//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: A Lovebug and a Love Bug // by XHunter //------------------------------// Michael I stare at the computer screen with one thought coursing through my mind: Inspiration, inspiration, inspiration? What to do? Tonight was a night I have often. One where I get the perfect tune in my head and have to create it in Flstudio, my DAW of choice. And like the nights before, that Inspiration dies out an hour in, leaving me to meander about on my computer. Inspiration, inspira- a yawn interrupts my internal chant. "Okay body, fine," I mumble. I look at the clock on my computer. Midnight, an hour passed my bedtime. I'm going to hate waking up.  I shut off my computer and rise from the desk. Exiting my office into the kitchen, the kitchen sink catches my eye. It was filled with a cup and bowl from this morning's breakfast, or would that be yesterday morning's?  I groan and get to work, filling the sink with hot water and soap. Most people were smart and would do stuff like this in the afternoon, but I'm an idiot. I do most of my cleaning before bed, or rarely in the morning if I'm feeling peppy. Because of that, it takes me half an hour before I can go to bed. Normally I'd do it all at 10:30 so I'd be in bed by 11, but musical creativity had enraptured me in its glorious arms. With the dishes done, I went down the main hall of the house that connected to a majority of the rooms. All but one of the bedrooms is empty. These days, it's only me here. Unlike the rest of the family, I wanted to build something for the next generation.  The only occupied room was mine of course. It was a decent-sized room, but my queen-sized bed effectively halved its size. The bed was placed at the center of one of the walls, leaving a U-shaped area of walking space. Now. That would be fine, except the room was dirty. A shirt or two and some pants litter the floor. It didn't take long to tidy up the room. I tossed everything but one shirt and a pair of pants into a laundry basket. I was going to re-wear those two in the morning. No point in adding more laundry if I never went outside with them. I was about to do the last step of my nightly ritual when the ground started to lightly rumble. An earthquake probably…we don't get earthquakes. I panic slightly, what am I supposed to do? I've had tornado drills but not earthquake drills! Get out of the house maybe? Yeah, that sounds logical; avoid anything falling on me. When I exit the house onto my porch, I'm hit with a high-pitched whine. It's like the sound you hear from a dog whistle. Holy shit are the aliens finally here? I joke to myself. A giant ship would explain the rumbling, and the noise could be the engines. It takes me a while but I pinpoint the direction of the noise, the forest behind my house. During my search, the rumbling had been intensifying. Behind me, I could hear my house begin to rattle. I began to worry that my stuff would fall. Thankfully, the rumbling stopped for a second. As if a bomb went off, a loud explosion could be heard from the forest. The sudden noise scared me shitless. I could see lightning coming from the forest, all seemingly striking the same spot, which was impossible. Lighting doesn't strike the same spot twice, right? And tonight was a clear night. "The fuck is going on?" I whisper to myself. I stood in awe and fear at the sight. Survival instinct told me to hide away in the safety of my house, but fuck that. Be it an alien, mad scientist, or government super weapon something was happening in my backyard. The property was the greatest thing I owned, and the forest was a part of it. I had to know what was happening in it, and if need be, defend it. I went back inside my house. Everything was intact, but a few photos did fall. I can clean those later, right now I needed to arm myself. I went into the bedroom next to mine and searched under the bed. Under it was the box that contained my grandmother's old pistol. It took me a bit to remember the combination to unlock it, but I got it opened. I checked over myself once I was outside again. Gun, check. Knife, check. Phone, check. I didn't have to waste time getting dressed since I was already in my "office" attire, which was just what I usually wear.  I walked over to the left of my house and opened the garage. Inside were my old Honda Civic and my rarely used Toyota Tacoma. I chose the Toyota of course. I bought it for times when I would go into the forest to clean up and keep all the paths clear. My old 06 Honda was 22 years old at this point and I doubt it would enjoy off-roading.  