A thing or two about changelings and their habits saga

by Young discord

CHAPTER 8 (AKA: The extent to which one is immortal)

Stan was awoken by the loud and excited dialect flowing across the air mashed with Cynthia’s screams.
The first thing he had to do is figure out where he stands right now, or in this case, lies.
A cage.
A rusty cage big enough to fit at least a dozen of his kind was holding him back from freedom and keeping him in place for his impeding future.
Now that he knew what and where, it was time to see where Cynthia came into this picture.
Much like Stanley himself, she was caught and roped though she was not giving up without a fight.
The Cerberi were stronger and at this point, quite annoyed with her and so they decided to fix this problem with a strong punch to the chest, all it took was a single hit and she was conveniently unconscious and thrown into the same cage as Stan.
The changeling looked at the other, she wasn’t badly hurt or anything, the best thing right now was to leave her be for the time being, the way things were going right now, he was going to need her at 100% if they want to stand a fighting chance (not that they had one in the first place)
Where muscles fail, the mind shall prevail.

“Hey, you there?” Whispered Stan to the voice

As always

“Any ideas?”

No

“Well unless we come up with something, we’ll die”

Nopony will die

“Oh really? I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we’re being held prisoners by a bunch of bloodthirsty killers”

You won’t die yet, not until you two have a child together, remember?

“So what?”

So… don’t have a child
Stan knew exactly what the voice had in mind.

“What? No! god knows what’s about to happen to us and you really think we’re going to do it? Jeez! And besides even if we’d have the perfect situation there’s still no way I’d do it with her, we don’t exactly get along”

All I’m saying is that stress makes ponies do all sorts of crazy stuff, just remember that not having a child right now is the only thing that guarantees either of your lives

“Well, that’s the one thing we don’t have to worry about, now get thinking”
The cage was rough with rust, it was pretty cold but at least there was plenty of food to go around, and judging by the emotions surrounding them, Stan knew that the cerberi weren’t going to go easy on them.
A few hours passed as Stan went through practically every possibility.
Zapping the weakest bars with magic and escape.
Creating a diversion.
Play dead.
Bargain.
Within that time Cynthia had woken up but this time instead of being her annoying usual self, she was unnervingly silent.

“Cynthia, hey Cynthia”
Cynthia looked silently at Stan who ticked his head sideways once, gesturing if she knew how to get out of here but she was still hurt from what he had told her earlier that day.
Stan was past the line of feeling sorry, maybe what he had said was harsh but it was true and if he hadn’t told her now, somebody would have told her later.
More than anything Stan was still pissed off at her, one would think that something like that would push her towards self-reflection, but apparently she’s just too a thick brick wall.

“I’m not going to apologize so stop wasting our time with this silent crap, we either live or die, and I’m not going to just sit around and wait for it”
The sudden change of the general emotional atmosphere signified that something was about to happen.
One of the Cerberi opened the cage door, grabbed Stan with his claws like a puppet and took him out.
Stan was tied to an upright wall made of stumps so that he was pinned on it, his limbs and head in a star-shape, he was like a fish on a cutting board, he felt that the next few minutes or hours are going to be unforgettable.

I’m 90% sure that they’re going to torture you

“WHAT?!?”
Look at the way they tied you, only your limbs, it seems like they want as few ropes to get in the way of your body and that means only one thing
Stan had to get out, this was bad, real bad and it was going to get painful too.

“Come on, help me, I need to get out right now!”

I’m sorry but I can only help so much, all I can tell you now is that there’s a slim chance that they’ll be interrogating you, if they do, you’ll have control over how much you’ll be tortured so let’s keep our hooves crossed

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

Compared to the other option, yes, yes it is
The most aggressive Cerberus came up to Stan, he could tell that he was the leader, that’s the way it goes among such creatures, alpha and omega and all, he was by far the biggest, meanest piece of work of them all, three heads, scars everywhere, clearly an experienced warrior and of course, what else, three heads.
The Cerberus spoke... by the tone, Stan could figure out it was a question, but not much else.

“Any idea what he’s saying?”

