Consciousness was temporary and fleeting, nightmares plagued me while I was unconscious. The short time I was conscious I heard the sound of travel, a train, two trains, a wagon, and a boat. I hadn't the foggiest idea of where I was, not like I would if I could see my surroundings, the one thing I did know was that it was warm here.
"Hurry! He should be waking soon!" A male voice said. I snorted, full consciousness still eluding me, but just barely.
"Set him up then! Tell the greedy bastard he's next!" This one was female. I was being moved again, there was a slight shaking and a subtle roar of a crowd could be heard, and it was getting louder. I had stopped moving and the crowd had quieted down.
"Welcome! Today we have a special specimen from the princess herself! A great and Vicious fighter from the north! Place your bids for this beast!" Eh? I heard fabric being removed and a few gasps, I struggled a bit trying to get my eyes to open. After a few seconds they did, and what I saw was something I never would have expected. Staring at me like a piece of meat were hundreds of ponies and other creatures. I didn't pay to much attention to them when I realized I was constricted by heavy chains and iron cuffs. I snarled and tried to get up, it wasn't working, they had even chained my legs down, I couldn't move an inch.
"Calm down it's okay, no one is gonna hurt you." The female voice cooed. I roared and thrashed harder trying to get out, I was about to breathe fire on my bonds but I was stopped by a pulsating shocking pain.
"Told you he was a fighter!" The announcer guy was laughing, he was a unicorn with dark blue fur and a shaggy white mane. He had a picture of a book and some sort of gold coins on his ass. "Let's start the bid at five hundred bits! Who wants him!" Multiple paddles went up and numbers were being shouted all over the place.
"Didn't expect this much craze." The earth pony with black fur and brown mane said.
"Yeah but he did come from the princesses themselves so that gives him more worth than normal." The blue pegusus with an admittedly nice blonde short cut mane. I tried to shit talk them but I coughed in pain and spat up a little blood. I roared louder and shook harder trying to get free. It seems to only rile the crowd up even more.
"Five hundred thousand bits!" Someone shouted.
"Come on! Five hundred thousand bits! Are you gonna leave this big guy for that?!" The unicorn dude shouted.
"ONE MILLION BITS!" The crowd went dead silent. From the center stepped out a large male humanoid pony came strode forth, he was red with an even redder mane, he was wearing a brown shirt with a tan vest, and tan shorts. He looked at me with a strange glint in his eye. I didn't like it at all.
"One million bits! I don't think it's gonna go any higher s-"
"One million two thousand!" Unicorn guy stopped mid speech and stared out to the crowd as a new figure strode out right next to the first big bidder. She was also a humanoid pony, except she was a unicorn. She wore an outfit similar to a paleontologist from the movies I've seen on a little planet called earth, in those movies they were eaten by dinosaurs and ripped to shreds, she had on an explorers hat as well as round glasses. She looked a little nerdy and it seemed she wanted me for a more scientific search instead of whatever the big guy wanted.
"W-wow! Well Mrs. if he doesn't want to go higher I think this big guy is your-"
"One million five hundred!" The stallion roared. Unicorn dude was sweating up a storm from the bid war.
"Uh..." Scientist chick seemed outrages that he would bid higher than her. Her gaze turned into glare which then was directed at me.
"TWO MILLION BITS!" She shouted. Big red slipped on an invisible banana and fell on his face, same with unicorn dude.
"Pfglbrblhergherflerb! Uh, T-two million bits! W-well then! Uh, Big red you have something t-to say about that?" He was looking pale for a horse. Big red didn't answer, I was unsure if that was his actual name, shook his head frantically. "S-sold! To Dusty Searcher for Two million bits!" Dusty cheered and jumped around slowly making her way towards the, I barely noticed what I was displayed on, dirty stage set up with curtains and shit for 'surprise' effect.
"So he's mine now?!" Dusty asked with glee. Bitch I don't belong to nobody! Is what I wanted to say but I just coughed out a little more blood.
"Yes Dusty he's yours, we'll take him to your home while you pay alright?" Blue said.
"Thanks Bloom! We still on for apple fritters later right?" Dusty asked with a smile.
