Chapter 2: Infected

*Cough* *Cough*

I awoke to only find out that I am still alive. I look around and wonder how I'm still alive. I saw an object to my right and walked over to see what exactly it was.

My legs felt stronger now, especially the bitten one. I looked at the hoof that was bitten and, instead of my usual blue color, I saw a dark, menacing tone of green, with portions missing, almost like they were bitten off!

The same thing occurs all over my body as I look at a reflection of myself in a river nearby. My mane has been destroyed, one of my eyes is red, the other green, bones can be seen from my back side and from my right front hoof, chunks of my body are missing, left with these sort of bite marks, my brain could be seen thanks to there being a hole in my head, and there was a hole in my chest, where my heart should be.

Wait? My heart's not in me! I looked over to the object I found earlier. Walking up to it, I took a closer look and examined it more closely; that was my heart laid out on the ground, bite marks in it!

Just then, I heard sounds coming from three different directions, all coming closer to my position. I didn't know what to do, so I tried flying away. I started running in order to take off but then I realized that I couldn't; one of my wings had been partially torn off. How'd I not feel that?

I tried hiding myself within the tall grass, but it was too late; I was surrounded by three ponies, a unicorn, a Pegasus, and an Earth pony. I could smell the aroma of fresh blood in the air and started attacking the Earth pony in front of me, only to be stopped completely by magic coming from the unicorn. The magic was enough to knock me out unconscious, leaving everything else that happened a blur.

I awoke several hours later in a daze, unaware as to what happened earlier. I opened my eyes, seeing every color from when I was alive in my green eye, and seeing only red in my red eye. I shut my red eye and saw that I was encased in some sort of test tube. I had wires attached all over my body and had zero strength to try to rip them off.

I gazed down a little and saw the unicorn from before in front of me, holding up a clipboard with her magic. I'd imagine that they're taking notes, but I wasn't too sure on that. The unicorn then turned around and started talking to themselves, I think. I saw nopony else there so maybe this unicorn was talking to itself. The test tube wasn't that thick, so I managed to hear everything through my ears.

"This is odd," they started.

"What is?" Another voice said. It almost sounded like Rainbow Dash's voice, but I couldn't tell if they were Rainbow Dash.

"This pony was bitten and had their heart torn from them, but they didn't become an infected..." The unicorn continued. This sounded like Twilight, but I still wasn't too sure.

"So, what does that mean?" 'Rainbow Dash' asked.

"It means that they're not living, but they're also not dead..." 'Twilight' answered.

"How's that possible, Twilight?" 'Rainbow Dash' asked, revealing the identity of the unicorn.

"I don't know, Rainbow Dash." Twilight answered, revealing the identity of the other pony in the room, which I was still unable to see. "But what I do know is that this pony was a Pegasus before dying and that he can control the infected side of him with his still-functioning brain. He can choose to be a savage, or he can choose not to be one, something Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack can't do."

There was some tense silence as I was being closely examined some more. As Twilight came closer to me, she put a hoof on the test tube I was in. My mind was forcing me to try and attack my friend, but I chose not to, though the aroma of her blood was stifling.

I controlled myself to stop trying to release myself and attack, something that I found very hard to do. My brain was tough to control, but I managed to overcome the challenge. I focused on things that happened before this infection started: me and my Fluttershy getting married, my friends stopping Discord in order to save me, my paralyzed wings, regaining my ability to fly. All these things were enough to put me in a calm and collective mood.

"I'm going to release him and see what happens." Twilight said. "Drink this potion first, just in case something goes wrong."

She handed the potion to the other pony in the room, Rainbow Dash, I'm assuming. For some reason, my brain couldn't remember whether or not she was actually here or not.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash both drank the potion and began releasing me from the test tube. The liquid that surrounded me drained out, and the harsh stinging of air hit my lungs, traveling through my mouth, my nose, and the hole in my chest now. I guess when you die, you no longer require oxygen to help keep you conscious.

Anyway, the test tube lifted and the wires were taken off of me. I looked around with both eyes opened, seeing a mixture of every color in one eye and only red in the other. I gazed down a bit and saw Twilight fully suited in some sort of armor. Strange though, I don't remember seeing her put that on. She reached out towards me, startling me just a bit.

The aroma of Twilight's blood was killing me - scratch that, I'm already dead - was driving me nuts. I forced myself not to think about it and attack her, which managed to work for now. Later could be a different story if I'm out here longer than what I expect.

"It doesn't appear to be drawn to flesh." Twilight concluded.

"But it is still scary looking, even for me." Rainbow Dash said, revealing herself.

I turned my attention away from Twilight towards Rainbow Dash's wings. I noticed how perfect they were and how mine were deformed. She was floating in space, something I wish I could do, but ultimately couldn't. I started walking over to her to see her float up close, but was stopped short because I couldn't coordinate my legs properly anymore.

"His coordination seems to have been taken away from him. He can't control his legs properly anymore." Twilight said.

"Okay, but can you please get him away from me?" Rainbow pleaded.

Twilight giggled at the athlete's fear she was inducing currently. "Fine, Rainbow."

Twilight stopped me using her magic and dragged me back into the test tube I was in. I was growing angrier the longer I stood in the test tube, kicking and head butting the glass in front of me, hoping to break it and finally move about.

"He's trying to break it!" Twilight exclaimed. "Rainbow, push that button over there!"

"On it!" Rainbow Dash answered, pushing a button that was located in front of her. Moments later, some sort of liquid poured in from the top of the test tube. It mixed in with the liquid that was already in there and eventually, I lost consciousness.