inFAMOUS Displaced
Chapter 1
Displaced and Already in Trouble

I never really agreed to go to that convention. All I did was make a bet with a friend to get $1,000 off of him, and it would have been comparatively cheap, considering that the convention was in San Diego, CA and I lived in Idaho Falls, ID. Just drive down I-15, spend money on gas and food, rent a hotel for the night, visit the convention, and drive home. All in all, it would have cost me about $200-300 to get there and back, not to mention, the money I get from the bet would have paid it off.

However, one dipwad of a purchase at the convention, and all that money I used went down the drain...not that said money would be any use to me.

I felt something that I thought wasn’t supposed to be at a convention...snow. I opened my eyes (when did I have them closed in the first place) and I was greeted by the sight of snow in all directions. I looked down at myself and found that I was dressed in the costume that I bought at the convention. I was wearing the clothes that Delsin Rowe from inFAMOUS: Second Son wears. That included the heavy-duty chain on the right arm and a bottle of spray paint in my jacket pocket.

“Okay, this is getting weird fast,” I comment out loud, “How did I get to Canada, and why am I wearing a costume that I just bought?” I look around more to try to find any clues as to what happened. Amidst my searching, I heard the sound of snow being stepped on. I turned to the sound and saw something that made me think I was hallucinating. I saw a small unicorn and group of griffins.

The unicorn was roughly three to four feet tall, was a grey color with a red mane and tail and had a mark on it’s flank that resembled flame. It was chained up as if it was a prisoner of some sort. The most noticeable chain was connected to a shackle that was on the unicorn’s horn.

The griffins numbered about ten or so and were about three to five feet tall. They all wore a chainmail like armor, except for one of them. It was wearing a more heavy, yet regal armor. That was their leader, their alpha.

Seeing these creatures gave me the impression that I was either dreaming or was transported to another world. I have heard of people that disappear after going to a convention, but at this point, a dream is more possible.

The Alpha Griffin spoke (surprising me in the process). “This will make a fine addition to the slave trade.” Wait, what? “You two,” he said to two of the griffin warriors, “Take him into custody.”

The two griffin warriors moved forward to arrest me, but I unraveled the chain that I had on my arm and started swinging the chain around, hoping to intimidate them. That, however, only gave them the opening. One of the griffins grabbed the chain and pulled. I was sent flying towards the unicorn. My arms were flailing all over the place to try to stop my fall. My hand unintentionally grabbed the unicorn’s horn. As soon at it made contact, I blacked out.

My life was set and perfect before the War. I had a husband, a few kids, and a livelihood. But when the Griffons came, they took it all. They left nothing behind. I was one of few survivors of the raid that ruined my life. From there, I followed them and found that they were doing the same to every village as they did mine. It was at that point, I decided to fight back. I was going to do what I could to end this war and all the suffering it has caused.

I awoke from the vision and got a look at where I was. I found that I was in a cage of some sort with a number of other small, multicolored equines. The one I had seen before I fell unconscious was lying in the same cage. All of the other ones were looking at me very warily, as if I would eat them.

The pony that I was captured with started to groan and wake up. Once it did, it rubbed its horn and said, “What did you do?”

I was caught off guard by what the unicorn said and the fact that she (judging by the voice) spoke. “I don’t know. It seemed familiar though, as if I’ve seen something like that happen before.”

I paused and considered what had happened and concluded that I wasn’t in a dream. A person doesn’t go unconscious and never experiences visions like Delsin Rowe does when absorbing a Conduit’s power. Hold on...Visions when absorbing a Conduit’s power...I wonder.

I focused on pulling the power that I absorbed from the unicorn and looked at my hands expectantly and I saw smoke coming from my hands and arms. I guess she has some of the Conduit gene.

“How are you doing that?” one of the ponies asked me, “This cage was built to prevent any usage of magic.”

“How so?” I asked.

“That blue crystal,” he said, pointing to a large blue crystal on the top of the cage. “It seems to have a way of disabling a pony’s magic.”

The crystal glowed a blue color and seemed to have a blue aura coming off of it. “It looks like a blast shard.”