"Yup! I'm off in a little bit so I'll be able to make it." It was nice seeing them like that but since it was over me I snarled and tried to bite at one of them holding onto me. The same shock went through my body and stopped me again. I snarled at unicorn dude but stayed my hand, I'd get him back.
"He is a feisty one! He's pretty big too! Probably an Alpha, well I'll see you later Bloom!" Dusty waved as I was hauled off by Bloom and Dirt. I had calmed down once I realized there wasn't gonna be an easy way to get away. Whatever it was that sent the chock through me must have been magic, there was nothing physical that touched me. Which set me to deep worry, my immunity to magic should have shielded me from anything, but I couldn't turn it back on. I remained silent but only to think and to check over my body to see if anything was amiss. Everything seemed fine, my barrier was on, but it was rendered useless, focused on my heart and brain instead of my entire body, semi-useless then. I noticed we had stopped moving, looking around we were inside a fairly large living room.
It fit the archaeological bill, various bones of creatures were hung on the walls, ancient stone tablets were strewn on tables along with research papers. Strange figures were standing side by side a large leather sofa. Then there was me, the beautiful new arrival to make this place shine.
"How long do you think she's gonna be?" Dirt asked.
"She shouldn't be too long, the bank wasn't that far away so she should be here soon. We're just gonna have to wait." They both sat down on the sofa and talked about, what I assumed, current things in this world. It was ten minutes later that Dusty walked in through her front door.
"Thanks Bloom! Everything was taken care of, before you go could you help me take him to the examination room?" Dusty asked. Bloom nodded and together they pushed me deeper into Dusty's home, past an interesting display of relics and artifacts of eras past. The examination room was behind a large steel bolted door. Dusty opened it with some effort but soon enough they were pushing me inside. I half expected some sort of kinky BDSM shit used to tie up unsuspecting victims, but nah it was like a doctors room with the table and the thing they use to look in your ear. Bloom pushed me into the corner and spoke with Dusty.
"You sure you don't want me to stay and help you? I don't want you to get hurt if he gets out" Bloom seemed like a very caring friend, but Dusty politely refused and sent her off. With one last look Bloom waved goodbye and left us to whatever fate awaited.
"Alright big guy let's see what you got." Carefully Dusty removed some chains restraining my legs to the dolly with her magic. The one around my neck, however, she would have to remove it with her hands. I snorted but craned my neck to give her easier access to the lock. She seemed to take this as a good sign and quickened her pace. With a clink the steel around my neck fell to the floor with a heavy thud. With that gone all that was holding me were a few chains and a flimsy piece of wood. Flexing my muscles out I broke the chains and loomed over Dusty. She quickly backed to the door and sunk to her knees.
"I-it's okay big guy! i-i'm not going to h-hurt you." she said quivering slightly. I noticed her horn sparking slightly, and since magic affected me now I didn't want to face whatever spell she had in mind. Shaking my body off to get some feeling back I sat on the examining table. "O-okay... let's go on with it then." She rose from her kneeling position and carefully moved towards me again. I breathed out a sigh trying to think of what to do now.
'First thing would be to figure out why I can't seem to talk.' I thought while Dusty seemed to gain more confidence in herself. She went over to a cabinet and pulled out a large machine that looked like an X-ray machine.
"Take of your shirt." She said once it was over me. I growled but did so. She didn't even stop to look at my perfectly detailed upper body, I don't mean to brag or anything but I keep in pretty good shape. It was simply insulting that she didn't even take a look. It let out a beam of sorts which went over my entire body. "Alright that's it big guy you can get off now." That was not what I had expected.
'That was much simpler than I thought' I tried to talk again but just ended up coughing more blood onto the table. She put the machine back to where she brought it out and told me to put my shirt back on. From the same cabinet she pulled out a large needle.
"Ok a quick blood test and we can do the troubling tests later when I have help." Did I mention that needle was large? That shit was huge! Easily six inches long and half an inch thick, if I hadn't had larger things tearing into my flesh I would have cringed at the sight. I did shiver a little though. Either way I stuck out my arm and allowed her to take a blood sample. I looked away and felt a slight twinge of pain, then it was over. Turning back to face her she had a few ounces of my blood inside the syringe.
