Metamorphosis

by PaintSplotch

4 - Star Stuff

The first thing I noticed when I came to was a rank and vile smell. I blinked my eyes and winced as a sharp pain ripped through my brain. Ouch. My mouth was dry and my head felt fuzzy and slow. It took a few minutes of blinking and coughing to become aware of my surroundings again.

Yuri—in his moment of bravery—had dragged me off and stashed me behind a dumpster, which explained the smell. It was just far enough away from the brick building’s side to shove me back into the corner. Yuri himself was lying in front of me, blocking off the only entrance to the solid, but smelly shelter. He must have heard me moving around, because he craned his head back to give me a wide mouth, goofy dog smile.

“Goo… good b-b-boy, Yu-Yuri.” My brain and tongue were still trying to connect with each other as I struggled to get up. Yuri immediately got up on three legs and turned around to lay doggy kisses all over my face and head. He concentrated his kisses right around the base of my horn, which was the sorest spot. It's kinda amazing how dogs just know where you hurt the most. I just let him whine happily and lick my face, just glad to see he was all right. I wouldn't let him down. I managed to get enough motor control back to rub him behind the ears with a hoof. He grumbled and set about to nibble groom around my ears and back fin. It felt absolutely wonderful. It surprisingly was enough to have helped remove some of the fog around my brain. I was safe here with Yuri; there was nothing to be afraid of while he was here to help me.

A few minutes of TLC later, I felt well enough to get back on my feet. I wanted a drink of water; my throat still burned from the bile I thew up. Yuri's ailment didn't escape my attention either and I made him sit as I examined his hurt front paw. Embedded in the pad was a piece of sharp glass, which I pulled out with my teeth. I had an urge to, well… lick the wound, but that has a whole host of germs and possible parasites I'd rather not deal with. So a bit of betadine iodine, neosporin and a bandage later, he was good as new. He still limped, which meant we would need to rest here for a while, but I wasn’t complaining, I needed the rest too.

It just meant we'd be here with the poor… pony. I'll go with pony, since it was about Shetland pony sized. Same size as me really, but I don't think you can call me a pony at all. I don't think I'd flash back again, though, as now I know what to expect. But damn… that poor person. They were pretty much melted to the seat and I don't think I would be strong enough to get them out and bury them. Plus there's no place to bury anyone, unless I drag him all the way up to the one park.

I'll think of something, but first, we needed to go somewhere and rest.

With me stumbling around like a drunk fool and Yuri imitating a tripod, we resumed our march to main street. Once again, we searched for an unlocked house that would be our 'base' for the day. I wanted out of here sooner than later, but with how things were going, it's best to prepare for the worst. Eventually, we found a house with an open door. Perhaps they were abducted just as they were leaving? Thankfully, it hadn't rained, or else the interior would have begun to mold. Yuri sniffed around and deemed it safe to enter.

The inside looked to be a typical single occupant place. I didn't notice any toys, or messes that would give away children, or infants being present. It was fairly spartan with furnishings.  The obvious money going toward the stack of game consoles next to the largest flat screen TV I have ever seen. There was a large tank where a two foot long ball python rested. It watched us as we tramped on in its home, but didn't seem particularly angry.

I would deal with him later. Right now, I needed to sleep. I decided the couch was as good as any place as my legs were shaking again. I climbed up and settled down to sleep, too tired for a blanket, or pillow. Yuri jumped up and curled around me, facing the now shut front door. With him guarding me, I fell into a much needed sleep.

I found myself floating in a field of stars. Instead of the usual blackness of empty space, I was standing in what I recognized to be the Horsehead nebula.  The irony was not lost on me. The brilliant pinks, purples and blues stretched out into the vastness of the void and stars sparkled in an infinite number of colors. Before me, was the plume of interstellar dust and gas that gives the nebula its name. It crooked up elegantly as it seemed to look out into the beyond.

There were terrible storms in the distance. Lightning and black holes were coming to suck away all the light in the universe. Stars winked out of existence all around me as its oppressive force came closer and closer. Looking deep into a supermassive black hole was terrifying. There were distant, evil shapes in it. I could feel them looking back at me. Despite the horror  approaching, there was no sound, just silence.

I couldn't feel myself. I looked at myself to see that I was also a collection of dust and gas, clumped into a rough shape of… well… I seemed to constantly shift shapes between the quadrupedal bug horse and humanoid. Parts of me would drift away toward the black hole, leaving me smaller and smaller. I tried to keep myself together, but it was hard. Small bursts of lightning erupted in my limbs as the horse head plume drew closer and closer.

To my shock, it turned and looked at me.

