Prologue 1: Run Through the Jungle
The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective. Like right now for instance, running for my life. The snap of leaves and twigs underfoot as I sprinted wildly through the foliage, the sting of seemingly every branch in my path striking against my cheeks. The growling and sickly sweet breath of the wooden monstrosities on my heels. The rhythmic bounce of the machete and sword sheaths against my sides. The near deafening roar of my blood coursing through my veins. See? Everything's in perspective.
Need to keep going, don't stop! I thought as I fled from the creatures, I saw a break in the thick trees ahead, a clearing maybe! If I could get into a clearing, I'd at least have a ghost of a fighting chance.
I still had most of the things I had been wearing before my abrupt crash landing, a black Raider work shirt with the sleeves rolled above my elbows, a flat black vest from a suit that I owned was layered on top of it, and a mantled black cloak was tied at my neck, flailing behind me and snagging on the surrounding underbrush. All three articles of clothing were tattered from my sprint through the forest, my jeans were holding up a good deal better than the vest and shirt, but then again, my knee and shin guards covered the front of my lower legs completely. My top hat was precariously balanced on my head, bouncing with each step, held in place by sheer luck alone.
I stumbled, nearly tripping on a root jutting from the ground. I barely managed to maintain my momentum and continued my sprint. I was still disoriented from my arrival, I probably wasted more precious energy keeping myself upright than was absolutely necessary. I poured more energy into my legs, slowly gaining speed as I cleared the trees.
Yes! I cheered mentally as I burst from the trees and into the open, but my jubilation soon turned to horror as I skidded to a halt, very nearly careening over the edge of a steep chasm. On the other side I could see an immense dilapidated structure rising out of the fog.
I looked around frantically and spotted a rope bridge stretching across the ravine further to my left, but i didn't have time to try and make a break for it. I spun around, drawing my 12" machete and 28" Hand and a Half 'bastard' sword, the metallic schling sound of the hand and a half gliding from its leather sheath gave me a small sense of comfort. The wooden creatures were growling, stalking forward toward me slowly, eyes conveying lethal intent with their incandescent green glow.
I brought my left hand back closer to my body, positioning my machete inside the striking range of the sword and pushed my right hand forward into a partial guard, the flat of the blade facing toward the creatures. Now seeing them in the fading afternoon light, they appeared almost wolflike in structure. I could see three of them, but if my knowledge of pack tactics held true here, then there were bound to be four more, at minimum, still in the treeline out of sight.
“Damn this is gonna suck…” I muttered to myself, I could feel my adrenalin high beginning to wane. My reserves of energy were drained from my panicked sprint through the forest undergrowth, my limbs were becoming shaky, and the lacerations across my face made themselves known with an intense burning sensation.
One of the wooden wolves snapped its jaws before lunging toward me, likely sensing my growing weariness. I reacted with a right sweeping upward diagonal slash of my sword, the forge blackened tempered steel edge bit into the wolf's wooden underbelly, slicing a shallow gash from near its right hind leg up to the left fore leg. The momentum of the blade wasn't enough to stop it's lunge, but it was enough to keep it from making contact as it crashed to the ground to my right and slid. I didn't have to look to know that its remaining forward motion had carried it into the ravine at my back, the fading strangled whine was proof enough.
One of the other wolves went for my legs, getting inside the range of my sword. As it clamped its jaws around the reinforced polymer, I introduced the machete blade deep into the side of it's neck. The blow did more than force it to let go and die.. It disintegrated into matchwood and plant material! I focused my attention on the last visible wolf, it was creeping close, it's wooden teeth bared. I didn't give it the chance to strike as I took a lunging stab toward it, the tip of my sword piercing it between the eyes, causing it to disintegrate as well.
The wooden wolves in the trees growled in fury at the demise of their pack members, but were taking a more guarded approach toward engaging me than their fallen brethren had chosen.
I was closer to the treeline now. A single wolf moved from the shadows directly ahead of me, it was bigger than the three I had dispatched before, it was easily the size of a fully grown Saint Bernard... There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell i'd be able to deal with that thing! I backed away from the trees as it advanced, i could hear more wolves coming out of the underbrush as I got closer to the edge.
