Poison Fangs and Scaly Tails
Chapter 1: Choices and Consequences
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Before anything, allow me to ask something. Do you dream? I don't mean those brief little stories and and glimpses into your unconscious that we associate with sleeping, but proper dreaming. The kind of dreams that make your thoughts bubble and squirm, the kind of dreams that make light you up and keep you going with the terrifically exciting thought of their potential actualisation. Of course you do: Everyone does. Maybe you dream of love, or wealth, or getting a pet ostrich. For me, it was always the realm of fantasy that drove me. It was rare to find myself without thinking of some exotic land, or fantastic creature, or incredible scenario - I was obsessed with it, and this obsession was, at least in part, responsible for the events that would completely change my life, and myself, so dramatically.
You see, previously, "real life" just didn't cut it for me. I believe that to be because of how shockingly, remarkably, momentously ordinary that "real life" was to me, and that lack of motivation was starkly reflected in my schoolwork. I mean, when you can venture to a mystic land inside your head at any moment, Geography isn't really that enticing. My parents didn't really care, in keeping with their general apathy for, it seemed, anything that related to me. They weren't bad, just...well, not good. If that makes sense. They were always pretty busy with work, so I didn't really get to talk to them much.
But I return from this digression. You're probably wondering how exactly that came to be. Well, it all started, almost typically, on a dark and stormy...afternoon. In an internet cafe, in fact. And as for how I came to be in that cafe...
On, this particular miserable afternoon, I was walking home via my usual route. I slipped into the little side passage through the hedge at the back of the school, the trees above slightly sheltering me from the rain.
When I had walked the entire length of the natural path, I came out into the street just before my own. It was not a particularly busy street, despite being full of shops and cafes, though at that moment that may have been because of the rain that was still crashing down. I began to jog up down it, moving faster than I usually do, the cold droplets serving as an incentive for me to get home quickly.
'I'd better hurry up; this doesn't look like it will let up anytime soon.'
As if on cue, there came a great clap of thunder, and the downpour went from drenching to downright torrential. I sighed in exasperation, and decided to look around for somewhere to wait for the rain to stop. I heard a voice to my right.
"Hello, you there! I rather think that you should come in! That rain is looking frightful!" Shouted an older man standing in the entrance to a brightly lit internet café. The café was about half full, and definitely looked more inviting than the rain. I ducked inside, thanking the man, who closed the door behind me, and sat down in a seat near the door. I squished down on the table next to him, before being quickly accosted by someone who wished to know what I would like to order. Supposing that I could do with something to warm me up, I ordered a coffee.
I took in my surroundings while I waited for my caffeinated beverage. The café seemed quite nice, if a little plain. The paint was still bright and there was not a scribble of graffiti in sight, which was, in my part of town, practically miraculous, and hinted towards the establishment being opened rather recently. The computers, at which a variety of people tapped and clicked away rhythmically, from gamers playing MMORPGs, to teenagers that I could recognise from my school who were busy chatting on social network sites. In the corner sat a lone man wearing a business suit, glaring sullenly at something on his laptop.
As I looked around, a voice from my right spoke to me. "Looking bad out there. I think you made the right choice."
Turning to face the guy who spoke, I could see that it was the man who had opened the door for me. He was fairly old, I would have guessed around fifty, and was attired in a grey suit with a white tie, with heterochromatic eyes of blue and hazel framed by a pair of thin spectacles. I could see that he was also wearing sunglasses on the back of his head and a bow tie on the back of his neck, but for some reason that I cannot recall, I didn't think to question it.
I looked through the window, and the rain was even worse than before, the droplets converging into mini rivers that flowed into the drains. In the distance, a lightning bolt flashed. "Yeah, I guess I did." I agreed.
"My name is Sunaj, by the way." He offered.
'Weird name' I thought. "Nice name." I chose to say.
He grinned, "I've always thought so."
"I'm Daniel." He gave his name, after all. He nodded at this, and looked thoughtfully at me. It was quite an unnerving experience, gazing into those glittering eyes, and I was near transfixed by them.
"So, Daniel. I understand that you're a person who's rather...dissatisfied? Is that correct?" Sunaj asked me, still looking into my eyes. I found myself nodding.
He asked another question. "Tell me, do you think about getting out of here going somewhere a little more, ah...exciting?" He inquired neutrally, sipping his own caffeinated beverage.
"Y...yes, actually. Sometimes." I answered.
"Ah, very good! A fresh chance to be something different, yes? Be someone important, do something great, perhaps?"
This was getting to be an odd conversation with an even odder individual, but he seemed fairly benign, so I played along.
