What Have I Become?

The thick forests were filled with sound, birds chattering away, woodpeckers knocking away at dead wood looking for the morsels that lay beneath, and the sound of two bucks vying for the attention of a doe in heat clacked and clattered off in the distance. Perfect serenity for the three figures hiking along the Rocket Range Trail in Upper Michigan. At least it was for the elder two of the group. The youngest tagging along was bored out of his mind since the battery in his Nintendo 3DS died near an hour previously.

"Daaaaaad! Can't we take a break? Or go back? Please?" the young boy begged.

The one known as "dad" chuckled and cast a knowing look at his other hiking partner. She smiled a similar glance back before turning to her son. "Oh Logan, you were the one who wanted to go hiking to the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the first place. Besides I think I can hear the shore up ahead."

"Your mother is right, son. In fact I think I see the sun glinting off the water." Sure enough, as the boy looked ahead, a brief subtle glare shown its way through the trees.

"Finally!" the young boy yelled before taking off in a loping gait. After a moment he was beyond the sight of his parents. Neither of them worried as he left their field of vision though. Lake Superior was just ahead so he couldn't have gone much farther.

The boys father stopped and gazed after his son, a hint of pride building in his chest. A boy so young, yet so smart and athletic could only bring about such feelings in a man who knew what it was like. His own childhood flashed in front of his eyes, just as wholesome and loving as his own son's. A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his reminiscing. He turned and saw the beaming face of his wife, who brought her hand further along his shoulder, her other hand snaking its way along his chest. "Been awhile since we had a moment to ourselves, huh?"

He put his own hands on her hips and brought her in closer until her breath steamed up his sunglasses. "Oh yes. Might as well make the best of it don't—" He was cut short as her lips met his. It was a small kiss, but given the perfect surroundings, it was blissful to the loving couple. His fingertips brushed up her sides finding that one spot he knew would get the response he wanted. He reached it, and as he pressed the digits into her skin, her lips left his and she gasped and giggled at the ticklish  feeling shooting up her spine. The two rested their foreheads together and stared into each others eyes. Those kind grey eyes filled with mirth gave him a happiness nothing else could give.

"Hey c'mon guys, the water is... oh get a room you two!" Logan peered around a tree trunk already in his bathing suit.

Without turning away from each other they both replied, "coming!" Although neither of them moved. Logan groaned in frustration and made his way back to the lake shore.

The two chuckled at their sons attitude. Finally after a moment of reveling in the peace and joy they brought each other, the woman sighed contentedly. "Okay Gordon, let's go make sure he doesn't get pulled under or something."

"After you, my dear," he said slowly removing his hands, but not before giving her hips one last squeeze. She giggled once more and walked around him towards her boy. Gordon stayed behind a moment to stare at the place she was before. He looked up at the old trees surrounding the trail they just came from, taking in everything the scene had to offer.

"Oh, and another thing..." his wife's voice came from behind him.

He stared ahead for one more moment before turning to face his illustrious wife. "Yes, my dear Abigail—" He was once again cut off, but instead of his wife's soft lips gracing his own, a knife blade was driven into his stomach. The air driven from his lungs left him unable to gasp as he stared up at the figure that was once his wife but now had taken the form of Billy Bong, his golden teeth glaring in a mirthless grimace.

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A scream filled the hallways of Ponyville Hospital once again. Inside a secured room, Rizzo thrashed around on his bed. His arms were lashed down to the sides and try as he did, he could not pull his arms free to clutch his agonizing stomach. "Oh sweet baby Jesus on Christmas, what the flying fuck with a side of mayo is happening?" he screamed into the empty room. He swung his body weight left and right, trying anything to get out of his restraints to clutch and press at the pain.

Light filled the small room as another one of those horse-dogs came running through the door. "Okay, okay, hold on please! We're going to get something to put you out again... NURSE SWEETHEART! WHAT THE BUCK IS TAKING SO LONG?" she yelled towards the door.

