"Braeburn!"
Apple Bloom had found the stallion in the desert, exhausted from travel. He was unconscious and dehydrated, but Applejack was able to supply fresh water to her cousin. He looked travel-worn, as if he were wandering the desert for days. The ponies were able to bring him under the shade of a nearby tree and waited until he woke up.
Scootaloo was in charge of keeping watch for any changelings. "We may have gotten away from them, but they may still be out there." Applejack said to the fillies. Scootaloo was the one who offered to keep watch. Her sudden streak of courage surprised the Apple sisters.
Braeburn eventually began to stir under the tree. "Cuz? Ya okay?" Applejack gave her family member some space as he opened his eyes.
"Applejack? Apple Bloom?" The yellow stallion removed beads of sweat from his brow as he sat up. Applejack gave him a big hug.
"Ah'm so glad you're okay!" She cried. Apple Bloom sensed something was wrong by the way he looked down and said nothing as Applejack held him. He didn't return the hug, but soon gently pushed the orange mare off.
"What are y'all doing out here?" Braeburn asked.
"Ah could ask you the same question..." Apple Bloom said under her breath. Braeburn looked at Apple Bloom for a second after she said it, causing the filly to flinch, but Braeburn simply smiled.
"Just lookin' for a place to be safe." Applejack said. "We need'ta get a good idea of what's goin' on so we can go help our friends....what about you? What happened?"
Braeburn stood up and placed a hoof on the tree. "After the meteors hit, our town was devastated. The crops stopped growing and a lot of the ponies gone and moved away. Ah stayed, though." He paused for a moment.
"When those changelin' critters appeared, Ah made my way out of Apple Loosa and found a small shelter nearby. Ah was looking for some food when Ah passed out..."
Applejack smiled. "You have someplace to stay? Could ya take us in?"
Apple Bloom saw Braeburn hesitate before nodding his head. "It's about half an hour from here. Let's go!"
Sure enough, it took about thirty minutes to reach Braeburn's shelter. It was a moderately-sized house in the middle of the desert. It looked to be a farm of some sort, but no crops were growing now. The orange sky complimented the shifting sands and dust.
"Here it is!" Braeburn exclaimed as he extended a hoof to the house. The shelter was pretty run-down; it looked to have been abandoned well before the meteor shower.
Scootaloo saw a pair of birds flying in the air and flew up to chase them. "Hey, Apple Bloom!" She called down to the yellow filly. "Watch me catch these birds!"
Apple Bloom stood in awe as Applejack followed Braeburn into the house. Apple Bloom could hear AJ's voice trail off, but she was too busy watching Scootaloo. The pegasus caught up to one of the birds, who started panicking and sped up at this point. "Almost there!" Apple Bloom yelled, laughing. Scootaloo zoomed through the sky and managed to snag one of the birds right out of the air. She landed right next to Apple Bloom, showing off her prize.
The yellow filly heard noises from inside the house - the sound of glass breaking and loud thuds. "What's goin' on in there?" Apple Bloom said out loud as Scootaloo petted the bird. She had a very bad feeling in her gut as the wind began to pick up, blowing sand and dust everywhere. Suddenly, a green flash came from one of the windows, causing Apple Bloom to close her eyes.
Scootaloo, at this point, realized what was happening as she dropped the bird. Before it hit the ground, Apple Bloom stared at it. She could see a gleam in its eyes that she had seen before.
"...Scootaloo!"
The bird flashed green as well, knocking back the fillies. When she looked again, Apple Bloom saw a changeling hovering above. It screeched as Apple Bloom picked herself up to run into the house, but she was grabbed by the changeling. The second bird flew down and revealed that it was a changeling as well before picking up Scootaloo. The fillies thrashed around before they were both knocked out cold. Apple Bloom saw a third flash of green before passing out.
*********
"...Here you go, Chrysalis."
It was Braeburn's voice Apple Bloom heard. She opened her eyes, seeing nothing but blurry images. As it cleared, she found herself chained to a wall along with her sister and Scootaloo. Braeburn was in the room, looking sad, as Queen Chrysalis towered behind him. There were a few other changelings in the room as well. Applejack was awake, yelling at her cousin.
"You sold us out??"
"No, Applejack, Ah-"
"Ah don't wanna hear it!" The orange mare yelled, to Chrysalis's laughter.
"This is too good! I asked you to bring the next ponies you find, and you bring an element of harmony! Too good!"
"Will you hold your end of the deal, then?" Braeburn said back. "You promised!"
"Of course, dear." Chrysalis said coldly, pacing around the room. The voices were all faint, but Apple Bloom did her best to make out the words.
"And...you're not gonna hurt them, are ya?"
"On my honor." The changeling queen snickered.
"Ya sold us out for a deal!?" Applejack sounded furious. She thrashed about in the chains a little before being smacked by one of the changelings.
"This changes everything..." Chrysalis said with another laugh. She turned to Braeburn. "I give you my word. I will not harm you."
Braeburn smiled at that. "Oh, thank you, ma'am-"
"Chester, kill him."
The look on Braeburn's face changed so suddenly that Apple Bloom was more startled by his reaction than what happened next. A changeling bit right into Braeburn's neck and dug long, sharp claws right into his flesh. Braeburn screamed and fell to the ground.
