Stolen Away

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James BuckV^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^VI looked around my trail, the weird black dog thing was carrying me away from town, which in different circumstances, I wouldn’t have minded. However considering it was KIDNAPPING ME, this was a bad thing.“Creature, I’m guessing it would be too much to ask for you to tell me a secluded open place in the general area?” The creature asked me with an all too serious voice. I gave him a ‘Are you ****ing kidding me?’ look.But, being the idiot I am, I decided to play along. “Depends, what are you going to do with me?” He returned the look and stayed silent. Fine, be that way, just like every other accursed person on this planet! Eventually I noticed that he was walking my path, following the little red marks I had so carefully hidden on the trees to prevent ‘visitors’. Maybe he didn’t notice?“So what are these little red lines on the plants?” Well... s***“Well I got bored and decided to draw on trees like some stupid four years old.” Ha, let him have some of humanities good ole fashioned crude humor! He turned and looked at me; his poker face rivaling those that I could make.“Getting smart with me does not improve your situation or forestall the inevitable.” D***. “Nor does it provoke me to be so stupid as to drop you and/or challenge you.” Double d***!“So if I help you will you let me go?” I asked nicely, though I felt like puking.“No.” WELL THEN!“Get me something to eat?”“No.”“Say something other than no?”“No.”“Will you at least contort me to a more comfortable position?”“No.”“Is your next answer going to be no?” Trick question time.“It would have been if that had not been some meaningless trick question meant to trip me up. Really, you creatures aren’t that intelligent are you?”“Dammit! PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN!” I could no longer contain myself, this guy was going total douche bag on me.Movement ceased and I perked up, sure that I had at least elicited SOME response from the animal. However he had merely reached the end of my trail, which emptied out into my favourite clearing. “Hmm, this seems adequate for my necessities.” Wow this guy sounds like some stuck up english prick. I hate english people more than I hate Americans...I was unceremoniously dropped onto the grass. Before I could run off, however, the animal thing (which by his voice sounded like he was male) lit his horn and a large green dome encompassed the entire clearing. I watched with interest as he walked very slowly around perimeter; stopping every now and then to do something.Wow my captor is stupid. I thought. I got up and started walking towards the green dome, quite sure it was for some other reason than keeping me in, forcefields were only real in video games, weren’t they?However, as soon as I touched it I was launched backwards. What the hell? “I would advise you not to do that again.” I turned and the animal thing was still making it’s rounds around the dome. It hadn’t even acknowledged me when it spoke, further infuriating me. “Not only will you probably injure yourself doing so but I would prefer to remain alive when we return to the hive. Chrysalis told us to refrain from harming the subjects and she would hardly listen to my explanation that you almost killed yourself.”“Oh, so if I keep doing this you’ll die? Fun!” I ran towards to the forcefield again. As long as this a** hole died I was happy to take the pain.Once again that cheapskate used his f***ing magic and I was thrust away from the tool of his demise. Apparently finished with his work he walked over to me. “Oh ha ha, very funny. Just stay put from now on.” I tried to raise my leg to kick him again and found that it was anchored to the ground by a green line. Now that’s just not fair. I tried lunging at him but the line restrained me before I moved a few feet in his direction.“You yella bellied mother f***ing poltroon! Ya coward! Can’t face me like a man can ya, gotta use that s***ty magic stuff to save your cowardly ass now dontcha!” He threw a glare that would melt butter but I just glared back. This piece of crap didn’t scare me before and he certainly didn’t now. However my plan to enrage him failed as he simply closed his eyes, or what I assumed were eyes, and took a deep breath.Before I could taunt him further a bright green flash erupted next to him and another being appeared, along with another one of my accursed species, if this guy was American... I don’t know.... The good news was he was gagged and tied up in a... a bed sheet? That’s pretty cliche. Of course anyone who pissed these guys off earned a few points in my book.My hands were left untied so I went to disengage the gag around his throat. The new changeling immediately lunged at me and pushed me away from the newcomer. “No. You shall not unbind his mouthpiece.” Before I could lunge at her (her tone of voice suggested female) she jumped away with the help of her wings. Dammit! Was this close!The leader moved beside her, giving a small frown. “And why not? You know the queen’s orders, we are not to harm any creature we find!”The female gestured at the human sitting next to me with her hoof. “That... THING! Is a harm to every creature it speaks to! I’m surprised you haven’t gagged yours!” I looked incredulously at my companion, giving a short clap for his efforts at pissing this chick off.The frown on the leader remained. “Well I won't have him being injured in any visual way,” His face took on more of an inquisitive look. “That is, unless you want to incur the wrath of Chrysalis?” I watched her flitter her wings nervously at the thought of being punished by whoever this queen figure was. “Just put a mini one-way sound proof dome over them.” With that the female’s horn glowed and another smaller dome was erected around us.“HA!” I yelled. “NOW YOU CAN’T HEAR WHAT I SAY B**** MOTHER F***ER! KISS MY A** AND GO F*** A DUCK!” I turned to my companion only to see him roll his eyes. “Would you rather stay in with me while I still have all my rage induced adrenaline rush; or listen to me relieve it through mass profanity?” He shakes his ‘No’. I’m confused for a moment, I didn’t ask a yes or no question though...  “Oh that’s right, you're gagged... here let me help with that.” I undid his gag and threw it away before starting on his other inhibitors. “So” I said laughing, “what did you do to piss her,” I pointed a thumb over my shoulder to said changeling. “off so much?”He tried to sound serious, but I heard his voice crack. “Oh, only the usual. Crush your enemies, See them driven before you,” Up to this part I was confused, then I heard him sing, “And hear the lamentation of the women!” Oh god, not that...“You do realize that Arnold Schwarzenegger probably facepalmed so many times when that was posted on youtube?” He raised an eyebrow at this.“Your point is?”