Uncharted: Starswirl's Secret

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: A New Land
Chapter 2: The Ten Bit Tour
Chapter 3: Going Underground
Chapter 4: Bogged Down
Chapter 5: Second Sweep

Prologue

“I only ask that Celestia forgives me for the evil I have unleashed onto the world”

-StarSwirl the Bearded, on his deathbed.

“Drake!”

Talbot pulled out his gun, pointing it straight at them. Drake turned his head slightly, glancing at Sully. He saw him reach for his gun, but he realized he would be dead if he did, so he, more reluctantly, put his hands up. The ground was shaking violently, and cracks had begun to appear at their feet. Before they could process what was happening, the floor collapsed beneath them. Drake turned around, trying to grab onto Sully, but the platform broke, sending him down to the sand.

He hit the top with a groan of pain, sinking down into it. Drake reached around until he felt the edge, grabbing it and hauling himself up. He could hear Talbot calling to Marlowe behind him as he stood to face Sully. Sully looked down at him, extending his arm for him to grab his hand. “Come on kid. I’ll pull you up.”

But he stopped when he heard Marlowe speak to him. “Nathan. Drake,” she said, making him turn to her in surprise. “Are you worthy of the name?” She held up Sr. Francis’ ring. “Earn this, as Francis earned it from Elizabeth. Prove your greatness.”

He just looked at her, a blank expression on his face. “I’ve got nothing to prove.”

He could hear Sully speaking, and Talbot begging him to save her, but he paid no attention to them. He reached back, pulling off his bandolier and tossing one end to her, still firmly grasping the other. Kneeling down beside the pool, he called to her. “Here, grab onto it.”

She struggled to get out, pulling on the bandolier. She desperately called out, sinking deeper into the quick sand. After what seemed like a life time, she let go, knowing it was no use to escape. With one last cry, she sank into pit, disappearing from their view, along with his ring. Talbot yelled out in despair, but Drake just turned away from him, looking back at Sully. He grabbed his hand, and with little struggle, hauled himself up, quickly standing before running to the stairs.

And now, they were truly running for their lives. The platforms they stood on collapsed around them, and they shifted violently every few moments. Drake stumbled, falling sideways and landing on his wrist. Almost as suddenly as he had gone down, he was back on his feet, staggering to the next platform, leaping to avoid the swirling death trap of sand.

They ran on, stumbling occasionally, avoiding the pillars falling before him. He could see the steps in which he needed to climb, just a little bit further to his goal. He jumped across, rolling to cushion his fall, and sped off again. He stopped, stumbling backwards as the “bridge” split in half, creating a huge gap. He stood, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and leapt. He grabbed the ledge, scrambling to get up. He rolled onto it, lying for a second before leaping to his feet and making the final jump.

He crawled up, sides rising and falling as he gasped for breath. He sighed with relief, standing shakily, turning to follow Sully. He turned once more to look at the wreckage the sand had caused. Drake turned to look back at where Sully had gone, and almost in an instant, Talbot’s hands were fastened around his neck. Struggling to get away, he tried to fling Talbot to the right. However, he kept the grip on him, and they both went tumbling over the edge.

Drake landed hard on his back, the pain traveling across his spine. He pushed himself up slowly, staggering to his feet, looking over at Talbot. He watched as Talbot pulled a knife from the holster at his side, lunging at him. Drake moved swiftly out of the way, shoving him to the ground. He got back up, swinging the knife back at Drake, giving him a shallow cut to his arm. Talbot shoved Drake to the ground, bringing the knife down to his face. Drake grabbed with his hands, struggling to keep up. It inched closer to his face until it was about three centimeters away from his face. Thinking on reflexes, he shoved to the right, hearing the metal scrape against stone.

He kicked Talbot away from him, jumping to his feet. He inched closer to him, just a foot away, and then swung his fist, connecting to Talbot’s jaw. Talbot’s head snapped to the left, and he grunted in pain. Before he could lift his head, Drake’s fist connected with his stomach, and he leaned forward, holding his left side. Backing away, Talbot regained himself, and then lunged back at Drake, knife pointed straight for his neck. Drake grabbed his wrist, attempting to keep himself alive. With fast reflexes, Talbot dropped the knife, snatching back up with his free hand and slicing Drake slightly across the stomach. Drake moved backward, his face clearly showing the pain, but he stood up quickly, facing Talbot.

