Your Human and You: Lone Ascendant

It had been an hour since the rift had closed on Daniel, leaving him to an unknown fate in a strange land. During he first twenty minutes he had raged, then stewed, before finally calming down and set to figure out his predicament.

He learned many things very quickly about his situation. The first thing was he was nowhere near a cell tower, so his I-Phone had no signal whatsoever. He couldn't call for help, or text in this case. Which led to the second thing he learned, which was that his voice for some reason decided to take a vacation and stop working. Whenever he tried to speak, or even form words with simple grunts, his throat would clench and he would cough and wheeze like he had taken water into his lungs. He realized that with his grunting, that his vocal cords were at the least still working, so he tried to at least whisper words. That for some reason didn't work either.

It didn't make sense, because even a person unable to talk, who possessed working vocal cords, could still whisper. He couldn't even do that! So he finally decided to simply try and mouth the words while breathing. It worked. The words did come out and he had at least a measure of speaking, but he was still silent unless he breathed a ton of air through his mouth as he 'spoke'. It was something at least, but hardly the same as talking.

The third, and most obvious thing he learned was he wasn't in Alaska anymore. The Rift had decided to deposit him in the middle of a goddamned desert. The sun was high and beaming its unkind rays upon him, and the ground absorbed it like a sponge. The ground was hot to the touch, which in turn heated the air up to nearly unbearable temperatures. Daniel was used to the heat though. His family had a home in Florida, inherited from his grandparents after they had died, and as a teenager he spent many winters, and summers, in the humid heat. This heat was up there with Florida heat, but lacked the humidity that made would have made it miserable otherwise.

The last thing learned was two fold. What time it actually was, and which way north and south were. Daniel didn't know where on earth he had been deposited, but if it's a desert, then there were only so many places he could have been. North America, Africa, The Middle East, parts of Asia, and Australia were it. They were the only places that he could think of that had deserts. Daniel really hoped he wasn't in the middle east. The last thing he needed to deal with was all the conflict and warfare taking place there, and worse things.

Daniel found out both the time and directions of North/South with the use of his survival knife. He had bought this particular one at a knife sale in Wasilla years ago, and it was one of the best knives he had ever seen. normally knives like this were crap, but this one was well made. Metal polish all over, solid grip and a tight blade that didn't wobble. The blade itself was only eight inches long, but that was enough for most things, and it had holes cut into the blade so you can stab something and pull it out without due difficulty. What got Daniel interested in it aside from looking good, was it was a function survival weapon. the handle was hollowed out, but thin compared to most knives of the same type. He had 12 strike anywhere matches, 12 toothpicks for various things, including as a fire starter, and a sealed plastic bag with fishing line, a few hooks and sinkers, and a needle and white thread.

It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. what was important to him regarding that knife however was the magnetic compass built into the pommel. He knew which was was which thanks to it. He figured out the time of day from that point.

Daniel didn't have to worry about that however, since he had a working vehicle and everything he was taking with him on his photo-trip.

He had re-checked his inventory to make sure of what he had since he was technically in a survival situation until further notice.

Looking over the whole of the truck, he had his documentation and maintenance manual for the truck, two LED flashlights, a box of sprays, wire, filters, gloves, and and oil for the truck, a sleeping bag, a foam mat to lay on, four pillows, a cooler full of ice with food and drink inside that will last two days if he ate like everything was normal, two rolls of paper towels, a bag with his toothbrush and toothpaste, a comb and hairspray, and some moisturizer to handle his dry skin, and some Old Spice antiperspirant and deodorant.

He also had a spanner wrench, a small jack, a spare tire, a small pouch of tools with screwdrivers and crescent wrenches, and other sorted tools, a small rubber hose that was five feet long, his laptop and the equipment meant to plug it into the truck, along with the wire and a power jack to recharge his phone, and finally his photography equipment. He also had a blow torch with a propane bottle, a small butane torch for small things, an a propane stove to cook with, and four propane bottles to go with it.

He also had a hatchet for wood cutting and other things that might need being done. Since he was prepped for hunting as well, he has a filet knife, three boxes of bags, one for sandwiches or other things, quart bags and gallon bags. He also had a small coil of nylon rope for birds and the like. On top of that, he had a single pot, a single small pan, a few metal spits, some eating and cooking utensils and scissors made of metal, a cooking thermometer, and a carving knife.

So overall he had the tools necessary to make his stay here comfortable at the least.