"Ah...ah thought..."
"The deal was that I would not harm you. I said nothing about my children." Chrysalis bent down to stare Braeburn right in the face. "You have served me well, as short a time it was. You will serve my children even better." She stood up and looked to the other changelings. "I'd say you all deserved a quick meal. Enjoy."
The changelings picked up Braeburn and took him out of the room. He screamed the entire time as the ponies heard sounds of chewing and tearing. Apple Bloom couldn't bear hearing the sounds, while Scootaloo began to cry. Before long, Braeburn fell silent. Applejack went from mad to extremely terrified. "Braeburn!!!" She yelled and thrashed about again.
Chrysalis laughed again and approached the mare. "Don't worry. It's not as painful as it seems...well, maybe it's more painful, but who has time to argue semantics?"
"Why...Braeburn may have betrayed us, his family...but why did ya kill him?"
"Oh, Braeburn didn't betray you!" Chrysalis pronounced his name wrong, but Braeburn wouldn't be correcting her anytime soon. "You just happened to be the first pony he saw to seal his deal. When we took his town, he begged me to spare him, so I struck him a deal: He brings us a pony for food, and we cause him no harm...At least, until we were done feeding here. However, he brought in an Element of Harmony! And two delicious fillies! Braeburn did such a good job that I...ended his contract early, so to speak." She cackled before placing a hoof on Scootaloo. The orange filly screamed.
"You can't harm us!" Applejack yelled. "We've beaten you before!"
"Correction: you and your friends have beaten me. I don't see them anywhere, do you? And...I heard what happened about Rainbow Dash. It's a shame...I wanted to see if she tasted like rainbows."
Applejack jerked the chain around a few times. "Why do you need to do this? Can't..." Applejack hesitated. "Can't you feed on them Sleipnir?"
Chrysalis laughed. "The Sleipnir? Have you seen them? It's much easier to prey on weaker species such as yourselves."
Applejack adjusted her chains. "But, if you help the ponies fight them...your children can, um, feed on the dead! Listen...them Sleipnir eat ponies as well. You'll be competing with them over who gets to feed! If you turn the tables, you can eat them and then prey on us unopposed!"
It was the weirdest thing Apple Bloom ever heard her sister say, but it made sense. At least, she thought it did. And Chrysalis apparently thought so as well.
"I see..." Chrysalis paced around for a moment. "Yes...what if they do take all of the ponies for themselves? I can't let that happen!"
Applejack smiled. "If ya let us go, we can all travel to the Crystal Empire under peace and work out a strategy! We'll fight back against them Sleipnir before long! Ah swears it on mah life!"
Chrysalis smiled. Apple Bloom sensed that it wasn't a happy smile. "I see your point, fair pony." She turned to face the three. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were on either end of Applejack. Their front hooves were chained to the walls right above them, and their hind hooves were chained to the floor.
Suddenly, Chrysalis slid over to Scootaloo once again and placed a hoof on her wings. "However, I feel that we should make this a trade. We'll let you go, but one of you must die...and I'm feeling partial to fried chicken wings right now." She licked her lips. Scootaloo screamed in agony as Chrysalis began pulling her tiny wings right out.
"Stop it! Stop it!" Scootaloo pleaded as Chrysalis continued pulling. Apple Bloom was screaming as well after hearing slight tearing sounds come from her friend. Please, don't!
When Apple Bloom looked over to see what was happening, she nearly fainted. Upon seeing drops of Scootaloo's blood emerge from where the wings began to tear, she yelled.
"Applejack!!!!"
The mare bucked the floor where her chains were connected, effectively breaking her hind hooves free. She swung around and kicked Chrysalis. The blow caused her to let go of Scootaloo's wings. Applejack swung her hooves down again right onto Chrysalis's head and pulled as hard as she could on the remaining chains. They came off easily due to Applejack playing around with them the entire time. Apple Bloom's eyes lit up as Applejack gracefully stood over the changeling queen. Scootaloo was sobbing as Applejack broke the chains. "Can you help Apple Bloom?" Scootaloo nodded and limped over to help Apple Bloom escape.
The other changelings swarmed the room after hearing the commotion. Applejack stood among them once again, ready to fight. "Ah need you two to get on outta here, you hear me?"
"But, what about you?" Apple Bloom squeaked. She didn't want to lose her sister, not now.
"Ah'll be right behind you. Go!" The fillies went.
Scootaloo's wings were bleeding, but still functional. It hurt when she tried to move them, but at least she could. Apple Bloom was glad that her friend didn't end up cut into pieces and fed to those changelings. Then again, Ah'm glad Ah ain't dead either. As they exited the house, Apple Bloom felt a hoof grab her by the tail. She screamed and bucked the changeling that followed them. It didn't do much damage, but it did get the changeling to let go. The two ran as fast as they could, away from the house.
"We have to go!" Scootaloo yelled as she began to run away.
"Ah won't leave her!"
"Apple Bloom!"
"Ah won't!!"
"There is nothing we can do! Applejack said she'll be okay, so we have to go! If they capture us, it'll all be in vain!"
Apple Bloom teared up and turned away from the house.
"Ah'll find you, sis. Everything will be okay."