Talbot sliced towards his neck again. Drake pulled backwards, feeling the knife barely touch the skin on his neck. However, he looked down and saw his neck wrap float gently towards the ground. He looked back up at Talbot, and noticed his eyes were narrowed in hatred, and his mouth was turned down in a deep scowl. He stepped forward towards Drake, slicing at him with the knife. Drake leapt backwards at every move, avoiding the blows. He dodged every slice and jab, and was so focused on it, his foot slipped off the edge. Gasping in surprise, he fell back, quickly grabbing onto the edge. Talbot lifted his foot, ready to kick Drake off the edge. Quick as a ninja, Drake heaved himself forward grabbed the ankle Talbot was balancing on, pulling it forward.

Talbot fell backwards, landing square on his back. He groaned in pain, rolling onto his stomach and getting back on his feet. Drake was back on his feet, ready to continue. Talbot grabbed Drake, flipping him around and pressing the knife to his neck. Drake wrestled with him, trying to shove the knife away from him. It moved closer, and with every inch closer to his neck, he knew he was doomed. Then the platform shifted.

Drake and Talbot were flung over the edge. He heard Sully yell something along the lines of ‘Kid!’, but he was too focused on trying not to die to pay attention. He landed on his shoulder, rolling across the tiny piece of bridge he was standing on. He got back on his knees, and saw Talbot getting up a few feet away. They both glared at each other, and then lunged forward, ready to take down one another. As their fists were ready to connect to a jaw, the platform shook again, and split straight across the middle.

He heard Sully yell, and looked over to find him landing roughly on a chunk of land. He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’s been holding when Sully staggered to his feet, glancing around worriedly. The chucks of land were sliding towards the center of Ubar. It looked like Sully was about to ask him something, but only another yell came out as the lands collided, sending the trio hurdling down to the sink hole of no return.

Drake glanced around for something, anything that might save him. There was nothing in sight that looked useful. Not a rope, ledge, nothing. Just the endless sand that filled the forgotten city. He turned to look behind him, and saw Talbot glaring at him, lifting his fist to him. Talbot wasn’t going down without a fight, and Drake knew this. He glanced around for something, and spotted the pistol that Sully had had moments ago. He tried to reach for it, to grab it, but he felt himself sinking more. He knew it was no use, and took his last breath before being swallowed by the darkness.

Chapter 1: A New Land

Drake’s brain was pounding against his skull, and he placed and hand upon it, groaning in pain. His eyes slowly opened, and he was expecting the harsh sunlight to blind him the second his eyes flew open. But not a drop of sunlight reached his eyes. He fully opened them, lifting himself onto his elbows, gazing at the strange world around him. Absolutely no sunlight filtered through the condensed treetops, and he could barely make out the foliage around him. He pushed himself off the ground, stumbling to his feet and brushing himself off.

He pushed away some shrubs, heading in the direction he was facing. By temperature alone, he was able to tell that it was around noon. The forest gave off an eerie chill that sent a shiver up his spine, although he shook it off and continued along his way. There was no path in sight, and he questioned how he actually got there. One minute he’s drowning in desert sand, miles away from any sort of land of green. Next thing he knows he’s in a thick, green forest surrounded by endless shade and plants.

The marks he received from Talbot still burned slightly, and when he glanced at the one on his arm, a trail of dried blood ran down to his elbow. He rubbed it off as best as he could, then inspected the one on his stomach. The bleeding, thankfully, had also stopped, but the cut was much deeper. He knew that he should get it looked at, or at least, get some antibiotics. Who knows how much sand got into it, and the last thing he needed was a wound infection.

