My name is Daniel, and I've been running from the mafia for the last three days. Many people would ask how I would know it was the mafia and not something else, I found out that my parents gave the family’s life away to the mafia after they were put on hit, to save themselves. All my life, I’ve been watched by one of those bastards, day in and day out constantly hounded by strange men in suits, fedoras, and weapons. My older brother was also taken by the mafia, and I heard he was beat to death being ‘initiated’ into their group, so the day before I was to be taken, I killed the man that was supposed to be holding me. I knew they were coming for me. For the last month, I heard them throwing it around like I was supposed to just accept it, like I was supposed to be EAGER about being beaten like a child. They killed my brother, but I wasn’t going to go down so easily. So I used a knife I had hidden away in my room for something like this and stabbed the man in the back. I don’t know if he died immediately or died from the blood loss, but I know he’s dead now.

I took the cash he had on him and the gun that he was holding. I was never a gun freak so I didn’t know the caliber or the name of the pistol, all I knew was that I pulled the trigger on the gun and point the barrel at the bad guy. I grabbed my iPod, one of the earlier models since my father didn’t want to ‘spoil’ me. Said I had to earn it. I just remember from my childhood that I had to fight a guy. If I did good enough against him, meaning that I lasted longer than fifteen seconds on my feet and didn’t get knocked out, I would get something I wanted. So I grabbed what I could stuff inside of a bag, the money and gun, my iPod and headphones, and I ran… I ran. I ran as fast as I could. I knew I couldn’t get away easily. They had guys watching the house, seeing if I was going to run. But I thought I had a chance to get away, like they do in the movies. Hide in the bushes, wait until I don’t see their feet or hear them shouting anymore, then run in the other direction. But as soon as I reached the edge of the forest, the only warning I got that I was going to be in the fight of my life was the crack of the gun. Suddenly I was in a gunfight and the only thing protecting my body from a bullet was a log. I don’t know how I got away though. It seemed like I was going to die there, but I didn’t. I lived, and I kept running. I was hounded for hours, which felt like days, corralled towards the middle of the forest to be surrounded and dragged back to town, back to the godfather. I somehow slipped through them though, and it seemed like I was home free.

Then my luck seemed to finally give out.

I was trying to be as quiet as I could while I ran from each clump of trees, avoiding twigs, dead leaves, or shifting my foot the wrong way when I heard another gunshot. I felt something enter my leg. It took a few seconds to register in my body that I had been shot. Then I found myself on the ground and screaming from the pain of being shot. That was true pain. It was an excruciating burning sensation, but what I remember most was the horrifying feeling of the hot blood down my leg, over and around my ankle, and into my shoe. I absolutely thought I was going to die from the pain. I felt frozen to the ground, rolling around, clutching my leg and moaning on the ground. But I felt something take control of me. I stood up, clutching my leg in one hand and holding the gun in the other. I fired a few times. I don’t know if I ever hit anybody, but I know I saw them all hit the floor or ducked to avoid being hit by the bullets. I just hobbled away.

It was night now, and I felt like I was a criminal being hunted by the police. Never allowed to rest. Only a few moments of respite before having to dash into more bushes or hide behind trees. I could see random flashes of light, probably from flashlights that they were holding in their hands, and more taunts being yelled to demoralize me. My luck was running low again, because I could hear them all around me. I limped into a random thicket and waited, finally seeing a few groups, as well as the godfather himself, emerge from the forests like the hellspawns they really were. I started hobbling away from them, hoping that I could go unnoticed, but I tripped on something and landed on a pile or crisp, dead leaves. Making enough racket that I may as well had a flare gun to show where I was at. I started hobbling away from the groups that were already breathing down my necks, but another bullet through my other leg stopped any feeble attempts that I was making at escaping.

“Nice try kid, but you’re dog food when we get through with ya.” One of the first guys that stood over me said, half complimenting, half insulting me. I was going to reply with something sarcastic, despite my pain of being shot in both legs, but a gruff voice behind me cut off any attempts at speaking I had.