“You know, I’m starting to see why she hates you.”V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^VDaniel PicardV^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^VApparently my fellow prisoner did not appreciate my sense of humor. Oh well, I guess I could tone it down for the moment; my favorite victim wouldn’t hear me anyways. And I have the feeling that I don’t want to anger this guy. “Don’t worry, the changeling just caught me on a very bad day.”“Hmm, and of course, this would happen to be the same day?” His face became a little more harsh, “Or do you live overseas with those english pricks?” English pricks? Well, I guess it was one way to describe them. But, before I could answer, the other guy seemed to have a revelation. “Wait, you said changelings... is that like a new kind of animal only found in the remote places of backwater towns?”Ok, this guy was neither a mythology or My Little Pony fan. Great... I will totally not sound like I’m trolling at all... “First, I’m guessing that you are American, so that would be no. Besides, the square-heads didn’t have much success at assimilating my people, so...” I paused, still thinking about how to announce to the other that we had been captured by some cartoon characters.“Ah okay, that puts us on much better terms.” The relaxation of his facial features encouraged me to go on with my crazy revelation.“As for changelings, well... They are actually antagonists from a place called Equestria, you know from the *cough* cartoon *cough*.” The false coughs might have been a little too much, but I’ll admit that I still wouldn’t believe it wasn’t a dream if my right hand wasn’t still in pain from my failed punch. Also, I could usually distinguish dream from reality thanks to my heightened emotions state in dreams.“First off, that coughing does nothing but make you look dumb. Second, you’re telling me the animals that captured us are the bad guys from a CARTOON SHOW FEATURING PONIES!?”That went well. “Yeah, crazy eh?”He started opening his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it up. He probably decided that it was better not to question it too much to keep what was left of his sanity if his shrug was of any indication. “Weirder things have happened to me. Why do you think I’m such an a**?” Weirder than being captured by beings from a cartoon? I seriously doubted it. His question on the other hand was very tempting to answer. “On second thought, don’t answer that. You seem like a grade A smarta**.”Pff, do I really look like someone who would never leave such a perfect opportunity to go to waste? Actually, he is right. I still decided to mock him a little by taking on a false air of being hurt by his words. It was a better solution than letting the fact that we were powerless against our captor for the moment sink in. “Well, I never!” With this imitation of a certain green maned pony done, I dropped my act. Now that I think about it, we still hadn’t introduced each other, “Most programmers I know have this crazy side to them. Anyways, might I ask your name?”“Darn, was hoping you would say ‘Can I ask you a question?’ so I could be a smarta** right back to you. Oh well. Names James, James Buck. If you have a problem with the last name, I will have a problem with your teeth still taking up residence in your mouth.” Oh, that one bites back, a man after my own heart but he did not look like the most social person.As he held out his left hand, I decided to return the favor and shake it, “No it’s fine, though a little hilarious considering our situation. I’m Daniel Picard, just like the captain of the Enterprise.” Now that I think about it, it might be unclear what I mentioned earlier to one ignorant of Canada history. ”I’m a Quebecer if you hadn’t guessed earlier.”“Hey I watched that movie! Pretty good for a sci-fi.” Wait, the first thing that come to his mind was one of the movies where Picard appear? Come on, the serie was much better! “You're also from up north... good we’ll get along fine. Only people I don’t have a problem with are canadian.”Eh, great? I have the feeling that I really shouldn’t try to know why. “Well, your bad taste aside, did you learn anything from your captor?” Given we were stuck in this together, I might as well share what little information I have learned with him.“Nah, he sounds like an english prick and has the attitude of a russian. Again, don’t ask how I know this.” The attitude of an Russian? Does that mean he drinks Vodka?“I see. Well, I gathered a few interested tidbits of information from mine.”My companion cocked his head, showing that I had all his attention, “Oh?”“First, for a race of infiltrators, they are incredibly stupid. This seems to be a snatch and grab operation while they basically know nothing about humans.” I interpreted his silence as a sign to carry on, “Also, there is at least another changeling if your is as stuck up as you described. My bug ‘told’ me that a certain Night Fury was a little more on the aggressive side.”“Don’t underestimate them, I already paid for my my error.” As he said those words, he pointed to the green dome that surrounded the area. While I had been wondering about what it was, I had a few ideas of my own. “That shield, yeah it was like a reflective one except it launches you back with greater force than that applied, I’ll give you two guesses on how I figured that out...”Considering James behavior so far, I’m going to guess that he tried to go through it. Though, considering the description he just gave me, I think that bouncing would be a better description of the barrier, “I don’t think reflective is the right term, but anyway,” I decided to wave my right hand to make my next point, ”I learned not to underestimate them too when I tried to punch mine. Their skins are much tougher than I expected...”“You punched one too? D***. Yeah apparently they have really tough exoskeleton or something, look at the toes of my boots for god’s sake! They’re dented! This isn't cheap steel!”What?! This is insane, what does it take to take one down? An armor piercing round? Suddenly I had much more respect for Earth Ponies enhanced strength. ”Hooves must be much tougher than I thought...” There goes any hope to fight them off... “Any idea on how to either escape or cause them the most trouble possible?”“Escape? Maybe not... causing them trouble would be in my best interest. Though I don’t know how we're going to get past this magic of theirs. Maybe make funny faces, maybe moon them?”I couldn’t stop myself but chuckle at the mention of mooning. If only we were dealing with a more prude species, “I don’t think it would have the same effect on creatures normally nude.” Their magic was probably the biggest obstacle to any plan to escape... I hope that they suffer from the same weakness as unicorns, so their horn should be a weak point. “If we had a way to hit their horn, we could interrupt their magic...” Wait, don’t Americans love their guns? “I’m guessing you don’t happen to have a gun on you?”