The Union Chronicles

Chapters

First Chronicle
Second Chronicle
Third Chronicle
Fourth Chronicle
Fifth Cronicle

First Chronicle

Chicamocha Canyon, Santander Department, Republic of Colombia, May 10, 1900

The night was cold, chilling I may add, the Andean mountains with their blissful and at the same time dreadful winds are much worse than the constant sound of artillery canyons being echoed on the canyon. I am currently near the Chicamocha Canyon, only a few steps of Bucaramanga, the city and the land of traitors, those who succeeded our union, just like what happened in America, has repeated in our nation. It is funny you know, the thinking that each man of this nation, that they are all right in their limits, were converted into a cold, and destructive war that brings pain and-

"Ramirez! I don't want to see you writing in your stupid diary, go and help the 3rd line to dig more trenches," a tall white man dressed in an officer uniform for the conservative army shouted to me.

"Yes, sir!" I responded, rapidly putting the little book in one of the pockets of my trench coat. I take my rifle that was leaned upon the wooden walls. Standing up, I proceed to take a long breath, relaxing a bit as I stretch. I begin to walk across the improvised trenches, passing through various artillery canyons settled on the mountain. Darkness descends into the place, the only light is a reddish one coming from the lamps in each sector where soldiers are eating and talking, as others are concentrated in the artillery canyons, recharging and getting ready to...

"FIRE!" a tall black man shouts, the sound of the artillery following it, leaving a dim buzz in my ears. You know, even by covering my ears the sound is still annoying and hurtful, like if someone would have shouted into one of your ears.

My attention is diverted for some seconds when I see a group of soldiers passing right next to me, all covered in blood and also in several bandages, covering both eyes and arms. I gulp hard out of the state of their injuries, even though, that is a usual sight in this war, but that doesn't mean that seeing the brutality of it can become something normal, it instead becomes worse every time you pay more attention to it.

I pass through several corners, each one with different signs varying from "Calle de Miranda" to "Calle del Libertador" being printed upon wooden planks, written on ink. Going further, there is a large wooden square against one of these walls, with several newspapers pasted upon it, one of the news, caught my attention with the title of "All foreigners in Peking Dead, Chinese groups under the 'Boxer name' have rebelled against the local colonial garrisons in the area."

Meaning, more war, hurray!!!!.... nope that's not good...

I finally arrived at my destination, a sector that didn't have any class of wooden walls, only artillery canyons covered in a type of sheet, being safely guarded by the rocks around this area. Several soldiers are quietly sleeping on the ground, while others are with shovels, digging on the earth, working in that area. A man is smoking a cigar near them, watching his soldiers work while he is just resting upon the chair. I give a long sigh, before straightening and getting close to him.

"Sir!" I begin standing closely, waiting for his response. He shows an amused face before talking.

"And who the hell are you son?" the man says after smoking deeply the cigar.

I look at him with curiosity, yeah, it is just great the coordination this war is currently having, I can not believe that we are winning the war, "Jose Ramirez, from the 5th, I came here in the orders of Captain Santos for helping your division with the trenching works sir!"

His somewhat amused face changes to a frown, as he shouts to a soldier in his back, "Lucas!" a young man, maybe in his 20s, immediately appeared in front of him, waiting for the order, "give this man a shovel and indicate him where he can mess with this terrain," he finishes, smoking again.

"Si señor!" the young soldier exclaimed as he turns back to a small bunker. You know, I was thinking, when this war finished, I'm hoping to settle in this sector of the country, maybe I'll grow coffee, even marry, just the dreams of this lonely soldier.

The soldier comes back slowly with a shovel, I can see how his legs are almost shaking for some reason, something that is betrayed by the face of pain, and I know what this is, an injured soldier that was probably sent back to the front lines to help the officers of the governmental army.

He handles the shovel to me, simply nodding after that. He begins to walk towards the working zone, me following him from behind. In this zone, the only thing that gives light is the moonlight, not as powerful as a prospect, but still, it is fairly dim for someone to at least have a comfortable vision. People are generally just working, coughs and other sounds of disgust are echoed, almost like if ghosts were sickened by them, I usually don't believe in the local myths, but of what I know, this zone is full of spectres based in the native folklore, some farmers believe in them, but in the end, it is just a form to scare people.

The soldier stops, pointing at a sector with his hand, "this is area 69, under the principal orders the trench will try to follow the back of those rocks, towards the other side of that hill."

"Nice," I say, a half-grin appearing on my face.

He begins to get close to me, speaking in a secretive voice, "beware, man, this is a sector of the scare dogs, the so-called area of stinking liberal snipers, and also the freaking Venezuelan forces helping them, just, try to be cautious," he finishes with a worried face.

I slowly nod, thinking about his words, because, this place is a death trap for the ones that believe that this could be camping trip, hmph, maybe everyone wishes that this could be a simple camping trip. I begin to walk downhill into the area I was assigned to work on, as the soldier behind me begins to retreat to his HQ. Going slowly down the hill, I reach a zone that fairly looks like a plain covered in dead trees and small holes on the ground. A sign is placed on the dirt with a skull and some words reading "Precaución! area controlada por rebeldes," that translating them into English, it means that this zone is controlled by the rebel soldiers, the liberals.

I slowly walk through the plain, reaching one of the holes, I hear a sudden sound that startles me, making me shift my body towards the direction of it, that thanks to my good luck, it's just another soldier digging on the earth.

"Thank God, " I mumble with partial hesitation as I begin to work. One of the sounds that you just get used to it is the sound of the rifles being fired in the distance, must be another charge by either the Liberals or the Conservatives, paced in a trance of back and forth, guessing who will end up winning these battles.

The only battle that I fought was three days ago, an ambush by the liberals with the pretext of trying to destroy our supply lines towards the front, a desperate action since we currently have the high ground, per se, but thanks to the complications of the traps, it slows the pace of the war for us and them.

I repeat it, the worst part of all of this is the freaking traps, there is nothing so horrible like those, it is just like living with rats on the carpets near the trenches, life is becoming more and more isolated in these zones, a feeling that just crushes your soul.

My uniform is becoming dirtier, my face is already covered in mud thanks to the subterranean ponds under the small banks of dirt, those sounds of a battle begin to be more scarce, it must be ending, "with a victory of our part, " I say, looking towards the small town in the other side of the mountain, fire can be seen as well, an accident probably happened in that terrain. I pass my dirty hand through my face, cleaning the small sweat droplets that are present even in this cold night.

"In that my friend, I gotta fully agree with you," a voice behind me says with a bit of pride, I slowly turn back with a confused face, getting to see a tall man, even though that part is hard to say thanks to the darkness of this night, something that only makes me more confused every second I stare directly at him. He is using a trench coat with a rifle on his back, a grin is visible on his mouth that is accompanied by a cigar. The cloud of smoke is exhaled by him, as he chuckles softly while crouching, "gotta get to work."

Before he could join me in this zone, I leave the shovel resting upon the dirt as I get close to him, "and who might you be?" I ask while raising an eyebrow.

The man initially reacts with a confused face before responding, "James Rochester, at your service," he says while rasing one of his hands as we shake hands.

"James Rochester?" I begin with a small trace of suspicion, "I suppose that you are American right?"

James smokes again, finally getting into to the zone where the trench is being dug while bringing his shovel, "you got that right' in target," he responds, I can be Latin American, but I can recognize the famous 'Southern Accent' of the United States.

I chuckle softly before responding, "I thought that you were all busy killing Chinese*."

There is a moment of silence before we both begin to laugh softly, "right, those Boxers deserve to be kicked in the ass, but I preferred kicking the ass of those rebels, after all, I am closer to home."

I address him with a weak smile, "well man, let's get this thing done."

He smokes one last time before throwing the cigar to the floor. He takes the shovel and begins to help me, both digging in almost unison.

"And tell me," he begins, his eyes focused on the amount of dirt in front of him, "where did you learn to speak English?"

I halt for a small second in the middle of my work, giving a long sigh as I clean a drop of sweat on my front, "studied it on New York, was a teen when I visited the U.S."

I resumed my task, as he begins to snicker, "So you went to my country ehhh," he gives a long sigh before briefly ceasing to work on the amount of dirt, "what are you doing here?"

That question leaves me in a confused trance for a short second, "what do you mean?"

He remains in silence before answering with a frown, "how could a guy that studied in another nation fight in a useless war like a dog?"

I remain silent, trippin' through my thoughts, "I suppose that it is that sentiment for this nation you know, that makes you do thinks that could probably get you killed."

"And you wanna get killed?"

A smile appears on my dirty face, "that would make me immortal, even if it does not makes sense to most of us."

Before he could say something else, a sudden sound alerts both of us, not being one of the shovels digging on the earth, but the one of someone or something passing through bushes in the forest in front of us, like if he or she or it is struggling to pass through a very narrow corridor.

"What the hell is that...." James whispers, proceeding to raise his sight over the small hill of dirt, finding a dark figure walking through that zone, "it looks like a horse...."

I also raise my view, watching the mysterious figure. James takes his rifle in a very slow manner, putting it above the hill, beginning to aim at the target.

"Wait..... what if he is from some official here?" I ask, also raising my rifle, but still in a neutral manner, "besides, why shooting a horse, I am pretty sure that it more useful alive than dead."

He remains silent for a second before responding, "I don't think so, why would a high ranking official of this area just..... let a horse walk freely," our attention yields to seek an answer, analyzing its movements.

"What the hell, is that a person," James says, looking worried, "maybe a scout of us?"

I remain silent as I watch the figure that looks like if he or she is trying to hide behind the bushes, "I don't think so."

I put my rifle as well over the small mountain of dirt, targeting the mysterious figure. Before I could even say something, James fired his weapon, but not targeting that person, but pointing to the side. The figure becomes alert, as he or she gets close to the horse and in a hurry, proceeding to lead the animal to the top of the hill, going towards the burning city.

"Damn it!" James shouts while shooting again, "I'll go to the HQ, follow him!" he almost yelled, leaving me a little bit dumbfounded and also with no options. If that figure is a liberal spy, then it could announce that we are building new fortifications in this zone of the canyon, and possibly destroy the offensive planning that we created.

"Al carajo..." I mumble while standing up and proceeding to run towards the fleeing figure. I can hear how my companion is also running in the opposite direction. With the level of light of this starry night, it is very difficult to see around this lands, only getting a dim notion of something moving in the bushes. Getting towards the foot of the hill, I start to climb it with difficulty thanks to the spikes and cactuses in the area, the canyon is almost desolated in that part but still, it is full of flora that sums a problem upon moving. I pause for one second as I raise my rifle and proceed to shoot the figure, missing my target for barely anything, I start to climb up again, not letting this one escape.

With all of my forces, I finally arrive at the top of the hill, starting to run as fast as I could, almost like if I was charging towards something in the middle of a hasty battle, but to my surprise, no one is around, it is like if the person I was chasing simply disappeared with the horse. I cease running and proceed to walk slowly. The town in front of me is burning, releasing ashes and heat that, combined, produce a disgusting smell around the air, but the one making the worse of all, is the one of flesh being incinerated, immediately sending chills down my spine. The light coming from the fire is strong, giving a warm radiance that combines itself with the fear of something dead and rotten, just like in a nightmare or something that you could only read in books of fiction.

BAM! a bullet passes right next to my left arm, almost hitting me. I immediately drop on the floor, crawling to seek cover, that again thanks to my luck, a large rock is just on the side of the road leading to the town. Two shots again fall next to me, failing to get their target, that in this case, it is me. I breathe heavily as I lean against the rock, waiting for an opportunity to respond to my enemy. Four shots are repeatedly heard, each one hitting either the rock or the ground. I waited three seconds for a response, but nothing came, meaning that it must be recharging. Not wasting an opportunity, I proceed to aim towards the tower where my attacker is shooting. I fired 5 shots in the direction of the figure hiding in the shadows inside the room of the tower. I dropped again on the floor, recharging my weapon as I waited for his response, that to my surprise, it never came. I fire again directly at the direction of the window, and dropped again, waiting for the response, and again it didn't come. Cold anxiety begins to appear inside of my mind, several possibilities being formed, but my decision is trying to kill whoever is inside the tower.

I resume to stand up again, running directly towards the door of the small tower. Entering with power, I start to climb the stairs rapidly, aiming my rifle to my front, expecting the enemy to come out of nowhere. Arriving at the last floor, I slowly begin to walk towards a rusty wooden door that leads into the room of that window. I breath several times and steel myself mentally and physically. I gradually open the door, finding a young man, maybe 19 years old could be his age, with a stain of blood on his Liberal uniform, looking tired and almost in a deplorable way, but now it is the turn of my bad luck to act in my story because when he noticed my face, he uses all of his last strengths that remained in his body, raising his rifle and shooting me right on the arm, causing me to fall in my back onto the stairs, leaving me unconscious.....

I slowly begin to open my eyes, as my senses are just beginning to get back in control. My body feels heavy, almost dizzy and at the same time full of adrenaline. I touch my chest, finding a bullet being stuck in my small flask that I would usually put in one of the pockets of the arm, as the smell of whisky is impregnated upon my vest.

"Me and.... my freaking luck," I say, staring down at the flask with a tired face, but something caught my attention, the white light coming from downstairs. Standing up slowly, I took my rifle and begin to descend, hearing the sound of flares flying high in the sky, darkness and the same artic cold has returned to the air, making my heart to palpate harder, at my understanding of my situation, I almost feel death, not knowing if this is true or not.

Going outside, I gradually wander towards the direction of the town, which still has that infernal fire, but it isn't with the same presence that it previously had. The night still reigns upon this lands, but this time it is being lighted up by white flares momentarily lighting the skies, just like if God would momentarily press the switch and make the light reign again in the jet black skies. I glance at every construction in the area, all in lamentable ruins. Propaganda posters are posted on the walls of some of the structures, I believe that this used to be a beautiful colonial town, but it was destroyed thanks to the war. Terror reigns the ambient, killing the warm heat, as my mind makes me feel cold inside, even though, I am very near to the source of this fire, located in the principal plaza of the town.

I stop walking, as I stare at a human figure mounted on a horse, just in the other side of the plaza. The fires only give me small details at first, his hair is blonde, something very weird in a Latin-American person, and the worst one, he is wearing a Liberal uniform, but no one dared to do anything, if this guy is real, we are simply not attacking each other, and don't ask me why, because I don't have any idea of that, I'm just mentally blocked, something is burning in my senses, a small voice alerting me to do something but at the same time, it is trying to comfort me, that I don't have to worry about anything.

In a sudden movement, he slowly begins to take the rifle off his back, and begins to aim at me, but he didn't shoot, as I am still not thinking clearly, I don't know if this is just part of my imagination or if it is happening. The man pulls the trigger and fires a simple shot towards the floor, making me give some steps backwards, bad decision on my part, as we both realized that this is real, making him fire again but this time my head on his targets list.

