Drake's Mysterious and Peculiar Quest Adventure

Drake’s Mysterious and Peculiar Quest Adventure
Chapter 1: Things Get Weird
By: SleeplessScribe

Autumn evenings were always pretty chilly in Virginia, but the colors were always worth it. They were all I thought about as I helped my friends stuff the last of our bags into the back of Lisa’s Nissan. I let out a yawn and looked up at the starry night sky, stretching my arms.

“Man, this is going to be the best trip, guys.”

My friend Luke closed the door to the trunk and gave it a tap. “Hell yeah. We ain't done anything like this in years. Sure you're still good for the big hike? You're looking a bit thicker than you used to, Nick!”

He, Lisa, and Jess all started to laugh. Luke and I were infamous nature lovers, and as soon as we met in our high school’s Outdoor Exploration Club, we clicked. Lisa came into the group early in our freshman year of college, and Jess joined up a little later. We were a very tight knit group now, and I loved it.

“Hey, hey, hey! I've been on point with my exercises, alright? Lisa can confirm.”

My short Japanese friend raised her hand and nodded. “The best gym bud. I'd say he's kept me on track more than I've kept him on. There's no telling how many ‘breaks’ I'd have taken without him.”

Luke smirked at the two of us as he headed back to the apartment. Lisa shoved him in a “don’t give me that look” kind of way, leaving me with Jess. She hadn’t really said much since we started packing, and I caught her looking up at the stars when I turned her way.

“Everything good, Jess? You seem a bit out of it, tonight.”

She immediately turned and brushed the red hair out of her face. “Oh, no, no, I’m fine! I’m just thinking about some stuff. Don’t worry.”

I crossed my arms. “Problems with your parents again?”

The look on her face and the sigh she let out told me she knew she’d been figured out. She never was good at hiding things.

“Yeah. This trip will be a good chance to get away from that crap for a while.”

I gave her a nod and a pat on the shoulder. “Yeah, it'll be good to get away. But you won't have any fun if you're hung up on nonsense.”

Jess gave another sigh. “Yeah, true. I should call it a night. See you tomorrow, Nick.”

“I should probably head to bed, too. Night.”

I took one last look at the packed up car before heading into the apartment. Jess and Lisa’s room was right across from mine and Luke’s, so that was good for us. As I approached my door, I could hear Luke snoring like a bear.

Even with how loud he was, I managed to fall asleep relatively quickly after I got in bed. I didn't stay asleep for very long though, if the clock was any indication. I could hear the sound of the shower running as I forced myself up, and immediately I began thinking about the day ahead.

I went ahead and started working on breakfast, as I knew the girls would be over. Luke and I swapped and I got in the shower once he was done and dressed and all that, and they were all at the table eating when I got out.

We finished our meal, chatted a bit, went over our plan for the day, and hopped in the car to go. As usual, Lisa was driving, I rode shotgun, and Jess and Luke sat in the back.

“Alright everyone, are we ready for the outdoors?” Lisa shouted out. I really wished that she'd keep both hands on the wheel, but that's Lisa for you.

None of us could stop chattering for the entirety of the two and a half hours it took us to get to the park and find our cabin. Once there we unpacked and got adjusted to the little log house. Jess had the maps and hiking routes on her, so we all huddled around a table to look them over.

“I know you all well enough to know that you'll want to take one of the longer trails right off the bat.” She said this while trailing her finger along a yellow line on the map.

“This hike will take us around the lake, so we can look for parking spots, and we'll be going up the mountain a ways. From what I hear, the view is gorgeous from up there.”

“All right!” Luke did a mini fist pump in front of his face. “What kind of equipment are we taking?”

Jess opened her mouth, but Lisa cut her off. “Just make sure you've got your water with you. We'll probably camp proper the next few nights, but today is for getting the lay of the land.”

Luke gave a nod. “The hikes gonna be great, but I can't wait to go fishing!”

All I could do was chuckle, giving him a nudge. “I can't wait for you to cook the fish.”

He just rolled his eyes. Jess waved her hand in front of our faces before pointing to a spot about halfway along that yellow path.

“There's a little rest point here with snack and drink machines, so we can grab a little boost if we need to.”

I clapped and nodded. “Sounds good to me.” I started jogging in place in an attempt to show just how excited I was.

“Alright, alright, settle down.” Lisa put her hand on my shoulder. “We'll be going in just a minute.”

