~~~~ Dr. Doppler~~~~
"Paperwork: Why is it always paperwork?" I said to myself as I had just started filling out the paperwork from today's incident. I mean, how was I going to write it? Not every day does a human appear out of nowhere, let alone in the middle of Celestia's daily royal court.
I straightened my wings, allowing them to stretch before placing them back onto my side. My mind could not clear itself of what had happened today and how bad the human looked. Closing my eyes, I could still see him lying on the pile of papers.
As I thought about it, it only made things worse. Usually, when a human appears, they appear alive, not like something akin to freezer burn with a metal toothpick inside. From what I heard from some of the nobles, the weirdest part was that he looked happy as he drew his last breath.
I know that freezing is not as painful as burning to death, but at least burring to death is quicker, just the thought of knowing you're going to die. I couldn't think about it for long; It would have driven me crazy.
I had to get the paperwork done, or the head of staff would be on my plot. Unfortunately, I heard my door opening, a white aura around the handle, and one of the worst ponies I could have seen stepped in. A white unicorn male, Dr. Term
"I hear you got stuck with a unique case, Doppler. It's not every day a human dies in the middle of the royal court," said Term, his grey eyes filled with humor and curiosity. I looked up at him, annoyed that he could be enjoying this.
"I don't see what the big deal is. It is just a human, a dead human at that." I said, emphasizing my annoyance on the matter. Looking at Term, I could see a questioning look on his face, as if he were shocked at what I had said.
"Don't see the big deal. Do you not realize that this is a human? We are talking about one of the rarest species in all of Equestria. I mean, they aren't even native to this world. They show up out of nowhere. Do you even know how many are here? Term said. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull.
"Last I heard, it was about 1000 humans," I said, looking at Term. Looking back down at my paperwork, I could hear him begin to talk again, annoying me as he did.
"That's correct. Do you know how many ponies there are in Equestria? Almost 2.5 billion, which means that for every one human, there are at least 2.5 million ponies... they are nobility when they arrive," Term said as he slammed his hoofs on my desk, causing me to jump slightly.
"Okay, I get it. You're excited, but he is dead, no longer breathing; his soul left him, and now all there is a slowly decaying corpse in the morgue. What would you want me to do with that? I know I want to get my paperwork done as soon as possible," I asked angrily, my ear twitching. Term rolled his eyes as he began to speak.
"Come down to the morgue with me and see if Embalmer has found anything unique about his physiology or anything with that knife they found in him. It would help you with your paperwork if Embalmer found anything." Term said, trying his best to keep a straight face.
"Fine, but only if it will help with my paperwork," I said, placing my quill beside my paper. I slowly stood up from my seat, shaking the numbness off my legs from sitting too long before I walked around my desk right behind Term.
"Lead the way," I said as Term smiled and began trotting through my open door and down the hall. I followed quickly behind him, not wanting him to get there before me.
"Ugh, why does your office have to be so far away from the morgue?" Term said; I chuckled in response.
"Oh, hush now, you big foal; we'll be there any second now, so stop your complaining," I said as we turned the corner and saw the morgue at the end of the hall. Clearing my thoughts, I looked at Term.
"I told you, but I'm laying out some ground rules before we enter. First, neither one of us will touch the body, only Embalmer. Second, we are there to get more information for my paperwork; anything else is not as important. Got it?" I said, looking at Term.
"Fine, I got it, but you're no fun," Term said, lowering his head as he spoke.
Looking back at the door, I saw Term's white aura on the handle as the door slowly opened, and we were both hit with a blast of frigid air.
The air in the morgue was colder than usual, about 10 degrees colder than normal. I looked to the middle of the room and saw Embalmer with the human cut open down the middle. Embalmer was too focused on the inside of the human to notice that we had entered, so I decided to gain her attention.
"You know, you really should figure out what is going on with the temperature in the room. It feels like I am going to become an icicle," I said with a cheeky grin.
I heard a startled noise coming from Embalmer's direction. The light brown unicorn mare lifted her head, her face covered in a mask and goggles, and placed her scalpel into a metal tray next to the human. She stepped away from the human as a light brown aura appeared on her mask and goggles, pulling them to the side.