I know almost all known languages yet this one is foreign to me
The Cerberus asked the same question again, but Stan had no idea what the Cerberus wanted from him.
A moment of silence followed, but the Cerberus wasn’t keen on silence.
A powerful blow to Stanley’s ribs swung him left and right like a feather, the pain was warm, somewhat ticklish and the feeling was going down his body.
Stan looked at where the Cerberus hit him, he was bleeding, the Cerberus had sliced 4 cuts with almost surgical precision right in between his ribs.
Then the shock.

Whatever you do, don’t scream
Keeping his sanity at times of pain wasn’t anything new for the changeling, he had plenty of training recently in just that but this was different, before he was used to moving, constantly doing something, and it had just occurred to him just how easy it is to deal with pain when you have something to distract you from it, be it running or fighting back.
Stanley had now understood the real meaning of the word torture, nothing else before had been so incredibly difficult and mentally draining, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t do anything but watch and focus on the only thing that he was aware of right now… pain.
The Cerberus asked once again the question.

If you start screaming they’ll think you lost it and you’ll be useless to them, they’ll dispose of you
The difficulty of it all had suddenly risen, screaming was the only thing he could do to get away from the pain, at least momentarily but that wasn’t something he could afford to do, he was barely thinking, keeping his tone was going to be hard enough let alone formulate words or coherent sentences.
Stan attempted to open his mouth, but his mind was now split between screaming and keeping shut… he tried again, this time his mouth opened gently for a moment and then closed again.
Third time’s the charm.
This time with voice, doesn’t matter what he’ll say, they won’t understand him anyway.

“S…”

Try again

“St…”

Once more

“Stanley”

Success!
Now he had to actually say something this time.

“We… g-got thrown in here”
But that wasn’t the answer the Cerberus was looking for.
A slash followed by a gentle gust of wind cut between his other ribs.
This time it was worse, before at least he could bend one way to sort of close the cuts to minimize the pain but now, it didn’t matter which way he tried moving, either way one side hurt more than the other.

Hey, how are you holding up? hey Stanley!
But Stan’s sanity was already gone, there was only pain and there was no way at this point that he will be able to talk at all, his body acted on its own and locked him down inside.
All Stan could do right now was gasp and scream whilst trying to hold it back, his mouth muffling his own screams.
There was a moment of silence from the crowd until of the Cerberi said something to the one who was torturing Stan, there was a brief vivid exchange of words and then it was over, Stan was untied from the wall, he would have felt relieved about this if it weren’t for the spikes of pain that are caused every time he was moving.

---

A light breeze woke up Stanley and he felt… comfortable, and that made him uneasy, the last thing he remembered was his body being sliced like some sort of… well, meat cutlet.
Stan shuddered at the thought of somebody eating another living being and having to kill every time they feel hungry, how the hell do they keep their sanity with that? Especially if the prey can talk.
Stan looked around what seemed to be the innards of a tent, a draft coming from the entrance was refreshing the air inside.

Oh good, you’re conscious again
Stan moved only to be cruelly reminded about the pain on both sides of his body... it was bearable if he didn't move at all... he was trapped for now.
Stan hoped that speaking won't be as painful... though something told him he already knows the answer to that and he won't like it... His breathing was small and shallow, anything above that stabs his brain with the pain of the wounds having to stretch open and move with each inhale, and if that hurts... well, one can only imagine what taking would be like.
Stan moved his head around, the only thing he could move that would not slap him with suffering to get his bearings but to no avail, he had never see the inside of this place, maybe if he were outside he could look around but those were ifs and buts.
Perhaps the voice knew what had transpired during the time of his unconsciousness... he had to ask and as painful as it was going to be to speak he just had to bite the bullet.
Stan slowly inhaled some air, perhaps if he inhales a lot of air slowly and then speaks whilst exhaling it won't be so painful... his sides began to expand, like a baloon... the pain slowly creeped itself into Stan and to his pleasant surprise, it wasn't as bad... it was just as strong but it wasn't as sharp, the pain was blunt... which made it more bearable, much like an old bruise... you can feel it still hurts and the pain is still just as big but its not as intense so you can deal with it better.
Stanley got ready to talk, of course in a whisper

"I can’t believe I’m saying this AGAIN today but where are we?" began Stan in one massive exhale

In the exact same place as we were before, except this time it’s in a tent The voice responded as if it were obvious

“Well gee… I applaud your ingenious deductive skills”

Humour, good… that means that the pain isn’t getting to you enough to stop you from thinking
Stan tried to have a look at the details around the place.
The tent was full of instruments, saws, needles and other things that would easily be used for torture, and of course for a novelty scare effect, there was an occasional splat of blood here and there.

