Hyperborea

The ground wouldn't stop shaking. Fountains of magma penetrated the planet's surface. The oceans caught fire. The sky turned blood-red, and it seemed the world was ending before it even began.

I've seen many things over the years, but that day still clings to my head vividly and I remember one part in particular. The king had slumped to the ground after receiving a nasty blow. I was mortified, and I broke free of my mentor, and his adviser, and my own sister. I ran in between the monsters, and somehow made it to his side without dying. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. I struggled to bring him to his feet. He got up and stared straight ahead, as if nothing hit him, and into that writhing mass of blackness. He looked down at me, and his eyes told me what he was thinking. I didn't want him to do it. I began to sob hysterically.

"Please, don't go!" I wailed. I hugged his side, refusing to let him take another step forward. He knelt down and smiled at me with a father's love, and gently kissed my cheek.

He said only one sentence before he stood up again: "Peace, child. That's all I'll ever want. I will do anything to see it happen."

As he walked into the black mass, I saw his face one last time as he looked back. It was another warm smile, and it said to me, "I don't mind if I have to die."

I broke down, begging him to find another way, but my pleas never reached him. I was being carried away by the adviser, and my mentor had my sister on his back.

As I looked up again, I saw two figures, one of pure gold, the other of black light. Both were in a gridlock, and the mighty castle and the fantastic marble architecture around it were dark and decayed. As I and my friends walked away, black fog began to surround the area until I could see no more of the city or the men.

That was the day the kingdom of Hyperborea fell.

The silver beam hit the sky, heating the air with explosive speed, and unleashing a thunderous crack. It was so intense, the ground began to tremble and split from the release of raw, unfiltered energy. Far away, from a safe distance, a shadowy figure hovered in place, cautiously watching what could be mistaken as the beginning of the apocalypse. His green eyes glued to the spot of action with a mix of awe, fear, and confusion. After the fireworks died down, the living shadow darted away.

Hundreds of miles later, the being arrived at a towering castle and its fallen grandeur. The twisted spires and shattered stained-glass mocked its former glory. He flew through a broken window, and ran up the great hall, coming to a dead stop in front of a black throne. He knelt down.

“What is your news, my subject?” inquired a high, raspy voice.

“My lord…it is time. He is here,” replied the shadow.

“Hmm?” said the figure. “So fast. I thought the worm would have taken his sweet time, ‘adjusting’ and all…sound the attack.”

The shadow looked up and a wicked grin crossed his face.

“At once, my lord.”

Earlier…

Upon awakening again, Perseus bolted upright. He felt like he hadn’t been unconscious at all, and, in fact, felt rejuvenated. He inhaled deeply.

“Ahhhhh!”

The air was sweet. No hint of pollution by carbon, by methane…by anything, really. Just the very definition of fresh air. After his breather, Perseus surveyed his surroundings.

He was in an open field, with the greenest grass imaginable. In front and to his left were dense woodland areas. Behind and to the right was a small brook, but that wasn’t the awe-inducing wonder that lay before him. Off in the distance was a towering purple mountain, and it was so high, it looked like it could be scorched by the sun at midday. He also thought he could just barely make out what appeared to be a city, or castle of some sort, jutting out from the mountain.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to get on with my adventure. What did that weirdo say? 'Follow the mountain' or somethin' of that nature. Well, here I go then!" and Perseus charged off toward the towering mountain.

It hadn't been very long before Perseus was in the thickest part of the woods. He accidentally kicked up some pollen. He coughed a little.

"Man, this is taking forever!" He coughed again. "Shouldn't...I be...at that village...by now?" His brief comments were punctuated by violent coughing fits. Odd,, he thought. Jumping over fallen logs and bounding in between trees is tiring, but I don't think it's sickness-inducing. Maybe. The coughing didn't stop and soon it got so painful, Perseus thought he might upchuck his own insides.

"Oh my *cough!* God! What the hell *hack!* is happening to make me *cough!* feel like shit!?" He slowed down, stopped, and for a brief second, all was well. Then the hurricane landed.

He felt like he'd been struck by lightning. The pain was sharp, sharp as a knife, and he fell to his hands and knees, hacking up blood in between forced gulps of air.

"Oh, Jesus! What's...happening...to me!!??" he screamed. He felt the inside of his body bending, over and over, into new shapes.

"Wha-what...is my body...rebuilding itself?!?"

All at once, Perseus' body glowed silver, and twisted into such contortions he turned into a ball of energy. In mere seconds, he unleashed the pent-up fury inside him, and a pillar of light shot out from his spherical being.

His eyes popped open. He must have been out for a couple hours, because the sun was beginning to set.