I begin to run through the various streets of the town, the man following me while riding on his horse while shooting again with poor accuracy thanks to his concentration in both trying to kill me and in riding the horse. Turning to my right with ferocity, I enter directly into the forest, the man is still following me, as my bad luck strikes again, I slip thanks to a small pond that was in front of me, making me fall hard on my face, but this fate does not only happens to me but also my attacker, as the horse that he is riding slips, almost falling over me. Thanks to my quick reaction that thing could have become an imminent death. The man flies through the air before landing harshly over a small bush right next to a tree.

I immediately take my knife that I was hiding in my pants, in the determination of stabbing him. The man realizes my intentions, making him to instantly jump towards the direction of his rifle that fell with the fall, but it is stopped by my hand, as I hold his boot. He sends several bucks right into my youthful face, breaking both my nose and my mouth, leaving me in a short moment of dizziness. He gets to the rifle, and just when he is about to shoot me, I leap towards him, making both of us fall downhill, while our forceful fight still raged on.

I sent a punch right into his mouth, making him transmit a painful shriek, but that is returned by a blow directly into my stomach, making me spit blood. A sudden thunder falls near one of the trees, making the horse screech in fear, slipping downhill towards the river, with us making the same thing thanks to a similar reaction that we both had with the animal.

We both arrived at the border of a violent river, the water running like if a thousand horses are galloping towards a battle. The man jumps over my back trying to drown me as he tries to lower my head in the cold water. You know, this is the moment where you gotta do decisions that you might either hate or love in your future, and this is the one I took.

I quickly send a direct blow on his lower parts, making him scream in pain, but the man wasn't going to allow being defeated, as he used his last force to push me onto the river, stumbling as I fall directly towards the horse that is very near to the river's border, making him stumble momentarily before falling into the river, with guess who accompanying our friend here, well that would be me.

"F....U...RICK!!!" I forcefully say as the water draws me into the depths of the river. I try to fight the current of the water, and as I can tell you, the stallion is doing the same thing, struggling for his life. The water is just turbulent and incredibly cold, making me stumble onto several times towards some rocks along with the place, The Chicamocha river is known for this, being violent. In one second, something begins to happen.... everything begins to become calmer, as rainbow light starts surrounding both the stallion and me, a vibrant aspect is coming from it thanks to the warmth and the kind of peace that it irradiates, but this is what I call the calm before the storm, as in a second, the water suddenly sinks me above the water, my body filling dizzy, but I notice something, I am breathing UNDER THE WATER!!!!

My forces are dissipated, my view becomes dizzy as darkness becomes the only thing resent of my surroundings, I didn't feel wet, I feel my clothes totally dry, and a soft air blows my hairs in an eternal abysm. Opening my eyes, I see how several dots, which I will classify as stars, begin to appear around me. Suddenly, I can almost swear that I saw Jupiter passing right next to me, much smaller of what you could expect, and at the end of what seems to be an endless tunnel of death, a bright light surrounds me, making me feel calm......

My view starts to grow clearer, my first sight is a blue sky, it is no longer night, apparently, the day has already come to the Colombian lands. I still have my rifle right next to me, something that I notice when I begin to move out of my uncomfortable position, but to my great surprise, my clothes are completely dry, and the pain I previously felt simply dissipated away.

I touch my lips and make pressure on them, but at my surprise, no pain is felt, neither in my arms that were heavily scratched and fractured after that fall.

I start to stand up, slowly but steadily into my full height. My brown eyes tiredly glance at my surroundings, trying to recognize this place, but instead, I found a brown horse with a black mane standing shakily on his four hooves. A sense of mercy enters my body, as I begin to get close to the stallion with my rifle on my back. Both of my hands are raised upwards as I try to make myself as harmless as possible. The horse spits water and shakes slightly his mane when his black eyes meet my brown ones directly.

"Hey there buddy," I say softly, getting closer and closer to the horse. The animal seems to not care about my approach and proceeds to simply turn back and takes a bite of the grass. I begin to pet him lightly on the neck, making that the horse to simply try to get closer to me, his eyes are still fixed on his dinner.

"Excuse me," a sudden voice promptly startled both of us, as the stallion momentarily raises his view to see the new visitor, before shrugging and going back to the delicious thing he previously was doing. While in my part, my eyes widened and my mouth hanged in shock, I simply don't have a description to the beast I am seeing, I don't think that any human in the world history has seen something like that.

"Who the hell are you?" I say shakily, pointing my rifle at his direction, I am not going to let whatever that thing is getting close to me, adding up to the creepy things of this thing, he can also talk. A sudden movement coming from him startles me, seeing how he is coming from the direction of the horse that left his food to also stare at the beast in front of him. There is no expression in the face of the horse, but you can deduce that he is as shocked as I am, "more like WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!"

It looks like a combination of several animals into one, a sight that sent chills down the spine of one, almost like if it was a class of a German experiment made up by trying to combine several parts of animals, uniting into a thing, like in Frankenstein.

"Excuse me for my interruption, " the creature begins, walking towards us, a grin appearing on the apparent muzzle of the beast, "but would you like to accompany me for a cup of tea?" he asks, raising an eyebrow in the process.

I raise my eyebrow as my mouth twitches, my senses are losing control of the situation before I resolved to speak to him again, "that is not what I-I..... ju-st asked," I pause for a second, looking at the thing with very close attention, "I a-asked, w-w-who the.... h-ell are you."

Although my rifle is pointed directly at him plus my hateful hateful glare, not a single trace of fear is manifested on his face, "oh! excuse me for being so rude," he begins talking in a kind of British accent before continuing, "let me present myself, my name is Discord, a humble farmer from the lands of the Draconequusians."

My frown changes to a confused face, "what the hell are you talkin' about."

An evil smile spreads across his face, "I want to give you the warm welcome to the forest between worlds."

"Forest-" I stop, giving a quick glimpse to my surroundings, the 'lake' where I previously appeared to isn't a lake at all, but it is instead a small pond, it's like if the world would have suddenly shrunk a bit, and at my other impression we are actually in a forest, a very weird one, the trees are in some strange positions and the colours of many of them are just off the chart, making me feel dizzy, and as I can see it, the horse is feeling like this as well even if he does not expresses it.

One of the things to notice as well is just how quiet the place is, this forest just feels incredibly warm and calm, even the sounds of walking through the dark grass are barely heard, there are no bugs, no animals, and no birds that could be singing songs, filling the emptiness of this forest, even though, it just seems that it does not need it, it is just too good to be true.

"Donde carajos estamos?" I spat looking again at my surroundings with a worried face. The creature proceeds to get close to us.

"Looks like something has thrown you here," he begins with an evil smirk, "into uniting a land, but I suppose that you are an expert doing that right? aren't you in the middle of a war seeking what the inhabitants of my land also want, union," the creature finalizes while levitating in the air, not noticeable at the moment thanks to the trance that both the horse and myself seem to be locked upon.

"What are you talking about?" I ask again with a sceptical look, giving a step back. I start to lower my rifle very slowly.

He raises one of his paws and begins to move it on circles, "you see, I need this, it needs to happen so I can finally begin my own games," he pauses for a second, getting close me, "and I need others to firstly solve my problems there."

"Just see it by yourselves," he continued, and in an unexpected instant, a force levitates us, both the horse and I.

"What THE HELL!" I shout, my nerves are boiling out of my tongue, the horse is also in fear, as the stallion neighs desperately while looking down.

"You might want another companionship," he says while looking at the stallion, "you will discover things about the universe..... that you could not find in your own imagination."

I begin to breathe heavily as the force suddenly pulls us towards a different pond, advancing to drop both the horse and me inside of it.

"See you in wonderland!!!" the creature says as everything becomes darker and darker until silence reigned the place, and in a moment, another light appeared, throwing both of us into the dunes of a desert, the only thing I know is not knowing what the..... hell just happened.

The blinding light of the desert makes me see stars momentarily as my eyes slowly come back to normal. The heat feels like if it is boiling you at a thousand degrees Fahrenheit, and the sound of the air moving the sand complements the background of the dilemma I got myself into, though, there is no way I can know if this is real or not, it feels real, but at the same time... fake.

"Uhhhh... what.. just happened.." what the hell.....

A voice just spoke behind me, causing me to slowly turn to understand who said those words. At my impression, the same stallion is the only one that appears to be with me in this desertion.

Calmness floods my body as I sigh, "at least I have some sort of company ehh," I say, becoming silent for some seconds before starting to chuckle, "the voice must have been a kind of vision thanks to the heat," I lower my head as I put my hands in my belt, "it isn't like the horse just talked!"

The stallion raises an eyebrow while seeing me silently.

He opens his muzzle, the intentions clear "where the hell am I, and who are you?" he says while pointing his right front limb in my direction...

My eyes widened, my fists clenched, and my mind suddenly becomes dizzy.

The stallion's eyes narrowed, as his shocked face becomes a glare, "you are... a CONSERVATIVE SOLDIER!!!!"

And that is the moment my friends, where I decided that I need to rest for a while. My body begins to shake heavily, as I fall over one of the dunes.

Yeah... a little bit of rest would not be that bad.... and at that moment, I closed my eyes and went directly into the realm of dreams.

Author's Note

References
*Boxer Rebellion was an Anti-Imperialist movement in China between 1899-1901, towards the end of the Qing Empire.

The story is settled in 1900, just at the eves of the Palonegro battle, one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the whole American continent.

Blue Soldier: Conservative Soldiers
Gray Soldiers: Liberal Soldiers(in this image they appear with only a part of their uniform)

English isn't my native language and I am still looking for an editor, so if you catch any errors, I'll be happy to know.

Second Chronicle

May 11, 1900

I groan as my eyes slowly come back to the world of the living. My only thoughts are centred in the temperature, my goodness, this place is really hot. My eyes suddenly widen as I see a horse staring directly into my tired brown eyes, I cannot really even think what is happening, at least it is making a shadow against this infernal heat.

"My goodness gracious, I must be really losing my head," I say out loud, trying to get up again. The horse, seeing my intentions, backed up a little bit with some compressive eyes, a thing that is creeping me out. I can say that I saw expression, emotion in his eyes, in the eyes of the horse.

I clean myself a little bit, the sand is messing up my uniform, my pant has a hole near the left pocket. Stretching a bit, I turn my view back at the horse, who is simply staring at me. I look at the animal with suspicion, as I can scarcely remember something.......that something weird happened with this animal, something out of this world.

I sigh, beginning to get close to the animal, and to my impression, the horse does the same, I can almost swear that I just saw a small smile on his muzzle. I begin to pat him on the back while looking in his saddlebags. A pack of cigarettes, a lighter, a broken mirror, a liquor hip flask, some biscuits, an FN M1900 pistol, a photo, and a napkin.

"Huh," I simply pronounce, taking only somethings from the saddlebag, but my curiosity centres especially in the photo and the napkin. I study the photo with attention, I can say the same thing for the horse as he is also studying the photo with what I believe is emotion? really hard to say, at least for me.

Three women are all smiling behind an old colonial building. They are all wearing 'ruanas*' and only one of them is wearing a white hat. Thanks to the sun, I notice some letters on the back of the photo.

Vuelve con nosotras

I stare wordlessly at those blunt letters, come back to us, and as I can deduce, this horse is obviously from a military division of the liberal army. I take out my golden combat rosary and make a small Catholic prayer, even if he is supposed to be my enemy, he at least deserves respect, after all, we are fighting for the union, not for hate.

I put the photo in one of my pockets, sighing quietly. Taking off the napkin, some words are also written in black ink, but they are barely noticeable. They look like if they were written over themselves several times, with a small dot of blood in the left corner of it. I recognize one of them, a location if I'm being more specific, Palonegro, and what do I know about that, it is near Bucaramanga.

My thoughts begin to fight between themselves internally, I can't decide what is this, the guy who owned this horse was a spy? or it was just a scout. Palonegro is a reasonable location for a battle, and you don't need spies for that, it is the only way of getting to Bucaramanga through the Chicamocha canyon.

I suddenly backed off a bit from the horse, believing that I just caught him whimper, my eyes widened at his wretched look, but the thing that really startles me here wasn't even the fact that he could be sad, but an emotional tear appeared on his left eyes, a tear.

"What the hell," I say while looking how that single tear falls down from his cheek onto the dry sand.

I steeled myself, slowly walking towards him. The horse seems to catch my actions and quickly tried to hide his expression, something that only obtained to be even more mysterious because the horse just tried to clean his cheek with one of his hooves. The horse keeps looking at the sand, trying not to see my judging eyes.

I take a deep breath, and decide to do something really stupid, "can you understand me?"

The horse hesitated, but he slowly lifts his head, looking at my eyes before doing an unbelievable action, he nods.

I put a hand in my chest, abruptly halting. My face changed to the one of utter shock, the horse nodded, but it was real.... or not?

"Do....y-you really understand me?" I spoke once again, and again, the horse nodded, leaving me stunned for some brief seconds, before that feeling converted into fear, "c-can..... y-y-you talk?"

I expected nothing, maybe the horse understands me, maybe he was trained like that, or maybe I am just crazy, the latter was reinforced as the horse decided to speak, "yes."

That word, that sole word, made my stumble back on the sand, looking at the horse with pure and complete fear. I just listened to a horse talk!!! I must be crazy.

The horse starts to walk towards me, while I am still trying to resolve what is happening. He stops, looking at me with a frown while chewing his reins, "my...." the horse stops for a moment when I flinched, "my.... name is Dorado, hooman."

My chest is full of pain, my breathing is becoming uncontrollable, I simply can't understand..... that fact that an animal is talking to me, "how.... you-you can't be real."

Dorado decides to stay quiet momentarily, but seeing that I am becoming more and more nervous than ever, he steps forwards and decides to take control of the situation, "look.... I have no idea of what happened."

"Happened!" I exclaimed, startling Dorado momentarily, "s-so you are tell-ing me that you don't know what is happening."

Dorado nods, "everything before this is just.... blur...... but I can remember things, remember from where I come from, remember the enemy, and remember him...."

I slowly start to calm down, raising an eyebrow, "him?"

Sighing sadly, Dorado lowers his head as his ears pinned against his head, "my old master, I remember that he was the one that took care of me when I was a colt, and then we went to battle against conservatives.... and then-"

Before he could continue any further, I decide to speak again with a small frown, "conservative, how do you-"

"I know that you are the enemy, a son of the monarchists that want to destroy Colombian liberty," Dorado says with a stronger and flippant voice.

"What the-" I tilt my head slightly, "how the hell do you know that?"

Dorado frowns, "I was trained to know who can ride me, and I was told to never ride soldiers like you," he states while pointing me with his hoof.

