Sabre the Elemental Book 1: The Beginning

He didn't know what happened. One moment he was fighting Chrysalis, the next, he was in the snow and his wounds screaming in pain as they bled to the ground. He heard Chrysalis scream for the princess and saw Atlas crumble into a pile of of marble and stone. He limped through the snow and lifted his hood. He was an outcast from his home. The Changelings took over and he was the sole survivor. He was exiled. He was alone. Sabre turned as he heard a small group of Changelings running after him. They picked up his scent. He needed to get away. So he limped as fast he could. He needed to reach civilization soon or else he would become food for these beasts.

He quickly ducked in the snow behind a tree and the Changelings stopped. One of them chittered angrily at the others and it turned to an argument until they reached a conclusion. They charged on and Sabre sighed in relief. Now he can deal with his wounds. He tore a piece of his robe off and looked at his leg injury. He held his breath as he began to wrap it. Sabre choked down a scream as pain traveled to his mind. He tore off another piece and use his mouth to painfully wrap his arm up. He sat a little longer to try and wait most of the pain away. A few minutes later, he continued on.

Eventually, he found a small cottage in a tree. He banged on the door repeatedly. Soon enough, a bright yellow pegasus opened the door. Before she could say anything, Sabre charged in and fell unconscious on her couch. The pegasus was rather confused at this point. Once she shut the door. She began to look at his wounds in wonder. How could someone be this badly damaged? Was he in the Everfree? She didn't know, but what she did know is that he won't survive in this state.

Sabre snapped up and found himself in his bed back at home. He sighed in relief and realized that it was all just a nightmare. He rose and threw on a white robe and went down the hall to the kitchen. Inside, he found his mother sipping a cup of coffee. He smiled and went to get his own cup. "How was your sleep, Sabre?" she wondered after sipping some coffee.

"Weird."

"Explain."

"Well," Sabre thought a little before he continued, "I had this dream where the Changelings attacked and you were there but Chrysalis killed you."

"That's right." Sabre choked on his coffee and realized that it had somehow turned into blood. He looked up and saw the empty husk of what was his mother. "You left me to die." she accused. "You could only think of yourself."

"No. That's not true!" he denied.

"You left us all to die." He whipped around and saw the husks of the citizens advancing on him. He started to panic and began to push past them. He managed to escape them but felt his steps getting heavy. Sabre looked down and saw blood starting to rise beneath him. He panicked more and tried to escape. Eventually, he was under the surface of all the blood. He struggled to swim but he felt the air escape his lungs in the form of bubbles that rose. His vision blackened and he sank down into the abyss.

Sabre woke up with a snap and a scream. His breath was heavy and sweat poured down his face. His body trembled with the realization that he was the sole survivor of the Changeling's first successful assault on Equestria in over a decade. The door opened and a nurse entered. "Oh, you're awake." she noted with a smile. "My name is Nurse Redheart."

"Tell me Nurse, how long was I out?" Sabre wondered.

"E-Excuse me?"

"How long, was I out?" he repeated.

"F-Four months." she hesitantly replied. Sabre's face was the right response for awe. Four months? What's happened while he was comatose? Redheart pressed the PA button next to the door and it dinged two times, one high note and one low note. "Comatose Patient 42 has woken up. Repeat, Comatose Patient 42 has woken up." she announced before heading out. Sabre looked down at his hands and saw how thin he had gotten. He thanked in his head for the life support for saving him. He reach to his head and felt that his hair had grown while in his coma. "Four months is a long time." a voice noted from the door. He looked over and saw a lavender alicorn propped against the frame. "Princess Twilight Sparkle and you are?"

"Prince Sabre from what used to be Atlas." Sabre looked down at his hands again and thought about the destruction months ago.

"News of Atlas spread like a wildfire and the other princesses and I chose to fortify each town with Royal Guard and a local militia." she informed. "The Changelings have been off the radar for years. Almost a decade now." Sabre stayed silent. His home, his family, his friends, all of them were dead. Twilight stepped further into the room and the yellow pegasus from he night he went comatose entered. "You gave my friend Fluttershy quite a scare when you barged in." Twilight chuckled.

"Forgive me, Fluttershy." Sabre nodded politely. "I just needed a place to crash."

"I-It's alright..." she accepted. "I did the liberty of washing your clothes and sewing them." Sabre just realized that she was crying a neatly folded stack of his clothes. On top of it was the Book of the Elements and his sword. Those were the only things that reminded him of home. He swung his legs around sat on the edge but when he put his feet on the ground, he knew something was of when he felt his injured leg give a solid metal thump. Scared, Sabre moved the leg so he can see in and found that it was completely metallic. Not just one part but the entire thing. He was going to touch it but found that his battle-bitten arm had changed as well. "We couldn't risk anything." Twilight informed. "Changeling have been known to infect a person by a bite."

Sabre clenched his fist and it went ablaze like before. "You kept some flesh though." he noted.

"Only non-infested flesh. These are experimental. You and thirteen others have these."

"That's okay." He relaxed his hand and the flame disappeared and he stood.

"I can help you with your PT if you want..." Fluttershy offered as she turned away so he could change.

"I would be grateful for that." he accepted as he made himself more presentable. "Anyway, where am I?"

"Your new home." Twilight told.

"Ponyville."