The Everfree is beautiful at night. The luminescence of a gibbous moon barely breaks through the canopy in the few areas where this natural ceiling happens to thin. Where the light does manage to fall to earth, the flora and nocturnal fauna of the place are cast in silver and shadow. The only other source of light is the occasional, brief, yellow glow produced by the hovering lightning bugs as they seek their partners.
These gentle sources of luminance are more than sufficient for the nocturnal denizens of this place. The rodents scurrying through the leaf litter that has fallen from the canopy above. The owls that move so silently and gracefully through the cool night air. The cockatrice that seeks to petrify any who would trespass and threaten its chicks. The manticore that prowls on silent paws as it seeks its prey. The bats that have finally emerged from their cavernous homes to feed on the insects that rise as the sun sets. To these and many more, the light is perfect in this gentle, ephemeral form.
Within the bounds of the forest stands an abandoned, derelict ruin of a castle that seems to bathe in the moonlight. Long ago, the castle had been home to a pair of brave alicorns that dared to face Discord. Until recently, it had been the resting place of the seemingly inert Elements of Harmony. These had been retrieved by six brave heroines, and they used them to stop one of these alicorns from bringing an eternal night to the land. In fact, they had battled the corrupted alicorn of night within these very ruins.
Known to none but the alicorn sisters, there is a hidden chamber beneath the castle. This chamber is the only part of the castle that has escaped the decay that time brought on the rest of the once-proud structure. Within this chamber, on an altar hewn from stone, rests a slumbering figure. The barely perceptible rise and fall of its chest is the only sign that this is a resting place and not a tomb. A very fine layer of dust coats the figure, but this is to be expected when an undisturbed object does not even so much as twitch for over a millenia.
Ever so slowly, the being's breathing increases in frequency and depth. Then, something happens that has not occurred since the being was laid within its hidden resting place. Its body shifts in a manner outside the simple drawing of breath. A barely noticeable twitch of a finger, but a movement nonetheless. After regenerating, recuperating, and resting for well over a thousand years, the creature's mind finally stirs.
~~~
Adrian groaned as consciousness returned to him. The first thought to cross his groggy mind was how stiff his muscles felt in spite of how well-rested his mind felt. Even shifting his head was an annoying chore. As his mind became more lucid, his senses hit him with several revelations in quick succession. It felt like he fell asleep on solid rock. His eyes slowly opened, but revealed nothing other than darkness. His mouth felt slightly dry. The air around him was chilly. Though, the most disturbing thing had to be the silence. Combined with the chilly air, it seemed nigh upon oppressive.
He must be in Kole's basement. Though, why his friends placed him on the stone floor rather than the couch is beyond him. Silly bastards were probably too drunk to think that clearly. Hell, they'd all gotten pretty drunk as Kole's twenty-eighth birthday celebration had carried on. Adrian's brow furrowed as a confusing realisation hit. He'd been drunk. He should be suffering a hangover, but he felt fine other than a slight case of cotton mouth.
Adrian rolled over to get to his feet. The dust lifted from his form as it shifted more than it had in a very long time. He yelped as he rolled over the unseen edge of the altar, and gravity did as it is wont to do. He grunted as his body thumped against a solid, stone floor. Fortunately, the fall had only been about half of a meter, so he didn't suffer anything other than annoyance and confusion. He knew very damn well that there were no stone blocks in Kole's basement.
"The hell's going on here?" His brow furrowed as his voice echoed back to him slightly. Alright, now he was pretty bloody worried. Kole's basement did not have an echo.
Adrian quickly got to his feet and settled in a crouch. Other than the sounds of his movements and breathing, the space he was in remained completely silent. Adrian patiently waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark. They didn't. There must not have been enough light for him to see at all. He cautiously rose to a full stand. Nothing lashed out and the silence remained unbroken. He slowly shifted one foot forward while never lifting it from the ground.