Drake cursed Talbot under his breath. Why Marlowe’s right-hand man hated him so much, he had no idea. He could understand trying to kill him while Marlowe was alive. She must have been paying him a fortune to do everything he had been. But even when she had been alive and fully well, Talbot seemed to enjoy the anger and suffering he had caused him. Drake sighed. I guess I’ll never understand, he thought to himself.

He had spent so much time thinking, he forgot about what he was doing. He hissed in pain his face contacted with the ground. He looked back and saw his foot caught on a large root of a large oak tree. He ripped his foot away from it, growling in frustration. He stood up, once again dusting himself off, and tilted his head to the right, listening to the pop as it cracked. He tiled it again, doing the same to the other side, then rolled his head back, staring at the top of the trees. Then he narrowed his eyes and looked at them harder. Between two branches, he could just make out a small glimmer of sunlight.

“I guess I’m heading in the right direction,” he said aloud, his voice filling the silence. A lone crow, startled by the sudden noise, took flight, its caws echoing around him. He jumped back, surprised by the sudden noise, then shook his head, laughing to himself. “This forest is getting to you, Drake. Keep yourself together.”

He continued along through the grassy woods, crossing through a small stream. He sighed with relief, bending down to take a sip. “Finally, some water,” he muttered, bring the water up to his face. He took a long gulp, and then spat it out in disgust, backing away from the water. He ran to the nearby bush, kneeling down and vomiting up a large amount of stomach acid. He stood back up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Something’s not right with that water.”

After another hour of walking, the forest grew lighter. He began to see things much clearer. He sped up his pace and sighed with relief when, after hours of searching, he finally burst out into the open. In front of him was a long, thin trail. He stared laughing crazily, the joy of finally being able to find his way out bubbling out of him. “I made it out,” he exclaimed loudly, turning around to look at his surroundings. “Just needed to have faith in myself.” He stops, his eyes widening in shock and disbelief. Standing before him, is a lone zebra.

It was scratching at the ground, but when it heard him, it turned to face him. He stood staring at it for a few moments, their eyes locked. “Zebras in a dark forest,” he muttered. “Where the hell am I?” They stood staring at each other for several seconds longer before, very much to Drake’s surprise, it spoke to him.

“I don’t know where have been, but you are outside of Ponyville human. So make sure that you take care, as humans in Equestria are quite rare. Although you should be wary in your travels, as I sense an evil about to be unraveled.

Drake stood staring at it, then rubbed his eyes. A moment later it was gone, and he shrugged it off. “Note to self: buy water purification tablets,” he muttered. He looked around one more before taking a left down the trail. The trail began to get noticeably lighter, although it was still dark and mysterious. After several minutes of walking, he once again found his face connected to the ground. He turned back to look and found his foot caught on a tree root. He groaned in annoyance and turned to pull himself up, when something caught his eye. He reached over and grabbed the Para 9, holding it in front of his face. “What’s a pistol doing out here?” he questioned. Shrugging, he holstered it and pushed himself up.

After only several minutes, the trees vanished and he was standing on top of a small hill. A small cottage could be seen nearby. Drake stood there for a few seconds, blinking and rubbing his eyes, making sure it wasn’t a hallucination. After finally deciding that it wasn’t, he set out towards it. As he walked to it, something seemed off, and he stopped when he got close to it.

“This cottage reminds me of the houses in the cartoons I used to watch.” He just stood there, staring at it. It looked like it was built into a tree and there was a bunch of animals all around it. He shook it off and walked up the stairs to the back door. Drake knocked on the door.

“Hello, anyone home?” Drake watched as the curtains closed on the door’s window. Someone was home, but didn’t want to be seen. Drake walked over to the window and the curtains again shut quickly in his face. “Hello?”

A female voice called out very weakly, “G-g-go away…”

“Ma’am, may I have some water? I haven’t seen any clean liquid in a while”

There was a smash from the other side of the window that startled Drake. The weak whimper became a strong, scared yell, “I said leave!”

“Alright, sorry to bother you.” Drake started to walk down the stairs. “I’m just going to go around your house. Is that ok?” Drake might as well been to talking to himself as there was no reply. He did, however, see the curtains move slightly, like someone was watching him.