“Why do all these places have to always have blood? It’s like torture and being sanitation don’t get along”
With much pain, Stanley slowly sat upright to walk around, discover the place but the leather straps with chains attached to his appendages stopped him however a least they gave him enough freedom to move a little, then the pain… it was was still there but now it was a more of a numb pain than it was before so it was still manageable, Stanley moved away his bedsheets to discover that somebody had treated and stitched his wounds.
It became clear to Stan as to his whereabouts, all the various tools and objects in the tent, he had assumed that he was in some sort of torture tent or something but he must have been in fact in a Doctor’s base of operations.

“You could have told me this was a doctor’s tent”

You were going to figure it out eventually

“This has to stop, you really should start helping me”

I AM helping you

“No you’re not, how is not telling me stuff helping me?”

If you want a changeling to fly then you let them learn on their own, I’m helping you but as little as is necessary otherwise it’ll defeat the whole point of coming here in the first place, you said you wanted to become stronger, to learn to fight, didn't you?

“Yeah but so far I learned nothing but how to get my flank kicked”

Just because you know how to fight doesn’t mean that you know how to survive, and there’s no point in knowing how to fight if you don’t know how to survive, getting your flank kicked is the first thing you need to learn how to handle

“So what, all I’m supposed to do is just endure all of the time?”

For now yes, look it’s not like I haven’t been thinking, tell me do you know how to escape from these Cerberi?

“Um, no”

Do you know how to get off this island?
Stan pondered, he was reluctant to answer

“N-no…”

Exactly, and I’ve been thinking and I think I have found the solution on how to find a way out of this island

“How?”

Have you noticed anything strange about these cerberi?

“Well… I guess that they… no, no I haven’t… why, is there something strange with them?”

You’ve seen those cerberi, right?

“Huge muscular bodies, teeth that could crush anything and claws like scalpels? Yes”

And what about the island? What do you remember about it?
Stan was thinking intensely, there wasn’t much to remember about this island, nothing apart from a few bushes and a barren land with just a few tiny rodents.

“Hold on… I think I know what you’re getting at here”

Do you?

“Yeah, the Cerberi are predators, predators like them need a lot of meat and you can’t have meat without prey”

And?

“And on this island there’s not a single animal apart from a few small rodents, there’s no way that so many Cerberi could live on this island”

That’s because they don’t, think about it, this island's barren ecosystem is incapable of supporting such beings and that means that they must have come here
Something in Stan clicked

“And if they came here they must know how to get out!”

Bingo

“So all we have to do is find their ship or vessel, steal it and get out of here”

Not quite, even if you’d find away to escape and find the vessel there’s no guarantee that you’d know how to pilot it, and it’s probably manned by more than just one being at once so you’d need quite the coltpower to pilot it not to mention that you’d need somebody who knows their way across this sea

“Well I can only think of one thing to do, kidnap one of the Cerberi and get them to tell us everything except I don’t understand a single thing they say”

I told you I’d help, didn't I?

“You understand their language?”

Of course not, but I know a way around this problem and I’ll teach you but one thing at a time, let’s worry about getting out of here and rescuing Cynthia if you feel we need to rescue her

“Hey, she might get on my nerves but that doesn’t justify leaving her to fend for herself”

You sure about that? She didn’t seem to be too eager to be anywhere near you

“Well she can blame me as much as she wants, somebody needs to take care of her and if it’s not going to be her it has to be me”

Be careful, heroism like this often has a high price

“Oh shut up, I know I can’t die yet and with the life I’ve chosen for myself now I probably won’t die a gentle death so I might as well make the most of this”

It’s your life, I won’t argue

“Good”

You’re becoming more and more strict these days you know?

“I’m not strict, I’m simply more assertive and frankly, I’m getting tired of feeling scared and helpless and having everybody telling me what to do all of the time”

Well, sorry for helping you at all

“No, not you, you’re OK, you seem to be the only one who actually helps me and not tells me what to do all of the time, there’s a difference and it seems like you’re the only one that knows that… thanks”

I’d blush right now if I could
Stan chuckled, but very, very gently, mindingg his wounds.

I suggest that right no-
But the conversation was interrupted by a Cerberus who came in.

