//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: When Skies Fall // by Vengeance383 //------------------------------// The package was delivered by a scrawny looking Pegasus who looked like he’d seen too much. He didn’t say anything; he just gave me a box and flew off. I looked at the box and found a folder taped to the bottom of it. The folder had a note from princess Celestia saying that the package was to be delivered to General Sparkle in the Everfree ‘post-haste’. I figured since it was from the princess it would be worth my while to take the job, not like anypony else was going to. I put the package in my saddlebag and checked my gear a couple times before heading out, ruined Canterlot isn’t exactly safe ya know. The High Ones as they call themselves make regular sweeps of the area to find hobos like myself for their midday snacks, and every one of them is worth ten ponies. That doesn’t mean you don’t get lucky every once in a while and bring one down though. I can hear em’ making their passes, it should be about twenty-five minutes until they make it back to this area. I had to make my way through a debris tunnel quickly if I was to make it to red gate safely. The tunnel winds in every direction and has spider web lining; I ended up getting caught on some lumber sticking out of the wall a few, but nothing that should slow me down to seriously. I had to squeeze through some of the smaller parts of the tunnel where it had collapsed even further from buildings weight, which added to more lost time. When I reached the end I stuck my head out from under a sheet of wood to check the area. Everything seemed calm and clear; the streets are full of junk and garbage as usual while most of the buildings falling in on themselves. The sun was at its peak in the sky and the moon was just over the east horizon, it had been like that for three days now, the royal sisters must have their hooves full. On my way to red gate I could hear them; their heavy wing beats gave them away like an adult dragon’s. Everything was off, they shouldn’t have been back for another ten minutes, I should have had plenty of time. I ran behind a slab concrete held off the ground by a lamppost and prayed to Luna that they didn’t see me. My prayers stopped short when I heard them land and start walking. The sounds of their armor shifting and rubbing against itself only helped to add to my fear. Then time stopped, I held my breath and got as close that slab as I could, maybe they hadn’t seen me. I was wrong; they ripped the slab away and as I fell over they kicked me into a wall. I didn’t have any time to think, so I acted instead; I ran as fast as I could, knowing it was hopeless. To them this was a game and when it was over they would drain me of my life and leave me to turn to dust. I ran down a path on my left in hopes of getting into the sewers before I was caught. I looked for anywhere to hide, anything I could use to slow them down, but they weren’t even there. Nope, they were flying somewhere high above me waiting for me to get close to my goal, then they would shoot down and land right in front of me right as I got there. I had to come up with another plan; I dove into a broken window on my right and ran towards a door near the back of the building. I found a hole in the wall going down that I never knew about. I thought about where the hole might’ve lead, but that thought was cut short as fire came bursting through the door. I humped down that hole as fast as I could and crawled for what seemed like hours and by the time I made to where I thought I was safe, I passed out. When I woke up I was covered in a cold sweat and my head hurt, my fault for not drinking anything in a while. I wondered how long I had been sleeping for until I realized it was pitch black. I lit my lantern and looked around. There were crystals all over the walls of the cave; I figured I must have been in the crystal caverns underneath Canterlot. I hung my lantern around my neck and chose to go towards one of the closer tunnels and make the best of it. I walked for a while until I heard something, it wasn’t a Masker, but the sound still worried me. When I got close to where the noise was coming from I saw a door. I went towards it and placed my ear against it; I heard clicking noises and muffled screaming. I gently pushed the door opened to see what was happening. I saw a Pegasus mare tied to a table while Changelings took turns biting her. Then they’d go off to the other side of the room where I couldn’t see them. She just laid there letting them bite her, I thought she was dead except for a cry she’d let out every once in a while. I dug through my bag to see what I had that could help her; I had my lantern, the package, a stick of dynamite, and my knife along with some food and water. I decided to burst in and get them to chase me to where I could use the dynamite on them… I’ve made a lot of poor decisions in my life, this makes one of the top ones; never have I been so scared twice in one day. I could hear their clawed hooves scraping against the stone floor behind me while I fumbled with my explosive. This was one of those times where I wished I was a Unicorn as I tried to light the fuse with my lantern. I took a sharp turn into a narrow tunnel, which turned into a dead end. I lit the stick and through at the entrance and covered my ears. I was relieved to hear panicked shrieking and clicking followed by a loud BOOM! I went back to the room to see if that Pegasus was alright and when I got there I found her wriggling around trying to get free. I tried to cut her free with my knife, but she would scream and writhe around. I didn’t want to hurt when she’d move so I figured I’d let her tire herself out before I cut her loose. While she struggled with her bonds and glared at me I wandered onto the other side of the chamber. In the corner was a pool full of green slime that had a pulse, almost like it was alive. I grabbed a rock and threw it in; I don’t what I expected to happen, but nothing did. When I turned around to check on the Pegasus, she was completely out. I walked over with my knife and cut her loose, I moved her legs to her sides and treated her bite wounds with what little supplies I had. I hadn’t been keeping track of time, but it was a long while before she woke up. I remember being tackled and hoofed in the face a couple times before I bucked her off me. That crazy Pegasus tackled me, I mean she has had a pretty stressful day, but so have I! “Hey, calm down!” I yelled trying to regain control of the situation. “NONONONO! I will not be food again!” She cried. She was glaring daggers at me. Oh look, there’s my knife. “Listen just calm down, okay? I’m not going to hurt you, just calm down and give me back my knife. Please,” “No, you’re one of them! You’re just doing this to get my hopes up so I’ll taste better or something!” ‘I wonder how long she’s been down here for to come up with that crazy idea.’ “Listen, I’m not one of them, if you would just listen instead of-“ “DIE!!” I had no idea she was going to charge me. She was coming right at me and I was just standing there in shock, she was going to try and kill me, then she stopped. Her face went pale and she was staring at something behind me. I turned around to see a Changeling crawling back into the room. Its carapace was all cracked and covered in green ichor; its wings had been burnt or torn off by the blast, there was hardly anything left of it, even its fangs were broken. “Disgusting,” she said as she walked up to it. “What do you think you’re doing?! Get away from it!” “Shut up.” ‘Yes ma’am!’ “You think you can tie me up and use me as food?” Her voice was harsh and icy. “You think that because you’re cut off from your queen that you can torture innocents?” She pulled the changeling close to her and stared into its eyes while she drug my knife across its horn. She slipped the knife in the bug’s crack hide and twisted it. The Changeling shook and screeched until it stopped moving. The Pegasus pulled the knife out and looked at me with tears in her eyes and put the knife on the ground. I didn’t know what to say, I didn’t know if I should say anything at all and right as I was about say something she ran out the door. I ran out to see which way she went, but she was gone. After I gathered my knife I moved further into the caverns. The thoughts of being lost would come and go, but after witnessing what I had just seen I didn’t think about getting lost as being a bad thing. My lantern was starting to die and I hadn’t seen any oil or candles around. I started to worry about how I was going to get out; I started to panic and I started running because of it. I ran until the light was gone and I couldn’t see where I was going. I moved through the darkness inch-by-inch while hugging a wall until I hit an opening. I turned the corner and continued to follow the wall with nothing but my thoughts and the sound of my heart beat humming in my head. I started to get scared again, thinking that I had run out of luck; three close calls in one day and then my lantern dying on me, that’s just screams outa luck. Then I looked up, I could see the moon. There it was, right in the center of the hole, and coming down that hole was a ladder.