Chapter I
NATIVE ENCOUNTER
"Where am I?" He awakens from an unknown amount of slumber, bearing these words on his lips. "Interesting, seems the scenery has changed once again." He stands, shakily before falling, greeting the absurdly bright colored ground with his hands. "How Nauseating." He says to himself, standing once again. He glanced around at the foliage, which was as brightly colored as the ground he stood. Taking his first steps in this new world, he felt the grass move in strange ways. Unaccustomed to the colors around him, he takes a moment to allow his eyes to adjust. He shivers as a cool breeze flows through the forest, rustling previously silent trees.
“How… peculiar. Not a single cloud in sight. I was expecting a dark, stormy day, like usual, though it’s not a bad thing, necessarily.” He sighs heavily as he begins to walk again. Letting my guard down should be fine, for now, though I shouldn’t practice anything here. He starts navigating the forest to the best of his ability. I should probably keep my mouth shut for a while, just in case someone is listening, don’t want to drop my guard too much. A few bushes rustled, just out of sight, causing him to halt his advance. Slowly, he backs into the shadows of the trees surrounding him. Do I confront them, or remain in the shadows? Should I run, or stay? Do I even know their language, or would attempting communication be futile? There’s too many variables, so I’ll stay here. The bushes rustled again, revealing 3 Equine beings though he couldn’t make them out clearly.
He rushed into a nearby bush, any would do, he just had to remain hidden. Surprisingly, none of the branches were tough, like he was used to, but instead soft, and strong, giving way and ‘remolding’ themselves around him.
“What are you talking about? Why would a bush with a poisoned river next to it and a sign that says; ‘Danger, all plants beyond this point are poisonous. Do not harvest.’ bear berries that taste the best?” Said the first, carrying a basket.
“I dunno, just thought they might.” The second smiled gleefully as she approached another bush. “Would these be better?”
“Listen, I know you’re enthusiastic, but you might want to start reading the signs that are put up around this area. It tends to be… rather dangerous.” The third was almost lecturing the second, as they were picking berries from the bushes around them. “And besides, those berries are white, meaning they’re not quite ready to be picked, only blue red and green are ready for you and me.”
“I think that rhyme needs time.” The first giggled as she said that “And besides here’s some now.”
They were approaching his hiding spot, he braced, getting ready to sprint away if needed. The bush he was in rustled, alerting them to his presence.
“Who’s there?!” The third shouted, he left, sprinting at record speed through the forest.
“Should we go after ‘em?” The first asked, looking at the third.
“Definitely, you never know what the creatures here might be capable of. Can you chase them pinkie?”
“Okey-dokey!” She ran, leaving a substantial dust trail behind her.
“Apple Jack, see if you can cut them off at the pass, I’ll see if I can get a visual from the air.”
“I’m on it Twi.” She said, leaving the area.
Who were they, and why were they speaking English? It just doesn’t make sense. Whatever, there’s not enough time to think about that now. He looked behind him, only to see a bright pink blob approaching him at near sonic speed. He extended his right wing, flapping it caused him to barrel through the air, almost strafing, allowing him to dodge it. He looked up, noticing a purple… pegasus? Flying above the area he was racing through. He looked around, noticing a mountain range just above the trees. He turned sharply to his right, heading toward a pass that cut through them. I hope it’s the country border, because if it’s not, I just made the worst decision possible. The pursuers followed, not quite close enough to catch him, but close enough to keep him from changing coarse. Are they… herding me?
He came up to the pass, then noticed the other one had gone ahead to cut him off there. Damn! I don’t have anywhere to go. He darted to his left, running up the mountain as it started to rain.
“What in tarnation do you think you’re doing?!” Said applejack, chasing after him. “That’s a volcano ya moron!” She was yelling now, trying to get his attention.
Perfect, a volcano will do nicely. He continued up the steep slope, taking breaks every few minutes to rest as the pursuers were left behind. The pegasus had landed long ago from exhaustion. He climbed to the summit, waiting a moment, before he collapsed, panting heavily. I’m too tired to keep going. Damn it all, I don’t have time to rest. They were now catching him, getting closer than he cared to let them. I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to fight so soon after getting here, but it seems I have little choice in the matter.
He released the clamps holding his sword in place on his back, allowing him to take it without cutting the sheath. I must prepare for the worst. No telling what their capable of. Following this thought, he gathered energy through the crown of his head, distributing it to his horns. A sphere of energy collected between them, almost… absorbing the very light around it, yet glowing a deep blue. He was prepared for anything that may come from the creatures that were so bent on pursuing, and if not, capturing him.
“Why can you climb so fast? You’re making it awfully difficult to follow ya.” Said AppleJack, reaching the top.
Now he knew that the equid beings were just as brightly colored as the flora of this world, and it was disgusting. One was a purple alicorn, the others seemed to be normal… ponies though one was light orange and the other bright pink.
“I don’t know, it’s just rather easy to me.” Replied Pinkie Pie, smiling again.
“I don’t think she was talking to you, Pinkie.” Scolded Twilight, the last of the three to arrive.