"For Celestia's sake, you nearly gave me a heart attack. Doppler, Term, what can I help you with today?" Embalmer said, looking at me. As I was about to speak, Term cut me off.
"My goodness, why is it so cold here today?" Term said as a bit of mist left his mouth. Wondering the same thing, I waited for Embalmer to respond.
"I have no idea. It started about an hour after the human arrived. I think the frost enchantment in the room might need to be redone, but it is so hard to find any pony that is good with ice magic nowadays. We have to get this room reenchanted at least once a month," Embalmer said as Term to speak again.
"Well, I know that pure elemental magic is a rare study for most unicorns due to its difficulty and unpredictability regarding the chosen element." Term said before, both began looking at me, probably looking for the opinion of a pegasus.
"Don't look at me. While we have basic control over the weather, we move things along quicker than they would have. The only ice magic that tends to be used nowadays is lowering the ambient temperature, allowing the water in rain clouds to freeze, and come down as snow," I said as Embalmer's eyes lit up at the words coming out of my mouth.
"Could a pegasus do it on a smaller scale, like a small morgue scale?" Embalmer asked, looking at me, her eyes widening at the possible solution to her problem. Shaking my head, I responded.
"Unfortunately, no, that kind of magic would not work on a scale this small. Also, it is meant for the weather, so it would not be as potent here." I said, causing Embalmer to sigh in defeat before returning her gaze to myself and Term.
"I know you two didn't come here to discuss ice magic, and I have a good guess on why you made your way down here," Embalmer said as she turned her head back to the human body lying in the middle of the room. I could see the human's exposed ribs as he lay there.
"Were you able to find anything out of the normal while you were poking around in there?" I asked while pointing to the human. Embalmer turned to the human body and began to speak.
"I found a few things that stood out to me," Embalmer said as her horn started to glow. She picked the scalpel up in her magic and pointed it at the human's bare skin as she began to speak again.
"For the most part, he died of hypothermia. As you can see, his skin is abnormally pale, almost as white as fresh snow. Then you have his extremities." Embalmer said as she moved her scalpel from the human's bare white skin to the almost pitch-black hands.
"As you can see, his hands and feet no longer match the same color as his body, which I could only assume to be frostbite as it matches most of the characteristics, other than the lack of blisters and the speed at which it turned black," Embalmer said as she moved the scalpel down to his feet. Before she could continue, Term began to speak.
"The lack of blisters could be because he is a human who knows how the cold affects them and why the speed of the skin change on his hands would be important?" Term said, looking at the human's hands.
"From what I can determine from a past unlucky human that went through something similar with our weather that lived was that blisters are common, and the blacking of the skin takes around ten days on a live human, and he took less than six hours, and he is dead," Embalmer said as the scalpel floated into the air. When a thought came to my mind
"Could it be possible that whatever magic brought him here could have accelerated the frostbite?" I asked Embalmer as she turned to look at me.
"It is possible, but I have no idea now as his body has not been scanned for any magical residue, and the specialist from Manehattan won't be here till tomorrow. But back to the body," Embalmer said as she pointed the side of the human's head.
"As you can see on the right side of his head, there appears to be some bruising akin to blunt force trauma. Whoever did this to him had him dazed for who knows how long," Embalmer said as Term interrupted her.
"Why would you say that someone did this to him?" Term asked with a questioning look on his face. Embalmer moved the scalpel down to his right leg to where a gaping hole was.
"As you can see right here, there is a stab wound on his right leg. Looking at it, he was stabbed by someone else. By the angle and depth, I found the knife in his leg." Embalmer said as she moved her scalpel above the gaping hole in the human's leg.
"So somepony tried to murder him by dazing him and then stabbing him in the leg?" Term asked, a look of horror on his face.
"Not exactly; from what I could tell, the human was able to slow the bleeding but not stop it and was able to walk a decent distance with the knife in his leg, wanting to survive, but ultimately, the blood loss and the quick build-up of hypothermia his what did him in," Embalmer said as she lowered the scalpel back down to the metal tray.