With that, we all put on jackets and appropriate shoes. Jess grabbed the map, we locked up the cabin, and it was time to head out. In situations like this where there was a short route from where we were to where we wanted to start the hike, we jogged. As usual, Luke was trying to make a race out of it by running in front of anyone that might very passed him.

It didn't take too long for us to get to our trail of choice. Even though we were at a leisurely walking pace now, Luke was still going on about being the first to get everywhere. After a moment, a tug on my hand distracted me from his rambling.

“Hey.” Lisa had wrapped her fingers around my hand and was walking right next to me. “What's up?”

“I should be the one asking that. You're the one holding my hand out of nowhere.”

She just giggled and tightened her grip. “Just wanted to hold your hand. We've got a long hike ahead of us, and Luke is the only one that wants to run it.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. With a smirk, I tugged on her hand and made her stumble, thumping right into me. Her face went bright red and, after a moment of just staring at me, she shoved off and nearly knocked me off my feet.

“Rude! What’d you go and do that for?” Lisa puffed out her cheeks and pursed her lips before scooting up over to Jess. She shot me a look over her shoulder, but stayed quiet.

There was a mildly long, awkward silence after that. Luckily, Luke decided to start singing despite having a voice that would make Simon Cowell cry. Whether it was to drown him out, join in, or both, Jess and Lisa chimed in and I found myself singing “Rocky Road to Dublin” with everyone else in mere moments. Most of the talking after that was chit chat about what we’d do after the hike, what we wanted to eat that night, and Lisa making jokes about me being oblivious about stuff. I really had no idea why she was so upset.

About half an hour after we first began walking, we were making our way uphill towards that little rest stop Jess mentioned. Further up ahead, we could just barely see the edge of the lake, but all of us agreed to stop and grab snacks. We were delayed for a minute or two by Lisa swiping my candy bar and playing keep away, but I did finally get it back and we started walking again.

Luke took a deep breath and looked out to the lake as we got closer. “Ah, you can almost smell the fish. Croaker, spot, trout, so much stuff.....”

As he trailed off, I crossed my arms. “That’s all saltwater fish, my dude.”

“No, you can find trout in lakes.” He gave me a jokingly angry look and jammed his finger into my shoulder.

“Actually,” Jess slid up between us with a wide grin on her face, “Trout, bass, pike, and even some perch can be caught in this lake.” If her pride could be given physical form, it’d be a sign around her neck that read “Marine Biologist”.

“Alright, calm down.” Lisa tugged Jess back with a smile. “Fish is fish. Luke’s cooking makes it better than normal, but it’s still fish.”

Jess opened her mouth to retort, but we were interrupted by a loud grunting coming from the direction of the lake. We saw two fishers by the edge of the water, and one was struggling with his rod. Every time he pulled it, the tree branch above him shook. After taking a closer look, I even saw his shiny lure caught in the leaves that had yet to fall off. Without a second thought, I jogged up to them and waved.

“Hey! You need some help there, man?” I stopped right beside him and looked up. The branch his line was caught on was actually fairly high up.

“If you have an idea that don’t involve me cuttin’ my line, I’d appreciate you trying it out.” He pulled on his rod again and let out a gruff “hmmm”.

When the others caught up, Luke raised his hand. “Nick will climb up there and get it loose for you. This man’s like a monkey when it comes to climbing trees.”

Even though it was true, I still turned to him with a brow raised. “Gee, thanks. Such a nice way to tell a stranger about me.”

The older man let out a hearty laugh before looking up at the tree. “I do appreciate you volunteering, young man. Just be careful, now. Don’t want you hurting yourself.”

After a sigh and shooting Luke one of those “I’ll get you” glares, I sized up the tree and jumped. My goal was a branch that was hanging just over the shore of the lake about halfway up the tree. It wasn’t a very tall tree, and luckily for me, it began branching out maybe four or five feet from where I started. Down below, the girls were cheering me on while Luke just watched like an ass.

It only took a few minutes for me to reach the height I needed to be at. From there, it was a matter of wrapping my arms and legs around the thick branch and slowly inching my way towards the end. I could feel it bending ever so slightly, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. Luckily, my weight was held and I managed to reach out, grab the lure, and free the hook from the leaves it was caught on.

“You should be good now! Go ahead and pull her in.”

The fisherman nodded and yanked on the rod, reminding me of a crucial detail: letting go of the lure. I did, but not soon enough to keep from getting pulled off balance just enough for disaster. The strangest thing was that after the huge splash, I was still sinking. I could see the lakebed from atop the branch, and while I certainly didn’t want to deal with a head injury, it was more frightening that I was somehow in water so deep that it was muffling the worried screams and shouts of my friends.

