//------------------------------// // chapter 1: please, sing for me // Story: stranded // by johntheanimefan //------------------------------// Stranded Chapter 1: Please, sing for me Haggard breaths and galloping hooves were the only sound echoing through the halls of the crystal empire, as a lone changeling (our hero for the novel) hurried through the castle, looking for an exit. Preferably one that did not have several guards waiting to skewer him. He was about to slow down to catch his breath when he heard the sounds of guards coming up behind him. “Search the area!” he heard one of the voices say. No doubt it was their leader, Captain Flash Sentry. More than likely, he had the entire castle on lockdown by now. The windows and doors were useless to him now, he needed another way. A thought then occurred to the changeling. He had heard rumors about a magical mirror that apparently took you to a different place. The rumors never specified where exactly, but it was clearly not equestrian. While at first, our currently unnamed hero debated whether or not he should run such a risk, the closing in sounds of hooves from all sides encouraged his inevitable decision. Right now, anywhere was better than here. So the changeling ran for the treasure room where the mirror was located. The room had no windows or any doors leading to the outside, thus nopony thought he’d run to here. Big mistake. The changeling dashed to the unguarded door. However, the chase was not over yet, as a blast of magic stopped him from entering the room by impacting the wall in front of him. The changeling looked through the smoke to see a face he dreaded coming across. Lieutenant Silver Bullet; one of the most frightening soldiers in the crystal army. A unicorn notorious for his single mindedness, and his hatred of changelings. In short, the last person that our hero wanted to run into. At least Flash Sentry might have gone a bit easy on him, this stallion was insane, and everyone knew it. Even through the smoke, the changeling could feel the piercing gaze of Silver’s hate filled green eyes. He knew he missed intentionally, as Silver wielded that horn of his like a scalpel. He wanted to see him fry with his own eyes. “Let me pass,” our hero said, doing his best to act unafraid. “Get past me if it means that much to you,” hissed Silver. Two more blasts of magic erupted from his horn, straight at the changeling. Luckily, he was able to morph into a snake to slither around them and under Silver. The changeling then reformed into his original form right under silver, using his newfound leverage to throw him across the room. Our clever hero took this chance to dash into the treasure room and right toward the mirror. However, Silver was not done with him yet, and tackled him, sending them both hurtling into the mirror. As the two hurtled through the void between worlds, their fight continued. But as they fought, they failed to notice the many changes happening to them. At least, not until they came flying out of the wondercolt statue on the other side. The changeling’s vision blurred back into focus, where he then saw him new hands, and new fingers. “Wha-what…? What in the world?” he murmured to himself. But he didn’t have time to look over the rest of his newfound body, as Silver, who had obviously regained consciousness, kicked him in the gut. The changeling writhed in pain before scrambling to his feet to get a look at his adversary. It was night time, so it was hard to get a bead on where they were, but from their warped appearances, it was clear that they weren’t anywhere near equestrian anymore. But, even in this strange new form, Silver was just as frightening as ever. Hell, he was probably more so given the unfamiliar appearance. “You’re even more hideous than before,” said the now human Silver. “You’re no prize yourself buddy,” replied the changeling. “Maybe, but I still have my magic.” Silver’s new arms lit up with green electricity, giving the changeling cause to run for his life. He didn’t get very far before blasts of magic were whizzing by his head, and explosions were ringing all around him. He managed to get out of sight for a few precious moments, where he decided to make for a nearby diner. Perhaps help could be requisitioned there. ------- Flash Sentry thoughtlessly spun his spoon around in his milkshake, as he looked down at a picture of Twilight Sparkle he had on his phone. “Buddy, if you miss her so much, why not call her?” asked his older brother, Bolt Sentry. Flash chuckled to himself. “I’d kill for it to be that easy,” he said. “Well, why isn’t it?” Flash quickly thought up an excuse. “She…she lives in another country. The only one who has her phone number is Sunset, and she’s….clingy.” Flash saw Bolt’s raised eyebrow and mirthful smirk and quickly pointed his finger at him. “Not remotely what I meant.” Bolt raised his hands defensively. “Okay, okay,” he chuckled. He then patted Flash on the shoulder. “Don’t worry lil bro, she’s come back twice, so that has to say something. She’ll come back again, and probably sooner than you think.” Flash smiled at his brother’s reassuring words. The changeling barged into the diner and looked around the room at the patrons, who were all pretty shocked at the sight of this man’s appearance, which resembled a man who had just ran through a battlefield. “Please, you have to help me!” he shouted. Bolt slowly approached our hero and held up his police badge. “Canterlot P.D, how can I help you, son?” he asked. “P-please, there’s someone trying to kill me!’ the changeling said. Then he saw Silver approaching the diner and charging up a blast. “Get down!” he shouted, tackling Bolt to the floor just as the magic blast impacted the diner. After the dust had settled, the changeling forced himself to his feet. He looked