Gentle, blue light filled the room as a circle of runes light up. Adrian jerked backwards, the back of his left leg bumping the altar as he did so. His eyes quickly adjusted and he opened them to examine his surroundings. The light was emanating from a circle of runes surrounding the altar he had recently fallen from. Other than the circle and the altar, the room was an austere cube of stone.
He stared at the runes. They were definitely unnatural. Adrian puzzled over them briefly. He crouched down to examine one closely. The light didn't seem to be coming from any source other than the rune itself. He was able to feel the smooth, cool stone floor beneath the rune as he slid his hand over it. His hand hid the rune as he covered it, so it wasn't some projected nonsense.
Where the hell is this light coming from? he thought to himself. No projection. No bulb. No LED. It had lit up as he moved. Correlation does not always mean causation, but he was fairly certain that was the case in this instance. They were clearly motion activated. Perhaps they were meant to light the room up for anyone who came to look at the altar... No, they would be coming to look at him.
Adrian sighed. He figured that most people would start panicking or trying to rationalise it as a dream at this point. He did neither. Panic was beneath him, and this was clearly no dream. He was far too lucid for it to be one. He cast his mind back over his recent memories to occupy his mind with something other than the nagging urge to panic. He'd attended Kole's birthday celebration and got plastered. The alcohol may not be in his system now, but it had certainly affected his memory of that night. One thing he did foggily remember was a flash followed by pain. That certainly did little to cast light on the situation.
Adrian focused on the positives of his current predicament. He was alive. His clothes had not been removed, and they were undamaged. He was now able to see. He didn't appear to have any physical injury. All things considered, he was doing well... Other than not knowing where he was. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. He'd had enough of thinking. It was time to act.
He scoured the walls for any sign of an ingress that could be used to exit the chamber. He found no sign of any seams that would betray any type of door. He snorted. This was going to be a bit harder than he'd hoped. He started rapping his knuckles against the wall as he pressed his ear up to it. He repeated this action on a few wall sections before hearing what he was hoping for: the dull thump of sound waves passing through solid stone before transitioning into open space. As he examined the wall he found a miniscule seam that he had missed in his original search. The seam betrayed a rectangular doorway with a semicircle at the top that would be tall and wide enough for him to pass through comfortably.
He took a step back from the wall before driving his shoulder into it. He didn't notice the slim tendrils of glowing energy that briefly flowed from the stone into his shoulder. Adrian barely managed to retain his balance as the door unexpectedly fell into some slot that had apparently been beneath it the whole time. He briefly pondered how it had remained suspended, but the question faded from his mind as he took in the hallway before him. It went on for maybe five meters before it ended in an ascending, winding staircase. More of the glowing runes were placed intermittently every meter or so. Strangely enough, they were at waist level rather than eye level.
With all due trepidation, he made his way towards the stairway. As calm as he may have seemed, he had still awoken in a strange place without any knowledge as to how he had gotten there. He was giving the circumstances all the caution and consideration they were due. It would seem his caution had been unnecessary, for he made it to the staircase without anything untoward happening. He allowed himself to relax the slightest bit. If there had been any traps or alarms, they likely would have been in that hall. Emphasis on likely. He certainly wasn't about to let his guard down completely.
He slowly made his way up the spiraling stairs. Thankfully, the glowing runes were also present on the stone walls of the stairwell. He didn't walk long before he came to a horizontal, stone slab impeding his progress. He braced his shoulders against the stone and shifted his stance to prepare to heave upwards. With his face down-turned, he again missed the very faint glowing tendrils that flowed from the slab to his back. With a grunt, he heaved upward. The stone groaned as it shifted upwards. His leg muscles protested as he struggled against the oppressive weight of the stone slab. He felt it start to come back down in spite of his efforts. He would not be bested by a rock. With one final snarl, he thrust upwards and flipped the stone slab out of its resting place.
