Chapter 1: Getting Help
The unicorn was running as fast as she could to avoid those creatures with deadly weapons, all she knew that she couldn't teleport anymore due to how much magic she'd used to save her from those two legged predators. In front of her she now could see that she was going towards a place akin to a small city or maybe a town, but now her worries grew even more because, as this was now clear she wasn't in Equestria, or maybe on Equis anymore. She let out some muffled cries and tears as she looked behind once more only to bump in something all of sudden.
The thing she bumped into gave an "oof!" noise, then she realized it was another one of the two-legged creatures! She couldn't yet see it's face, but she did hear its voice. "Hey, what are you doing here?" she heard him ask, a male from the sound of it. He didn't sound threatening at all; more like curious and confused.
"No, please don't kill me!" She cried as she tried to back away in so much of fear.
"Kill you?!" the man remarked with horror. "Why would I do that? What's the matter?"
"They are after me!" She cried in panic "They've deadly weapons!" She cried even harder "They're gonna kill me!"
The man looked up away from her, then suddenly before she could protest she was lifted into the air and over his shoulder like nothing. "Trust me and stay quiet!" he whispered gently. He then ducked into a heavily shadowed area nearby and held her close to him. He could feel her trembling badly, so he continued to whisper to her. "It's alright. I won't hurt you," he continued.
The unicorn was too scared to reply at the time, but seemingly she nodded with an almost silent hum. While they were hiding in shadows a group of hunters passed from there. One of them stayed where the unicorn was standing a few minuets ago. "I swear, I heard her cries..." he said "She'd to be here..."
She made a sudden gasp at this trying to make no noise.
The man holding her, sensing this, gently lifted his hand up to her mane and gave it a slow and gentle caress, as a means to calm her down. "Not a sound," he warned almost inaudibly, his mouth close to her ear so the other creature wouldn't hear him.
Then suddenly the most bulky and seemingly most brute of them came near to the other man, who was already standing there, pondering over where their prey went. The bulky man gave the other hunter a look of anger before he pulled out a strange looking metallic weapon, and pointed this towards the other hunter. "No, please don't, trust me... I'll-" Before he could protest further a loud boom was heard along with the sickening sound of ripping flesh and with a thud the hunter in front of bulky man was lying dead on the ground with his head horribly wounded.
After murdering one of his followers, Draco made a grunting sound after signaling the others to find their prey. He made sure to bring one of his followers feel pain, it made him feel good, at least for a moment. "Find her," he ordered the searching hunters. "I don't care how long you take. I want to kill that unicorn for bringing us that shockwave back at the dark forest." "We're searching," one of the hunters grumbled to the leader. "No grumpy attitude towards me," Draco snarled dangerously to the one who grumbled. "Got it?!" "Sir, yes sir," the same hunter understood the risks, continuing the search for the unicorn.
The creature holding the unicorn waited for a while longer, then sighed with relief and let her go. "I think they're gone," he said to her. Even though his face was still obscured by the low light, she could sense the gentle and caring nature he was giving off. "How are you holding up?" he asked her.
She somehow collect herself again and let out some sobs before she spoke. "Thanks, thank you so much." She said wrapping her hooves around him.
He didn't take long to return the embrace, then he spoke to her in a more serious tone. "Listen, I have to report this to local authorities," he explained. "After I'm done with them, I'll take you somewhere where you'll be safe. Sound okay?"
She stared at him for some moments before she nodded hesitantly. "Please don't leave me alone here..."
"I promise I won't leave you," he answered, then added something unexpected; he made some motions with his appendages while saying something that she would not have thought to be heard from him: "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
"How did-" She was a little too surprised to inquire.
"I'll explain later," the man said, then pulled something out of his pocket and began to fiddle with it as it made some beeping noises. He then held it to his ear as he examined the dead body of the hunter left behind. After a few moments, she heard something from the device in his... whatever it was. "911, emergency response." "Hi, there's been a murder," he answered. "Someone's been shot, and I think he's dead." "Okay, can you explain to me where you are?" "Of course," he said, and then started to give out their location, while also gesturing to the unicorn to stay in cover.
The places he spoke the name of were enough to change her worries to believe that this place wasn't on even Equis. The thought gave her a few shivers, that where she may be, right now.