I risked a glance toward the rope bridge, if I wanted any chance of getting out of this I was going to have to risk it. I shakily slid my machete and sword back into their sheaths. Without a second thought I bolted for the bridge, pouring every last ounce of my remaining energy into the run.
I was nearly there when I staggered, nearly losing my footing, but I managed to keep upright at the cost of more precious energy and forward momentum. The wooden planks of the bridge creaked and groaned in protest at the sudden introduction of my weight. I didn't care, I moved as quickly as I could, certain that the wolves were right on my heels.
My legs nearly gave out as I stumbled off of the bridge, onto the solid ground on the other side of the ravine. I turned back to the bridge, using what little strength I had left to draw my machete and cut through the ropes.
With a ragged breath I staggered backward from the edge, sheathing my machete once more. I stood unsteadily, that was to close... I turned to the structure I had seen and began a steady paced walk toward it. The crumbling stone walls were a damn sight more inviting than the surrounding forest. I made it inside and cleared out a corner of the entrance corridor before i slid to the ground, my back to the wall. I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.
The last thing I remember seeing before darkness fully claimed my mind was the moon, slowly rising into the clear early night sky through what might once have been a magnificent window.
I don't know how long it was before I awoke, but my muscles were stiff underneath the soft warmth of the blanket that covered me. Wait.... Blanket... I didn't have a blanket over me, nor a soft down feather cushion underneath when I succumbed to unconsciousness. When my brain finished processing these details, I sat up quickly, every line of thought grinding to a screeching halt. I admit I probably looked quite comical, bolting upright with eyes in an unfocused panic.
Before I could recover enough to move more however, I felt a firm appendage pushing me back onto the cushion.
"Calm thyself, thou hath endured much," a strong but soothing female voice rang through the air, "return to slumber Human."
I was just able to catch a glimpse of the voice's owner before my eyes slid closed against my will, a midnight blue horselike creature..
She and her sister had both sensed the human's arrival, the portal that had brought it to the land of Equestria felt like an intense flare drawing a moth to the flame. Her sister wanted to wait to assess the situation more thoroughly, possibly even send the Elements into the Everfree to find it, but she knew that by the time they were to organize such an endeavor it might already be to late to save whatever was brought through.
She had assembled a small squadron of her Thestral guards and had take off with them after raising the moon, they arrived in the skies above the Everfree, out near the castle of the royal pony sisters in time to see a tall bipedal creature make a sprint for the castle across the old rope bridge to escape a Timberwolf Alpha and its pack. It never noticed them.
She and her guards dealt with the wolves, forcing them back into the forest before they proceeded to the castle. Luna had been the first to enter, and the first to see the battered creature huddled in a corner, it's back against the wall. She had expected immediate panic from it, however it had already succumbed to the exhaustion that likely had been plaguing it since its arrival.
She had ordered a contingent of her guards to return to Canterlot and retrieve her chariot so that they could easily transport the it.
As she and the remaining compliment of her guard waited for them to return, Luna became more curious about their unconscious guest. She approached it closer slowly, the clink of her silver shod hooves on the cracked stone sounding almost muted as she focused more on the creature.
She knew the vernacular of bipedal anatomy, Its abdomen was covered in a black shirt and vest with a black cloak draped over its shoulders, the trio of articles tattered and worn. From the waist down, it was clad in denim and below the knee there were rigid black plates fastened firm over it. It's feet were shod in boots fashioned of stiff leather. it's arms were exposed below the elbow, displaying lightly tanned forearms covered in lacerations, likely from the forest foliage. The forearms terminated in hands, similar to a minotaur or dragon's, however instead of three articulate digits on each, there were five. Both hands were clad in mismatched fingerless gloves and were clenched tightly into fists. Atop its head, was a black article with a metal dragonfly fastened to it above a small piece of jewellery. A top hat.
She carefully lifted its chin with her magic to see its face, lacerated tan skin, prominent cheekbones, thin lips, and closed eyes met her gaze. There was a masculine quality to the face, so she assumed it was a male.
She could see the rise and fall of his chest, the only indication that he still lived.
"Warrant Officer Star Dust, approach," Luna called out, summoning forward one of her guards.
The Thestral mare stepped forward toward the Lunar Princess, giving a crisp salute, "Yes m'lady?"
"Doth thou have medical supplies on hoof?"
"Yes m'lady, there is a first-aid kit in my left side saddlepack."