“As a matter of fact I do...” I couldn’t believe my luck, a gun would provide us an edge for any escape plans. That was until his hand came out empty from his search of one of his pockets, “Did. I had work today so no firearms. Sorry”“There goes that idea...” So far, any plans I had come up with had quickly been dismissed because of the changeling’s physical attributes or magic. There was only so much that you could manage with words, unless they were typical movie villains... Maybe my constant antagonising of the changeling will bear fruits at some point..“Well I’m bored... You got a deck of cards or something?”A distraction to pass time until our captors would bother us again would be welcomed at this point. Unfortunately, I normally keep my pockets empty while I’m at home... Huh? Actually, judging from the weight of my left pocket, I had taken my phone instinctively with me when I went to answer the door, “Nope, I only have my phone with me...” Wait, maybe I could use it to call someone. Obviously, that idea didn’t work out, “And I have no signal...”“Well that question was only for courtesy's sake, I hate card games.” He gave me that look like I had said something very stupid, “And about your signal... I live in between no and where; I get 3 bars if I’m lucky and that’s only in the middle of town.” With those words of wisdom said, he took out his own phone before proceeding, “If you want to talk to me, don’t you dare poke me.” James then proceeded to isolate himself from the rest of the world with a pair a headphones.We’re being a real ray of sunshine, aren’t we? If I did not think it could be hazardous to my health, I would have taken out the big gun : The Smile song! Well, I might as well copy him and listen to some Disturbed music. The changeling seemed to be in no hurry to deal with us when they left. I wonder how much they would like This Day Aria?I only had the time to fully listen to two songs when a bright green flash caught my attention soon followed by the sound of the male voice from earlier, “Ahh, Night Fury, glad you could make it! Put your... why is your’s not moving?”“Because I don’t like chasing my prey.” That new arrogant voice was probably coming from the new changeling. I’m starting to wonder how close to the truth she was about the killing part... This did make him a perfect candidate to elicit a reaction to get him in trouble, but I am so going to hate the consequences...I should first warn James about the new comer. If that changeling was going to enter the dome, I could use some help for my plan. If he don’t get me first for the poking. “I swear if this isn’t important...”“It isn’t, I only wanted to tell you that I just found a new cockroach.”“Huh?” Considering his confused look, I might have been a little too cryptic on that one. Well, I might as well point them out for him.“That doesn’t give you an excuse to harm them. You know our orders.” The russian changeling was giving a look that could melt ice; which was met only with an indifferent look from the other.Night Fury used one of his hoof to point at the male human body’s head. “You can barely see the bruise, Chrysalis will be too enthusiastic about her ‘Plan’ to even bother with us once we deliver these things.” I felt sorry for the poor guy, a hoof to the head must have hurt.The other one, the leader of the group considering that the other changelings reported to him, was unimpressed by Fury claim if his snort was of any indication, “It does not matter whether or not you can see the bruise, if you get in trouble we all do. Don’t let this happen again. DO YOU HEAR ME?!”“Sir.” Don’t you feel the love in air? This changeling did not seem to be on the same frequency as his leader, it was a wonder how they worked together.“Now move your creature in with the others. Unless you feel like disobeying MY orders?”“No sir.”The new bug set off toward our little improvised cell, carrying his prize on his back. “That must be the aggressive one. This should be fun!” I might be only a little too enthusiastic about the possibility of being hurt.As the changeling entered the bubble, he dropped his body unceremoniously on the floor, his headphones and his bag falling right beside him, next to us while his ears were swiveling looking for the origin ofsome sound.Determination that is incorruptibleFrom the other side a terror to beholdAnnihilation will be unavoidableEvery broken enemy will knowThat their opponent had to be invincibleTake a last look around while you're aliveI realized that it was my phone playing Indestructable from Disturbed. Oh well, Changelings might like Metal music, “Creature, what in the name of Tartarus is that infernal music!” Or not.Not being one to refuse a chance to annoy our captors, I turned to face James and decided to look like I was clueless about what the bug was talking about, ”Music? Do you hear any music?”The devious grin that formed on his face as he removed his headphones confirmed that he was following my lead with the aggravation tactics. “What? I’m sorry these are the newest headphones that block out noise, didn’t catch a word you said.”The changeling was not convinced by our acting if his frown was saying anything. He then proceed to show us his fangs. Poor him, it was rather ineffective as he looked so cute compared to about the monsters I was used to see in games nowadays. He got nothing on necromorphs. “What were the meaning of those words? Choose carefully the ones that will come from your mouth...”“Which words? You should learn to be more specific Mr. Bug.”“The ones from that thing you call a song!” A growl accompanied his menacing voice. It was just too easy to get on his nerve.“Neither of us are hearing music at the moment. It is rather Disturbing if you are starting to hear things... It might be the radiation.”The changeling rose his right fore hoof with the clear intention of hitting me. Unfortunately, a furious shout coming from behind the bug put an end to his plan, “NIGHT FURY!” Judging from the voice, it was the leader. Keeping an eye on your subordinate, aren’t you? “Get your sorry flank out here and help us, you can smack that one once it’s put into stasis. If Chrysalis doesn’t kill you for insubordination first.” Oh, I already managed to get him in trouble? One point for the ‘local’ team. As Night Fury left us behind while sulking, the other on pointed a hoof at me,“And you! You WILL shut up,  will not have you antagonizing my soldiers.”Right, why should I do as you say? You forgot to add the ‘or else’ clause. I faked a yawn before further antagonising the leader, “I am so scared. Did you know that you look like a little girl cartoon character?” My remark was met by a slap on my cheek.“I will not be baited by your antics, and before you taunt me further about harming you. That was a magical hit. It doesn’t leave marks.” He exited the bubble, leaving me and James to do as we wished in the meantime. But who was he kidding? This was obviously a force spell and considering that my skin had the habit to mark easily, I would be surprised if it will leave no mark on the long term.“Geez, that guy can’t take the truth. It’s Hasbro’s idea, not mine...”