"Son, do you think we enjoy chasing sixteen year old children through forests? Huh?!" I twisted my neck around to see the godfather staring at me, irritation clear across his face despite the darkness. I was going to ask a rhetorical question when something pressed against the wound in my left leg, causing my breath to hitch and a small yelp to emerge from my lips. I shook, trying to bite back a scream, and after what seemed like an eternity, but it was only two seconds, he let off. I took a deep breath.

“You could’ve just… let me go, you know…? I mean, I’m sure you have better things to do, like stuff your head-” A smack across my face stopped my insult from reaching its punch line, and the godfather pulled back, pulling at the cuff of the sleeve on his suit down.

"Your mother and father sold you to us to be a part of a new family. We ain’t here to make friends, we’re here to collect your head. Your brother was a pussy. He didn’t know how to take a real beating after all. Looks like you might though. Going to have to blackmail the doctors so we don’t have ta pay the bill-” I don’t know what possessed me to do so, but hearing him talking right now caused me to just punch him in the face. There was a definite crunch as his nose was turned askew, blood spewing it like someone hit him with a hammer. He fell over, cradling the broken nose. He didn’t stay down long, and was back up, a new fire in his eyes.

"Rough ‘em up, boys." He ordered, grinning devilishly.

I was roughly picked up, two guys holding my arms as they dragged me to a tree. They took some rope and tied my hands behind the trees, chuckling darkly. They seemed to line up as one guy stepped forward and just drove his fist into my sternum, driving the air from my lungs and leaving me slumped over, gasping for breath. The next one stepped up, taking a knife out. He started making slow, agonizing cuts. One across the biceps of my arms, after a few seconds of feeling for my ribs, he made one cut across each rib, and one across the elbows. He pulled the knife away, took a second to admire his work, before stepping away. One guy stepped forward and just punched me in the ear. The punch made my head spin and my ears ring.

He walked away and one more stepped forward. I could tell this was going to be a bad one when he started stretching. Then he pulled his left leg back and kicked me right in the ribs. Given that the cuts were still bleeding, added that he also had steel toe boots on, I felt one or two of my ribs break. I coughed out in pain and winced, while the rest of them made it seem like a funny joke, laughing as the guy walked around triumphantly. One pulled out a pair of brass knuckles and grabbed a bundle of my hair, slamming his fist into my face. The first one cut the skin over my forehead, probably breaking it in the process, and caused blood to leak into my eyes. He continued to punch me repeatedly, drawing more blood and bruises to my face until the godfather finally put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back.

"Gotta helluva punch there kid, too bad you’re a fucking idiot and you’re going to be an unmarked grave.” He mocked as he nodded to the two guys that tied me up, who untied the rope. I just dropped to the floor, huffing for air as blood dribbled into the dirt. He reached into his suit and pulled out a stylized magnum, pulling the hammer back with his thumb.

"Any last words?" He asked, sounding mock sincere.

"The auditions for Free Willy are that way." I pointed back towards town. I don't know why I decided to antagonize him. I figured that if I was going to die, I would die being remembered as someone with balls instead of someone begging for their life. It took him a few seconds to process what I said. He gave a humorless chuckle, but he had a tight lipped straight face with him. I knew I had pissed him off. “There it is! You are smarter than you look. Though your face looks like it just went through a wrestling match with a shotgun.” A punch to the face silenced me, though I don’t know who did it. I just coughed. I could taste blood in my mouth. I don’t know if I could make it back, even if they didn’t shoot me for insulting the godfather. My legs are shot, so I can’t walk, and I’m bleeding from a lot of cuts.

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning." I heard the gunshot, but it felt like a cold wind brushed along my body, holding my heart and spine as I was dropped to the forest floor and left for dead. I surely thought that was going to happen.