Adrian immediately regretted his decision. The loud slam of stone on stone filled the air. He cursed internally. That had been the first truly, utterly stupid thing he'd done. He had allowed the exciting proposition of impending freedom to skew his judgment. He remained silently crouched as he listened. The only sound to reach his ears was the faint, muffled sound of cricket chirps. The air was still chilly, and the cold began to creep through his thin dress clothes. He hadn't noticed that the air in the chamber and stairwell had been stale, but he certainly did now. The fresh air that flowed from above was a stark contrast to the musty air that he had habituated to. After remaining crouched for around a minute, he decided it was relatively safe to move.
With the coast clear, he took the final few steps up the stairs. He found himself within the ruins of what must have once been a throne room. The top of the stairs had fed onto a dais upon which he now stood. Two thrones sat side by side behind him. Sections of the ceiling had collapsed, and he could see moonlight streaming through the missing sections. The moonlight served to illuminate the tattered tapestries and pennants that hung between the columns embedded within the walls. Partially rotted, wooden double-doors stood in the wall on the far side of the throne room.
He calmly strode towards them. There was no sense in running. He would conserve the energy until he actually needed it. Better to have the energy later than be found wanting due to stupidity. One of the doors already stood open. He grinned. That made things far easier considering the fact that the hinges were heavily rusted. The doors may have been rotted, but they were still thick. Bursting through them would have been a pain.
The doorway fed into a hall that stretched from left to right. The right side led to a dead-end with a window facing out, while the left ended in a staircase going down. He hugged the left wall as he made his way towards the stairs. Though the castle may seem abandoned, he was not going to risk surprising any squatting residents.
This stairwell was designed as a back-and-forth rectangle rather than the circular design that he had gone up before. His mind wandered as he started creeping downwards. As far as he knew, there were no ancient, ruined castles in the United States. This place bore none of the signs of a ruin converted into an attraction. There were no cordoned off areas and there was a slight coating of dust on each step he traversed. He didn't want to think he had been taken from the United States. Perhaps he had been kidnapped and brought to Europe. This seemed unlikely. Who would kidnap an American and drag them to Europe simply to leave them lying in a chamber beneath a ruined castle?
He briefly paused as he considered the possibility of amnesia. He continued onwards. He didn't feel like any of his memories were missing. Every paper he'd read on the subject claimed that people suffering from amnesia almost always had a nagging sense that their memories were missing. He had to consider amnesia unlikely. There was no point in asking these questions now. It was still slightly, slightly possible that Kole, Grant, Havel, Amber, and Emmy were simply fucking with him. Though, this entire situation did seem a little ridiculous for a prank.
The staircase ended on one of the upper ends of a t-shaped set of stairs that he presumed would be found in a welcome hall. Two windows near the main doorway allowed some moonlight into the hall. He still didn't see anyone or detect any sound that would betray movement. He made his way to the center of the t-shaped stairs and paused once he reached the bottom. The small welcome hall had three doorways excluding the entryway. He made certain to keep an eye on each of them as he silently strode towards the main door. Thankfully, it was partially open as well.
His eyes widened once he stepped through the slightly tight opening. The castle had either been built within a forest, or a forest had grown up around the castle as it decayed. He supposed it mattered little which. There was a bit of clear space in front of the castle before it gave way to a canyon of depth indeterminable from his current position. Beyond the canyon, the clearing once again gave way to to thick forest. As he looked back, he noticed that the castle seemed rather small from the outside. He chalked it up to a simple matter of perspective. He couldn't be bothered to ponder spatial conservation at the moment.
He spotted a bridge leading over the canyon. This bridge fed into a sort of overgrown, makeshift path that led into the forest. Overgrown and makeshift it may have been, but it was still a path. Paths leading away from castles often mean people. People often mean information and resources. He considered a darker thought as he made his way towards the rope bridge. Mayhap the people he found at the end of this path were responsible for his current situation. What would happen should they be displeased that he was awake and wandering about? Well, they had yet to kill him when they certainly could have. He decided it was worth the risk.
