Casualties

The gentle waves washed onto the lone island's dark shoreline before they receded into the vast ocean. Sand along the beach sparkled while the water shimmered in the beautiful light of the stars that dotted the sky. Tree limbs moved about in a fluid motion. This place, my own little paradise, always made the woes of the world melt away.

"..."

It took the right land of the dice to make this world appear. Even when I could find this world within my dreams, it felt all too brief. I guess it could be likened to a person trying to catch air with their bare hands.

Funny, the sand almost felt real for a second. Well, dreams are dreams, and nothing more. At least this is a peaceful dream,... and now my island paradise is gone, figures. The dice land just right to make this world appear and it vanishes.

"..."

What was it Alice said in that book? "Curiouser and Curiouser" or something like that when she fell down that hole in the ground. Why would I even dream about a place like this? These trees don't seem natural.

The further I go, the more I seem to be lost, and this is starting to creep me out. All of these things almost have a texture to them. The tree bark, the dirt, even the leather harness to this weird wagon loaded down with apples. Need one heck of a horse to pull this thing.

Crap! Now I'm glad this is just a dream. It would have hurt like hell if one of those damn apples fell from that height and nailed me on the head.

"..."

Though my arm started to feel cold, things grew worse when this farmhouse came out of nowhere.

"We're too late." a voice said.

Behind the house were five crosses staked into the ground, an apple shaped emblem carved into them. That little filly I came to know about on Earth buried her head into her hooves. Her front hoof muffled her voice to an inaudible point. Apple Bloom gazed at me. Those tears ran down her face. She didn't whine, sob, or wail. Unlike a child, all the filly did was lay there curled up into a ball as her tears continued to stream down her cheek, sparkling in the starlight. One sniffle or two would escape the near silent filly.

"Apple Bloom?" I said. Some sensation gnawed at me. It urged me to go closer. As I sat down near Apple Bloom, I placed my hand on her head. "I'm right here. What's wrong?"

"I should have stayed away. I should have stayed away from Twilight's castle, from that stupid contraption. The changelings wouldn't have invaded if we stayed here." Apple Bloom said. Her right hoof batted my hand away before she darted towards the farmhouse and slammed her back-hooves into its side. "It's all mah fault!"

It reminded me of the first time we met on earth. All Apple Bloom wanted was to go home. Time and again she said it. Even when her friends came and they were stuck with her, the trio all wanted to come back home. A little part of me now sympathized with her. I wanted to get out of this place, out of Equestria and return to my world, however, another part of me asked why I should even go back to that hell hole.

I placed my hand on Apple Bloom's head when she laid near me once more. The two of us looked at the stars above. Behind us, I caught a quick glimpse of the moon starting to rise. In a calm tone I said, "Apple Bloom, I don't know what's going on right now. One thing I can do is assure you that this can't be real. It's not real until we confirm it with our own eyes."

Apple Bloom wiped away her tears. She gave a slight nod, and then her eyes widened as the crosses turned to dust. The dust blew away on a fierce wind. "Where's Princess Luna? Why isn't she helping me deal with this -- we gotta wake up. Right now! She's under Queen Chrysalis's spell."

That name made me chuckle for a second. It sounded like a cartoon character reject from that lame theme park in Fl with the mouse. Ooo, so spooky and scary. I hope the "bad" ol' queen doesn't get us, heh.

"Apple Bloom, I think we're ok, but, you have to tell me, what is going on. This tree bark feels way too real for this to be a dream. Who's this Princess Luna you keep talking about? You never really told me about the 'princesses' from Equestria." I said before Apple Bloom latched onto my leg.

"..."

"That was some whinny. " I said.

The sound of jingling chains echoed. In an instant, the moon vanished.

"Ah didn't think humans could do magic." Apple Bloom said.

