//------------------------------//
// Sudden Beginnings 
// Story: Equestruins 
// by GunfStep 
//------------------------------//

“Augh, Dammit!”
The Branch snapped back, slapping him across the face, a cut opened up along his cheek as a trickle of blood found its way down his neck. He cursed to himself and wiped his cheek with an open palm.

“What am I even DOING out here?!” He shouted loudly. 
There was no reason for it of course, for all he knew he may very well be the only living thing left, aside from the trees, and there were quite a few trees around, so much so that he had been walking through them for several hours without so much as an end in sight. This forest was no friend to strangers and the harsh winds twirling and tumbling through the dense thicket kept him sharply aware of that.

The Moon hung heavy in the sky and shone brilliantly casting its light from above, however its ghostly illumination did nothing to stop the thick heavy fog blanketing the land. He could barely see anything before him and every step taken was a challenge in and of itself as he struggled to find proper footing against fallen branches and scattered rocks. Every stumble agitated his already foul mood and every slip brought forth another string of curses that lost themselves to the night.

“I have no idea where I am, no clue how I got here, or who the hell I even AM!” 
This was all he knew, and it was starting to eat away at him. He had woken up in a ditch, or rather, a crater, without any sensible reason as to how or why he arrived there. All he knew, was that he was here, alone, in woods he had no recollection of ever going to, and realizing that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember anything before waking into this new reality.

“This is ridiculous, how can I not know anything at all? What sort of sick twisted joke is going on here... wait.” 
He slowed his unsteady march as he found himself nearing an opening. Cautiously he advanced, hoping he had found a way out, but that optimism slowly faded as he approached the opening.  The fog parted slightly, as if inviting him to gaze upon the troubling sight. A giant crater lay itself across the clearing, and opposite of where he stood was not an escape from this place but a continuation to his torment as more and more trees stretched far beyond what he could see.

As he looked over the hole, amazed at how wide and large it was, a shudder escaped him as a sudden dawning fell upon him.

“This, is a different hole in the ground, right? Surely this can't be the same one I crawled out of hours ago... right?”
He peered down, straining his eyes to find anything to give him satisfaction in his hopes, but the distance was to far for him and the creeping fog made it hard to make anything out. Sighing, he stepped towards the lip to begin climbing down, and slipped.

“AAAHHHHHHHHH!”

He fell over himself several times, and was lifted up from the earthen slide by a rock jutting out from the ground, before finally coming to an abrupt and painful stop at the bottom of the crater. As quickly as the fall had began, it was over. He lay still for a minute, gathering his wits and strength before finally pushing himself off the ground and climbing back to his feet. He looked up towards the fall he had taken.

“Two, maybe three stories tall, I guess I should be thankful it was as curved as it was... dammit.” 
He sighed as he brushed himself off. Pacing around the sides of the crater he looks for any markings that may give him a clue to his worries. As he peers, he quickly finds imprints in the ground several yards away from him.
“Oh no.”
He jogs toward the spot and places his foot next to the imprint in the soil. A Match.

“Ha, haha... HAHAHAHA COME ON! I Just walked around in a CIRCLE? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” His voice echoes around him, almost mockingly, as he slowly begins to realize just how hopeless the past several hours have been. The knowledge begins to take its tole on both his mind and body and he sits back down on the ground in frustration. He groans slightly as he looks himself over, his t-shirt is ragged and worn, rips are scattered about from brushing up against trees and clambering over rocks. His Jeans are wet with mud and water from the slips and slides during his short excursion in the forest.

“What is going on,” he whispers.
“What am I meant to do here?”
Placing his hands against his head he pushes against himself gently and rocks back and forth. He racks his brain, eager for answers, anything to help him understand, but all that comes is headache as he struggles to remember something, anything of time before his waking. Yet, for all his effort, nothing comes, its as if he had never existed up until a few short hours ago.

Realizing there’s nothing he can do for his memories, he slowly stands and paces around the crater. And that’s when he hears something. Its faint at first, but as he strains his ears, he can make out the sound of voices far off in the distance. A smile creeps upon his face as he begins to realize he's finally found someone else, but it slowly dissipates as he begins to worry.

“What if they're not friendly, what if they want to hurt me?”
He runs back and forth as the whispers get louder, there’s nowhere to hide in his hole. He has no other option, he has to face them and pray for the best. Quieting himself, he focuses on the direction of the sound and listens.




---




A soft glow of light illuminates the path upon which two travellers tread. The light, shining almost as if from a lantern, comes instead, from a horn. A horn firmly attached to its owner, a small mare, or in this case, unicorn, whose worn and beaten blue and grey robes cover a beautiful lavender body. The robes wrap around her loosely, and pockets are scattered about it in an absurd fashion, each one bulges slightly, full with trinkets and books that most people would consider to be rubbish. A  small pack strapped to her back shows its capacity for storage as well, full to the brim with travelling gear and yet even more books. The final piece of gear this unicorn carries is a small staff that sways neatly in a holster below the pack, and near its top sits a small but magnificent ruby, its red hue blushing softly against the glow of the mare's horn. Lifting a hoof to her horn she brushes against it slightly. Its soft glow flickers as its hidden but shines brighter upon its return. Peering ahead into the mists her purple eyes strain to see anything out of the ordinary. She sighs deeply, her breath catching her mane, its royal purple trim sways against the sudden wind and falls back neatly into place.