He felt uncomfortable as he looked down into the deep canyon below. Some type of mist was actually obscuring his view of the bottom. It seemed he was destined to remain ignorant about the depth of this canyon. He warily placed a foot on the first step of the bridge. He slowly shifted his weight onto the foot until more than half of his weight was concentrated on it. The bridge barely even so much as creaked. Apparently, it was far stronger than its appearance suggested. He made his way across the bridge and was impressed when it didn't even sag when he reached its middle. Whoever had built this had done so with a mind to make it last. He grinned. Now he knew he was no longer in the States. His people didn't build anything of quality like this anymore. He sniggered at the internal joke as he set foot on solid land once more.
The self-same forest he had seen from the castle now loomed before him, but the path led straight into it. He intended to follow it. He couldn't help but notice that the night became gloomier as he stepped beneath the boughs of the trees. The foliage was serving to block most of the moonlight he had been relying on before. However, the path was still visible, so he still had a course to follow. His footfalls were muffled by the dirt of the path, but they did not go unnoticed.
He listened to the sounds of night as he walked. The chirping of crickets. The distant croaks of frogs. The occasional rustle as he happened to startle some small prey species. Though he made certain to watch his surroundings, he did occasionally let his eyes linger on the brief glow of an airborne lightning bug. He was somewhat surprised that they were active in spite of the chilly weather. He'd only ever seen them on warm summer nights while he had lived in his childhood home. When a slight stab of yearning pierced his heart, he realised that he had missed their soft glow.
The path eventually came to a point where it was bisected by a river. This was a true impasse. The river would not be moved, so he had to find a way around, swim across, or turn back. Adrian cast his gaze up and down the river, but no obvious bridge or fording presented itself. The river seemed calm enough, but there was no way in hell he was going to soak his clothes by attempting to swim across. He considered the matter for a few moments before sighing despondently. Attempting to find a bridge or fording might prove fruitless. With a final, exasperated sigh, he turned to face the forest he had just come from. He supposed he would simply have to take the least disagreeable prospect: turning around and searching for another path.
Adrian froze. The sound of something large rising from the water reached his ears. He could hear the sound of water falling from whatever had just risen from behind him. Adrian's mind started racing. Move? Flee? Fight? As his mind raced over possible options and their consequences, the strangest thing happened.
"What's got you troubled, little guy?"
The flamboyant voice had come from above and behind him. He twisted his head around very slowly. What he saw from the corner of his eye almost broke him.
He, based on the voice, was a serpent who had a portion of his upper body poking from the river's surface. He had purple scales with lighter scales on his stomach and neatly-styled, bronze-coloured hair. He had a mismatched mustache; one segment was the same bronze as his hair while the other was purple and curled for part of its length. Most of his mind had ceased functioning, but enough remained for a question to form from the most base part of his sanity: why would a reptile have hair? And very nice hair at that. The serpent was currently looking down at Adrian with a curious look on his strangely expressive features. Adrian's deadened mind registered that the serpent's facial expressions were anthropomorphic.
Adrian twisted his head back around and rubbed his palms against his temples. Unfortunately, he had already concluded that he was not dreaming. He had no history of mental illnesses, so he doubted he had simply gone crazy. That meant that the creature behind him had to be real. Adrian inhaled deeply before dropping his hands to his sides. Well, the impossible creature had asked him a question and there was no point in being rude.
Adrian turned to face the serpent and said, "This blasted river blocks the path, so now I have to turn around and waste precious time and energy going back the way I came."
The serpent looked surprised as Adrian spoke. "Oh, my. You can speak! Well, how delightful. I am Steven Magnet. You are?"
Adrian raised an eyebrow as the creature revealed his name. He had not expected the serpent to have a name, let alone one so mundane. "Adrian Lord. Pleasure."
