I had just finished fixing the last hole in the wall when Trevor walked in.
"Well, Alucard, me and Sypha are done fixing up the other rooms in the castle that broke when you fought Drac," Trevor said to me as I turned to face him. He had caucasian skin, messy brown hair, blue eyes with a scar over his left eye, courtesy of the church. He wore a tan shirt with his family's crest on the right breast of his tan shirt. Over his shirt, he wore a red cross and wrap, he also wore grey trousers and white and black boots.
"Thank you for helping, I know you must find this annoying," I said.
"Hey, no problem. Not even a Dhampir could've done this alone," He replied. "Besides, it's the least we could do after you killed your father."
"I know," I said sadly. "But, it needed to be done. How goes the engine room?"
"Sypha's fixing all the gears with her magic, all I could do was watch as she did it," Trevor admitted.
"Hmm? I thought she only primarily used elemental magic, so how is she fixing the engine?" I asked, intrigued.
"Apparently, an ancestor of mine named Gabriel Belmont thought ahead, he made a restoration spell should we actually manage to take the castle and wish to use it, but break the engine room in the process," Trevor explained.
"Hmm, convenient," I admitted sarcastically.
Trevor laughed at my droll humor.
"Yes, very," He agreed. "Well, I think she's done, let's go check."
He began walking off and I followed.
We walked through the halls of the castle, taking several twists and turns until we entered the engine room. In the middle of the room was a woman. She had caucasian skin, light peach hair, and blue eyes. She wore voluminous cyan robes, the traditional robes of the Speakers, nomads, and healers who give aid to all who need it. They carry an oral history and believe that writing on paper kills history and fancy themselves enemies of God. But, don't let that fool you, she's a good friend and she has a good heart.
Green magical energy crackled around us, restoring the once molten gears and mechanisms to their original might from before she had destroyed the engine room with a spell to trap it during the final battle with my father, a small green sphere of energy in her hands as she willed the gears to be restored.
"Impressive," I admitted once she was done, catching the magician's attention.
"Oh, thank you, Alucard," Sypha said. "The treasure trove of knowledge both Dracula and the Belmonts held amazes me to no end!"
"You both are welcome at any time," I said to her, chuckling as I did so.
"That's cool. I have to admit, as bat-shit crazy as he went, and as evil, as he was, I can't help but think he was a good father," Trevor admitted.
"Hmm, yes," I said, hiding my depression. "Well I thi-"
I was stopped. The gears of the engine room began turning, the Polyhedron began spinning rapidly.
"The Hell is going on!?" Trevor yelled as the spinning increased and wind began whipping through the castle.
"I think Castlevania is moving!" I shouted over the wind.
"To wear!?" Sypha yelled. But, before I could answer, the castle disappeared in a pillar of light.
The castle landed violently with a loud, crashing boom, crushing trees beneath it. Smoke had kicked up in the engine room, invading our lungs.
After a few minutes, the smoke cleared, and we were able to see outside the window. Castlevania landed in a forest of sorts, with dark green vegetation and trees, and far off, I could see a village with several cottages and a crystalline castle.
Magic, I guessed at the castle.
"Where are we?" Trevor asked in confusion, now looking out the window with me.
"I don't know, but, there's one way to find out, tell me, Belmont, did you bring the Morning Star and Leon's Sword with you?" I asked him.
"Um, yes," Trevor confirmed. "I'll go get them, I left them in the library."
"Good, I'll retrieve my own sword," I said as I went to the study. The wall in this area was still broken, and the old scrying mirror shards were reformed in the field that held them and formed them. I found my sword still sheathed in its scabbard. It was a one-handed, cruciform longsword with a one-handed grip made of silver metal, and a long, thin, tapered blade. I strapped it to my side and took a moment to examine myself in the mirror. I was dressed in chiefly black trousers while covering my white undershirt with a black and gold long coat and black boots on my feet.
I walked into the front hall, Sypha was there, as was Trevor. Trevor had the Morning Star strapped to his right, and Leon's blade strapped to his left. The Morning Star was a consecrated chain whip of generous length, with a one-handed grip and a blessed metal mace-like head, and Leon's sword was a cruciform longsword with a darker blade, a two-fisted grip, and an ornate gold, black, and red crossguard.
I walked up to them, and they nodded to me in confirmation that they were ready.
I opened the two giant doors, revealing to us the dark forest. We walked past several sickly green trees and several different forms of flora and fauna.
"This place doesn't seem too hospitable," Trevor quipped as we walked.
As we walked, eventually, a rancid stench invaded our nostrils, almost like rotting wood. I notice that green smoke was the source of the stench.
"Be on guard," I warned the group as we all adopted battle stances.
