“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.”
Twilight was halfway finished putting her book back gently in her bag when she heard Spike call out.
“Twilight, QUICK, get over here!”
Stuffing the book quickly into her bag she rushed to the sound of his voice, worried for Spike's safety. Focusing herself, her horn shimmered as her staff slipped through its ring and floated next to her, encased in a light mimicking her horn's soft glow. Whatever had happened, she was going to be ready for it.
“Spike!”
“Over here Twi!”
His voice drew near as she reached a clearing in the trees, she brought the staff in front of her as spells began rushing to the forefront of her mind. She began to prepare a shield spell, but stopped suddenly as the trees opened themselves up to reveal a wide hole in the ground. Stopping at the lip, she stood amazed at the sight, this must have been where the crash had happened, which meant-
“Hold on! I don’t want any trouble, I’m not here to hurt anyone!”
Twilight looked downward, scouring the hole in the ground she finally spotted the two figures. The first was Spike, a line from the tip of the crater downwards betrayed his actions, he had tripped and fallen down to the bottom. Dust had begun settling behind him, but he had quickly risen to his feet to face his adversary. Twilight was glad he was unharmed but quickly realized that his lance was drawn, and pointed directly towards the second figure. A figure Twilight had a hard time believing was truly in front of her.
“A likely story, you're just waiting for us to lower our guard so you can do us in, admit it!” Spike shouted towards the newcomer, his voice was firm as he brought his shield up to cover himself. His front was now completely covered by the massive shield. He brought the tip of his lance forward and pulled it in, ready to lunge at any second. His stance lowered and his tail batted at the ground, twitching left and right as dust clouds filled the space behind him, he was ready for a fight.
“No, you don’t understand! I have no idea where am I, or whats going on! Hell I don’t even know who I am! I swear to you, I'm not looking to do anything!”
Twilight watched as Spikes adversary lifted his hands in the air, he had no weapons, his clothes were torn, his body was covered in cuts and scraps. And to make matters more interesting, he was here, in this crater, with them. Her head spun circles as she began to piece things together, and as she did, the more she realized, this being wasn't here for a fight. He was here because she had brought him here.
“Spike, wait!” Twilight jumped towards the crater, her hooves angled against the ground as she slid downwards towards the center of the crater, she hopped forward near the bottom of the hole and landed softly behind her faithful guardian. Taking a few steps forward she slid her staff gently back into its holster and moved towards the being in front of them, towards her new discovery.
“Stand back Twi, this guys gotta be trouble!” Spike jumped in front of her, his Lance still pointed firmly towards the being. His words were sharp and quick and his breath was becoming more rapid. Twilight viewed her dragon friend with admiration and love, she knew he would fight to the death for her, and she was grateful for it. But neither of them needed worry. And she placed a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him of this fact.
“Its OK Spike this is the one we were looking for, its him.”
Spike kept his lance trained on his adversary but his gaze turned towards Twilight. He looked at her, and in her eyes he saw a shimmer he had seen before. Whenever she had things under control, whenever she knew exactly what was going on, knew exactly what to do, that glint in her eyes was always there. Sighing, he lowered his guard, his lance still gripped tight in his hand, but it was no longer aimed towards the newcomer, instead pointed downwards, resting on the soft soil at his feet. He would trust her, as he always has, but would still be safe, rather than sorry.
“Are you sure Twi? Just look at him! I mean, what IS he?”
Twilight turned to face the man in front of them. She knew what he was, but couldn't believe she was actually seeing him. Twilight had known the spell would be powerful, and the outcome would be unexpected, but to summon a being only heard of in fairy tales and myths was something she had not anticipated. Slowly she looked him over, everything matched what she had ever read about this kind of creature. The face was flat, its nose small and its mouth firmly carved below that. Its body stood straight and tall, the arms jointed at one point with hands that she had seen with Spike, but still intrigued her nonetheless. Its waist was thin, and host to two legs that were connected to feet that stood firm in the ground as they balanced the rest of the body with ease. Her eyes wandered all over his body, taking his appearance fully in, before she finally met his gaze. He looked at her much the same as she was with him, with wonder and amazement. She knew then, that this was the one, summoned from another time or place, and this must be as new to him as it was to her. She smiled at him then, glad she had found him, and happy that he was unhurt. Noticing her smile his gaze softened, and he relaxed slightly. His face broke away from the tired and scared features it bore as he began to realize he wasn't in danger.
“This person, Spike,” Twilight began, nodding towards the man in front of them. “Is a-”
“Human” The man spoke softly “I'm Human.” He brought his arm up, scratching the back of his head. “And I have no idea whats going on anymore. At first I thought maybe this was a dream, but after wandering around lost for hours on end I was starting to realize that wasn't the case. But now...” He pointed towards the two with a finger, motioning back and forth between them several times. “Here I am talking to a horse and a... a dragon? I'm starting to give more credit to me still dreaming.” He sighed, and a smile crossed his lips. His hands came up in front of him again, attempting to show once more that he meant no harm “At least I can assume I'm not in any real danger then? Seeing as how that isn't lodged into me right now?” He motioned towards Spike and his lance, still lowered. Shrugging, Spike lifted it over his shoulder and pointed a claw towards the man.
“Twilight says you're alright, but don't think I don’t have my eye on you.” He puffed out his chest, and banged his chest plate to confirm how serious he was. Quickly, the man stood straight, raising his hand to his forehead in salute, and smiled towards the stalwart dragon. Spike eyed him incredulously, his tail twitched, batting the ground before he returned the smile with a grin of his own as he chuckled, maybe this human wasn't so bad after all.
“So I assume you would be Twilight?” The man took a step forward toward her, and held his hand out in front of him. Twilight moved closer, raising her hoof to meet him, the two stopped as they attempted to convey a proper greeting, hand and hoof shifting left and right. Finally, the man held his hand flat and Twilight's hoof fell upon it gently.