“As much as I love the fact that you're trying to piss them off, I’m still tired, therefore if we could assume the previous arrangement that would be excellent. One extra thing though, you're allowed to poke me if another one shows up.” Grumpy puts his headphones back on and decided to lay down.“Well, it seem that I’ll be the welcoming party for the new one.” I first thought of slapping him and hoping he would wake up, but I decided after full consideration of my situation that I should start by trying to poke him.“Ah, tabarnak. Ostie qu’j’ai mal à tête. Ques’est qui s’est passé pour qu’aye mal de même?” [Ah, da**. F***, my head hurts. What the hell happened to get such an headache?]Oh, a fellow Quebecer; the swearing we use is rather characteristic. This should be interesting.V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^VMathias DuquetV^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^VI woke up due to a weird feeling on my side. I tried to open my eyes, but the light caused one of the most massive headache I ever had. “Ah, tabarnak. Ostie qu’j’ai mal à tête.” I managed to open my eyes, even under such terrible pressure. “Ques’est qui s’est passé pour qu’aye mal de même?” I asked randomly in the language of my people.What I saw was some green wall separating me from... bugs? Yup, welcome to CooCoo Land, also called Asylum. This is the only place where horses and bugs have babies. Enjoy your stay! I started rubbing my head while trying to find a way to know if I was crazy.“Je voterais sur le fait que ton changeling a décidé que c’était plus simple de t’assomer pour ta capture.” [I’ll vote for the fact that your changeling decided it was simpler to knock you down to capture you.] I heard behind me. I turned around and saw a tall man wearing black pants and one of those plain blue shirts. In his pocket was a cellphone playing some crazy metal music that I always hated.“Mmm... quoi? C’est pas l’cinema? J’pensais qu’il m’apportait au cinema!” [Mmm... what? We’re not at the cinema? I thought he was bringing me to the cinema.] I said. I saw that one of the bug outside the bubble we were in had noticed that I had woken up and, with an evil grin, started walking toward me. On his way to the bubble, he turned into the same tall man I saw in the alleyway.When he arrived there, I saw the man beside me waving his hand happily to the transformed bug. I saw that the bug’s reaction was located between annoyance and hatred. He then looked at me and grinned. “Do you like it in here, creature? I sure hope that you are in pain right now, because your species simply annoys me.” He said before turning back into his original form.I turned around to see my co-prisoner bored beyond his mind. I tried thinking of a way out of this mess, but the annoying music kept me from doing anything. I took my bag laying on the floor, searched through it and, luckily for me, my new pair of headphones was laying at the bottom. I grabbed my older one laying beside me and threw it at him.“Peut tu, genre, mettre sa pis fermer ta musique.” [Can you, like, put this on and shut your music.] I said while pointing the wires on the floor.“Oui maman.” [Yes mommy.] The man shrugged, took the headphones and placed plugged it in. Finally some silence. When he placed them on his ears, I realised something. Wait, I still don’t know his name... I haven’t asked yet? I thought, surprising even myself. I wanted to ask him, but saw that he was busy listening to music. I hated bothering people so I decided to let him be for the time being.I looked around the ‘jail’ and saw that there were actually three people in there. There was me, the guy I gave the headphones and another dude sleeping with his music on. I knew that I was all alone now, so I decided to take my newer headphones and put them on.I was walking toward the sleeping body to see it on a closer scale when the other Quebecer stopped me. I removed one of the ‘phones and listen to him. “Je ne le dérangerais pas à ta place, le Schtroumpf Grognon n’est pas d’humeur pour l’instant.” [I wouldn’t bother him, the Grumpy Smurf is not in a good mood right now.] I lightly laughed at the comparison. I turned around to look at the man.

“Pis, c’est quoi ton nom, le quebecois?” [So, what’s your name, Quebecer?] I asked the man. He smiled at the question. I hoped that we would be on good terms even though we’re stuck in hell. He removed his cellphone from his pocket and shut off his music temporarily.

“Daniel Picard, capitaine de l’USS Enterprise D.” [Daniel Picard, captain of the USS Enterprise D.] Daniel pointed the sleeping guy. “Lui c’est James Buck. Et toi compatriote?” [He’s James Buck. What about you partner?] I laughed at the reference and at the ‘name’ he gave me.“Je suis Spock, scientifique sur l’Enterprise. Pourquoi me reconnais-tu pas, Picard?” [I’m Spock, scientist on the Enterprise. Why don’t you recognize me, Picard?] I said, continuing his joke. He laughed, trying to stay silent enough not to wake up James, even though he has his headphones on.“Oh, je suis désolé ambassadeur Spock, je vous ai pris pour Sylar.” [Oh, sorry ambassador Spock, I thought you were Sylar.] I looked at him with confusion. I think I just met my limit of knowledge of Star Trek. I shook my head.“Ok, je suis Mathias Duquet. Je ne suis pas un fan de Star Trek et j’ai aucune idee de quoi tu parle.” [Okay, I’m Mathias Duquet. I’m not a fan of Star Trek and I got no idea what you’re talking about.] I simply said. He hid his smile behind his fist. I extended my hand for an handshake.He shook my hand with great intensity. “Enchanté Mathias.” [Pleased to meet you, Mathias.] After this scene, his face became as serious as it can be. “Que sais tu des changelings?” [What do you know about changelings?] What kind of stupid que- wait, that creature changed form. Not so stupid after all.“Eh bien, c’est un style de carte tres utile dans n’importe quelle strategie, mais plus utile avec les Slivers.” [Well, it’s a type of card that is really useful in any strategies, but mostly useful with Slivers.] I said in a matter-of-fact voice, but his confusion proved me that he wasn’t a Magic the Gathering player. “C’est un style de carte Magic the Gathering.” [It’s a style of MTG card.] He ‘ooh’ as I explained the reference.“Je vois, ça fait une éternité que je n’ai pas jouer à ce jeu la. Mais non, ce n’est pas de ce type de changeling que je parle.” [I see, it’s been a long time since I’ve played that game. I’m not talking about that type of changeling.] He pointed at the bugs that kidnapped us. “Autre que la capacité de changer de forme, ils sont suposé être bon pour l’infiltration. Mais, ils semblent ne pas connaître grand choses des humains.” [They can change forms and they are supposed to be good at infiltration. Although, they doesn’t seem to know much about humans.] He stopped for dramatic effect. “Oh, et c’est un des antagonistes de My Little Pony.” [Oh, it’s also an antagonist in MLP.]I stared at him, wondering how he said that with such a serious face. I looked deep into his eyes and started to laugh. Surprisingly enough, he didn’t cringe and kept his serious face. I continued to laugh, but it started to be awkward laugh. “Attend... t’est serieux?” [Wait, you’re serious.] He nodded and I only sat down, mentally trying to prevent any insanity from coming out.