The Changeling War

by Captain Morgan

The Brothers From Rikers

Author's Note:

Hello, yes I am back with another chapter. First off, I just want to say sorry for making you wait so long for this chapter. With all the chapters I had written so far, I decided to take a break, but after a month or two, I wanted to continue writing this chapter, but my mind just kept telling me to relax and do it later. it was only two weeks ago that I decided to get back to writing this story, so hopefully, this won't happen again in the next year or so. But anyway, here's the next chapter of The Changeling War. Enjoy!

My eyes slowly opened from the daylight that shined down upon me. From where I laid, I had a good view of the grey clouds that blanketed the sky. I’ve always loved cloudy days, they were so peaceful to me. As I sat up, I noticed that Luna’s wing was still draped over me. I looked to my right to see her sleeping soundly next to me with her head resting on her forehooves.

She was so beautiful as she slept, how her slender frame raised and fell with each breath she took, how the daylight shined on her majestic coat and mane, just breathtaking. I reached my hand over and ran it through her eternal flowing mane as a smile formed on her muzzle. This gave me an idea as I began petting her behind her ears in which made her stiffen at first but later made her relax into my touch.

“Mmmm, yes… right there,” She hummed in her sleep.

“Huh, and I thought her laugh was cute.” I thought with a quiet chuckle.

It was only last night when I had finally confessed my love to her, how she was the girl, or in her terms, mare, that I wanted to spend my life with. I was frightened to tell her my feelings though, thinking that she wouldn’t love me back because we were different species from different worlds. But the real reason was that I thought that a Princess like her wouldn’t want to be with someone like me. But now that I shared my feelings with her, I felt a bit of accomplishment in my life.

“Well, I see you two had a nice sleep.” A familiar voice stated. As I looked to where it came from, I saw Kenny leaning up against a car that was parked next to us, with a small smirk on his face.

“What do you want, Kenny?” I questioned, ignoring the fact that he now knew that Luna and I were together.

“I was gonna take a morning walk through the mall and thought if you’d like to join me.” He replied.

I thought about his offer and a walk through the mall didn't sound that bad. Hopefully, some of the shops inside weren't all loot and at least contained some items, mainly clothing cause I could use a change in apparel.

“Alright Kenny, I'll come,” I replied as I slowly and carefully got on my feet, not wanting to wake Luna.

In my defense, I didn't exactly want to go, I just wanted to lay with Luna for a while longer. But he was my uncle, I haven't seen him in five years, so spending some time with him would be nice, that is if he starts embarrassing me now that he knows the truth about me and Luna.

“The entrance down here has been boarded up, but I think we can get in through the third floor.” He stated, pointing to the floor above us.

“Lead the way,” I replied with a motion of my hand as we both walked off into the abandoned mall, leaving Luna alone to her peaceful sleep.

*******

We’d been walking around the mall for a good thirty minutes now and I had to admit, it was very peaceful. Before the changelings arrived, this place would be packed with people ordering food, shopping through stores, and there would be the occasional screams from the amusement park in the middle of the mall. But now, the place was absolutely silent.

During our walk, we stopped by a few stores to look for some clothes. Most of the clothes on display were no good as a lot of them had holes from moths eating at the fabric, but luckily there some shirts and pants in the back rooms that were still intact. Right now I was wearing a pair of blue shorts, a tropical light orange T-shirt from the Tommy Bahama store and a jean jacket, with my old clothes in a shopping bag that I was carrying.

“Not gonna lie kid, I never thought I’d be here right now.” Kenny started as we strolled through the first floor. “Reuniting with you, meeting your new friends, surviving the Dead Zone along with the Changed, and now we’re on our way to the remnants.”

“Still hard to believe, I know,” I replied, followed by a short laugh.

Eventually, we ended up entering the public space, the area where they would hold events like music festivals or contests. In the center was an intact but very dusty Alfa Romeo Stelvio, possibly a prize for a contest that's long since ended.

“I remember them announcing this prize,” I stated, mentioning to the car in front of us. “I'm surprised no one’s salvaged this thing yet.”

“Yeah, kinda reminds me of when your dad bought that 1976 ford pickup from that scrapyard,” Kenny said, running a finger across the dusty car. “The inside of the engine was so dusty, he named the thing: The Dustmobile.”

All I could do was sigh as he brought up old memories. It still broke my heart, not knowing what happened to my folks, wondering if they were in some Changeling controlled city or… or worse. All I know is that they could be dead on the side of a road or have been turned into one of the Changed or-

“Kid, listen.”

