Taken

The wind is cold at my back, another chilling reminder of the predicament that I’ve been in since that day. I fish around in my pockets for my pack of cigarettes and, upon finding it, pull one out with freezing-cold fingers, lighting it up with the same. Sad as it is, Discord was right when he said that it was basically a never-ending pack; every time I smoke what I think is the last one, they’ve all re-filled themselves the next time I go to the pack.

This is at once a good thing and a bad thing. Good, because those cigarettes are the only thing that’s keeping me sane at this point. Bad, because they can’t be good for my health, and I’m up to about a pack a day at this point.

I don’t really care about that last point all that much, though; I’ve got much more pressing concerns on my mind. It’s been close to a week since that deranged son of a bitch tried to kill Twilight in the grocery store. She isn’t dead, I know; every once in a while, I can hear her whisper something in her coma of shock. Sometimes, it’s names: sometimes it’s Rarity, other times it’s Rainbow Dash, or Fluttershy. I have no idea what any of this means; maybe they’re names of other ponies from her world.

I’m pretty sure her magic, if that’s really what it is, is the only thing that’s keeping her alive at this point. Her wound is healing, though very slowly. I’ve tried to give her all the care she needs; I’ve even tried to apply a poultice to her wound to speed the healing. Unfortunately, it was lacking aloe, which happens to be the main healing-inducing ingredient; I just can’t seem to find any anywhere in this world. It doesn’t even seem like they have lotion here.

It’s getting colder, too.

I have Twilight bundled up in my coat, pressed up against my chest.  It slows me down some, but I don’t mind. If it can help her out at all, then fine, I’ll make those sacrifices.

There’s one other problem that’s weighing me down, too, and that’s my lack of food. Back there at the grocery store, I wasn’t able to take everything that we’d gotten, due to Twilight becoming unable to carry her portion of the burden. So I basically had to take only half of what we’d found.

I ran out of that stuff a few days ago, and I haven’t seen another grocery store since then. Right now, the only subsistence I’m getting is my cigarettes, and though they take the edge off my hunger, they’re hardly nutritious.

I curse out loud at my situation. Fuck it all, I say. And especially fuck you, Discord. You’re the whole reason why I’m in this shit to begin with, and if I had the chance, I’d-

“You’d do what?”

The voice startles me, and I look up from my constant staring at the ground. Sure enough, the bastard is flying right in front of me.

“I’d do… something…” I murmur. Truthfully, I didn’t know how I was going to complete that sentence; there’s really nothing that I can do against a being like Discord. He can use magic, and I can’t. In that aspect, he is right; he’s more powerful than anything I can ever hope to become.

Discord laughs. “You’re starting to see, aren’t you? You can’t fight what it is that I’m putting you through. You just have to accept it and go on with your life.”

My face contorts in anger. “You call this living? Are you fucking serious? I’m freezing my ass off every night, and for what? Your own amusement?”

He looks genuinely hurt.  “For my amusement? Oh my friend, you misunderstand me wholly… This is not being done for my amusement. I am deriving no pleasure from this. All this is being done so that you can see what I see in you- and what I see about you, that I don’t like.”

“Oh?” I ask. “And what might that be, exactly?”

Discord looks around, as though he’s looking to see if anyone’s eavesdropping on our conversation- like that could be possible. There’s no one around here for miles. This place is a frozen hell-hole. Finally, he replies: “I’m going to break one of my cardinal rules and let you in on a little secret. You’ve been through a lot of shit in your life, Matthew- so much so, that you find it incredibly hard to trust anybody. And that’s eventually going to kill you.”

“What do you mean? I trust Twilight…”

“Only because she saved your live, and twice at that. Up until that point, you didn’t think any higher of her than you would the average bum on the street. And I’m thinking that it’s not trust that you have in her, merely an acknowledgement of her power, and that it’s greater than yours. And while that’s all well and good… it’s not good enough. Nor will it be good enough in the end, when all is required of you.”

See, I thought he was actually starting to be truthful with me now, but I guess it was just temporary. Now, he’s just slipping back into his regular cryptic bullshit.

“Speaking of your friend, how is she?” Discord asks. “Is she healing properly?”

I can’t help but be honest, in spite of how pissed off I am at him. “Very slowly. She’s in some kind of coma, and I can’t wake her up out of it.”