"Retrieve it and treat the lacerations on our guest's face and forearms, only basic antiseptic and bandages."
At Luna's instructions, the mare nodded and dug into her bags, pulling out the first-aid kit and opening it with an audible click.
Three hours later, they had the creature in the Lunar Wing of Canterlot Castle, more specifically in Luna's personal study with a small host of medical personnel from the royal infirmary and three of the guards from the short expedition into the Everfree. Earlier, he had awoken for a short time, but the princess had cast a weak sleeping spell to return him to the rest he needed as well as to keep him from a possible reaction of hysteria.
It was here that Luna was currently delving through the pages of her rather extensive library, looking for anything with similarities to his species, she had found a single reference to a similar kind, “Human” before his prior awakening, and that was the centerpiece for her search. The medical staff had(with some minor embarrassment) confirmed that the human was indeed male during their initial examination after Luna had put him back to sleep.
They had removed most of his clothing to make the examination easier, and had also learned that the black plated guards on his lower legs and knees were composed of a hardened polymer, not unlike the padding used by hoofball players, but slightly sturdier, and overall was stiffer. The inner padding of the guards were a shaped polymer gel, likely to reduce impact pressure, and considering the tooth marks on one of them, it was likely part of the reason one of his shins wasn’t fractured. Aside from the lacerations on his face and forearms, he seemed to be in prime health.
Luna shook her head, it had been two and a quarter hours since she had returned the human to blissful rest. One hundred thirty-five minutes she had spent searching the numerous tomes in her study for further reference of his kind. She'd only found two more mentions of them, a reference of a legend from the Discordian Era, and a brief description in a bestiary dated two centuries prior to her banishment.
The bestiary's description was vague; humans, while not the most magically adept race to have existed in the world, were highly adaptable and intelligent. Apparently many were capable of functioning in the field even with wounds that could effectively cripple an equine or worse.
Luna found little else of use about the human race in the book, and shut it with a shake of her head and a snort. She turned her gaze back to the sleeping human, wrapped in a blanket of similar hue to her fur. Her sleeping spell would wear off some time in the next few minutes. Her curiosity got the better of her as her attention rested on the clothing and equipment folded and stacked next to her guest. The medical staff having completed their examination had departed some forty-five minutes prior, and her three remaining guards were spread loosely about the study. With bated breath, the Princess lifted the pair of sheathed blades from the pile with a gentle telekinetic field.
The longer of the two might have passed for a long sword if it weren't for the short wooden grip, leading her to compare it to the Talon and a Half 'bastard' swords that many a Griffon mercenary had favored a thousand years ago. The pommel and crossguard appeared to be composed of brass or some similar metal.
With this in mind, Luna removed the bastard blade from its leather sheath with a metallic schling, drawing the attention of her three subordinates. With a length of roughly 71 centimeters, the blade itself didn't seem much to marvel upon. At first glance having a simple fire blacked and hammer forged texture, but a slight tilt of the flat of the tinted blade caught the flickering of the hearth, casting the blade from the crossguard up with a nebulous, iridescent sheen.
Upon closer inspection of the shimmering flat, it was obvious where rust and shallow corrosion had been scorched away with an intense flame, leaving behind a number of miniscule pockmarks along the length of metal, almost like stars. The edges were smeared with tree sap, likely from the altercation with the pack of timberwolves.
“A fine weapon,” the princess muttered, lifting a soft cloth from her nearby desk and wiping the sap from the blade. Once the viscous fluid was removed, she set the blade and sheath gently on a side table, moving her attention on to the short blade still in its black woven sheath.
It slid almost silently from the material, revealing the glossy steel finish. Half the length of the blade edge from the handle up was fashioned with wicked saw-tooth serration that led into the razor edge of the upper blade. The false edge was a simple blunt length save for the indentation near the blade tip, an intimidating crescent razor was shaped into the metal.
The sound of quickened breath and ruffling blankets snapped the midnight mare from her inspection of the blade. Luna breathed slowly and set it alongside the bastard sword, now focusing her attention on her guest. His bluish grey eyes were darting frantically around her study before his gaze settled on her.
He seemed to calm considerably, but maintained a certain weariness and distrust. The words that left his lips shortly afterward, however, caught her off guard.
“What the flying fuck?”
