Andrew cursed as he wildly swerved his Ford Explorer to avoid the deer outlined in his headlights. The SUV nearly nicked the deer as it skidded past, barely managing to stay on the asphalt. As soon as he passed the unexpected obstacle, he hit his breaks and rapidly brought his vehicle to a halt on the edge of the road.
Damn country roads he thought, angrily glaring over his shoulder at the deer, which had already bolted off after its near brush with death. He sighed, and focused on calming his wildly beating heart and shot nerves. This is why I hate the forest and these damn roads. Never any danger of hitting a deer on the 710 or 605 Freeways, at least. Which was more than made up for the thousands of people the travel on those freeways on a daily basis (and get into car crashes), but Andrew figured he liked better the danger he knew, as opposed to an unfamiliar one. He turned and back and glared at the road ahead of him, however, the road was impervious to his anger and simply ignored him. Andrew sighed as he glanced at the clock. It read 8:00 am. Normally I’m still asleep around this hour. Damn the SAC County for pulling me in during my day off. This day already sucks balls, he decided as he released the brakes and quickly accelerated to the speed limit. Why does the universe seem to go so far out of the way to screw with me? he mused as he drove, once again not paying a great deal of attention to the road. Realizing his sullen attitude wouldn’t help anything, he tried for optimism. Hey, this day can’t get much worse right? I mean, I feel like I’ve already used up my bad luck quota for the day.
Andrew should have known that you don’t toss the universe lines like that. That's just tempting fate.
Andrew pulled into his driveway, scratch that, small park that served as his driveway. He took a moment to examine his house, which was still wholly unfamiliar to him. His parents had moved here after he left their home in LA to go college at a CalState. They were tired of the city, and they wanted to go somewhere nice to retire. They bought the house from a former rancher (and because it was close to SAC), and proceeded to completely renovate the house to a more modern state. Dad was always obsessed with technology, Andrew thought has he looked at the gleaming solar panels on the roof as well and the new model electric truck. He smiled sadly as he relived some old memories. Fishing with his dad. That cruise to Alaska. All those care packages from home when he still attended college. Going to Six Fl- he abruptly cut himself off. Best not to think about that kinda stuff he told himself as he trudged to his front door.
He heard some scuffling on the other side of the door as he inserted the key. Smiling, he threw open the door and was quickly tackled by 60 pounds of slobbering dog. “Hey Crazy, how you doing? “Andrew smiled as he called her by her nickname. After the greeting, the dog excitedly rushed back the way it came. Andrew sighed as it disappeared around the corner. He just couldn’t understand why it always seemed to by rushing to get back to its bed in the den. It’s not like it’s going anywhere. He headed over to the kitchen to grab a coke and quickly made for his favorite spot in the house.
His family had called it “The Command Center.” It had three large monitors mounted on three sides of the room, one for each computer. Each computer was custom assembled by Andrew himself, and were constantly upgraded as new parts came out. Within the various storage compartments along the sides of the room were various external hard drives that contained material accumulated during the course of Andrew life. They had everything from movies, to pictures, ebooks, video games, music, and documents from work all neatly organized by hard drive. Being a single bachelor with an engineer’s salary definitely had some perks. Andrew seated himself on his favorite office chair with a small sigh of pleasure. He activated his personal computer and typed in the password. Grabbing his earphones, he leaned back and opened a playlist on piano pieces. Hmm..I guess Yiruma would be good for now. His pieces were great…decision made, he closed his eyes and listened to the soothing sound of River Flows in You. He fell asleep before the piece even ended.
And that’s when the universe decided to make its move.
…………………………
While in the general area of SAC, Northern California, Andrew’s neighborhood could hardly be called densely populated. The nearest neighbors were a few miles away. So, despite all the police questioning, no one could turn up any witness’s to the debacle. The entire thing was bizarre. Where Andrew’s house had been, there was forest. The road had been cut. All traces of Andrew’s house and possessions had disappeared completely. The police promised friends and relatives to continue the search, but in truth, they doubted they would ever find Andrew. What sort of power could simply wipe someone off the map like they had never existed? One crime scene investigator looked at the scene and shrugged at his partner. “I dunno what happened.” He idly scratched his head. “It’s seems almost like magic.” His partner laughed.