Stars erupted behind the 'head', as two white stars 'opened' on the barest suggestion of a face. Plumes radiated outward like great wings of dust. The wings reached out and touched the edge of the horrible gravitational malestrom. The black hole tried to stay in shape, but eventually, it shivered and collapsed into a brilliant explosion of stars. They seemed to joyfully spread out, illuminating the vast expanse again. Perhaps glad to be free again.

It looked at me as my body reacted. The dust and gas that made up my body were vibrating. No longer was I being pulled into the black hole. But I was still falling apart… I was afraid. I felt small. I could barely hold myself together. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Even without the black hole sucking everything away, I was still afraid.

It spoke to me in a loud, but surprisingly gentle tone.

‘Huh?’ The voice cut through the absolute silence and rang through the stars. It sounded… off, like it was speaking from an unfathomably long distance away. Like listening to a radio during a clear night.

‘What? What the hell is this?’

It looked down and seemed almost sympathetic at the state of my body as it tried to pull itself apart. I struggled to keep together.

“Wait! What?” I shouted, but I couldn't hear myself speak. All that came out was little stars that disappeared off into the void.  The being didn't seem to hear me either. ‘Who are you?”

I was confused and afraid. I could hear the words, but why was it speaking to me? Was this the perpetrator behind the disappearances? The reason why I am what I am? Why was it sorry?

Was… I talking to a God? A Demon? An Alien?

As if sensing my terror, the great 'wings' of stellar dust reached out pulled me inward. It… it felt wonderful. It was like being cold and then giving a warm blanket fresh out of the dyer. Inside this cosmic hug, the 'head' bent down, almost like it was giving me a kiss goodnight.

And so I did.
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.
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I woke up feeling better than I had for ages. The light from the windows showed that I slept longer than I thought. It was already sundown! I looked over to see that Yuri hasn't moved from his spot. When he saw that I was awake, he began to thump his tail and opened his mouth into a big doggy grin.

“Hey Yuri.” I smiled. “Is your paw feeling better?”

I got a lick on the nose as a response. I guess it meant he was feeling better.

I stretched as I pondered on the dream I had last night. I dream vividly, so that wasn't unusual. What was unusual, was that something in the dream actually spoke to me like a person? Was it part of my imagination? It was somewhat upsetting and confusing. I'll be spending all day trying to figure out if my subconscious drummed up the entire one sided conversation. Or if some giant space dust alien creature really did apologize to me for… something.

I didn't want to dwell too much on it, lest I work myself into a frenzy again. Still, it was a good sleep. My headache was gone and the persistent weakness in my limbs have faded away. I felt I could run a quarter of a mile if I put my mind to it! Wait… it wasn't sundown. It was getting lighter outside! I groaned as I pulled myself to my hooves and moved to look out the window. YUP! It was definitely dawn. Good God, I slept for a long time! I felt awful, that meant Yuri didn't get fed at all. Great job, me.

My stomach rumbled at the prospect of food, so I made my way to the kitchen. There, on the floor, was a wrapper from an entire loaf of bread. Judging by the big tears and teeth marks, Yuri took it upon himself to get his own dinner. Clever dog! Still bread alone isn't enough for a big dog like him. I opened the fridge to find… not much. There was a block of cheddar cheese, some wilted lettuce, and uh… dead mice. Most likely for the snake. Romans used to eat mice, didn't mean I was gonna do it. I set it out in a glass of hot water to warm up, I wasn't going to let the poor snake go hungry either. I poured a glass for me, so I could take my medicine. It's… not always good to take these on an empty stomach. But waiting till later wouldn't be good either.

This meant we were going to need to go to town and get supplies. I was planning on doing that anyway, but I was hoping to have a meal first.

I waited until the mouse was completely thawed before deciding to go for the day. The snake seemed to know what was going down. He came to the front of his tank to wait patiently. I just dropped the mouse in and he went and got it. I guess he's used to pre-killed food.

I left the lid open, so he can get out. “You ought to head down south.” I told the snake as he swallowed his mouse. “It gets way too cold up here for guys like you.”

He just kept swallowing the mouse. Well, at least he's got a fighting chance now. I left the door open just how we found it.

The trek to the main street shops was pleasant. It got to the time of the year where it's not too cold in the morning, so there wasn't a need to bundle up again. I had to tighten my backpack straps again, making my wings ache. God it sucked. Could I be doing permanent damage to my wings? Maybe cause an infection or something? I figured it wasn't a good thing to keep smooshing them down under heavy weight. I needed an alternate way to bring supplies with us.