He looked upon his photo equipment that consisted of his Nikon D3300 digital camera, an 18-55mm lens, the 55-200mm lens, and his 800mm zoom lens. He also had his tripod, and camera bag, which he used more to carry his GameBoy 3DS and games then the camera these days.

Speaking of bags, he had his large backpack which also carried his sketch books, a few "How to" art books on various styles of drawing, and all of pens and pencils to draw with.

The last part he checked were his weapons that he carried with him. His rifle, shotgun, and revolver.

His rifle was an Springfield Armory M6 Scout Survival Rifle. It was a simple weapon, mainly used to hunt small to medium game. A barrel on top to fire a .22 long rifle round, and a barrel on the bottom that fired .410 shotgun shells. It could fire .45 caliber as well, but Daniel didn't need that since he had his revolver. the stock stored four shells and twelve rounds, but he also had two more boxes of shells and two boxes of bullets, giving him forty shells and one hundred rounds to work with.

His shotgun was for trouble, not hunting, which Daniel felt he was soon gonna need if things turned pear shaped. Something most people don't know is that the most feared weapon during the Vietnam war was not the M-16, the Flamethrower, or even the bombs and missiles fired from planes. It was the shotgun. Shotguns don't discriminate or really need to be aimed to kill people, and Daniel carried one of the best ones he could buy.

The shotgun was a twelve gauge Mossberg 500 tactical. This thing was meant to kill, as it served Daniel no other purpose then self defense. It had a capacity for eight shells, plus one in the barrel to bring the heat. In addition to that, Daniel had a flashlight installed under the barrel for night use, and a tactical grip for better handling. Daniel had brought with him only three boxes of shells, giving him only sixty shells to work with. He wished he had brought more.

The last weapon was his revolver. It was a gift from his father to him when he was fourteen, and he's had it forever. It was a .357 magnum "Trooper Special". there was nothing really 'special' about it aside that it was the model used primarily by the U.S. border Patrol once upon a time. It was simply a .357 magnum model 27-2. Polished Stainless Steel, with wooden grip, and a four inch barrel. This puppy had a hair trigger, and loud bark with an even meaner bite. It was loaded with six rounds, and Daniel had two boxes of ammunition for it, giving him one hundred rounds.

The truck itself didn't need an oil change for another two thousand miles, it had a thirty gallon gas tank, and he still had three quarters of that tank left to use, and he had a spare five gallon tank of gas for emergencies up front.

Overall, Daniel was as ready for whatever he would face as he could ever be. He just wished he could voice it.

'Well....there's nothing to be gained by staying here. Time to get going.'

Taking the weapons up front, and stowing away everything else, Daniel started the truck up and turned north east to where he could see in the distance a dozen small desert mountains. He could only hope that there was a town or something to be found near there. If nothing else, where there's a mountain, there's a chance for shelter of some sort.

'I just hope I can make it...' Daniel thought with dread as he drove off into the barrens.

As he drove on, Daniel took note of the desolate beauty the place actually had. He wasn't one to usually see deserts as a good place to visit, but since he was here...the photographer in him insisted on seeing what one could consider beautiful.

It did have it, but it was hard to appreciate it unless one really looked. The endlessness was actually serene in a way. Silent, and containing a sort of mystery about it. History untold. It wasn't exactly breath taking though as it was just flat land as far as the eye can see.

He lost that line of thought as he began to get closer to the mountains. They were still around thirty or so miles away from his guesstimate, and on flat land, with a straight shot, that would take him about twenty to thirty minutes to reach if he went only sixty. He began to enter a rather rocky region of the desert however, and it seemed to go all the way across in all directions. Like a wave that just stopped. Daniel didn't know why that was, though if he were a geologist then he could probably guess.

As it was, he had to slow down and go around boulders, rocks and ledges with care. He traveled around only thirty miles per hour safely, so it would take him about an hour to reach the mountains. His drive was uneventful for the the first ten minutes, and his thoughts of figuring a path out came to a halt when a screech filled the air from behind him.

quickly looking to the rear view mirrors, his eyes widened in shock at the fact he was being chased by what appeared to be the biggest wild boar ever!

A quick judgement told him the animal was around ten feet high and probably around double that in length, and possibly weighed around one or two tons. He didn't know about that last estimate, but judging by the craters it was leaving behind with its arms, it was a good...wait.

ARMS?!