-Golden Oak Library, Equestria-

It was a somewhat gloomy Wednesday afternoon. Clouds blocked out Celestia’s sun, and ponies were sparse on the streets, many deciding to hide inside their homes to avoid any chance of being rained upon. Six ponies were gathered inside of a library in a small village named Ponyville. Chalk lined the floors, drawn in intricate designs and symbols and in many different colors. Some seemed to fade in and out of existence, as they had started to absorb the ambient magic of the world and grew slowly in power. The ponies in question had very little time to complete this complex spell, for if they were to wait too long, they shall face the dire consequences.

"Twi, you sure that wer gonna be okay during this trip?" Applejack asked, her arms crossed across her chest as she warily gazed at the symbols surrounding her and the group. She was anxious about this trip, but curious as to what they were supposed to be doing.

"It's going to be alright Applejack. We'll be there for a couple of days, then we'll come back okay." Twilight explained for the umpteenth time. She was the only one that knew what they were going to be doing. She was searching through old books when she found a story about bipeds, like the ponies themselves, but skinless. They had weird body structures and facial features, but were so technologically advanced in their community that they had all sorts of things that the author could barely describe, merely giving them vague descriptions and a name for each of the inventions. They were called hoo-mans in the book she found, but she had estimated that it was a misspell of human. She had found a spell that dated back to the founding of Equestria in a decrepit leather-bound tome. She half expected the spell to work, seeing as the creator of the spell had given very specific details and reagents that will be consumed upon casting. "If we get lucky, we could even get somepony to come along with us to study!" Twilight exclaimed, giddy over the possible knowledge that this somepony would hold, and how they would exchange scientific theories their worlds held.

"What if that pony is dangerous?" Applejack asked, wrecking the train of thought that was in Twilight's head. Twilight bit her lip, drumming her fingers along the spine of the book as she continued to pretend to study the tome.

"I'll make sure that this pony is not dangerous." Rainbow Dash said, puffing out her chest with her hands on her hips. It would be a heroic pose if she wasn’t dressed as she was, in a pair of jogger pants and a half cut tank top and a pair of sneakers.

"Ah don't know, Twi. But I'll come along with ya'll." AJ said. Everypony else added their own agreements and small comments to assure the spellcaster, and she gave a weak smile to the rest of them. She set the book down on a nearby table and everyone gathered inside of the circle, making sure to not be standing on any of the runes. Once everyone was ready, Twilight started pouring magic into the runes, causing them to glow in unique colors. The runes that were fading in and out of reality sprang up from the ground, circling around the group as the spell continued. The circle started to spin, and colors started to meld together into a rainbow, meeting on top of the group, before slamming down onto their heads. They each gave their own sound of surprise as the magic washed through them, and with a small explosion that left scorched dirt, the group disappeared in a ball of incandescent light.

-Earth, Forest next to small town-

Clouds suddenly sprung in the night sky, covering the forest it hovered over, before the grumble of thunder erupted and a bolt of lightning came down from the heavens. It struck the ground nearby, causing me to look up in surprise at the flash of light past my closed eyelids. I shuddered, feeling my blood pooling around my body. The bullet I had received went through my abdomen, and would surely kill me if I didn’t get medical treatment soon. It wasn’t likely that I was going to get that treatment, seeing as I was dumb enough to run out into a forest. I basically did all of the work for the mafia, besides delivering the killing blow. It would be like putting a noose around my neck and be standing on a chair with one leg and the one person that doesn’t like you comes by and kicks it from under you. And with that lightning, my body would probably be burned, so the evidence would basically disappear.

"Twi, you sure that we can just do this without causing harm to space and time and what not?" A southern female voice asked. I set my head back onto the ground, my body feeling like someone had filled me with cold lead. I started to shiver, despite being covered in a hoodie and long sleeved shirt. Somewhere nearby, I heard footsteps, as well as some sort of humming. I cracked my eyes open, seeing a dim purple light starting to make its way towards me. I closed my eyes and set my head back down, hoping that they would see me and call an ambulance.

Soon, the footsteps stopped nearby, probably seeing my bloody body. “I-is this what a human looks like?” An educated voice asked, sounding apprehensive.

What kind of question is that? I asked myself, thinking that I had been found by some LARPers playing out their weird bullshit. At least they didn’t break character at the sight of a soon-to-be corpse.