That’s the one who patched you up

“I recognise him, he was the one who took me down from the wall”
This Cerberus only had only one head, he was shorter than most of the others in the camp and he had a pair of small Pince-nez glasses and no armor on whatsoever and no scars to show for any past battles, his shiny mahogany fur gave off a soothing feeling.

“How cliché”
This Cerberus was a little different from the others, he was giving of a more calm and educated aura, after all, he had to be educated to be a doctor.

I don’t think he means us any harm

“Yeah, I think that too”
The Cerberus grabbed a chair and sat at a safe distance from the Changeling, by the emotional aura in the atmosphere Stan deduced that the Cerberus did that so that Stan could feel safe… and he did.
An awkward silence befell upon the tent which skewed either being’s perception of time, however short the silence lasted, it felt much too long.
Finally one of them decided to do something and the Cerberus pretended to fix his glasses on his nose even though he didn’t need to do that.
Stan didn’t jump or flinch, this was a good sign, the Cerberus wanted him to feel that way, he always believed that being humane is much more effective in making someone talk than plain violence, besides if you mistreat someone and they get away or survive they might want vengeance and that would be plain troublesome for the future, perhaps that’s why he was the only one with no scars or scratches, he just got along with everybody and still got what he wanted in the end anyway.
Stan pointed at the glasses.

“Pince-nez”

“???”

“Those are pince-nez glasses”
Stan mimed an invisible pair of his glasses on his snout.
The Cerberus understood at once what the prisoner meant.
It only seemed fair that he would tell the changeling the name of those in his language.

“Banka”
It was great that the prisoner was cooperating so much but it made the Cerberus a little uneasy, he had never come across any other being that was so willing and calm before, it usually took a day before he could even get close to the prisoner, but this one was different.
The calm was stirred by the outside, the Cerberus ears like radar dishes turned towards the sounds and distant words.
They wanted the prisoner back and there was no arguing with the leader, the Cerberus doctor had already asked for a favor as is when he let him treat this prisoner.
The Cerberus just hoped that this won’t jeopardize the relationship he had just established with the black one, it’s not like he had a choice, If only the prisoner knew that.
The Cerberus came up to Stan and tied him with the detached chains.
Stanley didn’t fight back or tried escaping, there was no point, he wasn’t going to get out of these chains and he most certainly won’t be able to run fast with them on... though eve f he were free to run it was doubtful whether that was a good idea given his wounds
The outside was now much darker, perhaps it was now nighttime in this place’s standards and not 30 feet away stood the wall he was trapped to some time ago with another fresh one erected adjacent to it.

“Ugh… I really don’t want to go through this again”

Instead of complaining, look for an opening, you might have an opportunity to get away
The voice was right, this was no time to get depressed, this was time for action, if he wasn’t going to do something now, he will never get out.
Stan's attention was dragged to a commotion where the cage he was previously in was located.

“Cynthia?”
Cynthia was being dragged to the other wall, it was clear to Stan that they were going to be forced to watch each other being tortured.
Cynthia was fighting with all her might, jerking like a bucking bronco forcing not one but two Cerberi to move her, one up front and the other at the back.
Stanley’s Cerberus began unstrapping him from the chains in order to get him on the wall.

When all the straps are off, zap him with magic
Stan was ready and not a moment later the opportunity had arrived.
Stan focused all of his magic into one single KO blow that he pumped into the Cerberus’s face knocking him out instantly.
The other Cerberi were shocked, they didn’t know that the black ones could do that.
Cynthia caught on as she did the same to the one holding her front, the Cerberus fell holding its face with cusped paws but she was still being held from behind so she derped flat out on her face.
Stan was in aid, at full speed and with a ripping sound he had rammed his full body onto the Cerberus who was swept off his hind legs and fell to the ground on his back, no longer keeping Cynthia in check.
Some of Stanley's stitches broke.

RUN!
Stan recovered instantly, the pain was immeasurable but it was being overwhelmed by a flood of adrenaline, Cynthia was already up in the air beyond the reach of the Cerberi who were now attempting to catch her in their nets but she was too fast.
Stan was surrounded by default, the Cerberi had formed a circle around the walls long before Stan managed to break out.

“I didn’t think this through, did I?”

Beats being tortured
Stan had to come to terms with his fate.