…………………………..
Andrew’s rather pleasant dreams were interrupted by the crash of thunder and a searing light that was so intense, it almost felt like a physical force. To Andrew, it felt like getting socked in the face by a laser. If his eyes had been open, he would have been blinded. Stumbling out of his chair and turning away from the sole window in the room, he threw himself under a desk and awaited the inevitable shock wave that came after a nuclear explosion.
The light how ended as abruptly as it had stared and the room became pitch black, yet Andrew still huddled under his desk, cursing himself for never building any kind of fallout shelter or at least having a hazmat suit. The mushroom cloud is probably blocking out the sun or something….Had Andrew been thinking rationally, he would have realized how absurd his idea was. It the cloud were close enough to block out the sun, by extension, he would have been either blasted by the shockwave or incinerated. Another five minutes passed. Andrew slowly picked himself up from the floor and cautiously approached the window. As he did so, he reached under his desk and pulled out M9 Beretta from a hidden holster. He worked the slide, chambering a round, but did not yet take the safety off. Pressing himself against the side of the window, he peeked out cautiously. What he saw dumbfounded him.
It was night. Andrew looked up and saw what appeared to be a full moon. Andrew’s brain went into overdrive, trying to rationalize what he saw to some kind of logic. It failed. He glanced at the clock. 10:11 am. Andrew rubbed his eyes. Blinked. No change. He tried again. Still no change. He pinched himself. No change. Andrew was simply at a loss for words. Abruptly, he made a decision. Fuck this shit. I’m going to bed. He slowly trudged his way to his bedroom, tugged open the door, and hit his bed like sack. He was asleep moments later.
…………………………………
Luna trotted gracefully through the empty hallways of Canterlot castle. She carefully watched each step, planning every fluid movement. Glancing around for observers, and finding none, she sighed and allowed herself some freedom of movement. I simply don’t understand how Tia does it she grumbled. How can she make looking so graceful look so effortless?! Practice makes perfect? HA! As if I haven’t seen thousands of mimics get it wrong no matter how much they practice…
Muttering darkly, she continued her sullen walk until she reached her favorite place in all Canterlot. The Royal Observatory. Discarding her previous attitude like a cloak, she immediately brightened at the idea of simply examining her starry sky for a few peaceful hours. No court duties, no annoying politicians, complaints….none of it! A delightful break after the tedium of bureaucracy. She hummed to herself while fiddling with her telescope. What shall we look at today I wonder? she thought as she finally readied her telescope for duty. She paused, deep in thought. ……..I know! Tonight I’ll –
Her thought was cut off as she spotted a bright glow deep in the Everfree forest. She immediately turned her telescope to the phenomenon, but before she could even take a look, the glow ended as abruptly as it had begun. Luna pondered as to what the phenomenon could possibly be. Nothing comes to mind immediately…She shrugged, and filed the phenomenon away for later investigation. She had more pressing things to attend to.
……………………………….
Andrew groaned as he opened his eyes, automatically looking at his bedside clock. It burned a steady 5:52 pm. He looked at his window. It was as bright as day. Frowning, his sleeping mind attempted to reconcile the difference between the actual time of day, and the time of day his clock told him it was. How…what? And then he remembered. He jumped out of bed and threw open his window. He wasn’t greeted with the familiar sight of the road that led to his house. Well he was, but it had changed. Now the road abruptly ended at a tree. But that wasn’t the strange part. The strange part was that the tree had been sliced in half, vertically where it met the road. He looked around. He had always had to remove flora that grew too close to his home, they were a fire hazard. But now…….His house was completely hemmed in by trees. There wasn’t even space to move a car even if he had wanted to.