Discord nods. “Not surprising. That’s entirely normal in cases like this, though it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen it happen. It’s her body’s natural reaction to a severe trauma like the injury she received. She’s letting her magic heal herself, though that’s not a very fast process.” He smiles oddly. “Though, if someone else with magic were to use it on her, they could heal that wound in a few minutes. Then, she could come out of her coma and be awake again.”

I smile wryly. “Yeah, but why would you do that? You’re the bad guy, remember?”

He laughs. “All too true- but then again, if that were truly the case, would I even have told you about being able to heal her with another source of magic?”

I think for a second. “As a matter of fact, yes, you would. And do you know why? To torment me. To give me a false hope, one that I know can never come true.”

Discord laughs gleefully. “Oh, wonderful! You’re becoming more and more cynical by the minute! I do believe this deserves a celebration. I’m going to let you in one more thing: the magic I was referring to is not mine… It’s yours.”

This throws me for a loop. “I have no magic, none like yours. I’m just a normal human.”

He shakes his head, as though becoming exasperated with me. “Do you not remember what I’ve already told you? You have a flame inside you. Access it, and you’ll find what you need to continue- and to help Twilight do the same.” He looks at his arm, as though glancing at an imaginary wristwatch. “Would you look at the time… I must be on my way. For now, farewell.”

Before I can protest, he vanishes again. Fuck him, seriously. His teasing me like that really got to me, I realize. I want to save Twilight, in some ways more than I want to save myself. She’s got so much going for back in… Equestria, was it? And me… well, if I get back home, then I’m just stuck back in Purgatory.

I realize my cigarette has long since burned all the way down to the filter, making it completely unsmokable. So, I toss the butt to the ground- what could it hurt? it’s not like I can cause a forest fire or anything- and draw out another one, firing it up.

The crisp smoke hits me like a truck, and I have no choice but to hack and cough as the smoke comes out of me. Damn, that sucked. I’m about to walk forward again, when I notice something on the ground. It looks like… blood. My blood.

Oh fuck. I just coughed up blood. This can’t be good. I look around desperately; I’ve got to find someplace to bunk down for the night. I can’t be out here in this freezing cold weather, especially when the really cold times hit. I’ve been walking for too long; it’s almost dusk.

Plus, Twilight doesn’t need to be out in the icy cold of night. She’s already endured too much; I can’t force any more upon her.

I scan the horizon for any kind of shelter. There’s something up ahead, but I can’t tell what it is. A house, maybe, or another grocery store? Either way, it’s something other than outside, so I’ll take it. I trudge on, though I can feel myself slowing down because of a lack of energy, and probably also because of the cold.

A few minutes later, I reach it. It’s a house! I almost jump for joy, but hold myself back at the last minute. I can’t risk somehow hurting Twilight. I’ll just have to settle for running as fast as my almost-numb legs can handle.

It seems forever before I reach the house, but finally I’m there. I knock on the door twice, before realizing it’s probably a futile gesture. I try the door like I did last time, and once again it’s open. I go inside.

I’m greeted by a large cardboard box with a note on it. It says simply, “Enjoy your carnal pleasures. I can’t have you dying off before I’ve been able to teach you the lesson you need to learn.” Again, it’s signed with Discord’s name.

I don’t get him… I really don’t.

The house is freezing cold, so I go to the thermostat and turn it up to a comfortable level. The heater creaks to life; maybe it hasn’t been used in a really long time. I take a bit of time to explore the house. It’s not much; a master bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a small living/dining area. There’s only one place to sleep in the whole house, and that’s a small bed in the master bedroom.

I lay Twilight there. She can have the bed; I’ll just sleep on the floor.

After I make sure she’s comfortable, I go to the kitchen. I don’t expect there to be food in the cabinets or ice box, so I’m pleasantly surprised when I find an abundant supply of frozen meat in the ice box, and a whole bunch of boxed pasta and canned vegetables in the pantry.

I’m almost crying tears of joy. I’m pretty sure, though, that if I did, they’d just freeze onto my face. Nevertheless, I’m incredibly grateful. This is going to be good for both of us.

I look around for an oven of some sort, and I find it on the opposite side of the wall that houses the ice box. I flip it on once I get to it, and by Jove, it works. Luck is just on my side, I guess-

Hold on. I’m starting to think that something isn’t right. These houses that I’ve been staying at, haven’t been lived in for quite a while, or at least that’s how they’ve looked. So how are all of these things still working: the heat in the first house, the gas and stove in this one? This couldn’t be Discord’s work… could it?

