Legion-An Unforgettable Tale

by c1charge

Chapter 3

The further up I went, the harder it became to identify the edge of the platform. The light was disappearing more and more as I traveled up. It was almost completely dark when I felt myself slowing to a stop. Once I was sure that it was no longer moving, I took a slow step into the darkness around me. The sound of my hoof coming down made a small clank. I then heard another small sound, from somewhere above. One single light turned on, hanging from a low wooden ceiling above me. I looked around, very confused by my new surroundings. I was in a normal, small, wooden home. There was a small stove in the corner, a couch in another, even a few family pictures of ponies I have never seen before. The air was heavy and cold, with the smell of mildew lingering in my nose. Everything had a heavy layer of dust on it, even stepping forward sent dust flying around my hooves. Strangely enough, there were no windows on the walls, only one wooden door on a wall in front of me. I stepped even closer to the door, and got myself totally off the platform, and onto the dark wooden floors. The moment my last hoof was off, the platform began to sink back down into ground. Replacing it were more dark wooden planks that slid from two sides of the hole. They moved effortlessly and quietly, meeting in the middle, making a small latching noise.

The hole was covered up so well that anypony who didn’t know that it was ever there would never suspect a thing. It just seemed so normal and peaceful. It was like this house had no secrets to hide. Feeling nauseous, I turned back towards the door. I quickly made my way over to it, and gave it a push. It gave away easy, and I was blinded by a flood of bright light. I brought one hoof up to my eye and squinted. Before my eyes adjusted, I heard voices. I heard the sound of fillies giggling off in the distance and the soft voices of a few ponies talking to one another. I finally opened my eyes enough to make sense of where I was at.

In front of me was a small wooden house. A tight sand stone road divided it and me. This road stretched down both sides of me, with small identical houses on each side. There were small groups of ponies standing along the edges of the roads, talking softly to themselves. Sand was blowing into my face and I had to blink constantly to keep the sand out of my eyes. Turning my head the opposite direction of the blowing sand, the smell of fresh bread suddenly assaulted my nostrils. I couldn’t remember the last time I had smelled something so good, or even the last time I ate. My mouth began to water while my stomach gave out a long low growl, warning me I haven’t eaten in a while. I walked up the road, following the smell. I found a short alley between the street I was on and one running next to mine. I crossed into it, and almost got to the next street before a voice stopped me.

“You can’t just walk out there in that you know.” The voice sounded fairly young, but coarse and strained.
Surprised by somepony actually talking to me, all I could think to respond with was, “What?” as I turned around to meet this voice, which came from a pony leaning against the wall, wearing a long tan robe with a matching hood.

“It is traditional around here to were a headdress, and that light lab coat your wearing there won’t help protect you from the sand.” the pony said. He kept dragging his “s” sounds on words, reminding me of a snake hissing his tongue. “You will stick out like a sore thumb.” He was no longer leaning against the wall, walking a little closer to me.

“Who are you? What do you want with me?” I replied, tense and agitated.

“All in good time, first, put this on. I already went out and bought it for you, in case you made it out.” He lifted a light tan robe off the ground between his feet, and threw it my way. Watching him do this, I caught a small glimpse of his leg. There was something off about it, seemed too dark and thin. His coarse voice pierced my thoughts, “let’s walk.”

I picked up the robe, and threw it over my apparent lab coat. As I was doing this, I made sure to keep a close eye on him as he walked closer to me. He slowly trotted to me, and I followed, being sure to leave space between him and me.
We walked farther down the street without saying a word, the smell of the bread growing stronger as we walked. Eventually, I found the source. It was a small bakery in what was apparently the town square. The road had widened to a plaza, with shops lining the outside edges, and small stalls selling various items on the inside. I followed the strange pony through the plaza, occasionally walking around small lines of ponies waiting at some of these stalls. We made our way to the bakery, which had no line at all. The hooded pony walked up to the counter as I stayed behind. He took a few coins out of a pouch and placed them on the counter. The pony running the stand turned around, and took a loaf of bread off the rack behind him. He placed it on the counter, scooped up the coins, and said something to the hooded pony. I slowly walked closer, willing to get slightly closer to him in order to just get a better look at the loaf. The strange pony picked up the piece and tore it in half. He took one half and placed it in his pouch, and walked off, leaving the other piece behind. I hurried to the counter, lowering my body and glancing at the half loaf and the pony that left it behind. Once close enough, I gave the bakery owner a nod, and quickly picked up the piece in my mouth. I ran after the hooded pony, savoring the taste.

Once I caught up, I finished the piece off in 3 eager bites. I began to wonder why he did that for me.

“Why did you do that?” I quickly asked, keeping my eyes on him.

He took a minute to reply. “You may think that we are complete strangers, but in a sense, we are not.” His words were slow, and he lowered his voice. “I was down in that facility as well.”

I stopped in dead in my tracts. A thousand questions raced through my mind. Wanting to ask them all, I quickly caught up to him. I allowed myself to get closer to him, and gave a quick glance around. I looked back to him, and spoke softly.

“What was that place? Why are we here? Who were all the dead ponies?”

He looked at me, and for the first time I got a good look at his face. His coat was pitch black, and he had small fangs protruding from his mouth. One look at his eyes told me everything else I needed to know. They were light blue, but it was not his iris that was blue, but the outside of the eye. There was no iris at all, the blue just faded to white where a black pupil should be. I mouthed the words, “changeling,” and he just nodded. I wave of emotions suddenly hit me; I began to sweat and feel my head become light once again. I stopped walking, and leaned against the side of a house next to the road. The changeling stopped as well, and looked back at me. I kept my head down, and my breathing got heavier. I could no longer focus on what was happening outside my head, for inside, wave of memories were pushing their way back up.