The Changed One

by peacevic

The Changed One- part 6

Ch. 6

"So Frank, what's your favorite color?"
I deflected another blow from the creature. It was too strong for me to block its attacks, so I had to settle for just redirecting them. Or dodging, but that was getting harder and harder. The ache from my hip was getting worse.
And to pile on the bad, it was learning. After I'd used its momentum to throw it a few times, it stopped over-extending when it struck at me. It was content to use less power and just beat me down slowly.
Of course, slow was a relative term. The fight had only lasted a few minutes so far. I was bruised head to haunch, I was sure I'd cracked my hoof, and that damn cut still wouldn't stop bleeding. The last thing was mostly my fault, as every time I jumped out of the way of an attack I tore it open a bit more. The pain was incredible.
But I couldn't let it stop me. Twilight, Derpy, and the Doctor still hadn't freed the Tardis, so I had to keep this thing distracted. Hence the inane questions.
"Embarrassed, eh? All right, let's try this one. What kind of music do you like?" Maybe it'll get mad and make a mistake.
Or maybe it'll learn something new. Something like how to fight on two legs. "You know," I said as it stood and mimicked my stance, "in any other situation, I'd be impressed by how quickly you figure things out."
It tried a kick, but that was exactly what I'd been hoping for. I snatched its leg and pulled, throwing it off balance and onto the ground.
I couldn't help but taunt it as it lay there. "I guess 'Fucking idiot' is the best name for you after all. You have all this power, but no experience in using it on only two legs. There's no way you can beat me at my own game!"
The look in its eyes as it stood told me that it thoroughly agreed. It stayed on four legs. Its horn glowed.
Maybe I had made a mistake. That was all I had time to think before the creatures magic wrapped around my ankles. For the second time today, I was yanked off my feet. It dangled me in front of its face and started... mewling?
It was trying to speak! "Nnnggh."
"Don't know what you're trying to say, don't care." I grabbed its horn as best as I could with hooves and twisted. The thing groaned, dropping me.
I scrambled up as quickly as I could manage with my leg and locked him in a clinch. "Hurry!" I heard Twilight urge the others. "Verdant's not doing too well."
"It won't budge." Derpy replied.
"Derpy, sit on it!" I shouted.
The advice cost me a few ribs when the creature returned my clinch with a bear hug. Luckily, I had the good sense to cough the blood into its eyes. It let me go and I staggered back.
My freedom didn't last long. The thing's magic took hold of me again and I was slammed against the very boulder I had tricked it with.
I only felt the pain for a few seconds before my entire body went numb. I fell to the dirt like a rag doll. The creature walked over to me, smirking.
"Ynuurr... duun." It growled, grinding my face against the boulder.
It turned and started walking towards the others. I grabbed its tail. I needed to keep its attention. "N-not done."
It punted me away, but I'd succeeded in drawing its focus back to me. Telekinetic magic wrapped around me yet again. This time, instead of dashing me against something really hard, it lifted me high in the air. Another layer of magic formed around its horn as it spun a death ball into existence. One pointed right at me. I would've been impressed at its level of control over the magic I could barely begin to use if my lungs weren't currently filling with blood.
Then I heard a BOOM!
The light of the rainbow made the creature's shot go wide as Dash snatched me out of the thing's grasp. "Looks like you really weren't the bad guy." She quipped.
"Th-than-." I choked. A bit of blood spilled out.
"Whoa, don't thank me." Rainbow Dash said as she noticed how badly I was hurt. She set me down on the ground as quickly and as gently as she could. "At least, not yet."
By this time, the creature had finished blinking the entire spectrum out of its eyes and it started stomping toward us. Dash stood her ground, body directly between the thing and me. "No..." I forced out. "R-run..."
"Forget that!" She replied. "You had your go. Now it's my turn."
If I could move, and if I weren't a human who only looked like a pony, I'd have kissed her right there.
The thing was close now, but apparently still far enough that it felt safe to power up another death ball. As it did, I used what little I had left to reach out to Rainbow Dash. "I know you feel like you need to protect me, but you have to run!" The effort made me cough some more. "You can't take a shot from that thing."
"Never know until I try."
"Rainbow-!"
She cut me off. "And if you really do know all about us, you'll know that there's no way I can leave a friend behind."
The thing let out a whimper, and the death ball dissipated. Rainbow Dash pointed. "Besides, we might not need to fight. Look, it's weakening!"
Twilight teleported to the thing's side and let out a blast that took its head off. As its body crumpled, she teleported to us. "How bad is it?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but only blood came out. Rainbow Dash interpreted. "He's really bad, Twilight."
Derpy and the Doctor joined us. "Oh no. Verdant!" Derpy cried, trying to pick me up.
The Doctor stopped her. "Derpy, we can't move him."
"We have to get him to a hospital!"
He looked pretty grim. "I know, but if we move him, we could end up hurting him even worse."
Twilight put a hoof on me. "I'll teleport him there. Rainbow, you go get the rest of our friends. We'll probably need their help soon."
"You got it!" She shot off.
"We'll follow in the Tardis."
"All right, Doctor." Then I was in a crowded hallway, Twilight shouting for attention. "I need a stretcher here! Right now!"
A doctor(the non-time traveling kind) stormed over to us. "Just who do you think you are, teleporting into a hospital like that? There are patients here!"
Twilight had taken enough for today. "Listen up, I'm a Princess. See the wings? The horn? That's who I am. And yes, you do have a patient." She pointed at me. "Right there!"
The doctor finally noticed me, and his demeanor instantly changed. "Orderlies, a stretcher. Stat! What happened to him?"
"I can't tell you that. But he has massive internal injuries."
As the medical ponies carefully placed me on the stretcher, I heard the whoosh of the Tardis. Derpy ran up to us. "Doctor, is he going to be ok?"
They escorted me away. "I don't know, Miss. The Princess is right, his injuries are severe. Just by the blood coming from his mouth, I can tell that at least one lung is punctured."
The adrenaline was finally wearing off, and my vision was starting to close in. The doctor noticed. "We're losing him. There's no choice, we have to put him in the new stasis pod."
"The what?" Twilight asked.
We reached a big room with a bank of computers on one side and a pony-sized pod on the other. The orderlies loaded me into the pod and it started to close.
"It's a prototype healing pod. It puts the patient in suspended animation as it begins the-" The hatch finished closing, cutting off the doctor's explanation.
Then everything went black.