First he tried to phone. No response. Then his cellphone. No response. Internet on his phone. No response. Then he went to his computer. There was no internet connection. He checked his radio. All he got for his trouble was some static.
At this point, Andrew was past the stage of panic. He had watched enough science fiction and read enough novels to know that he was truly, utterly, completely, in deep freakin shit. Fact of the matter was, he was completely cut off and isolated from everything he knew and loved. There was only one thing left at the moment.
Survival of the Fittest.
He began by cataloguing all the food and water he had left. He had already tried the tap water, no response. He checked the old well out in the back. It had run dry when the water table fell...but if he was right….”Success!” he cried as his plastic pail returned with water. He took a sip. The water didn’t even taste slightly contaminated. Regardless, it would still have to be filtered. He filled up his containers and returned to the house, pleased with his discovery.
By evening the next day (he reset his clocks to approximate local time) he had finished taking stock of all the food he had in the house, including the emergency stores. By his estimate, with proper rationing, he might be able to last a month on stored food alone, made possible only by the backup military MRE’s his dad had stored away. Speaking of which….
He needed some way to defend himself or hunt. He entered the basement. There was one side of the basement kept clear at all times. On this wall were two large tables, with one large metal safe on each of them. Andrew inserted a key and turned. He opened them and took out their most important contents. Now, on one table lay a scratched and beat up M1 Garand, a relic of WW2, with 10 clips and a bayonet. On the other, lay a Remington bolt-action in .30-06 hunting rifle with a box of rounds, and AR-15 with 4 magazines. Smiling, Andrew quickly examined the weapons and deemed then in working condition. It was a small comfort to Andrew that at least he still had to power to defend himself, at least until the ammunition ran out. With that out of the way, he took a moment to ponder their use.
He was no hunter or soldier. While he may know how to handle a firearm, he did not know even the basics of hunting and tracking animals. And there was no way he could get his dog to do it, he didn’t have a clue how to train her, and she was already pretty old. If only I still had access to the internet…google always did know the answer. The only way to extend my rations is to hunt and scavenge for food.
Then it hit him. There was simply no way he could survive by hunting and scavenging. His entire plan was completely wrong. Even if he could somehow manage to sustain himself with hunting and foraging, when winter hit…he would probably die. He cursed his softness and the lack of practical training for city kids for wilderness survival. He sat down and thought for a moment. His session was brief, for he did not have many options. I have to find civilization. It’s my only chance.
………………………………
It took him two days to prepare himself, physically and psychologically, for the task ahead. He had no vehicle that could traverse such rough terrain. Thus, he would be limited to simply what he could carry with him. There was no way he could leave Crazy behind, so he would have to take her into account as well. Fortunately she was trained enough to follow him and not go snooping off everywhere. He had his basic survival gear, a must have when living alone in near wilderness. He had enough rations and water to last him and Crazy four days. He had a tablet and journal to record observations. And finally, he carried his M9 and the Remington, along with 1 magazine for the M9and forty rounds for the Remington.
He stepped out the door, Crazy dogging his heels, and locked it. He stepped back a few paces and looked one last time at his house. On the roof the building, extending high into the sky, sat a large pole. On top of the pole, flapping in the wind was American Flag. He had figured that it was the best way to mark his house, as he had no means of leaving some sort of trail and his memory for directions was horrible. And if, for some reason, he never returned…at least “Ol Glory would remain as a testimony to him.
He threw a quick salute to the flag, turned, and walked into the forest, Crazy close behind. He did not look back.
Note to Readers: Thanks so much for reading this! Chap 2 is out and ready for examination. I hope you enjoy it!
Also, I will be going over chapter one, changing some stuff and fixing mistakes.
*Somewhere in the Everfree*
Andrew glimpsed the slowly darkening sky through the thick canopy of the forest. He had trekked through the lush and verdant undergrowth all morning and afternoon, his faithful lab trailing close behind. He had paused only to rest his aching muscles and eat a quick lunch. Dead tired did not even begin to describe how he felt.