“Malheureusement oui... Ils sont aussi très resistant... et ils utilisent de la magie...” [Sadly yes... and they’re very resistant... and they use magic.] I nodded slowly, trying to fit this in my brain. Great, we’re stuck against spellcaster bugs with high Armor Class. Why am I thinking in DnD right now? I thought.His serious face melted with a silly smile. ”Par contre c’est relativement simple de leur taper sur les nerfs.” [On the other hand, it’s really easy to piss them off.] I smiled and hid a small chuckle. So that’s why my kidnapper looked at him with such an angry stare. I looked at the changelings talking to each others. I knew that it would a long time until we could get out of there. I looked at Daniel and pointed to my headphones. He nodded and we placed them back on our ears, waiting patiently for something else to happen.After what seemed like hours which, according to my iPod, took only 10 minutes, a brief flash came out from the other side of the two dome shields. Another bug horse thingy, joy oh joy. The bug was holding in his... psychokinesis grasp? a human body. From the distance, I couldn’t see if he was alive or not, but seeing that we were not dead, I think that they need us in a healthy state.I stood up and walked toward Daniel and saw that he also noticed the flash made by the bug’s... teleportation? Man, these bugs really have fun breaking the laws of physics. I stated in my mind. I walked toward the wall nearest to the bugs. While I was doing it, Dan went to the sleeping body of our captive friend. Then, he started poking his shoulder until the man woke up."Either another one of those things, changelings?, showed up. Or you have a death wish." Daniel seemed unfazed by the comment as I stared at the man who made it. Is he...serious? The man turned his head and his eyes met mine.Daniel nodded. “Yep, it’s another one. I wonder how many of those there are...” James shook his head and shrugged in confusion. Then, he realised that there was a new awoken face around him.“First off, who the hell is he?” He said while pointing at me. I waved at him with a silly smile, looking like a retard. “Second. Good, hate to have to worry about the effort of choking your life out then getting strangled by the changeling and having this whole scene erupt and all. You know what, now I wish I smoked, because this seems like a movie picture moment to do so.” Daniel sighed while I thought of a good and silly way to say hi.“Oi mate, mai name is Alejandro. Nice t’meet ya.” I said with a smile, happy to see that my australian accent was between shitty and realistic. He stared at me with a blank face, his left eye twitching.“Nevermind his antics, his name is Mathias Duquet and he is a Quebecer too...” Daniel said before James released his rage. He(who is he?) sighed and relaxed a bit.“Need to work on that accent a little. Glad that Daniel here has a lick a sense even if you don’t. Also, you must know that everyone originally from the country north of the US, you two being prime examples, are the only ones I don’t hate on sight, or in some cases hearing.” I nodded at his explanation, happy to see that his hatred was not targeted toward me.“Anyone up for finding out what our hosts are up to?” He said while staring at the group of bug horses talking to each other. Dan and I looked at his targets and we smiled.Daniel rubbed his hands together. ”Always!” He said with an evil grin. I shrugged, following both of them near the side of the wall. We placed our ears on the wall, seeing that if we don’t attack it, we don’t get knocked back. We managed to hear their conversation.“Mirror, how nice of you to join us... you’re late,” Quicksilver cringed, looking at his partner. ”Good thing we started on the diagram already so we are still on schedule.” He looked at the human body floating in his telekinesis grasp. “I see that you have also used lethal force in obtaining your specimen...”“My apologies for being late sir. As for how I collected mine, I knocked it out magically therefore causing no harm to it mentally or physically.” He said, bowing at his boss. He nodded, sighed and turned around.“Hmm... Well i guess that is alright. Over there you will see a barrier, please place yours inside of it with the others and come back to assist us.” Quicksilver pointed the bubble containing us. Daniel, seeing that they were looking at us, waved happily at the changeling. The boss shivered at the sight.The new changeling’s ears glowed green like the horn of the one beside it. The new one gave an annoyed look at the first whose horn stopped glowing for a moment. “That one,” He said while pointing at Dan. “has a mouth on it that could make anypony wish they’d been turned to stone by a cockatrice.” The changeling holding the man nodded, The magical ear muffs re-appearing on his ears.The new changeling walked toward the prison and opened a hole, allowing him to ‘drop’ the body on the cold hard ground. Right when he was about to close the shield, Dan started running toward the hole and jumped in front of Mirror Image?”Welcome Mr New Bug. I’m the Doctor.” He said in an obvious British accent. The bug just looked at him and rolled its eyes. Dan grunted and crossed his arm. “Killjoy.” He stated simply. The changeling closed the shield back up and started trotting towards his group. “Wow, that one will be a hard nut to crack.” Dan said, disappointed at his failed attempt.I just looked at the situation and laughed. Was Dan really that annoying, enough to make sound proof earmuffs to block his annoyingness necessary. I shook my head. At least I’m not the worst of the bunch. I thought. If I’m not the worst of the bunch, they’ll be less inclined to target me with... whatever they want us to do.“I, for one, am not surprised that they are now taking precautions, but sound proof ear muffs? I mean ones that actually work? Too bad those aren’t on the shelves at the local Wal-mart...” James stated while looking with amusement at the whole situation. To answer that comment, Daniel showed a small grin.