From the Ashes

Alex back-pedalled,  he couldn't risk himself being touched by dark magic, not in his state. His arm ached slightly.

Dispelling a back magic curse was relatively easy if you knew what you were doing. Unfortunately Alex had very little knowledge in curses. The threat of failing to dispel the curse was severe. It could result in anything from instant death, to being mortally injured, and in the worst case scenario, the curse could copy itself onto the dispeller.  Alex couldn't risk breaking the curse, if he failed he could turn out like the two men.

Alex rubbed his eyes. He had to do something, they were his only hope of finding out what was going on around here. “I guess I can find out what the curse does.” Alex mused. He focused on the magic radiating from the man. A coldness filling him as he did so.

He retracted his had from the air and sighed. The curse was to stop all higher rain function, to render the person it cursed to nothing more than a husk of there old self. To cast this spell on one person would be difficult, but two people? How powerful had these ponies become.

Alex clenched his teeth. He couldn't just sit there when they were like that. He growled before extending his had. He had only one shot at this. A bright blue ball of light slowly grew in his palm, the light slowly increased until he had to shut his eyes from the intense light. He discharged the spell and opened his eyes. What he saw left him breathless.

The once cowering human was almost motionless. His hands were shaking as he slowly lifted them towards his face. His eyes locked onto his moving hands as he wiggled his fingers. He looked towards Alex with tears in his eyes.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”He cried over and over as he tackled Alex in a hug.

“Hey!”Alex cried as he fell onto his back. “It's OK.” He managed to say, trying to forget the fact that the man on top of him was naked.

The man sobbed heavily into Alex's chest. He just lay there unsure of what to do. “Thank you.” He sobbed.

“It's OK, It's OK.” Alex repeated over and over. “But can you please get off me.”

He continued to sob as he pushed of of Alex and sat down, his eyes were bright red from crying and he was wearing one of the biggest smiles Alex had ever seen.

“Thank you so much.” He cried again before whipping tears from his eyes. “Are you an angel?” He asked sincerely.

An angel? “No I'm not an angel.” Definitely not an angel.

“Then.... who are you.” He asked.

“My name is Alex and I'm here to help you, but first please cover yourself with something.” Alex said, averting his eyes from the man's crotch, which he quickly covered with his hands and blushed.

“Sorry... it's just been so long...” He said again before wiggling his fingers.

“Get something to wear for you and the other man in the cage.” Alex said. “I will remove the curse from him then we can talk.” The man nodded before shakily walking out of the tent.

Alex quickly did the same spell again, sure of how to do it now, and freed the second man. Much like the first he was grateful beyond belief. The first man quickly came back with two overall type things that both men quickly put on.

“What's your name?” Alex asked the human with long brown hair once he had sat down.

“My names Matt.” He replied with red puffy eyes.

“And you?” Alex asked the man with short black hair.

“Tom.”

“Right, now I want you to tell me everything that is going on, and I mean everything.” And they did.

They talked for what felt like hours, the sun was slowly rising into the sky casting the dark forest into a slightly brighter version of its self.

“So let me get this straight.” Alex said, hardly believing his ears. “You are locked within your own body?”

“Yes.” Matt nodded. “We are still in there but we can't do anything, not even blink.”

“And that you have lived through this torture multiple times?” Alex asked.

He nodded again. “How many times?”

“Seven times. We only seem to live till fifteen years old, maybe a bit loner if you are unlucky.” Matt said sadly. So I'm in the future.

“Fifteen.” Alex growled causing the two men to flinch.

“It seems that way, and thank you again.” Tom said. With a slight accent that Alex couldn't place.

Alex thought for a second. “So you are treated as pets or forced labour?” The two men nodded. “sometimes used as food for the carnivorous creatures out there such as griffins and diamond dogs?” They nodded again. “And once you die, there is sometimes what seems like a large jump in time?” A third nod.

“Can you remember the last time you were able to control your bodies?”

Tom shook his head but Matt spoke.“During the siege of London I think.”

Alex's eyes went wide. “Did you say London? As in the city in England London?” Matt nodded. “Why were you there?”

“I was part of the civilian militia that was formed.” He replied with a worried look. “Why? What happened?”

“Once London was destroyed by nuclear weapon fire. Once the city was breached and they began their air attack it was decided to fully halt their advance.”

“But... I...”

“You would have died.” Alex said firmly.

“But... How? I'm alive aren’t I?”

“You have already said that you have lived at least seven times.” Alex rebutted.

“So what does that mean?” Matt asked, his voice getting caught in his throat.

“Truthfully, I have no idea. In fact none of this should be happening, if what you have told me is true something is deeply wrong with this world, very few mages could cast two curses and hold them at the same time, to cast thousands if not millions would be impossible.”

“Then why is it happening?” Tom asked.

“Like I said, I have no idea.”  Alex replied. “But I intend to find out.” The two men perked up at his words.

“Do any of you know where the closest settlement would be? I need to find immediate medical attention.” Alex said.