At first attempting to use his compass to chart a path, he quickly discovered - to his dismay - that it no matter the orientation, the compass needle refused to align itself. The possibilities and implications presented by the lack of a magnetic field was enormous. Andrew was dazed at the thought of it all. How was the planet protected from solar wind of the sun? Without it, the ozone layer should have been stripped from the planet, or never even developed at all. Which in turn, meant that life shouldn't have developed as well....Logically, none of this was possible. But empirical evidence suggests otherwise. But....
Andrew's brain automatically commenced an emergency thought shutdown algorithm before he could spiral down into the depths of madness. Running his hand through his hair, Andrew decided that he simply would assume everything was Earth-like unless he found proof otherwise. Illogical? Perhaps. Necessary to maintain sanity? Absolutely.
Heedless of his scientific and philosophical musings that he entertained himself with, his stomach - the pretentious bastard - growled loudly at him. His swift glare was met with an even louder complaint. He had walked steadily for the better part of six hours after lunch with a heavy pack that he was unused to lugging around everwhere. Necessary as the pack was, it was a major drain on his stamina and willpower. "Dammit Captain, I'm a friggin engineer, not a donkey! he muttered under his breath. He quickly regretted that action, he was short enough on breath as it was. No point wasting energy needlessly when he didn't even know when he would reach his destination.
Or if he would reach his destination -any destination, for that matter.
However - while his overall situation was dire, he was wasn't dead yet, and he needed to find some sort of shelter to pitch his tent in for the night. Andrew forged ahead relentlessly, and quickly came to a small clearing. With a small sigh he dropped his pack and belt pouches on what appeared to be a soft carpet of pine needles.
Andrew was glad for the familiar flora and fauna, he didn't think he would be able to trek through the forest of say, Pandora, so easily. Andrew couldn't remember if there were man eating plants in that universe, but he did remember the fauna. He shuddered for a moment at the thought. God help me if I run into anything like those monsters over here.
Once again, after gathering his wits -and berating himself for allowing his thoughts to get sidetracked- he concentrated on pitching his camp. Quickly pitching his small tent, he gathered what wooden debris he could find -there was plenty of it around in the form of fallen branches and sticks - he managed to get a roaring fire going just before sundown. He was glad he got the fire up in time, he couldn't afford to waste any precious battery power by using a flashlight.
As he heated his meal over the flames, he idly stroked Crazy's back as he tried his best to not think about any long term plans. There was no way to tell what the next day would bring for him, and the less he thought about it, the better he would function. Crazy, being a simple dog, had no thoughts about the next day whatsoever. She was simply content to rest and revel in the attention of her master and friend. Crazy nudged Andrew's other hand, craving attention. Andrew glanced at his lifelong companion, a small smile blossoming on his face for a brief moment.
Whatever happened, whatever his fate may be, whatever misfortunes might befall him...he wasn't alone. He had his faithful companion with him. Someone to live for, other than himself. A friend.
Suddenly the world didn't seem like such a dark place.
................................
The sweet aroma of cooked meat drifted into the forest. Many miles from the campsite, dozens of creatures awakened from their slumber. To their magically enhanced senses, the air was saturated the sticky scent of blood and fresh meat. Sleep could wait. There was prey to be had.
The hunt was on.
................................
*Ponyville, Equestria *
"SPIKE! Are you DONE yet?"
"Coming Twilight! Hold your horse's!
Spike scampered down the stairs, arms laden with books and scrolls. He found Twilight in the common room, pacing restlessly back and forth. Before her levitated - lo and behold- a checklist and quill. Twilight grimaced slightly, eyes relentlessly scanning the page for mistakes, errors and unchecked items. She found none. Against what most would consider "common sense," that fact only seemed to increase her anxiety. There wasn't a more fervent supporter of "Sparkle's Law" in all of Ponyville.
"Spike! Are the food, scrolls, and clothes packed?" Spike rolled his eyes at this.
"Yeah, as well as the extra food, ink, and quills you asked for," he pointed out.