I was brought back to reality by the sound of my uncle’s voice, along with a hand on my shoulder. I slowly turned around to face him, only to be met with a concerned look that was on his face.

“I miss them too, and not a day goes by where I wished that you along with your parents would’ve walked right through my door. Your mom was a great woman, and your dad was an utter badass when it came to his job. Whatever happens, I will always be there for you and will always support you.”

“Thanks, but I kinda find that hard to believe after the multiple times you’ve embarrassed me every time I was with a girl,” I replied, my voice raising a little.

“That was just me showing you how happy I was for you!” He replied back, defending himself.

“Oh really? Well, you have a really weird way of expressing your happiness when It comes to me being with a girl!” I exclaimed. “Remember Hailey Dixon, my old girlfriend? After expressing your ‘happiness’ towards us, she ended up telling me that we should stay as friends, thus ending my thing with her! You ruined my relationship with her, you get that! And Hailey’s probably dead or a Changed or God knows what! So tell me, Uncle, are you happy for me now?”

Just like that, I had vented every ounce of anger that was inside me, and if felt good. As for Kenny, he just stood there, sinking in everything that I just said, before he finally spoke.

“Jesus, kid. I… I-I’m sorry. I never knew that you were that pissed at me for what I did.” He said with a sad tone in his voice.

I walked up to him and put both hands on his shoulder, looking him dead in the eyes. “Kenny, I love you to death, and after saying my peace, I’m fine with you knowing that Luna and I are in love. But please, for the love of God please, when you see me and Luna in the same room together, just don’t, say, anything!” He didn’t say anything, but after a while, he nodded.

“Alright, kid.” He replied, as we then pulled each other into a hug. As we broke the hug, Kenny took a glance at his watch. “Well, I think it’s about time we get back, don’t want your friends… to…” his voice trailed as looked towards the floor. I looked down with him, only to see a bunch of sticky notes, making an X on the floor.

“Oh shit.” Was all I could say before an arrow whizzed passed, puncturing the car’s door next to us. We looked to where the shot came from to see an African American with a frohawk hairstyle walking up to us, loading another arrow in the crossbow he carried. He wore a dark grey leather jacket with a hoodie and what looked like a white shirt underneath, dark green cargo pants and dirty white Nike shoes.

“Son of a- ” I started as I went for my pistol, but stopped as I heard a voice.

“Ah ah ah,” The voice tutted as another African American came around from behind the car with a buzzcut and a small beard, holding a Škorpion machine pistol sideways in one hand. He wore a green and white flannel T-shirt, ripped jeans, red sneakers and wore a black and white bandana around his head like a headband. “Unless you know what's good for ya, you’ll drop your gun, now.” He ordered with a noticeable Jamaican accent.

Seeing how there was no other way out of this, I carefully set my gun on the floor and slid it over the bandits. The guy with the buzzcut picked up my gun with his other hand and aimed it at us as Kenny and I both raised our hands.

“Search them.” He told the guy next to him. He nodded and walked up to use, holding his crossbow in one hand as he patted us down, searching for other weapons that were on us.

“They're clean.” The second thug announced, also having a Jamaican accent as he stepped back a few feet and aiming his crossbow at us again. The lead thug holding the Škorpion then looked at us with a serious expression.

“Where's your group at?” He questioned.

“What makes you think that we're in a group?” Kenny replied, protecting our group’s location.

“Don't play stupid with us, Pops!” The guy with the crossbow warned. “We’ve seen a lot of people traveling in groups of three or more, and it seems highly unlikely that it's just you two out here.”

“Says the two amateur highwaymen thinking they can intimidate us by themselves?” I replied in a mocking matter, earning a chuckle from Kenny

“Enough!” The lead thug exclaimed, angrily. “You two are wasting our time, so this is how it's gonna go down. You have until the count of three to tell us where your group is or you will both die, painfully. Starting with the redneck.” The lead thug ordered as he and the other bandit aimed their weapons at my Uncle.

“One.”

Kenny looked at me with a stern look that said ‘you don't tell them shit’. I said nothing but subtly nodded in response. I don’t care if they were armed, they were not getting anything out of us.

“Two.”

We just kept staring at them with hatred. I would rather die than give up the location of the others if it meant them getting hurt or killed, and I'm pretty sure Kenny felt the same way.

“Thr-” before he could finish, his friend’s crossbow was shrouded in a familiar blue aura and smacked him right in the nose, making him fall back on the floor as his crossbow levitated in the air, aiming right at him.