With trepidation, I drove my way toward the forest. Cadence "Shiny…stop hogging the covers," I mumble. It seemed Shining armor had left the windows open, again, letting a cold breeze come through. I shuffled in my bed to nuzzle him into sharing the cover and heard the crunch of twigs and leaves. In an instant, I awoke and got onto my hooves. All around me were trees. "Shining Armor?" My call for Shining was met with silence. I began to panic as I scanned my surroundings. I shouldn't be in a forest! I thought. Where am I? What happened? I tried my best to figure out where I was, but the darkness of night made it hard to see. I at least could tell I wasn't in the arctic north. That was both good and bad. I didn't have to worry about freezing to death, but that also meant there were no familiar landmarks like the castle to guide me. I tried to take a step forward, but immediately tripped and fell over.  "Agh! What are you doing drone!" I heard a very distinct voice. I quickly scrambled to my hooves and backed away, my rump hitting a tree. She was hard to see with her jet-black coat, but her eyes were unmistakable. "Chrysalis, where have you taken me!" I yelled. She had to have kidnapped me.  "You! What are you doing in my hive?" she hissed. She tried to get up but immediately collapsed to her left side with a yelp of pain. There was blood running down her right. "Dirty rat! Rather than fight me with honor you attempt to kill me in my sleep! Die!" Her horn glowed green with magic. Immediately, I attempt to construct a shield to defend myself, but my magic fizzled out into sparks. In a moment of desperation, I jump out of the way of the attack, landing on my side. I look back at Chrysalis and see her magic too has fizzled. "What have you done with my magic!?" she asks. Chrysalis quickly looks around herself. "Where are we, pony?" she angrily asks. She's asking me where we are. Why is she asking me? "You…you don't know where we are?" I ask. "I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play Princess MI Amore, of course, I don't know; you kidnapped me!" she furiously accuses. I get back up, not taking my eyes off Chrysalis. "You really don't know where we are?" "No…and I take it you don't know either," she said. "No, I don't. I just woke up here, same as you," I explained. It was hard to believe that the person I hated the most just so happened to get kidnapped with me. But, if Chrysalis really didn't know where we were then questioning her was pointless. I cautiously take my attention off of her and attempt to look for answers. Once again I'm reminded of the lack of magic when I try to cast an illumination spell. The realization that I couldn't feel any magic in the area hit me. "That should be impossible," I mumble. "What was that?" Chrysalis asked. "There's no magic here," I say. Chrysalis closed her eyes and scowled. "Of all the larvae-shit," she grumbled. Without magic, it would be hard to survive out in the wilderness. I need to find civilization or at least shelter, and Chrysalis would have to do the same. And though I hated her, it would be better to have her help. "Chrysalis-" I began. "I already know what you're going to say, and I hate it just as much as you. Now, help me stand," she commanded. "Rude, and a please would be appreciated," I say back. "Hmph," was all she said back. I slowly walk towards her in fear of a possible attack. A gasp escaped me. I was now close enough to see that she was injured badly. Her body was covered in cuts, and a large gash was dug into her flank. "Wh-what happened?" I ask worryingly. "I don't know. I can't remember anything leading up to" -she waves hoof from herself to the forest- "all this." "You can't possibly walk with those injuries." Several of the cuts looked deep and painful, and the gash no doubt immobilized her hind leg. "Watch me, princess," she mocked. I ignored her remark and used my head to push her onto her stomach. I watched in silence as she struggled to get up. It seemed the half-attempt from earlier was a fluke. "I told you," I say. "Fine," she growls, "carry me then." "Again,  please would be nice," I complained. I go behind and under her, lifting her onto my back. Even though she was larger than me, my alicorn strength made it easy to carry her. It seemed passive magic still worked. In the corner of my eye, I can see a blush from Chrysalis. We walked through the brush for about ten minutes. Luckily, it seemed the forest wasn't too dense and only a few stray branches scratched me. The occasional shudder from Chrysalis told me a few were hitting her cuts, but by sheer resilience, she refused to make any indication of pain. It took a few more minutes but we found a trail and began to follow it. There were various tracks from animals on it. But along with the animal ones were pattern-like tracks that kinda looked checkered. Up ahead I could see a light slightly off from the path. "Look Chrysalis, light!" I pointed out. I didn't get a response and looked up to see the changeling sleeping. I guess she decided to sleep off her pain. The light seemed to turn and grow brighter, blinding me. Though I couldn’t see, I could hear a rumbling beast coming toward me.