“This is all part of my strategy. I want them to overestimate my danger level. That could be useful to let you act later, or the giant over there.” He said while pointing to the still asleep body laying on the floor. I walked toward it and just looked at him. He was breathing, but I didn’t know what these bug did to him.What I didn’t see coming, though, was a fistful of surprise meeting my face. The strength of the hit throwing me at least two meters back. “WHAT THE BLOODY F*CK, TABARNAK DE CALISSE.” I screamed, swearing in every way I knew. It was so painful that I knew the mark would become a deep black bruise.V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^VScott FletcherV^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V“WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK, TABARNAK DE CALISSE!”I snap my eyes open, looking around rapidly. Okay, where in the world did that thing take me? One moment, I’m looking at some kind of dark figure, the next, I’m lying on the ground with my arm stretched out and hand curled into a fist with some French guy yelling what I presume to be curses at me.Taking a moment to calm down, I truly observe my surroundings. I find myself in a lime green dome, with three other people. One of them is sitting down holding his eye. That must be the one I punched. Of the other two, one is standing with an amused expression upon his face, but worried at the same time for the one I had punched, seeing as how he went over to his fallen possible comrade. The other one has fallen down because he was laughing so hard. Presumably at the one I had just punched.I sit up with a groan, feeling several pops up my spine. I sigh in relief as the pain from an aching back recedes. I watch as the guy checks on the one with a hurt eye. “Will you be fine?” Well, at least there’s one nice person here that I know of.“VA DONC CHIER... oh, I mean GO F*CK YOURSELF!” He said while staring at me. Yeesh, this one seems to be a bit grumpy. Although, I guess he does have reason to be pretty mad. The one that fallen on the ground, had now finally recovered.The one that went to help him just shook his head. ”I’ll take that for a no.”As I stand to my full height, I feel more pops along my legs.Well, better go make amends and all that. I walk over to the guy I punched, whom had just been helped to his feet by the other guy (Wow, I’m really going to have to learn their names) and hold out a hand. ”Hey, sorry about punching you. I guess I was in the middle of one when he knocked me out.”Joker, as I have decided to call him for now, bursts out laughing at the entire situation. “Oh, this beats the violence in ALL cartoons!” I give him a ‘look’ before turning back to Grumpy, who is giving me a death glare.“Sorry... SORRY? You punched me, I swear I felt a piece of broken teeth in my mouth and...” He puts a hand to his nose, “...you freaking COVERED MY FACE IN NOSE BLOOD. I’m sure the color surrounding my eye must be in fifty shades of purple right about now!”“Hey, see the bright side of situation. I’m sure that their queen won’t like that one bit. Maybe we could try to put the fault on Night Fury,” says uh, um... Well, I can’t think of one for him.Before any more conversation can be made between the four of us, I can hear voices from outside the dome. “So, they can kill each other, but I can’t knock one out? That’s unfair.” This voice seems to be disappointed about something, obviously that he isn’t allowed to hurt from the context of his words.I hear the sound of something charging up before it’s cut off by a second, more commanding voice. “Hey! Knock it off!”Joker snickers a little at their apparent frustration with each other. To be honest, I don’t really care, except for the one that got me; he’s dangerous. “Well, if we’re going to be staying in the same dome together, might as well get to know one another a bit better. My name’s Scott Fletcher.”“Hello Scotty. I’m captain Daniel Picard of the USS Enterprise. I’d ask M. O’Brien to beam us out, but he left for Deep Space Nine.” All I can do is stare at Daniel. Clearly, he has no social life if he uses that as a greeting. Of course, I have no room to speak, but that’s not the problem here.I turn towards Grumpy, motioning for him to give his name.He just glares at me and turns away, forcing Daniel to introduce him in his stead. “The guy you used as a punching bag is Mathias Duquet. At least you didn’t punch gr- the other one.”My thought process is interrupted by Mathias, angrily yelling at me. “Yeah, blame the curious guy to be curious. I was the only one here concerned for your safety!” Well, you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat. Better not goad him on that though, he’s already pretty pissed. So,all I do to placate him, is shrug.I look over at Joker, only to find he’s lying on the ground, listening to music, totally not caring about what we’re doing. Hmm, I might have a little fun with this one. Well, my type of fun. And so, for my nightly dose of real life entertainment, I walk over to him, and kick him in the side. I’m so engrossed with my task, I don’t even see Daniel’s eyes widen in shock.Joker’s eyes begin to open slowly and glare at me. “Since you’re new here, I’ll cut you a break this time. Next time you touch me when I don’t want you to, I’ll break the limb you use.”So, he’s one of those types, is he? Two can play at that game. I concentrate for a few seconds, then feeling the familiar anger as I loosen my mental barriers a bit. In a venomous voice, I reply, “Try to break any of my limbs, and I’ll snap your neck.”“An American with a spine? My God...” Hm, maybe I’ll like this guy after all. I could tell by his tone of voice that he was genuine with his words.I hold out a hand to help him up. “My name’s Scott, since I’m just going to assume you didn’t hear that earlier.“Well ‘Scott’ I might have said that I’m impressed that you have a spine. But that does not make you my friend, capeesh? Nice to meet you though, names James Buck.” Seeing that he is not accepting my outstretched hand, I pull it back. Good, I didn’t want to waste energy getting you up anyways.“Who said anything about being friends?” He simply shrugs, obviously not caring. I turn back towards Dan to see him trying calm Mathias down in the French language, which seems to be working. He’s obviously like a paragon from Mass Effect.I see something hanging off of Dan’s neck. Ignoring my earlier thoughts on curiosity, I speak out to him. “Hey Dan! What’s that you got around your neck?”He turns around at the mention of his name, bringing his pendant out. ”Oh that? It represents Solomon’s key. I still haven’t figured out the demon summoning function though.” Yeah, this guy has a sense of humor, even if it does come with very bad jokes, it’s still a good sign.I see Mathias use a water bottle that I hadn’t seen before and his Mc’Donalds work clothes to clean the small amount of blood off his face. He opens his mouth to say something, “Look, I’m sorry. The punch just caught me by surprise and you didn’t seem to care... Sorry for throwing shit at you.”I simply smile to let him know his apology is accepted. “Well, I’m no fan, but I managed.” Ugh, my sense of humor is worse than Daniel’s. Daniel just rolls his eyes at my terrible joke.Alright, let’s move onto a new subject of discussion. “So, anyone else other than me know what these guys are?”Daniel’s face immediately brightens at my statement. “Finally! I was starting to think I was the only one who knew how weird the situation was. Kidnapping humans for love...” Draining humans for love? The most they’ll probably get from James and I would be like a giant vat of acid for them.