“The closest town would be Ponyville, that’s were we... well or bodies escaped from, a a large apple orchard. These poachers were tasked in hunting us down.” Matt answered.

“Then that is were we need to go, is there a doctor in this town?”

“Many, there is a small hospital there, but it is ran by ponies.” Tom jumped in.

“Yes, and they are the only ones that can remove this.” Alex said pointing to the small bandage on his shoulder. “I don't need their help, only their tools.”

“What's in your shoulder?” Matt asked curiously.

“A piece of metal that stops me from effectively casting magic. I need it removed as quick as possible. The ponies that captured us tried to remove it but there are still small fragments lodged into my shoulder.”

“So we are going to a pony occupied town?” Tom asked.

“Yes, garb what weapons you can from the dead poachers. We are going to walk into that town and kill anything that gets in our way.” This caused all three men to smile.

Finding the end of the forest was incredibly easy. As it turns out they were no where as deep into the forest as they feared and the tracks left by the poachers were still fresh as there hadn’t been any rain to wash them away.

“What did you do to that pony, the one in the fire?” Matt asked. He had grabbed himself a small dagger that one of the poachers had on him.

“I broke his body before leaving him to burn to death.” Alex replied nonchalantly. “Why is there a problem?” He asked Raising an eyebrow.

“No, I just heard him scream, rather soothing in a way.” Matt said back with a twisted smile. Tom on the other had looked slightly green.

“His flesh fell from his body.” The slightly green human said. “It was disgusting.” Like Matt he to took a weapon, a small bludgeon that the poachers used to subdue unruly humans.

“Perhaps.” Alex shrugged as he pushed another bush out of the way. The forest had grown considerably brighter since they had set off after the tracks. Beams of sunlight burst through the canopy signalling the thinning out of the forest.

“Why are we going to Sweet Apple Acres again? You said you needed to go to the hospital?” Tom asked, causing Alex to grumble, he had already told him the plan.

“We need to free the humans this, Applejack has as workers, without them we cant take the town.” Alex replied

“We wont be able to hold a town forever with only twenty odd people.” Matt replied. “We will need a serious plan before we do that.”

“The plan is to get my shoulder fixed, take all the equipment and supplies we need as well as releasing any humans we come across. Once that is accomplished we retreat back to the forest before the army arrive. From their we will start to think of long term goals. If we get lucky someone from the town might be a mage, but I highly doubt it.”

“So all this magic stuff was true then?” Tom asked Alex. The edge of the forest clearly insight by now. “It wasn't just some kind of moral boost.”

Alex snapped his finger and a small flame materialized in his palm, his shoulder aching as he did so. “We have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years, only when humanity was truly threatened did we show ourselves to the public. You were also under the effects of a curse, did you really need to ask that question?”

“I didn't know if humans could do it.” Tom asked ignoring Alex's previous statement.

“Almost everyone 'can' do magic, but only a few can use it to an effect. With enough practise and training almost anyone could summon a small flame or breeze, but most will never advance past that point.”

“So you really just need to be lucky then?” Tom asked sadly.

“Pretty much.” Alex replied. Toms head fell to the floor. As Matt shook his head.

They reached the edge of the forest and looked out onto the christen land before them. Rolling green hills lead into the distance, and snow peeked mounting tops hugged the horizon. Alex didn't care for the beauty.

“Where is Sweet Apple Acres?” Alex asked Matt. The man pointed to a field of trees in the distance that seemed to stretch for miles.

“Then we best get moving.”

Sweet Apple Acres was huge. It had taken the group over an hour to get their but it felt like they had been wandering through the fields of apple trees for twice that time. The trees were void of fruit and small green leaves were forming on the branches.

“You said the farmhouse is in the centre of this farm correct?” Alex asked Matt.

“From what I remember, although it's hard to remember something like that as a wild animal.” Matt replied. Alex nodding his head in understanding.

A large red barn slowly came within view and it didn’t take a genius to realise that’s were they were heading.

“You said there would only be four ponies in this place, right?” Alex asked turning towards Matt.

“Yeah, The only danger will come from the two middle aged ponies, Applejack and Big Macintosh.” Matt answered. “If we are lucky Applejack might be out with her friends.”

“How many humans are here again?” Alex asked as they made their way to the front of the barn. There wasn't a single soul in sight.

“At least fifteen, maybe more.” Tom answered. “It's not a pretty sight.”

“I'll have seen worse.” Alex said as he grabbed the barn door and swung it open. He froze once he saw the state of the captives. They were compressed into small cages that lined the walls, dirt and excrement covered the floors around the cages. Every single human turned to the new noise, just like a dog would.

The sight made Alex sick to his stomach. Even horses and cattle on earth were in better pens than this. “Unlock these cages now!” Alex ordered. Matt and Tom complied.

Alex closed the door and got to work opening the cages, there were five cages in total, each with around four humans trapped inside.

“They are locked!” Tom shouted as he fiddled with the large metal padlock on the front of the cage. Alex inspected his and he had the same problem.

