I gasped. There was pain. Definitely pain. But I was just too shocked to feel its intensity. From what I could tell, it was pretty well everywhere. Wait, there was also numbness. I guess that was a good thing.

I squinted up from where I lay and glimpsed the rear legs and tail of the dragon passing overhead. The top of Aria’s head bounced into view a few times. When I caught sight of her eyes, they were filled with panic and horror.

“By the deep, your leg!” she gasped. I felt her hooves nudging at my body. “Your wing!”

I blinked to myself and started to move. When the pain flared, I gritted my teeth but kept moving to at least make an assessment of what hurt. What I saw was disturbing. The dragon had truly done a number on me. My right leg and wing were simply missing. Some icy fragments remained clinging to my fur. Sickle landed next to me having just spread a frost layer over my injured flesh. Even without her efforts, the exposed flesh was clearly frostbitten.

Aria was still moving about. Something on the ground nearby made her gasp and step back. I didn’t bother to look.

Instead, I stared at the frostbitten area. The flesh looked like it had been seared. It wasn’t bleeding. My mind was a potent mix of emotions roiling together. I had been a pony with wings for about a day. Now, a leg and wing were gone. Horror was an easy emotion to pick. If this were the real world, I would have just lost my entire right arm. And whatever my right wing had been before my apparent transformation.

There was anger. Anger at the dragon for what it had done. Anger at myself for not doing more to avoid the freezing blast. Not that I really knew what I had been doing when I still had both wings. And that led to the strongest of the emotions fighting for command of my mind; bitterness. All which I had gained in finding my wings was suddenly lost. The freedom, joy, even the thrill in what little hops I had made over gaps between the floating islands. All of that was gone, ripped away with the potential I had been looking forward to in learning to do more than glide.

It was a feeling I would never have again.

“Get up!”

Aria was screaming at me. Her eyes were wide with fear and she was trying to force me onto my hooves. I ignored her. My focus was elsewhere.

In that moment, I hated that dragon. I clenched my jaw and bared my teeth. Every muscle still in my body clenched in response as I metaphorically grasped that bitter feeling deep within myself. Risking greater blood loss, I rolled onto my side so I could see the dragon as it turned in the sky to target us once more.

Everything around me crackled with energy, yet I couldn’t glimpse a single spark. Yes, I now know that it was all inside me, but, at the time, I had no idea.

I let it out in a wordless yell. From the middle of my forehead I felt the power unleash. Whatever it was didn’t release as a simple trickle. No. Instead it burst forth with a thunderous roar which manifest itself as an intense beam of blue light and energy. The power from my skull shot towards the dragon diving straight for us.

The beam and dragon crashed together in the sky above. The dragon’s dive suddenly ended when, for a brief moment, the huge beast stopped before beating its wings to press itself against the tip of the beam and force its way forward.

I was sure there were sounds around me but I didn’t hear them. I simply pressed my remaining front hoof to the ground and forced myself up, bracing myself with my rear hooves as they rose too. Panting at the strain of keeping hold of whatever this power was within my core, I lurched my head up, forcing even more of this strange energy out through my forehead. My words were not to be denied their part in the effort and strain as I screamed at the dragon, “Go a-way!”

The strength of the beam increased along with its girth in a bulbous pulse which shot from my forehead and slammed into the dragon, stopping its gradual approach and hurling it into the distance. The clouds in its path vaporised as the beam and dragon riding it shot through, creating a beacon to be seen from the horizon in any direction.

I stood there, still panting, my eyelids drooping. The beam quickly thinned as I lost hold of the energy source. The dragon disappeared in the distant sky with a faint twinkle as the last of the beam faded from existence.

I gave a weak chuckle. “Hey, look at that. Something about me that isn’t black or white.”

All jokes aside, that was the most exhausting thing I had ever done. My legs suddenly gave out. And down I went. The ground didn’t feel so hard when I collapsed onto it again. In fact, I couldn’t feel much at all. Just the weakness which suddenly pervaded every inch of my body.

I caught a glimpse of a purple and mint coloured mane before passing out.

* * *

I slipped in and out of consciousness so much, my brain struggled to make sense of how long things took to happen. At first, I only glimpsed Aria and Sickle each time my eyes fluttered open. They both looked worried but no longer as panicked like they had been with the dragon.

Later, they were joined by two more fantastic creatures. Or, maybe I just dreamed it with my energy deprived body. The first had the head, beak and wings of an eagle while the rest of its body resembled a lion. Maybe a gryphon? The other looked even more imposing as much as fantastic. There was nothing else I could call this hulking being, other than a minotaur. My brain was swirling too much to argue otherwise.

Next time my mind brushed the world of the living, I felt myself being carried. My head and limbs hung limp and bounced with every movement, yet the arms which held me were incredibly strong. I didn’t glimpse much this time. My surroundings were too dark.

Every time after, I roused briefly only to feel that I was laying on my side. The ground beneath me was hard and cold. There were sounds around me. Nothing I immediately recognised, other than the creak of wood against wood, as more than pitiful groans. Considering my present state, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the groans were my own.