Worse still was the fact that I couldn’t see any of them. I know all of my friends were great swimmers, and most certainly brave enough to dive in after me. So why hadn’t they there? My arms and legs locked up, preventing me from moving even if I weren’t too hazy to do so. The light from the surface was slowly darkening, and it wasn’t much long before I drifted out of consciousness.

“Oh! Thank goodness you’re okay! When I saw you, I thought you were already down for the count!”

The high pitched, feminine voice was like nails on a chalkboard with how my head was pounding. I was incredibly cold, but the freezing sensation didn't last long thanks to a warm breeze blowing over me and what I assumed to be the sun beaming down on me.

I tried to open my eyes, but doing so made them sting like no tomorrow. After letting out a pained hiss, I held out my arms and began to feel around. I pressed against something warm and soft, like a blanket or a puppy that had been lying in the sun.

“Ah! Hero, so direct! I-I suppose you can touch me there if you wish....”

The words made me pull my hands away immediately. Instead of trying to feel where I was, I attempted to wipe my eyes. My hands felt cold and rough, probably skinned up from the fall.

“Where am I?”

“No time for that, Hero! Hurry, you must come with me!”

I felt a tug on my arm and was pulled forward, flopping on the ground. I was on soft grass now, and able to open my eyes.

“Why do you keep calling me hero?” A horrifying sight greeted me when I tried to stand. The hands beneath me were thick, sharp claws covered in orange scales.

I jumped up and examined my body as best I could. I was covered head to toe in what I could only describe as scales or some kind of thick leather and I became acutely aware of a long tail trailing from my lower back.

Reaching back, I ran a hand along the back of my head to feel for hair. Instead, my hand ran up what felt like like a long, single scale.

My first reaction was to look for something, anything, with a reflective surface. The first thing I found was a lake right behind me that I darted to. Looking at the surface of the water revealed not the redheaded human I was, but the face of a dragon.

“What? What.... what?” After a few moments, I let out a horrified scream and fell backward.

“Hero! What's wrong? You look as if you've seen a ghost!”

Finally, it was time to turn around and look at whoever was talking to me. My jaw slowly opened and dropped when I saw those big, purple eyes.

This voice was coming from a tiny horse with bright green hair and a white mane with a horn poking out of it. Not only that, but she was still talking.

“Come on! We need to go!”

She ran up and grabbed my arm, tugging on it. I was not about to follow some talking pony, though, and retook possession of my arm quickly.

“Wait, hold the fuck up. Where the hell am I? What the hell am I? Who the hell are you?”

The horse squeaked and backed away from me. She covered her mouth with a hoof before averting her gaze.

“You're so assertive... so fierce. Someone like you could totally take advantage of me.”

That last part was a bit hushed, but she piped up as soon as I cleared my throat.

“I'm Cool Mint, Hero! I'm a pony from the nearby town of Sarsnifall! Right now, you're in a small forest with no real name. If you're talking large scale, were in a country called Equestria! As for what you are....”

She leaned forward, poking my stomach.

“How do you not know?”

I immediately pointed to the lake behind me. “I am a human. Hu-man! I fell into a lake just like this one and passed out! Next thing I know, I'm here!”

Mint clapped her hooves together with a bright smile. “Oh yes! I saw you floating up to the surface and pulled you out! As soon as I saw you, I knew you had to be the hero of legend!”

I raised my brow and scratched my head. I guess even scales could itch.

“What is this hero of legend talk? I don't even know where I am, so there's no way I could be a legend. Speaking of where I am, I'm gonna go ahead and head home now.”

She started stammering as I stuck my arm in the water. However, a quick dip of my head in showed me there was nothing at the bottom but fish and dirt.

“Wait, what the.... There's nothing here! Where did I come from? I can't be this hero you go on about!”

“Oh, but you are! See, the mayor of my town is a clairvoyant of sorts. He predicted that a dragon would emerge from this very lake to save us from a great crisis!”

I just groaned. “And what is this crisis?”

She muttered under her breath, but I'm pretty sure I heard “douse” “womb” and “seed”. After that, I slapped my own face.

“Holy shit you are a thirsty horse. What's the damn crisis?”

She beamed at me and shook her head. “I have no idea! Things in Equestria have been wonderful as of late!”

I furrowed my brow and my mouth curved down into the most severe scowl that I had ever put on.

