Casualties

"..."

My body ached while an acrid smell permeated the area. The muscle around my stomach tensed up and relented several times. Cricket chirps resonated in my ears while something kept dripping on top of my head. When I forced my eyes open, small, fine beams of light penetrated a thick mesh of leaves, sticks, and tree limbs above me.

"..."

"Was that a whinny? Is there a horse nearby?" I said to myself. Why would there be -- right, I remember. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were sleeping on the bed in the family room. They asked me to tie off that rope to the bed's frame. Damn it, this smell is revolting. What in the hell is making it?! "Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo. Where are you?!"

"No need ta shout. Ah'm right here." A familiar voice said.

My legs wobbled underneath me as I struggled to move. A bit of relief came when I saw that familiar face in the dim light.

"Ya alright?" Apple Bloom said.

I nodded to Apple Bloom, and then puked. Well, there goes last night's supper. Part of me expected that pat on the back to be rather hard, yet Apple Bloom's hoof was quite soft. Man, this smell is going to kill me; it's worse than fresh dog turds marinated in fish guts, fried on hot asphalt next to a dead skunk.

I've got to sit down and think. There was... something that happened. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were asleep, and then they were waving at me for some reason. The bed kept creaking and groaning. I slipped on my glasses cause of the weird noise, and... why can't I remember? Geez, it looks like the rope left a deep mark in the bed's wooden frame. At least, the part that's left of the bed-frame. There goes that homemade couch/bed in the family room.

O no, not again....

These dry heaves hurt like hell. Be nice to have a gas mask.

"..."

"Apple Bloom, what was that noise? Where are we?" I said. My T-shirt secured around my face as a makeshift gas mask, a small force pressed against my right leg. Apple Bloom's ears keep twitching from what I could see in the dim light. "Is that Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle?"

"They're in trouble. This way!" Apple Bloom said.

A strong pressure came from my right hand, and then my heart pounded within my chest. Trees branches whizzed by my head. Several times I had to duck down to miss the low hanging ones. My body was never cut out for running. I couldn't keep up this pace for long. The further Apple Bloom pulled me, the faster my energy seemed to drain. This thick mud, what I hope is mud, keeps engulfing my shoes.

What's wrong? Why is she frightened?

The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel came after what felt like eternity

That's odd. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are asleep, on the ground?

"What the fuck is that thing?!" I shouted.

We're not on earth. A creature like this could never exist lest it be hunted to extinction by every scientists, whack-job, and poacher known to humanity. Wait, that's the creature making those odd sounds. Damn that's one hell of an overgrown bug. It has wings like a bug, but it has a horn on its forehead.

"Changeling!" Apple Bloom said. She darted towards her friends, and then stopped. The filly backed away. Her ears twitched along with her body while the creature crept towards her after darting between her and the others. "No, don't."

Apple Bloom's words went unheeded. I rushed forward with my right hand formed into a fist.

My chest burned. The pain grew worse from the coughing. Whatever this creature, this "changeling" was, it had power and speed to match. I found myself thankful the pain subsided and allowed me to stand. The changeling's blue eyes tracked us both. It continued to emit those obnoxious hisses and clicks. Each attempt to move was met with swift retaliation. The muddy ground greeted me several times. On the final time my eyes me the muddy ground, I slammed my fist into the ground, uttering several expletives under a hushed voice.

"This isn't a simple fight." I said to myself

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Apple Bloom bolt towards her friends. Her lower lip appeared to quiver when she reached them. The moment I heard Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had been injured, my body went numb.

"Run!" I shouted, reaching my hand into the mud. Apple Bloom stood there, petrified. Several green beams of light, only what could be described as blasts of energy, came from the changeling's horn. O shit. This thing's breath smells horrible. It's taking almost everything I have to push it back. Why won't this filly run? "Apple Bloom, run. Take the others and don't look back."

Apple Bloom shook her head at me. The filly scolded me, saying she refused to leave a "friend" behind. It was nice to be called a friend, but now wasn't the time or place. I yelled at her again and demanded that she flee after I flung another mud-ball at the creature. I'm thankful she listened this time. What I was about to do shouldn't be seen by young eyes.

The hairs on my arm stood on end. Whatever existed in the area pulsed with electricity. Though the mud felt cold, my body burned. Each heartbeat resonated inside me as the changeling and I circled each other. Unlike those stupid Hollywood movies, there was no intense music. All I heard were those obnoxious sounds the changeling made, coupled with the ambient noise of the area.

I lunged forward. Each blow bounced off the thing's strong hide. It felt like the bones in my hands would break. The changeling struck back. It attempted to bite me, almost hitting its target. My kick hit its mark. The sharp rock, on the ground, left a deep gash in the changeling's left eye. It felt like my knee would snap on the fourth and fifth kicks. Again and again I kicked it. On some strange instinct, my body kept moving. On the seventh kick, I heard a loud crack. The smell of burnt hair wafted into my nostrils, the changeling's horn glowing green from the blast. I patted the singed hairs on my arm, and then continued the battle.