Twlight's eyes narrowed at the sarcasm. Spike raised his forelimbs in surrender.
"Alright I'll double check! Just give me a sec..." he said as he climbed the stairs. Yet again.
"Crazy OCD ponies..." he muttered under his breath.
"What'd you say Spike?!" Spike decided a fast escape was in order.
"Nothing! You must have imagined it!" Spike doubled his pace and quickly disappeared from view as he finally reached the 2nd story.
Twilight grinned the moment Spike stepped out of sight. In point of fact, she didn't hear anything at all, but she had known Spike all his life. It was easy to guess that he was complaining and respond accordingly. She was sorry to run him this ragged, especially so early in the morning, but she had no choice unless she wanted to be late for her expedition into the Everfree. Needless to say, Twilight didn't even consider being late an option.
Her grin was quickly replaced by a frown as she scanned her checklist once again. As far as she could tell, everything seemed to be in order. As she-finally!- laid her checklist down, she her thoughts turned back to the letter she had received from the Princess herself merely two days ago.....
To my Twilight, my Faithful Student,
As you may already know, when Nightmare Moon first rose against me, the finest library in Equestria, the Royal Library 'Libraria Alexandria', burned in our old castle. Much knowledge, history, and artifacts, were lost on the conflagration that engulfed nearly the entire castle. However, it has come to my attention that, in fact, Nightmare Moon hid caches of books from the library in magically protected vaults, intending to remove and restore them once she established herself as ruler of Equestria in my place. The spells used to protect the vaults were very powerful, and have likely managed to keep their contents safe for the last thousand years. Those books may still be there, and represent a great deal of knowledge and history that could be recovered for the good of all of Equestria.
As my faithful student and librarian, I would charge you to retrieve those books from their resting places and rightfully return them to their proper place in the Canterlot Royal Archives. If you accept this mission, your escort to to the ruins of the old castle will arrive in two days, at daybreak. Do not worry about locating and breaking the enchantments, your escort will be more than capable of doing so for you.
Twilight, will you, for the greater good of all of Equestria, undertake this mission in the name of your Princess and mentor?
Princess Celestia
P.S. When you return to deliver the books to the Canterlot Royal Archives, I would be more than happy to accompany you to Pony Joe's. My treat.
Twilight smiled as she remembered the post script. Princess Celestia knew her too well; how could she refuse an offer like that?
................................
It was nearly daybreak. Spike and Twilight piled all of Twlight's "necessities," for a possibly lengthy stay at the ruins, outside the library and were impatiently awaiting the arrival of her escort.
"Hey Twlight...." Spike coughed to clear his throat. Twilight immediately caught the note of worry in his tone.
"Spike? What's wrong?" she gently questioned.
"Well, I know this mission is important to the Princess and all... but do you have to go around putting yourself in danger all the time?"
Twilight was taken aback and at the same time, touched by his concern. Spike had never voiced any concerns for her previous quests for Celestia. She reminded herself that, however old he acted sometimes, he was still a child. And children sometime needed someone to comfort their fears.
"Spike, you know as well as I do that the Princess would never send me to do something unless the situation called for it. Besides, this mission is hardly dangerous, I am to be escorted by the Royal Guard themselves!" she stated cheerfully. She actually was glad for their presence actually. Going into the Everfree was dangerous enough in a group, going alone even more so.
Spike turned away, unable to refute the logic in her statements and somewhat mollified. He gave a long sigh. "Well I suppose you'll be fine, just come back safe and sound alright?" he replied as his gaze scanned the sky.
At that, Twilight gave him a wonderfully reassuring smile.
"Of course Spike," she said as she nuzzled him closely. "You know me, I'm always careful."
Spike's only response was a snort. The moment was over.
Twlight felt a twinge of annoyance at this. Children could also be infuriating at times, she reflected.
During the conversation, the sky had been slowly growing lighter. In a sudden flash, the sun rose over the horizon with a flash of light, illuminating Ponyville with its rays of warmth and light.