"Well now that that's over let's get you situated hm?" I nodded and stood up, following her out of the examination room. She seemed to have loosened up after I didn't immediately try to kill her once I was free. Passing through the large living room we passed by a messy kitchen into a hallway filled with doors. Suddenly out from one of the doors a person with black and grey flecked hair and dazzling green eyes stepped out.
"Oh Emerald! Didn't expect you to still be here! Well it saves me from introducing you two later." she turned to me and smiled before pointing to the larger female. She sized me up before chirping at me, literally chirping at me.
(What brings you here?) she asked. I responded except mine was a little more guttural and feral.
(I was bought in a marketplace, I have no idea where I am.) My native tongue was untouched by whatever stopped me from talking.
(I was traded by a breeder, where were you breed? You're bigger than any other male I've seen.) I couldn't tell her where I truly came from now could I?
(In a small town called Ponyville. Heard of it?) she shook her head.
(Doesn't matter anyway, I'm the Alpha here got it? Whatever I say goes.) I snorted loudly and stepped forward.
(You sure you wanna go that way little girl?) She growled at me and took a step forward.
"Enough you two! I don't want you fighting for dominance, I want you to get along. Both of you are special and if you both behave maybe you two can make something even more special!" I turned to give her an incredulous look causing her to blush. "There wasn't just one reason for me wanting you so badly..."
"It doesn't matter, not like he wold be worth taking on as a mate." She hissed. I'll be honest that surprised me a bit more than it should have. I guess I didn't expect her to talk is all.
"Emerald, even if he isn't that strong, which he is by the way, and not your type you can't deny that he is special and is extremely healthy. I doubt you'll ever find a "Worthy" mate with how you act all the time." A strong women hm? Well that is another similarity our kind share I suppose.
"Whatever, so long as he doesn't try to usurp my authority then we will be fine." Touchy. I'm sure i'll get along with this one no problem.
"OK big guy go get some rest, the rest of the tests will be more strenuous than today's." I nodded but tried to figure out what door to go into.
(Go to the one on the far left, the others are for the other researchers and the one on the far right is for me. If I ever find you in my room i'll cut your balls off!) she hissed. I grunted in response and walked over to my new temporary room. So how do I figure out where the fuck I am? More importantly, how do I figure out how to talk again? I sat down on the decently sized bed within the blandly furnished room, there was a small window showing the noon day sun. I was asleep for days so I wouldn't need to for a little longer, possibly a day or two unless I do something strenuous. So I started thinking and scanning over my body to figure out what was wrong.
* Foreign magic detected, magic blocking out null field and reverting vocal abilities back to origin capabilities. Foreign magic also slowing down recovery and strength by day gain. * This could be troublesome. Whatever magic was plaguing my body most likely originated from the princess sisters. Which probably meant that when they had cast the original spell they used that window to cast others deciding I was too dangerous to be around.
Well this will cause no end of problems to me in the future.
"Big guy wake up!" my eyes snapped open. I looked over to the window and saw the morning sun peeking over the windowsill. "Come on! It's time to go or we're gonna be late for the inspection!" I grunted and got up from my sitting position. Time flies when you're trying to solve the mysteries of life. I opened the door to reveal a flustered Dusty and an impassive Emerald. "We can bathe you later but right now we gotta go!" She grabbed my hand and ran off pulling me behind her.
Unlike yesterday there were others here watching us with interest. One or two of them was looking at me with a different kind of interest, I made it a point to growl at them a bit. Once outside Dusty hurried us into a waiting carriage which hurriedly took off somewhere.
"Dusty are you always gonna leave just on time?" A brown stallion asked from the front.
"Apparently so, i'm doomed to never be early." She was sitting in the middle of me and Emerald, probably to keep us from fighting.
"Well we should still be there in time to get these two checked, and Mary is gonna have a fit about how much of our grant you spent getting that guy." He said nodding his head towards me.
"It'll be worth it though I mean look at him! Once we're done people would line up to bread him on his size alone! Not only that he's pretty healthy from what the blood sample says." He shook his head.
"I hope so or else She's gonna take it out of our pay." They both laughed at that. I tuned them out to look out at the scenery, though it wasn't much to look at. Wherever I was it was in a desert biome. Everything was dry the paint on houses was faded cacti everywhere, people wearing white everywhere. The smell wasn't too bad though, the scent of food made my stomach growl and my mouth water. We were passing a market and venders of all kinds of species were selling all kinds of wares. Some of the smoked meat smelled beautiful.