“We need to get the key, I don't want to waste my energy.” Alex shouted back.

Click

Alex, Matt and Tom turned quickly towards the barn door. A large red Stallion walked into the barn, he had a yoke around his neck and a menacing glare on his face. Attached to his back was a saddle back that looked like it was ready to burst.

“What do ya thing yer doing out of yer cages?” The stallion boomed.

Alex stared at the stallion for a moment before waving his had in the air, his shoulder burned as the boor to the barn slammed shut.

Big Mac jumped at the sound, he turned his attention to Alex as he closed on the stallion. He put his head down and stomped his hooves into the ground. Alex stooped, he had seen this hundreds of times before, ponies would stamp their back feet into the ground before charging.

Once Big Mac ran forward he simply stepped to the side and sent a fist into the side of the ponies face. The shock of being hit made him tumble to the floor a few feet from Alex. He jumped to his hooves and shook his head. Matt and Tom stayed back from the fight and watched.

The two began circling one another, well Big Mac did as Alex stayed in the same spot and waited for him to come within range, the last thing he wanted to do was waste his magic on a lone pony. Big Mac stopped once he realised the human wouldn't move.

The stallion shuddered, something was wrong with this human, the way in wore a cloak and how it managed to close the barn door with a wave of its hand. He only wished AppleJack was with him.

Alex waited for the pony to move, a stallion of that size could easily break his ribs if he got tackled full force. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if he bucked him in the chest or gut.

The stallion charged again and just like before Alex swatted him away. A trickle of blood fell from the pony’s face, he wiped it with a hoof before turning back to Alex. The only thing Big Mac could think of was that this human had to have been trained for combat, and very few human owners were allowed to do that.

“Ah don't want to hurt ya.” Big Mac said in a voice like a man would do to a dog.

“The feeling is not mutual.” Alex growled.

Big Mac froze, the human just talked. His mind tried to wrap around what had just happened. He was totally unaware of the human running towards him.

Alex ploughed into the pony, he crouched down slightly as he ran, getting under the pony's chest and pulled him up of the ground. The stallion, to shocked to do anything, was powerless to stop himself from falling onto his back. Alex began to pummel the stallions face, teeth and blood flying from his mouth.

Big Mac swung his hoof wildly in front of his face and clipped Alex in the side of the head, he tumbled off of the stallion before jumping quickly to his feet. “I don't have time for this.” Hunter growled. He extended his arm towards the slowly rising pony.

“NO!” a small voice called as Alex readied his spell. He turned to the voice. A small filly was standing in the barn door that had been open during the fight. “Please don't hurt my brother.” She begged before running by his side and pulling him into a hug.

Alex froze, his fingers tingled with magic, he could discharge the spell and turn both of them to ash in an instant, but he didn't. His hand fell to the side as the little filly cradled her blooded brother.

“What are you waiting for?!” Matt cried. “Kill them!” He walked up to Alex, fiddling with his dagger as he did so.

“I will not harm a child.” Alex growled. “No matter what shape they take.”

“Fuck you. They kept us as slaves!” Matt shouted before kicking the little yellow filly in the stomach. She fell over with pain as he got ready for another strike.

“No, please. Leave her alone.” The large stallion wheezed. Trying to move from his spot only for Matt to kick him in the stomach.

He brought his foot down onto the filly again, a sickening crack ran through the barn as a rib broke. She screamed in agony.

“Please.” Big Mac pleaded to Matt. “Don't hurt her.” He ignored the please of the stallion and slammed his heel into her chest again.

Tom was standing at the back of the barn doing nothing, a blank expression on his face as he watched the filly being attacked.

Alex's gaze was focussed on the little filly. His mind cast back to the memory of the small girl on the spike, her tears from the pain. He never wanted to see that again.

Matt readied another strike, and from the state of the small filly most likely the last, her bow and fallen from her head and a rib pocked from her chest. He didn't get very far as Alex grabbed him by the neck,he swivelled the man around until he was looking directly into his eyes. Those dark, glowing, green eyes.

Alex plunged his thumbs into Matt's eyes, he barley had time to register the pain before his skull was pierced and his brain turned to mush. He dropped the limp body to the ground and rushed to the filly side.

Tears stained her eyes as she looked up at the human towering above her. Her breathing came in pain rasps and blood pooled around her.

Alex reached down and place a hand over the filly's chest, it grew bright red and something Big Mac couldn’t even begin to think possible happened. The bone from her chest pulled back into her boy before the wound sealed, her cuts and bruises on her face ad chest disappeared before passing out without a single scratch on her body.

Alex let out a roar once he had finished. His shoulder was in the most pain he had ever felt, like dipping flesh into molten metal.

“Thank you.” Big Mac said heavily as he inched towards the filly. He pulled her into a hug before beginning to cry. Alex considered killing him right there and then, to simply bring his foot down onto his skull, but something stopped him, something suddenly change his entire look on the situation before him, Patt's words haunting his memories.

You can't blame children, for the sins of their fathers.