I could hear the people start moving again, and I let out a small cough, feeling something welling inside of my throat. They stopped moving, probably looking back at me. I couldn’t tell, my eyes were still closed. “Was that… it?” Someone with a snobbish accent said. I inwardly rolled my eyes at the person.

If I make it out of here alive, I want to punch you in the face. Your voice is annoying.

I let out a soft groan, as if to answer the question. They let off a collective gasp, as well as shuffling their feet forward, to the point where I could feel them standing over me. I felt something poke me.

“Are you okay?” A tomboyish voice said. I responded by coughing and spitting blood that had been building at the back of my throat outwards, causing it to spew down my cheeks.

“He’s still alive! We need to get him to a hospital, girls!” The educated voice said.

"How do you know it's a he?" The tomboyish voice said.

"Look at your body, then look at his. It’s like a stallions. Broad shoulders, very muscular, and-"

“Is now really the time to argue over whether or not it’s a he or not? He’s injured and probably gonna die if we don’t help him!” The southern accented voice said.

The voice of reason in all of this! Thank you smart redneck girl!

"How do we know that he isn't dangerous?" The educated voice asked.

“I’ll make sure he won’t do anything!” The tomboy said, sounding like she was going to do something stupid. My hypothesis was correct as she pressed her foot against my leg, standing on where I just got fucking shot! I gave a cry of pain and jumped in shock.

"Rainbow, why'd y’all do that?! Don't y’all see his injuries?!" The southern voice yelled.

The foot was lifted off of me and a grunt echoed in the almost silent forest. “Why’d you do that AJ?” The tomboy asked, and the tomboy and southern girl started to argue.

“What could’ve caused this?” A new voice asked, almost too quiet to hear over the two arguing. I frowned, but swallowed and tried to answer.

“...Guhn…” I choked out, and the quiet voice gave a gasp.

“I don’t know what that is, but you’re hurt very bad, and we need to stop the bleeding…” She said. I felt something press against my arm and a warm feeling erupted along my arm, traveling up my shoulder, neck, and into my head. I gave an almost content sigh.

“Who could’ve done something like this…” The snooty voice from earlier asked, seemingly to herself.

"...Mahfia..." I whispered. It was getting harder for me to say anything, as if my lips weren’t responding to what I was trying to say.

“Mafia… Are you with the mafia?!”She asked, sounding horrified. I could hear the recoil she did.

I just shook my head, frowning. “...Huhnted…” I mumbled, taking shallow breaths. My lungs seem to have a mind of their own.

“Mafia… hunted…” I could hear the gears turning in her head.

“The mafia… were hunting you? You don’t look much older than Big Mac…” I didn’t know who that was, but I guess he was around my age. “This place seems… deplorable…” Can’t argue with that. Earth has slowly become a pretty shitty place. Politics seem to ruin everything.

The hand that was pressed against my arm removed itself, taking the heated feeling with it. I started shivering slightly when I realized how cold it was again. The two started whispering to each other, thinking that I can’t hear.

“I’ve seen into his memories… His parents, they sold him and his brother to the mafia so that they wouldn’t be killed themselves… They killed his brother and were coming for him to ‘initiate’ him, but he ran… they hunted him down and used what he calls a gun to attempt to murder him…” How could you see my memories? What sorcery is this? The two stopped arguing in the background. It seemed almost all noise had failed to reach his ears, going eerily silent.

I heard them stand up, and all conversation stopped. “We’re leaving this place… But we need to take him with us, or otherwise… he’s going to die.” It seemed that the concept of death was so foreign to them. I heard gasps of shock around me. I would’ve rolled my eyes and shook my head if I heard this when I was completely healthy.

“Wh-what’s your name?” The gentle voice from earlier asked. I was stumped. Who am I? I forgot who I was… Everything seems so murky now, as if my memories were shrouded in darkness…
“My nahme… is… is… Dahniel…” With that, I felt myself starting to fade into unconsciousness.