"Hey Twilight! I think they're here!" Twilight followed Spike's Spike gaze as he shielded his eyes from the sun. Sure enough, she spotted several dots on the horizon, steadily flying closer from the direction of Canterlot.
Twilight turned to Spike.
"Well Spike, I left a list of chores - Spike made a disgusted sound, cutting her off. She glared at him, and he subsided.
"Ahem, like I was saying....." she cast a warning look at Spike who grinned but remained silent. " I have left list of chores and other things things I need done while I am away on the night table. I am not sure how long the mission will take, but regardless, I expect you to maintain the library in tip-top shape even in my absence. Is that understood? she finished as she eyed him.
Spike nodded his assent.
Pleased, Twlight gave him a beaming smile. Spike could have sworn that she nearly glowed for the moment (not an impossibility, he noted) "Excellent." she said as she turned away...and then turned back around, a new thought striking her. She sighed. "As long as you get everything done and maintain the library...you can take a break until I return."
At this Spike jumped into the air and pumped his fist. "Yes!" Twilight's response was interrupted by the arrival of the royal escort, as two chariots lightly thumped into the ground, catching her attention. She turned to face them...and was completely stunned by what she saw.
"Princess Luna! She gasped as she and Spike prostrated herself before the midnight blue alicorn.
"PLEASE R-*ahem* Please rise, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike. There is no need to observe royal formalities while outside of Canterlot." Princess Luna explained as they rose. Twilight immediately noted the modernity of the princess's dialogue compared to her previous antiquity. She has improved significantly from when I last saw her. Twilight couldn't help but feel pleased, after all, she was one of the people responsible for that improvement.
"Of course Princess, Twilight responded. Princess Luna looked away.
"Please Miss Sparkle, I would much prefer to be called Luna during this expedition...I have yet to actually fully resume my full duties as Princess of the Night at this time, I do not deserve the title." Twilight felt a pang of sadness at this.She still hasn't gotten over her actions as Nightmare Moon Twilight realized. I bet she hardly interacts with anyone other than Princess Celestia right now. She must not have a lot of friends at the palace... Then, Twilight finally realized why Celestia sent Luna long with her escort. And now she has to return to the one place where she is reminded of her actions, and undo enchantments she herself placed as Nightmare Moon... Twilight resolved to do her best to extend the Magic of Friendship to her while she still could. While she made some progress already, that wasn't nearly enough; she barely had a chance to actually talk to her during Nightmare Night.
"I would be happy to Prin- Luna." Twilight blushed at her hasty self-correction. Luna, for her part, pretended not to notice. "However, there is one condition." Luna's ears perked at this, she couldn't remember the last time anyone had tried laid a limitation on her (other than her sister of course.)
"In return, you must call me Twilight." Twilight looked at Luna expectantly.
"I accept your condition...Twilight. Now, would you please step into the chariot of your choice?" She hesitated for a moment. "Twilight, would it not be too presumptuous of me to request you ride with me on the royal chariot?" Luna indicated which one was the royal chariot with a pointed hoof.
At this, Twilight grinned. "Of course not Luna, I would be honored to do so!"
Luna looked visibly relieved at this. "Excellent!" she said while telekinetically grabbing Twilight's luggage and storing them on the other chariot. "Come! I believe we have much to talk about during our journey."
Twilight gave Spike one last hug and looked him in the eye.
"I'll be back soon, alright?" Spike nodded in agreement as he returned the hug.
"It's a promise I'll hold you too, Twilight." he said as they released each other
Twlight clambered onto the chariot and soon enough, the royal guardponies - Luna's Royal Nights (haha get it?) instead of the expected Solar Knights - quickly took to the air and began their journey to the ruins of the Castle of Two Sister's. But as they approached the Everfree forest, Twilight just couldn't shake the feeling that something big was going to happen. Don't be so paranoid Twilight!, she panned to herself. With Luna here, what could possibly go wrong?
You would think that such a devoted follower to Sparkle's Law would know better than to even think something like that.