You know, I was going to continue with the small fight, but I mean, a horse is magically talking to me, it perturbates me, but this could be still because of the temperatures. I sigh while shaking my head, looking back at the horse.

"Look... Dorado right?" Dorado nods, not taking that angry glare off his face, "Dorado- I believe we start off on the wrong foot- or hoof for your case, let me present myself."

I begin to stand up, looking at the horse as I do so, "my name is Jose Ramirez," I offered my hand.

Dorado is sceptical for a moment, before nodding, as we made an awkward handshake, well, that is the name I am going to call it.

"So, do you have any idea of where in the world we are?" I urge, at least I think this horse knows what is this place, maybe La Guajira was my first mental conclusion, but the only problem with it is the fact that there aren't any cactuses on sight, just dunes and endless dunes of sand, simply looking to be an eternity.

For my disgrace, Dorado responds negatively, making me curse internally. I take the liquor hip flask and open it, it is full of its content and smells like aguardiente*. I look back at Dorado with a frown.

"Did your master brought water with you?" I asked, making Dorado tap his chin with one of his hooves, "I don't know.... did you found water inside my saddlebags," he says while raising an eyebrow.

I shake my head, making the horse sigh unhappily, "that's.... unfortunate, then I don't think that there is more water."

I look back at the flask, if I am correct, this can at least leave me hydrated for three days, but with the presence of my friend here, who looks like he is sapient as well, I need to rationalize what it's left, four biscuits and a flask of aguardiente.

Taking off my trench coat, I begin to sort out the goods that we have, "okay buddy, we gotta work like a team if we want to get out of this one," I say while looking back at the horse.

"Sooo, like working together? you are an enemy," he almost spatted, making me frown slightly as he continued, "plus, where could we possibly go, this desert looks like it goes eternally into the midst."

You know, my internal rage is extinguished by those words, we don't have a remote idea of where we are. I tried looking for directions with my compass, but it didn't exactly work, as it constantly points solely into one direction, like if the magnetism in this area is messed up.

"You gotta be kidding me," I said while trying to look what is wrong with the compass, "it is broken," I said out loud, as Dorado gets close to me. Even with this situation, it is weird, I have this voice telling me that he is not a horse but instead a demon or something evil that in any moment will transform into its pure nature and eat my soul.

"Maybe," Dorado started, "your compass hooman Jose, could be actually pointing somewhere."

This is the first time that I looked Dorado without traces of fear, "like if it is pointing something magical right?" I laugh at the thought.

Dorado simply shrugs, "you are talking with me right now," at those words, I begin slightly scowl, "who can say that your compass didn't acquire something weird thing on it as well."

What Dorado just said, would change the course of this story, because he is right, who says that it can't be that way, and if I am being sincere, the only thing that I barely remember before arriving at this place is being in a forest with ponds, but nothing else.

I close my eyes, taking a deep breath, I step right next to the curious horse, "you could be right......."

Dorado tilts his head slightly, "so we are going to follow your compass....." he stops for a moment, thinking about the possibilities that they really have at this moment, and most of all, believing in this enemy soldier. Though deep inside of him, Dorado is conscious that he needs the help of the hooman if he wants to survive, and hopefully, going back home, "all right, let's move."

That takes me completely off guard, raising an eyebrow at the statement he just gave me, "really, you are just..... we are just going to look where luck can bring us?"

Dorado shrugs again, "what other option do we have, and for a matter of fact," his eyes softened, "let's make a temporal truce between us."

"You know, I don't really think if I can do a truce with an animal-" I stopped for a second, believing that I just said an incorrect word. Dorado didn't seem to care, as he simply motioned for me to continue, "you aren't exactly representing the liberals here," I finished with a frown.

Dorado raises an eyebrow, giving me a smug face, "or you accept my offer of a truce, or you will need to find another horse that could help you, and I don't think you have a high chance of that."

I begin to take my rifle off my back, "I'll accept it," I snicker at that statement, "even if I still think that you aren't real."

Dorado chuckled as well, "I also can't believe that I am actually think," he mumbles, before looking at me again, "well then, what are you waiting for hooman, get on my back and let's move out of this elephants' graveyard."

I raise an eyebrow, "didn't you said that you were trained for only certain people could ride you?"

Dorado tapped his chin, "yes, but I suppose that neither you or myself want to die, so this is a mutual agreement," he got closer to me, motioning for I can hop on his back, "you help me and I'll help you."

My scepticism and fear create the perfect mixture for a suspicious tone for this horse, I still can't believe it, I mean, what sane human would actually believe this at first glance. If this is real, this Dorado guy is surely a demon, because animals can't talk in any part of our world.

But still, if I refused the offer of this demon I will surely die in this infernal desert, "all right," I said while putting some things into Dorado's saddlebag, and into my impression, I found several bullets scrambled in the interior of it. Extra ammo, though, that will not kill the thirst.

Mounting the horse, I tried to make as comfortable as I could. I also get a much better view of my surroundings, as this place really seems to be an endless desert that goes into nothing. My only hope comes from the idea of a magical talking animal, plus, as you have already figured out, the reserves are very scarce.

"Alright, Dorado," I paused for a second while looking at my compass, proceeding to point a direction of what I believe is the east, "that way."

Dorado, without saying a word begins to walk in the direction I just pointed to him. The torrid heat, sweat, and the cutting wind almost kill our hopes at first glance. The barren wasteland is a horrible thing to see, as both Dorado and I become worried as we see cow skulls and several bones scattered in an area that looks more or less like a plain. Four hours, or at least I believe that is how much time has passed, we have walked through what seems to be an endless and lifeless barren wasteland. If I am correct, we have travelled already 25 km, my friend here is panting, I can feel his sweat already, even though, it impresses me how much time he has resisted, he is obviously a horse trained for walking long distances.

One hour later, I tried to tell him in a shaky voice that he could take a rest, though, he still wanted to keep moving, the heat is simply becoming unbearable and he wants to cover as much distance as we could. I can say that we are currently at least at 41 centigrades, oxygen is becoming scarcer for the both of us.

Taking a rest, we both shared only one biscuit, and thanks to the lack of water, we were both forced to drink the sour aguardiente, not the best thing to kill the thirst, as the liquor combined with the heat leaves us dizzy momentarily. I take a cigarette and begin to smoke it with the intentions of trying to dissipate the horrible feeling, and in my madness, I offered one to Dorado as well, but he promptly rejected.

At least 30 minutes have passed since we stopped, collecting our breaths again, we begin our long journey once again. Looking at my small wrist clock, it is already 3:22 pm, the desert slowly begins to become colder and colder, as the heat drops at an incredible speed every minute that passes by. A new fact takes off some of the worries that we previously had, and that is thanks to the sudden transformation of the terrain. We are no longer in the desolated desert, but in a land that we could call at least 'fertile.' Cactuses, shrubs, flowers, and grass are growing on the barren sandstone, the hope of finding water makes again its way to give us hope.

A thought crossed my mind, this place is obviously desolated, and seeing that we could be in a mysterious zone in Colombia, I decided to take the liberty and baptized that valley as 'Las Dunas del Sahar Dorado,' honouring the magical horse that has brought me all the way to this part of the desert, which I gave the name of 'Desierto de Los Huesos Secos,' or translated into English, the Bone Dry Desert. Huh, even Dorado thinks it is a good name for these new lands.

This terrain appears to have more fertility, as the grass is covering the reddish sand beneath us, making me baptize that zone 'Valle de Santander.' Maybe in the future, they could give me an award for discovering new lands for my nation, obviously under the government that we are fighting for, at least those ones in the west of the nation.

The sun is beginning to set, as the sky is turning into an orange colour, our hopes were debilitating and debilitating....

Until right there, we both saw it, a town, a small town made up of sandstone is peacefully standing next to a large oasis right here in the Valley of Santander. What caught both of our attention is the architecture, looking at it, the design looks Arabian like if we are in a desolated land of the Ottoman Empire, or not so desolated, the lights giving life to the city and the sounds with its Arabian musical aspect just filled that fact.

"Thanks God..." Dorado mumbles, his heart accelerating of emotion at the sight. His walking becomes running, I can feel the cold refreshing air, giving Dorado and myself a calm and relaxing peace, but still, the thirst is horrible. There are only some few drops in the liquor flask and only one lonely biscuit, nothing more.

We arrive at the oasis next to the town. I immediately jumped off Dorado and ran into the small lake, drinking the cold water and washing my head at the same time. Dorado is doing the same thing, a smile is present on his muzzle, drinking litres of water, pure and cold refreshing water.

Having satisfied our needs, we went directly into the small town. I decided not to ride him this time, it seems silly anyways, at that short distance there is no actual need. I take his rein and motion it towards the Ottoman looking town. At first glance, it looks desolate, but then, both Dorado and I stopped walking, our eyes wide as we stared at the creature in front of us, that looks like if it is smoking a cigar. How could I describe it, well, it looks like its body, tail, and back legs are the ones of a lion, and its head and wings look like the ones of a condor, no no.... that isn't right...... more like the ones of an eagle.

"What.....is....that....thing," Dorado mumbles, his legs are shaking, fear is obvious in his body. In one second, I recognize it, that is a gryphon, a mythological Persian animal I believe.

But here, it is alive and.... looking at us with a raised eyebrow.

The gryphon is curious at first glance but then throws an angry frown, "what are ya' lookin' at monkey and pony?"

"It talks!" I exclaim, it is all so ridiculously fake that makes me wanna faint again.

The gryphon throws the cigar to the floor, glaring at us with hate, "do you have a prob-" he is suddenly interrupted thanks to a fight that is currently happening inside this tavern, changing his gaze towards the place. He then begins to enter the place, not before whispering something in a level that both Dorado and I could hear. "motherbuckers....."

The gryphon enters the place, leaving the sound of the fight echoing around the town. We changed our gaze again at another gryphon entering a house while whistling happily, closing it with an apparent chain.

"How do we know if they aren't going to attack us," Dorado mumbles, looking around the town as we kept advancing through it.

"I don't know," I say while taking my rifle, putting it in a position where I can either charge or fire at any class of threat that might present itself upon us, "but, let's be ready only if the things get a little bit dirty."

We slowly walk through the alleyways of the town, glancing at the other strange creatures surrounding us. I take my compass out of my pocket, looking at the arrow, it.... changes of direction, and now it is pointing at one of the establishments, an place that I can recognize as another tavern.

The moon is already high in the sky, my compass shining thanks to it. One of the things that caughts our curiosity are the stars, their patterns, and the colour of it because it isn't the jet-black that we are used to seeing, but instead, a purple colour paints the beautiful sky, the stars in their own glory, being exalted by the shiny moon that undoubtedly, is being reflected as pure as water.

"Wow...." I barely say. Suddenly, a strange light appears on the glass of my compass, some words being engraved on it magically.

Look for Birger

"What the...." I say while looking at the tavern in front of us, the name of Birger's Taverne engraved on a wooden plank.

"What, what was it?" Dorado asks while firstly looking at me with a frown, but then, he sees where my attention is focused on, the tavern.

"I think that we need to enter that place," I say bluntly, beginning to walk into the establishment.

Dorado's eyes widened, "WAIT!" I turn back to see his angry face, "what the hell are you talking about, why would we-"

"Look at it," I extend my hand, showing him the small words printed on the compass. He first is sceptical, but after looking at them closely and then looking at the sign of the tavern, he remains in silence.

Apparently, he can read as well.

I ignored his stare and resume walking into the place.

"Wait!" he says while jogging, "it doesn't seem to be a respectable establishment! you saw those things, they are literally mythology."

"But you were the one who said it," I begin while pointing his head with my finger, "all of this is for some reason...... could be magic, I don't know man, maybe they will give us indications and will be out of this place in no time flat."

"But-"

"Plus," I said while loading the rifle, "we have a backup plan after all."

"What-" too late, I stepped into the tavern, Dorado following me nervously. The place is full of gryphons and other creatures, and when they saw us, the music abruptly stopped, leaving an awkward silence for some seconds, before they simply shrugged it off and started their conversations again, the music following it.

We begin to make our way towards the bar counter. You know, maybe this horse was right, after all, I DON'T HAVE A BACKUP PLAN, everyone here is armed with huge axes and swords, meaning that we would be crushed almost instantly.

"What are we supposed to do," Dorado whispers to me, "it isn't like we are going to ask for directions to these things...."

I sigh, looking at the angry glares that some of the gryphons and other creatures were sending us, between those, I noticed some small equines, way too small for classifying them like ponies, plus their giant eyes simply do not go along their equestrian nature, so I'll simply call those things Equestres.

I snickered softly at the blank expression that Dorado had while looking at the equestres, he was simply stunned.

"Me tienen que estar jodiendo," I mumble softly while looking at my compass again, the previously printed words were changing in an incredible act of magic.

Ask for Birger

"Hmmm," I look at the bartender who is cleaning a glass, "go there and ask for Birger."

"For who," the Dorado says while raising an eyebrow, "and why? why don't you do it hooman."

I shoot a frown, "well, if you can see, then you look well..... similar to the locals."

The stallion is silent for some seconds, before huffing and walking towards the bar counter. We both take a seat, Dorado doing it awkwardly. The bartender notices our presence and goes to talk with us, a grin present on his face, or maybe think a frown? recognizing emotions in these gryphons isn't exactly easy.

"Soooo," he looks at Dorado with curiosity, "what can I do for you, huh, you are the biggest pony that I have ever seen on my life."

Dorado remains silent for a moment, hesitating, he decides to go straight to the point, "ummmmm, w-we would like to know if we can talk with Birger."

The bartender raises an eyebrow, "with Birger......and why would you like to talk with him?"

Dorado and I exchange glances. I turn to talk with the guy, "look, we need to find that guy, it is pretty urgent."

My tone is snappish and a little bit rude, making the bartender to slowly change his face to a frown, an uneasiness in his expression simply creeps me out, making me hold tighter my rifle against my chest.

"Follow me," he bluntly states, exiting the counter and beginning to walk towards two medieval doors. Dorado and I are following him silently, but at the same time attentive if this ends up being some class of trap.

"This is what happens when you trust some random words...." I whisper, looking at the glares from the giant creatures, including a minotaur in between them, I can even say that he at least measures 7'5.

We enter a small corridor, the windows inside of it reflect the moonlight on its might and beauty. I am glancing in every direction, looking behind me and at the front. These creatures give me an insecure feeling, I simply can't either believe they are real, or maybe I am taking my conclusions from another part of my head.

Two large doors framed in gold are in the final of this place. The gryphon opens them with his claw, motioning us to enter the room. We slowly walk inside, the door closing behind us. The room looks like an Ottoman palace, even though, the general building wasn't the most respectable thing. It all looks so medieval.