“So the strong punchy guy watches pink ponies. I wonder who’s the youngest here.” I almost make a retort at his comment, but his smile shows me that he was only joking.Daniel almost uncaringly replies,  “Bah, I’m only twenty-six. It’s only five score divided by four plus one.”“What’s a score? Are you talking about games?” I wonder how young Mathias is. It is usually pretty common knowledge on how much a score is.“A score is just a fancy term for twenty years,” I reply.“Oh! We don’t have anything like that in French.” Ah, that would explain it all.“Well, since Dan here so willingly gave us his age, we should tell each other our own as well. I’m twenty.” I see James feign interest in our conversation, but he removes one of his earbuds and scoots closer to be a part of it. After all, for all he knows we could be planning an escape.“Since you all seem keen on talking and not being complete idiots, I guess I can oblige. I am 22 years old.” Huh, I thought he was younger than that.I motion to Mathias last, waiting for him to give an age. “I’m sixteen. I still don’t know why that’s relevant.” Wow, to be honest, by his appearance, I could’ve sworn that he was at least eighteen.I walk over and examine the green barrier. After giving it a few taps, I find that it’s rather similar to glass. Does this mean it’s breakable? While analyzing the ‘glass’, James seems to speak what’s on my mind.“I’m f*cking bored, my playlist has run through a couple times, and even though you guys are the best company I’ve had in years, you’re really not that interesting.”“Wow, if the best company you’ve had is boring, I pity your soul,” Mathias replies.James just rolls his eyes in response.  “Tell me about it...”Upon closer inspection, I see what appears to be a second shield. Why would they need that? After my fight with that one changeling, it’s obvious we’re not too much of a threat to them. I turn back to the rest of the group to find Daniel standing next to me, looking at the shield as well.“If you are wondering, the closest barrier is to prevent our voices from reaching them. I’ll let you guess why they created it.” He gives me an evil grin. No, he couldn’t have! Is it possible that he could be this annoying? To get changelings to put up a sound proof barrier? Hmm, he could be a powerful asset.I return the grin, “Are you able to be annoying enough to make them slip up?”“If you’re going to do it make it subtle, those glowy ear things weren’t for show,” said James. So, they also found ways to protect themselves personally and put the shield up just to make sure?“It is already done. The one named Night Fury is the easiest to influence. The only one that doesn’t already hate me is the one that brought you.” Hmm, the one that brought me could be a potential problem. I don’t think he gets annoyed as easily as the others.Dan spoke up again. ”Anyone have any ideas for escaping those bugs? So far, I’ve only managed to prepare the terrain for a possible diversion. If their magic wasn’t enough of a problem, their skin is too thick to make punching them an option...” Hmm, he did mention a diversion, but I don’t think it will work. The one that brought me is obviously an analyst; he’ll be expecting it.“Prison riot?” Suggested Mathias. “I mean, it’s four against four. Except that they have super strong armor... and magic... you know what, forget it, I’d rather stay here and wait for my demise.” Well, we could have a form of a prison riot, just not, you know, charging, yelling, and giving up all hope...unless they use duct tape. Then it’s okay to give up all hope.I take their suggestions and play with them a bit. What if we punched the shield as a distraction and got them to open it? No, too many variables. Could we perhaps do that? No, same as the last reason. Unless....I got it.I motion for the others to gather around me. “A lot of times, the best way to get the jump on someone is to wait and watch, which I really hope you already know. Alright, here’s the plan...”*One weird awkward plan later* (AKA we’re too lazy to make one up.)"Wait, is this something stupid you just made up on the spot or did you actually put thought into it?" Retorted James, ever the suspicious and untrusting one.“Wow, even I think it’s a bit stupid. And I’m the one who was thinking to go guerilla on their collective asses.” Mathias really isn’t helping either. The only who seems to be giving the idea any thought is Daniel.“It might work. It is always the plans with the lowest probability of working that are effectives in movies. Beside, it is a better idea than letting them drag us to their hive. Four of them is already enough of a problem.”  Yes! Someone gets it!“Movies aren’t realistic though.” says James, ruining my small good mood.. “Everything has to go right or else the hero guy loses; and nobody wants to see that.”Daniel replies sarcastically, ”Oh yes, because being captured by characters from a comic is much more realistic.”“Yeaaaah, choose your poison. The automatic killing one with the changeling or the one with a chance of survival? It may be stupid, but we got no other choice,” says Mathias. Exactly what I’ve been saying!“I choose the automatic killing.” James pauses, “Of them. You just have to wait for the right moment, as it stands we are trapped. We wait until they take us out then strike. They may be tough on the outside, but everything has a flaw. Go for the eyes or the horn, they probably don’t weigh much so tripping them might be possible.”Daniel brings a hand to his chin, thinking out loud. ”The classical fingers in the eyes could work. I don’t think they would expect that.” Mathias just laughs at the absurdity of poking the changelings in the eyes.He responds with something just as ridiculous. “If you attack in the front, give me a cardboard box and a pack of cigarettes. I’m gonna sneak behind and grab their horns, Metal Gear style.Before I can add to the conversation,we’re interrupted by a voice behind us. “Hey! Stop talking, yeah I can’t hear you, but I can see your mouths moving!” Well, we’ll have to be a bit, cautious.V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V*A few uneventful hours where a fight between Google Chrome and Firefox occurred later...*V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V“It’s time. Bring out the creatures.” Well, this changeling is awfully authoritative, and also troublingly sentient.Two of the other three changelings move to grab James and I, the changeling that brought me staying back to make sure we don’t try anything. The first part of the plan starts as I hear Mathias and Daniel began to quietly argue about something. The one dragging James to the weird pentagram, circle, square, triangle... Nevermind, we’ll just call it an alchemy circle for now, you know, like the ones from Fullmetal Alchemist. Anyways, he yells at the two fighting humans, “Quiet you two! I don’t like hearing your voices!”The leader then points at me. “You!” Then moves his black swiss cheese hoof to point at one of the four circles surrounding the pentagram. “Sit there!” I do as I’m told cooperatively, not wanting to provoke him, yet. “Now, sit here and don’t move.” Right, like I’ll try and run off with four magic capable insect ponies ready to shoot me at a moment’s notice. “Night Fury, Mirror, go and get the other two. Unseen, stay here and observe what I’m going to do.” She obeys, watching him and James at the same time.I hear Mathias behind me yell out at him, “What makes you think that I will listen to you? You look like a horse that mated with a bug and got shot by a gatling gun!”The leader changeling does his best to ignore the comment, doing a much better than job than Night Fury. However, they are able to restrain themselves, some much more easily than others. A bright light erupts from his horn and my heart clenches. A pain like no other, but still bearable, arises from my chest and a small, white orb makes it’s way out.