"Dear Celestia, that sounds like a terrible way to go out," I said, turning to look at the human again as Embalmer started speaking again.
"From what I can tell, due to the hypothermia and the shock from the blood loss, he was more than likely out of his mind, hallucinating for a decent amount of time before dying," Embalmer said.
I thought that was probably what the nobles said: he smiled when he died. The poor human perhaps saw something that made him happy one final time. My train of thought was interrupted by term as he began to ask another question.
"Why is his cut down the middle, and what is that golden pendent around the human's neck?" term asked, looking at Embalmer for a reply.
"I had to check for any damage to his organs. As for the pendant, I tried to remove it, but it would not budge. No matter what I did to it, it would not move; I was able to get a picture of it though," Embalmer said, a smile slowly building on Terms face as his horn started to glow and an aura appeared around the pendant.
"Here, let me try," Term said as he tried to lift the pendant off the Human's head, but the pendant would not budge. I turned my gaze, Looking angrily at Term.
"What did I tell you? We are here to ask questions, not touch. Now let go of the damn human's pendant," I yelled at term as his horn stopped glowing and the pendant fell onto the human's neck. Term quickly looked to the ground, and a look of enlargement appeared on his face.
"Is there anything else I can help you two with today?" Embalmer asked as she approached a counter with two drawers on each side. I cleared my voice, shaking the anger I had used on Term off.
"Could I get a copy of your findings and the photo you took of the pendent for my paperwork?" I asked Embalmer as she opened the drawer. Sighing, she responded.
"Yes, that should only take a few minutes. If you would like to wait a moment, I will get that for you," Embalmer said as she looked through the drawer for her paperwork when I heard Term behind us. Not wanting to look at him, he began to speak.
"So, what did you do with the items found on the human?" Term asked Embalmer as she continued to look through the drawers.
"I put his clothing, his bag, and the knife in a bag and placed that bag in the cabinet in the corner of the room. A guard should be coming to grab it any moment now to investigate the matter. Now, would you two be able to help me? I seem to have misplaced the human's file," Embalmer said as she continued to look.
Walking over, Term and I assisted Embalmer in searching for the human's file. We searched for minutes before Term interrupted the nice silence. Sighing loudly, he began to speak.
"Sweat, Celestia. How hard is it to find a report?" Term sighed, causing Embalmer to let out a light laugh. I chose to ignore him.
As we were looking, I could have sworn I heard movement behind us, but I did not think of it as it could have been the guard that Embalmer had said was coming. As I heard the cabinet door open, I realized I had not heard the door to the morgue open.
I looked over to Embalmer and Term and saw they had also stopped searching; looking at each other, we all nodded and began to turn around to the sound of the noise.
~~~~Jack~~~~
Everything was cold. I couldn't feel the ground under me; I felt weightless like I was in the vacuum of space. I tried to open my eyes, but all I could see was blackness when I did. It was emptiness; no, it was more than emptiness. It was nothingness.
As I looked down, I could see my body; I was naked. Quickly, I moved my hands to try and cover my decency. I could feel the blood rushing to my face when I finally remembered what had happened to me.
I could feel the blood leave my face as it settled in the pit of my stomach. I had died. I wanted to vomit, but the feeling eluded me. Looking around, I wanted to know where I was.
I had heard different interpretations of the afterlife, but most sounded pleasant, overly warm, or just nothingness, no continuation, no more thinking, just nothing. But only some were true, as I was still thinking, just floating through nothing. I had to say something; maybe someone would hear me.
"Hello, can anyone hear me?" I yelled into the void, but I was only met with silence. I was alone in the dark, floating.
As I floated through the void, I could only think of what had happened to me. My deepest thoughts were forced to relive my death and the moment leading up to it. Who was that man? What did he promise my "friends," and what did he mean I had to take responsibility for my family's actions?
Could he have meant my father? I barely knew my father. He died when I was four, but as far as my mother had told me, he was a good man who brought the best out in most. If it were my father, what could he have done that could have led to this? To that forest, to that man, to that unbearable cold, to my death.
