Life...

So fragile...

He woke up shivering, crickets chirped loudly outside, the blanket that he had fallen asleep under was gone. His heart thudded painfully in his chest, his mouth tastes like copper, his legs shook under him as he eased himself off the bed. He winced as the boards squeaked under his red coated hoof, he assumed that the bandages had been taken off at some point, as a dull ache made its way up his wounded leg. A yawn threatened to escape his maw, but he help it back with a gulp. The room smelt of rot and decay, and as his eyes focused more he noticed the blood covered beds were completely empty. His heart dropped low, a growl rumbling out from his throat. He stumbled over to the window, its glass smashed for whatever reason and peered out.

The sight was almost too much to bare.

The cobblestone streets were coated in blood, tracks of blood leading from open houses leading to the big fountain in the middle of town. In the fountain was a mass of bodies, at the very top sat a shadow cloaked in moonlight, bat-like wings extended outwards, and curved horns sat atop its head, spiraling into the sky. The fountain was overflowing with blood, flowing forth from the bodies of mares, stallions, and foals alike. The sky was encased in a frightful red hue, spreading from horizon to horizon, the clouds whirled past at impossible speeds. Pegasi could occasionally be seen in the frantic mass of moving clouds, swept up in the unnatural current.

Prisma stumbled back, his back end hitting the ground with a dull thud as he stared at the wall in horror. Jagged claw-marks were torn through the wood, a blood trail led from this room out through the open door. Maggots poured from the marks in the wall in swathes, along with other crawling and skittering insects. Prisma stood on unsteady legs after taking a second to breathe, his throat aching painfully. He began to slowly walk towards the open door, following the blood trail, occasionally coming across another broken down door and peering through. He walked down a long corridor with one door at the end leading to an open area. He checked each and every door he passed.

All of them were inhabited only by buzzing and squirming masses of insects once again, falling from holes in the ceiling. He passed a small cart that looked like it had food on it. An apple looked as if it had long since gone bad, insects swarmed the cart in waves, constant waves. The food itself all looked as if it had sat there for years untouched and covered in either blood or dust. A hole had been blasted through the door at the end of the wall, and the wood still looked charred. As he approached the end of the hall he heard a dull croak, followed by a wet splash. He slowly peeked out the door to the main room, inside sat a few couches and one big wooden table next to a fire-place. A pink unicorn stallion sat in the corner, rapidly growing pale and clawing at his bleeding throat with his hooves.

Prisma rushed out without a second thought, pulling a cloth off of the table and rushing over to try to tie it over the wound. As soon as he came within view of the stallion, the stallion shot of a burst of pale green magic, which struck Prisma in the chest without much force, but with enough to send his wounded body staggering. That magic blast looked as if it were used with the last of the unicorn's energy, as he slumped over as the shot hit Prisma, his eyes glazing over as he fell. Prisma sat down hard once again, tears welling up in his eyes, before his threw the rag down and rushed out the open front door, terror beginning to take hold of his mind. Rage made its presence known, he spotted the fountain and the creature who sat atop the throne of bodies.

A roar ripped from Prisma's maw, glass breaking in some of the closer houses. The creature responded by tilting its shadowed head and letting an unholy laugh out. It was like a mad cackling, the sound of somepony truly losing their mind. Prisma rushed the throne and spread his wings, launching from the ground with a single flap of his wings. Gravity distorted, the flap of his wings now silent in the open air as he fell upwards. He smashed into a cloud with the force of a wagon, several cracks and creaks sounded from Prisma's body, a groan let his now bleeding mouth, a tooth seemed to have come loose at some point.

And just like that, gravity returned, Prisma's body once again smashing against the ground at full force, this time he definitely felt a few ribs snap. He rose on shakey legs, the shadowed creature slowly trotting forward, its wings extended, and its head held high. The creatures left hoof swung outwards, smashing against the right side of Prisma's face, his jaw cracking. Another hoof came from below, sending him stumbling backwards as the contents of his stomach flung free from his mouth. He sputtered and spat, lungs heaving for air as he croaked, his legs were swept out from under him and his head hit the ground with and audible "Crack!".

His eyes hazily noticed the creature moving its back legs closer to Prisma's slumped body. The creature reared back, tensing its legs as much as it could, before lashing both back legs out to strike Prisma's chest with the force of a train. Prisma was sent spiraling through the air, the hooves had pierced his body, smashing against his insides and causing most of his bones to shatter. He crashed into the general store at the front of town, smashing through the jagged glass window and cutting up his body as he went through. His eyes felt heavy and his head swam as he tried to rise to his hooves. His left fore-hoof had broken at the fetlock, the bone protruding at an odd angle through his skin, while his right fore-hoof had been smashed inwards from the impact of hitting the cloud earlier.

A pitiful cry of pain left his mouth as his eyelids fluttered closed again.

"Prisma!" Greenheart called his name again, a worried look on his face. The oversized pony had curled up into a ball by the time Greenheart had gotten back from his picnic with the foals. The monster in question was shaking like a leaf in the wind, his wings wrapped around his body and his tail held close to his chest. Greenheart reached out to gently rub the creatures left shoulder, thinking that his wounded hoof was acting up again.

Greenheart had been taking care of Prisma for a few days now, having made sure that he stayed off his wounded hoof and stayed in bed. He had grown quite close to the foals as of recently, and even had a growing sense of pride in his action of saving a wounded foal. He had helped out the builders a few times, using his magic to levitate a few of the larger piles of lumber. Though one thing really worried Greenheart, and that was Prisma's nightmares. He would have a reoccurring dream every few days, the same dream, but with slight differences and discrepancies. Like the pony in the front room would always be different, and the insects would sometimes change species or disappear entirely.

After a few seconds of gently tapping him with his hoof, he gave the shaking monster a small shove, shouting his name in his quivering ears. "PRISMA!"

The monster woke up with a start, jumping out of the bed and almost barreling over Greenheart. Before Greeheart could even comprehend what was going on, Prisma had him held in his front hooves, held close to his barrel. Greenheart returned the affections when he recovered from the shock, wrapping his hooves around Prisma's neck.

"It was me this time, wasn't it?" Greenheart gently asked, using his magic to rub slow circles into Prisma's back.

A small nod was all that came as an answer, the hold on Greenheart's body tightening ever so slightly and a small sob escaping the monster.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long, had to do some stuff.

Hope you enjoyed, let me know if anything's messed up.

Stay safe.