"Please..." The alabaster creature closed the distance between her and the bed and looked into Rizzo's tearful eyes. "Please just give me some morphine or methadone... or let me die. This pain! S-so much—" He gasped as another wave of cramps washed over him. "A-and the memories! PLEASE FOR CHRIST'S SAKE KILL ME ALREADY! I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER!" He thrashed again, the leather restraints meant to hold hooves tore into his skin and a steady trickle of blood began to pool into the bleached white sheets underneath.

The four legged thing went to the sink in the room and wetted a few paper towels with cold water, which she quickly laid across Rizzo's sweaty and knitted brow. She ran over to a cabinet in the room and made to grab some bandages just as two more came into the room. Rizzo turned his head and strained one eye open. He recognized both of them from before. The slightly taller one made his way quickly to the bedside gave Rizzo a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry this is happening. I know what's going on with you and we want to help." The thing took a syringe from the one next to him and took the cover off its tip. "I'm going to give you some—"

"IS THAT... IS THAT SOME MORPHINE? GIVE IT! GIVE IT TO ME, NOW!" Rizzo's eyes were wide open now, both of them transfixed on the needle floating near him wrapped in a soft aura of light, something that went unnoticed by the struggling human.

"Please calm down!" the thing said urgently as Rizzo strained against the straps some more, cutting deeper into his skin. "This isn't—"

He stopped again as he noticed the sudden change in Rizzo's eyes. Filled with tears and longing for the liquid that could soon be coursing through his veins. The thing sighed. "Yes, this is some um... 'morphine' but I will only give it to you under one condition: you have to stay perfectly still and calm so we can take these straps off and attend to those cuts, okay?"

Rizzo's eyes never left the syringe, but he nodded hastily and stopped thrashing, although his body wouldn't stop trembling. The creature nodded to the two "nurses" and they both went to either side of the bed, one with a pile of clean bandages in her hoof. Rizzo turned his eyes to the ceiling and tried to think about anything other than the vision of the inebriated bliss that was soon to wash over him. With both of the straps undone, his hands flew up toward one another, much to the surprise of the three creatures. Two more of those horses, clad in golden barding rushed in at the sound of the gasps the others made at Rizzo's quick movement, but a held up hoof stopped them when the calming horse with the syringe saw Rizzo rub and massage the muscles in his forearms.

"Thank you for being so calm. Can you sit up so we can properly see your wounds, please?" it said as a light was flipped on by one of the exiting armored horses. Rizzo complied, shakily turning around onto his rear. Upright, he jerked his body back and an echoing crack came from his back. Rizzo looked down at the three horse-things and extended his shaky hands palm up. He hadn't noticed how deep the straps had cut, the pain in his stomach far outstripping the pain in his wrists. Suddenly a warm feeling spread across his hands as they were enveloped by the soft glow that still held the syringe just barely out of arm's reach. An invisible force brought them closer to the taller one's face and one of the nurses wiped the area clean with one of the clean cloths.

"Well it doesn't look too bad, although they may need a couple stitches. We'll do that after we give you your benz...er 'morphine,' as you call it."

Unfortunately, the small slip up did not go unnoticed by Rizzo. "What did you say?"

The blue thing chuckled nervously. "I uh... said we will fix up your limbs with some stitches if need be."

"Noooo." Rizzo felt an unknown rage build in his chest. "You were about to say 'benzodiazepine,' weren't you?"

"I um... no?" The blue things eyes widened in surprise and he looked to his nurses for assistance, both of them shrugging not knowing what to say themselves.

"You lied to me!" Rizzo stood up, the pain in his stomach and the blood dripping down his hands forgotten. "You said you would give me some morphine! Not some fucking sleepy time drug!"

"Now, now, don't get too agitated, okay?" The thing backed up but the syringe, now pointed directly at Rizzo inched closer. Rizzo saw this and he grabbed the syringe out of the air. His free hand grabbed the throat of the blue horse and he lifted him up to his eye level.