Shes paces herself along the path slowly, her gentle steps making nary a peep as she flows through the branches around her. She knew the meteor had landed around here somewhere, and she was determined to find it.

“Come on Twilight! We've been out here for hours!”
Her companion moans loudly behind her as he stumbles over a branch. He catches himself on his lance, its point digging into the ground. He sighs to himself, gripping it tightly as he tugs it out with a jerk. As the lance pulls free of the ground, his visor on his helmet sharply falls and closes over his face. The tiny being pushes his visor back over his snout and above his emerald eyes as he looks at Twilight impatiently, who pays him no heed as she marches on. His Green spikes droop to an angle as his voice falls on deaf ears. His belt sagging slightly he repositions it around his waist, and firmly pulls it into place. The belt had several packs around it, each full with small gems and rocks that he had collected travelling with his partner. Scratching at his arm, his claws brushed against his purple scales, before moving to flick a speck of dirt that had fallen onto his silver breastplate. Grunting quietly he begins to adjust his shield against his arm, the metal plate stood nearly as tall as him, but he lifts it effortlessly above his head  in a stretch. He stops a moment to bat at the ground with his tail, frustrated with being ignored for this long he swats at the ground harder as his tail bounces off the ground. Sighing, he recollects himself and continues after her, yawning loudly as he quickens his pace to take Twilight’s side on the path.

“Seriously Twilight, I'm pretty sure we would have found it by now, can't we just go back to town and rest? I mean, I may be a dragon and all but I'm pretty sure its past my bed time, I'd like to get SOME sleep tonight.”

Sighing, Twilight looks at her friend patiently.

“Spike, you know how important this is, the spell I cast summoned whatever that was in the sky to us, and we need to find it! I know where getting closer, I'm sure of it.”

Spike returned her gaze mockingly. “Well I'M sure if we keep walking my feet are going to fall off, just how much longer are we talking here?” He lifted his foot off the ground and hopped on one webbed foot, balancing himself as he attempted to show Twilight his soles, she groaned and put his foot down with her hoof.

“If my calculations are correct, it should have landed just a bit further west close to the heart of the forest.”

“Yeah, well your calculations got us stuck out here in the first place!”

Twilight frowned as she turned to look at her upset companion. “I’m sorry Spike. I did everything that the book outlined, but the last few pages were missing, it didn’t fully explain what would happen once the spell had been cast.” She stopped as she collected her thoughts.“I know I shouldn't have cast the spell without knowing everything about it, but I've never seen anything like it. I had to try, for us, for all of Equestria Spike, you know that as well as I do.”

She looked at him pleadingly, her eyes weary and exhausted. Spike looked down at the ground, kicking a rock aside with his foot. He stared up again, looking deep into her eyes.

“I know Twilight. I'm sorry, its just,” He sighed before continuing, “We've been trying for years Twi, and we haven't gotten anywhere, all we've done is painted a bigger target on ourselves as we travel. Every failed experiment, every failed spell has done nothing but add more problems to our already growing list. I want to fix this world as much as anyone, I do. But its getting harder to continue when all we do is try and try and try and never get anywhere. When are we going to get a break, huh? When are we finally going to get a chance to fix things...”

His voice trailed off and silence filled the gap between the two companions. Twilight wanted it just as badly as Spike. To make the world right. She had seen so much over the course of their journey. And she was desperate to find a way to fix everything. Any time they found a new lead they travelled it to the end, and every time was a failure. Every new spell she learned was a both a blessing and a curse, it added to their arsenal, but also added to the enemies she had to hide from. She was running out of options on how to stop this corruption, this, discord, that plagued the world, and that’s when she had found it. A book, in the ruins of an old castle long forgotten. It was in tatters, it was incomplete, missing pages here and there. But it was the first book to ever fill her with so much hope, so much courage.

Her horn glowed softly as she used its magic to reach into her pack and pull out the book. Gold rings wrapped their way up and down its spine, and its black back and cover were matched only by a light blue swirl with four shining stars emblazoned on the cover.

She placed her hoof on it, looking it over slowly. She had no idea if this books spells were useful but she had to try. If she didn’t, she would lose hope. Slowly, another hand slowly placed itself onto the book and she looked up to find Spike staring at her, smiling.

“I’m sorry Twi, I didn’t mean to sound upset. I know how important these spells are to us, and to the world. I'm just... I dunno, cranky, I need my beauty sleep!” He shrugged apologetically towards her and grinned. 

Twilight smiled as Spike finished, the young dragon had been with her for as long as she could remember, and had always been there for her, no matter what happened.

“Thank you Spike.” She placed her hoof around him and pulled him in tightly, hugging him. Spike returned the gesture, happy to know his friend was still alright.

“Now then!” Spike coughed and cleared his throat as they broke away from each other. “Lets find this... whatever it is and see whats up!” He stood up straight and saluted toward her, before quickly turning to run ahead.

Twilight grinned at him, “Of course! But be careful, don’t go to far!” She shouted out to him as he disappeared into the fog. She looked the book over one more time clutching it tightly. 

“Please, if this worked... help us.”