He headed around the house and down the small walkway. After a few short minutes, a town came into view. Drake sighed in relief. “Finally,” he muttered. “Someplace where I can actually rest.”¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

The road up to the town was, as Drake observed, just a small dirt path. He crossed over the bridge leading into town, glancing down at the small stream beneath him. He headed down the dirt path, glancing around for any signs of life. The town seemed deserted, although fruit stands were scattered here and there, all with fresh fruit in them. Confused, Drake turned to look at the buildings. “Hello?” he called out.

He could hear a loud whispering coming from one of the buildings. It sounded along the lines of “I thought you guys learned from last time”, but it was hard to make out. He turned in a circle, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. He stopped and glanced around again. “Hello?”

“Hello.”

Drake spun around, obviously startled by the voice. He was even more startled at the speaker’s appearance. She was a lavender mare, with a purple and bright pink mane. The thing that caught his eye the most, although the appearance was already weird to him, was the unicorn horn sticking out from her mane. Drake went to speak, but was interrupted by her. “Wow. A human in Equestria. I...”

She stopped abruptly as Drake drew his gun up to her. However, instead of fearing him, there was only fascination and curiosity. Only Drake had a look of fear as she took the gun from his hand, both it and her horn glowing as she levitated in front of her face, inspecting it closer. “What is this thing?” she questioned. “Some kind of human tool? What do you use it for?”

Drake found it hard to speak. The last thing he expected was for a magical purple unicorn to question him about his Para 9. She looked up at him, patiently waiting for the answer. After several moments he found his voice, stuttering as he spoke. “It’s... it’s a gun. Y-you just pull the trigger there. “

She pulled it closer to her face. He watched as the slide of the gun moved back and forth. Soon she clicked it back, and then turned it away from herself, pointing it straight at Drake. He watched in horror as the trigger twitched slightly. “Don’t pull that!” he yelled frantically. He watched as she lowered it down and looked at him with a confused expression. Drake lowered his voice. “Just... give it back to me.”

She brought it back towards him, and he snatched it from her, holstering it. Looking back up, he noticed she was looking at him enthusiastically. He gave her questioning look, to which she eagerly responded to. “I have so many questions to ask you! What’s your name?”

“Nathan Drake,” he said quickly, then slowly adding, “What’s yours?”

“Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight Sparkle? What kind of name is that? “Let’s see. What else? Oh! Where did you come from? You can’t be from Equestria. It’s been said that humans died out over a thousand years ago. But if you’re here, then that means they’re still around!”

Humans used to live here? “I’m from Earth.”

“Earth,” she muttered. “Never heard of it. It must be far away from here.” Yeah, really far, he thought. “I might have read about it in one of the books. I’ll have to have Spike look for it when we get back to the library. I wonder what Earth is...”

She was cut off as a small purple dragon came around the corner and approached her quickly, holding a small, wrapped up box. “Here are the cupcakes you wanted Twilight,” he said, then turned his head towards Drake when he saw him. “Did you discover a new species of dragon?” he questioned.

“No Spike, it’s a human.”

“A human? I thought that was just an old pony’s tale, Aren’t they supposed to be, like, extinct or something?” Now he was looking at Drake. “I’m Spike. Twilight’s assistant.”

“Nathan Drake... Drake.”

Twilight glanced up at the sky. “It’s getting late,” she said, turning to Spike. “We should probably get back to the house.” She looked at Drake. “Where are you staying?”

Drake hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Um...are there any hotels or anything around here?”

Twilight shook her head. “Not in Ponyville. Not many ponies visit here, with it being such a small town and all. I would offer you to stay at our house, but there wouldn’t be any place for you to sleep. We might be able to talk to...”

“He can sleep on the couch,” Spike interrupted.

Twilight looked confused. “We have a couch?”

“Where do you think I hide when you kick me out of bed.”

Twilight shrugged, although she still looked confused. “Well then. I guess you can sleep on the couch. Spike will show both of us where it is,” she said with a glare at Spike.

“Thank you”, Drake said. “I appreciate it.”