“What the f-” The lead thug was instantly interrupted as both my gun and his were also shrouded in the blue aura, yanked from his hands and were tossed to us. I caught my gun and Kenny caught the bandit’s gun and we aimed at him and his friend who got back on his feet, blood dribbling from his nose, both of them surrendering as them put their hands in the air.

All I could do was smirk, knowing exactly who saved us as the princess herself flew down from the third floor, landing a few feet from the bandits, her horn glowing as she continued levitating the crossbow, aiming it at the guy that was knocked to the floor.

“Will this be a normal thing for us, Morgan? You get into trouble and I come to save you.” Luna asked with a smile on her face.

“Well, when you put it like that, I have no problem with it,” I replied, jokingly as I smiled right back at her before looking back at the two unarmed bandits, narrowing my eyes at them. “So, what do you wanna do with these two dipshits?”

“They don’t deserve to be harmed, Morgan, but they do deserve some form of punishment for almost hurting you and Kenny,” Luna replied with a calm but strict tone. “I say we should take them with us, keep them as our captives and turn them into the Remnants.”

“Take them with- These assholes just tried to kill us and you wanna bring them with us! They could be Changelings sent by Razorfang for God’s sake! We should just kill them and leave” Kenny interjected.

“Hey, we are not one of them freaks!” The lead thug protested, interrupting our conversation. Kenny shot him a glare that said ‘shut up or I will shoot you’ as the bandit rubbed the back of his neck in an uneasy way as he and the second bandit averted their eyes off us.

“They’re not Changelings, Kenny,” Luna argued. “Before I intervened in your predicament, I cast a spell on them that detects any type of illusion spells in use and there was no sign of any on them. They’re as human as they can be, and even though they almost killed you, they do not deserve to be killed in return.” Kenny gave an exasperated sigh and was about to reply until I stepped in.

“Kenny, Luna’s right,” I stated. “killing them is out of the question, but it doesn't mean we can't teach them a lesson for trying to kill us. We can have William and his team watch over both of them as a precaution and when we get Albert Lea, we can hand them over to the Remnants, alright?” He didn't say anything but sigh. Knowing that he wasn’t going to win the argument, he nodded. With the decision final, we turned our attention back towards the two bandits who still stood there.

“We’re not gonna kill you, but we can’t afford you to let you walk out of here either, so you’ll be coming with us as our captives. You will be under constant watch in case you try something that ends up getting us all killed and you will not be allowed near any weapons, including yours.” I explained before raising my gun at them. “That is if you two have a problem with that?”

They both back up, feeling intimidated as their plan on robbing us backfired in their faces. “Easy mon, just take it easy. We’ll come quietly, you’ll have no problems from us.” The lead thug replied as his friend nodded in agreement.

“Good, now get moving,” Kenny ordered as he mentioned with the thug’s pistol for them to walk in front of us. They complied and started walked with Kenny right behind them with the gun aimed at them. I was about to walk with them until Luna stopped me.

“Morgan?” She started as she stepped in front of me. “I was wondering if we could speak for a moment.”

“Um, sure,” I replied with a shrug before turning to Kenny. “You think you can handle these two?” I asked.

“Don’t worry, they won’t try anything.” He replied as he continued walking with the two brothers in front of him.

“So, what is it you want to talk about?” I asked, turning back to Luna as she set the crossbow on the hood of the car.

“Well… Remember how I saved you from those two Changelings back in Saint Paul, you allowed me to accompany you to your Uncle’s home?” She asked.

“Yeah.” I slowly replied, not fully understanding where this conversation was going.

“Well, since I saved both you and your Uncle from those two brutes just now, I was wondering if you could do something for me.” She explained.

“So for doing something for us, you want me to do something for you in exchange... Sounds fair.” I replied with a shrug as I leaned up against the car. “So what is it that you want me to do for you?”

“I want you… to show me how to use your weapon.” She replied, pointing a hoof to the gun in my hand. My eyes went wide as I heard her say those words. Her request really caught me off guard.

“You, want me, to show you how to use a gun… not to be rude, Luna, but can I ask why?” I questioned, already knowing that this would be a very bad idea.

“I understand that you feel a little uneasy about my request, I do. But after the past few days of witnessing the power your weapons, how you use them to protect us… it started to intrigue me, making me wonder how they work and learn how to use one. Tis only a simple request, but I understand if you think it’s a bad idea, I just wondered if you could show me or not.” She explained as she looked at me with those beautiful soft eyes of her’s.

I put my hand to my chin as I started thinking about what she was requesting me to do for her. I mean, I could show her how to use a gun, but if we happened to be in a firefight with Changelings or more people trying to kill us, I didn’t want her to accidentally hurt or kill herself if she actually used one. But, then again, there would be a time where a gun would prove more useful than magical spells. After moments of thinking, I finally gave her my answer.