At the end of it, a pony smoking a cigar looks like if he is waiting for something.

We casually make our way towards the figure, both ready to make a run for it. The pony notices our presence and a smile appears on his muzzle as he smokes again, "welcome, welcome to my humble room."

We stay silent, but this time I decide to step forward and talk with the figure, "and you must be....."

"Birger."

"Birger?! so you are the owner of this place?" Dorado says while looking at his surroundings.

Birger shoots a smug face, "that's right," he says while rubbing his hooves, "and I suppose that you came here for.... something.... right?"

Our trance is interrupted thanks to that statement, "right.....ummm do you know in what region we are?"

Birger looks confused at first but decides to answer the question, "you aren't from here," he stops for a second, beginning to walk towards us, "near the sea of clouds, in the no ponies land."

I shoot an angry glare, "you are trying to frick with me?"

"What are you talking about boy," Birger says while staring directly at my eyes with a frown on his features, "why would Iie with something so basic."

"Colombia," Dorado begins, slowly turning to look down at the pony, "we are in the Republic of Colombia, or at least near one of the cities right?"

Birger raises an eyebrow, "Colombia?" he taps his chin with one of his hooves, "C-olombia, hehehe, what a weird name for a nation."

"Weird, I believe tha-"

"But no," Briger interrupts me, "I have no idea of what land you are talking about, it could be farther into the Cair Paravel sea, but that's unexplored lands mate."

I put a hand on my chest, "the hell- in...... and the Ottoman Empire, ummm the German Empire, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, Venezuela, Österreich-Ungarn, the Russian Empire?"

Birger tilts his head as he slowly begins to shake it, "I have never heard of those lands," he gets closer to Dorado while slowly smoking again, "as I said, they could be farther into the Cair Paravel sea, though, how could you even reach to Equestria?"

"Equestria?" Dorando and I say in unison, exchanging glances and turning back to look at Birger.

"Wow," Birger's face turns into confusion, "your lands must be really far away."

Now, this is simply stupid, the compass must be broken or something like that, I think we just wasted our time talking with this dumbass, we haven't resolved anything, and my only theory for all of this could be a class of gas that is making me hallucinate all of this things, this must be a joke, "this isn't working," I pause for a second, looking at one of the symbols on the end of the room, before turning back to see Birger, "let's get going."

Birger's eyes widened as he sees how we were beginning to exit the room, almost running to get in front of us, "WAIT!" he stops, a smile appearing on his muzzle, "but I know something that can help you reach your lands."

Dorado gives an uneasy expression as he lowers his head to be at an eye level with him, "and what would that be?"

Birger changes his face completely to the one of victory, slowly walking towards an iron box near his apparent throne, "you see, there is a map called the 'cutie map,' and it has the capacity of seeing beyond our own world if your lands are located in another dimension."

"What are you talking about?" I say while getting closer to the pony, "you are saying that we could have jumped.... worlds?"

"Yeah," he says with a grin while unlocking the box, "that's exactly what I said."

He takes out a blank piece of paper, walking towards a long dining table, he pauses for a second, breathing deeply before proceeding to throw the paper on the table. When the papers touch it, that immediately expanded, a map appearing on its surface, better saying it, a map in a third dimension, the clouds, seas, and animals are moving, giving a giant view of these lands.

Dorado and I are stunned for this magical act, but at this point, I suppose that magic is real and even creepier, we could really be in another world, that sole thought is as hurtful as it sounds, but my question is, why is he showing us this thing? why the hell did he receive us in the first place?

"This is the cutie map you just talked about?" Dorado asks while raising an eyebrow, something that causes Birger to chuckle as he shakes his head.

"No, no, no," extending his hoof, he points at a sector in the map, "this is a map of the known lands of Equestria and Griffonia, nothing less and nothing more."

"Wow...." I quietly pronounce. The magical details are almost perfect, the quality is a million times better of any projection machine like the pleograph or other ones created in France. The magic crystalizing itself on its incredible and realistic beauty.

The pony begins to talk while pointing directly at a sector of the map, "I can give you the 'cutie map,' but you gotta do a favour for me," the map begins to zoom in, as an Ottoman type castle appears on the top a small mountain in the middle of what it is for me the Santander Valley, "that is the Sharir Fortress, guarded by mercenaries of the Grand Duchy of Griffonstone."

"A-and.... what do are we supposed to do?" Dorado asks nervously.

Now those words were the exact words that Birger wanted to hear, his face is full of happiness, as he starts to show us with more detail this fortress, "you see, the daughter of King Cosmos of the Unicorn Kingdom was kidnapped ten days ago by these mercenaries we believe," he shows in detail one of these gryphons walking on the walls of the fortress with a golden spear, "we are the only ones that know this information, and if we are correct, she is currently apprehended in this fortress."

So there are unicorns as well......

"How far it is from here?" I ask while raising an eyebrow, my eyes glancing at every detail of the fortress, "and what are we supposed to do anyway, you only showed us this thing about this random princess."

"One, it isn't a random princess, we believe that she is going to be the heir of the power of the sun, and maybe in a future, she will control it," Birger says while moving his hoof in circles, "and, answering your first question, it is about three hours from this town."

"But-"

"I want you both to retrieve her from this place," he says bluntly. Our eyes widened, as I tilt my head a bit, "and then you need to bring her to a specific location."

"This town?" Dorado questions.

"No, no," Birger says while shaking his head, tapping his hoof against the table, "I want you to bring her to this city."

The map begins to move, mountains pass beneath the magical clouds until it finally reaches a forest with some small structures and a castle in the centre of it. Now that fortress looks more like a medieval one in Europe, constructed of what I believe is cobblestone.

"You are going to bring her to the Kingdom of Earth Ponies, and there, in that castle, you both are going to have your compensation."

If this is our best chance of getting home, I am going to take, though, I see that the fortress is heavily guarded. Even if we would have a machine gun right here they would be simply too many soldiers, plus every single one of them I estimate that they are around my height, all using an Arabian armour.

"I have a question, how could we possibly just go into that place a-and retrieve a princess, I don't think that-" Birgos interrupts my speech with a smile.

"Do not worry about those details, we got mercenaries that are going to help you enter silently to this place, the rest is going to be your work," the pony smokes again, "easy, don't ya' think so?"

"Hooman, we need to talk," Dorado tries to call my attention, but Birgo quickly interrupts, "plus, I suppose that you must be soldier, judging by that uniform that is weird and insecure, and that wooden staff you have there, " he says while pointing at my rifle.

Dorado's mind is just blowing up, one of his internal questions is why them? why is he proposing this to them if they have so much information about this already?

"So, are you up for this task?" Birgo says while offering his hoof. You know, I am firstly hesitant, I mean, should I trust this freaking Arabian pony? but what other chance do we have, I am starting to believe that we maybe are in another world after all? Besides, the compass pointed at this place, maybe this is the way to go back home.

"We accept," I said while offering my hand, while we make a 'handshake.' Dorado's eyes widened, rage slowly entered his body, because, where was his opinion in this after all?

Little did they knew about what class of problem they just messed up......

Author's Note

References
*A ruana is a square or rectangular blanket made of 100% virgin wool, sleeveless and with a hole in the centre through which the head is passed, popularly called goyete in Boyacá. It is popular in the altiplanos of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.
*The aguardiente is popular is a popular Colombian alcoholic beverage that originated from the Iberian peninsula. It is the most popular alcoholic beverage in the Colombian Andean region, and it is principally produced in the Antioquia Department.

English isn't my native language and I am still looking for an editor, so if you catch any errors, I'll be happy to know.

Bruh the .png

Third Chronicle

May 12, 1900

Dorado, Birger, three griffons, two minotaurs, and I are all silently watching the leader of the mercenaries who is speaking about the extraction. For Dorado and me, it has been fear and terror for the past day, coming from a planet where mythology isn't real, and as you have guessed, here it is.

"So this is the plan," a minotaur begins while pointing at a sector on the map, "my team is going to be divided into two groups, one goes left and the other right, we know that there might be 10 mercenaries guarding each side of the wall, the plan is trying to distract them for the ones who defend the centre can divide between themselves......"

The walls of the castle are made up of sandstone, the Ottoman architecture is apparent on its guard towers. The griffons defending it are dressed in Arabian medieval armours, covering completely their heads. They are mostly armed with spears and axes, though some of them are armed with golden swords.

"Our ape and giant pony friends here are going to go directly into the main tower," he says firstly by looking at us and then proceeding to point at the giant Arabian structure in the centre of the fortress.

"We need to be cautious with the mages, plus, they have a small battalion made up of unicorns. That means that we need to be cautious with the magic obviously," the minotaur states while hitting the table with his hand, "after that, we will leave you two alone," he finishes while pointing at us.

"If I may ask...." I begin, looking nervously at the mythological creature, "about how many guards we are talking about here."

A groan coming from the minotaur makes me flinch slightly, as he turns back to the map, and with the magic, the griffons and other living creatures inside the structure are selected, "about 57, and we have reasons to believe that there could be more.

"And so, we just go straight into the tower without expecting any resistance?" Dorado interrupts while looking at the minotaur with a frown.

He simply sniffs, walking towards me, "isn't your ape friend here a sort of warrior? maybe using his stick he will do so much damage," the minotaur finishes, causing chuckles among his crowd of mercenaries.

"I told you," I begin, also adopting a frown on my face, "it..... um releases a projectile at high speeds."

"It looks useless to me!" a griffon shouts in the crowd. I sigh, my face deflating a bit, "you..... al carajo."

The frown comes back, pointing my rifle at a jar of beer on a table on the other side of the room. I press the trigger.

BOOM!

The jar explodes into pieces, the sound of the rifle keeps buzzing in the ears of the creature, each one of them with a new emotion that I haven't seen on the natives since I arrived at the Santander Vallet, fear.

The minotaur eyes are wide open, he is shaking a bit while looking at me with a shocked expression, "what....the buck is that...."

A sly grin appears on my face, "I told you, a weapon."

Dorado steps forward, "and as we previously said a thousand times, " he begins, looking at Birger who is the first to recover, "we can only use the weapon at the end of all of this because if we try to defend ourselves with the rifle before we can retrieve the princess, we are doomed."

"A rifle..." Birger says shakily before amusement appears on his face, "interesting..."

"BUCK IT!" the minotaur says, hitting the table again and looking directly into my eyes, "why didn't you tell us this before ape, do you think that you are very funny!"

"Very funny!" I exclaim while walking towards the angry minotaur, "you didn't hear what Dorado just said, what WE just said a thousand of times before."

He groans and raises a fist threateningly, which causes me to step back and point my rifle at the minotaur. Dorado's eyes widen at the heated situation, as he puts himself between us. The mercenaries also try to intercede in the current fight that is going on.

"Stop!!!" Dorado exclaims desperately, looking at the both of us with a frown, "stop acting like idiots, you both are men!!!"

"What is men, it is a class of an insult pony," the minotaur says while glimpsing at Dorado, something that makes him hoofpalm himself.

"That escalated quickly...." one of the griffons mumbles while looking at the scene.

Suddenly, Birger begins to laugh hysterically while clapping his hooves, almost wiping a tear from his eyes, "you two...... why can't we have a civilized conversation here."

"If it wasn't for this ape," the minotaur points me, causing me to get close to him with my rifle raised, even though, both Dorado and a griffon are trying to stop me.

"I LITERALLY DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!!!!" I exclaim with rage.

Birger gets close to me, walking in a secular way, "what do you have in mind hooman?"

"What- why are you asking me, the frick I know!" I look at Birger with partial curiosity, my eyes still fixated on the angry minotaur who is still in a threatening position.

"Listen- if we want this plan to work we need to work together," a griffon says, gaining the attention of everyone as she walks into the scene, "no fighting, we are trying to retrieve maybe the most important figure in all of Equestria."

The minotaur sniffs, as he slowly retracts to one of the chairs. I lower my rifle and put it back on my back, "huh, so what are you proposing ape?"

I stare at him silently before responding while getting close to him, "I only need an extra backup for entering the tower, the rest we can handle it alone," I say while pointing at Dorado and then at me.

"Alright," the minotaur begins in a suspicious calm tone, "Freya," the minotaur says referring to the griffon that also talked, "you are going to make company to these two until they reach to their location, after that, you are going back with group b."

"Wait-" she is quickly interrupted by the minotaur who puts a finger on her beak.

"It is an order," he says while tapping his chin with his other hand, "plus, you maybe are going to have the unique opportunity of seeing the daughter of King Cosmos."

She sniffs, lowering her head frustrated.

Dorado gets close to me with a frown, putting a hoof on my left arm, "do you have a plan once we get to the tower?"

I raise an eyebrow before responding, "improvisation, that is the name of my plan."

The sun shines high in the skies once again, but this day, this day is special for the event the historical event that will occur. The minotaur mercenaries silently get close to the walls of the fortress. They begin to climb then, and after waiting some seconds for the guards to pass through that sector of the walls, they jump and knock them without them even noticing. They proceed to give a sign to the skies.

The griffon mercenaries begin to get close to the structure. Scouting from different points of view the guards around the principal doors of the towers.

"Come on, how are you so slow," a minotaur mumbles to me, as I am struggling to climb the wall. Dorado is already up with the minotaurs because he received some help of our griffon friends here, who have knocked out already several guards. I finally reach the top of the wall, where 5 minotaurs are waiting for a signal with their weapons. Almost every single one of them is using a sword, while others are with axes. A light flashes from the other side of the structure, that coming from a griffon that is using a mirror to reflect the sunlight, which lets us see the meaning of it and we begin to move.

The minotaurs slash two unicorns from behind, killing them instantly. Dorado and I stare at the corpses with our eyes wide open but we don't say anything, and that is because the colour of their blood isn't red, but it is instead an orangish combined with a blue colour.

We pass through three guarding towers, knocking or killing the guards in our way. I already attached the bayonet to the rifle, knowing well that I can't shoot the weapon. Because I didn't remember the name of this fortress, I decided to simply call it 'Fortaleza de Bolivar,' or the Bolivar Fortress in English for facilitating the direction to both Dorado and me while being in this world.

Freya is flying above us, scouting for any enemy that might come ahead of us. We all arrive at a small plaza, a central walkway leads towards a tall Arabian tower, while the other two ones lead to the interior of this fortress. I get close to Dorado.

"Be ready in the case of escaping before the party even begins," I finish while patting him on the back, suddenly, Freya lands next to us, looking at us with a grin on her face.

"You two are ready," she says, raising her tone a bit while pointing at the tower.

"I hope we'll see again soon ape," the leader minotaur says while getting close to me. I raise an eyebrow in suspicion of his calm voice.

"I-I thought that you hated me," I bluntly state while taking my rifle off my back, steeling myself for entering the tower.

