From the Ashes

He snapped open his eyes. Alex was lying in a small field of blue flowers. Dark trees covered his view of the sky, casting the forest into darkness. He turned his head, his vision was obscured by fields of light blue flowers

A sharp pain in his shoulder caused him to wince. The wound was till leaking the same green fluid and the veins had started to turn black. He roared in agony as he tried to get to his feet. His entire body racked with pain.

Getting to his feet he wobbled. He was completely naked and his arm fell limp to his side. “Ow” He tried to say but no words came from his mouth. He tried it again to only fail. He grabbed his throat with a hand and coughed.

He had lost his voice. He cursed himself at his attempts to speak, only causing waves of pain to wash through his throat. He could easily heal the damage don to him as soon as he get the blade shards removed. He turned his attention to the stab wound and winced. It was leaking green ooze and the veins had turned black. He need help and fast.

*Rustle*

He turned slowly. He went wide eyed. Standing in the bush was a red unicorn. His horn was glowing and aimed directly at him. He didn't have a chance to react until the bolt hi him square in the chest. He fell to the ground and blacked out.

When he regained conscious her noticed something different straight away. He didn't feel any pain. His eyes shot open and turned to his shoulder. The wound was covered in a white piece of cloth and the horrible green-ooze was gone, replace with a nice red. Black veins still snaked down his arm and much of his neck but they didn't appear as bad as they once were.

That's when he noticed the collar around his neck. “The fuck!” He tried to say only for no sound to come out. He closed his eyes and focused on his throat. He rushed his magic into his neck and shivered. That was a feeling he missed. Even being without magic for minutes felt foreign to him.

“That's better” He growled, his voice usually deep. He had a look at his surroundings. Only now did he realize he was trapped in a barred metal cage, inside a large tent. Two other humans were tied up, both staring at him, both as naked as he was.

“Pssst, where the hell am I?” Alex said to the two humans sitting in the cadge. They didn't answer, turning to him they stared at him with blank eyes.

Alex looked at him for a moment. He looked human but sure didn't act like it. They were more like animals than they were human.

“Can you hear me!” Alex whispered again. The man said nothing.

Giving up with the other men he turned his attention back to the collar. He tried to pull it off but shrieked in pain when a surge of energy surged forward.

“Go check on him.” A voice from outside said.

Someone grunted and got up from their seat. Alex clutched at his neck, a small amount of smoke rising from the burnt flesh.

The same red unicorn from before pushed into the tent, he was wearing a large brown cloak that obscured most of his body. The pony walked over to Alex's cage. “ Don't do anything stupid now, we still need to sell you.” Alex's eyes narrowed and the unicorn took a step back.

His horn flashed and the collar around Alex's neck activated. Another surge of energy surged through him. He yelled in pain. He floundered around on the ground. The unicorn grinning all the while.

After a minute of constant shock he stopped. He peered closer at Alex cage a smile on his face. “Stupid animal.” He muttered before coming just in rage of Alex. It was his last mistake.

Alex pushed passed the pain and grabbed the unicorn by the horn. He pulled forward and squeezed the unicorns head through the metal bars. He tried to scream but Alex was quicker. He slammed his hand into his throat, silencing any attempt to call for help.

The unicorn looked up at him with pleading eyes. All he got was a smile. He plunged his teeth into the unicorn's neck. Blood pooled around the body. Tears formed around the unicorns eyes and Alex tore a piece of flesh from his neck. He let go of the body and it fell to the floor. He licked his lips and savoured the taste. He hadn't tasted blood for years.

He gave a bloody smile as a small wave of power washed through his veins. All the unicorn could do was blink. His throat had been torn out and he watched his blood pool onto the ground before him. The last thing he saw the human do was smile.

Alex smiled down at the boy before turning his attention back to the bared cage. It didn't seem to have any entrance or pad lock to speak of. He slumped back in his cage and let the magic work. The black veins on his shoulders and neck vanished along with the burn marks on his throat. He grabbed the collar and ripped it off.