"Oh, Lord...feels like I died and got brought back to life again. At least the pain's over now. Just gotta find my way over that tow-"

As Perseus brought his hand to his face, he realized something. He didn't have hands anymore, he had hooves, and he was "standing" on all fours.

Even from a few miles away, a hiker in the woods could clearly hear an ear-splitting, "OH, MY GOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!"

Perseus was glad he was out of that forest. It would be pretty embarrassing to have no idea how to control a this pony's body-his own body-and constantly be bumping into trees. At last, he could see his destination. A small village.

"Ow! Damn! What is this...some kinda-ow!-cruel mockery of a horse!? Man, I can't go into any town looking like this. What am I gonna do?"

He mused on his situation, and then an idea came to him.

"I think...if I've got it in this satchel-ah HA!" and he pulled it out. It was his old blanket.

"Hallelujah, I'm saved! They can see me in this, but they don't have to know who I am!" Perseus charged off enthusiastically, relieved and ready to carry on.

Minutes later, the sun had finally gone down. However, that didn't blind anypony to what was walking in their midst. They turned their heads. They stood in shock. And how could they not? A piece of the night sky was being worn on another pony.

"What a revoltin' development this is," Perseus muttered under his breath. He could swear there would be more humans around, not other freaks like him in his current shape. A yellow-colored passerby with a samurai-style ponytail turned his head in disbelief, and ran straight into a tree.

Perseus sighed. "Perfect. I have no idea where I am, no idea how to get out of my current situation and absolutely no freaking idea what to do! This can't get any worse..."

It did.

His musing caused him to become distracted, and he ran head on into a ladder. To make matters worse, another pony was on top of said ladder, hanging up a banner of silver and deep-space blue.

"Oi! Watch where your walkin', ya freakshow!"

I could've called you that much, Perseus thought.

"Sorry, buddy."

"I'll say y'are! What's yer problem?"

"JEE-zus, why are you all riled up?"

"Oh, me? Nothin'. I've just been hangin' up decorations all day for tha Lunar Festival!"

"The what?" Perseus cocked his head to one side questioningly. The older stallions jaw almost hit the floor.

"Yer pulling my leg, right? Right? The Lunar Festival. It's the exact same thing as the Summer Festival, but in honor of Princess Luna. It's during the night. Seriously kid, are ya from another planet?"

The irony of this statement made Perseus almost burst out in hysterical laughter.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, old man," and he chuckled a little bit.

"Eh...okay, kid," the older stallion laughed nervously. "But, if yer still confused, ya may want to check out the library. Just a thought."

Perseus perked up. "The library!" he exclaimed. "Excellent! I need answers, and I'm gonna get answers! Which way, sir?"

"Um...That'a way," he said, aiming his hoof in the direction of town square. "Can't miss it. It is a tree, after all."

Perseus cocked his head again. "A...tree...?" He paused.

"Well, that seems legit!" he piped, and he bounded off.

The stallion was right. This had to be the local library, ridiculous as it seemed. The sign on the front said so. Perseus looked around cautiously, brought his hoof up, and knocked lightly on the door. No answer.

He knocked again, a little harder this time.

No answer.

He shrugged, reached for the knob and tried-and failed-to turn it.

"Damn hooves," he muttered.

After  fifteen minutes of wrestling with the lock, he finally got the door open. The whole place was dark, but it wasn't pitch black. Perseus could see just a few feet in front of him. After letting his eyes adjust for a minute, he saw rows upon rows, columns upon endless columns of books on the shelves.

"Yikes. It's a bookworm's wet dream."

He walked over to the nearest shelf.

"Hmm...ancient incantations, charms, list of black magic, spells, transformations...I realize, now that I've gotten here, I don't even know what I'm looking for," he admitted to himself. "Well, best option now is to-"

He snatched as many books as he could carry in his hooves and started reading.

"-Grab a shit-ton of'em and hope for the best."

Not very far away...

Twilight was walking slowly back into town square with Spike hunched over on her back. She and all her friends had been helping out around Ponyville by hanging up decorations for the Lunar Festival. They all had finally finished after starting mid-afternoon.

"Well, we got through a lot of work in a very small amount of time. You should be proud of yourselves!" Twilight told her friends.

"That's true," Rainbow Dash replied. "Well, except Rarity. She tried to get out of hanging streamers across the clouds."

"Rainbow Dash, dear, you know very well that I'm afraid of heights."

"Then explain to me just why you interrupted the Best Young Flyers competition again?"

"I already said I was sorry!" Rarity exclaimed. She quickly regained her poise.

"Besides," she added nervously, "falling more than five-hundred feet into certain doom will do that to you, especially somepony like me."

"Oh, man. I'm exhausted," Spike said.

"Don't worry, Spike. I'll tuck you into bed nice and quick when we get home."

