A Cry For Help

by Regal Shadow


Chapter 1: First Contact

Chapter 1: First Contact

{P.O.V. Randy}

Have you ever broken a bone before? No? Well whoop-de-do, pal. Whoop. De. Do. I’ve broken my arms and legs a couple times, even a rib once. Guess what? They’re nothing but itches compared to what I went through that night. The moment I fell asleep, there was a huge bang. I tried to hop out of bed, but it didn’t work. I wasn’t even in my bed. I was falling through what looked like hippy paradise, screaming my head off. I probably would’ve thought I was high, if I’d had the chance to form a thought. But no, fate decided to be a bitch as usual. It ended as quickly as it began, with a very rough impact.

<~:~>

{P.O.V. Chrysalis}

Meanwhile, inside the hive of the Changelings, Chrysalis was having a fitful sleep. Even in her dreams, she could not escape her failure. Over and over again, she was tortured by images of her failure. Twilight proving she was not Cadence, the love shield throwing herself, along with her Changelings, all the way back to the Badlands. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she continued to writhe about in her bed. The pain in her heart was unfathomable, one that no one, not even her, deserved to live through.

Thankfully, her sleep was soon interrupted by a loud noise. Startled, she jumped out of bed, looking around her room for the cause of the noise. She found none, shrugging it off as something from her nightmare. She was about to return to her bed, when a loud knocking came from outside her door. Secretly thankful that she had a reason to stay awake, her horn lit up, and the door was opened, revealing one of the guards, Razor Wing.

“M-My Queen,” he began, bowing, “I-I am sorry to disturb you at this hour.” Chrysalis warmly chuckled at this, hoping to calm her little Changeling’s nerves. She hated to see them so upset. “It’s quite alright, Razor Wing. I was just taking care of a few things,” she lied. “Now, is there anything I can help you with?”

Razor Wing, now calmer knowing his Queen was not angry with him for disturbing her, nodded. “Something has crashed down outside the hive. I have sent a few of the guards to investigate, as the ones that were appointed to guard the outside of the hive have not returned.”

Chrysalis’ eyes widened at this. Could the thing that crashed down have knocked out her guards, or worse? She had to know. “I wish to see the cause of the noise myself. If it managed to take out our guards, then it could be a threat to the rest of the hive. And as Queen, it is my job to keep each and every last Changeling safe to the best of my abilities.” She caught Razor off guard with her statement, but he composed himself, not wanting to show weakness in front of his ruler.

“My Queen, I’m afraid I must protest. If you got hurt-” Razor was quickly interrupted by Chrysalis, her eyes burning with determination.

“Then it is because I was doing what I was born to do. Ensuring the safety of my subjects. Now, if you’ll excuse me Razor Wing,” she said as she trotted past him and spread her wings, “We have a problem that must be dealt with, and I must insist that you come along.” Having said her piece, Chrysalis spread her wings, and took off towards the entrance. Razor facehoofed, groaning in frustration at his Queen’s bull-headedness, he spread his own wings and followed her to the main entrance of the hive.

~ ~ ~

Chrysalis was stunned when she arrived at the scene. The guards that had been stationed outside the hive were unconscious, and there was a huge, smoldering crater about twenty hooves away from the hive itself. Luckily the guards didn’t appear to have any serious injuries, but they’d definitely be sore once they awoke. Chrysalis, relieved in knowing that they would be alright, flew over to the crater, where the team of Changelings sent out earlier were gathered, eyes wide and mouths hanging open.

Confused by this, the Queen of Changelings approached one of the guards, trying to get their attention. Shockingly, it didn’t work. Chrysalis tried again with another guard, only to be met with the exact same results. This only served to confuse her even more. Why were they ignoring their Queen? She was not by any means offended by their behavior, oh no. She had long since grown weary of everyone bowing to her as soon as she was within sight. But this behavior was terribly odd for her Changelings. Growing worried, she gazed down into the pit, her reaction mimicking that of her guards.

At the bottom of the crater was no meteorite, nor cannonball or remains of any type of explosive. Lying there, in a pool of its own blood, skin charred, clothes shredded, was some sort of creature. What in the name of the hive is that thing? Chrysalis wondered. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Is that what caused the loud noise? Shaking her head, she focused on the matter at hoof. The creature was obviously hurt terribly, and would not survive unless she intervened. Her mind told her it was a foalish thing to do, but her heart ached at the sight of the creature.


What if this thing turned on her once it was healed? Why should she help it? After thinking for a moment, the answer became clear. There could be more of these creatures. What if they were invading, trying to take over while her Changelings were weak? She needed to keep this one alive, if she wanted information. Besides, she had already seen enough death to last a lifetime, as of late. She didn't want anymore blood on her hooves than she could help. Taking a deep breath, and turned to the guard on her left. “Deceiver?” She nudged the guard, knocking him out of his trance.

The guard shook his head, having finally snapped out of his trance. He faced Chrysalis, startled by her sudden appearance, but bowed nonetheless. “My Queen?”

“I need you to go and fetch the best field medics we have. I fear this creature, whatever it is, will die without proper medical treatment.” The guard was shocked by this. Since when had his Queen ever cared about the well being of any non-Changeling? But he kept his mouth shut. It was his job to follow orders, not to question them. He nodded, saluting Chrysalis, before flying back to the hive.

