The Suffering

Okay. Just like we learned in camping, should one of us get separated or run into something dangerous. Stop. Stop, think, observe, plan.

Well I'm being held down, so I can't really stop anything, as I'm perfectly stationary.

Think. I think I'm lucky to be alive. I think somebody's holding me down and trying to rob me. I think that today sucks.

Observe. The guy had his left knee pushing into my gut, the other leg was in a kneeling position to keep him balanced. There were two unconscious guys near to me, one with a crowbar, unfortunately out of reach. The end of the alleyway was to my left side. The only one conscious was on my right.

Plan... I was drawing blanks here. Maybe if the guy was unarmed, I held a chance. But I wasn't as lucky.

He grabbed my collar and forced me up against the wall, back to him, and started to pat me down. After finding nothing in my back pockets, he spun me around, one hand starting patting down my front pockets. Time to wing it, I suppose. I kicked him meekly in the shin. He turned his head up to face me.

"You're stupid enough to kick somebody holding a gun up against your head, girl? Your family must be so proud to have such a ret-"

He reeled back, having received an eye full of spit. I'd teach that asshole to call somebody that. He looked back, only to take my forehead to the face. He fell to the ground, and I scrambled for the crowbar. With that, he stopped his momentary daze and once again, pointed his gun at me. Unfortunately for him, that was about the moment I swung my crowbar into is hand, sending the gun flying. But in the fury, and in the panic, my body moved on its own. I brought my foot down on his throat.

He started making choking noises, clutching at his throat. His eyes full of surprise, mine full of panic. I backed up, dropping my weapon. I backed out of the alleyway, and shut my eyes, trying to avoid what just happened. I... I had just... Had I? I almost wanted to check, but the adrenaline was wearing off. I fell to my knees, and shut my eyes tightly. I heard a pain, a sudden pain in my chest, and then everything went black.

******

All was dark, all was quiet. I peered around, trying to gauge my surroundings.  I seemed to be in an unnaturally large room, something akin to one of those large bedrooms in colleges where you shove bunch of teens and hope for the best. This belief was further brought on with the gentle snores surrounding me. I noticed my talons were still clutched around the wing of that yellow one. What was her name again? Flitter-something? I lay there for a minute, trying to remember, before another name appeared in my mind. Cynthia.

Oh god, what must she be thinking, me just bursting in flames and disappearing. I hope she didn't blame herself, thinking the ritual had brought it on me. And she was all that way over in her world, doing god knows what. Because that's how it is now. I can't write this off as some dream, or some nightmare. This was real. I was stuck in a world full of magic and vibrant colors, and she was trapped in a cold, barren world.

This wasn't fair in the slightest. How was it me, the kid fucked up severely in the head, that was either in a state of rage, numb to the world, or an annoying little immature brat was stuck in a colorful world of magic and flight, when an amazing person like her, funny, happy, a thrill to be with, was stuck in the cruel, cold world I had once identified as home? The thought of such made my blood boil. I heard a little squeak, and looked over to see the pegasus' face contorted with pain. I looked down to see my feathers were ablaze, and my feet having a gentle red tint, like dying coals. I hopped off her, and her face went back into a relaxed state. I had hurt a creature that had done nothing wrong to me now. Why was I chosen to go here?

I fluttered over to the window, letting a soft beam of moonlight into the room, and managed to get it open. I took a slow breath as a slight breeze caressed my face, and took off into the night.