"Exactly," the minotaur says in a secular way, "you are going to get killed ape, that is what I am hoping for."

"You've never read about the advantages of being the main character!"

"What?" we both say in unison while looking around.

"Come on!" Freya raises her tone a bit, "we need to get moving."

"Right," the minotaur pats my head, I swear that I wanted to shoot him at that moment, "try not to break her heart," he then points at Freya, "you don't know when she is in heat."

"WHAT........ buck you Goldheart," Freya almost shouts, sending a glare at the snickering minotaur. My face immediately becomes one of freaking disgust. I swear that I almost vomited at that moment. Dorado notices my expression and chuckles a little bit, which makes me send a frown at him.

"You animal pendejo," I quickly snap him out of his comedic trance. Goldheart, which is the name of the minotaur, by the way, begins to walk towards the group that is going to go left.

"See you outside Freya!!" he shouts while entering a gate with his group, leaving the three of us alone.

Freya sighs, and silently sends a sign indicating us to move forward, which we did without hesitation. She slowly opens the door in front of us, entering the place. The hall, or what I believe this place is, has several paintings depicting griffons fighting mythological beasts, including dragons and the leviathan. Freya has a sword in her claw, her eyes are ticking all around the place, including the ceiling. We finally reach the other side of the hall where there is also a door, and opening it, we arrive at another plaza wherein there is another tower, that is even higher than the one we just passed. There is a light coming from the last floor, indicating only one thing...

"Well, at least we know where the princess is," I say, looking at the last floor of the other tower.

"Now," she says while glancing around, "you go in there and take the princess, we are then getting the tartarus out of here."

"What are you going to do?" I quickly ask.

She remains silent, looking at me with a bored face, "going to make sure nobody sees you now go!!!"

I flinch a little bit when she raises her tone, but proceed to do what she just said. I mount Dorado, which causes Freya to look at us curiously, but doesn't comment about it.

"Go man lets finish this, " I mumble to Dorado's ear, something that he quickly does. Galloping quietly, we get close to the other extreme of the plaza, where we enter the tower through the giant door that Dorado easily opens with his mouth. Unlike the other one, this is just stairs, an spiral into the last floor of the tower.

"Carajo...." Dorado mumbles, frowning at the stairs. I quickly get off his saddle and we both begin to climb the stairs. I am pointing my rifle to my front, in the case of an enemy, I will solely use the bayonet, only if the things get a little tough I'll use the rifle.

"Listen to me," I begin, Dorado looks at me curiously over his shoulder, waiting for me to continue, "I think that you need to be the one who takes the princess out of that room."

Dorado frowns, "why not the both of us, maybe better, why not you," he finishes while pointing me with his hoof, still climbing the stairs.

I raise an eyebrow, "if you don't say," I point at myself, "for what I have seen, none of this has recognized me as a human, that means that if she sees me she will probably freak out because an animal is trying to capture her."

"And-"

"She is a unicorn," I stop for a second, seeing a faint yellow light coming from the end of the stairs, we must be close, "a-and you are a horse, meaning that she might not freak out when she sees you."

He raises an eyebrow, "and what if there are guards inside her bedroom."

"Then you defend yourself," I say with a smirk, "you are a freaking horse, you can send them to hell if you buck them hard enough."

"But I can't fight against swords and spears," he retorts, raising his tone a bit, "even more if she is a unicorn and is supposedly the daughter of the guy Cosmos, then why hasn't she escaped?"

"Maybe because-" I try to say something but I am quickly interrupted by him.

"Because something must be locking her inside, maybe magic, I don't know, " Dorado finishes, scratching his back.

"Hmph," I glance at the door at the end of the spiral, "I guess we are going to find out."

The door is old, it is made up of hardened wood, with a padlock securing it. We stare at it silently, figuring what to do. I touch the padlock and begin to examine it, "maybe if you buck this door....."

"Do you think it will work?" Dorado says nervously, looking at the door tensely.

"Maybe," I shrug, "guess we gotta find out."

Dorado begins to turn as I try to back off from him. Dorado releases a breath, stretching his legs a bit, "come on.... you can do this."

He silently stares at the other side for some seconds, before he sighs again, retracts his legs, and bucks the door with force.

"Frick... damn try to be..... more you know.." I quickly say but I am interrupted by Dorado angrily.

"Quiet, how the hell I am going to be quiet, we are trying to open this door," he almost exclaims making me flinch a bit. I sigh, "do it again."

He follows my order again, and a second time, and a third time when finally, we give up, "damn it!"

"What the hell do we do?" Dorado asks exasperated, tapping his hoof on the floor.

I glance at my surroundings, thinking about what to do..... when I see my rifle, and that's the moment when an idea finally comes into my brain.

"Maybe...." I say, raising my rifle a bit. Dorado's eyes widen, as he tilts a bit his head.

"Didn't you just said that-" I quickly interrupt him while pointing at the padlock.

"And what did we do?" aiming, Dorado quickly gets off my range, walking behind me, "now the real party starts," I mumble under my breath.

BOOM!

The padlock explodes into pieces, leaving the resounding sound of the rifle that echoes through the tower. Suddenly, bells begin to sound, and several shouts are heard, startling both of us immensely as I immediately point my rifle to the stairs.

"GO INSIDE NOW!!!!" I exclaim, prompting Dorado to immediately enter the room. It is actually quite beautiful, it is Arabian, from the rug to the curtains of the room. In the centre of the place, there is a white bed with its bedsheets thrown all over the floor. Dorado gulps at a sudden sound from behind of him. He shakes a little bit when a figure begins to materialize in the shadows near the window.

"Who are thee...." a soft, musical, and feminine voice sound coming from the figure.

Dorado stares at it confused, "what?"

The figure begins to get closer and closer to the area that is illuminated, "and how did thee findeth me"

Dorado's eyes widen at the figure, as he is left speechless. Her fur is white, almost as pure as snow, her eyes are pink, they do not radiate fear, but peace and security. Her composure is proud, as he notices the horn on his head, she is a unicorn. She also has beautiful hair that completely captivates the horse, with a rainbow colour almost static and beautiful at the same time. Her chest is covered by a golden chest plate with a purple gem on the centre of it, plus her hooves are covered on golden shoes. She is taller than the other ponies but not as tall as him, as she is of the same size as a normal pony in Earth.

She repeats raising her voice a bit, "who are thee, and how did thee findeth me!"

"Uh-uh," Dorado clears his throat, "I am Dorado..... are you, Princess Celestia?"

She raises an eyebrow, "I am," her horn glows while she looks at him with a frown, causing Dorado to back off a bit, "who else knoweth mine location Do-rado?"

"All right Celestia," he begins, but is quickly interrupted by her.

"Princess Celestia."

"Princess Celestia," Dorado's face changes to a frown thanks to her attitude, "Listen here's the deal, I am currently in the mission of helping you to escape this place."

Her face softens, as a smirk begins to appear on her muzzle, "so thee were sent by my father?"

"Ummm yes, I suppose so-" Dorado is interrupted at my scream.

"DORADO NO ME DIGAS QUE TE LA ESTAS COMIENDO!!!! TENEMOS QUE LARGARNOS YA!!!!" Dorado don't tell me you are kissing her, we need to get the hell out of here now!

"Who is he?" she asks while glancing at the door, but her trace of thoughts are interrupted when Dorado quickly takes her hoof.

"We need to get out of here now!" Dorado exclaims while running to the door.

"Wait!" Celestia says, halting Dorado in the process, "thee beest mine valiant knight," her voice changes into a seductive one, "this beith our first meeting, should it not be a wonderful romantic moment," she finishes by putting a hoof on her forehead.

That was a quick change on her personality, Dorado thinks, as his face changes to an awkward one, "yeah....sorry lady, there's no time," he quickly takes again Celestia's hoof, crossing the door with her.

"Hey!!!" she exclaims with a frown, but that is quickly changed to an uncomfortable one when seeing the human, "who is the monkey?"

"I'm not a monkey, I'm a human," I say while beginning to go downstairs, Dorado and Celestia following me from behind, "and we need to get the hell out of here now!!!"

My eyes widen as I stumble with a griffon who was at the end of the stairs, that being Freya. She ends up over me, as we silently stare at each other with our eyes wide open. I was going to say something, but an arrow lands next to me, that coming from a griffon who is running towards us from outside.

I quickly get raise my rifle and aim....

BOOM!

The griffon immediately falls death onto the ground, as Freya jumps in shock and lands next to me with her eyes narrowed, "you blew our cover!!!!"

"I needed to do it!! the door was locked!!!" I quickly retort with the same expression as I begin to stand up.

"Stop fighting!!!" we need to get the hell out of here!!!" Dorado shouts while going down the stairs.

He finally arrives at the same from where we are, Celestia with him. Freya softens her expression a bit when she saw the princess but quickly changes it to the one of determination as she takes her sword from the ground.

"What vile thing didst yond soundeth!!!" Celestia shouts angry while looking at us.

"What the-" I glance at Dorado who has an exasperated expression, as he quickly gets close to me to mumble something.

"She has been shouting the whole time!!!!" he says exasperated, I would have laughed if another arrow wouldn't have landed again next to me.

"Damn it!" Freya says while exiting the tower, quickly slaying the guard the shot the arrow. She turns back again to look at us from outside, "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!"

"Right," I say, quickly mounting Dorado and then putting Celestia in the back, who with a lot of complaints is forced by me to do the same thing, but to my curiosity, she blushes a bit while being on his back. I simply shrug at her childish complaints, that are even more annoying thanks to her old English style.

"Ride like the wind Dorado!!!" I shout, making Celestia flinch a bit as my friend here does what he is told to do, and immediately exits the tower running towards the exit of the fortress.

Arrows begin to fall, Dorado flinches but doesn't lose his concentration on the task ahead of him. Freya slashes the archers while flying, showing swiftness on her movements even upon the other griffons that are armed with swords. She helps us somewhat clear the path, as I begin to shoot at the other griffons that are at the from of us.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The bodies of the griffons fall immediately at the bullets, leaving us a clear path towards the closed gates of the fortress.

"FREYA!!!!" I exclaim, looking at the griffon that stops for a second to look at me with a raised eyebrow. I point at the gates, making her realize what I am referring to. She quickly goes to the mechanism that makes the gates to be closed. She cuts a string, immediately making the door to fall over, leaving a clear path outside of the fortress.

Exiting the fortress, Freya is following us from the air, I pat Dorado on the neck, "we did it son of a gun, we did it!!!!!"

I raise my arms while laughing, but that is changed into a frown when a LITERAL ball of fire lands next to us. It explodes in the sand, but thanks to God, Dorado quickly dodges it.

I look behind me, three griffons are flying towards us. Freya notices and immediately begins to fly towards them, as I raise my rifle and begin to shoot again.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

I stop to recharge the weapon, aiming again towards one of them.

BOOM!

One of the griffons falls death onto the sand, a smirk appears on my face as Freya quickly slashes one from the air, throwing her sword towards the other one who falls dead.

"Jose!!!!" Dorado shouts, "look!!!"

I quickly look forward, seeing a canyon right at the front of us.

"My God..." I look at Celestia, who still has a frown on her face, "Princess, can't you use your magical powers to-"

"I can't!!!" she quickly interrupts me, "they took my magic off!!!"

"Who?" I ask while raising an eyebrow.

"My parents," she slowly says, a tear threatening to come.

"Damn it!" and at that moment, I see a rock near the edge of the canyon, with the form of a ramp, and that is the moment where a crazy idea came into my mind.

"Dorado, do you see that rock!!!" I shout while looking down at the horse.

"Yes?"

"Do it!" I simply state, causing him to look back at me with fear.

"Did you lose your mind!!!" he exclaims, "we are going to die!!!!"

"DO YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA???!!!!"

Dorado remains silent, debating inside of his mind. He closes his mind and begins to run towards the rock, his breaths increase at every second, as he takes more and more velocity.

"I don't wanteth to die thee!!!" Celestia shouts, seeing how Dorado begins to get close to the rock.

"Do it son of a gun, DO IT!!!!"

"SANTO DIOS!!!!!" Dorado jumps from the rock, and after some seconds of closing my eyes, we land on the other side of the canyon.

"WE DID IT!!!!" I begin to laugh hysterically, "WE DID IT DORADO!!!! ouch....."

I frown, looking at Freya who is looking at me with rage, "that was so stupid!!!!"

Simply shrugging, Dorado finally comes out from his shock, beginning to laugh as he rides onto the sun.

"thee gotta beest kidding me," Celestia bluntly says as she also comes out from the shock, "I am going to die with thee...."

Author's Note

Before someone asks, Celestia is using Old English because this happened even before they became the rulers of Equestria.

English isn't my native language and I am still looking for an editor, so if you catch any errors, I'll be happy to know.

Fourth Chronicle

For 6 hours we have been in the desert, again. Dorado at least has the forces to keep going, thanks to the large water supply that we have. What can I tell you from this journey, well then, the first two hours could be basically defined with this princess.... Celestia complaining about the sun, about the weather, about how awkward is being on the back of a pony(apparently a horse is unknown to them), and other things, maybe about everything.

But who can really criticize her, I mean yeah maybe she is a little bit excentric per se, but it has been an annoying journey. Freya left us about two hours ago to meet with her caravan of mercenaries, something that I'm lamenting now because she was the only sane person in this frickin' journey.

"Are we there yet?" Celestia asks, crossing her limbs, looking at the horse with exasperation. I am just amused by how many times she has done this, I know that she is trying to exasperate Dorado, and it is working. Dorado turns to looks at Celestia with a glare.

"How many times have you ask that, 10, 20, 100?" he almost exclaims, turning back to look at the front with a snort. Celestia huffs, beginning to play with her mane.

The truth is that we are being guided by a map that Freya gave to us, so at least for me, there is no security if we are going to arrive at some point eventually. The details say that we need to cross the desert and arrive at a jungle just in the coasts of this continent, I suppose, that I have taken the liberty to name it 'Nueva Granada.'

A sense of hope comes into my mind when I see coconut shells buried in the sand, a smile appears on my face, "I believe that we must be close."

"Close? we're still in this frickin' desert," Dorado says exasperated, "what makes you believe that?"

"Look at the coconuts in the sand," I say, pointing at the shells. Dorado looks at them attentively before turning to look back at me with an unamused face.

"That can't be coconuts," he bluntly declares.

"Of course they are!" I say exasperated, throwing my arms to the air, and in the process making Celestia flinch slightly, "why do you say that they aren't coconuts?"

"Well, this is an arid zone," Dorado responds, meeting my glare with a one of his own, "how could a tropical thing arrive here."

I tap my chin, thinking an explanation because he has a point, "hmmm, maybe the swallow flew from a tropical area seeking warmer climes in winter."