“Oh, Celestia’s gonna kill me,” I muttered under my breath before turning to Luna and giving her my answer. “Alright, I’ll show you.”

I grabbed the end of the gun with my other hand, emptied the magazine and cocked it as the unused bullet flew out of the chamber which I caught with my other hand. With my gun now empty, I held it out to her as it was shrouded by her magic. She tried to pull it out of my hand but I had a firm grip on it as I looked her in the eyes with a stern look.

“Listen to me closely. A gun is not a toy, it is a deadly weapon. Use it incorrectly and you could end up costing the life of someone innocent, someone you love or yourself.” I said to her with a very solemn voice. She nodded as I let go, my gun now in her possession. She brought the gun to her face as she inspected it, taking in every detail that she saw.

“It’s amazing what your species are capable of inventing. How long has your race used these types of weapons?”

“The first recorded firearm dated back to 1364, that was over six hundred years ago,” I replied. She looked at me with wide eyes as I nodded at her, confirming that what I said was true.

“So how does it work?” she asked.

I walked up to her and pointed a finger at the trigger. “When you pull this trigger, it would fire these,” I replied as I held the bullet up to her. “Inside the casing is a substance called gunpowder and is ignited when this, hits the flat end on the bullet,” I pointed to the hammer on my gun and the primer on the bullet. “Once the gunpowder is ignited, it launches this piece of lead at where ever or whoever it is pointed at.” She then held to my gun and pointed it in a random direction, looking down the sights. I could see her pulling back the trigger with her magic as the gun clicked, signaling that it was empty.

“Very interesting.” Luna mused. It was obvious that Luna was now interested in firearms. I wouldn't blame her, I kinda felt the same way when I held my first gun. "Could you teach me how to use it?" She asked.

"I’d be more than happy to teach you how to properly use a gun, though I'm gonna have to tell Celestia about it. But for now, I think it’s about time get back with the others,” I stated. She nodded and handed me my gun as I put it back in its holster. She handed me the bandit’s crossbow, gave each other a smile and started making our way back to camp.

*******

We had just exited the mall and were walking back to camp. Its official, This was one way to start a morning off: getting into a stick up with two Jamaicans. But now that they were in our custody, we wouldn't have to worry about them robbing other people of their supplies.

“Luna,” I started as she turned her at me. “I wanna thank you for understanding my feelings towards you. I honestly wanted to tell you but I was nervous and scared-.”

“Morgan, it fine. You don’t need to worry about it, I said I felt honored that you were in love with me, didn’t I?” She reassured with a soft smile as she held her hoof in my hand. “I have no problems with you being my special somepony or ‘somehuman’ in this case.”

“Thank you, Luna. You’re probably the only thing on my world that makes me happy right now.” I replied with a smile.

That was when the unexpected happened as Luna mentions for me to kneel down to her level, which I complied, and as I met her eyes, she kissed me. Not a kiss on the cheek, but a kiss on the lips. I was very surprised by the form of her response and had no other choice but to accept it. The kiss went on for about ten seconds until we each pulled away, both of us blushing.

“I love you, Morgan Grey. You are a generous, kind-hearted man, and I thank you for what you are doing for us.” She said in a voice that felt like heaven.

“Y-y-your w-welcome.” I stuttered, still taken back by the kiss. This was my first ever kiss I had with a girl, and even I was never able to kiss my old girlfriend until our relationship with ended. But right now, kissing a princess from another world, I felt proud of what I have done in my life just to get up to this point. Knowing that the others were probably waiting for us, I got up off the floor and we continued our walk back to camp.

As we approached our campsite, we could see everyone packing stuff up onto the bus, getting ready to leave. Twilight, who was helping Chris go over supplies we collected from the Dead Zone, saw us and trotted up to us.

“Good morning, Morgan!” She greeted.

“Morning, Twilight. I take it you saw Kenny escort some new friends we had made?” I asked.

“Indeed. Kenny handed them over to William and his friends and are questioning them as we speak. Celestia is also with them as well as she’s not that happy that they almost killed you.” She explained.

“Well, if it weren't for Luna, we wouldn't be here right now,” I replied as I smiled at my new girlfriend, or marefriend as they say it in Equestria.

Twilight, Luna and I ended up talking about what else had happened when we were gone, but I kept the part about me and Luna being in a relationship to ourselves, especially the part about us kissing. I may have found the courage to confess my love to Luna, I was not ready to have everyone else know about it, not yet anyway. We continued to talk until we saw Celestia and William walk up to us.