I suppose it’s possible; he did say he wanted to keep me alive as long as possible, at least until I learned my lesson… whatever the hell that’s supposed to be.

Speaking of Discord, what’s in that cardboard box that was in the front part of the house? I go there and look inside it. It’s empty… what a fucking surprise. I kick the box, mostly because I can.

The house is getting warmer; that’s a good thing. It’s about to get even warmer, too. I head to the kitchen and fish out a pan from under the sink; I fill it with water and put it on the stove to boil. While that’s going on, I get a can of peaches from the cabinet and open it up, then start munching on them as I head back to the bedroom.

Twilight is still lying on the bed, in the same state that she was before. Shit, this can’t be good. I tenderly unwrap her bandages to check on her wound; they need changing, anyways. When they’re all the way off, I check her wound out. Just like I expected, it hasn’t healed much since I last changed her bandages last night. At least the wound isn’t oozing anymore, like it was for a while. That was what really scared me; I was worried about infection setting in, and lord knows how long she would have lasted then.

She’s not from this world, I know, and thus she’s not used to the bacteria and everything that this wonderful world has to offer. I’ve seen War of the Worlds; I know what can happen in cases like that.

I re-dress the wound with what little bandaging I have left, using up the rest of it. Damn; I’ll just have to search the house a little more thoroughly, maybe see if I can find a first-aid kid somewhere. ‘Til then, though, I hear the water boiling, so I go into the kitchen and put some spaghetti on to boil. There isn’t any sauce that I can find, but that’s cool; I don’t like putting sauce on my spaghetti, anyways. I prefer eating it plain.

While that’s cooking, I go off in search of the first-aid kit. I shouldn’t be surprised when I find one, but I am a little bit nonetheless. I look inside and find a few good-sized rolls of bandage tape. That’s good; now I can keep dressing her wounds as need be.

A few minutes later, the pasta is done, and I drain it and put it onto a plate. I take the first bite, and about collapse with joy. It’s fucking delicious… nice and hot- just how I like it. I keep eating as I go back into the bedroom. I can’t help it; I don’t want to leave Twilight alone for too long, in case something happens where she needs me there beside her.

She’s got magic, yeah, but I’m pretty sure she can’t use it to defend herself while she’s in this coma.

I sit beside her, still eating and savoring that delicious pasta. I feel a twinge of guilt as I’m doing so; I don’t know what kinds of human food she can eat, but I’m pretty sure pasta would be ok with her. Which is why I feel so bad; we’d had a conversation a while back where she indicated she wanted to try some kind of pasta while we were together.

Here I am, now, eating it to my heart’s content, while she lies there, unable to see or feel anything… My heart breaks when I think about it.

I finish the pasta as quickly as I can, then set the plate off to the side and look over at Twilight. The words of Discord echo in my mind… Can I really save her with the flame that’s inside me? I don’t even know if I have a flame inside me, but I suppose it’s worth a try.

Anything to save her…

A friend of mine, a follower of witchcraft, had once told me about searching inside myself, and bringing a light to the surface in order to ward off spirits’ evil influences on me. I’m not really trying to ward anything at the moment, but I suppose it’s the same basic concept…

I close my eyes, and try to visualize the flame inside me, coming out and resting in my cupped hands. A minute passes by, and I feel nothing. I’m about to give up, when something inside whispers to me to keep going. It kind of sounds like Twilight… is she speaking to me through her magical coma? Even if not, it re-invigorates me, and I keep on concentrating.

Finally, after about five minutes of feeling nothing, I sigh and open my eyes. Wait. There it is! The flame, resting about an inch or so above the palms of my hands. I did it! I transfer it over wholly into the palm of my right hand, then almost as an automaton I lower it down towards her wound.

The dressings unwrap themselves, as though willing to release her in order to allow her to be finally healed. I touch the flame to her side, and it glows with a seething heat. I gaze on in wonder as her wound begins to stitch itself up; flesh connects to flesh, then skin to skin. Finally, the skin becomes smooth and soft, eradicating any trace that the wound was even there.

I can’t help it anymore; I’m crying now. With tears coursing down my face, I bring the flame back to my chest, and it enters back into me. It warms me, more now than it ever had before. Maybe because it’s actually been used now.

Suddenly I feel like I’m about to faint. How can this be? Did I use too much? I look at Twilight, to see if she’s awoken yet. She hasn’t…

Maybe I failed. Maybe she’s already gone on… These are the thoughts that cross my mind as I fade away, and the blackness consumes me.