The pony I was captured with asked, “What is a blast shard?”

“A crystal substance that can allow a Conduit to absorb its power and become stronger.”

“What’s a Conduit?”

“A Conduit is someone that can control/weaponize a form of matter or energy. As it turns out, I am one.”

“Is that how you did that smoke thing?” The male pony said.

“That and the fact that I just absorbed the power of smokey pony here…”

“My name is Smoke Shot!” she snapped.

“Sorry, Smoke Shot, and…”

“Stop talking!” A griffon guard shouted.

I looked out of the cage and saw that the few ponies and I were in a camp of some sort filled with at least fifty or so griffons. An army camp by the looks of it.

I whispered to Smoke Shot and the other ponies, “I think I recall seeing a vision when I absorbed Smoke’s power. In that vision, I heard mention of a war. This camp seems like a fraction of what the Griffons have in terms of manpower...or birdpower...for this war. Am I correct?”

“Yes,” Smoke Shot whispered back, “I’ve been spying on these turkeys for a while, trying to find any interesting things that may interest the Princesses. I think I may have gotten lucky and discovered some of their plans, but I was discovered in the process.”

“What were they planning?”

“I believe it was an invasion of The Crystal Empire. I’m not entirely sure. If we were to bust out of here and find this group’s orders, we may have what we need to warn the Crystal Empire and send reinforcements.”

“Are you crazy?!” one of the other ponies whisper-shouted, “If we are to bust out of here, we should head straight to a Royal Guard Garrison and have them deal with this. I’m not going to die to get information.”

“And once you get to a garrison and tell them of this group, they will be uninformed about their strength,” Smoke whisper-shouted back, “What if they get reinforcements while we are telling them?”

“One Royal Guard is worth ten of these turkeys in a fight!”

“Shut up!” The Griffon guard shouted.
Jeez! Arguing over what to do once we escape. Really immature, but both sides do have a point. If we stay and gather intel, we can have the guard ready for whatever these buzzards may have up their proverbial sleeves and I may find a few more blast shards. But that means that many of the prisoners here may die in the process. If we just run, we all may end up alive, but that means that the nearby garrison will be unprepared and may march into a massacre.

So what should we do? Gather Intel or Run For It?

Gather Intel

“I say we gather intel,” I state in a whisper, “If we can get the idea of what they’re planning, we can end this war sooner and the innocent will be spared.”

“What about us!” the cowardly pony whisper-shouted, “We’re not soldiers. We’ll be slaughtered and served to their King on a spit.”

“That’s the value of sacrifice. A few dying to allow many more to live,” I countered, “We also hold an advantage over these buzzards. They have armor, meaning that they will be a bit clumsy. We don’t need to defeat every buzzard here, we just need to keep them busy so that the professionals can nab the intel the Royal Guard need.”

“If I’m going to be getting the Intel, I need two volunteers who are good at sneaking around,” Smoke said, “Also, if we link up through a telepathic line, we can call for help more readily and easily.”

“The rest of us need to cause a ruckus, burn supplies, and comb the camp for Blast Shards,” I state, “The stronger I am, the more of a ruckus I can cause. It should get them to come after me instead of you.”

"That makes sense,” said the cowardly pony, “I guess there’s no way for me to be talked out of the idea.”

“That’s what I want to hear. Now, get ready.” I stood up and started absorbing the Blast Shard.

Run For It

“I don’t really think we should risk our necks to do something that the military can do. You know...trained professionals.”

“Now, that’s what I want to hear,” said the cowardly pony.

“Ugh, fine,” Smoke complained, “You go and run like the cowards that you are.”

“Hey,” I reassured, “It takes guts to try to break out of a place guarded by this many buzzards.”

“Besides, we just head straight for the edge of camp and after that, we’re home free,” announced the cowardly pony.

“Alright. Freedom, here we come!” I stood up and started absorbing the Blast Shard.

Author's Notes:

Points: 0 Rank: Neutral

Ooh! Ooh! Do you later absorb my 4th wall awareness?
That depends.
On what?
Your behavior.
Don't worry, I'll be good.