“Tabarnak, what is your f*cking problem!? I was only saying the truth.” I can barely hear Mathias over the strange buzzing noise as Night Fury reprimands him for the insult, suddenly losing what semblance of control he had for whatever reason.Okay, I have seen many things, (Well, not really, but you get the point) but this? This took the cake. In fact, at this very moment, my mind was in a state of, “What the hell is that thing?!” The surprise is absent on the changeling’s face however, as a similar orb floats out of his chest. I can see the changeling grit its teeth from the jolt of pain as a little bolt of lightning shocks between the two orbs. They zap together a few more times then retreat quickly back into their respective bodies, leaving me and the changeling breathless.He stays sitting for a few moments, catching his breath as I do the same. Finally, he speaks again."That was a essence binding spell. It is usually used on target ponies so that a source of food is always locatable, in this case it is used as a sort of anchor to keep the humans in Equestria so that the spell’s time limit is nulled.” Well, great. now they can track us wherever we go. Well, at least just me for the moment.“But won't that anchor our essences to this world? Since it works in Equestria, wouldn’t it work here?” Unseen asks unemotionally.The leader gives her a small smile. “This spell only anchors the target’s essence to the casters, not both. Therefore we will not be able to skirt the time limit. The only true side-effect is passively knowing when the other pony is nearby, and with some help, where in the general area they are.”“Unfortunately there is one other immediate side effect to the spell. It leaves the caster drained of magic.” He turns to look at James. "Thankfully it doesn't last long and the caster is back up to full power in a matter of minutes.” Wow, I thought he was smarter than this. He just literally told us  their greatest weakness. At least well I heard it.“Psst, James.” I twist my head to see Mathias winking at James. Well, at least he noticed the changeling’s slip-up.After about three more minutes of waiting in that same spot, Mathias and Daniel have now been joined and marked along with us. With Mirror, Night Fury, and Unseen (Still haven’t gotten all their full names yet darn it.) looking as exhausted as their leader was a few minutes prior, I got ready to give the signal. The leader’s horn charged up activating the spell, and I gave the signal to Daniel.“Great plan, just like the other one you had when you tried to capture Canterlot. It was perfect. Oh wait! That’s right, thanks to a single filly everything went south and your Queen Chrysalis got owned like the cockroach that she is.” I wince from the roar of rage from Night Fury. Looking over at Mirror, I see him not angered, but confused. Almost as though he alone realized that Daniel knew something he shouldn’t."YOU'RE DEAD YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A LIVING BEING!" Night Fury lowered his horn and begins to charge it, pawing at the ground much like a bull getting ready to charge.With the leader yelling at Night Fury to hold his ground, obviously pissed off as well, I charge Mirror. But, thanks to a stray rock within the pentagram, I lose my footing at trip into Mathias. My much higher weight causing him to get pushed backwards into Daniel, out of Night Fury’s way and run into Unseen.I can hear him yell at me from on top of the other Canadian.. “Good job, klutz face! We’re not dominoes, y...”Whatever he was going to say is cut off, along with any sound, like when an explosion goes off near you, just without the ringing. Then everything goes white. I have a sense of vertigo, but then it vanishes, as does the white light. I’m now floating through a black abyss towards some unknown location. Then starts the pulling. I can’t even describe it, other than every single piece of my existence being pulled apart, molecule by molecule, thought by thought, and then put back together. That’s when I lose consciousness, and the whole world just gets darker.V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^VMathias DuquetV^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^VI opened my eyes to only see darkness. What a good way to die. Getting thrown into a pile of corpses like dominoes. I looked around, waiting for something else to happen. Like a cue, a light shined through the blank world and somebody, whom I recognize as Daniel, appeared near me.What surprised me was that he was unconscious. He must have hit his head when we fell one on the other. I looked at his body and felt a bit weird. I wish his death will be painless. I thought before being blinded another light. Who is playing with the strobes around here!?This time, it was one of our guards who appeared. The only way I managed to know who she was was her mane. She was the only female changeling in their group. She looked at me and tried to shout, but I heard no sound coming out. I pointed at her and laughed until I felt something out of this world.Pain. You know when people says that they felt true pain. They only felt the tip of the painberg. I felt like I was being stripped of my brain. I managed to turn my head and saw that both the changeling and Dan were experiencing the same thing. I closed my eyes and endured the searing pain.Suddenly, it stopped and a blue glow was shining outside my eyelids. I opened them and saw a light blue orb coming out of me and Dan. I looked at the female changeling and saw that she had a pink orb. While both of the blue ones were travelling the darkness toward her, hers splitted in two and went into both us humans.When it entered me, I felt... surprisingly good. Like if somebody placed some healing gel on my wounds. The pain that I felt few seconds earlier was from the past. It was replaced by the soothing sensation of peace.When the blue orb entered the changeling, she disappeared into thin air... or darkness. A while line went from my heart to Dan’s. That’s when my eyes started to close by themselves. The last thing I saw before falling unconscious were some glowing balls coming from Dan and going in me. What... the... heck....?