"We can't. Dreams are the one place we can let our imaginations run wild." I said, standing up. It'd be nice if I did have magic, but I'm just a stupid human in a world filled with magic wielding, unfathomably strong creatures. I bet even a newborn foal could kick the crap out of me without breaking a sweat. "So, you going to introduce me to the freak?"

Apple Bloom raised her eyebrow at me. "That's Princess Luna, and she's not a freak."

The moon reappeared, and n front of me, near eye level, stood what could be described as a mythical creature. This thing had to be a good five foot, six inches to stand near eye level with me. Of course, I'm a five foot, seven inch nothing in my world, so, I guess I can't really say anything.

"No need to get snotty. I was just looking. " I said. The freak didn't have to slap my hand. I just wanted to look at those wings. "What's it saying?"

"Ah don't know. She's acting weird." Apple Bloom said. She collapsed to the ground. Her hooves pressed against her head, "Make it stop!"

"Apple Bloom!" I said. The filly's eyes remained shut while she kept screaming. "What's it doing to you?!"

"Ah... can't... stop her. It's like Ah'm watchin' TV back in your world." Apple Bloom said.

My fist met the "princess's" face. Her whinny echoed while she flew through the air, almost comically, and then went silent. The freak made a crater when she hit the side of the mountain in the distance.

"Ah'm... ok. Ah think she's trying to find out where we're at right now. We have ta wake up. Princess Luna watches over dreams. There's no tellin' what she can do to us." Apple Bloom said. She poked me in the right leg, "What's wrong?"

"No," I said.

Though a cold sensation washed over me, I had to be mistaken when those thin wisps of blue smoke came from the ground. The smoke moved around like it was alive. There's no way. It's impossible.

"We gotta move." Apple Bloom said to me. Though she tugged on my hand, my body refused to move. "Princess Luna is coming back."

There's no mistake. Those wisps of smoke tried to choke me in that dream I had back on Earth. Princess Luna tried to kill me.

"Round two?" I said when the creature merged from the blue smoke. It stepped toward me then glanced at Apple Bloom. The creature's gaze turned toward me when I thrust my hand in front of the filly. "Try me and see what happens."

Dark hooves moved about in a fluid motion over the dirt in front of me and Apple Bloom.

Several lines materialized. The moon rose overhead then stopped at its peak.

"Ah don't get it. It's like she can't talk right now." Apple Bloom said. Her eyes scanned the kiddy-esk drawings in the dirt. "Sorry, Princess Luna. Ah still don't get it."

"Hey, whoa there. Back off. I'm into humans, not equines." I said as the princess crept towards me, her face flushed. O crap, she's coming closer. Why can't I move? "Back Off... now..."

It's almost serene. The blue light from that horn.

"... a..." Princess Luna said

"What?" I said

"... as...." Princess Luna said. Her horn began to glow in a fiercer light. It had to be her voice that resonated within my mind. "Assistance."

The light from that thing's horn almost blinded me. My head wanted to split open. An entity bored its way into my mind. That light grew brighter and brighter till an image solidified in front of me. From that image, I found it doubtful doubtful anyone could classify that thing as an Equine the way those grotesque holes doted its legs. Thousands of those things from the swamp flew overhead, darkening the background. So that's Queen Chrysalis.

"Gotcha." Apple Bloom said.

Yup, that hurt. This isn't a regular dream.

"Heh, when did you get so tall." I said to the pony that towered above me. Apple Bloom propped me against a tree. She spread out a wing to cover me. "I know they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but you seriously want to look like the freak over there?"

"Hey, they're not freaks. Besides, we gotta find a way to wake up. Ah can feel Princess Luna tryin' to look through my memories." Apple Bloom said. When a dark image descended from the sky, her jaw dropped. Queen bitch made her grand entrance and glared at the pony near me, the creature's teeth glinting in the light of the moon. "Queen Bug Breath."

"You can kiss my ass before I'll kiss that hoof." I said when "Queen Bug Breath" thrust a dark hoof towards me."

"..."