Steven smiled and lowered his head closer to Adrian's level. "You mentioned wanting to cross the river. I could facilitate that for you," he said with a smile.
Adrian lifted his eyebrows before he said, "You have my attention, Mr. Magnet."
"Well, I lift sections of my body above the surface," at this point he lifted several lumps of his body above the water's surface to demonstrate, "and you simply hop across. Easy, no?"
Adrian's eyes narrowed in confusion and a smidgeon of suspicion. "You would do this for a stranger. Why?" He kept any hint of suspicion from his voice. He didn't want to offend this creature if his intent proved honest.
"Not so long ago, a very kind and generous stranger came through and fixed my damaged mustache at great cost to herself. Her generosity inspired me to help others where I can," he paused for a moment, "Plus, I seldom see anyone pass through the Everfree, and I like to help those I can. It encourages conversation," he said as he cast his eyes upwards and waved his hand noncommittally.
"Everfree?" Adrian's voice was heavy with confusion.
Steven focused his gaze on Adrian once more. "Why, the Everfree Forest, of course. Surely you know that you're within the bounds of the Everfree."
Well at least he knew the name of where he was now. Little help that did him though. He'd never even heard of an "Everfree Forest" before. That wasn't to say it didn't exist. Adrian wasn't exactly a student of geography.
"Honestly, I had no clue where I was, but, thanks to you, I do now." Adrian allowed a pleased smile to form on his features and said, "By the by, I would be happy to take you up on that friendly offer."
Steven gestured with both arms towards the exposed lumps of his body, "After you."
Steven's scales were somewhat slick, but this proved no trouble for the traction provided by Adrian's dress shoes. He managed to hop all the way across without missing a step.
"You have my thanks, Steven," Adrian said as he turned around to face the serpent.
Steven grinned, looking rather pleased, "It was no trouble at all. If I may be so bold, where are you off to that you would risk traversing the Everfree at night?"
The word "risk" caught Adrian's attention in full, but he decided to ignore it for now. He'd ask later. For now, he at least owed the serpent some honesty. "I only just woke up in a hidden chamber within a ruined castle in the direction I came from. I honestly have no idea where I am nor where I'm going. I was just going to follow the path until I reach civilisation," Adrian gave a noncommittal shrug, "Not really sure what I'm gonna do after that though."
Steven seemed to be considering him in a new light. "You say you came from the ruins of the castle of the alicorn sisters? How interesting."
"Alicorn?"
At this interrogative, Steven acquired a concerned look. "You don't even know of the royal alicorn sisters that rule Equestria?"
"Equestria?"
He scratched his chin with a claw as he said, "You really aren't from around here. Alright. Let me catch you up to speed. Hold any questions until the end of the monologue, please." Steven cleared his throat. "You are in the Everfree Forest which lies within the borders of the land of Equestria. Equestria is ruled by the two alicorn sisters; one of who controls the sun and the other controls the moon. What you claim to have come from is the ruins of the castle they once used long ago." When Adrian remained silent Steven said, "I'm done."
Adrian started with the most confusing bit. "What is an alicorn?"
Steven looked slightly embarrassed, "Ah, yes, you had asked that earlier. Well, alicorn are ponies that bear the horn and magic of the unicorns, the wings and atmospheric magic of the pegasi, and the vitality and biomagic of the earth ponies. A jack-of-all-trades, if you will."
That explanation revealed more to Adrian than the serpent realised. Adrian fought the urge to grind the heels of his palms against his temples once more. If the serpent was to be believed, and Adrian could see no reason why it would want to deceive him, then he was currently in a land ruled by sentient ponies. That little sanity breaking piece of information didn't even take into account the existence of unicorns, pegasi, and magic. Magic!
"By "ponies" you mean quadrupedal, equine creatures, correct?" Adrian hoped that perhaps the creature was using some unknown, local vernacular.
Steven looked slightly confused as he said, "I don't know of anything else one would describe as a pony."