Dorado stares at me with a blank expression, before that transforms into a visible confused one, "are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?"

I tilt my head, as the glare is changed to disagreeable face, "not at all, they could be carried."

"What, a swallow carrying a coconut?" he keeps the confused face. Celestia looks at us with an amused face, almost giggling at our conversation.

"It could grip it by the husk!"

"It's not a question of where he grips it! It's a simple question of weight ratios!" he responds, making me flinch for his sudden exclamation.

"What-" I am interrupted by Dorado.

"A five-ounce bird could not carry a one-pound coconut," he finishes, snorting and turning his view forwards again.

"Where did you learn mathematics? what the hell!" I exclaim, he turns to see me again. We are currently crossing a hill, going to the other side of the barren wasteland.

"Listen, in order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings 43 times every second, right?" Dorado retorts, meeting my frown.

"But, I mean, then-"

"Am I right?" Dorado says interrupting me again. Celestia giggles are audible, but we ignore them.

"Yes, but i-it could maybe be carried by an African swallow!" I quickly assert, pointing at the sky with my hand.

"Oh, yeah, an African swallow maybe, but not a European swallow, that's my point," Dorado responds calmly, as his frown softens.

I tap my chin, "but then of course African swallows are not migratory."

"W-what and how the hell do you know that?!" Dorado begins, "so they couldn't bring a coconut back anyway."

"Wait a minute -- supposing two swallows carried it together?"

"No, they'd have to have it on a line," he responds.

"Well, simple! they'd just use a strand of creeper!"

"What, held under the dorsal guiding feathers?"

"Well, why not?" I retort, the both of us exchanging glares, that are interrupted by a sudden exclamation of Celestia.

"Look!" she points with her hoof the seacoast, that at the end a jungle is seen. Our eyes widen, as a grin appears on my face.

"I told you, must be for something," I whisper to Dorado, something that he responds with a snort, as he begins to walk towards the jungle. At our great fortune, we are going in the correct path. I decided to name that coast 'Puerto Caballo,' for our great discovery. The walking becomes a galloping, something that startles Celestia and grabs me tighter by the waist, something that is rather uncomfortable.

The sun is already setting in the west, the skies are turning into a beautiful orange colour. Both Dorado and I are captivated by the beauty of these lands, but Celestia doesn't even care about it. The fresh breeze, the clean air... I gotta say it, for the first time in a long time, my nose fills with natural and clean air, not the one of gunpowder and smoke that I am used to.

We arrive at the coast near the tropical jungle, immediately afterwards, Celestia and I hop off Dorado's back.

"Yes!!! finally," Celestia says with a grin, running to the cold seawater. I stretch, yawning as my eyes begin to feel heavy, though, hunger defeats my fatigue, and the ones of Celestia and Dorado as well.

"Well," I say, turning back to meet their gazes. Celestia already exited the water, with a more relaxed face, "I am going to try to find some firewood, maybe we can have a decent dinner....." I look at my weapon, "going to also try to hunt something dow-"

"WHAT!" Celestia exclaims, shrieking and backing off to Dorado, "Y-OU ARE H-HUNTING WHAT!!"

I tilt my head slightly and send Dorado a glance, which he simply responds with shrugging with an unamused face.

"Umm meat-"

"MEAT!!!! CARNIVOROUS!!!" she tries to hide behind Dorado.

"W-what?" I try to get close to her, but she keeps shrieking away, "listen princess, w-why? there aren't other carnivorous species in this world?"

"Yes, there are!"

I flinch slightly, "then why are you acting like thi-"

"Because!" Celestia interrupts me, "ponies and carnivorous aren't allies!!! they usually try to kill us, like the griffons!!"

"But Freya isn't a griffon?" Dorado asks, raising an eyebrow while looking at her.

"Yes!" she begins, glaring at the horse, "f-for that reason I was complaining so much, after all, those beasts were the ones who kidnapped me!"

I rub my temples, "one, I am not exactly carnivorous, I am something called omnivore, meaning I can eat both meat and plants," I say, pointing at my canines and then at my molars, "and two, I haven't try to attack you, neither I am planning to kill you, then why are you freaking down!"

She keeps glaring at me, her horn glowing a bit, something that startles Dorado and me, but we don't do absolutely anything, both of us knowing that we shouldn't freak her down, at least at this moment.

I snort, turning back, walking towards the jungle, "I'm going to get the firewood-"

Weird, why always put the herbivore super scared of the carnivorous one, it just doesn't make sense. The jungle is dark, and the moon is beginning to appear on the horizon. At least I still have my-

Dorado neighs, backing off from Celestia with fear. I turn back at the yellow light that suddenly appeared from behind, which is thanks to fire..... fire that came from Celestia's horn.

My eyes widen, and my mouth hangs loose, both of us looking at Celestia with impression and a certain fear, what just happened was magic, real magic, coming out from the horn of this equine, frick, how can this world get any worse?

"W-what," Celestia asks worried, looking at our expressions with a hurtful and fearful expression, "did I do something wrong?"

"Umm.. what-what did you do?" Dorado asks, pointing the fire with his hoof, "how did you do that!?"

"What?"

"The fire thing," I say with a frown, "how did you do it, that was m-magic?"

"Yes?" she accentuated, now looking confused, "what is weird about that?"

"What it-it is magic, you know.... damn it other world," Dorado mumbles, deflating a bit. My impression passes out. I clap my hands to gain their attention again.

"Right, then I am going to hunt something for myself, I suppose that there must be fruit nearby," I say, moving my hand in circles, "you know....."

I lower my head and sigh, walking into the jungle. Dorado and Celestia remain silent, as they both try to get comfortable on the sand. Celestia stares at Dorado with a raised eyebrow, before she sighs and using her magic makes two apples appear, giving it to Dorado that flinches when she brings the apples closer to Dorado with a levitation spell.

"What?" Celestia asks, tilting her head. Her pink eyes soften as Dorado takes the apple with hesitation from her aura.

"I-I am just not used to magic," he takes a bite from the apples, and at the same time, realized something. His hooves changed, the structure of them if we are being more specific, giving him the possibility of grabbing things, "I am very lost," his ears press against his head as he sighs.

Celestia also bites the apples, deflating a bit. She begins to chuckle, "tell me, from where thou come from?"

"W-why?" Dorado says a little bit worried, the change of her voice from sad to subtle is apparent.

"Well," Celestia begins with a small smile, "you are the biggest stallion I've ever seen in my life, you are ummm stronger than most ponies that I have ever seen, and your accent is very weird."

His face softens, "isn't that obvious," Dorado rubs his back, "listen let's just say that I come from a very very far away place, and I am pretty sure you have never visited it."

Celestia raises an eyebrow, "test me."

"Ummmm have you ever heard about the Republic of Colombia?" Dorado responds smugly.

Celestia is silent for some seconds, before obviously shaking her head, "hmph, I have never heard of that nation, weird name," she taps her chin, "and everypony from that nation looks like you?"

Dorado chuckles a bit, "if you are talking about horses, then yes, but we aren't a pony nation, it is ruled by hoomans."

Celestia gives a confused face, "what are horses, and what are hoomans?"

His face changes to a bored one, "I am a horse," he shows himself with his hooves, "and my companion there is a hooman."

"Ahhh right, the hooman," she giggles, "and since when have thou met with this ape?"

Dorado softens his face, "three days ago, I met him in the desert," he glances at the jungle, "reminds me of my master....."

Celestia's eyes widen, "master?" she says worried, "are thou a slave?!"

Dorado looks at Celestia offended, "what, no! I just worked for him, I helped my hooman get to whatever place he wanted when he needed it."

"Hmmm," Celestia relaxes her expression, "that seems to be slavery with extra steps...... and that is why you let me mount you, do you know that if a stallion invites a mare to mount him means that-"

"It is not slavery! and I didn't invite you to mount me with that purpose!" Dorado exclaims, but backs off afterwards, "and my master.... well he was the best person I've ever met in my life."

Shee giggles, before her voice rises a bit "person?" Celestia says confused, "what is a person."

Now, this is the time for Dorado to be confused, he raises an eyebrow, pointing again at the forest, "person is the way for saying hooman, just emmm shorter... I don't know it is just another wor-"

"So a hooman was your master?" she softens her expressions as she sighs, "what happened to him?"

"What?"

"You said was, then what happened to him?" Celestia asks softly, her voice suddenly changed for the way the conversation is going.

Dorado remains silent momentarily, before sighing, "he died in a war."

Silence elapses. The sound of the fire and the magic wood, the waves, and the breeze are the only things heard. Dorado sighs, rubbing his back, "listen princess, I am currently in a dilemma here with you..... it's just all so confusing."

"What is confusing," Celestia asks with a softened face, "you are just bringing me to my fathers right?"

Dorado tilts his head as he raises an eyebrow, "the rulers of the Kingdom of emmm Earth Ponies?"

"Unicorns, the Kingdom of Unicorns right," Celestia says in an exasperated voice. If Dorado recalls correctly, they said Kingdom of Earth Ponies, not of Unicorns. He shifts uncomfortably and sighs, knowing that probably they accepted to bring a princess to a rival kingdom, if it is bad, yes, but if it is necessary for going home, then there is no other option.

"Ummm sure yeah, of course," Dorado says with a fake grin, making Celestia sigh, a smile appears on her muzzle as she giggles a bit.

"What?" Dorado asks, raising an eyebrow.

"It is just weird," Celestia begins, "you come from a strange land, and both of you are helping me...... what did they offer you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, what did they offer you?" she asks, shifting uncomfortably, "it is impossible that you are helping me without something in exchange."

"Oh yeah right," Dorado looks at the sea. The clearwater is simply astonishing in every sense of the word. He sighs, continuing while looking down, "they offered us to go home."

"So you aren't doing this to-"

"And if I am being sincere princess," Dorado begins, interrupting her in the process, "it is the first time that I've heard about you or your kingdom."

"Impossible," she starts confused, "King Cosmos? does that rings to you."

He shakes his head, "nope, not a bit."

"So you are really from a faraway land huh," she says smugly, "and who is the king of your nation then."

Dorado look at her confused, "we don't have a king, a president is the word you are looking for."

"President?" she says awkwardly, "and this is the ruler of your nation?"

"You can say tha-" Dorado is interrupted by, me.

A bunny passes right in the middle of the two and following him, I appear charging against the animal with my bayonet. If you are asking yourself right now what happened then that jungle is rather interesting if we are being sincere. The sound of the insects, the moon rays that enter the forest through the branches of the trees, the darkness elevates that place, leaving just a beautiful sight of a twisted and medieval forest, I could even rightfully claim that it looks like those in classic tales like Sleeping Beuty or Hansel and Gretel, just that, try to imagine those stories in a jungle, and there you got your mental image.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! FRICK FRICK!!!! CARAJO!!!!" I shout as I jump over the fire with a determined face. My eyes are narrowed, and my fists are tightly clenched on the rifle.

Just when I was going to kill the bunny, he jumped, making me bury the rifle on the sand. The bunny falls on my face, covering my view, "DAMN IT!!!! TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF!"

"What the hell happened?!" I hear dorado exclaim.

A rock is behind me, something that makes me stumble on the sand. I am momentarily dizzy, looking at the bright stars in the endless diamond sky, well, that is until the bunny appears over me, I can swear that I saw a smile on his tiny mouth.

"Animal of the devil...." I mumble.

The bunny sees Dorado galloping towards him, which makes him shriek and immediately runs towards the jungle, disappearing in the midst. I groan as I begin to stretch, my eyes are narrowed, and my body still feels dizzy, that is when I see Dorado looking at me with an amused face, "and they called the Liberals weak..."

I send a glare at him, "frick you...."

Celestia arrives next to Dorado, looking at me with that same unsupportable amused face of her, "I have apples if you didn't catch anything hooman."

I raise my finger, pointing at Celestia, "also.... frick you."

They both laugh, as I slowly begin to stand up. Cleaning up the sand from my uniform, I begin to walk towards the fireplace. I sit in the sand, when suddenly, and apple appears on my hand with no freaking explanation whatsoever. I back off a bit, and at the moment when I was going to throw the apple, Celestia appears beside me with a smile on her muzzle, "eat it hooman, it is magical."

I stare at her with an awkward face, "yeah.... that is maybe the reason why I don't want to eat it!"

"Go on, it isn't bad," Dorado says from behind, "I ate it."

"And I should trust you," I turn my view to Celestia, seeing her with a frown.

"I though apes liked fruits?" she says smugly, something that makes me send her a frown. I look at the apple, it is very weird, it is bigger to any apple I have seen back home, shinier, and even it's red colour is more noticeable.

"I... going to eat it," I begin, taking a bite from the apple, "but I'm highly offended by it."

If I am being sincere, reminds me of childhood memories, where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky, now when I see my life..... I recognize that I was drawn into a stupid war that divides our nation, only for the greed of others. Here, this is the best food I have ever eaten, even before the war. The flavour is different, is magical and sweet like a candy, its flavour is as sweet as a bocadillo*, but still soft, perfection you could say.

Celestia giggles, "so you liked it."

"Yep," I mumble, a smile appearing on my face, "I loved it."

Celestia snorts, and then yawns, walking towards a spot next to the fireplace, "I am going to sleep now...... I suppose that tomorrow we have a long way to go right?"

Dorado and I exchange glance at each other. He responds to the princess, "yeah- I suppose so...." he rubs his back, "then get some sleep princess."

She giggles again, "thank you for helping me, even if it is for something........."

Celestia immediately falls into the realm of her sister, silence fills the place. Dorado sighs, turning to look back at me. I am currently watching the stars in the sky, the dreamy colour captivates me out of my thoughts, "Jose?"

He interrupts my trance of thoughts, as I turn back to see him, "yeah?"

He keeps staring at me, before, looking at the sky, "I don't like this, feelings..."

"What are you talking about?" I ask with curiosity. Dorado sighs again.

"I.... it is weird, thinking," those words makes me tilt my head slightly, what does he means by that, "even though my old memories are blurry, they seem all so easy..."

"B-but what are you talking about, what do you mean by thinking?" I ask, raising an eyebrow as I turn to meet his disappointed gaze.

"I don't like feeling emotions, they are weird, I felt sad, happy, and felt something weird when Celestia said something about she mounting me, like some butterflies in my stomach," he responds sourly, looking at his dusty hoof, "it was just so easy if back home..... now I feel scared," he looks at me, "before all of this I didn't feel scared, because I didn't think."

I remain silent for some seconds, turning my view back to the sky, "so you aren't happy for thinking?" I look at him again, something that he responds with a disappointed nod, "but- why"

Dorado hesitates, but sighs, "I don't know..... it just feels weird, I don't like that emotion that you humans call, being scared or sad, and I have been feeling them," he stares at the stars, "I just want to go home.... even if I die....and I don't know what I am..."