"Hiss at me all you want." I said. I found myself thankful Apple Bloom knocked her away. If Princess Luna is indeed in charge of dreams, there's no telling of that hoof coming near my throat would have killed me.

"You stay right there and rest. This is mah fight." She said. The now transformed filly plowed into Queen Chrysalis and knocked the ugly thing through several trees.

I wanted to destroy this creature, like I did those two changelings back in the swamp. I wanted to hang this thing from the highest tree limb after it struck Apple Bloom. What I wanted never came to pass.

Apple Bloom fought with every ounce of strength she had. Both her and Queen Bitch went at it harder and harder. The two of them tore up the landscape. Trees were flung to the far horizon. Rocks, stones, and a small boulder were tossed about like snowballs. Through it all, neither of them gained or lost ground.

My arms refused to move as Princess Luna came closer. Though I could feel the fear mounting inside of me, what existed didn't really care. "Just kill me and get it over with."

The sword Princess Luna materialized was unfathomable. I'd expect it to be some mythical weapon in a videogame the way it looked. Whatever the sword's power, I couldn't protect myself.

Queen Chrysalis slammed into Princess Luna. The two of them whinnied and whined before they stood back up.

"I'm so useless." I said.

"She's gotta be keepin' us here." Apple Bloom said.

"Look out!" I shouted. Apple Bloom slammed her back-hooves into a boulder just in time before it squashed us. Helpless couldn't describe my state, but things made sense. The longer I looked at the princess, the more I realized her horn was still glowing, brighter than ever. In that moment, I had enough. I didn't care what happened to me, but I would be damned if I let these two pieces of garbage hurt that pony. "Apple Bloom. Cover your ears."

"Why?" Apple Bloom said. Her eyes widened when the weapon materialized in my hand. She reverted to her true form, and then disappeared.

"I hope she's awake." I said. The flash of light reflected off the nearby trees. The sound rung out across the landscape. Again and again the boisterous sounds came until the two backed off, Queen Chrysalis sporting a few more additional holes. "So you did try to kill me back on Earth, you fucker!"

The glow around the princess's horn diminished. What force held me back vanished. Princess Luna quivered when I waved the weapon in front of her. She cringed when I bashed Queen Chrysalis aside with the pistol's butt. Several times I struck Queen Chrysalis with the weapon.

The reflection in Queen Chrysalis's eyes stopped me before I made another strike.

Green blood dripped from the gun. When I staggered backwards, the world shifted to a landscape covered in crosses, tombstones, and charred bones. Bits and pieces of a shattered castle were strewn about the area. A cloaked figure stood near a small hole and gazed at the landscape. It held up the skull of a pony before burying it into the shallow grave. In a guttural, teary tone the lone figure said, "What have I done..."

My two enemies appeared frozen in place. Queen Chrysalis remained still on the ground near my feet; not a single part of her twitched or moved.

The desolate world vanished, giving rise to a voided one. With the moon overhead once more, Queen Chrysalis shot up and stood near Princess Luna. Two sets of horrified eyes gazed at me. Hooves dug into the non-existent ground the closer I came.

A tear crawled down Princess Luna's cheek when I raised the gun then pulled the gun's hammer back. Her lower lip quivered. She looked away as I pointed the gun at Queen Chrysalis. I slammed Chrysalis against floor near my right foot, planting it hard against her neck. The gun's barrel targeted the misshapen equine.

The bullet froze in mid air. A calm, strong blue light reflected off the gun before it vanished.

"Wake up!" a strong voice called to me.

Whatever force bound me to that world began to vanish, along with the world itself. I pointed a stern finger at the shaken ruler on the ground, "Harm them, and you'll die."

My threatening gesture didn't go unnoticed.

I collapsed. The mythical struck its target. As the hilt of that mythical weapon stuck out of my chest, my eyes grew heavier, my body cold. Both equines towered above me. In that instance, I could almost understand one of them saying "they'll be taken" before the last bit of energy I had gave out.