As I continued to think, something caught my eye. It was the golden pendant that Mom had given me. I don't know why I didn't notice it beforehand, probably because I was too flustered being naked. As I took the pendant in my hand, my vision was engulfed in whiteness.
As the whiteness faded, my heart sank to its lowest point. I was back in the forest. The snow still covered the ground, and the trees blocked all the littlest of light that could squeeze past.
Looking down, I could see that I was still naked, but what was weird was that I could feel the wind and the snow, but I couldn't feel the cold around me. It was like I was standing in a firm, wet flour. Not wanting to think about it, I looked around for anything that would catch my eye, and as I turned around, I saw something.
A body. As I walked closer, the sound of snow crunching under my feet, the body became clearer and more recognizable. I was only five feet away when I realized the body was me. Walking ever closer, I arrived at the dead version of me.
Crouching down, I looked myself over. I looked awful. I could see how pale I was; I was almost as white as the snow around my body. Looking at my leg, I could see the knife impaled in my leg. Lastly, I could see I was smiling, and as I thought about why, I remembered the last thing I saw—my mother when the silence of the wind was broken.
"Unfair, is it not?" a male voice said behind me.
Quickly turning around, I saw a pale man who appeared to be in his late forties. He was dressed in a black suit with a red tie. His hair stood out the most; it was pitch black, but occasionally, it would twinkle like a stair in the midnight sky. As I stood there, only one thought came to my mind.
"Who are you?" I asked, looking up at the man as I crouched on the ground next to me. Looking down at me, the man smiled.
"I am Aurora. And I am here to offer you a deal, Jack," Aurora said, looking at me. I was surprised he knew my name.
"How do you know my name? And what deal could you want to make?" I asked, looking at Aurora.
"I Have been watching you for a long time, Jack, and I must say what happened to you was not right. It should have never happened, so I am here to offer you a second chance." Aurora said, the smile leaving his face. He looked at me for a response.
"Wait, wha…" I said as my mouth hung open. Was what he was saying there? Could he really be offering me another chance at life? I was so lost in thought that I barely heard him chuckle.
"Yes, Jack, I can return your soul to your body," Aurora said. I could feel a smile form across my face, and I could live again. I wouldn't be trapped here with my dead body frozen in the woods. But before I could continue celebrating, Aurora spoke.
"I must warn you. Your body will still be, for the most part, dead. I can send the soul back, but there is little I can do to bring your body back to life." Aurora said the words, shocking me as he spoke them.
What could he mean he couldn't bring my body back to life? What would happen if I said yes? Would I be in the body of a corpse that would just rot away slowly? What would happen if I said no?
"What do you mean you can't bring my body back? If I said yes, I won't live long. I would just rot away until there was nothing left of me," I said, looking at Aurora.
"I can promise you that you won't rot away, decay, or even smell of death," Aurora said, shifting his weight as the snow crunched beneath him.
"How can you promise me all that that's not how reality works! Dead things rot and decay. It is how things work, and if you didn't realize already, I'm dead!" I yelled at Aurora as tears began to form in my eyes.
Aurora pulled what looked like a handkerchief out of his suit pocket and held it in his hand. A bright green light appeared around the handkerchief, which began to float through the air before it finally stopped in front of my face.
The handkerchief floated before me like it was being suspended on a string. It took me a moment to realize that Aurora wanted me to take it. He probably saw the tears forming in my eyes.
As I took the handkerchief in my hand, the green light vanished, and the handkerchief had weight again, falling to the side of my hand. I brought the handkerchief to my eyes, wiping the tears away.
"Magic, my dear boy, it is everywhere around us, and I can use my magic to ensure you do not decay or rot away. I can make it so your body will repair itself as long as your soul still lives. But still, there are limitations to my magic," Aurora said.
Was what he said true? Was magic really real? I had just seen it with my own eyes, but if what he said was true, why would there be limitations to magic?
"What do you mean by limitations?" I asked as I finished with the handkerchief, holding it at my side. Aurora looked down at the snow between us as he spoke.