I am silent for some seconds, tapping my chin while raising my view back at the sky, "you are a person."

"Excuse me?" he says confused.

"Makes you a person," I begin with a soft expression on my features, "a human, you think and act like that, even though when I realized that you talked it was scary, right now I feel like I am talking to another human, and maybe that is the thing that is keeping my sanity on check."

"But-" I quickly interrupt him.

"Being sad or scared isn't bad..... it is good," I stretch, turning my view back at Dorado, "I think that being sad is the strongest emotion of all, even more, that love because, it is the one that makes us act, it is a requirement for being happy, it is not bad, just uncomfortable, the same thing with fear," I make circles with my hand, "just, try to believe that we are going back home very soon."

He plays with the sand with his hoof, "and what is that then, believing in what doesn't exists...."

I look at the stars again, its patterns are not the same ones of Earth, they are different, more organized you can even say, its splendour is an art, "faith, that what you are referring to."

Dorado tilts his head, "and does it works?"

I remain silent, taking my combat rosary out of my pocket, clenching my fist, "yes.... at least that is what I have faith on."

May 13, 1900

Slowly, I begin to wake up, heat is being irradiated upon my skin, as I can hear the birds chirping in the trees, the sun already in the sky, but if we are talking about time, I could say that it is very early in the morning. I stretch and yawn several times. Rubbing my eyes, I stand up. Dorado and Celestia are still sleeping, and the magical fire and the wood disappeared. I stare at its previous location before I simply shrug and take out my combat rosary, saying a Catholic prayer and after that, I begin to silently walk into the jungle once again.

With the sun, it changed, the sunrays enter form the tall trees, and their twisted nature now seems more normal, at least more normal to the standards of this world.

"Herminia Parra.....in whose eyes there are all the smiles of dawn.......and all the sadness of the afternoon," I silently sing. The heat has augmented, bad if you are asking me, as it makes me sweat easily. Now, if you are asking why am I once again in these woods, then it is the same reason why I came here yesterday, food. I am ready with my rifle, pointing at the front of me. One of the things that have me bugging out since yesterday, is that if I recall this Princess Celestia said something about his father doing somewhere thing with her magic, but I suppose she used it correctly yesterday.

I chuckle, that thought, if it was in Colombia she would probably have been killed for doing magic, of what I know and the rules that the Catholic church says, magic is dark in every aspect of it, for that reason someone should never mess up with that kind of things. The only guy that has done weird things back home, or at least what is reported, was in Russia if I am not wrong, Rasputin, the guy that can heal anyone that he touches.

Suddenly, a bush moves behind me. I swiftly move to look at it. My eyes narrow, as I get more comfortable with the rifle. Again, a bush moved behind me.

I turn back with fear, and at that reaction I quickly pull the lever on my rifle, making it ready for firing if I need to, after all, I am not very good in the local wildlife.

"So you did it," a voice says behind me, making me quickly turn to looks t the one who said it........ that thing...

That thing back in the forest with the ponds..... who is this guy...

"Who the hell are you," I ask, pointing my rifle directly at his face. He chuckles while shaking his head.

"My goodness, how could you have forgotten me so fast," he scratches his beard, "my name is Discord."

I keep staring at him, "w-who the frick are you! and what do you want Discord!"

"My my," he begins, looking at me with a smug face, "let's just say, I am the guy that is going to lead you to your real destination."

"What are you talking about?"

"The princess," he says, pointing at the way where my companions are located, "you can't take her to the Kingdom of Earth Ponies."

"What?" I glance at that same direction, turning to look back at Discord with a frown, "don't even think so, I know that you must have something to do with the reason of why am I here."

He raises a paw, "no...no," he begins to wall towards me, "I just said that you were chosen, not selected."

I show a confused face, "that doesn't make any sense!"

"Sure it does," he chuckles, "at least for me."

"Look," I interrupt his laugh, "why are you saying that."

"About the Princess," his eyes widen as his smirk grows, "because that wouldn't be something good to me."

"And who the hell cares about you!!!" I respond exasperated, "I only know that our best opportunity to go home is leading her to that kingdom."

"Oh, it is?" he says, raising an eyebrow, "what if I told you about a shortcut...." he suddenly makes something appear on his hand, a coin, that he proceeds to throw at me.

I stare at it intensely, recognizing the Colombian coin, he just, made it appear. I turn back to look at him.

"I am listening," I say, hesitating at first.

"Just, lead her back home, and you'll have your reward," he simply states.

"And where is back home?" I ask, but suddenly, a voice shouts something from the way of my companions.

"Jose!!!!"

I turn back, and immediately back off a bit. This Discord guy..... just disappeared.

"Jose!!!! where the hell are you!!!!"

I glance at the jungle and back to the previous position of the creature, "I am coming!!!"

Author's Note

References
*Bocadillo is a Colombian confectionery made with guava pulp and panela, which is consumed abundantly throughout Colombia, one of the largest guava producers in the world. In other countries like Venezuela, the form of consumption is similar to that of Colombia, where the product is called "conserva".

English isn't my native language and I am still looking for an editor, so if you catch any errors, I'll be happy to know.

Fifth Cronicle

"All right, let's get moving," I say as we begin to venture ourselves into the jungle. The humidity and the heat makes a horrible sensation on my skin, sweat falls from my front at every minute that passes by. I was trained to fight from the high ground, not like other divisions that were trained to fight in the jungle, though, no side of our civil war usually likes to create a new front in those terrains, because it is more probable that we end up dying from a disease that from a bullet wound.

These jungles are the combination of the Amazonic and the African jungles, making it denser and incredibly more active. Going to say it, the first minutes can be described with insect bites, especially for me that I don't have any kind of protection besides my clothes. The sweat is so intense that the stain remains on my hat, I can even say that drops of water fell from it. When it became unbearable, I took off my uniform jacket, leaving myself in a sleeveless white shirt and also in my dusty pants. I feel water impregnated on the wood and metal of my rifle. Every step I give feels like if I am stepping on a hot surface, my military boots were not designed for walking on these terrains. My body at first feels heavy, but gradually I begin to get used to the climate. I have never been to the Amazonic jungles, but to the llanos, now that is different, at least in that zone the breeze refreshes the ones that work in those places, either with cattle or with crops. Here, the oxygen almost feels scarce, if I become too tired it suddenly disappears from my lungs with no explanation whatsoever, so the best thing that I am doing is trying to maintain a steady breathing rate.

I am chopping the vines using my bayonet. Dorado and Celestia have been more talkative, at least they got to know each other better, even though, I am still thinking how this guy Discord made 500 pesos to appear in the middle of this place, could he have a connection with home? probably, but that brings another point, should I trust him, he said that I need to ask Celestia where is home to her, and then escort her to that place.

The forest is becoming denser in some zones, making our pass through it a bit difficult. I was concentrating on doing two things at this point, seeing Dorado and Celestia for they can't get lost, and at the same time looking the map. We went through several old stones in a deplorable state, but it should be noted that these were built in different ways, very similar to San Agustín* back home, the difference is that instead of human figures they are these ponies. With care, I can count that we have already passed at least through three gigantic boulders with different animal shapes, now it was Celestia's time to be impressed with something since she began to tell us the story of her father's archaeologists who have investigated this area, the funny thing is that there is also a similar legend to the one of El Dorado, the city of gold.

We stopped twice to rest, and thanks to Celestia's magic, the food problem simply disappeared, though she refuses to make meat. Due to the various natural sources, water has not been a problem either, although I would have personally preferred it to be cold. No dangerous beasts have appeared to us, which makes me suspect but at the same time have confidence.

I mount Dorado when we reach a partial flat area, taking Celestia unaware we begin to ride along through the jungle. Looking at the map, we pass exactly through a rocky zone with an eagle form. When Dorado was galloping he made a sudden halt, sending me flying across the air and landing directly into a small pond in the front of us. Celestia didn't fall because she used her magic.

For my back luck, several leeches somehow crawled to my back through my uniform, making the next 30 minutes a long process in which Celestia carefully removes the leeches off my back, something that was rather painful, even making Celestia and Dorado wince several times.

Another hour passes, and thanks to our good luck, we find a natural thermal, making the three of us walk to the hot water. Thanks to the heat, I take off all my clothes, it isn't like another person is going to see me anyways. The water is refreshing, the pain thanks to the corns on my feet suddenly disappeared, well, that peace is temporal thanks to the appearance of several monkeys walking near us. At first, they look inoffensive, but then the monkeys take my clothes and wear them. One of them puts my pants on and begins to run away.

My eyes widen and my fists clench, as I quickly exit the water and take my rifle, chasing the monkeys naked as I try to charge them with my bayonet. After a long chase, I finally recuperate my clothes and then I put them on, with the waving monkeys on the branches. I suddenly begin to scratch myself, these monkeys messed up my clothes.

After some minutes, we reach an abysm that we easily crossed thanks to a log. The rain finally comes by, leaving us completely wet. Already at noon, we walk to the top of a small mountain, where a huge rock in the form of a dragon is settled upon it. Butterflies fly out of the mouth leaving us amazed for the beauty of that sight.

Reaching the lower ground, the sun is beginning to set, the skies are getting dark once again. We camp in an area surrounded by gigantic trees. After eating our lunch, that was fairly good to me because Celestia was finally convinced to make at least a fairly good plate of steak to me. After praying with Dorado, we all fall asleep at 10 at night.

May 14, 1900

We wake up early, eating something and beginning our long journey again. After one hour of walking, the jungle is becoming much less dense, the weather is also changing, as the heat is becoming much colder. The sound of the birds on the trees and the insects almost seems to do musical tones, if you ask me, is truly fascinating.

My appreciation is interrupted by the sound of laughter coming from Dorado and Celestia, who have been talking a lot. I have remained silent most of the journey, only talking to give directions or add commentary to something that interests me.

"Tell me Dorado," I begin, looking at the top of the trees, "have you ever been to a jungle of this type."

He tilts his head slightly, "I was raised in the llanos, so no.... not of this density."

"The forbidden jungle," Celestia says as she accelerates her pace, "that is the name of this place."

"Have you been here before?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. I am currently smoking a cigarette, my rifle is on my back.

She gives a blank look before responding with an amused face, "for one reason is called forbidden, don't thou think so?"

I shrug, "looks like someone was here before," I glance at my surroundings, a mystic vibe seems to come out of them, "someone was here before."

"You know, you're not exactly what I expected," Dorado says as he looks at the antics that the princess has been doing since we began the journey through the jungle.

I look at Dorado with a confused face, silently snickering.

She smiles and then continues walking next to us, singing softly. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a.... pony with wings swings down and swoops Celestia up into a tree. Our eyes widen as I immediately retract my rifle, pointing it at the smiling figure next to the unicorn. I suppose that is female, her coat is a yellowish colour with a red mane and tail, finally, her eyes are light brown, very similar to my eyes. She..... has real wings, and at that moment I recognize what she could be, a pegasus, another mythological being of the Greeks.

"Got it!!" the pegasus shouts in a musical voice.

Dorado steps forward, sending a killing glare at the pegasus, not even caring what she is, "PRINCESS!"

Celestia glares at the figure as well, "who the- hell are you."

"Be still princess, for now, you are coming with us!" she smiles, seeing us ready to attack, "and be thankful, at least I am rescuing you from this giant pony and that ape......beast."

"Hey! that's our princess! go find your own!" I shout with a glare, the cigarette still on my mouth.

The pegasus laughs, "please, monster! Can't you see I'm a little busy here?"

"Monster I!?" I shout, spitting the cigarette and walking forwards, my rifle still pointed at her, "I am going to shoot you down you giant yellow pigeon!!!"

"Look, I don't know who you think you are!" Celestia shouts, pointing a hoof at the grinning figure. The pegasus frowns, but, that becomes a happy face again.

"Oh! of course! oh, how rude," she says dramatically, imitating Celestia's voice, "please let me introduce myself!"

Suddenly the sound of a violin begins to play in a tuneful and merry way as several pegasuses pop out from the bushes. They land on the ground, looking at us with some creepy smiles. I am just confused, where the hell is the music coming from, it is like if it filled the air.

"What the hell!" I say, trying to find the source of the music, Dorado doing the same thing. Suddenly, they take out blades and bows, we are outnumbered. My legs shake, as I try to decide who I am going to shoot first, and unexpectedly they all begin to sing in a surprising good rhythm.

"Ta, dah, dah, dah, whoo!"

The yellow pegasus flies to the ground as well, "I represent the superior race, the pegasus, the ones that control the weather!"

"That's right!"

"But I'm not greedy, I am a hero! at least for us...." she continues, this is becoming more awkward than scary.

"What a leader, Madame Rose!"

"Break it down!!! I like an honest fight and a saucy lover......" she makes some acrobatics in the air before landing again.

"What she's basically saying is she likes to get lai-"

"Paid..." she quickly counters.

"So...when two beasts want to grab our prize that's bad, that's bad!"

She flies again and lands right in the front of us, "when somepony else wants the little prize of King Cosmos, that makes me mad!"

"She's mad, she's really, really mad!"

"I'll take my blade and ram it through your heart, keep your eyes on me my friends 'cause I'm about to start..."

Before I could press the trigger, a bolt of lighting comes from one of the branches, being followed by Celestia landing softly with her magic. An aura surrounds her horn as she points it to the other pegasus.

The yellow pegasus coughs, looking up she sees how Celestia is charging against her. A smile spreads on her muzzle, as she swiftly turns to the right and takes Celestia by her neck.

"Look at that!" she begins to laugh, "the little princess of Cosmos is trying to do something, pathetic."

"Pathetic my arse!" I shout, pointing my rifle to a near rock and pressing the trigger.

BOOM!

The sound startles everyone, as Dorado and I begin to send kicks to the others, I finish several of them with my bayonet. The pegasus recuperates quickly and immediately flies towards me, slashing my left arm, making me scream painfully.

"Carajo!!!" I shout, falling to the ground. The pegasus turns back and begins to fly with her blade raised upwards. My rifle fell to my left, but when I was just going to take it, she buries the blade in my leg, making me send a kick straight into he face.

Dorado sends several bucks, getting to Celestia and putting her on her back. He then glances at me, in my current deplorable state. His eyes widen as he fills with fear, his whole life was just obeying orders coming from humans, but now, he doesn't have anyone to tell him what to do.

"Damnit!" he quickly runs towards me but is stopped by the pegasus who suddenly jumps in the front of him, blood dripping from her muzzle.

"Not so fast my stallion friend...." she grins maniacally, "you still have a princess there.... you should give it to me if you don't want complications...."