Satisfied, Chrysalis turned back to the crater, examining the creature closely. It appeared to be rather lanky and
awkward, most likely bipedal. However, it didn’t look like any sort of primate that she knew of. It had fur, but only on the top of its head. It appeared to wear clothes, based on the burnt and torn cloth covering his upper and lower body.

She noticed one of its legs was broken, a piece of bone having broken the skin, and cringed. The Queen of Changelings felt herself tearing up, and looked away from the creature. She could not show weakness in front of her subjects. She was supposed to be their rock, their source of strength. If she showed weakness, her Changelings would be lost. Sighing, she sat down, waiting for the guard to return with the doctors and of various things going on in the hive.

A few minutes later they arrived. Like everyone else, the doctors were stunned at the sight of the creature, but shook it off. They had a job to do. Soon the creature was bandaged, had regained enough blood to survive the trip, and was being moved to the infirmary for treatment. Satisfied that the creature was in good hooves, Chrysalis made her way back to her room, and recorded what had just transpired in her diary before falling asleep.

~ ~ ~

Chrysalis awoke early the next morning, rushing through her morning routine and heading towards the infirmary. She wanted to know if the creature had survived the night more than anything else. When they had found it, she couldn’t tell if it was unconscious or...

No, Chrysalis chided herself, don’t think about that. You’re a Queen. If your subjects see you break down in the hallway...

Thankfully her fear was short-lived as she found herself standing at the entrance to the infirmary. Upon entering, everyone turned to her, giving a quick bow before returning to their original tasks. Sighing, Chrysalis trotted up to one of the nurses. “Excuse me, could you tell me where I could find the creature that was brought in last night? I need to check if he’s awake.” The nurse turned around, about to explain why no one could see the creature except the staff, when she saw that it was the Queen herself. Quickly recovering from her shock, the nurse bowed and nodded before leading Chrysalis to one of the private rooms.

“I’m not completely sure of his condition,” the nurse began, “but I do know that there’s a good chance he’ll make it.” Chrysalis nodded in understanding before her mind fully processed what the nurse had said.

“He?” Chrysalis asked. “So the doctor’s have confirmed a few things about the creature?”

The nurse nodded. “Yes they have. So far, we know it’s a male, that it’s a mammal, most likely some sort of primate. But there’s one odd thing about it that we just can’t explain.” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at this, curious to know what was so special about the creature. “The doctors ran a few tests, and confirmed that the creature, well... He shouldn’t even be alive right now. Not because of his injuries, as terrible as they were. But because of the air outside the hive. The amount of dust and sulfur should’ve poisoned and killed the creature before we would’ve been able to save him. Yet he didn’t have a single speck of the dust from outside in his lungs...”

Chrysalis’ eyes widened. If this creature should’ve been dead, then why is it still alive? It just didn’t make any sense! How could it have survived if what the doctor’s told her was true?!

She decided to brush it off for now. The important thing was that the creature was going to make it. Thanking the nurse for the information, Chrysalis trotted into the room, gently closing the door behind her. The creature was covered in bandages, some already sporting droplets of blood from the terrible gashes they were covering. She could also make out a few stitches, probably from surgery. He appeared to be sleeping, so Chrysalis simply examined him a little while longer before leaving, her royal duties calling.

<~:~>

{P.O.V. Randy}

I woke up with the biggest headache I’d ever had in my life. Not just any normal headache, oh no. That kind of headache you get when you chug three Red Bulls and go get drunk afterwards. Needless to say, it’s a miracle I didn’t start screaming. It’s not because I held it back, it was because I couldn’t scream. Something was covering my mouth. It felt like... Bandages? Yeah, bandages.

Okay, I thought to myself, there’s two possibilities. One, I’m in the hospital because my dorm room exploded, or two, someone knocked me out with drugs after stunning me with a flashbang. I’ll assume the former for now. Luckily my eyes weren’t covered, and I could see what was going on around me. I was covered in bandages, with a few exposed areas that either had stitches or... Wait... Why the hell do I have stickers with glowing Japanese shit on them? Turns out they were runes. Didn’t know it at the time, obviously. I mean, come on, what hospital uses runes? None on Earth, that’s for sure.

By this point I was starting to freak out a little. The room I was in looked like a cave, with a cabinet, a sink, a few cupboards, and a door. There was probably a table next to my bed, but I couldn’t see it. Alright, so I was kidnapped. Well, time to flip my shit and bust the hell out of here. I was about to get up when the door opened. Immediately I lay back down, making my breath slow and even so my captors would think I was asleep. I kept my eyes half open though. I wanted to know who had kidnapped me so I could sic the cops on this sick bastard once I got out. Imagine my surprise when I see, of all things, a Changeling, an honest to goodness CHANGELING trot through the door.

Okay, whatever they gave me, I want more. I thought as the Changeling examined me. He... She... Screw it. The Changeling held up a clipboard with their magic, changed a few bandages, replaced the IV, and left. Once the door was closed, I just lay there. My mind was trying to figure out what the fuck I just saw. A Changeling was my nurse. A thought popped into my head, but I knew it was too good to be true. Yeah, right. Like I got sent to Equestria when I got in bed last night. That’s just stupid... Right?