He stayed on his device until a large white box-like vehicle arrived with flashing red and blue lights. Some more creatures, older than him and dressed in blue or black, stepped out of the car as several other vehicles approached. They spoke to the first creature, and he explained as much as he could to them. She noted that he left out the details about her involvement, which was a huge relief for her. After some time, they let him leave and he gave them a nod and started to walk away, giving her a subtle gesture to follow.
She didn't have much choice, so she gave him a nod before she trotted right behind him.
They kept walking until they were quite a ways away from the lights and such, then he turned back to her as they walked along. Now she could see his features more clearly. His hair was brown, he had blue eyes, and some bushy reddish-brown hair on his chin and over his upper lip. His eyes held a mischievous, yet kind note to them. "So, what's an Equestrian like you doing here on Earth?" he asked her, confirming that he was well-aware of her origins.
She gave him a wary look before she asked. "How did you know?" Now as being in light her features could be seen as well. She had very pale purple coat along with a light pink mane with few stripes of dark pink color, and a telescope as a cutie-mark.
He chuckled. "Let's just say I have my ways of knowing all I need to know."
He stopped for a moment and knelt down on the ground as he held out his appendage- hand, she remembered hearing that from one of the creatures in blue. "My name's William," he said. "What's yours?"
"My name is Starshine Sparkler." She replied
"Now then, it's not safe out on the streets. Care to join me at my place for the night? Tomorrow, I can get you hooked up to a more permanent residence... at least until we find a way to get you home."
"Okay..." She gave a eyeroll at this. "I can work with that..."
"Cool," he said, then led her through the streets as quickly and quietly as he could, keeping out of sight if possible. Eventually, they stopped at the door of one of the houses. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door, then opened it up and walked inside. "I know, it's not exactly my idea of 'home, sweet home' either," he commented when she saw the small interior. "But it keeps the rain off... assuming I pay the bills."
"Hmm... well... I guess... It's fine." She said before noticing some grumbles from her belly. She gave a sheepish smile at this. "Well first, I would like to know what's for dinner?"
"Alright then!" William replied cheerfully. "I've got something I could whip up for you, as well as myself. Maybe we can talk over a good meal."
He left the room and walked into what seemed to be a kitchen, messing around with some of the stuff in there.
She stayed in the room and looked around to take a good look at the room's inside, fortunately there wasn't much to look at, much to her frustration.
It was rather undercoated, probably a temporary residence, or perhaps he had only recently moved in. The only real indicators that it was his place was a large rectangular flat device on a sofa with a black bag near it, possibly to hold it in there. Otherwise, it was not meddled with much. "I have to go shopping soon," William muttered as he came back into the room with two plates. One had a kind of salad and a cucumber sandwich, the other was some kind of cooked meat patty with cheese on top. He gave her a sheepish smile as he set the salad plate down on a table in front of her. "My species, humans, are omnivores," he said. "Meaning we are capable of eating plants and fruits, as well as meat. I... hope it's not too disturbing."
"Well... not so much... if you could keep that away..." She said almost making a seemingly disgusted expression.
"I understand," he agreed, taking it farther from her and setting it aside. "If it bothers you, I'll eat it when you're not watching."
"Thanks." She said as she placed her hooves on the table and lowered her face towards her plate and grabbed the sandwich half in her mouth before munching this for a while and then swallowing.
"Why aren't you using your magic?" William asked her.
She looked towards him and made a frown. "I almost drained myself while teleporting away from those predators... I can't use anymore magic without hurting my brain cells..."
She then made a worried expression. "And in a world like this one... I don't know how long it'll take to recover..."
"Ooo!" William made a thoughtful expression. "Nasty business. Your magic should return naturally like normal, unless there's something blocking it currently." He then made a frown, speaking mostly to himself. "I could bring you up there... but it's too far a trip for me to take you with me."
She didn't reply but only a shrug, to his statement and then focused again on eating her remaining sandwich. "In other words, you can't..."
"Mhm." William nodded. "This is gonna be tricky..." He looked over to her. "I can contact your world, but it'll take time and it means I'll have to be leaving town for a while. So, I'll have to put you in someone else's custody; someone who I trust can keep our little secret."
"Yeah, sure..." She replied knowing that she now have to stay here for a while, and she really didn't like this at all.
Credits: Draco and hunters by Daniel Clausen, William by Terror of Dimensions.
AN: So, here we go...