"How long has it been since you've eaten?" I turned to Dusty who looked at me with some concern. I didn't know, days if I had to guess, I wasn't sure how long I had been out but the smell of food sent my stomach rumbling. I shook my head hoping she would get that I didn't know.
(How long were you out?) Emerald asked.
(Days most likely, I haven't eaten in a while.)
"Days he said, whoever transported him didn't seem like feeding him." She translated.
"We'll get something to eat after ok?" She seemed generally worried about my well being, so I nodded at her and continued to look out at the crowds. When we stopped it was in front of a large building several stories tall and a few hundred feet wide.
"We're here let's go." I opened the door on my side and hopped out followed by Dusty. The building had a sign next to it's entrance saying "Mixed species examination ward" it made my skin crawl. Either way I followed Dusty and Mr. Brown inside. Emerald pushed me aside and stood next to Dusty. I growled but continued going inside, standing next to Brown. The first thing I noticed was the smell, blood and the flesh of different creatures hung heavy in the air. Next were the nervous looks of all the creatures inside the waiting room, even Emerald looked nervous.
"Alright we should be headed down that way." Mr. Brown pointed to a small side hallway with an ominous flickering light above it. We all went in and Emerald started to visibly shake, whatever the fuck they did in here it would do me well to keep my guard as high as possible. The hallway ended in a separate waiting room filled with creatures of Avian decent, Griffons, a few Phoenix's, a Cockatrice with a blindfold, a couple of large eagles, and a hummingbird held by a Pegasus pony.
"Dusty?" A mare in a nurse outfit called.
"Yes! That's us!" Dusty called quickly moving towards her.
"Right this way the doctor is ready for you." We hurried after her. The smell was even worse in here, it seemed to radiate off the walls themselves. I was at extreme unease about this place.
"It's okay it'll be over quick." Dusty said soothingly to Emerald who was still shaking. We stopped in front of a large Iron door, I flinched when a scream was heard from behind it. I wanted to leave, I wanted to stretch my wings and fly as far away as possible. All to soon the door opened to reveal a Griffon shakily walking out. She looked find beside the fact her wings were covered in bloody bandages along with her right forelimb. She limped out slowly but not before giving us a warning stare.
"Let's get this over with." Mr. Brown said pushing me inside. I nearly gagged, it smelled of rotting flesh and feces in here.
"Good morning Dusty! It's been a while since Emeralds last check up, oh, who is this new comer?" A blood red unicorn mare asked. I couldn't tell if it was her actual fur color if it was stained red with blood. Her once white lab coat was however stained red with blood. She was slightly taller than Dusty but a head shorter than Emerald. She looked at me with a dreamy expression before looking to Emerald with one of lust. Emerald shrank back instantly in fear.
"It sure has Alexis, we picked up this big guy recently and we wanted a full check up before we started studying him." She gave me a toothy grin before motioning me over to a surprisingly clean examination table. Cautiously I walked over and sat down.
"Well he is most certainly the largest personified Phoenix I've seen in a while, but is it natural?" she slowly pressed down on my chest so I was lying down, her horn glowed and instantly I was restrained. I roared and thrashed from the suddenness, then even more suddenly my rage and strength left me. I flopped harmlessly to the table and groaned. "He certainly is a feisty one!" Alexis giggled. I Growled at her but couldn't muster the strength to face her.
I felt something sink into my neck and guessed it was a syringe. Next she grabbed some sort of examination tool with a light at the end of it, she reached for my shades to remove them but I fought against it. I roared as loud as I could and thrashed around again, not quite as violently since I was still under whatever drained me, but enough that she quickly withdrew her hand. I calmed down a bit but continued to growl at her, when she tried again I did the same thing.
"Is there some importance these have to him?" She asked Dusty.
"I don't know, he had no records whatsoever except word from the princesses themselves." She 'Hm'd' and left my shades where they rested.
