Crystal friendship

“Captain! Is everything alright? You walk like if you are hurt!” worried a changeling, when he met his captain almost not being to walk straight.

“Eh...I am fine. Call everyone here. I am not strong enough for it.”

Soldier just nodded, took a deep breath and shouted:

“Emergency! Everybody come to the prison cells!” quickly the hallways filled sound of clapping hooves and both changelings were soon surrounded by other shape shifters.

“Prisioners escaped! They don´t know where to go, so search the whole cave system, before you start searching outside. Now!” commanded the captain and leaned against the wall. All changelings immediately runned to all directions to perform captain´s order, just the one who called them stayed with him.

„Captain you are not alright! Please let me escort you to the basement, so you can get some medicaments.”

“You are right.” the soldier slighly hunched, so his superior could lean on him.

They walked slow, because the captain every once a while tripped or his head spinned, so he almost fell. His subordinate tried to get out of him what exactly happened to him, but the officer told him to not care about it. And that wasn´t the only thing that worried him. Just where in the name of Chrysalis did cell guards went? Their bodies weren´t found anywhere near the cells, even though, there wasn´t any reason for them to not be there. They didn´t even come to listen emergency warning.

“We are here captain.”

Hurt changeling raised his head and tiredly looked at wooden door with big sign saying “basement”.

“Finally.”

The officer carefuly tried to stood up straight. During this he put his hoof on solders head and before he could notice it, slammed his head into stone wall. Changeling fell to the ground, if not dead then definetely unconsciousness.

“Damn it. I don´t have any magic left.” whispered fake officer, his shape bluerd and he turned into grey unicorn.

“Better find that hat and get out of here.”

After a while of searching through piles of rubbish and useless stuff he found the Applejack´s hat. With his goal accomplished, pony came out of the room, where he saw group of changelings, apparently waiting for their captain, not expecting foreing pony to come out.

Their eyes were moving from bleeding changeling on the floor, to Snaky.

“Get him!” shouted one of him and tried to hit the unicorn with a sword, being holded by his green magic.

Snaky barely dodged the attack, what would amost surely kill him, but forgot about his weakness and fell on the floor, right next to the changeling who came there with him. Next to the body lied sword, same as the one what he just dodged.

Snaky Arcanum quickly grabbed the handle with his teeth and stabbed himself the the leg with it.

It hurt really bad, but along with pain came adrenaline and bit of energy.

“Let´s play one last game, shall we?”

* * * * * * *

“We are almost outside!” shouted Snaky at the mares running next to him. He didn´t have to look behind him to know, that changelings are still chasing them. The clapping of their hooves was enough to confirm that.

“Huff, why are you smiling at situation like this?” asked him Deeter, when he noticed the grin on his friend´s face.

“I have suprise for you.” he didn´t say anything else, so he didn´t waste his breath. The entrance to the cave was so near that they could see the dayling.

All four ponies rushed out and white unicorn right away turned so he could somehow stop their pursuers. He was really suprised when the changelings turned into clouds of smoke, when they came out and dissapeared like a bad dream.

“What the...?” was all he got out of himself.

“They were just illusions? Snaky, why...” Applejack turned around, when she realized that the grey unicorn isn´t anywhere near.

“That idiot. He casted an illusion on us, so we got out and he could go find that your hat!” realized vice-captain and performed an hoofpalm.

“We can´t let him there alone! Ah noticed that he was really tired and he had to use lotta magic for guards to not notice us escaping!”

“Yea, let´s go!”

All three ponies hurried back to the cave, where they just came from. Along the way they noticed that none of the guards, who they previously went past, aren´t there anymore. Somepony had to call them somewhere else.

“Do ya hear it guys?” asked Applejack after while, sounding higly nervous.

“What?”

“Listen for a while.”

Everypony stopped and tried to catch, whatever was AJ talking about.

Laughter.

And not just normal one. Whatever was making sounds like this had to be either on the edge of insanity or to be incredibly entertained. Deeter decided to go with the other choice, since why would anypony laugh in place like this?