His legs begin to shake, his mind feels dizzy. Every step that she gives forwards, makes Dorado back off.

"I will enjoy this so much!" she says, ready to jump. But suddenly, Celestia activates her magic again and sends a bolt of magic. The pegasus eyes widen as she shrieks when the ball of magic crushes against her. She shrieks as she is thrown to the ground.

"W-what do I do! damn!" Dorado says, looking at the giant bloodstain impregnated on my pant. I cough, my vision becomes dizzy, I have been losing a lot of blood. With all of my forces, I motion Dorado to give me the jacket of my uniform, something that he does without any hesitation. I quickly cover the wound, blood immediately appearing on it as well, but better this than anything.

"Help me..." I say forcefully, as I begin to mount Dorado while taking my rifle also. Already on his back, I try to gain some sort of stability for riding him, something that is impossible thanks to the pain of my leg. I might be a soldier, but maybe not a very experienced one, because I've never been wounded in battle, call it luck, but never.

An arrow flies next to us and crashes against a tree. Looking behind, several of these pegasus mercenaries that haven't been killed begin to stand up, several of them with bows.

"Ride!!! ride like the freaking wind!!!!" I shout, making Dorado to immediately begin to run. Arrows fall next to us, like a rain of death that is walking closely upon our souls. Glancing back, I see how the yellow pegasus is waking up, a frown on her face as she sees us go.

"Why father!" Celestia shouts, "if he didn't take my sun powers... I," her ears press against her head as she sighs. I frown as I hear a scream, being followed by the pegasus taking off and flying towards us. A green one appears next to us out of the midst, almost slashing his sword against Dorado. Celestia quickly uses her magic and shoots at him, something that he easily dodges. Again he tries to use his sword, almost killing Celestia. Her eyes fill with determination, as she invokes more powerful magic. She shoots her again, and this time, she manages to shoot him down.

Three pegasuses appear behind us, two with bows, shooting more arrows at us. Dorado tries to zig-zag through the forest. Arrows rain down on us. Using that little strength that I have in my hazy body, I aim again and .....

BOOM!

I failed. I am having a hard time shooting in this condition. I don't have enough ammunition to keep testing my luck, so I quickly decided to only use the bayonet.

"Do not let them escape!!!!" a voice yells from behind, belonging to the determined yellow pegasus.

Dorado turns right hard, almost causing the two of us to fall. An abyss lies next to us. Celestia tries to use all her magic to defend us, causing several of them to fall into the abyss while they were flying. The yellow pegasus appears this time with a bow, shooting us rapidly. I frown, trying to push myself forward, looking for something that can help us out of this.

"I'LL KILL YOU !!!" the pegasus screams, pouncing against us. Thanks to Dorado's quick movement, she crashes into a rock. Leaving us partially alone. We re-intrude ourselves into the clutches of the jungle, that incredibly, the temperature is becoming colder. The darkness intrudes, my leg is losing more blood, the blade could have slashed near an artery, and I am not even counting the possibility of an infection thanks to it. Everything becomes quieter, the sound of the birds is no longer present, the insects are also silent, and the other sounds of the jungle as well.

Suddenly, a cold wind sends shivers down my spine, a really cold wind. I look to the ground, and with the little light that we have I notice how the terrain changed, the grass seems death and the jungle trees are beginning to disappear, being changed by the ones of what I believe are pine trees. The temperature drops, dizziness enters my mind again thanks to this temperature change. The daylight seems to finally come out at the end of this forest. A smile spreads on my face, as we come closer and closer to the light, but I gotta say something, it looks different, it looks much more death.

"Keep going!" I shout while pointing at the end, his pace increases, I can hear how his breathing is becoming heavier. I frown, looking at the ground again I notice a change of its colour, white.

"Home...." I can barely hear Celestia mumbles, she seems to know where we are going to. Dorado jumps out of the forest, immediately halting himself.

Our eyes widen, my mouth and the one of Dorado as well hang loose. We are no longer in this jungle, we are in a forest, in the middle of the snow.

"Welcome to the lands of Equestria," Celestia says as she glances to her surroundings as well, "the land of the eternal winter."

The white snow is pure, the sun is covered thanks to the grey clouds. A snowflake lands on my hand, melting afterwards. I keep staring at the small water droplet on it. I begin to chuckle, this is the first time in my 25 years of life that I have ever met the snow. Thanks to the Equator, snow in Colombia is impossible if we are excluding the páramos* and the mountains.

The sight is beautiful, it is so powerful that both my pain and the cold simply, disappear...... like if magic would be acting here.

"So this is snow...." Dorado says as he slowly walks through the forest, glancing at the white trees.

"Pretty.... beautiful," I pat dorado on his neck, "don't you think so?"

He chuckles, "without a doubt."

"What?" Celestia asks raising an eyebrow, "haven't you ever seen snow before?"

"Snow doesn't fall from where we come from," I respond with a grin, "this is unique."

The is a spear on the snow in the front of us, a faint glow coming from it. We keep staring at it quietly before I decide to speak again, "do you know what is this."

Celestia responds with hesitation, "no.... I don't even know where we are."

"Equestria right?" Dorado asks with trepidation, "you just said it."

"Yes," she quickly responds, "we must be in Equestria, the question is where, and in what kingdom we currently are."

I glance at the map, trying to find our location, and that is when I realize, that we are lost. When we were trying to escape from those pegasuses I must have lost our track. The cold is finally becoming unbearable, making me shiver. I look at my jacket, all covered in blood, dripping and leaving red stains on the white snow.

“Good evening, good evening,” our attention is diverted at the voice. The three of us are simply stunned at the thing that has appeared upon us. It has the stature of an elf, his head, arms and chest are the ones of a man, well, excluding his horn. While his legs are the ones of a goat. Silence elapsed. The creature coughs and starts again, “excuse me — I don’t want to be inquisitive — but should I be right in thinking that you are are the daughter of King Cosmos?” he says, pointing Celestia with his finger.

“My name’s Princess Celestia,” she responds with hesitation, not quite understanding him, "but what are yo-"

“But you are," he interrupts her, "—forgive me— you are what they call a unicorn?”

“Of course I’m a unicorn,” Celestia responds with a frown.

“So you are in fact the daughter of King Cosmo? right?”

“Of course I’m his daughter” Celestia answers, still a little puzzled.

“To be sure, to be sure,” the creature replies, "and what do we have here," he then glances at us, his arms on his back, "a human and a horse," he gets close to Dorado, "but are you sure that you are a horse?"

Our mouths are agape, no word coming from them. Even Celestia is impressed, how does this creature know that?

Dorado hesitates, trying to formulate something in his mouth, "w-what! of course I'm a horse, what else would I be?"

“How stupid of me! but I’ve never seen a unicorn or a horse before, I am delighted, that is to say -” he stops as if he was going to say something not intended, but had remembered in time.

“Delighted, delighted,” he goes on, “allow me to introduce myself, my name is Gaia, I am what you call a gargoyle human.”

I keep staring at the creature, it looks demonic, but his words are kind, and his tone spreads peace for some reason. Something in my conscious is shouting me run away! but my body is saying to me to stay.

"We-" Celestia taps her chin, "I suppose.... that it is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Gaia"

“And may I ask, human,” the gargoyle continues, getting close to me “how you have come into Equestrian lands?”

“I-I what? I don't ummm," I am sputtering, no word is being formulated by my mouth with ease. Gaia tilts his head when he sees my injury, "human blood is dripping...... you are hurt."

He looks at it with attention, "I cannot let a human die in these lands...."

"What the hell you are talking about?" my eyes widen, as I try to back off a bit, "what do you mean...."

Celestia interrupts our conversation in a harsh tone, "excuse me," she gains the attention of the gargoyle, "if I may ask, where are we now?!"

He is silent for some seconds before responding with that same calm voice, "where we are now, is all that lies between the lamp and the great Cair Paravel sea, further into your father's kingdom."

He gives a little bow before continuing, "the night is coming and the eternal Equestrian winter is settling again, we shall catch a cold if we stand here talking in the snow, and the human here could die..." he glances at me and then looks back at Celestia, "your royal highness from the great Unicorn Kingdom where magic reigns around the bright city of Avantis, human coming from Earth, where the descendants of Adan and Eve come from, and horse coming as well from the lands of the descendants of Adan and Eve, how would it be if you came and had a tea with me?"

"I don't think that is a good idea," I quickly retort with a frown.

"But why?" he raises an eyebrow, "you three are hurt, plus you are entering the lands of Equestria, even the princess here knows that walking in the dark is a bad idea."

"I know but we coul-" Celestia is interrupted by the gargoyle.

"It’s only round' the corner,” Gaia begins, “and there’ll be a roaring fire, warm food, hot chocolate, and cake," he glances at me again, "and I will help to cure those injuries."

Very tempting, something that thanks to my forces, I fall for it, "that is very nice....."

"Yeah," he quickly continues, "and I will even help you get to your destination, I am an expert in this forest."

"I believe that warm food wouldn't be that bad," Dorado chuckles as he talks. Celestia looks at our expression before sighing.

“Well, it’s very kind of you,” Celestia says, “but I don't know if we can stay long....”

"Just this night," Gaia begins, "and tomorrow in the morning, you can go at the hour that you want."

Now this is just incredible, we find ourselves silently walking through the wood next to this strange creature as if we had known him all of our lives.

We haven't gone far before the ground becomes suddenly rough. At the bottom of a small valley, Gaia turns aside as if he is going to walk straight into an unusually large rock, but at the last moment, we found out that he is leading us into the entrance of a cave. As soon as we are inside, we found ourselves blinking thanks to the light of the wood fire.

Gaia stops and takes a flaming piece of wood out of the fire with a medieval pair of tongs, and lits a lamp, “now this will not be long,” he says, immediately putting a kettle on.

The place is comfortable, a very cleaned and beautiful place. There are three windows on the side of the door, the floor is a red carpet with golden figures on it. There is also a table and a dresser. A mantelpiece is over the fire and above that, there is an old, dusty book, with some gibberish letter written upon it. In one corner, there is a small bed with some green bedsheets. The sofa, that is placed near the fire is made out of red wool. Stars and crescents are impregnated on the reddish ceiling, almost giving an Arabian-Europen look to the room. I walk through a small corridor, where next to me there are several books with very interesting titles like Equestria a nation or a concept, Dimensional magic, Humanity, the first on the universe?

That title makes me tilt my head, as I turn to look at the gargoyle again, "can I ask you a question?"

He is preparing everything for my injury, as he silently motions for me to sit on a leather chair. With hesitation, I slowly sit on the chair. I was going to forget that previous question until he responds with a small smile. Dorado and Celestia are glancing at the decorations of the quite comfortable room.

"Of course."

"How did you know what I am..." I say with curiosity, "and how did you know about Earth.... and how did you call humans, sons of-"

"Adan and Eve," the gargoyle responds, raising an eyebrow.

I slowly nod, "yes.. how?"

He remains silent as he slowly takes the jacket, revealing my skin and pant all washed on blood, "I am an interdimensional species, but I know about the first world ever created."

"And what is that?" I question with an intrigued face.

"Yours," he points at me and then at Dorado, "Earth is the first world ever created."

I wince in pain, as he begins to disinfect my injury, "you were lucky, it almost passed through your artery."

I chuckle with my eyes closed, "lucky me I suppose," I open my eyes and looks at the gargoyle again, "you are a demon?"

He laughs at those words, shaking his head, "no, no, no, those are the same that the wendigos, I am..." he taps his chin, "in the middle of the two."

He begins to clean the blood, applying water and a class of alcohol, "how did you found the princess?"

I raise an eyebrow, "some guys in a desert town knew where she was," I raise my view to look at the ceiling, "they only sent us to retrieve her....."

"And?"

"And," I am silent for a second, trying to think what to say. I sigh, "bring her to the Kingdom of Earth Ponies? I think if I am correct."

"Hmph," he chuckles, "do you have any idea of who is she."

I become very confused, tilting my head, "an important princess I suppose."

"She is not only an important princess," he raises his tone a bit, "she is the heir of the sun."

"The heir of the sun?" I ask, "what does that means?"

"It means that she will control the sun," he simply states. I can't believe that.

"That is impossible, I mean-"

"It is possible," he glances at Celestia before looking down to my injury again. He takes two bandages and begins to roll them around my leg, "she still needs to pass a test."

"And how could I believe that," I look around the place, "how could I believe in anything of this."

A smirk appears on his mouth, "you are now talking with mythology.... Jose Ramirez, right?"

"What," I frown a bit, "who told you my name."

"No one," he throws something to me, that being my combat rosary, "I read it."

I keep looking at the chain with a frown, it all seems so confusing, "why are you helping us?"

I expected hesitation, but his response is almost immediate, "unlike other of my kind, I want to do something good, especially when the Princess of the Sun is present here."

"But why?"

"Because it is right, as I said, you are lucky," he begins to stand up, already finished on cleaning and covering my injury, "these lands were you are located are controlled by the wendigos, you are really lucky....."

"The wendigos?" I ask curiously, "I think that I heard about those back home.

"Beasts, they control much of Equestria, even with the kingdoms present," he taps his chin, "they are the most powerful of all."

The rest of the night was wonderful. After some indications about how should I treat my leg, I quietly thanked him. We then all seated on chairs, ready to eat our dinner. For the first time, I could say it was the best of all, there were toasts, eggs, salad, salt cookies, and tomato soup. We all graced the dinner, as exclusively for me he has prepared a delicious steak, the best that I have eaten in my whole life. He begins to tell us different stories about his homeland, close to the Equestrian border where the winter has become a crawling nightmare, and the unionists of the seven shrines have united into creating the supposedly Greek dimension of Tartarus. He told us the tales of the northern centaurs and the leader of them with a special power that makes him steal the magic from other beasts, with a brother gargoyle, which he called Scorpan. When we finished our principal meal, we all enjoyed a delicious chocolate cake, and the best thing is that it didn't taste like the synthetic bars that they usually give us in the trenches, but different, with a real sugar flavour. He then takes out a small violin, made out of a beautiful spruce and maple wood.

"This was a song that I was taught on Earth," he says, closing his eyes and beginning to play a tune.

The fire keeps warming the place, our eyes begin to close at the musical sound, the violin resonates upon the walls, as its fine cords keep giving life to the room.

"Ut Deus requiem animabus vestris."

Author's Note

References
*San Agustín is a large archaeological area located near the town of San Agustín in the Huila Department in Colombia. The park contains the largest collection of religious monuments and megalithic sculptures in Latin America and is considered the world's largest necropolis. Belonging to the San Agustin culture, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
*A páramo is a high altitude alpine tundra biome very rich in water. They are located in South America, Africa, and Oceania.

English isn't my native language and I am still looking for an editor, so if you catch any errors, I'll be happy to know.