"It's not smart to make me angry you little shit." His voice was quiet but the threat remained real all the same as Rizzo held the syringe directly in front of the things eye. "You two," he said, looking to the others in the room, but they were gone. He saw the tail of one of them disappear around the door frame and one of the larger horses came barreling in, the other he saw running down the hallway, most likely to get help.

Rizzo threw the blue one to the floor and charged his attacker, throwing his body into it at the same time driving the needle into its face. The thing would have screamed in pain if were not for Rizzo's body slamming the air from its lungs and the knock out drug now flowing in his blood. It slid to the floor in a heap, the syringe still sticking out from its face just under the eye. Rizzo jerked the syringe out and turned to the blue one again, just as it tried standing up on its hooves. He gave it a good kick in the side to keep him down and he ran to under the sink. In the cupboard he found some cleaning supplies, one of them being a bottle of bleach. It was full, so Rizzo pulled the cap off and filled his new weapon with the abrasive cleaner. "Let's do this Sarah Connor style." He tossed the bottle to the floor and went back to the blue horse trying to get up again. Rizzo grabbed him by the horn thing sticking from its head and stuck the needle in its neck.

"Don't... move." He said threateningly. The blue thing tensed up as it realized what was in his neck. "It's filled with bleach. If you so much as make a noise, or try to get away, I'll fill your head with it and watch you squirm, got it?" The thing blinked in response and Rizzo picked him up, wrapping an arm around its neck the other still keeping the syringe steady. Its back legs dangled a good foot and a half off the ground.

He looked around for his pants, but not able to find them, he grunted and figured it was okay to just roam in his boxers. He could steal the pants off some bum or shoplift a pair from Wal-Mart when he got out of this hell hole and he stopped seeing people as horses. Rizzo peaked his head around the door frame and found the hall empty once again. The other armor clad horse must have cleared it. He ran down the hall to the stairs but stopped at the top. "They'll be waiting down there for me... I'll use the fire escape!"

He ran back down the hall and found the door he came in through what seemed like an eternity beforehand. He flung the door open and found a horse in each of the two beds. The two screamed in terror at the sight before them and hid under their bed sheets. Rizzo ignored them and ran to the open window, the bright light of the afternoon sun making him squint. He looked down at the thing in his arms and let out a sigh of realization. He set it down and pulled the needle from its neck. It coughed and choked trying to fill its lungs back up with precious oxygen but was thrown into the wall. Once again when he opened his eyes he saw the needle hovering in front of his eye.

"We need to go down this ladder, but I can't do it with this stuck in your neck without killing you. You're my ticket out of here, and maybe a ticket to nice fucked up night of partying. But for now your life is in my hands. So this is what's going to happen: I'm going to hold you like I just was as we go down. If you try and wiggle free, I'll break your neck. When we get down there, the needle goes back in your neck, but that's for my safety. You understand me, horse?"

The horse nodded and gulped, not happy about the circumstances but happy he was still alive none-the-less. Rizzo stuck the syringe in his mouth and picked the horse up again. He climbed out of his window but stopped as he looked down. There was no one down there, but only two stories up and not as desperate as the last time he used this ladder, it seemed like the trip down was a long one. He steadied his nerves and started down, the horse in his arm swaying like a sack of potatoes. At the bottom Rizzo sighed in relief and let the horse have a brief respite from his slow strangulation in his arm. After a couple of gasps and coughing Rizzo picked him up once again and stuck the needle in his neck.

"Hey! He's already taken the fire escape!" Rizzo whipped around to see another armored horse standing by the corner of the building. Not waiting a moment longer, Rizzo ran in the opposite direction toward an open field. "Wait! Stop now!" he heard it cry after him. He didn't bother to look back then, but the sudden rumbling under his bare feet made him give pause to his escape. Slowing but not stopping he turned his head and saw the frightening sight of nigh one hundred armored horses barreling after him, some on hoof and much to the horror of Rizzo, many had taken to the skies on large, powerful looking wings. He doubled his efforts, sprinting towards the other side of the field. Nearing it he looked out over the small dale covering the horizon and saw his sanctuary from the "help" from these animals: a small bustling town less than a few hundred meters away. His only problem? What he thought to be a small hill as he approached it turned out to be a small rise before cutting off to a very steep incline littered with sharp rocks and jutting tree roots, too high to jump down witho sustaining injury.