Suddenly, a pack of wolves made of Timber appeared before us, jumping from the shadows. I activated my super-speed and stabbed what I assumed was the alpha in the head, cracking the wood. But, I noticed it had no internal organs and that it was hollow. I removed my sword and noticed that there was no blood on it. The Alpha stared me down.
"They have no organs! I believe they are pure wood!" I shouted to Sypha and Trevor, who were engaging these, Timberwolves, of their own.
"I have an idea!" Sypha shouted. "Get back!"
Trevor an I retreated a good distance back with Sypha, who activated her magic, a small orange ball appeared between her pinkie and index fingers, and then, she set the Timberwolves ablaze and incinerated them in an explosion of ash and wood.
"Well, that was fun," Trevor said with annoyance, wiping soot from his face.
"Indeed, I wonder what else this place has in store for us," I mused. "Let's continue."
We kept walking along until we came to a clearing. We were on a farm, with a large red barn in the center of it. All around us was an apple orchard, and a sign that read Sweet Apple Acres, with a blue farmhouse to the side, and a road leading to a town, with the crystal castle in the distance.
"Oh hey, a farm, I wonder if there are any locals," Trevor mused.
"With a forest like that so close?" Sypha asked.
"Maybe. People learn to adapt. Smart and stubborn people mainly," Trevor shot back.
"Yes, well, I guess we should ask them where we are," I suggested before we made our way to the farmhouse, taking note of the cattle and sheep.
I curled one hand into a fist and rapped it on the door. "Hello, my friends and I are lost, could you tell us where we are?" I asked whoever was inside.
"Sure, juz give me a hot second," a female voice shot back with a southern accent.
The door opened, and on the other side, was a pony. She had an orange coat, blonde hair tied at the ends, a mark on her flank of three apples, and, a face of almost human features with vibrant green eyes shooting an inquisitive look at us. On her head was a stetson.
"Why do they let such an intriguing animal in their house?" Trevor asked aloud.
"Excuse me, but where are the owners of the house?" I asked, urging the pet to take us to the humans of the house.
"Uh, sorry tah disappoint mister, but ah'm a member of the family that owns this farm." She said. "Ah can tell yer not from 'round here."
"Alucard, you're seeing the talking horse too, right?" Trevor whispered to me.
"Yes, and no, you didn't have too much to drink, and you and I are very much awake," I whispered back. "Excuse me, miss, but is your entire country populated by talking....ponies?"
"Yup. This here country's called Equestria, populated by Pegasi, Unicorns, an', a'course, Earth ponies," the pony sai with hints of pride.
"Wait, Magic isn't forbidden in this land?" Trevor asked with shock, hearing about the Unicorns.
"It seems so. And apparently, this world is populated by sapient mythological ponies," I mused.
"Definitely not from here, are ya?" The pony mused. "Aw crud, where are mah manners? Ah'm Applejack," the Pony said, raising a foreleg, and kept it there waitingly. We passed confused glances. An idea came into my mind, I took her foreleg, and gave it a small shake.
"I'm Alucard, these are my companions, Sypha and Trevor," I said, gesturing to the two.
"Mighty pleased tah meet y' all," Applejack smiled. "Although, the townsfolk might not take tah ya so kin'ly," Applejack warned.
"How so?" Sypha asked.
"Well, first off, yer armed to tha teeth," Applejack said, pointing to me and Trevor's swords and whip. "An', most other creatures on Gaius ten' to be less than friendly to us Ponies, so we tend to freak out at the sight of new creatures."
"Yet, you seemed to have reacted well," I pointed out.
"Meh, yer the least weird thing me and mah friends have seen compared to some, anyway, I suggest ya go see Twilight," She said.
"OK, where does this Twilight live?" I asked her.
"Over at the Castle o' Friendship," Applejack said, pointing towards the crystal castle with her left hoof.
I looked at curiosity, as did my companions.
"What was it called again?" Trevor asked.
"The Caste o' Friendship," Applejack said casually.
"No, seriously, what's it called?" Trevor asked again, expecting a real answer.
"Ah told ya," Applejack deadpanned.
"So, its name, is actually, truly "Castle of Friendship"?" Trevor asked, still not believing her as he made air quotes when he said Castle of Friendship,
"Uh-huh. What's so hard to believe about that?" Applejack asked with a questioning eyebrow.
"Just that from where we are from. things like friendship aren't so important to build a castle dedicated to it," I explained.
"Sounds like a real party," Applejack quipped before looking around, remembering that they were still outside. "Ah, shoot, we've been talkin' outside tha entire time. Come on in!"
We passed nervous glances before looking at the pony again, she opened the door and stood to the side, waiting for us to enter.
We complied and entered the farmhouse, unsure of what was next, the door creaking closed behind us.