My head was pounding when I finally began to properly stir. I mumbled to myself, but wasn’t sure if anyone heard me. “Remind me…not do…again…”

Just lifting my head caused it to sway. The movement was more than enough to start swirling my brain about. My eyes bulged at the pain and I quickly squeezed them shut and clenched my teeth in a grimace. “Okay. Head still bad. Noted.”

There was a murmur nearby. My ear twitched then swivelled towards the sound. Okay. There were benefits to pony ears over human ones. They could move without aggravating my aching head.

“Monochrome?” The voice was familiar, yet softer than I remembered. “You’re…”

“Ungh,” I grunted, turning my head a little. “Aria?”

I caught a heavy sigh of relief. “You okay?”

I grunted again. “Head hurts. Body weak.”

I forced my eyes open a crack. I was ever so grateful that where I found myself was dimly lit in a pale blue. At least it wasn’t too bright for me to see. In fact, the light appeared to pulse, lighting the area a little stronger every now and again but always returning to that weak glow.

“You?”

A small movement caught my eye. I raised my head enough to get a better look, doing my best not to move too suddenly. Through the blue, I spotted the side of a pony and a vaguely familiar cutie mark on the flank pressed against a couple of evenly spaced metal bars. My brain gave a kick. It was Aria. She was looking anxiously at me.

She didn’t answer my question. She just kept staring at me. I watched her swallow heavily. “You sure you’re all right? You did fight a dragon.”

She cringed as her eyes took in other parts of my body.

“That really happened?” I mumbled. I tried to brush my fringe out of the way with a swipe from my right hoof. Nothing happened. I frowned then gently turned my head to see why. My leg was gone. Aria didn’t need to answer me. The truth was right here. It had all happened.

Still looking at where my leg had once joined at my shoulder, I asked, “Aria?”

“Yeah?” she softly called back.

I blinked slowly. “Why do I feel so tired?”

I heard her let out another sigh. I don’t doubt she thought I was going to ask about my leg. “You used a lot of magic against the dragon.”

My snooter scrunched up as I struggled to understand what she had just said. “What? What are you… What magic?”

Turning my gaze back to her, I could see her still staring at me. Well, not exactly at me. Maybe at my forehead or a little higher. I tried to turn my eyes in search of her fixation. This only caused me to turn my head up until I was staring at the ceiling.

I blinked to myself. There was a brilliant lightshow going on above me. It was clearly the source of the light in the room. Beyond a set of metal bars, I spotted some kind of deep blue crystal affixed to the ceiling. Stretching up to it was a long shaft of pale blue light. The light pulsed as it was sucked upwards and into the crystal. The other end of the light… I frowned again. It appeared to be coming from my forehead.

“Aria?” I asked, eyes fixed on the ceiling. “Why is there blue stuff coming out of my head?”

Aria took a breath to steady herself. “That’s your magic.”

I felt an eyebrow shoot up involuntarily in question. I frowned again. “Thought you called me a bat… whatever.”

“Bat pony,” Aria clarified. “I thought you were. Didn’t know your mane was hiding a horn.”

“Sooo.” My mind did its best to process what it was hearing. “I’m some kind of bat-winged unicorn?”

“Alicorn,” Aria said flatly. Well, what little I could hear of her words anyway. My head was throbbing from the thoughts now rushing through it and my body still felt so very weak.

“Don’t…” I mumbled, my head swaying a little. “Don’t know… what… is…”

My head flopped back to resting on the floor. My eyelids drooped heavily. I swear I heard Aria say something but the exact words were lost on me as I passed out.

* * *

The sound of jingling metal, like a set of large keys, rattled me from my latest sleep. I shuddered at the sound which felt like it was scraping in my ears. I took a small amount of solace in the fact that my body ached a little less and my headache had eased considerably.

I gently shook my head. It only throbbed a little and didn’t leave my head spinning. Lifting my gaze, I caught sight of Aria. She sat pensively watching as someone walked along the passage in front of the metal bars, I now found to be our cages. Still a little groggy, I caught sight of a huge grey form. It was incredibly muscular, walked on two legs and had a pair of long, pointed horns on its head. At least now I could put a bullish face to the minotaur I remembered from my deluded sleep.

Clad in little more than pants to show off his muscles, the minotaur used a gauntleted fist to haul the largest equine I had yet to see along the floor behind him. Much like the minotaur, this pony was muscular in form. Its coat was hard to determine in the light coming from my horn and, strangely, it had no mane or tail.

When the minotaur dragged the pony to the cage opposite mine, I could see several thick criss-crossing scars all around the flank of the pony. With a great heave from his arm, the minotaur hurled the pony into the cell and stood in the open door. Now that he was in front of me, I could see that the minotaur was clutching the thick handle of a whip.

A flicker of light, not unlike fire, burst into existence. The minotaur snarled, drew back his whip and struck the prone pony. I watched as the pony flinched, their body turning rigid at the pain. Even their mouth flew open but no whinny escaped their throat.

“Sit and stew about your actions, Pyrus,” the minotaur growled. “You’re lucky I need you for my greater comforts.”

The minotaur struck out with the whip again.

“Don’t,” I gurgled, watching the pony flinch once more.

