Anesthesia

CHAPTER 5

There she lay. Unmoving. Barely breathing.
Her head on the floor. Heart scarcely beating.

The throes of torture she just endured.
The stings. The bruises. The broken bones. Her mind went obscure.

Pain receptors blasted like dynamite all around her body, telling her something is amiss.
But what could she do? She couldn't move at all. It felt like she was thrown into an abyss.

First being kidnapped. Then being used as some guinea pig.
Then appearing in a city only to be beaten up by some kids.

And the worst part of her dark journey through perdition
is that nopony came to her aid, and they saw her in that condition.

Even in her feeble state, her mind grew stronger. Dense.
She couldn't trust anybody, could she? Who? What? Whence?

That tiny flame of hope shrunk. Who could rekindle the fire?
"Please let this be the last...". She was down to the last wire.

Throughout the day, ponies passed her by.
No one dared look into that alley. No one cast her an eye.

They knew things about this city the red mare did not.
For them, the city was hell. By the streets, they were taught.

Gangs ran the streets like border guards;
one wrong step over the line, and expect to fall down hard.

These gangs, ruthless & heartless, were segregated by creature kind.
Dragons, ponies, gryphons. Nobody wanted to get snagged in those vines.

The dragons were known to be the most brutal.
Escape? That was simply futile.

But she didn't know this. The city didn't give a damn.
Once in the city, the rules were expected to be known, just like a plan.

The red and cream filly rested, and regained her strength.
When night overtook day, she sat up despite the strain.

She forced her legs to support her weight,
only to discover her horrible gait.

"I must get out of here! I... have to... walk!"
She whispered, as she still could barely talk.

Broken bones forgotten, her horn-less head poked around the corner.
Citizens moved on with their lives. Normal. Nothing had warned her.

Gingerly, she takes a step out onto the sidewalk,
and she turned to her right, and step after agonizing step, she went for a walk.

New sights and sounds played with her senses.
Loud booms, beeps, voices. Tall buildings, short buildings. Enticing scents.

A delicious aroma tickled her nose
and soon she followed the smell she chose.

It was at a metal stand, a vendor that sold food
roasting over a small heated pit. For busy ponies, this was always good.

Vegetable shish-kebabs, haydogs, vegan kielbasa.
Drinks to quench thirst. Ketchup, mustard, sauce that was hot, hot, hot!

Her mouth watered at the sight. Her stomach screamed "Food!"
But her mind just clicked. No money. No food.

Still, her legs dragged her to the vendor pony.
She would beg, even if she had to get on one knee.

The spatula-flanked colt gave her a look
and asked "What'll be? Haydog? Burger?...hey miss..you...?"

"Can I please have one? Anything. I don't have any bits...
I'll take a scrap. A bun. Water. Please, I'm so hungry, it-"

"Sorry. No bits. No grub. I got po'nees ta feed.
Ah can't give away mah food for free!"

"Not even a haydog bun?"
"Sorry, I can't, hun."

She gave up. She felt frustrated, angry, torn.
She turned her head away. A new hatred was born.

"Doesn't anybody see the cuts? My flank still burns!
Is it even worth asking for help?". To the vendor pony, she turned.

"I need help. I was almost killed. These scars, they were caused by ponies."
"Wait, what ponies?" the vendor questioned. "The pony gang, Cronies?"

"No. Someponies in lab coats. I somehow ended up here.
Then I got beaten by 3 dragons. I need help! I fear-"

"Stop talking." the vendor-pony cut in.
"You need tah leave this city. Pronto." His words pulled her in.

"This city aint nice. Nopony gives a SHIT 'bout one 'nother.
Crap goes down in thi' city every single owah, so no one bothers.

'specially if its caused by tha Flames. Them dragons. Dhey dink they own the place!
The ponies hea' are most all gang members. They know who gets aced!

You lookit ye got aced pretty badly, too, which is why no one spotted.
If'n ye aint part no gang, you get yer ass outta here. You oughta!"

The filly's stomach just turned inside out. Her ears dropped.
"W-w-what if I don't leave?" The next few words made her heart almost pop.

"If'n ye don't leave, and the Flames tried to kill you, and they sees you walkin deh streets?
Girl, Ah feel sorry fer yah. You'll be stomped on like weeds.

Scored. Aced. Eighty-sixed. Chopped up. Ruined. DEAD.
Get yer ass outta this city. Go south!" He swung his head,

and with that, the filly took off in the direction he showed,
Despite the intense, burning pain her flanks, she hadn't slowed.

Dodging obstacles, galloping past ponies, she ran.
Buildings blurred, the wind tried to stop her. Nothing stopped her, not even a traffic jam.

"South, south, SOUTH! I have to get out of this damn place!"
Legs screamed, lungs struggled, her heart was beating at an almost fatal pace.

Once she thought she was far enough south, she came to a halt,
and let her lungs catch the air they pleaded for. Her rump hit the sidewalk.

Thoughts bombarded the brain. "Am I safe? Am I out? Oh please let me be far out!"
She looked up. Some ponies gave her odd looks, some even gossiped. "I must be south...

"I have to move. NOW!" Her legs protested with a pain so great,
she yelped as she fell to the ground. Her nose felt the heat

of the sidewalk, which scarred her nose gray.
A shadow fell over her. "Hey."

Her heart skipped an important spurt.
Her eyes shot open. Her muscles shook and hurt.

Those brown feet. That voice. It sounded like steel.
She knew who it was. She looked up. "This...CANT BE REAL!"

There they were, standing like a tower.
The 3 dragons from before who stole her will power.