"My magic can only repair what is there. If your arm vanishes, it is gone; whether it is burned to ash or vaporized away, it won't return. But it can be repaired as long as the basic outline is there." Aurora said.
"And if I say no," I asked, wondering what would happen if I refused the offer.
"Well, if you refuse, you move on to an afterlife. Personally, I don't know, which I have never been." Aurora said, looking back at me, trying to read my face. But before I could answer, I had two more questions.
"Are there any side effects to placing a soul back into its body? Will I have a hard time moving my body? Will I look different?" I asked Aurora. Looking at Aurora's face, I saw he thought about my questions before speaking.
"I have no idea what will happen to you when I place your soul into your body. You could look the same as when you died or have a different hair color. For all I know, you could even start growing scales and breathing fire. All I know is that your soul is every soul's unique." Aurora said.
As I considered what I had heard from Aurora, I wondered if I should. I remembered my options, and my mind drifted to my mother. And that is when I realized. The man who killed me said something about my family. Did that mean he was also after Mom, or was he just after me? God, I was so selfish about me that I forgot my mother.
I turned to look at the man who had been watching me. I looked at Aurora, and I saw that he had a look of concern on his face. He had to know if my mother was all right or safe.
"Aurora, I have one final question before I decide: who was the man that got me killed, and is he after my mother?" I asked, panicking about my mother. Aurora sighed as he spoke.
"I have little knowledge of the man that murdered you. He hides his tracks well. All I know is that you were his only target. Your mother seems to be fine at the moment. But I suspect that will change when she hears of you and your friend's disappearance in the coming week." Aurora said his voice was light but heavy, like a ton of feathers.
I was glad to hear that my mother was safe, but what did he mean about me and my "friends" disappearing? They drove away; they didn't disappear. And last I knew, I died five minutes away from town. I knew it wouldn't be long before a search party found my body.
"What do you mean that we disappeared 'cause my body should still be in the forest and my "friends" dove away with the man? Why would you think they disappeared?" I asked Aurora.
"I do not know where you're the man and your friends are. All I know is that they are no longer in your world. As for you, all I know is that when you died, your body ended up in another world to which I do not know." Aurora said, his words cutting deep.
What did he mean by saying that my body was in a different world? Was it that bright light I saw when I took my last breath? Where did the others go? Where was my body? There were so many questions for a man who could answer none. So many questions, so few answers. But I did have an answer to the question that was before me.
"I'll do it. I want to go back." I said, looking at Aurora, a smile appearing on his face.
"Excellent, my dear boy, now this shouldn't take too long," Aurora said, his voice starting to crack, clapping his hands together.
Aurora's hand began to glow the same green as the handkerchief. He pointed the palms of his hands to me, and the same green glow surrounded my body. I felt weightless, like when I arrived. I looked down to see that my body was gone, replaced with what appeared to be a light blue orb, something like a wisp from folklore.
Looking back at Aurora, I could see that he was looking at the ground as the light from his hand glowed ever brighter. Looking closer, I could see teardrops falling from his face. Why was he crying? Was he in pain? Looking slightly past Aurora, I could see the world start fading into the emptiness that it was before.
Only Aurora and I remained floating in nothingness when the world finally faded. Aurora looked different and more disheveled. The suit he had been wearing was replaced with a grey shirt and jeans. If I hadn't known any better, I would think he had put up an act when talking to me.
"Please stay safe and enjoy your new life. I will always be watching my …" Aurora said, his voice still cracking under his breath. It did not sound the same as it had beforehand but sounded familiar, although I couldn't place my nonexistent figure on it.
I was blasted away from Aurora at a fast speed. The last thing I saw from him was him on his knees, holding his face as his form slowly faded away.
I flew through the nothingness of the void for what felt like hours; I could only watch as close in the distance would appear and fade before I was blinded by so many colors and lights all webbing around each other while as quickly as they arrived, it faded.
My spirit orb slowed down as a new world formed before me. It looked quite different than anything I had ever seen, with so much color as the landscape changed and shifted before me. As I flew, my vision landed where I assumed I was going.