"Well, I suppose I feel a little bored here, mostly. Like, I just wish I'd been born somewhere else, as something or someone other than who I am now..."
He gave a sympathetic inclination of the head "Yes, I believe many people feel like that, especially at your young age. Still, you're young enough that it's not too late! You could still change your destiny, you know. Keep your eyes open, and recognise when you have the choice to change your life."
Plucking up the nerve, I asked him: "Why are you asking me this?" His gaze locked onto to mine, and his demeanour turned serious, at odds with the amused persona he had been wearing previously.
"Because choices..." He answered. "Are important. People have died and empires have crumbled because of them. And you will have to make many choices, soon."
"Um...what? What are you talking about?" I asked in bewilderment. This
The strange man raised an auburn eyebrow, and returned to being relaxed as he was before. "Why, the game! Many people are joining, right this second. And I've chosen you to be my piece. It's quite an honour, but I suppose you won't see it that way... Oh, don't worry. Relax. You may enjoy it! Or you may not. It depends, really."
All this rambling was making me rather nervous; this conversation was definitely not normal. So I began to edge away from him. The rain wasn't looking that bad, now.
"Riiiight. Anyway, I don't think that I'll be playing this game, actually. I'll just go home and-"
"I'm afraid not." The man calling himself Sunaj proclaimed, standing up from his chair. He was back in serious mode. "You have made your choice." To my horror, his head, along with the bow tie on the back of his neck, twisted unnaturally around until the back of his head faced me, revealing…
Another face. This one without glasses, and the eye colours switched around, bearing a regal expression.
I was, to be frank, a little perturbed by now, but the other patrons didn't seem to notice anything, continuing to click away merrily. The other face of Sunaj began to speak.
"You will be my piece in this game. It is decided. Do you have any questions before we begin?"
I was too busy screaming incoherently and attempting to open the suddenly locked café door to really come up with anything too interesting, but I managed to screech out:
"Why me, why me, why me, oh my god?!"
His expression softened. "It is not I who has chosen you, Daniel, but you who has chosen this. And you know why. This is your chance! Your new beginning, your portal to the life of excitement that you have dreamed of. Walk through, and remember: Everything begins with a choice." He extended his arm towards me, palm glowing with power.
"And the game begins...now."
There was a flash of hazel and blue, a shockingly high pitched squeal that could only have come from me, and then I blacked out.
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I awoke sometime after. I don't know how long I was out, as when I opened my eyes I was greeted with naught but darkness.
I believe that it was around this point where I started to notice that things were very, very wrong. Well, wronger
I couldn't move my limbs. It wasn't just that I couldn't feel them, but I could somehow tell that four things that had been very important to me the whole of my previous life, were no longer accessible.
Understandably, I was quite distressed.
'Oh sugar. Oh sugar this is it I'm dead I'm so dead. They're gonna find me lying here in some nutjob's basement and there's nothing I can do about it.'
Eventually, however, once I'd moved somewhat past the panicked thoughts and pathetic sobbing, (Okay, the former, at least.) I managed to pull myself together somewhat. I knew that I had to try and get free, and get out of wherever I was.
I thought of attempting to rock my body around to move. However, I noticed as I was thrashing and squirming that I seemed oddly…flexible. I could bend in directions that I didn’t know were possible.
This, I'm sure I need not tell you, was a very strange experience. And now that I was coherent, I could feel that I was...longer, as if I'd suddenly grown several feet. Deciding to test the upper limits of my new-found flexibility, in order to gain at least some semblance of mobility, I tried raising myself up like I was performing some kind of reverse sit-up.
To my growing unease, it worked. I was able to support myself in this wholly unnatural position - and it felt natural.
My head carried more weight than before, additionally. My tongue felt different, and my teeth felt...sharper. And longer...almost like....
I needed to see what had happened. I wriggled around in a useless panic for a bit, before getting the hang of a sort of frantic slithering motion to move around.
I moved forwards, and bumped my head on a solid surface. My tongue flicked in surprise, and I could feel that it was rock. The place smelt damp, and full of dust and earth.
Suddenly I realised what I had just done. 'My...tongue. I just smelled things...with my tongue!'
That was the last straw. I rushed around, slamming into a few more walls in a frenzy to escape the claustrophobic confines of the cave, before I finally saw light. I hurried towards it, wishing to be anywhere else.
I burst into the sunshine, flinching at the sharp change in light level. My tongue flicked again, and I could sense that there was water nearby. I headed towards it as quickly as my new mode of locomotion could allow. Finally I reached a small clearing, with a stream filled with clear water flowing through the centre. I moved straight towards it, and after reaching it, peered at the glittering surface.