“Sparkle, Twilight Sparkle... Pony.” She corrected him from his earlier mistake. Clasping his hands together he began to form an apology but she stopped him quickly and began to giggle at his quick remorse from such a small mistake. She lowered her backside to the ground, tired from the walk. She would never mention it to Spike, but her haunches could use a rest. “It's alright, not a big deal, I'm just glad we were able to find you OK. We had been looking for quite some time and were starting to get worried. I daresay we've been searching almost as long as you've been wandering.”
“Looking for me?” His brow furrowed. “So, do you know whats going on? Can you tell me how I got here? who I am? I cant remember anything, just waking up alone in this hole.” He knelt in front of her tired of having to wonder what was happening to him, if she was looking for him, surely she had answers that could ease his mind.
“I... I'm afraid I cant answer all your questions, but I can tell you why you're here...” Her voice trailed off, this was not what she had expected, she had thought the spell would summon the person here with understanding of why they had come, or at least knew who they were. But this was different, a person who knew nothing? She was the one who had summoned help, but now here she was, attempting to give aid to the one she needed it from. Had the spell failed? Did she make a mistake during the incantation? She shook the thoughts from her mind, this was no time to question herself, or her abilities. Weather or not this man would be able to help them would be up to how well she could explain what was happening to him, and she began to realize how challenging of a task that would be. Breathing deeply, she collected herself and began to speak.
“Twilight summoned you here! She cast some wonky spell from a new book she got that made you fall out of the sky and crash land out here in the forest! I don't think she really meant for you to fall out this far, but hey, at least we found you right? And you're not hurt! I'd say that’s a bonus for everyone, right?”
Twilight’s mouth dropped, had that really happened? Together, her and the man turned to look at the source of this sudden outburst of information. Spike sat cross-legged on the ground, flicking at rocks around him. It wasn't until he looked up to see a horrified and bewildered pair staring at him that he realized he may have said something he shouldn't have. Silence filled the air, uncomfortable and overpowering. Twilight raced to find something to say, anything to break this dread air. How could she explain things now? There was no way to make that sound better, what would she do? It wasn't until the man spoke that she snapped back to reality.
“Why?”
She looked up at him, his face showed not anger, as she had expected, but instead genuine curiosity. Staring at him, she wondered if he had really meant that as a question, or, like her, simply wanted to break the silence. Regardless, it had been asked. And whether he was angry or not mattered little, it needed to be answered. It was a simple question, but its response would not be. How could it be? She had summoned him to them. A being, a man, who had quite possibly lost everything, because of her.
“I... you...” She struggled to find words, and it was at that moment that she realized why it was so hard. Tears welled up in her eyes, and fell freely towards the ground. How would she explain any of this to him? She wanted to tell him everything. About her world, her travels, her fears and doubts, hopes and dreams, Spike and her friends, why she summoned him and what he was here for. She wanted to tell him she expected a hero to help save this world from destruction, something she and Spike had been doing for several years. She wanted to tell him every last thing that had happened over these long years. She knew though, that she had to first find a way to explain why any of it even mattered to him, a man that knew nothing, and she wasn't sure she could.
“I'm not angry, or worried, or even scared so don't worry about that.” A hand placed itself on twilight's head, and she looked up to find him smiling, his eyes understanding. “Heck with my head the way it is right now, I'm not even sure I remember what any of those feelings are!” He laughed loudly, and another chuckle filled the air as they both turned to find Spike holding a hand to his mouth trying cover a smile from the horribly placed joke. The man grinned before turning to face Twilight again “I just want to know how I got here. I don’t blame you or Spike here for anything, I'm guessing there has to be a fairly good reason for me to be here, otherwise whatever spell you cast wouldn't have even happened in the first place right?” Twilight nodded her agreement. Was she really the one being comforted?
He stood up, dusting himself off. “So here I am. Wherever here is! At least I know I'm not alone anymore and whats better I think I may even have a coupl'a friends, or at least someone who wants me around, and that’s the best feeling I've had since I woke up!” He crouched down again to look at her once more. “So please, don’t think I'm holding anyone responsible. I just want to know whats going on. And from there we can try and figure out what I’m going to do. But seeing as how I was called here, I'm guessing you have something already planned for me right?”
Twilight sat dumbstruck on the ground, she couldn't believe how quickly he had come to terms with what had happened. Her worries dwindled as she continued to gaze at him, was explaining everything else to him all going to go this well? She knew that he had no understanding of his purpose here, but maybe he would be able to help them after all. No normal person would have taken news like this so easily. It would take a truly courageous person to take such a loss as his with stride. She rose from the ground and adjusted her robes, the man rose with her, hands at his hips. She turned to look at Spike who had risen as well, his lance hefted over his shoulder and and shield tightly bound across his arm. He winked at her, clearly he was now OK with their newly made friend.
“Well,” The man continued once more, nodding to himself. “Now that we're all set, how about telling me where we are?”
Twilight realized this was the best place to start, not just for him, but for them as well. After all, this was why he was here, to save the place he knew nothing about. The place Spike and herself called home. Her horn glowed softly and the man gazed at her in wonder. He said nothing as she used her power to pull a book from her pack. It levitated towards the center of the trio and they gathered around it as she opened it to a page she had grown familiar with over her travels. A map. A map that had helped her discover the spell that brought this person to her, and a map that would show him what he was here for, and what she and spike had been fighting for.
“You're in Equestria.” Twilight looked at him, her eyes soft and gentle as she continued slowly, “A land that we have been fighting to restore for years. A land that has fallen from grace and is now ruled by a tyrant bent on bringing chaos and ruin to everyone. A land, that needs your help, Hero.”