around the diner, seeing the patrons strewn about the floor. He wasn’t sure if they were unconscious or dead. Either way, he only had one thing to say to Silver when he entered the destroyed diner. “Are you insane?!” “I care nothing for this world or its people,” said Silver. “But don’t worry, I won’t be staying long.” “Freeze!!!” Shouted Bolt, who stood behind Silver with his revolver aimed right at his head. “Hands in the air, right now!” Silver turned around and glared at Bolt. “You must be joking,” he said before Bolt pulled the trigger. While it didn’t hit his head, it did nick his cheek, causing a bit of blood to run down his face. “No. No I’m not joking. Hands. Air. NOW!” Bolt pulled back the hammer on his revolver to solidify that if Silver does not comply, he’s a dead man. “Alright, alright,” said Silver, who turned around to hold his hands up in the air. “Hands.” He then pointed two of his fingers at Bolt. “Air.” A gust of wind pounded Bolt in the gut, sending him flying out of the destroyed window and into the hood of a car. “Bro!’ shouted Flash, but Silver stood above him before he could get up. “Son, just don’t,” he said. He turned back to his original target. “Now then, where were we-what?!” during the confusion, the changeling had fled out the back door. When silver charged after him, Flash darted out to check on his brother. Bolt writhed in pain on top of the car. “Bolt!” Flash said, running over to him and helping him down. “Flash, c-carry me to the car,” said Bolt. Flash had bolt lean on his shoulder, where he then carried him to Bolt’s cop car. Bolt threw open the door and grabbed his radio. “D-dispatch, this is Officer Bolt, requesting immediate assistance and medical support for Cuppa Joe’s diner. Possible terrorist, just blew up cuppa Joe’s diner and is now heading east down Lavender Avenue. Approach with caution, as suspect is armed with heavy artillery and explosives.” “Copy that Officer Bolt, sending S.W.A.T unit now,” replied the dispatch radio. “Also sending an ambulance unit to your location.” Bolt hung up the radio and slumped against the car, Flash sitting down next to him. “Y-you okay, big bro?” he asked. “Yeah,” Bolt said with a reassuring smirk. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit dinged up…” Then Bolt fell unconscious. Meanwhile… The changeling didn’t get far before the shooting started up again. He couldn’t run through the alleys, that would give Silver too clear a shot, and he couldn’t just run through the street and endanger more people. A catch-22 if ever there was one… Well, he had to think of something fast, he could hear him gaining. Then, a new idea popped into his head. If he couldn’t find him, then he’d at least stop blowing things up. So he ran out into the street and started analyzing everyone around him. Faces, skin color, freckles, hair style and color. He gathered these details from the humans on the street and compiled them all into a brand new disguise. Although, after he put it on. “Nice new face, changeling,” said Silver, who was right behind him. “Turn around, nice and slow.” “Okay, okay, you win.” The changeling turned around to face Silver. “Okay, you’ve blown up half of a city just to nab one guy. Happy?” “Oh, you have no idea,” said Silver. “And I cannot wait to drag you back and watch as Captain Shining Armor breaks you like a glowstick.” Just as our hero was about to process what exactly that meant, three cop cars pull up, and their residents pulled their guns on Silver Bullet. “Freeze! Step away from the citizen.” “Oh for the love of-this again!?” Silver asked, which allowed the changeling to escape. After chasing off the cops, Silver gave chase once more. The changeling kept running until he saw what may be his salvation: a river! Wherever it went, at least it would be far away from that psycho. So, he ran as fast as he could, leaping into the river. However, before he hit water, his back was blasted with one of Silver’s magic bolts. The blast knocked him unconscious as he plummeted into what was to be his watery grave. Silver watched the changeling float downstream, confident that he was dead. Still, it couldn’t hurt to check… However, before he could, S.W.A.T vans surrounded him, and men with guns poured out and aimed their crosshairs at his head. Realizing that he couldn’t take them all on, Silver decided that it was best to retreat for now. So, he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The swat team opened fire on the smoke, but a voice called for them to hold their fire. It was police chief Shining Armor, who turned to one of his subordinates. “Check all of the helmet cams, I know we have his face,” he said, looking out to the smoke billowing from canterlot. “I want that man’s face all over the state, am I clear?” “Yes sir,” said the subordinate, running off to distribute the orders. --------- The changeling’s eyes fluttered open in response to the rays of sunlight peeking into his room. His body was covered in bandages, that most he could feel out, but his vision was still blurry. One thing he could hear clear as day though, was the sound of someone humming a song. It was a beautiful melody, even when hummed. When his vison came to him, he searched for the source of such a melody. To his left, absentmindedly carving a piece of wood, was a lady with golden blonde hair. Due to his unfamiliarity with this species, he wasn’t very good at discerning age, but he could guess she was rather young. The lady ceased her carving and her singing when she noticed him looking at her. She stood up and walked to his bedside, about to say something before he spoke. “Don’t stop,” he said as best as he could, his throat bone dry. “Please, keep singing…” At first, she seemed confused, but then she smiled softly and continued singing until he fell back asleep.