Fallen Stars

by Zachurra

Chapter 1 - The Stars

The sky was black from the smoke that rose into the sky. The village, known as Ponyburg, was alight in flames. The citizens ran in fear. Some had stayed their ground, determined to protect their homes. They were the first to fall before the horde. The Changelings had seemingly come out of nowhere. Most had heard stories of the Changelings and their addiction to love, but they never dreamed that they were so monstrous.

A Changeling tackled a stallion to the ground. It opened its mouth and the love could visibly be seen as it was sucked out. After the love was gone, it continued its feasting until all the life in the stallion was gone. The stallion fell limp, nothing but a hollow shell.

Nearby, a filly was hidden behind some wooden planks. A small thing with a light yellow coat and a rosy red mane, Spring Rose watched in horror as the life was sucked out of the stallion who was once her neighbor. She held back the tears that threatened to overflow from her eyes in fear that she might be heard. When she saw the cold lifeless stare of the stallion, she let out a small whimper.

The Changeling perked up, distracted by the sound it believed it had heard and ignoring the battle and cries of terror around it. It glanced in Spring Rose’s direction. She curled up behind the planks, trying to make herself as small as possible. The young filly was frightened out of her mind. She feared for herself. She feared for her parents, whom she had been separated from during the frenzy of panicking ponies when the Changelings first attacked. She feared for her friends who she just saw earlier that day after school was over.

Spring Rose closed her eyes, hearing the heavy, coarse breathing of the Changeling as it came closer. She tried to curl up tighter, but could not. A tear ran down her face as she thought about what was about to happen.
But nothing came.

She risked opening her eyes and saw that the planks were still providing what little cover they did. It had also become very quiet, except for the crackling of the fires that were devouring homes. She relaxed slightly and inched her head forward to peak outside of her hiding spot.

Before she had a chance, the planks were torn away and the Changeling let out an angry roar. Spring Rose screamed in terror, backing up until her back was against the wall. The Changelings lips curled into a sinister smile as it closed the space between itself and its prey. It opened its mouth, ready to suck away her life.

As her color began to sap out of her, Spring Rose began to feel nothing but cold. Her body became numb, and she could hardly hold herself up. As the swirl was about to enter the Changeling’s body, it was tackled to the ground, halting the process. The swirl reversed back into Spring Rose, who felt a wave of relief. She looked to where her savior had gone to see the Changeling and an older white stallion duking it out. The stallion was Bound Honor, a retired royal guard for the Princesses themselves. He had clenched in his teeth his sword that he had kept from his days as a guard.

They took turns trading blows, but Bound Honor was not as young as he used to be. His strikes were not as forceful as the Changelings, and it was much faster than he. If anything, it was only keeping him alive as to have something to play with. He looked towards Spring Rose and shouted, “Run!”

She didn’t want to leave him. Bound Honor was a friend to everypony in the town. But she knew that she would do more harm than good by staying. Without looking back, she sprinted off in the opposite direction. She ran and ran and ran, not knowing where she was going. All she knew was that she had to leave. Nothing else mattered except escaping the horrors behind her. Up ahead she could see a cart with a few ponies around it. They were loading things into the back quickly. One of the stallions that were loading things into the back noticed her, “Little girl! Quick, get in!”

At first, she thought of her mother. She had always said to never trust strangers, especially when they were asking to take her places. But, thinking of her options, she had no other choice. As the cart began rolling along, she hopped into the back.

She collapsed as her adrenaline faded. She tried to catch her breath before turning to thank the stallion who rescued her. It wasn’t until now that she recognized him as Cuisine, a chef at one of the more high-end restaurants in town. He gave her a smile and put a hoof on her shoulder, trying to help her relax. It worked, until she looked back at her burning home. She hugged Cuisine and began to cry again. He held her, unsure of what to say. Looking around, he noticed a shooting star passing through the sky. He gestured for her to look, hoping it was enough to distract her, even if just for a moment. She wiped away the tears in her eyes before looking to where his hoof pointed.

“Make a wish.” He said.

Spring Rose nodded and closed her eyes. Princess Celestia… Princess Luna… anyone… please, save us from these monsters…

At that moment, the sky lit up. A shockwave of light exploded in the sky. From the epicenter of the explosion was a bright light, brighter than any of the stars that were in the night sky. The light then burst into four, each going in an opposite direction. One of the lights was heading towards them and landed in near the village from which they had just fled from.

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The Changelings threw their hooves about in an attempt to wipe away the smoke. They had seen the explosion and the star that had split into four. They approached the crash site of one of the lights. They stepped slowly closer, half out of caution, half out of curiosity. Suddenly they heard a thud come from inside the hole the light had created. Each one perked up and a few began to growl.

A figure began to arise from the smoldering dirt. It was very large, larger than the queen. It stepped out of its hole slowly and stood before the Changelings. It stood upon two legs and was clad in black armor. Strapped to its back was a massive sword almost as long as the creature that wielded it. It had long, silvery white hair that when almost halfway down its massive body and partially covered its face.

The Changelings waited for it to move, to know if it was friend or foe. But it did nothing. It simply stood before them and stared at them. Its cold grey eyes flickered from one Changeling to the next, scanning them. One of the Changelings grew restless and charged at the creature. It leapt up to tackle it, but was stopped effortlessly. The creature lifted its hand and grabbed the Changeling by its head the moment it was within range. Although the creature was large, its reflexes were astounding. The Changeling squirmed and kicked in an effort to escape its grasp, but it was to no avail.

The creature’s eyes returned to the other Changelings. A few more began growling and poised themselves to strike. Without a hint of remorse, the creature crushed the skull of the Changeling it held in its hand. Its body became limp and fell with a thud as it was released. A few of the Changelings began to back away, frightened of this new creature. One, however, would not simply give in. It pulled out a sword with its jagged teeth and charged at the monstrosity. Once again, it proved its dominance by grabbing the blade with ease. It tried to pull away, but the creature would not budge. It simply continued to glare down at them. Slowly it twisted its wrist, bending the metal as if it were made of plastic.

The Changeling officer lost all the determination it had mustered and quickly flew away. The others followed suit. The creature, however, made no attempt to follow. It simply watched at the insect-like ponies buzzed away.

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Elsewhere, around the same time

A Changeling tried to escape by flying away, but was shot out of the sky when one of its comrades slammed into it, sending them both plummeting to the ground. The one who had thrown the small beast smirked. He examined his surroundings. A cluster of buildings, most of which had been on fire. Other than its not-so-gracious welcoming party, there was nothing else in sight. The creature looked back into the hole it had landed in and jumped inside. He picked up a wide-brimmed hat and dusted it off before placing it on his head.

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The Creature pried its sword out of the neck of the last Changeling. It knew not of where it was or why it was here, only that those who had found him obviously meant ill towards him. In the distance he could see more, but this time there was a larger one amongst them. He began moving towards them, determined to get answers.

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The Changelings scoured the hole for what had fallen, but found nothing. Little did they know, its inhabitant had already moved away and was now watching them from the wreckage of a burned down house. It unsheathed one of its many daggers and began silently moving closer.

Author's Note:

Here we go, the first chapter. I hope you enjoy it. If i'm lucky, i can get myself into a weekly update schedule. Or i might just stick to popping them out as i write them. Anyways, thanks for reading!

P.S. this part of the story takes place some time after Season 3's beginning. Twilight is not an alicorn yet, however.

Comments

[(Luna)]

Sephiroth!!!

[AtTheCrimsonFckr]

2299390 your right but he might have a different name because there no crossover tag and no hint that it is one