"Aww, Twilight! I don't wanna miss the festival!" Spike whined. Twilight chuckled to herself.

Works every time, she thought.

Suddenly, a bright, crystalline flash lit up the sky, and began to hurdle its way toward town square. Stopping on a dime, it released a shockwave that was followed by the sound of tinkling glass. It was a carriage that, seemingly, had the texture of diamonds.

"Twilight, do ya think that might be..."

"Yes, it is!"

Twilight took off too fast for Spike to react, and in a matter of seconds he had face-planted into the ground. Emerging from the carriage was Cadence, the Crystal Princess herself, and of course, Shining Armor. Twilight bounded up to them and bear-hugged her brother.

After letting go of some air on impact, Shining Armor exclaimed, "Twily! Ha-ha! Good to see you again!"

"You too, B.B.B.F.F.! Why are you here, though?"

"Just thought I'd come see my favorite sister!" he said.

Cadence added wryly, "And he's going to be commanding a bastion for the grand finale."

Armor rolled his eyes and blushed a bit as Twilight's friends rushed over to join the festivities.

"Hey, I think the festival's going to start soon, so why don't we go over to my place and play some games to pass the time?"

"Oh, boy! Games! Wait, wait, games like hide'n'seek? That'd be kinda boring! How about Truth or Dare?"

"Pinkie, relax. Ahm sure Twilight's got more than enough ideas in her head," Applejack reassured her.

"You have fun, then! I'll go find Aunt Celestia," Cadence told them.

"Bullshit."

Perseus threw another book against the wall in disgust. "Okay, that one's useless. Did I try...that one?" He picked up another. "Bah! Read this already!" and he threw that against the wall, too. The minor vibrations alerted an owl, who had been sleeping on its perch.

"Damn. I think I've looked through every single one of-" Perseus perked up his ears. He could faintly make out voices, coming from the back of the tree. He paused and looked around.

"Now what?"

The voices got louder as they rounded the library.

"Who's that?"

"Hoo?"

Perseus looked up.

"Hoo?"

"Shaddap, bird."

The voices got louder still and came close to the front door.

"Oh, shit! I should've figured someone would come sooner or later. I need to hide..."

Of course, the only things in the room were books strewn about everywhere. Perseus looked at them. Then he had an idea.

The door swung open and in walked the Mane 6, accompanied by Spike and Shining Armor. Spike hopped off Twilight's back and steadily walked forward.

"Finally! Good to be back ho-oh, boy!" He hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Oh, dear! Spikey-Wikey, are you okay?" Spike picked himself up in a hurry and brushed his scales, looking manly. "Yeah, Rarity, I'm fine."

"I'd better turn on the-oh my gosh, what happened here?!"

As soon as Twilight turned on the lights, the party was greeted by, to put it bluntly, a mess. The library books were everywhere.

"Sweet Celestia, what happened here?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Uh, no. Did somepony break in?" said Fluttershy.

"I assure you, if somepony did break in, they won't go far," Armor replied.

Then, softly, Owlicious fluttered down to Twilight and perched on a protruding branch.

"Hoo, hoo."

"Oh, hi, Owlicious! Is something wrong?"

"Hoo!" The owl jumped and flapped his wings.

"What is it? Do you need to show me something?"

Owlicious jumped from his perch and flew over to a mound of books on the floor and landed on it.

"What's he tellin' us, sugarcube?"

"Oo, oo! I know! I know what it is! Pick me! Pick me!" Twilight sighed.

"What's your guess Pinkie?"

"Okay, so the books must've come to life, and as soon as we step into that sea of them, we'll get swallowed! Whaddaya think?"

Owlicious slapped his face with his wing and piped up again with a commanding, "Who!" as he tore a book off the stack.

"I think you're little friend wants to show us one of those books, Twily."

Maybe, thought Twilight.

Owlicious dropped the book on the floor.

"...Or maybe what's under those books!"

She strode her way across the room and used her magic to fling the entire stack into the air. Everypony gasped. Who was sitting in the center, but Perseus himself. Knowing how the situation looked, he sighed.

"How did this hiding place seem so plausible at the moment and so stupid in retrospect?"

Perseus stood up and turned his head. There was a very long, very awkward silence before any of them said anything. Twilight, being a natural leader, spoke first.

"And...who are you?"

"A man on a mission."

"A what?"

"A man on a mission. Are you deaf?" Perseus snapped.

Shining Armor strode forward. "Pal, you're really not in a position to be talking lik-" Rainbow Dash cut him off mid-sentence.

"What's that weird thing on your back?"

Perseus turned to her and said calmly, "Oh, you mean my blanket? Yeah, it's been this way since...forever."

"That...is actually really cool."