Drake followed them back to the house. In his encounter with Twilight, the cut had been forgotten, but as they walked back, the burning began to reappear, and he rubbed at it uncomfortably as they walked to her house. Soon, however they arrived at their destination and the rubbing stopped. The house was basically a giant tree with doors, windows, and a balcony. When they reached the front door, Twilight turned to him. “Here we are,” she said, before turning back and opening the door.

The place was filled with books. Dozens of shelves stretched to the ceiling, each one packed with books. “It’s like a library in here,” Drake said.

Spike looked back at him. “It is a library.”

“Oh,” Drake muttered. As he turned to get a better look of the place, his side scraped against a nearby table. He gave a small hiss of pain, to which Twilight turned to him worriedly. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Drake nodded. “It’s nothing, just a small cut,” he replied.

Twilight came closer to it, inspecting it. It was fairly noticeable through the small slash in his shirt. “Hold still,” Twilight said. Drake watched as her horn began to glow and felt a strange warmness from his cut. Then, surprisingly, it began to glow as well. His cut began to close, which soon vanished completely without any scars. Drake looked back at her.

“And you can heal things,” he said surprised. Twilight gave him a nod.

“Would you like anything for now? Water? Food?”

“Um, water please.”

She turned away from him. “Aright. I’ll be right back.” He watched her disappear into what he would assume was the kitchen. He heard the sound of rushing water, and then she returned a moment later with a glass. She handed it to Drake, who took it gratefully. He gulped it down quickly, enjoying finally having clean water. Once he was finished, Twilight took the glass from him.

“Alright, Spike,” she said. “Where’s this couch at?”

Chapter 2: The Ten Bit Tour

Drake’s eyes snapped open. For a moment, he could not recall where he was, and the strange, “cartoonish” land was foreign to him. However, in that instance, the memories flooded back to him. Waking up in the forest, meeting Twilight and Spike, the magic, the cut, the couch. What he had thought was a dream, what he hoped had been a dream, was reality. Drake sighed, a small migraine beginning to form.

He sat up, swinging his legs across and planting them on the ground. He rubbed his temples lightly. However, as he sat in the dark, he began to hear hoofsteps coming up the stairs towards him. They stopped suddenly, and Drake squinted against the sudden light. Twilight was standing before him, smiling. “I made breakfast,” she said cheerfully, then presented him with a small bundle of clothes. “I went over to visit my friend, Rarity, this morning while you were asleep. When I told her about your torn clothes, she immediately got to work making these. I offered to pay her, but she refused. She said to consider it a welcome gift.”

Drake watched as she guided the clothes towards him with her magic, and when it got into his reach, he gently took the clothes from her. He looked down at it, observing it. A French sweater and a pair of jeans. He glanced up at Twilight with a confused expression. “How does your friend know that this is what I usually wear?” he questioned.

Twilight smiled nervously. “Um... well...” she started. “Spike may have took your journal when you asleep.” The look on his face must have told her something, because the smile fell from her face. “Don’t be mad! I didn’t even know until we were at Rarity’s. I told him to put it away and return it to you as soon as we got home, but by then Rarity had noticed. Spike will do anything for her, so he showed her the book and they flipped through it almost the whole time, only stopping to ask me questions about you. I told Spike to put it back as soon as we got here, but he disappeared. I think he has multiple hiding places around here. It wouldn’t surprise me, with this being such a big library and all.”

Drake turned to look at the small end table to his right. Aside from the small clock and the glass of water, it was bare. His journal was gone. He groaned, muttering under his breath. “Great,” he sighed. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Twilight interrupted him, the smile once again on her face.

“I made breakfast,” she said cheerfully. “However, I think you should get dressed first. After you’re done, you can join me and, hopefully, Spike. Then you can get your journal back. I got up early this morning to read one of the cookbooks in the library. I hope everything turns out perfect.”

Drake, after momentarily forgetting about them, looked down at small bundle of clothes in his hands. A French sweater, a pair of pants, socks, light running shoes. Rarity had given him everything he needed, and he hadn’t even met her yet. “When you see Rarity,” he commented, “Can you tell her thanks for me?”