Thoroughly distracted, he almost hit a large boulder as he noticed for the first time that the boar was by no means normal...in fact...normal seemed to be taking a vacation. this thing not only had arms, but they were arms that belonged to what he could only see being on a Gorilla. The thing defied nature even further by having a beaver tail.

'What. the. Hell!?' Daniel screamed internally.

The creature roared and lumbered after him quickly, and made for a grab. Daniel felt adrenaline fill him as his reflexes seem to get sharper, and his perception become wider. He pressed the gas down as much as he could without losing control, and went out of reach of the thing. He dodged around boulders and rocks at higher speeds then the thing could run, and gained a bit of distance. That didn't last however as the field of rocks became thicker and he had to slow down again. Giving the beast time to catch up, and unlike Daniel, it wasn't limited to going around boulders. It leaped over most of the obstacles with its powerful arms, and using its tail as a sort of springboard by slamming it into the ground.

It caught up quickly and tried to make for a grab again, and this time it succeeded. It gave what, to Daniel's disbelief, a grin of triumph while growling loudly and drooling, ready to take a bite. Unfortunately, the creature underestimated the power of a truck, especially one that had not only four wheel drive, but four wheel low.

Daniel shifted and pressed the gas to the floor. the effect was immediate as the truck started to drag the creature with it. It's eyes went wide in surprise and tried its best to pull back, only creating a path of dirt from its hind legs which were normal boar legs. Daniel grinned as he steered towards some sharp looking boulders.

'Let's see how long you will hold on piggy!'

The boar scrapped against the rock with a loud cry of pain, its side ripped an bleeding, but it held on, now angry. Daniel ignored that and went by another sharp rock, this one a boulder, and again scraped the side of the creature.

It got the point that what it was doing wasn't working and would only get it hurt even more. Thus it let go. Daniel grinned in triumph before shifting to four wheel high and moved to get the hell away. The gorilla boar had other ideas however, as grabbing it didn't work, it would instead see how well slamming into the truck worked.

It slammed head first into the left rear of the truck. Its tusks dug through the metal and lifted the truck off the ground before it pulled back. the truck landed with a bounce and the left side was now totally exposed.

Daniel saw the boar charge again, this time to skewer the middle of the left side. He pressed the gas down, and managed to dodge out of the way in time. He however now had a boulder in front of him and no way to go in reverse without hitting the boar.

The boar stopped with a snort and glared at the read of said truck with a snarl. It slammed into he back doors and shattered the windows completely, showering glass all over the sleeping bag and pillows that was his bed. Daniel grunted loudly at the crash, causing the thing to look through the window and see him. Its eyes widened seeing a human and it paused. That was enough time for Daniel to take aim and fire.

It didn't realize what Daniel was doing, and paid for it with a bullet through the eye. The next thing Daniel knew, it slumped down and then landed on its side. After a few moments, Daniel realized he killed it. He slumped down in his seat, shivering, adrenaline still coursing through him, but now he was coming down, and in shock.

for the next five minutes he sat there...before finally deciding to get out and look at the damned thing.

He crept out of the truck and slowly made his way around and finally got a good look at it.

'It was as large as I thought...' Daniel noted.

Looking at the head where blood and brain matter seemed to be leaking from, he saw the large hole where the frontal lobe of the brain used to be, as well as a good portion the right side of said brain, now splattered across the ground and rocks.

'I guess you could say he didn't "see" it coming...ha!'. Daniel snorted at the bad pun...but hey, whatever worked to make him less jittery.

The arms of the creature were massive, well muscled, the bicep and triceps together were thicker then his own torso. The tail...was a beaver tail. Nuff said. It was otherwise just a normal super sized boar.

Daniel blinked as a smile came across his face.

'Looks like I'll be having pork tonight!' he mentally cheered

===Canterlot - Evening===

Princess Celestia sighed as she reached her bed and laid down on her body pillow. Another long day done. It always seemed this way these days. then again, Discord did cause major disruption, so its to be expected. she just wished the nobility didn't add on their problems on top of what actually needed done.

She left the night to Luna now, so she can deal with the nobles and whatever else there was to deal with now.

She was about to close her eyes and drift off when she remembered. The human.

"Hmm....I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check."

She closed her eyes and focused her energies, and her mind and vision went to the badlands again. When she reached the point where the human and phenomenon were found...she noted it wasn't there anymore.

"I guess it wandered off. Poor thing. wandering the desert in circles until...hello?"