It looked like a thin but tall mountain, its peak above the clouds. As I flew closer, I saw that a castle and a small city hung off the mountain, its color-drenched in the background of the setting sun behind it.
Looking beneath the castle, I saw a large forest with a river flowing through it. Next to the forest was a small town that looked cozy. Finally, my vision faded as I neared the mountain city, and all I was left with was a cold feeling.
I felt my body slowly waking up, gathering my strength. I felt numb, like a full-body experience of an arm falling asleep. It felt weird; I couldn't move my body, no matter how hard I tried.
I could hear voices around me; I couldn't tell how many there were. My hearing and vision were only starting to come back. This was good because Aurora did not say how long it would take to return. Surely, it meant my other senses would soon follow, if not as slowly behind them.
I felt a pull on my neck while waiting for my body to regain itself. My neck and head were pulled into the air but were let go quickly as I heard a voice yelling louder than the other had been. I could only make out a few words.
"What … you… questions… go … pendant," an older-sounding voice said, anger flaring in his voice. I could only hear snips of what they were saying, but at least I could understand them without a language barrier.
As I lay there waiting for my body to awaken, I could hear more and more of what the voices in the room were saying. As the voices spoke, I heard a woman say something that piqued my interest.
"... clothing, his bag, and … in a bag and placed that bag in the … in the corner of the room. A … should be coming to grab it any … now for their … into the matter. Now, would you … be able to help me? I seem to have misplaced … file." The woman's voice said.
As the woman stopped talking, I opened my eyes. Everything was blurry initially but soon cleared as I stared at the ceiling. As I lay staring, the numbness that had plagued my body started to fade away. I could feel the tips of my fingers again and the back of my arms.
Slowly and shakily, I tried to raise my hands to look at them. It took me a moment to do so, but I nearly gasped in surprise when I did. My hands were pitch black, like I had dipped them in black paint, and my arms were as white as freshly fallen snow. Aurora said I might look different, but this was new. I slowly raised my head to try to see the rest of my body, but what I saw made me feel numb again.
I was cut down the middle. I could see my ribs exposed to the air. I looked like a frog on a dissection table. As I looked, I realized that I was not in any pain. My hands slowly made their way up, and I began to rub the exposed ribs. It was a weird feeling as my fingers slid across the ribs. It wasn't painful, just weird,
Looking past my ribs, I could see a few organs. My lungs expanded with each breath, but they looked slower. I then saw my heart. Looking at it, I could tell it was not beating; it lay still and motionless, but what happened next surprised me.
The skin, so precisely peeled apart, slowly began to fuse back together like someone was sipping me up like a jacket. The inside of my chest felt warm for a few seconds after my chest was sealed. As I ran my hand over my chest, I noticed that there wasn't even a scar. It was like it was never there, to begin with.
I slowly raised the upper part of my body and looked at the rest of me. I was still as white as snow, save for my feet, which matched the color of my hands. Looking at my leg, I could see the stab wound from where the knife had punctured me, leaving nothing but a hole in my skin. I heard the shuffling of paperwork next to me, and what I saw was surprising.
I was looking at three colorful ponies. One was white, and something resembling a horn stuck out of its head. Looking to his right, a second pony was there. This one was dark blue with wings that hung on his sides. The last was brown with a horn like the first, although smaller than the other two.
I wonder what they were doing. They appeared to be looking through cabinets, trying to find something, when I heard the white sigh in anger.
"Sweat, Celestia. How hard is it to find a report?" the white unicorn spoke. Causing a feminine chuckle from the brown unicorn.
I could not believe it, talking ponies and ones from mythology, no less, standing before me. After what felt like minutes, I turned my gaze from the three ponies and began to look around the room. I was in a morgue on what appeared to be an autopsy table. That would have explained the cut in my chest, but why, if this was a morgue, why wasn't it cold? It felt more average than anything.
I continued to look around the room before my gaze leaned to the corner. It appeared to be another cabinet, only larger than the others. As I looked at it, I remembered what was said about items being placed in a cabinet in the corner of the room. I believe my clothing and bag had been placed there.
