Chapter 2: Vex

"Two heads are better than one."

As I trudged my way through the storm, limping, I realized with horror that there was no way through the mountains. I slumped down in the snow, realizing that I'd have to go back to the Crystal Empire. I reached into my saddlebag with my magic and plucked out an apple. But when I did, it wasn't the only thing that came out. A small piece of yellowed paper came fluttering out. My head whipped around as I tried to grab it, but the wind was steadily picking up as the storm worsened, and the paper fluttered out of reach. I leapt up and chased after it, my leg in agony as I chased it. The only reason I was chasing after it is because I was the only pony who could have put it in my bag, and the only reason I put anything in my bag was when I was gathering supplies to escape. I managed to get close enough to the flittering paper scrap so I could grab it in my magic.

I grabbed the paper and brought it close enough so I could read it. In my horn-writing it said:

Legend says that the Crystal Pass, the only way through the Crystal Mountains on hoof, lies between the tallest mountains, Mount Cancer and Mount Coponycus. It can only be opened when light shines from within.

And with that, I began the long trek to Mount Coponycus, the closer of the two.

When I reached the valley in between Mount Coponycus and Mount Cancer, I was met with a stone barrier, about 3 times as tall as me, at an estimate. I felt the wall, searching for something like a door handle or a keyhole. As I searched, I reread the passage I had written down. 'It can only be opened when light shines from within.' So, using the strength I had left, I began my 'Beacon' spell.

But after I cast the spell, nothing happened. So, keeping the spell going, I searched the wall again. But again, my efforts were fruitless. I sat down by the barrier and thought. Then, I realized something. It wasn't talking about a magic spell. It was talking about a different kind of light. One shared by the Crystal Ponies to power the lost Crystal Heart. I knew what I needed to do...

With more than a little pain, I got up and faced the wall. Over the howling wind and snow, I yelled, "I wish to gain entrance to the Crystal Pass, so I may go inform the Princesses of what has befallen the Crystal Empire, so that they may come and help bring light back to the Empire!"

A deep rumbling filled the air. As I squinted through the snow, I watched as the middle of the wall slowly descended into the ground. "Thank you!" I called out as I hobbled through the opening. Once I walked through, the section slowly rose back out of the ground, back into its original spot, almost as if it had never opened to begin with.

It opened to a narrow, open passage through the middle of the mountains. Based on the lack of snow, I guessed it was magically enchanted to protect from harsh weather. Actually, it was pleasantly warm. As I walked through, I ate a second apple after realizing how hungry I was.

It seemed that either time passed quicker here or it was later in the day than I thought when I entered the Pass because it was nighttime before I knew it. As it steadily got darker, I decided to set up camp. But with nothing to start a fire, the only thing I had to stay the rapidly descending nighttime chills was a thin blanket, worn from years of use. So I wrapped myself in my blanket and hunkered in a small crevice in the wall. But as I was getting comfortable I noticed a faint orange light further down the pass. "What's that?" I thought aloud. I tightened my blanket around myself and followed the light. As I got closer, I realized it was...

"A campfire! Oh, thank goodness," I said. As I looked around, I saw that there was nopony nearby. So with that, I hunkered down by the campfire and waited to see if anypony came back.

I must have fallen asleep because I was awoken by someone poking me in the face. When I opened my eyes, I immediately started screaming.

It was a bug. A giant bug. A giant bug pony. As I continued shrieking, (mature, I know), he rolled what I could only guess were his eyes. They were big, and blue, with a dot that I could only guess was his pupil. He shoved what I assumed was a hoof into my mouth, as it was filled with holes. Literally. He had actual holes in his legs.

He looked at me, and said, "Pardon my hoof, but would you mind not screaming?" I stopped screaming, and when I did he removed his hoof out of my mouth. "Now, since that unpleasantness is over, let's try that again, shall we? I'm Vex. Pleased to meet you, miss...?"

"Beacon," I replied, stunned. He held out his hoof. I reached over and shook it.

"Hello, Miss Beacon. It's a pleasure to meet you," said Vex. I nodded slightly, still dazed by how polite this person was, despite his appearance.

"Umm... not to be rude, or anything, but, umm.... what are you exactly? No offense, or anything," I asked hesitantly.

He smiled. "Oh. None taken. I am a Changeling."

I frowned. I had read that somewhere. "Changelings... Changelings... where have I heard that before?"

"Well, we can change our appearance, and we normally feed on love, if that's any help," Vex offered.

"Oh yeah! I've read about you guys. But, I also read that you guys are master deceivers. And that you have a tendency to take love with hostility. Wait... did you say 'normally'?" I asked.