We traded blows. I fell. I grabbed a rock. Through sheer luck the medium sized stone hit its mark. I darted forward, jumped on the changeling's back, and wrapped my fingers around its neck. This exhausted thing still had enough energy to struggle in my grasp. An inner voice screamed at me. "Tighter. Tighter. Tighter. Tighter!"

The muscles in my forearms flexed. Hisses and clicks turned into whimpers. Heavy gasps greeted my ears. The changeling wiggled free. I swooped in and moved behind it. The creature slammed me into a tree after I leapt onto its back. My left arm went across its neck, braced with my right one. My muscles tightened. That god-awful sound reverberated throughout the area.

Mud dripped from my glasses onto the corpse at my feet. A quiet voice came from the forest. Apple Bloom asked if it was ok to come out. I asked for her to wait.
It took a good bit of strength to drag the changeling's lifeless body into the forest. After the final deed had been done in the darkened area of that forest, mud engulfed the right side of my face when I collapsed in the clearing. Apple Bloom emerged from the forest. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo moved behind her, their legs quivering.

"What did ya do?" Apple Bloom said.

"It's best you don't know." I said.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at Apple Bloom. I couldn't understand what they said to one another, yet I got the sense they knew I didn't want them to see the brutal act I had committed.

"Thank Celestia, it's Rainbow Dash." Apple Bloom said.

"Rainbow Dash?" I thought. I rolled over onto my back. As I looked toward the blue sky, something descended from a nearby cloud. My knees wobbled like the appendages of those two injured fillies that were now behind me. I raised my right hand and formed it into a fist. "Stay... behind me."

Apple Bloom looked at me before she gazed towards what had descended from the sky. Scootaloo trotted forward while she waved a wing at me, like I was acting crazy. My body permitted me to move forward a few steps. I pulled the filly back. The creature that descended from the sky was the same I already fought.

Scootaloo pushed my hand away, moved forward, and then froze. Green flames materialized out of nowhere. The flames engulfed the figure that stood in front of us. I had no idea what the flames meant, but Scootaloo retreated behind me.

The changeling's nostrils flared. It eyes scanned thee area before it honed in on me, towards the right pocket of my pants. Tense, near silent moments passed before the creature let out a guttural snarl that echoed throughout the area.

My forearms rose. Two dark hooves landed a heavy strike. The battle resumed.

"I want all of you to cover your eyes. Now!" I shouted. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo looked at the creature, and then at me. I couldn't tell who they were more afraid of in that moment. The three fillies covered their eyes just as the changeling in front of me dug its hooves in and snarled. I pulled the makeshift weapon from my right pocket. My body craved the act of barbarity that was about to come. "Bring it, motherfucker."

Bubbles rose from the ground. One bubbled popped, and then another. Several more bubbles popped before the changeling and I lunged at each other. The changeling's green blast missed, incinerating a nearby tree. The makeshift weapon hit its mark. With what strength remained, I forced the broken horn from the first dead changeling into the second changeling's chest. Warm liquid dripped down my forearms when I raised the creature's body into the air. That small trickle turned into a steady stream that ran down arms and onto my shoes. The silence was disturbed by the changeling's a primal howl before it went limp.

My arms fell to my sides. The dead body splashed mud against my pants when it landed at my feet. The foul smelling, green colored liquid grew colder as the seconds passed. I dropped the makeshift weapon when I saw Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo huddled together. "What have I done?"

"Please, keep your eyes closed. I'll be right back." I said. There were multiple green stains all over my body. They were all over my pants, bare chest, and hands. The second changeling weighed more than the first when I had to drag it into the forest, hiding it under a small shrub near the first changeling's body. "It stings, but it's best to let them see mud."

My right leg gave out from underneath me the moment I stepped into the light of the clearing. The three fillies popped up and looked at me. Apple Bloom opened her mouth, and then closed it. I knew she was prepared to ask me about the second changeling, however, that's a question I refuse to answer. Not now, not ever to her or the others.

Heh. Beyond the danger, the sky is rather beautiful here. Damn this mud stings like a bitch. What are these fillies doing?

"Apple Bloom." I said.

"Yea?"

"Are we in Equestria?" I said. The filly gave a firm nod before she pointed her friends towards me. I guess groaning is a universal language. "Where are we going?"

Apple Bloom said nothing. She got up under my right arm with Scootaloo on my left, some force propping up my legs.

Did I have to kill those two creatures? Was there a better way? What I felt, what I did back there -- this world terrifies me.