Red eyes with slits for pupils. A narrow head filled with wickedly sharp fangs. A long, thin body covered in scales painted a sickly acid yellow. I ran through several possibilities, trying to convince myself that what I was seeing wasn't true, couldn't be true. But there was no mistaking it.
There, leering back at me through the depths of the water, was a snake.
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I don't know how long I stayed there, just staring dumbly at my reflection. I was taking in the appearance of my new, reptilian body. There were black ridges all along my scaly yellow spine, not spikes, just...protrusions. The weirdest thing about my new self was a weird crown shaped...crest, I suppose you'd call it. I couldn't think of any snake that had anything like that. Then again, distressed as I was, I could think much of anything.
I was forced out of my shock by a loud rustling noise to the left of me. I moved up slowly, and looked around for the source of the sound. There was a flash of movement, and I turned to track it with reflexes I didn't know I had. There, behind a gently rustling bush, was a red glow shaped suspiciously like a lion.
Moments after I had made this association, the beast leapt from its hiding place with a roar, landing in front of me. It was big, bigger than any normal lion had a right to be. It was then that it snarled and raised a segmented, cuticle-covered tail, the stinger at the end dripping with venom. 'Manticore', my mind told me, remembering the description from books that I had read. The seconds seemed like minutes as we stood there, the eyes of the Manticore filled with predatory intent.
Then it collapsed onto the ground, twitching. I stood (or whatever) there in confusion for a while. Before gingerly moving my tail to the prone creature and prodding it firmly. No response.
Well, it was as dead as it was going to be. The question was: What killed it? As I pondered this, I felt a pang of hunger from my stomach. I looked down at the corpse in front of me. It's glassy, unseeing eyes looked up at me.
'Oh no. No way. No *way*. I'm not eating that, stomach, don't even think about it.'
I was hungry, of course. But not hungry enough to warrant eating a half lion half scorpion...abomination However, food was a concern. I didn't even know what I was able to eat, or what I was supposed to eat. I was pretty that snakes weren't vegetarians, but that was it. And I didn't relish the prospect of swallowing some creature whole...
And so, I put my hunger to one side for now. I was still thirsty, so after a quick drink at the spring, I decided to explore my surroundings - very cautiously, I couldn't expect whatever had happened with the Manticore to happen again.
Eventually I spotted a bird, perched on a branch, surrounded by that strange red glow that seemed to follow all creatures here. It was being careful, looking warily from side to side. Moving slowly so as not to startle it, I started to stare at it. It continued to preen it's feathers, and do lots of things that weren't dying. Just as I was starting to feel foolish for even trying this, I, being unused to my new body, involuntarily flicked my tail, snapping a twig. Immediately, the avian turned in my direction, and I saw into it's brown eyes.
It uttered a shrill shriek, and fell lifelessly to the forest floor.
'Um...do I really look that horrible? What is going on here?' This was all too much to think about now. I mean, I know that I had longed for something different, but I didn't mean for it to be this different!
'Okay, it's fine. Calm down, you've been through worse, Daniel.
Well, no you haven't. Still, keep calm and carry on, and all that jazz, right? First, I should find civilisation. I don't know how people-' Suddenly, I remembered something.
So, I began to move through the forest, trying to find an exit of some sort. Now that I was calmer, the forest was looking rather…creepy. It was dark; the only light being from the cracks in the canopy above, and I kept seeing eyes glinting through the corner of my vision, and what sounded like whispers whistled through the leaves. However, I assume that my now imposing appearance kept the dangerous creatures and monsters at bay. In the distance somewhere, I could hear what sounded forebodingly like a roar....
i]’ I thought to myself as I gingerly moved around a rather sinister looking tree. I was getting better at moving around by now, and could move at a reasonable pace. My tongue, which kept flicking in and out of my mouth seemingly automatically, told me that this place smelled of damp, mud, and another scent which I couldn’t quite put my metaphorical finger on. After some time of tension filled travelling, I could faintly see light ahead. Praying that it wasn’t just another clearing, I slithered with all my haste towards it.
As I neared what appeared to be the edge of the forest, I could hear shouts, and something that sounded like growling. I began to smell the pungent aroma, of wet dog.
Making myself as flat as possible, I snaked through the grass towards the source of the noise and scent. When I got close to it, I could see shapes with my handy red aura vision thing. I could also make out voices, so I listened quietly, to try and figure out what was happening.