The minotaur spun about at my voice, drawing back his whip. I doubted he even knew who he was aiming at when he roared at me and followed through with his whip. “Shut it!”

The whip lashed forward yet again. Instead of striking the scarred hide of the strange fallen pony, it snapped between the bars of my cage. I didn’t see the strike, but I sure felt it. Considering the intensely flaring pain to my right eye, I doubted I’d be seeing much more from it ever again.

My ears caught a high-pitched yelp of pain. It took me a few seconds to realise it was my own. I truly wasn’t used to my new voice yet.

When next I looked using my left eye, my right stung too much, I found the minotaur standing in front of my cage, glaring down on me. I swear there was steam huffing from his nostrils. He reached down, grabbed me by the throat using his gauntleted hand and pulled me so close to him I could smell his breath through the bars.

The moment his gauntlet came in contact with me, I felt my body weaken and the light of the magic being sucked from my forehead dimmed.

“How dare you make demand of me,” the minotaur seethed. “I am your owner, broken Alicorn.”

I swallowed hard. It was all I could do against the strength of his fist wrapped around my neck.

“You would’ve been such a prize had I caught you before you were injured,” said the minotaur. He nodded to Aria’s cage. “Your friend there was adamant it was done by an ice dragon.”

My eye rolled enough to spot Aria. She had moved as far to the back of her cage as the chain attached to her collar would allow. I gasped at the sight of her collar and chain. How had I missed that earlier?

“Far be it for me to call a lady a liar,” the minotaur continued, his rage easing a little as he turned me to keep looking at him. “Not since I have an Ice Dragon of my very own right over there.”

I followed his finger as he pointed to a cage at the far end of the row. There I caught sight of a white-scaled lizard of some kind. It was on the chubby side but I doubted it would be taller than me or Aria. The lizard in question was firmly held against the wall of their cage by thick metal clamps. Even their mouth was firmly clamped shut.

I felt him shake me by the neck again to regain my attention. I squinted at him as I tried to focus on breathing.

“Even without you being pristine. At least your magic can still be of use in powering my ship.” The minotaur nodded to the pony in the cage behind him. “Keep up your demands and I’ll take your tongue like his. Need your magic, not your words.”

I squirmed at the threat. The minotaur then tossed me aside and I crashed to the floor, sliding a little to the bars of Aria’s cage. I lay there, crumpled on the floor, listening to the sounds of the minotaur as he slammed and locked the cage door of the pony across from me. Then I heard his hooves clopping on the floor of the walkway before he disappeared through another door. Of course, he slammed it behind him in his anger.

I coughed a couple of times, feeling my throat relax. I don’t doubt my neck was bruised, every inch he had grasped with his fingers still felt like they were there, squeezing tight.

“He was polite when we met him,” Aria muttered. “Until he got us onboard. Then he threw us in here, slapped me in chains and put that ring on your horn.”

“Really?” I rasped, my throat still stinging. Now that he wasn’t holding me, the light of my magic increased, allowing me to see Aria more clearly.

Aria nodded, finally moving away from the back of her cage.

“Felt so weak… when he grabbed me,” I said, swallowing to ease my throat.

“That was his gauntlet,” Aria explained. “Bragged about it when he grabbed me to bring me down here. Suppresses even innate magic so you can’t hurt him.”

She eyed my forehead again. “Sort of like the ring. Said it sucks out a unicorn’s magic, enough to keep them weak but not kill them.”

She sighed and pressed her back to the bars between our cages. “Just wanted to find my sisters. Happy to be back in my home world but…”

Aria waved a hoof at the cage in general. “This—”

Her voice trailed off and she hung her head.

My head drooped. I had to agree. With all which had happened to us and now being imprisoned, we were a long way from our original purpose for being together. Aria’s sisters were back home. A place I had no idea how to reach. Not to mention, if I ever had the ability to get back home, would there be anything left of me to do so without collapsing in a bloody heap?

Also, I had magic? Something which, even if I knew how to use it to our benefit, was being sucked away to a crystal in the ceiling, apparently by a ring on a horn I didn’t previously know was attached to my head. There was nothing I could do. I was in a dark cage. One of many containing other fantastic creatures of this strange world.

Maybe I should rest more? Something I doubted would be easy after the whip strike. My right eye stung and throbbed much like my head had after the fight with the dragon. I set my head down and sighed, letting my breath form a soft whistle as I closed my left eye and tried to relax.

Author's Note

This chapter came out very differently from what I first envisioned. It was actually where Monochrome received all of her injuries and where she met Aria for the first time.

The chapter itself would've been at least two chapters originally and was called "Flying Circus". It was also a much darker concept, involving a lot more characters, which eventually morphed into what we see here.

Although greatly changed from its conceptual state, it still contains some of the most important elements from the original idea:

• Monochrome's eye injury,

• The Minotaur,

• The flying ship,

• The blue magic draining crystals,

• Sickle,

• Monochrome being used to power the ship.

Pyrus wasn't actually in the original concept. He just came into being one day and stuck around.

Although I am not happy with some of how this chapter came out, this one is not on the rewriting list as I believe doing so would do more harm to the story than good. It is nice to think on what might have been sometimes...