“That won’t be necessary. I have to run some errands today, and I figured you would want to get out of here and do a little exploring of Ponyville. I would like it if you met them though. I told them they were being ridiculous hiding from you, and they agreed to give you a chance.” She gave a small chuckle. “They should have known to trust you. I mean, they should have learned their lesson from Zecora.”

“Zecora?” he echoed. “What’s wrong with Zecora?”

“There’s nothing wrong with her,” Twilight said defensively. “They just thought she was a little weird because she’s a zebra, which, in Equestria, is almost as rare as a human. Well, Pinkie thought she was evil and, for a short time, we believed her. But she’s not. She knows a lot about herbs and healing. You should meet her some time if you ever get the chance. She lives in the forest on the far side of town, past Fluttershy’s cottage. I think you might have seen it.”

Drake gave her a surprised look. “So that water wasn’t tainted. Hm.”

Twilight now turned away from him and started down the stairs. “Come join us when you’re ready!” she called to him. With one last sigh, Drake stood. He changed quickly, leaving his other set of clothes next to the couch. He switched off the light and headed downstairs to meet them.

He could hear Twilight calling for Spike as he got closer, and he heard her apprentice eagerly rushing forward for breakfast. The smells began to get to him, and he realized just how hungry he was. Once he reached downstairs, he took a seat and waited patiently for them to arrive, taking note on the food before him. There were several large plates, filled with toast, eggs, hash browns, and a bowl of fruit.

They joined him shortly, and, as Drake noticed, Spike was eagerly flipping through the journal. Twilight glared at him, loudly clearing her throat to get his attention before nodding her head towards Drake. Spike began to grow nervous. “Oh yeah.” Then Spike turned back to Drake, flipping the book around and pointing at one of the various pictures he had in it. “Who’s this?” he question, his finger placed on Sully.

“That’s my friend,” Drake replied, plucking the journal from his hands and setting it gently aside. They all dove into the food, filling their plates. They ate in silence for a while, Twilight eventually breaking the awkward silence.

“So how did you get here?” she questioned.

Drake pondered the question. “Do you want my life story, or the summery?” he joked lightly.

“The life story could be interesting,” Twilight answered seriously.

Drake was taken by surprise. “Uh... I’ll tell you later,” he said. “If you really want to know. I think I’ll start with the recent events instead.”

“That’s fine.”

“Well... it started when we were trying to stop these people. They had been trying to find an ancient city, which they eventually found, that was rumored to have been brought down by the wrath of God. We thought they were just in it for the treasure, but it turned out they were looking for a hallucinogenic agent that was concealed in a vessel of brass. It turns out that it wasn’t God’s wrath that destroyed them, but the hallucinogenic agent. It drove them all mad, causing them to murder each other. However, there was a problem with an explosive and the whole place collapsed on itself. I got thrown into the sand, and woke up in that forest.” He finished his story and turned to Twilight. “Wait... why are you looking at me like that?”

Twilight wasn’t listening. “A vessel of brass?” she muttered to herself. She stood from the table and exited the kitchen. Drake got up to follow her and slowly entered the room behind her. She was muttering under her breath, sorting through the massive amount of books in the room. Her words grew louder until Drake could make them out clearly. “Where is it? I was just reading it the other day. It has to be here.” She tossed books to and fro, turning to Spike, who had followed Drake. “Spike, where is Starswirl’s journal? It has to be here.”

“Don’t you remember Twilight?” The young dragon answered, scratching his arm in the process. “That other human came by today and checked it out.”

Sully! Drake thought hopefully. He turned to Spike. “What other human?” he demanded. He pulled out his journal, flipping to the page of him and Sully. “Was it this guy?” he questioned.

“Uh...no,” Spike answered. “He was...um... he was wearing a suit. And he had dark hair.”

“Talbot’s here too?” He said angrily. “Great.”

Twilight looked confused. “Do you two know each other?” she questioned. “I asked him earlier and he said you two were acquaintances. Where do you guys know each other from?”

“Remember my story earlier?” He waited for her to nod before continuing. “Well he was one of the guys I was trying to stop. And if he has the book, you’ll probably never get it back.”