Adrian suppressed a sigh. There went that hope. So, he was in a land of ponies, ruled by magical ponies who happened to control the celestial bodies themselves. Adrian briefly worked his mind around the idea. All things considered, he was chatting with a river serpent named Steven. Magical, sentient ponies seemed less sanity breaking in that light.
"Thanks, Steven. You've been a marvelous help."
Adrian's eye almost twitched as the reptile blushed. "Oh, you're too kind. I was more than happy to help. However, I suppose it is time we part ways. All good things must come to an end. If you're ever in the Everfree, feel free to visit me for a pleasure chat. I seldom get visitors I can have a proper discourse with. Tah-tah."
"Farewell," Adrian said as he watched the serpent duck beneath the surface of the water and slither upstream.
Adrian managed to make it a dozen steps before he slumped against a tree. The enormity of what he had just seen, and talked about, had finally caught up with him. His breathing began to accelerate as his heart raced. He closed his eyes and clutched as his throbbing heart. Giant river serpents with hair and anthropomorphic features. Sentient ponies. Unicorns. Pegasi. Magic. Those glowing runes must have been fueled by magic. A part of his mind that wasn't freaking out had come to that conclusion. Adrian focused on it and he almost immediately calmed.
"Acquire. Assimilate. Adapt." He centered his mind by repeating that short mantra a few times. He had acquired information and now, like it or not, he had to assimilate it into his world view and adapt to it. All of these things were real now. He would simply have to deal with it. No sense in allowing himself to be reduced into a gibbering heap by the reality he found himself in.
A rustle in the foliage to his left caught his attention. Whatever had disturbed the vegetation was far larger than a simple prey species. Adrian's mind snapped back to Steven's mention of "risk" and he silently cursed himself for forgetting to ask about it.
Adrian slowly drew away from the tree. He forced himself to remain calm even as he spotted the glowing tapetum lucidum of two large eyes staring at him from the foliage. That was when he noticed something he would have noticed had he not been on the verge of panicking earlier: the forest was silent and still. No insects. No nocturnal birds. Nothing but the very low growl that began emanating from the hidden creature.
Adrian slowly turned to face the bush. It was around eight meters from him. That would be plenty of space to respond with should the creature start to char―.
The thought died in Adrian's mind as the nightmarish creature revealed itself with a roar and a thunderous charge. Adrian almost couldn't believe it. He was being rushed by a manticore. A monster of legend. A being that would devour him if it managed to kill him. Adrian didn't hesitate for a moment.
He charged.
The manticore roared in surprise as Adrian slammed into it and wrapped his right arm around its neck. His left hand gripped his right wrist tightly and he started to squeeze with the wrath of a demon. The manticore started to flail and thrash in an attempt to dislodge him. The manticore tried to swipe at him, but he was in an awkward spot for the creature's reach. Try as it might, the manticore could not manage to strike him with its claws. With a frustrated roar, it whipped its stinger towards its clinging assailant. Adrian tightened his grip further and savagely rolled to his right. The manticore felt a brief surge of surprise before a dull, wet crack filled the cool night air.
Adrian released his grip as his roll landed him on his feet. The manticore fell to the ground; its severed spinal column unable to deliver any neural signals from the brain. Adrian tilted his head to the right a tad as he briefly observed the fallen predator. He was confused. Considering the mass of muscle around its neck, his weight shouldn't have provided enough torque to snap its spinal column. Seeing as no obvious solution presented itself, he put the issue aside as yet another idiosyncrasy of this world. He'd only taken a few steps off the path to meet the manticore's charge, so it'd be easy to return to it and contin―.
A rustle sounded from the bush the manticore had just come from. Adrian immediately whipped his gaze towards it. Adrian's eyes widened as a creature smaller than the manticore revealed itself. He felt a brief flare of surprise followed by burning curiosity and confusion. Steven had told him that sentient ponies exist, but he hadn't mentioned zebra ponies.