//------------------------------// // Changes // Story: Apex Predator // by DarthRevan //------------------------------// The sun shone bright on Gray's eyes, disturbing his rest. "D-Did that really happen?" Gray asked himself. He froze. His voice sounded... different. Deeper, and more scratchy. "That fall must of done more damage than I thought." He put his hand over his head. Once again, the good Doctor froze. His head felt hardened and scaly. Slowly, Gray opened his eyes. The hand in front of his face was covered in dull orange scales. The fingertips ended in sharp claws. The palm was covered in yellow scales. "Dear God." Gray mumbled. He slowly sat up and looked his surroundings over. He was in some sort of hospital bed. His eyes turned to his body. It was covered in similar scales to his claw, his stomach and chest yellow. His body was leaner, more defined. He felt stronger. Several IV tubes entered his arms. "Mirror." Gray growled. "I need a mirror!" He bellowed. He easily tore the tubes from his arms and rose to his feet. His toes also ended in talons. An orange tail followed behind. He tumbled and nearly fell several times before he finally reached a sink. He studied his new face. A snout shot out from his face, scales covering everything. Sharp teeth filled his mouth, a forked tongue licking them. His pupil was pure yellow and is iris was red and elongated like a cats. "S-Sir?" A meek voice called out. Gray immediately turned to the origin. Standing in the door was a terrified being. It was short, only half as tall as Gray. It was furred, colored grey. It's eyes were large and the terror was obvious in their green depths. Atop it's head was a mane and behind it was a quivering tail, both dark blue. It's four legs ended in hooves. A horse, Gray thought. Or more accurately a pony given the size. "Who are you?" Gray growled. "M-My name is Stephanie Rivers." The pony said quickly. "What the Hell did you do to me?" Gray ordered. "N-Nothing!" Stephanie eeped. "I found you outside two days ago. Y-You were pretty banged up." She explained. "You're lying! You had to do something to me I'm a goddamn dragon!" Gray nearly roared. Stephanie curled up into a ball, the way she was shaking making her crying obvious. Gray sighed. "I'm, I'm sorry." He began. "This is just so impossible." He crouched down until he was eye level with the pony. "My name is Evelyn Gray and I am apparently a dragon." He grinned. Stephanie laughed a little. "But I don't know what's going on. Do you?" Stephanie rose to her hooves. "I don't have anything to tell you. All I know is that I woke up on May 23rd and I was a pegasus. E-everyone is gone. It's been two weeks and you're the first person I've meet. Long Beach is deserted." Stephanie explained. Gray froze, hopefully for the last time. "Long Beach?" Gray looked down at her. "Are we in California?!" He asked. Stephanie looked at him, confused. "Yeah. We're pretty close to the coast and LA." Stephanie explained. "No no no no no no no no." Gray began holding his head in his claws. "Last thing I remember it was the night of May 22nd! And my lab is in New York City!" He said. "How?! I found you in the alley!" She said. "So you're telling me I travelled two weeks into the future and to the other side of the country?!" Gray asked. "I need to get back to New York. Something very important to me was stolen. Something important to the whole planet!" Gray explained. "Thank you for the help but I need to go." Gray turned to leave. "Wait!" Stephanie called out, loud. "I-I can't be alone again! I went through Hell these past two weeks! Learning how to walk, how to eat, how to get dressed!" Tears once again filled her eyes. "I'm coming with you." Her nurse uniform was ragged. Gray looked her over. He sighed. "Fine. You can come. Before we leave, we need supplies and a vehicle. Preferably diesal. After that we'll start the journey to New York and the Human Preservation Institute, the group who robbed me. We'll need to find my wife once we arrive." "How do you know they'll be there?" Stephanie asked. "What?" Gray asked, his head tilted. "I've searched the entire city and I've only found you. Out of the thousands of people in Long Beach, we were the only people left." Stephanie explained. "We have to have hope. I pray my Martha is ok." Gray sighed and looked towards the ground. "The fact we're both here proves that there are others out there." "I have food and medicine stockpiled in the hospitals freezer. We can scavenge other supplies from around here." Stephanie offered. Gray nodded. "Good. How are you keeping the power going? It should've run out by now." He noted. "I have two generators. One of them is powering this room and the other is powering the freezer." Stephanie explained. Her hoof rubbed the back of her head. "The generators are pretty big and I have a lot of food. I think we'd need a U-Haul to transport it all." "Then a truck we'll get." Gray looked out the window. "The sun is starting to set. We'll gather everything in the morning." Stephanie yawned. "Sleep sounds amazing." She simply stated. "Are you hungry?" "No, I'm stuffed. I'll sleep here." Gray offered. "Sleep tight, tomorrow's going to be big!" Stephanie giggled. "See you in the morning Evelyn." Stephanie left the room and shut the door behind her. Gray sighed. "My wife may be gone. Dear God, let her be fine. I'll even love her as a goddamn pony. Just let her be fine."