"Then it might be in the best interest to leave them where they are if he's getting so worked up over it." So instead of my shades she removed my shirt and pants with her magic, instead of adorning my body they were neatly folded on the desk opposite the table. My shoes socks and gloves were also next to my clothes. Meaning my Tighty Reddies were the only thing covering me and my junk.
"Damn, what breeders wouldn't give to have him." Mr. Brown said.
"His muscle mass is quite impressive, defined, toned, no signs of overgrowth or stretching of skin. He has strange fire themed tattoos over his biceps thighs and right over his waist. He seems natural, it makes me wonder what he did before he was brought here." Her horn began to glow before I felt a tingling sensation over my skin and inside of me.
'Help!' I started laughing, it tickled my insides. It took a while before she was finally done, I was still chuckling and twitching after the feeling was gone.
"Well he is a strange one, his bones are solid not hollow meaning he shouldn't be able to fly, but it does explain his weight and height as well as his muscle mass. Nothing has been implanted meaning his bones must be from a genetic mutation and he's all natural. I didn't see any parasites or any diseases but to make sure i'll need to see inside his mouth and possibly his penis." I hate cold hands on my junk, her hands better be warm.
"I advise extreme caution near his mouth." Dusty said nervously. Alexis scoffed and continued towards her destination, which was my still chuckling maw. Once she was near I willingly opened my mouth to her. She purred happily which, admittedly, creeped me out.
"Ooh, he seems built for killing, my my not everyday we see a soldier class over here."
"Really? Soldier class? He seems way to docile to be considered that." Dusty gave her two cents on my labeling. I will not be labeled!
"Yes his teeth are large and pointed, with some slight serration towards the back. He is meant for tearing flesh and crushing bones with those jaws. I would love to see them in action." A blush appeared on her already red face and she giggled.
"Any reason why he isn't more aggressive?" Mr. Brown asked.
"None, he may have been trained to be like this, or he could just be this way. Either way i'm not complaining and neither should you, anything he sees as a threat will be torn apart." She licked her lips after that one. This girl has problems. "One final check to see if he's good and i'll send him off so I can focus on Emerald here." With her, hopefully not cold, hands she pulled down my boxers and checked over my package. She muttered some words before flopping it around and checking my testicles before finally pulling my boxers over it once more. Her hands were cold...
"So is everything alright?" Dusty asked.
"Yup, as far as I can see he's healthy, he's natural, and he's hungry." she said with a slight giggle at the end.
"Yeah, he wasn't fed in between transport." Dusty said sheepishly. My stomach took that as a sign to growl.
"Well get some meat in him as soon as you can, we don't want him wasting away now do we?" Her horn flashed and I was fully clothed once again, the restraints disappearing as well. I hoped to my feet and went to stand beside Dusty. She may not have done anything bad to me, but the vibe I got from her was still there, and it freaked me out.
"Emerald go on, we'll wait for you okay." Dusty said soothingly. Emerald shivered but nodded. Alexis licked her lips and motioned her over with a finger. Dusty pushed me and Mr. Brown out before Emerald was even on the table. I gave her a questioning look to which she responded with a simple shake of her head. We waited over an hour, not a single noise was heard from the other side of the door. I was getting a bit antsy and worried for Emerald.
Suddenly the door opened to reveal a shivering Emerald with puffy red eyes, disheveled hair, and heavy breathing. Alexis appeared behind her in her pony form.
"She's still good for breeding as well as being perfectly healthy, though you might want to lighten up on the greens in her diet, she needs fresh meat and plenty of protein if she's going to be bred properly." Dusty nodded and quickly led us out of this place.
(You okay?) I chirped at Emerald. She slowly shook her head not even meeting my gaze. Whatever happened in there must have been pretty bad. There wasn't even a different smell coming from her to suggest whatever had happened.
"Well now that that's out of the way let's get you two something to eat yeah?" Dusty said trying to sound cheerful. I nodded. You can't think on an empty stomach right? I'll figure it all out after breakfast.
SWAG! No, not at all. Welp... I have no idea what to say about this I put some effort into writing this chapter trying to get rid of whatever curiosity you might have had after reading the last chapter. I'm going to be working on Plot development and character development as well in the coming chapters and I hope you all can bear with me as I inch my way to the finish of this new story line. Again sorry for the long wait i'm getting my shit together and ever changing to improve my writing.