“Celestia, Sargent, did we get anything from our two friends?” I asked, wanting to know about our two prisoners.

“Yeah, Names are Andre and Xander Wright, ages 31 and 26. Both of them are brothers from Tremont, New York… Son, your Uncle was right about having a bad feeling about them.” Will replied with a stern tone.

“Why is that?” Luna questioned, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“They were both inmates from Rikers.” He replied. Upon hearing this, I crossed my arms as a distasteful look appeared on my face.

“Crap.” I cursed.

“What's Rikers?” Twilight questioned.

“William informed me about it." Celestia explained with a solemn look. "Rikers Island is, or was, a correctional prison in New York that housed more than ten thousand prisoners. It was considered the largest prison on the planet.”

“Whatever happened to it?” Luna questioned as Will gave a sigh before replying.

“Well, when the Changelings arrived, the entire island went into a full-scale riot. Prisoners escaped their cells, Prison guards were killed, buildings were set ablaze, there was so much chaos on the island that it could be heard all over New York. A little over two thousand inmates were killed trying to escape while the rest successfully made it off the island. The guards that worked there though… well, only a few had survived. The prison’s nothing but ruins, littered with burned down buildings and corpses of both prisoners and prison guards.”

“What were our friends charged with?” I asked, wanting to know how and why Andre and Xander got onto Rikers in the first place.

“They were both part of a street gang called Jamaican Posse, they were involved with trafficking drugs and guns. These two killed three officers during a police raid on their home after learning that they were members of the gang. Police also found a stash of cocaine, heroin and other illegal narcotics inside the house as well. The both of them were sentenced to twenty-five years in Rikers, six years before the war started.” He replied.

“Morgan,” Celestia spoke up with concern in her voice. “Are you sure that you want to bring them with us? What if they try to hurt Twilight and her friends or my sister for that matter. ”

“Celestia, we can’t exactly just let them go knowing that they’re Rikers. We let them go and they’ll just continue to rob or kill other people for their stuff. The plan stays the same: we'll bring them to Albert Lea and hand them off to the Remnants when we get there.” I replied calmly as I turn to William. “I want them zipped tied and separated from each other in case they try anything stupid.”

“You’re the boss, son.” He replied, complying to my orders and walked back to the bus. I turned back to Celestia who still had a look of concern.

“Don’t worry, Celestia,” I reassured, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I will make sure that they won’t hurt anyone, and if they do, they’ll have to answer to me.”

“I trust you, Morgan.” She replied as a small smile formed on her face.

“Come, sister, let’s help pack up,” Luna suggested as she, Twilight and Celestia walked off to the bus, leaving me by myself. I heard a short cough behind me and as I turned around, I saw Kenny looking at me plainly. I had a feeling that he was a bit agitated that we were still bringing Andre and Xander with, even after they tried to kill us.

“Kenny, I know that you're against the idea of bringing them with, but-” I was cut off when Kenny shushed me and walked closer me until we're about a foot apart from each other as Kenny looked me in the eyes and inspected my face. I had no idea why he was doing it until he smirked at me and spoke.

“You and Luna kissed, didn’t you.” How he knew that Luna and I shared a moment, I will never know.

“Keep your mouth shut and get your ass on the bus or you’ll be riding on the roof until we get to Albert Lea.” I threatened as he let out a soft laugh.

“Whatever you say, kid.” He chortled as he walked past me with a large grin on his face, all while humming ‘it’s a beautiful morning’ as he walked away. I gave an exasperated sigh, looked up at the ceiling with a look of annoyance.

“Are you happy now?” I asked quietly, knowing God was laughing at what he put me through. I just shook my head and started to walk toward the bus to help pack up. This was gonna be a long, frigging day.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

But, how can the changelings feed off of everyone's love if they keep killing people?

[Captain Morgan]

9189487
They kill people who defy Chrysalis or her soldiers. Mainly the ones who end up getting killed by Changelings are U.S soldiers, law enforcement officers, politicians and people who just hate Changelings in general.

[Captain Morgan]

9192952
Listen, I understand that some parts in the story do not make sense, but the stuff you said in your comment, about NATO, it will be explained in a later chapter. Im trying my best to write this story so that it makes as much sense to people as possible and to explain how america fell so fast and why no other country has come to help. Im not trying to sound rude, angery or upset, but you just need to have patience while i write. I've been working on this story since last October and no matter how many negative comments i get, no matter how many problems people see with this plot, i will not stop writing. I am determined to finish it.