He grabbed two of the bars and pulled. The metal slowly bent in his grip. A minute of pulling and tugging later he had made hole just large enough to squeeze through. He wriggled past the bars and out into the tent. He reached down and yanked the bloodied cloak from the pony's back and strung it across his waist. He flexed his fingers and sighed, he felt so much weaker than he had been.

He approached the the two cages holding the humans to get a better view. They shrunk away from his bloodied body. Alex took a step back. What the fuck is going on? He thought.

“Catcher, what's taking you so long!” A voice from outside called. He turned towards the entrance to the tent. I'll come back for them. He thought, casting a look back at the humans.

“CATCHER!” The voice shouted again. “What the buck is taking you so long!”

Alex peered through the small gap in the tent. Three ponies, two unicorns and an earth pony, sat around a small camp fire.

Alex pushed through the tent. A blank expression on his face. The closest pony, a blue earth pony scrambled at the sight of a the bloodied human. “What the buck!” He jumped from the small stool he was sitting on and scampered behind his friends.

Alex didn't wait for them to act. He charged the magic in his hands and shot a beam of light at the closest unicorn. The beam him him square in the chest, he didn't stand a chance. He fell to the ground, a large smouldering hole where his chest had once been.

The other two ponies screamed as the beam hit their friend. The unicorns horn began to glow and the earth pony turned and ran into the bushes, leaving his friends behind.

Alex charged another beam in his hands, his shoulder burned with pain. He ignored the pain and aimed at the second unicorn and fired. The beam shot from his hands, impacting the pony's foreleg. He yelled in agony as the lower part of his leg disintegrated.

Alex turned his attention to the fleeing pony, his eyes flashed green and the pony erupted into a red mist. He grunted in anger before stalking over to the crying pony. Alex reached down and grabbed his good foreleg. Raising him up until they were face to face. He tapped the pony on the head, casting a small pain relief spell. The guard slowly stopped screaming as the pain disappeared.

“You will answer every question I have or the pain starts again.” He growled. The guards pale face looked at him in utter shock.

“You talked.” He wheezed.

Alex tapped his head again and the pony started to scream. He waited a moment before relieving the pain. “Understand?” The pony nodded.

“Where am I? Who are you? and why are there humans caged in the tent?!” Alex growled into the terrified pony's face.

“You talked.” The pony repeated.

“Answer my questions!” Alex roared.

“You tal-” He didn't finish. Alex broke the spell stopping him from feeling pain and dragged him towards the fire. He grabbed and snapped both of the ponies back legs before dropping him into the fire. Alex didn't think the pony could scream any louder but he did. He kicked and thrashed against the fire, his skin and fur burning.

“No more mercy from me.” Alex said coldly to the still burning unicorn.

He grabbed the stool the pony had been sitting on and entered the tent. He placed the stool in front of the two cages and sat down. There was something definitely wrong with these guys and he had to figure out what.

The human in the cage whimpered like a dog when he sat down. He was average height with long brown hair and grey eyes. Alex averted his eyes from his man hood. Making sure to keep his eyes on his face, he still needed to show some decency.

He rolled his shoulder trying to ease the pain. Since his magical outburst the pain had been slowly decreasing, but not by much. Alex frowned, before running a hand through his short hair. Nothing felt right. Was he dead? Knocked out? In a comma? He had no idea. Even the air felt wrong, it was to clean, to fresh. Even when it was filled with the smell of burning pony.

Alex turned his attention to the second human he was tall, skinny, had short black hair that looked somewhat styled and light blue eyes.

Definitely human. Alex thought. He leaned a little closer to the cage, a cold tingle washed down his spine. He pulled back instantly, he knew that feeling. He waved his had through the air, channeling just a small amount of magic into his palm, causing his shoulder ache and his gut turn cold. The hairs on the back of his neck rose as he spoke the words.

“Dark magic.”