I found it while searching a hardware store. Did you know they make all terrain wagons now? I take back everything I said about wagons. Seems like the simple little red flyer wagons went super-sized since I was a kid. A wagon with rugged air filled all terrain tires and wooden sides for cargo is a dream come true. It was just the right size for me to pull it. Using some basic tools I was able to make a comfortable pull-able wagon. You can do a lot with an awl, bolts and duck tape! The store had heavy duty dog harnesses and using tape and string, I was able to attach it to the makeshift cart. The dog harness allowed my wings to be free and un-crushed. It also allowed me to carry a lot more items without breaking my back. It took me a while, as I had to use my mouth to drill holes the ol' fashioned way. The big bulky battery powered hand drills were just too much to hold and use at the same time. I did try and nearly drilled a hole through my hoof. The last thing I needed was a hole anywhere.

I left behind the backpack. I didn't need it anymore now that I have a roomy cart.

Thankfully, the local pet store didn't actually have any animals. It was a relief ‘cause the last thing I wanted to see was cages and cages of dead, or starving animals. I didn't want to think about it, or else I would run myself crazy trying to save every animal I could. I was just one little bug; it would be an exercise in futility. So instead, I got a bag of dog food to take with me along with bowls and flea and tick stuff. There were also gourmet dog cookies that smelled absolutely amazing. I tried some along with Yuri. It actually tasted lovely, like a somewhat stale Oreo, so I stashed some away for later. We still managed to eat a good bunch for ‘breakfast’. It wasn’t eggs and bacon, but it was something in our bellies at least.

The pharmacy was a little more difficult. It was a typical convenience slash pharmacy, so there was food and other supplies there. The actual pharmacy itself was shut down and locked down tight. Heavy metal slides were down over the windows and the counters, preventing entry. I tried to get in anyway, but I'm just a little bug. Kicking the grates did nothing except make a lot of racket. Breaking the windows would also be futile because they also had the metal grates over them. I wasn't confident enough to use an Acetylene Torch on it. The safety equipment wouldn't fit me and a fire would be bad news here.

Goddammit, I was going to need to find somewhere else to get my medicine. I still have enough to reach another town, but if this one was closed, others would most likely be closed too.

How the hell do people manage to even rob pharmacies. It's fucking hard!

I still managed to refresh my medical kit, but I was still rather disappointed. This was going to be on the back of my mind for a long time. Fuck.

Hitting the grocery store was quick. The fruit and veggies in stock were already starting to go bad. I stayed away from the meat and frozen food sections too. Even with the power still on, I didn't trust the meat to not give me food poisoning. There was plenty of canned and dried stuff. On a whim, I also threw some snack food in the cart. I figured it would help improve morale. Getting a new pot was also good, as cold rations aren’t fun at all. I also got some steel wool and some batteries. They make excellent fire starters in a pinch!

On the way back, we raided a flower shop and took every nice flower we could balance on the already full cart. I took them back to the scene of the car accident and spread them around. I’m not a religious person, experience has pretty much killed it for me, but I did take a moment to wish the person peace. I hoped wherever the poor pony is they'd feel better that someone cared enough to put down flowers. I still felt sick just looking at the accident, but I toughed it out. I knew what to expect now, so I wouldn't get surprised.

It's still uncomfortable and sad, but it's better than just running away from everything.

We didn’t bother going back to the house with the snake. It was better to just keep moving. To do that, we needed to cross the Hudson River.  

I could even see the bridge in the distance, stretching out far over the water. It was pretty, but bridges still make me nervous. I guess I was lucky that there was no wind to cause it to rock. Looking at my map, it seemed that the easiest route would be to follow would be Old U.S. 22. It was a foot path that avoided major highways and intersections, but yet also crossed major cities and towns. I figured there would be plenty of places to rest after a day of walking. It would mean having to carry less because we can always restock in nearby towns. Perhaps we’d come across a pharmacy that wasn’t locked up. Either that, or I’d have to do something very drastic to get my medication.

Here’s hoping.

Newton seemed to be the best place to stop next. It would involve actually leaving New York and going into New Jersey. From there? Heading back to Pennsylvania. I did some rough calculations in my head and figured it would take around three days to make it back home. That wasn’t counting time it would take to scavenge for food and to rest. I know I’d walk myself to death if not kept in check, so I needed to make sure Yuri had rest as well.

I hope Grandma will be okay. She may be nearly 90 years old, but she’s still tough. She was a nurse in the army right near the front lines. She was born before fridges and other modern trappings.

She’ll be all right, I hope so at least.

I hitched myself up to the cart, buzzing my little wings to boost my confidence. I hated bridges, but if I needed to get home, I was going to have to tackle this one and many more. Yuri ran in circles around me as I marched. I couldn’t help but smile. Watching him goof around makes you forget for a little bit about being afraid.

Time to put one hoof in front of the other and march!