left of him, and a thick book from his large saddle bag.

I watched as he vigorously flipped pages. A hundred he must flipped through before he found one he liked. And for the first time, his orange cold, dagger like eyes stared right into mine, they squinted and looked me over. And through the pencil in his mouth he spoke.

“So… What’s your name?”

Author's Note

Sorry about the wait, more chapter will becoming sooner than you think.