"Yeah...anyway, buddy, I think you've got some explaining to do," Armor commanded. Perseus just scoffed at him.

"I couldn't tell you shit if I tried," he responded.

Twilight was more pissed at the fact that this stranger had uncerimoniously dumped all her books on the floor instead of sneaking into her house after hours, but that didn't change the fact that she walked right up to him and not only slapped his mug good, but also demanded an explanation.

"You. Talk. Now."

Perseus was in shock for a few seconds, but he begrudgingly complied with a, "Fine, sorehead. I'll give you the short version."

A long time in the past...

“Oh, God, no!”

He awoke with a start. He thought his nightmare had seemed so vivid. The dark beings with piercing green eyes. They were menacing, coming ever closer, and disclosing their shape. Almost human…but not quite. At least so it seemed, as they came closer, closer until-

“Wait a minute…where the hell am I?”

Having it take a second to fully realize where he was would be embarrassing. He could only guess what he was sitting on was a sea of glass. At the horizon point, there were clouds. White and puffy above, dark and puffy below. And the clouds soon melted away to a clear blue sky and the vastness of space above and below respectively, with the sun square center on top and a crescent moon below. It was truly a photogenic landscape.

He was still trying to take in his surroundings when, suddenly, his gut told him then was another presence in the same space, and watching him. He wheeled around to find a man. At least it could’ve been a man. It was more of an outline, filled with a kind of maroon-colored energy, and in place of the eyes were slanted, almond shaped holes filled with golden color. He was about to run away when the man spoke.

“Stay your ground, child,” he commanded. His voice was unnaturally regal and calming.

The other person summoned all his bravery and spoke, stammering “W-what’s y-you-your name?”

“What is your name, child?”

“Excuse me?”

“What is your name?”

“My name? My name is-”

“Perseus.”

“Hey, don’t cut me off! And how dare you give me a name I don’t have!?”

“But you do have it.”

“You’re crazy.”

“It is your true name, child.”

"What are you talking about?”

“Hush. It will all become clear in time. Now listen, and I’ll be brief. You have a grand adventure ahead of you. It will be fraught with peril, and I have seen it.”

“You have?”

“I have always seen it.”

“Crazy as you are, you’re actually kinda makin’ sense. Continue.”

“You are going to save the world, and to a lesser extent, the universe. Ours and yours.

“Heh. A lesser extent? Isn’t the universe the biggest damn thing in existence? And what’s this ‘ours and yours’ thing?”

“Quiet. You must journey this path that has been set for you. The fate of the world is dependent on it, and it will not be easy.”

“Like I haven’t heard that a billion times from the same story arc in comic books and TV shows.”

“Indeed. But know this: though you’ll face challenges and horrors…”

“Horrors?”

“…You will not do it alone. I have foreseen it. So it is written.”

“Alright then, great! What do I do first?”

The strange man motioned out to the horizon.

“Walk.”

“Walk?”

“Yes. After you awaken, go in the direction of the mountain. There you will find a small village. There will you organize a group to journey with you. There will your adventure begin.”

“Sounds easy. Keep the tips comin’, pal. It’s like having God as a life coach

“I am afraid that is all I can tell you, but do not fear. It will be clear in time. Besides, you are the opposite of fear.”

“Well…if you say so,” and with that, he walked off.

“And remember,” the strange man yelled after him. “You are Perseus! And you are a proud guardian for the world! The world I made!”

Mist began to surround the new adventurer.

Proud guardian, thought Perseus.

The mist began to close in and the last thing he thought of was,

I like the sound of that.

After Perseus told his story, he apologized for throwing all the books on the floor (but not without remarking "I still blame your lack of variety for this mess," under his breath).

The others were staring at him wide-eyed. Perseus decided to take their looks with a grain of salt.

"Listen, I don't care if you don't like me, but if you would be so kind as to point me in the way of some one who actually knows what the hell they're doing, I'll be on my merry way and you'll never hear from me again."

Everypony stared at each other with a "well, what now?" look, but Fluttershy, scared out of her skin as she was by this stallion, valiantly stepped forward.

"Well, um, we don't have much around here, but the Canterlot library might have something..."

Perseus scowled doubtingly.

"I-i-i-if you think that'll help," she stammered.

Perseus' frown increased. He then picked his head up with an air of arrogance and strode out the door, but turned back after he started few feet.

"Consider me interested, but I don't know where the hell this 'Canterlot' is, so if you want to get rid of me quickly, help a brother out," and he continued on in the wrong direction.

The small group looked at each other and ran after him, with Pinkie calling out, "Hey, silly, the city's this way!"

Shining Armor huffed and walked on.

Celestia, give me the knowledge to guide this kid, the strength to throttle him, and the willpower to not do it...yet, he thought.