Vex nodded. "Yes, I did. While all you've read on us is correct, I'm what you might call a special case, if you will. I was always different from the others. While they were all big, violent brutes, I was the small but polite one. I was never big on the whole 'forcefully taking love' thing. But, about a month ago, Queen Chrysalis sent me out on a recon mission to see if Equestria had any love and was worth conquering. But when I got there, I was met with a barren wasteland filled with horrors and evil ponies. I eventually made my way to Maripony, which is a scientific facility. I don't know what it could have been used for or what created such a desolate place. But I could feel love radiating from there, love for someone, but I didn't know who. As I flew over Maripony, I was attacked by alicorns."

I gasped. The only alicorns where Celestia and Luna, but they wouldn't attack anypony.

"They fired spells at me from the roof and a couple tried to confuse me by teleporting all around me and shooting at me. One of them landed a hit, knocking me out of the sky. Below the facility was something I can only describe as a rainbow lake. I ended falling in at the shore, and as I pulled myself out, I accidentally swallowed some. Let me just say, for the record, it tasted terrible. But when I crawled out, I could still feel the love radiating from the facility. But when I tried to consume some to regain my strength so I would be able to fly away, I realized that my ability to consume love was fading, quickly. I quickly ate what I could before I, well, couldn't. With the little energy I had, I was able to escape Maripony undetected by posing as an alicorn. But before I did that, I learned something. While I was being attacked, dark green alicorns formed a shield around the facility, while the purple ones teleported around me. But I also saw blue ones, blinking in and of sight. My guess is that they can turn invisible. I have no way to prove my theory, but it's the best I've got to go one. About a week later, I infiltrated a town called Ponyville. One of the ponies tried to shoot me with a gun but luckily I had this thing to help."

He reached into a nearby saddlebag and pulled out a strange looking device. It was box shaped, with what looked like a handle on one end and long nozzle-y thing on the other end. It had a similar tube thing attached to the top. Furthermore, it had a weird, rectangular thing stuck in it on the side. It was blue with a golden-yellow lightning bolt on the side.

"What is that?" I asked.

Vex gave me a funny look. "You've never seen a gun before? Where have you been?"

"You finish your story first, then I'll tell mine," I said.

Vex nodded and continued, "Well, this is a Changeling Pistol. I shot him with it and he turned into a fine dust. I then used my changing powers to pose as him and raid them. I stole a couple of slabs of meat and some cakes and 'got the hell outta Dodge', to use the phrase. I eventually made my way here hoping to find peace and quiet, and hopefully some sort of civilization."

I winced. "What?" he asked.

"Yeah, you won't be finding civilization around here anytime soon."

"What do you mean?" asked Vex.

"That means it's my turn for story time."

When I finished my story, Vex sat in front of me, eyes wide and mouth agape. I nodded.

"Woah. The Crystal Empire's been gone for a thousand years?" he asked incredulously.

"Yep."

"Yeesh. Good job avoiding those hellhounds though," Vex said

"The what?" I asked.

"You called them Devil-Dogs, but they're actually called hellhounds," explained Vex.

"Oh. Well, I didn't do to good of a job avoiding them. One got my leg." I said.

Vex shot up. "Let me see," he demanded. I showed him my leg. "Alright," he said. "I'm going to take off the bandage. It's going to hurt, a lot, but I need to see how bad the injury is."

I nodded. He slowly began taking the bandage off. I gasped in pain. "OwowowowowowowowowowowowowOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!"

Vex groaned. "Oh, that's bad. It's very deep and it's infected. You're going to need a healing potion." His horn lit up green and a small bottle filled with a glowing liquid that was a pastel pink color. "Drink this," he said. "Your leg will feel better in no time."

I rolled my eyes despite the pain in my leg. "Yeah, right," I said, but I still drank the potion anyways. And true to Vex's word, my leg began feeling better immediately. When I looked at it, the only remnant of the injury was a long, white scar.

"Thanks, Mister Vex," I said.

"Oh, please. Just call me Vex," he said with a smile. "Now, I believe you'll be wanting some food and rest."

I nodded. "If it's no trouble. I mean, I have some apples and water..."

"Oh, but it isn't," Vex said earnestly. "In fact, I insist! I have some cake leftover if you want any. I also have some bacon."

I looked at Vex, quizzically. "What's bacon?"

Vex gasped. "Oh, you must try some. It's amazing."

He grabbed a smoothed rock and set a slice of cake and some strips of what looked like meat on it and floated it over.

I took a bite of the cake. It was good. Tasted a bit... old, but it was still good. After I finished the cake, I tentatively lifted a piece of bacon and took a hesitant bite. I immediately downed the rest of the bacon. It was soooooooo good!

Vex laughed. "Told you," he said. "Now get some rest. I'll keep watch, although I doubt we will encounter anything here."

I nodded. I pulled my blanket back over me, curled up by the fire and fell asleep.

Footnote: Level Up.
Perk Attained: Friendship Is Magic -- You have made your first friend! +25% Experience every time you befriend someone.

Author's Note

And Chapter 2 is done! For those who can't tell, Coponycus = Copernicus. Just so you know. This chapter took a little longer to write on account of my trying to slow the pacing some. I don't know if it worked, but I hope it did.