So they continued deeper into the cave, back to cells, where Pinkie and Applejack were being holded. Fortunately nopony crossed their path for some strange reason, even though they could hear other noises, then just someponies laughter.

“There he is!” saw Deeter his friend standing next to the cells and being completly amused, by something what other ponies could see just yet.

“So this is what he was talkin about.” whispered Applejack so quietly that nopony heard it.

Snaky was resting, leaned on the wall and laughting so loud that it was suprising that nothing fell on his head from the ceiling, watching three changelings fight to the death with their comrades. Deeter, who knew him some time already knew that they are trapped in some kind of illusion and could only imagine what did they see.

“Oh, hi guys. I was just on my way out. Also I have the hat!”

How can he act like a small kid in a situation like this? This was the quetion that Deeter asked himself, when they were coming closer to him, ale he´d like to know what seemed so funny to him.

Snaky tried to make step towards them, but ended up falling and group of ponies just now noticed the blood coming out of open wound on his leg.

“What happened to you you?” worried Applejack and rushed to him, not minding her surroundings.

Next few seconds were for Deeter like in slow motion. From shadows in one of the cells stepped out changeling with frenzy look on his face and with sword, prepared to stab bypassing mare to the ribs. Before he did it, Snaky somehow menaged to get up, grab Applejack by her shoulders and use energy of her movement to get on her place.

Deeter´s sense of time returned back to normal, when the grey unicorn fall on the floor with sword stabbed in his side and blood coming out of his mouth.

“Darn!” AJ kicked the changeling to the head and pulledSnaky on her back.

“We have to get out of here!” said and all ponies once again runned out of the cave, into the woods.

* * * * * * *

“How is he doing?” asked Deter, when he finally menaged to catch up Applejack, who was already checking Snaky´s injuries.

“Not good at all.” answered him and vice-captain noticed the despair in her eyes.

“Let me try something.”

Deeter kneeled next to her and focused his magic on unicorn´s wounds. He didn´t do it for a long time, but he hoped that he still could heal, using his magic as good as few years ago.

Red glow embraced the wounds and they began to close up. Blood stopped flowing and Snaky´s breath returned to normal.

“Did ya´ll...”

“Almost.” interrupted her. “His wounds might be closed but any sudden movement will open them again, also his body is now incredibly exhousted. Not only because it had to heal his wounds, he also went behind his limits and went as far as hurting himself to squeeze out of him more energy.”

“So what are we gonna do?”

“I don´t know. We can´t take him with us in this state.”

“I have and idea, I have and idea!” screamed Pinkie, who was up until now silent, propably because of the sadness, that she has been through in the prison.

“What?”

“We can take him to Zecora! If anypony can take care of him, it´s her!”

“Zecora?” asked Deeter, who didn´t know, who mentioned pony was.

“She is like super duper wise pony! She lives not far from here in Everfree Forest.”

“Don´t you think that changelings found her?”

“Ah don´t think so. Zecora knows Everfree Forest like nopony else. There is no way those shape shiftin pricks could find her.” Applejack joined the conversation.

“So, let´s go find her!”

Vice-captain carefuly picked the grey pony with his magic and pulled him on his back. During this he noticed strange thing.

“Huh? When this happened?”

“What?”

“I am pretty sure that Snaky didn´t have a cutiemark when I first met him.”

“He didn´t?”

“Nope. I don´t usually notice it, so I didn´t think about it, but now when I look at it, there is no way I could overlook it.”

Applejack walked next to him and looked at Snaky´s flank. Snake staring at apple, with his tail wrapped around it.

“What could it mean?”

“It looks to meh like if the apple was bait and the snake was waitin for somepony to grab it.”

“Maybe.”

So the group of ponies set off to find Zecora´s hut, every one of them had something to think about, in Deeter´s case it was Snaky´s cutiemark.

Seems like I know him better then you Applejack. The apple is not a bait, no, no. The snake is protecting the apple. The question, that I´d like to know answer on, is why does he wants to protect it?

“Applejack?”

“Hm?”

“What happened between you and Snaky?”