"Tried to escape, I see? Look guys! We got a rat on the run!"
The brown dragon laughed to his buddies, and lifted his foot. "Let's finish our fun."

The filly tried to rear backwards on her behind,
instead her head hit the ground. Her teeth did grind

against each other when the brown foot stepped on her neck.
"Help! HELP! SOMEPONY PLEASE!" as she heard her neck go KREK!

"Weah gon let our enemies know how strong we are!
Don' ever mess with the Flames! EVER!" His taunt went loud and far.

"And that no one. Ever. Escapes. From the Flames."
Bystanders gasped. This was their "Death Game".

The purple hooded dragon grabbed the filly's ears
and dragged her into the street, her eyes filled with tears.

The red mare didn't put up much of a fight.
Ponies stood by and did nothing. To her, it was a unbelievable sight.

All 3 dragons kicked, clawed, bit and burned.
The crowd gasped and whispered, but many had their heads turned.

They all knew better than to try and stop the punishment.
"Better her life than theirs," as the local saying went.

This ruthless beating would have killed any pony.
She should be dead by now! But if only

something inside her would allow her to die,
then she wouldn't be allowed to live this lie.

Her cries could be heard over the laughs and beatings.
"S-s-stop..." *punch* "...ssstoop!" *kick* Her entire body was bleeding.

"Nobody escapes the Flames!" The 3 dragons then lifted their heads
and each took a deep breath. Some bystanders suddenly fled.

A cascade of red, orange and yellow erupted from their mouths
when a black orb appeared on the filly's forehead and exploded out.

The dragons fell back and the crowd dispersed.
Screams could be heard even though no one was hurt.

All what could be seen was a cloud of dark gray
in place of the filly that would've been their prey.

"STOP IT! IVE HAD ENOUGH! IM DONE WITH THIS LIFE!"
The voice tore through the silence like crystal clear ice.

"I'm done. IM DONE BEING TORTURED LIKE A RAT!
Nopony helped me... NOPONY HELPED ME!" and with that

the red and cream filly stomped into view.
The stump that held her horn now glowed with a dark purple hue.

Never has the crowd seen eyes this cold.
This was the last time they saw her eyes of gold.

"You all took away EVERYTHING. You never helped me...
so why should anypony help you? LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!"

All what ran through her mind was revenge and payback.
The dragons froze in fear, taken aback.

One by one they were lifted into the air.
Their hands went to their necks as they gasped for air.

The other creatures around the area started to flee,
but some stood in fear, for their legs would only freeze.

"Let's see how you like it!" The crimson pony hissed.
This newfound power. For her... it was simply bliss.

She took the orange dragon, and dragged his face into the street.
Her hoof crushed his snout, flattened tongue, and disintegrated his teeth.

He struggled wildly against his former victim, tried to escape.
But her magic was far too strong, for it was fueled by hate.

The scaled creature's tail suddenly felt quite tight
just before it was ripped off and dropped into his sight.

The tail stood up straight, like an orange scaled spire.
His mangled body rose above it, higher and higher

until he was just out arms reach, to where his had body ceased.
He came down, his tail protruded from his back, his heart no longer beat.

The crimson filly turned her gazed to the white dragon, his hoodie still blue.
A deep violet line appeared from his neck to his groin where blood seeped through.

His chest split open, his organs made a bed
on the street, where he laid, his hoodie turned deep red.

The red pony rested her gaze onto her former abuse.
"Unlike you, I have a life. Too bad yours is now an excuse!"

His left eye started to bleed, it felt like it was on fire.
Unending, never ceasing, until the orb popped like a tire.

He opened his mouth to scream, he tried to reach for his head
but his tongue shredded into pieces from the filly's magic, instead.

Still airborne, he clutched his throat, barely able to breathe.
Ponies could only stare in silence. They couldn't believe

their eyes. Was this happening? Was this real?
This was a nightmare. They couldn't wake up. Every single event was completely real.

The red filly wasn't done with her retaliation.
"You hurt defenseless ponies? You fucking abomination."

The brown beast fell to the ground, gasped in precious air.
He tried to get up, but his feet were locked in place. "Now, isn't this fair?

Oh wait. I couldn't run. And what did you do? Toss me into a WALL!"
Something caught her attention. "How about a party to end this all?

I mean, it wouldn't hurt to send you out with a bang
now wouldn't it?" She brought over a balloon canister...

*CLANG*

with her magic, and turned to face her former captor one last time.
Her anger rose, she suddenly screamed. "GO GET A FUCKING LIFE!"

The nozzle illuminated to life and whipped around like a snake
and plunged into the dragon's hide before he started to shake.

It burrowed quite deep into his bowels.
The filly turned the knob, and the canister started to howl

its contents into the dragon's digestive track.
He screamed in pain and struggled to flee, but his expanding body would not allow that.

His stomach distended out like a balloon.
His legs, arms, neck, face, soon his body blew up too soon.

The "air" separated skin from muscle, and muscle from bone.
He deserved it. He deserved it! Revenge had hit home!

The filly backed away, not afraid or in fear, but instead
turned around, slowly trotted and didn't look back when blood hit her head

from the explosion behind her; the dragon no longer in pain.
Organs flew in all directions, and fell much like red rain.

Bystanders who stayed and watched or who froze from the fear
Just witnessed 3 murders. Some had shed a few tears.

Some looked at her in fear and awe
But they couldn't see her face. None of them saw

rivulets of water stream down that distorted face.
Walking away. Hurt. Victorious. Disgraced.