Jason Schmidt stood outside his house, waiting for his friend Emily. He was pale, with shoulder length dirty blond hair covering his piercing blue eyes. He was lean, but by no means scrawny. He wore a hoodie over a white t-shirt and blue jeans, with boots. “Come on…” He muttered, tapping his foot impatiently, “What’s taking so bloody long?”
He noticed a person on a bike riding closer to him, and when it got closer, he saw that it was Emily, riding really quickly at him. She rode onto the driveway of his house and got off the bike, taking the helmet off, her short hair messed up from it on for awhile. She had gotten a bit tanner during the soccer season this year, and her emerald green eyes were bright with excitement. She had a loose fitting blue t shirt and shorts on, and was wearing some shoes that looked to be breaking apart a bit. She smiled, “Hope I didn't keep you waiting.” She said, walking over.
Jason smirked, “Only fifteen minutes, not that bad this time.”
Emily shrugged, “I was hoping for twenty.”
Jason’s smirk changed into a genuine smile, “Good to see you again Emily, how was the season?”
Emily smiled, “It was great. We won most of the games.” she looked at him, “Hows the Star Trek thing?” she asked.
Jason sighed over dramatically, “Will you never learn the name? It’s going well, even got two high quality saber replicas, didn’t bring them of course, don't want them to break.”
“That's...interesting I guess.” Emily said, “I had expected you to bring them honestly...being the weird fan you are.” she remarked.
Jason smirked, “I’ll take that as a compliment, I was debating whether to bring them, but they’re too valuable.”
Emily shrugged, “If you say so.” She turned to look at the treeline a few houses away, “So we going there or what?”
Jason glanced down at her, “yeah we are,” He glanced back to the forest, “Crap, forgot something inside!” He groaned, “Be right back.” He rushed inside, before coming back out with a black backpack, “Some survival supplies,” He explained, opening the pack, “Snacks, bottles of water, flashlights, matches, other stuff.”
Emily sighed, “Were only going to explore it for like an hour, we aren't going camping dude.” she said, laughing.
Jason sighed, “Better safe then sorry.” He said, placing the pack on his back, “You ready?”
“Yep.” Emily said, heading towards it.
Jason rushed after her, “There are strange stories about this place…” He began in an ominous voice, “Some people have been said to go into there and never come out.” His voice took a more normal tone, “And some say that there is some kind of temple in there, so I wouldn't take much credence in those tales.”
Emily didn't look at him as she walked, “All of those are just dumb campfire stories to scare little kids.” she replied, starting to jog to the forest.
“No doubt, which is why I don’t put much credibility in it.” Jason said, jogging along side her.
“Good.” Emily said, “Because that would suck if you did.” she said, entering the forest.
“Well…” He started, “I believe in any possibility, who knows? There might actually be a temple in there, so I guess we’ll see.”
Emily rolled her eyes, “And there also might be a beeping robot that looks like a trash can on wheels.” she replied, going deeper in.
“Oi, don’t diss R2-D2.” He countered defensibly, “Just saying there is a possibility.” They continued walking through the forest, only stopping a couple times for water and the occasional snack. It wasn't long however, until they found themselves completely and inexplicably lost. “Crap…” Jason muttered, glancing up at the sky. The sun was on its downward arc, making the shadows of the tree’s elongate.
Emily sighed, “We have to figure out how to get unlost and get back. I have to be home for dinner.” she said.
Jason was about to respond, when the bush behind them shifted and rustled. A feeling of fear and dread came over them, as if something unholy was upon them. “Lets go!” Jason yelped, grabbing hold of Emily’s wrist and running as fast as he could, which was surprisingly quick.
Emily managed to get him to let go, and ran faster, going ahead of him, using the quickness she had acquired from years of soccer.
Jason pumped everything he had into his legs, catching up with Emily before managing to take a look back at their pursuer. A black cloud of mist was surging at them, gleaming as though filled with thousands of crystals. “What the hell is that thing!?” He yelled, looking for somewhere to hide.
Emily didn't look back, “I don't care, I would rather run and survive then look back and lose some speed.” she growled through her panting, running a bit faster.
“Fair enough!” He yelped, doing his best to keep up, when he spotted a structure in the distance. “To your left!” Jason roared, pointing towards the structure, “Maybe we can hide in there.”
Emily looked over, and ran over to it, “I guess the temple theory was right?” she guessed.