She noticed at that moment a pair of tracks, in a long line that went north east. With a mental blink, she followed them. could somepony or a caravan traveled through and picked the human up? doubtful...but worth looking.

she had expected to quickly find the source of the trail...only to see the trail go further and further, more than 30 miles before it went into a rocky landscape where the trail goes through and around the best path. Eventually, she reached a grizzly sight. A Barren Swine, and a rather large one as well. She had seen these a few times over one hundred years ago, but not too often to be common to her. This was the largest she had ever seen though. A real monster. One that was very, very dead.

she looked it over and saw it was...sliced up by a knife and then partially skinned. what was unusual was the head wound. something...punched its way out of its head. what in Equestria could have done such a thing? She looked upon it for only a few minutes more before finding the trail...and realizing that whatever made the trail...fought the Swine. It was trapped...and it died when the beast cornered it. What grabbed her attention however was the glass spread all across the ground. Sparkling like stars in the moonlight.

"What had happened here?" she asked herself.

Looking upon the trail again, she saw it lead away and to the north east again. She followed it, determined to find it now.

After a minute she finally saw the mountains of the desert, and a single campfire near the base. She saw the trail end there. That was her caravan. She floated down mentally and looked upon...the strangest sight she had ever seen.

It was not a caravan...but some sort of metal carriage? without a pony to pull it or any means to do so. It was also damaged...the source now became clear to her. The Barren Swine attacked this vehicle. The windows were cracked at the sides near the rear, and the portholes that made the read mounted doors were bare of glass. So that's where the glass came from.

She floated around the carriage, looking it over curiously when she heard a hiss of something cooking. she looked over to the fire...and there he was. The Human...and he was...carving the pig with a knife.

Celestia was speechless. This was...did this human kill the...

she shook her head "No. That's impossible. It would take more then this creature to-" her words were interrupted by a grunt from the human who stood up and reached over to a flat panel. To her surprise it unfolded, revealing what appeared to be...a keyboard. Like a typewriter.

She looked on in incredulity, watching the human touch buttons on it, until her eyes widened in shock as the panel lit up with pictures.

She was...at a loss now. Something was very, very wrong here. this was not...normal. this was a mere human...that used a knife instead of just his hands...that cooked meat instead of eating it raw....that made a fire to cook in the first place....that killed a Barren Swine...in a metal carriage....okay. Her suspension of disbelief was just shattered.

She floated next to the human, looking at it with new eyes. Was this human more then it seemed. her attention was drawn away when the human did something to make the panel create a white box. He then began to type!

Her eyes were wide as she realized the human could write! Her eyes looked upon the words he was typing with great interest.

"Personal Journal

Note: The purpose of this journal is to record events as they happen. It will serve no other purpose.

Entry One / 9-10-14

My name is Daniel. I am 31 years old, a professional photographer, and artist, and I have been sent to another planet!

I know that seems strange and unbelievable, but it is the truth. I don't know what I did to piss of f the universe, but I am sorry for whatever it was I did.

To start, I was driving my Truck, a Chevy Suburban, down to the city of Homer, and from there I would venture on a photographic road trip, taking pictures of Alaska during the transition of Summer to Fall. It was meant to be a means to make profit and get away from the daily grind of life.

When I said 'I needed to get out and about' before starting this trip, I didn't mean it in the such a way that I would be barreling through what I can only call a dimensional rift in time and space and into a desert! Oh yeah, and for some reason, I can't talk! I was able to but now every time I try to speak, my throat burns! I'm drinking some tea now and taking cough medicine to see if I can heal it up a bit. I might get my voice back in a few days.

The rift closed on me...and at the time I had "assumed" that it just took me to a different part of the world...or rather I hoped it did. I played Role Playing Games in High School, I know how that shit usually ends. It was only in the last four hours that I realized I am now living the very "taken to another universe" scenario's those high school games had us do.

How do I know this? For one, there are now such things as Boars the size of trucks, let alone ones with gorilla arms and beaver tails. On the other, which I just discovered, the sun and moon do not rise and set within a minute. On Earth, it takes hours for that to happen. Here...yeah. That was both...kinda cool, and scary in a way. I am not used to seeing the moon just fly into the evening sky in a few seconds.

Anyways. Yeah...I'm on another world now. If I were less open to the possibility, I would say "I'm dreaming" or "I'm hallucinating" or some other crap like that. Considering how close to getting eating by monster pig I came today? Not likely

So here I am, in some desert, sitting next to a mountain, eating some of the Gorilla Boar I killed, and writing this down on my laptop computer.