"I say! Let me go, I say! Princess Celestia won't be best pleased with this, you know!" Shouted an agitated male voice. It was answered by another voice, high pitched and snarling.
"Quiet, pony! You will come with us, and you will work the mines. Pull the carts and dig the gems, yes..." This voice was...familiar.
"We'll never work for you! Release us!" Shouted a strong voice, gruffer than the first.
"You have no choice." Replied the second voice, before chuckling darkly. I realised what they were. Diamond dogs. Slaver diamond dogs, from what I was hearing.
'Slavery. Damn, that's never good. Should I save them? Wait, of course! What better way to show that I mean no harm than to save some ponies from a life of slavery! I could be an unlikely hero!'
With my mind made up, I sneaked as close as I could to the nearest bipedal shape that I could see.
"The big one can pull the old heavy cart." He was saying. "The one with wings can dig!"
"What?!" The higher, more anxious voice protested. "I'm afraid that I really must protest! I can't be doing any digging! I'm a merchant, not a miner!"
"Not any-more!" The diamond dog cackled. That seemed as good a cue as any. I leapt towards the shape, bursting from the undergrowth. The dog turned at the noise, before I collided with him clumsily head first, mouth open wide. At first, it seemed like my inexperienced attack had achieved nothing, but then the dog started to scream, and I could see his shoulder bubble and smoke. One of my fangs had scraped him, and apparently my venom was rather potent. I could see a blue unicorn struggling to break free of a net that one of the diamond dogs had apparently trapped him in. The other dogs were looking on in shock, but they soon got over that. One of them was holding a pegasus in his grip, whom he threw aside and tossed a net over my head, but the venom still dripping from my fangs burned through it, releasing me. I turned to stare into the eyes of the diamond dog that had thrown the net, and he clutched his chest and died as his gaze met mine.
But then I felt a sharp pain in my tail, and whipped round to see what had caused it. However, as I did this, my tail collided with the dog that had stabbed a spear through my tail. He landed next to a sturdily built blue unicorn, who stomped on the dog’s throat, crushing his windpipe, leaving him to die a choking death. I turned back, and saw that there were two dogs left, or three counting the envenomed one writhing around on the ground. I rose up, unconsciously hissing in fear. The spear wound I had received burned, and had reminded me of the very real danger that I was in. Then, the diamond dog to the right, who was wearing light chain armour and appeared to have no weapons, threw a glass vial at my face. I closed my eyes automatically as the glass shattered on my scales, not penetrating them. A cloud of yellow gas emerged from the broken glass, and the dog howled victoriously.
After a few seconds, they realised that it wasn't doing anything. So I tried to stare into the eyes of the vial throwing dog, but he quickly averted his gaze. He had learnt from the last dog. Suddenly, a sword sprouted from his chest, encased in a sapphire aura. Taking the initiative, I dove onto the last dog and bit into him. I quickly moved backwards and out of reach of his mad flailing as he began to scream in pain from the burning venom coursing through his veins. I shuddered at the sight of his agony. Slaver or not, that looked a horrible way to die.
With all the dogs dead, I turned to the two would-be slaves, deliberately avoiding looking at their eyes. The blue unicorn from before was to my right, with a broken net on the ground next to him. He had a green mane styled in a very plain, functional haircut. He was big, almost as big, I would guess, as Big Macintosh.
The higher voice that I had heard belonged to a pegasus, also male, with an indigo coat and an untidy dark green mane. He was thinly built, and did not look like a fighter.
The unicorn had his head lowered defensively, in front of the shivering pegasus.
"Stay back, creature." Ordered the imposing blue unicorn. "Lucky, do not look into its eyes. Basilisks can kill with a single look."
I opened my mouth, and attempted to speak to the pair. But my mouth was very different to what I was used to, and all that came out was strangled hiss. 'That wasn’t right. Talking is different in this body, as well? And that unicorn probably won’t take me hissing at him too well…'
Without warning, the unicorn lunged towards me, sword held towards me in his telekinetic grip. Startled, I flinched backwards, narrowly avoiding another cut. I tried to speak again.
"Wi..wait..." More intelligible than my last attempt, but still not recognisable enough. The sword came down again, inflicting a glancing blow on the side of my head.
"Ssssstop!” I screeched at last, the "s" sound coming easier to me.
The unicorn ceased his attack in surprised, but held his sword in a defensive stance. "Lucky, did you hear what I just heard?" He whispered to the pegasus behind him, who peered at me with curiosity.
"I think it just...spoke?" Taking this as a chance to continue, I spoke again.
"I mean...no harm." I managed to say. The duo looked taken aback, but the unicorn didn't change his posture.