“It would appear so!” Jason yelled as they reached the entrance, which was held open by a stout branch. As Emily entered the inside, he tackled the stick, expecting it to break, instead it moved inside the temple with him, slamming the door shut and blocking the smoke. “We… Made… It…” He panted, trying to catch his breath, “It really is bloody dark in here.” He muttered.
Emily sat down on the floor, catching her breath, “Don't doors normally have a crack under them?” she asked, once her heart rate went down, “More important question, why were we followed by black smoke, and why is a dumb campfire story true?”
Jason frowned, before glancing at where he thought the door was, “There’s no crack at all,
just a solid slab of stone.” He looked around, trying to see something in the darkness, “Where are you?”
Emily sighed, “Are you talking to me, or the black smoke, Mr. I have a backpack of camp supplies. You brought a flashlight!” she exclaimed, getting up carefully, her shoes scraping the stone.
“Flashlight, matches, some small branches, only thing I didn't bring was tents and sleeping bags.” Jason said, taking his backpack off and rummaging through it, “Aha! Here we go.” He said triumphantly, lighting a flashlight and giving another one to Emily.
Emily turned it on, and looked around at the stone walls, “Thanks. I wish I had taken my phone, or something so my parents would assume I was insane for talking about black smoking and asking for their help when i called...” She sighed, and turned to the stone slab, “What will we do now?”
“I do have my phone…” Jason muttered, pulling it out of his pocket, “But I got no service. Guess two feet thick stone walls block cell reception extraordinarily well…”
Emily rolled her eyes, “Yeah, lucky us.” She said.
Jason shook his head, “At least we got some music to keep up our spirits,” He said with forced cheerfulness as he shined his light down a tunnel, “As we keep moving forwards.”
Emily frowned, “What music? did you bring an MP3 player?” she asked, looking around for any alternative to going further into the temple, “What if we suffocate?”
Jason shook his head, “I don’t think so, feel that?” A soft breeze came from inside the tunnel, “That’s fresh air, which means there should be another way out, plus,” he tapped a couple of buttons on his phone and music started to play, “It is a smartphone, it has music capabilities.”
Emily frowned, “So we can't call someone, but we can listen to music?” she asked, walking closer to the tunnel, shining a light down it, seeing nothing suspicious about it, she groaned, “I guess if this is the only way...”
“Ok, let’s go.” Jason said, putting his backpack on shining his light down it, before face palming, “The branch…” He muttered, turning back and grabbing the piece of wood that held open the door. “Might work as a defense.” He mused, before glancing at Emily, “Would you do the honors?”
Emily grabbed the branch, “It would help me better than nothing.” she shrugged, swinging it around to test, before leaning on it like a walking stick.
Jason nodded, “It’ll be better in your hands than mine.” He shrugged, shining his light in her eyes.
Emily put a hand over her eyes to be able to see, “Lead the way I guess.”
“Sure thing.” Jason replied, walking forwards into the temple. The walls of the hallway were bare, until they reached a staircase, leading down. The walls began to show old faded pictures of what seemed to be a great battle. As they descended, the faded images began to change, showing a four legged being with a horn and wings fighting another being of the same kind. One of them was pure white, with multicolored hair and what looked like the sun on her flank, the other was dark blue, almost black, who wore armor and had what looked like a crescent moon surrounded by clouds. “What is this?” Jason muttered as he shone the light at the scene.
Emily looked at the pictures, “Something stupid probably. These drawings don't even matter, its a temple of old shit.” She said.
“Come on Emily, someone obviously revered one of these things, why else would they make a temple to them? I mean, Look!” He shone his light on some of the other images, “They’re everywhere!”
Emily shrugged, “Mythological creatures were always revered back in those times?” She guessed.
“Yeah, Unicorns and Pegasi were back in ancient Greece, and these creatures do look like a mix of them, but an ancient Greek temple in America? That sounds a bit far-fetched, even to me.”
Emily looked at him, “Weren't some ancient people also in America or something?” she asked.
Jason nodded again, “Yeah, the Vikings and the Spanish and the English, but not the Greeks.” He shrugged, “We should keep moving.”
Emily nodded, “Yeah...” she said, walking down the stairs again.
Jason walked through the hallway with his best friend, still keeping an eye on the images. After about five minutes, Jason spoke up, “Hey, you see that?” He squinted ahead, “It looks like a light of sorts.”
Emily looked down, “The light at the end of the tunnel, are we dead?” she joked, smiling.
Jason smiled back, “If we have, glad to have died with my best friend.” He joked back, with a tone of seriousness underneath.