“What the fuck? There's no problem and yet I'm here? Okay, no, what the actual hell?”

Cool Mint moved around to my back and gave me a shove. As I stumbled forward, she did it again and repeated the process until we were a ways away from the lake.

“Come on! We have to go to Sarsnifall so you can talk to Mayor Yelshinitty!” She shouted as she shoved me again.

“What is up with these names?” I exclaimed, before tumbling forward again.

Eventually I stood up, which led to Mint shoving her face into some questionable areas. To be honest, I was more comfortable with going along with her hero nonsense then I was with her coming onto me again, so I quickly thought of something to avoid another dirty comment.

“Alright! To Sarsnifall it is!”

I started marching forward and heard what I assumed to be a clap of hooves. As soon as she was in front of me again, it was back to groaning and angry faces.

“Excellent! Follow me, Hero!”

She took off past me, forcing me to run to keep up with her. It was a good thing that I was in shape. It seemed as if my muscles and stamina transitioned into this body too, because I could tell Mint was starting to get winded while I felt like I could run for miles.

Luckily for her, we broke through the edge of the woods much sooner than I thought we would. I found myself on the outskirts of a small village. Ahead of me were stone and brick houses, paved streets, smoking chimneys, and more horses. Cool Mint nudged me towards the town with a nod.

“Come on! Mayor Yelshinitty is waiting for us!”

We slowed down our pace to a walk as we entered into the town proper. Many a stare was cast in my direction, but none of them looked particularly angry or hostile. I guess dragons weren't that feared in this Sarsnifall place.

Cool Mint shoved me across what looked to be the town square, if the big, open space and giant fountain were any indication. Directly across from us was a house much larger than the rest around here with a plaque above the door that had a gavel carved into it. As soon as we reached the door, it swung open and I saw yet another peculiarity.

A slender beast walked out of the door and turned to us. I locked eyes with it, and was tempted to just turn and run. Its head and neck were covered in white feathers, there were big, brown feathered wings on its back, and the majority of its body was coated in light brown fur. It spoke through a sharp, yellow beak with a voice equally as sharp.

“It's rude to stare, dragon. If you've something to say, say it and stop gawking.”

This gryphon was most definitely female, if the voice was anything to go off of. She brushed the fluffy tip of her long tail in my face almost teasingly, but her face was anything but playful.

“What's your name?”

I thought about it for a moment. Nicholas or Nick probably weren't common names here. It took me a moment, but I eventually just blurted out the only thing I could think of that wouldn't make me sound like a madman.

“Drake. My name is Drake.” It was the perfect blend of telling the truth and still being fitting.

She looked me up and down before opening her beak. However, Cool Mint shoved me forward into the building and shot the gryphon a glare before closing the door.

“Huh! The nerve of her, eyeing you like that. I saw you first.”

“Is everything here thirsty as fuck? Geeze....”

Before I could say anymore, Mint walked towards a staircase ahead of us. I didn't even get to look at the room before being forced to follow her.

“The mayor is just up here. I'm sure he set time aside for you, given that he knows you're coming.”

The stairs took us to a hallway with one door on each side and one at the end. I was pushed towards the door at the end before Cool Mint knocked on it. We were met with silence.

She knocked again, but there was still no response. After a moment, I reached forward, just grabbed the doorknob and turned it.

“It's unlocked.”

Mint threw her front legs up. “Wait! You can't just go in there!”

It was too late. The door swung open, and we were greeted by a large, circular room. Bookshelves, desks, maps, and documents lined the walls. There was a large window that let in plenty of natural light at the back of the room. At the center was a heavy, wooden desk. By the look of it, it was mahogany. Very expensive.

There was a plaque on the desk that read “Yelshinitty”, various papers scattered about, and behind it was a big, black leather chair facing away from us. We both slowly approached and heard what sounded like... snoring.

“Nng... Oh Twilight... geeh....”

Mint and I exchanged looks before she gave me a nod. Reaching forward, I slowly rotated the chair to see the gray haired mayor before us. He had on a fancy top hat and a mustache most glorious on his face. I gave him a soft poke on the nose, withdrawing as he began to stir.

“Oh dear... dozed off again.” His chair rotated away from us again before I saw him shift. He slowly turned towards us again. When his tired eyes rested on me, they opened completely and he jumped up.

“Dah!” He shook his head quickly and took in the scene. He looked at me for a few seconds before a smile spread across his face.