I slowly moved my legs off of the autopsy table and gently lowered my legs to the ground. I tried to apply weight to my legs, but they slightly wobbled, not having been in use for how long I was dead.
Slowly, my legs stopped wobbling, and I could support my weight. But with every step, I could feel the hole in my right leg. Looking at it, I could see it was still there. It hadn't healed like the hole in my chest had, maybe because I got it when I was still alive. I would have to worry about it later; I had to get my stuff right now.
I made my way to the cabinet. It was slightly smaller than I was. Upon opening it, I saw a clear bag with what appeared to be my clothing, bag, and something else. I grabbed the bag, feeling the contents inside. I closed the cabinet, turning around to see all three ponies staring at me, each with a different expression.
"Uh… hello," I said, fear filling my voice as I looked at the three ponies before me.
The brown unicorn screamed as she fainted, falling to the ground hard. The blue pegasus looked at the brown unicorn and then me. Fear filling his eyes, he grabbed the unconscious unicorn and began to speak.
"Term Follow me!" The blue pegasus yelled as he and the brown unicorn flew through the doors at the room's entrance. The white unicorn ran quickly behind them, leaving me alone in the room.
I did not expect that reaction, but about 10 minutes ago, I was a dissected corpse; I would have had the same reaction. Heck, I've seen horror movies before where a corpse comes back from the dead and attacks. I don't blame them for running; it was probably scary as hell.
I was alone in the room, looking down at the bag. I began to look through it, and it held my clothing that I had died in the right pant leg covered in dried blood. When I opened my bag, from a glance, it did not look like anyone had touched the inside of it.
As I set my clothing and bag on the table where I had been lying, I could feel one last item in the bag. Looking at the bottom of the plastic bag, I saw the knife, the same knife used to stab me, the same knife that the man had used to kill me.
Looking at the bottom of the bag, I felt nothing but rage and hate. My body shook at the sight of it. The thing used to kill me!
As I stared at the knife, I felt a coldness in my hand that I had never felt before. I pulled my view from the knife to see that the plastic bag had nearly been covered in ice. I dropped the bag in shock, and as it fell to the ground, it shattered, allowing ice shards and the knife to cover the ground.
"What the fuck!" I said to myself as my body continued to shake at what had happened before looking down and back at my hands, only to realize that I was still naked.
Panicking, I grabbed my clothing and placed it on myself. Luckily, it did not turn to ice. Turning my attention back to the knife. I had a war with myself, whether to take it or leave it. I thought for a long moment when I heard a noise outside the door. Looking down, thinking "fuck it" to myself. I grabbed the knife quickly, placing it in my pocket before I went to check the noise.
As I made my way to the door. I could hear the noise from outside. It sounded like it was coming from the right. I opened the door and looked down the right hallway, seeing a group of armor-clad ponies running in my direction.
I did not know their intention; they were most likely guards at the castle I saw on my way here, which meant I was probably in the castle as well. Looking in the other direction, I saw the hall was empty. I did not know what these guards wanted from me.
Panic set over me. I didn't know if they wanted to capture and dissect me again. Maybe they wanted to keep me in a cage to experiment on me. Or put me back to rest; not wanting to find out, I ran in the other direction down the empty hall. As I was halfway down the hall, I heard one of the guards yell.
"Stop!" a gruff male voice yelled at me. But I was no longer listening. Panic had fully set in, and I continued to run.
I had made it to the end of the hall when I felt a pull on my leg. Looking down, I could see a light orange aura around my left pants leg. I was slowly being pulled towards the group of ponies. Looking at the group, I saw they had stopped running and were waiting next to a unicorn with its horn glowing the same color as the aura around my leg.
"No, no, no, "I said to myself as I was dragged closer and closer to the ponies.
Looking at my leg, I waved my hand through the aura, frantically trying to find a way out. I moved my hand through the aura, which felt like thicker water. When I was about ten feet from the crowd of armored ponies. I almost gave up when I felt the coldness in my hand come back.
Not thinking, I passed my hand through the Aura, causing it to freeze, stopping the pull on me. Looking at the group of ponies, I saw that the unicorn had fallen backward into the group. Looking back at my leg, there was a light orange ice shackle around it.