He skidded to a halt and swore at his bad luck just as a hoof swept by his ear. The "pegasus?" flew around for another swipe.

"STOP!" Rizzo screamed at the top of his lungs. He turned and the army of equines skidded to a halt even the ones in the air. Steam blew from their nostrils and a few scraped at the dirt, ready to attack. Rizzo was having none of that. "If any of you take one step... or uh, wingbeat closer to me, I fill this little shit up with a neck full of bleach. After that you can proceed to beat the living fuck out of me while his heart stops or he starts puking and shitting blood!"

"That got their attention." And indeed it had. Many of them drew back from their aggressive stances although a few remained obviously vigilant. The one that had taken a swipe at Rizzo flew back around to join the main group but gave him a wide berth. As it did, one of the main group stepped forward. However, instead of the golden armor the rest wore, this one wore a silver chest plate with an intricate pattern adorned on its front. It had no wings or a horn but wore an air of superiority, one that its fellows obviously respected.

It took two tentative steps from the group before Rizzo spat out, "No further than that!"

"Okay," it replied. "I'm Lieutenant Rusty Shield."

Rizzo rolled his eyes and scoffed, "of course it is."

"Is there anything we can do to make sure nopony gets hurt?"

Rizzo hadn't expected such a question to be asked so soon, and he was a little thrown by the "nopony" but guessed they were just making sure the one in his arms—the one barely conscious at the moment—didn't end up a seizing mess on the ground. He thought about it for a moment and decided on a list of demands. "First, I want one of you to go and get every single pain killer you can find in the hospital, put it in one bag and bring it to me."

Rusty Shield nodded to one of his subordinates and it ran back towards the hospital.

"Second, I need some transportation. A car or S.U.V. will work nicely."

Lieutenant Shield raised an eyebrow at this. "I uh, don't know what either of those are but I can see what I can do about getting you some transport somewhere."

"Whatever. If it has a motor and at least four wheels I'm good. Lastly, I want all of your men to back down. Leave. You can stay but I'm starting to feel a bit crowded here." Rizzo said. He was in fact feeling odd, but it was either the adrenaline pumping in his veins or the fact his head was starting to kill him.

Rusty Shield turned to his "men" and hollered out his order, "Alright Colts, move out! Assemble at the front of the hospital and wait for further instructions." The group gave a collective nod and a few "Yessirs" were thrown out. It turned back to Rizzo. "Now I need something from you. I need you to put the doctor down before he passes out."

Rizzo looked down at the "pony" he guessed he should call it, in his arm and realized he was bluer in the face than normal. Rizzo lowered him to the ground and sat beside him, the needle not leaving his throat. The doctor wheezed and rubbed at his chest, a tear streaking down his cheek.

"Okay, good. Thank you," the Lieutenant sighed in relief. "Now can you tell me your name?"

Rizzo mulled in his head for a second before deciding it couldn't hurt.

"Name's Rizzo."

"Okay Rizzo, we're going to keep working on what you asked for, alright?"

"Yeah."

Rusty scratched the back of his head absentmindedly before asking a question that caught Rizzo off guard, "Might I ask, what are you?"

"What do you mean, 'what am I?' I'm a man. A human. Ain't you ever see one before?" Rizzo chuckled darkly.

"No. Can't say that I have, Rizzo."

"Okay, and... you're all ponies?" Rizzo asked.

"That's right. Have you never seen one of us before too?"

"Oh I've seen a pony before, but nothing like you. First, they don't talk. Ever. Also, they're a lot smellier than you are. Truth be told I'm surprised there isn't shit just lying all over the place." he spat, malice lining his voice.

