Consciousness finally found Crystal, and she slowly woke with a soft groan. Her head throbbed where the changeling hit it with his hoof, and when she went to put a paw to her head, she found that she couldn't. as her vision cleared, she slowly realized she was tied up to a tall pillar.
"Finally you're awake." said a voice.
She turned to the source, and saw that a green unicorn stallion was tied up with her as well. His horn was broke off at the tip, and he had some small cuts from possibly a fight. His mane was a dark blue. His eyes were two different colors. One was a dark golden yellow, the other a dark red. He wore a pair of circular glasses on his face, and an unamused expression.
"Changelings got you too, eh?"
"W..who are you?" asked Crystal, as she struggled to clear her head.
"My name is Vlad. Vlad Harpsicord. I'm a scientist who specializes in ancient artifacts."
Crystal looked around. It was a dimly lit place, lit only by torches on the wall. It looked pretty barren, yet it dimly reminded Crystal of a broken down castle. She lit her horn to untie herself, but her magic fizzled out as fast as it had come.
"Don't bother. They've drugged us. Couldn't escape even if I wanted to."
Crystal struggled in the ropes, but it was as if the rope was made of wicker. She gave a sigh.
"Hopefully we know what they wish to do to us, miss...."
"Crystal. Crystal Shard."
Rhinestone watched as Rusty tried hard not to fall asleep.... and she was loosing the battle to stay awake. He twitched an ear.
Crystal should be home by now....... I must find her.
He put Rusty on his back, and shifted to his Pegasus form, before he walked outside to take off.
Suddenly, the hidden figures jumped out of the bushes, catching him off guard.
He ducked one channeling's lunge so that it missed, crashing into another changeling, as he took off. Surprisingly, Rusty was still fast asleep, her grip secured by her sharp little claws.
He glanced behind him, and saw that the three changelings were following him. He rounded a bend sharply and looked back again. Did I loose them?
"What a nice name." said Vlad. "But obviously there must be a reason they wanted to kidnap you."
He watched as Crystal managed to free a paw, and reached into the fur around her neck, and pulled out the ancient necklace.
"Oh, that explains everything." said Vlad with curiousity. "The Eternal Flame Amulet. The amulet, with enough starpower, can grant the user great powers......." The rope loosened, and it occurred to him that Crystal had begun to untie the rope.
"Rumored to even grant the user immortality."
"so that's why they want it..." replied Crystal, as she undid the last of the knots. As they got to her paws and hooves, they found their steps were shaky and unsteady.
"Here... lean on me." offered Vlad. "Maybe we can find a way out of this place....."
Rhinestone breathed a sigh, then cringed as he came face-to-face with a changeling.
"I warned you!" it hissed as it raised a hoof to strike. Rhinestone caught the hoof, and flung the changeling away, only to pin it's legs to the ground so it couldn't get away.
"I will only say his once..... where is Crystal Shard!?" He morphed into his half dragon form, angered enough that smoke billowed from his scaled nostrils.
The changeling struggled feebly under his grip, pure terror in it's compound blue eyes.
"T..they... they took her... to the hive!" whimpered the changeling. "P..please don't kill me!"