"What the?" One of the guards spoke, looking at the unicorn.
Not one to waste my chance, I got back on my feet and continued my escape from the guards. It wasn't long before I heard what sounded like hooves behind me.
The guards continued to chase me through what looked like a hospital, but at the moment, I wasn't sightseeing; I was running for my life... un-life. As I ran, I saw new ponies appear in the way; some had horns, some had wings, and some had neither, and as I ran, they would either move out of the way for the chase or quickly hide in a side room.
Every once in a moment, I would hear one of the guards tell me to stop or that I was making it worse for myself, but I was too panicked to listen or respond. I had dug my hole deeper, and if I could, I would not be the one buried in it.
As I ran through the hallways, dodging ponies that got in my way and the guards trying to catch me, I finally saw an exit at the end of the hall. I didn't want to waste my opportunity, so I bolted for it, slamming my way through.
I was blinded by sunlight shining through windows just outside the door. Looking around, I saw that the décor had changed. It was no longer a hospital; it looked much more formal, but I did not have time to take in the story. I was still being chased.
I turned left and continued to run down this new set of hallways, my bare feet smacking on the glossy floor as I ran. It wasn't long after I heard the doors to the hospital barge open, and the group of guards that had been chasing me resumed their pursuit.
I continued to run from the guards as more showed up and continued to give chase. Looking back, I saw that around twenty ponies were chasing me. At that point, I knew the ass-whooping I would get if I were caught would be legendary. As I thought, one of the guards started to yell at the others.
"It's heading to the throne room. Protect the princesses," a female guard said as she flew through the air behind me, followed by another guard speaking.
"This is your last chance to stop peacefully, human!" a guard yelled.
I was still panicking, but I knew I had to respond. Maybe if they heard me, they would stop chasing me.
"Sorry, no, can do. I have no idea what you all plan to do to me. For all I know, you all will dissect or experiment on me," I yelled.
"We mean you no harm," another guard yelled. I Turned my head to look at the guards.
"If you meant me no harm, then wh…" was all I could say as I tripped and began to tumble.
I had not been looking where I was going, and a female pony had walked out from behind a corner and had stopped, frozen in fear. We tumbled for a moment before I heard a crash, and I felt sunlight on me, a sharp pain in my hand, and weight on my leg.
Looking at my hand, I saw that it was impaled on a sharp piece of glass. Looking down, I saw a light blue pony hanging onto my leg. She did not have a horn or wings and was dressed in what looked like a housekeeper's outfit.
"d-d-don't let go," she said. I could hear fear in her voice as she clenched my leg even harder.
Looking at my hand, I could see the glass starting to break. I knew the glass would break soon, and we would fall if nothing could be done. Looking at my hands, I tried to make that coldness come back to my impaled hand. Maybe if I froze the glass, it would stop breaking, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't freeze the glass. Looking down at the pony, I knew I had to do something. I thought for a moment before an idea popped into my mind.
"Trust me," I said as I grabbed the pony with my non-impaled hand.
The pony fought for a second before quickly giving up. I placed her on my arm. I could feel her shaking as I prepared myself, knowing I only had one chance to save her.
I began to swing back and forth, gaining momentum as I heard the glass continue to break with each swing of my body. With one final heave, I threw the pony through the window, hearing a crash and multiple groans when I did.
I didn't have a chance to celebrate what I had done when the glass finally broke from my hand. I could feel the pull of gravity on me as I started to fall.
"Fucking hell!" I yelled as it fell through the air.
Everything was in slow motion. Looking up, I saw the pegasus that had yelled about princesses trying to fly, but her right wing looked bent like it had been injured; probably, when I threw the pony through the window, it got her. It looked like she was trying to fly to me, but she couldn't control herself and barely hovered in place. A grey aura surrounded her as she was pulled back through the window.
Turning my gaze, I looked towards the approaching ground. I could hear so many thoughts in my head; they were overwhelming. Finally, I saw stars in my vision, and whiteness took over. I began to faint. The last thing I heard was trees snapping.