At least I am well prepared. I have food, water, fuel, power, weapons and ammo for them, and a lot more because of the trip I planned on. I came to these mountains to see if I could find a ton or something nearby, but now that I am in another world, or something, the idea of doing that is much less appealing. For all I know I could be on Barsoom, or Tatooine, or Gunsmoke from Trigun. I kinda hope it;s the latter two if I am actually in another universe, because Light-sabers and space ships are awesome, and the latter? Well...at least I could live there and irrigate or something.

Tommorow I'm gonna climb this peak and have a look around, see what I can see. If I can see a town or something nearby, I'll head on over. Otherwise...I'll look and see if I can find an end to this desert. Hopefully the flying creatures are not as freaky and huge as the boar.

end of entry.

As the human began to do something else with his "laptop computer", Celestia had gone from shock to amazement, to horror, and then back to shock.

Throughout history, there had been inklings of humans living in the wilds that were 'intelligent'. more so then humans were generally believed to be. That they had a culture, dwellings, and the like, just as ponies thousands of years ago had done. when rumors of such things as "human villages" reared their head, pony human hunters of all sorts trotted out of the woodwork in search of these places.

They have never been confirmed, nor have they ever been seen...until now.

And it was a human from another world.

It was...astonishing. Mind blowing! She knew that the phenomenon was a tear in space and time, but had no idea it lead anywhere else! Let alone a whole other world!

In a way...it made sense...in fact...looking back on the "history" of humanity...it made too much sense.

Humans over one thousand years ago had appeared out of nowhere. Seemingly found in a remote location, and then suddenly, over time, they could be found anywhere in the world. there was always a question by human studies, and various Hum-aniacs, as to where the humans came from to begin with. Before that time, there were no humans in the world at all. Never any sign of their existence until they were discovered underground. Nowadays, nopony even wonders about it because they take the human's very existence for granted.

This human...Daniel...he presents an answer to that question that...if learned...would change the very foundation of human understanding as they knew it!

Humans are not indigenous to this world! They are ALIENS!

Celestia felt her heart beat harder and faster, her breathing quicken. It made sense. It all made sense!

If this is the case however....then how did the humans get here in the first place? Was it a rift just like it was with Daniel? Were they summoned here by some wizard for their enslavement? The question of the human origins seemingly answered...now hundreds of more questions appeared.

Not only questions on the humans of this world...but now questions about his world. what is his world like? what were the humans like? How did they use magic? How did they make these 'trucks' move? What kind of weapons does he have to kill a Barren Swine so easily? He was 31!? how long did the humans of his world live!? They can speak?!

There were so many questions, so much to learn!

...Oh dear. Celestia giggled at how much like Twilight she sounded just now. She was just so...excited!

She gazed upon the human as he set the computer aside and began to cut upon the meat with a sharp looking knife. She wished so much to be here personally.

Alas...she was too far away. Sure she could teleport there, but only if she used almost all her energy, and she wouldn't be able to teleport back until her strength returned. To top it off...Daniel handled the Swine in the desert...so he could see her as a threat as well. She would be at his mercy in the middle of the badlands with no support what so ever.

As much as it pained her...she can do nothing but watch. Until he comes within the borders of Equestria...she had no choice but to observe from afar with remote vision as she is doing now.

Still...it's not all bad. She knows of Daniel now, and he is valuable beyond compare, so much so that she was tempted to teleport and to tataurus with the consequences. Her duties to her little ponies however were far greater then the existence of one male...so she will keep an eye on him. She can learn from him! There's so many things to see from him! Just watching would give her an idea on how to approach the situation too. It will answer many questions. Yes! She feels better now! She will...oh.

She was distracted from her thoughts as the human puts the meat into...clear bags? What are those things? She giggled giddily at a new thing to see. Even if it was just a bag. The male put the meat into the bags and then into some..large white box full of ice. Oh! A cooler. She has seen those before, but they were new...huh. So the humans have those? interesting.

Daniel closes the cooler and crawls into the back of the carriage and closes the double doors. He then places...something over the windows. Oh. netting. Keeping insects out. She nodded approvingly.

The male placed the panel on the metal floor and pushed a button. The penal went dark and he closed it. Looks like he's turning in for the night. So should she.

She came back to her room, and looked around.

For a minute she didn't give any reaction before a grin grew on her face.

She was very much looking forward to tomorrow.