"You certainly meant them harm." He said, gesturing to the fallen dogs with a hoof. And forgive me, but basilisks aren't known for their kindness."
"I sssaw...ssslavers. Wanted to...help. I mean you...no harm!" I insisted.
The pegasus spoke up from behind the large blue stallion in front of me."D-do you absolutely swear that you will do nothing to harm us?" He asked hesitantly.
"Lucky!" The unicorn shouted in annoyance.
"Well, it did kill our captors! I for one am certainly glad to not be spending the rest of my life shovelling dirt and pulling rocks. Perhaps we could give it a chance to talk?" The pegasus, apparently called Lucky, persuaded.
The unicorn hesitated, then groaned. "Fine." He relented. "A chance. But if you try anything, basilisk, I swear I will gut you with your own fangs!"
I gulped nervously, and asked a few important things: "Who...are you?"
Lucky gestured to himself. "My name is Lucky Silver." He pointed a wing towards the gruff unicorn. "This is Martial Prowess, my cousin. Do you have a name?"
"Call me...Daniel." "Where are you...going?"
This time Martial answered me. "We're heading to Trottingham. My cousin wants to try and set up shop there, and I usually come with him. Celestia knows what kind of trouble he'd get himself into if I didn't..."
"I swear that this is it! This will be the town that will enable me to successfully start a business! And we won't have to search around anymore."
"I hope you're right, Lucky. I'm getting tired of moving from position to position all the time."
"I ssssee." 'Okay, the big question.' "Uh. I wassss wondering...could I...come with you?" As he opened his mouth to object, I spoke quickly.
"I know...you don't trussst me. I wouldn't either. I am a giant venomous sssnake! But I ssswear, I jusssst want to help! And I will find a way to...make it up to you! I don't want to have to live in a foresssst!"
"Really? A basilisk wants to be a part of the community? Hmm..." Silver pulled his cousin to the side. "Martial, think about this. A talking basilisk. And if what he says is true, he wants to help us! Basilisk venom is very valuable! Just think of the opportunities! We could be famous! We could be...." His eyes shone. "Rich! Oh, do let’s allow him stay, cousin!"
There were a few tense moments, during which both Lucky and I both waited anxiously.
Finally, Martial sighed in defeat. "You know what? Fine! Why not! Why not travel with a horribly dangerous snake! It'll be fine." He glared at me. "But I'll be watching you."
'Yes! There's hope! I won't have to stay in the forest!'
"Thank you...very much I will...repay you!" I said happily.
Lucky Silver spoke up again. "You know, Princess Celestia herself may want to hear about this. A talking basilisk! Oh, this is fantastic! The opportunities! We could meet the Princesses! Oh, how grand that would be! Say, Daniel, you said your name was? Would you at all object to the taking of one or two of your scales? It’s just that Basilisk scales are very much coveted among collectors of rare items, you see, and there is a great deal of money to be made-"
"We can discuss this later, Lucky." Said Martial firmly, cutting him off from his rant, which I was rather relieved about; the greedy glimmer in his eyes was starting to worry me. "Now, we need to get moving if we are to reach Trottingham by morning. So shall we?"
Lucky nodded. "Of course! Just let me get my cart, and we can be off." He trotted over to a wooden cart filled with assorted merchandise, and started to pull it.
"Right! Let's go! Trottingham awaits!"
I started to move, but winced as I felt the wound given to me by the diamond dog shoot spears of pain through my tail. "Ow..."
"What is it now?" Asked Martial. I gestured with my head to the stab wound.
"One of the dogs...hit me with a sssspear." The blue unicorn looked to where I had gestured, but didn’t come any closer. The wound was still bleeding, and wherever the blood fell, the grass turned blackened and dead.
"Hmm." Martial muttered disapprovingly. He turned to his cousin. "Lucky, can you get the bandages from the first aid box?" The pegasus nodded and scrambled into the cart, emerging a few seconds later clutching a box in his mouth, which flew out of his mouth in a blue glow. Martial took the bandages and wrapped them around the bleeding wound.
"There. That should help, at least until we reach town. Then you should probably find some proper medical care." He said when he was done. "Though I'm not sure who would be willing to treat a basilisk..." He added under his breath.
"Are we done? Good! In that case..." Lucky took up his cart once more. "Trottingham still awaits!"
'Well, the future's looking better, at least! Still, I wonder what will happen when I get to Trottingham...' Pushing doubts aside and placing excitement to the forefront, I took my very first footsteps on my adventures in Equestria.
...Metaphorically, that is.
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