“Oho! I knew you would be arriving soon, Great Hero! You've been in many a vision of mine in days of late!” He threw his hooves in the air like he just didn't care.

I lifted a hand and gently pressed it to my face. “Wonderful. Absolutely perfect! Since you've seen so much, maybe you can tell me why the hell I'm actually here? Or how I got here? Cool Mint over here says I'm supposed to deal with disaster, but there's nothing going wrong.”

Mint walked up to the desk and nodded. “I told our hero all about Sarsnifall, you, and about why he was here!”

Yelshinitty nodded and tapped his chin. “Mm, yes. Indeed. See, as I slumbered, I had yet another vision. Strange lights and dark smoke arose from ruins to the north of town.”

I crossed my arms. “What does that mean?”

The mayor turned to the window again. “Those ruins were once the castle of a dark being known as Kapral. He was a massive beast with evil powers that once brought disaster to Equestria. He took the country by such complete surprise that even the Princesses of our land did not have time to react before they were rendered powerless.”

I took a step back. In the blink of an eye, things had become incredibly serious.

“So... what happened to him?”

Yelshinitty began stroking his mustache. “A great hero with a holy blade and a brave heart rose to fight against him. For three long days, Kapral and our nameless hero did battle. When it seemed the two were finally on their last wings, the hero lifted his blade to the sky and brought it down, blowing away the beast and his castle in a flash of silver light.”

I crossed my arms. “So wait, what's the threat then?”

“We're not sure what exactly happened to Kepral.” Cool Mint nudged me as she spoke. “It's very possible that he was simply sealed away and not killed. He could... Be coming back.”

“Oh, I’m sure this smoke is from some hooligans making a bonfire! Nothing more!” The mayor began waving one of his hooves.

I glared at the pony as my fingers curled into fists. My body was shaking ever so slightly, and before I knew it, the last several minutes just exploded out of me.

“A bonfire! I fell into a lake, have a thirsty pony throwing herself on me, am stuck in a strange world with no way home, and am being forced to just accept all this... just to investigate a bonfire?”

My fear and fury welled up from within, and as I let out a livid shout a burst of flame flared out of my mouth. It disappeared quickly, and nothing was damaged, but I still covered my mouth immediately after it happened.

Cool Mint backed away, but I could hear heavy pants from behind me. No doubt she found this arousing. Yelshinitty was just staring at the ceiling with the blankest of blank expressions on his face. Maybe five minutes later, he looked down at me.

“I don't know what you mean with this talk of other worlds, but I have more to tell you. My visions aren't always direct. Some are weird and cryptic and sometimes smelly.”

“And?”

“See, the smoke isn't the issue. However, clues to your quest, and the coming danger, can be found at the ruins. Or not. I say look there.”

After a grumble, I crossed my arms. “Alright, so, why should I even bother helping you? I know nothing about you, this world, or any of your problems. Tell me why I shouldn't just march off and look for a way back home.”

“Well, you could.” The mayor tapped his hooves together. “But you seem to be looking for answers. What if this quests gets you what you're looking for?”

I stopped and put my hand on a chin. He did have a point. “Alright. I guess I'll go along with this nonsense for a bit. Where are these ruins?”

The mayor spun around in his chair. He must have not expected to go so fast, given his face as he ended up on the floor. As soon as he stood back up, he pointed out the big window.

“If you go out of the eastern gate, follow the stone road until you come to a signpost listing different towns. Go towards Banka Banka, and you'll see the ruins about halfway down that road.”

Mint tapped my shoulder. “Have all these names confused you yet?”

“I've been confused since I first popped out of that lake. I'm going now, I need time to think.”

As soon as I turned around to walk out, I felt fur wrap itself around my torso. I looked back to see Mints big eyes looking back up at mine as her cheek was pressed against my back.

“Oh no. You are not coming with me.”

I shot her a glare, but that just made her eyes widen. “Please, Drake! I have magic! I can heal! I can help you! Please!”

That last word was long and drawn out, like a child begging for a toy. I really wanted to say something, but I hoped that silence and my continued attempts to walk would be a sufficient answer. It was clear as I walked through the front door with a pony still wrapped around me that I would not be taking this journey on alone.

“Ugh. Fine. Just try not to get in the way, alright? And keep your... fetishes or whatever out of this.”

Her face went slightly red and she had a smirk on her face, but soon straightened up and gave the closest thing to a salute that a horse could give.

“Of course! You can count on me, Drake!”

I groaned and looked out towards the east side of town. “This is going to be stupid.”