They finally got a good look at the target, a bipedal creature, with four arms, one pair behind the other, and two massive membrane wings just above them. He was about nine feet tall, his head looked to have a crown of curved stalagmites and two thin, wide horns protruding just above the eyes. What should be the sclera of his eyes were black in color, with glowing red irises around the pupils, which weren’t unlike a cat’s. He didn’t appear to have a nose, and the lower jaw was visibly smaller than the upper skull. Sharp fangs made up the area that should be lips, were he human, and when he breathed he exposed his rows of teeth, made up of fangs toward the front and molars in the back.
He had sort of shoulder pads, extruding a few inches past each arm coming to an unrefined point, tipped in red. Small ‘thorns’ covered his shoulders, back, and sides; which were tipped in green; and running down his spine were larger ‘thorns’ tipped in red. Though quite a few were missing or broken. His skin interlocked with itself, almost like armor, though they weren’t convinced it wasn’t. It was dark blue in color, with a significant amount of scrapes and scratches. The ‘armor’ covering his arms and legs had many green thorns running down the outside of his joints, and had large red thorns where two sections joined. His ‘gauntlets’ were formed on the same principle, and the fingers seemed to be red thorns themselves, and the knuckles bore slightly larger thorns than the backs of his hands. He was, without a doubt a terrifying sight to behold.
His weapon was intimidating in its own right, a four handed greatsword, it’s blade about 6 feet in length, with six limbs coming from the central blade, all pointing in the same direction. Smaller limbs extruded from those, one each, pointing in the opposite direction. The major blade was rather wide, at least six inches, and an inch thick. The whole thing, assuming it was made of steel or other traditional materials couldn’t weigh less than five hundred pounds. It was a dull silver color, and had plenty of chips and scratches. Overall, both he and his weapon of choice were clearly vastly more experienced in true combat then they were. It was obvious who would win if a battle did take place.
He was backing away from the equine beings, attempting to avoid confrontation to the best of his ability, then he reached the edge of the cliff, and panic began to set in. With his mind racing, he made a rash decision, firing the energy gathered between his horns in a sweeping motion, making a line in the ground, which then burst aflame. The flames towered over them, blue in color. He made the most of this chance, jumping backward into the volcano. The crater was far deeper than he expected, taking several seconds to reach the surface of the lava.
“Wait! You never told us your name!” Yelled Pinkie, hoping for a response.
“Did you see where they went?” Asked Twilight, glancing around the area.
“Down there.” Pinkie pointed into the volcano, pouting.
“Why would I tell someone who just chased me through a forest, and up a mountain?! Let alone a group?!”
“He’s got a point, Pinkie. I wouldn’t trust anyone who chased me for seemingly no reason.” Twilight said, trying to ignore the fact that he was now swimming in the pool of lava.
"B-B-B-B-B-B-But, I only wanted to meet him.” Pinkie said, starting to tear up.
“Maybe we can come back another time, sugar cube.” Applejack responded.
“Okey-dokey!” Now she was just as happy as before, bouncing up and down like she was on a trampoline.
He dove down into the lava, searching for a vent or otherwise easily accessible tunnel or cavern.
A few days pass, with no interruptions within the volcano, so he decided it was the time to leave. I hope I don’t encounter the natives again, I’m starting to get hungry, though I suppose those berries from before should tide me over until I can find a more permanent solution. He emerged from the lava as quietly as he could, it was either early or late in the night, judging by the position of the moon. If it were the later, he’d have to hurry. As his advantage of vision would be lost quickly. He began to scale the Cliff face of the crater, hoping the sentient horses were nowhere to be found. As he reached the top, to his surprise, no one was there. He began to question the existence of the creatures, or if he was simply hallucinating. He began to search the immediate area for signs of intelligent life.
He came across a campfire; a few ponies were roasting marshmallows on sticks. How are they doing that? Whatever, just relax, and take note that this may be a tourist attraction. He cautiously backed away from the area, hoping no one had noticed his presence. Once a comfortable distance away, he started toward the area the ponies he had encountered before claimed was poisonous. It took him a little over an hour to reach the area he was chased from, and several minutes to find the river. He scanned the area, searching for life. Only a few plants grew there, a small blue flower, a bush on which grew green berries, and pear trees, all of which more than likely poisoned; as that side of the river didn’t have any sort of protection, like the side he was on did. Small, frail bridges connected the two sides of the river, and none looked to be in good condition, or had been repaired any time recently.
He looked to the sky, looking for reference on how much time he had left in the night, but to his horror, the moon hadn’t moved from its place in the sky. He began to panic again, he had to hurry or he might not make it back in time. He jumped over the river, skidding to a stop as he brushed some of the plant life. He made a sack out of twigs and grass from around the area, filling it with whatever edible plants he found. When he returned, he found a cave entrance on the opposite side of the volcano. He decided it would be best to use the cave as a base of operations, assuming it wouldn’t take long to seal it and install a door.
A few more days passed as he sealed the entrance, and built a vault door to keep everyone out. Luckily, no one had stumbled upon his make-shift lab and mine in the 2 weeks he had been there. Unfortunately, this also meant he had to practically re-invent the wheel in order to make any progress scientifically, or create any tools. After several cycles of this, he became exhausted, and fell asleep in the mines.