Emily sighed, “I would rather die old.” she said, completely serious.
Jason blushed, “It was supposed to be a sentimental thing…” He muttered as they reached the bottom of the staircase. “Whoa,” Jason breathed, taking in the sight. A swirling vortex stood in the middle of the room with all sorts of seizure inducing lights.
Emily rubbed her eyes, “I don't know what that is, but it gives me a headache, and I do not like it.” she growled.
Jason didn't respond, and started walking towards it. Emily grabbed him arm quickly, holding him back. Jason kept walking, dragging her forwards.
Emily groaned as she kept trying to hold him back, “You're skinny but strong as hell when you want to be. Your supposed to be smart, why are you risking to die to this crap?” she growled through her teeth, trying to pull him backwards.
Jason’s feet left the ground, the portal dragging him towards it, “Wha?” He muttered, before realizing what happened, “Holy shit!!!!!” He screamed, “What the hell!!!!”
Emily continued pulling on the ground, until she floated in the air too, and couldn't move, her hand on his arm. She glared at him, “I blame you for this.”
“I don’t even know what happened…” He muttered, as they entered the portal.
Emily closed her eyes to keep from having her headache get bigger from the swirling rainbow colors, “Were dead, we actually died, and this is hell.” The light turned to a bright flash of white as Jason and Emily were rendered unconscious.
Jason groaned, “Ugh… Did anyone get the number of that truck?”
“The truck that killed us or the truck you always make jokes about that stops being funny after the tenth time...” Emily whispered next to him.
Jason chuckled, “Good to see that whatever happened didn't kill your humor Em.” He groaned as he sat up, stretching his arms. “OK…” He said as he looked around, “Where in the nine hells are we?”
“The hell that includes giving me a headache because of bright colors...” Emily muttered, sitting up beside him, holding her head.
“We appear to be in a forest.” Jason deadpanned, “Dark, creepy, and no more rainbow lights.”
Emily looked up, taking her hands away from her face, “Wonderful. It must be night...”
“At least no more headaches for now.” Jason grinned.
“Hello?” A voice called out, drawing their attention, “Is anypony here?”
Emily blinked, “What?” she asked, grabbing the stick off the ground that she had managed to keep a hold of.
Jason motioned for her to keep it at the ready, “I’m gonna call out, only attack if necessary.” He whispered to her. “Yeah! We’re over here!”
A moment of silence, “Alright, I’m coming over.” The voice was definitely female, and getting closer.
Emily frowned, “Who else would be out here during the night...I didn't know there were a lot of kids on your street.”
Jason frowned, “That wasn't a teen’s voice, whomever’s it is, she seems to be in her twenties.”
The bushes to the right of them began to rustle, and Jason’s jaw dropped as a mint green unicorn came out of the woods, an equally surprised look on her face. “Wha-wha huh?” She seemed unable to form coherent sentences.
“We are in afterlife Greece!” Emily exclaimed, “Or whoever liked the unicorn...” she muttered, thinking.
The Unicorn shook her head, “Are you OK?” She asked them, “More importantly, where did you come from?”
Jason nodded his head, “Yeah, we’re alright, there was this temple, and a swirling vortex, thingy and we ended up here.”
Emily stared at the unicorn, “Where are we now?”
That seemed to grab the Unicorn’s attention, “Gah!” She exclaimed, shaking her head, “I gotta go!”
She started to turn around, only for Jason to grab her tail and pull her back, “Whoa!” He yelled, “What’s going on!?”
Emily poked her with the stick, “Yeah...seeing a unicorn and having her freak out brings up more questions than answers I want to know.”
The Unicorn looked worried, “Look, a 2000 year old evil spirit returned and is trying to bring around eternal night with more arcane power than Princess Celestia, and has my marefriend held hostage, along with half of the town!” She exclaimed, pushing the stick away.
Jason looked at the unicorn, “I just have one question, how can we help?”
“That's your only question? Not who this Princess is or what the hell she even means by any of that?” Emily asked, staring at him.
Jason shrugged, “I've always wanted to go on a quest to save an entire land.” He slowly stood up, stretching his legs.
Emily blinked, “Wow...” she muttered, putting her hands in the grass and pushing herself up, standing next to him.
Jason smiled at the Unicorn, “My name is Jason Schmidt, and this is Emily Tucker, what’s your name?”
The Unicorn smiled back at them, “Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings.” They walked forwards into the forest.