"Do you not have bathrooms where you come from?"

"Oh we have bathrooms. Horses are just too stupid to use one. Pretty much all they're good for are pulling wagons, carrying people, and shitting."

"That's... that's lovely, Rizzo." The Lieutenant deadpanned.

"Thank you," he replied.

The pony from earlier came running back with a sack in her mouth. The pony looked as if she was going to run right up to him so he put a stop to that. "Whoa there! Slow it down, girl!" It slowed down and looked to her superior for instructions. Rusty nodded and the pony moved forward slowly until it came to within a couple feet of Rizzo. "That's far enough, drop the bag there and leave." The pony complied, and after dropping it near Rizzo's feet, she trotted back to the hospital.

Rizzo stuck the needle a little further into the doctor's throat to get his attention. "You. Don't go too fast, but I want you to take the bag and find me some liquid morphine."

The doctor hesitated a moment but still moved very slowly to the bag and began pulling bottles and syringes from within. He stopped however when the needle jerked deep into his neck as Rizzo had a brief spasm. "Hurry."

The doctor pulled a small vial out and read the label. "Marephine," he muttered to himself. He took a syringe and stuck the end into the bottle.

"Only two milligrams for now, Doc." The doctor nodded and filled up the appropriate dose. "I want you to administer it. Right now. Do it quick or I'll administer my own dose of medicine, eh?"

The doctor used his ability to float objects to bring the needle to Rizzo's arm. "No," Rizzo said as he moved his foot to the pony and pointed between the biggest and the adjacent digit. "I want it between the toes. Can't get too out of it right away, can I?"

The needle in the doctor's grasp shook. "I-I'm sorry, I need to do this with my hooves," he said nervously.

"Whatever," Rizzo said moving his gaze back to the Lieutenant. The doctor grasped the syringe in his hoof and made his way down to Rizzo's foot. It hovered just above the skin, the pony hesitating more. "Well?" Rizzo said not adverting his gaze. The pony gulped and moved his hoof back, ready to press the needle to his skin. But suddenly, two bright, purple flashes blinded Rizzo briefly and as soon as he reopened his eyes, he saw his hand still holding the syringe, but the pony it was stuck in no longer there. He looked back at the Lieutenant, who was then joined by the doctor himself, and a new pony, this one sporting wings and a horn, with another flash. This purple pony glared at Rizzo, not hatred but mild disappointment and curiosity etched across its features.

Another purple flash and the pony disappeared, but then reappeared right next to him. Rizzo made to jab it with his bleach filled syringe but was stopped as an aura of its own enveloped his whole arm, stopping it in its tracks. Rizzo swung his other arm but that too was stopped by a purple glow. The glow spread until in encompassed Rizzo's whole body, and with another flash, he was blinded again.

When he opened his eyes and they readjusted to the light, he found he was no longer outside, but inside a padded room, in the Psychiatric Ward of the hospital, he guessed. He looked to his side and the pony was still there, holding him firm in place. Another flash and the glow along with the pony disappeared and reappeared outside the small window in the door. Rizzo, having been dropped to the ground, scrambled up and placed his enraged face against the small piece of glass.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE, YOU BITCH!" he screamed.

"Oh no," a muffled feminine voice replied. "We're going to wait until you calm down a bit first. After that, well, that's up to you." Another flash and it was gone.

Rizzo slammed his fists against the door. "You fucking whore! You cunt! Come back here—"

The rest of his words were drowned out by a series of screams and what sounded like a dog barking resounding from next door. The screams intensified as he screamed himself and pounded on the door until the noise became too much for him and he resolved to curl up in the corner, his stomach cramps having returned now that he knew he wasn't going to get his precious pain meds. After a few minutes the screaming and barking stopped, and all that could be heard were the muffled sobs echoing inside the padded room. To the purple pony, it may have been a safe place, but to Rizzo, it was fucking hell all over again. And this time, he knew there were no more chances of getting the nectar he so desperately craved.