“At least she got out”
But Cynthia Disagreed with Stan’s expectations, a magic bolt slammed onto one of the Cerberi, breaking up the circle.
Stan gasped, he didn’t expect Cythia to... well, help him

GO!
Stan happily obliged and a moment later he was already off into the distance, following Cynthia.
Cynthia already had some experience with the fickle winds and Stan was the one that had trouble keeping up with the pace, his wounds slowly opening up one by one and being stretched to their limits.
The commotion and confusion the two caused at the camp gave them enough time to gain a significant advantage whilst escaping which gave them a running chance.

“Cynthia! At 3 o’clock there’s some woods, let’s hide there!”
The changelings changed their tactics and decided to use those woods.
A minute later they were both inside the sea of sharp spiky trunks and huge thick waxy leaves.
The sounds of the Cerberi was getting closer.

“We have to-“

STOP!
Stan automatically screeched his hooves across the gravelly soil and a meter later came to a halt.
CLICK

Don’t move
Cynthia looked back, why was Stan still? Now wasn’t the time to stay motionless.

“We have to go no-“

You’re on a mine
This was the last thing Stan wanted to hear right now.

“What are you doing Stan? We have to go!”

“I can’t, If I move, I die”
Cynthia was still hurt about what Stan said before, she wasn’t going to give him any favours anytime soon.

“I’m not carrying you”
Stan shook his head in disagreement, she didn't understand what he is trying to tell her

“I’m on a mine”
Cynthia gasped, they had no time to think or figure anything out and the enemy was getting closer every second.
Stan had to make a decision.

“You go”

“…“

“Go now! I’ll manage!”
Cynthia had no choice there was no point in both of them getting caught again, if she runs now at least she’d have time to figure out a way to rescue Stan, maybe he was a jerk but nobody deserves to die, he’ll just owe her big time.
Cynthia dashed in between the canopies and was gone not a second later.
Stan was now all alone, with hope far ahead and fear right behind him catching up quickly.

Whatever you do, don’t panic

“Shut up”

Look, I know you’re upset bu-

“SHUT UP!” erupted Stan, he wasn’t upset, in fact he was perfectly calm, he was going through his options right now and he needed to focus.
He moves, the pressure switch activates the mine.
He needs to get away far enough to survive the impact of the blast.
Disabling the mine?
He doesn’t know how to do that.
Running?
No, not enough time.
No matter what Stan thought of, he never manages to get far away enough from the blast to survive.
But wait.
Maybe he’s barking up the wrong tree, maybe he doesn’t need to run or disable the mine.
Yes, there was one way out, it was batshit insane but when one's life is threatened, the line of sanity just doesn’t exist.
All he had to do now was wait for the enemy to find him.

“HELLO?”

What are you doing?
Stanley knew perfectly knew what he was doing.

“IS ANYBODY THERE?”

Do you want to get caught?
That’s exactly what he wanted.
The Cerberi were now incredibly close and as the changeling looked back he could see the heads, few by few, surrounding him.
The leader of the pack ordered something.
A Cerberus came up behind Stan ready to grab him.
This was the moment that Stanley was waiting for.
The Cerberus attempted to grab and pick up Stan from behind but The changeling was ready for that and with every single bit of strength in his body, Stan locked one of the beast’s arms with a hug, tilting the Cerberus’s body forwards, Stanley spun on the one hoof that was on the mine’s button until gravity took over for him.
The Cerberus was jerked towards where Stanley was positioned a moment ago, the Cerberus fell, changing the direction of his fall right beneath the mine, Stan’s body was now on top of the falling Cerberus, his hoof still on the button.
The very instant the Cerberus fell on most of the mine, Stan got ready for pain and lifted his hoof from the button activating the mine.
The mine activated.
There was an explosion, The Cerberus’s body took most of the impact, throwing Stan into a forwards aerial flip, simultaneously throwing him away from the incoming damage, most of the explosion was redirected to ground level, spreading the shattered armor shrapnel onto all surrounding legs of any living being that were on the ground, then the rest of the bodyparts followed, a mist of instantly evaporated blood expanded into the air, hot guts slapped onto the incapacitated enemies and bones serving as more shrapnel fatally wounding those around the blast.
Stan fell to the ground, unconscious.

Author's Note:

I have to admit, these chapters are getting longer and longer… that’s a good thing, right?