“Oh...” Twilight said nothing else, but she looked deep in thought. He watched Spike move from beside him, looking over at the clock before snapping his fingers in front of Twilight’s face. “Huh... what? What is it Spike?”

“Didn’t you tell Pinkie Pie that you would pick up the cupcakes at 11:00?”

“Yeah... so?” she questioned.

“It’s 10: 50. I think we should probably get going.”

“Oh! We’ll be late! Where is my saddle bag?” He watched her run up stairs for a few seconds, reappearing a moment later with a bag strung across her back. “Alright, let’s get going,” she announced, then turned to Drake. “are you ready?”

Drake nodded silently, and they exited the library.

“Oh boy Twilight! I’m so glad you brought the human over! My name’s Pinkie Pie, Or Pinkie! Whatever you prefer. What are you doing in Equestria? Are you visiting someone? What’s your name? Do you like cupcakes? I love cupcakes! They’re my most favoritest snack ever! My favorite flavor is chocolate!”

“Pinkie, calm down,” Twilight said,

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but I like meeting new people! That reminds me. I need to throw you a welcome party!"

“Sorry Pinkie. I would like stay here and chat, but I still have to go to Rarity’s boutique and Sweet Apple Acres. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Bye Twilight! And bye Mr... Um... what was your name?”

“Nathan Drake... Drake,” he replied.

“Goodbye Mr. Drake!”

They enter the boutique. Muffled shouting could be heard from the back. "Rarity?" Twilight called.

The door swung open, and a white unicorn appeared, her eyes narrowed in anger. However, she immediately brightened when she saw them. “Hello Twilight! You must be Nathan. Twilight has told me so much about you.”

“Really?” He answered. “I didn’t realize we were that good of friends.”

Twilight didn’t seem to notice. “Is everything okay?” she questioned. “You seemed angry earlier, and I think you might have been yelling.”

“It was nothing,” Rarity responded. “Just Sweetie Belle and her friends getting into my supplies and making a huge mess.” She turned to Drake. “Where are my manners? I’m Rarity.” She inspected the clothes he was wearing. “I see they fit nicely.”

Drake nodded. “They’re comfortable.”

“Good. I’m glad that they work for you. I wanted to make sure they fit before I made you anything else. Another set should be ready tonight, so when you can pick them up then.”

“Thanks Rarity,” Twilight said. “But we must go. We need to get to Sweet Apple Acres, and it’s already 1:00. It’s going to take us at least 45 minutes to get there. We’ll see you tonight, if possible.”

“Alright. Goodbye Twilight. Goodbye Nathan. It was nice meeting you.”

“Drake,” he replied. “You can call me Drake.”

“And this here is the café,” she explained. “They make really good sandwiches. If you feel like something to eat, this is a really good place to go.”

I was a small place, with a patio out back. Ponies sat at the tables, chatting away as they ate. Twilight gave a hello to most of them, stopping in front of a yellow Pegasus. “Hello Fluttershy,” she said kindly.

“Oh, hello Twil… eep!” She froze stiff, ducking behind her table and staring directly at Drake. “Twilight,” she whimpered. “That’s the monster I was telling you about.”

"Fluttershy, he's not a monster. This is Nathan Drake. Drake, this is my friend Fluttershy. She's the one that lives in the cottage by the Everfree forest."

"Your a dragon?" Fluttershy questioned. "I've never seen your type before. Are you not from Equestria? You must have come from the land of the dragons."

"I'm not a dragon," he explained. "My name is just Drake."

"Oh," Fluttershy replied, fully coming from behind the table to inspect him. "Then what are you?"

"I'm a human."

"Sorry Fluttershy, but we're in hurry. We'll have to catch up later, if that's okay."

"It's no problem, Twilight, I don't really mind. It was nice meeting you Mr. Drake."

"What do you think of the town so far?" Twilight asked him cheerfully. They had just left the cafe where Fluttershy had been, and were now on their way to the farm.

"It's a good looking town," Drake replied. "Everyone seems to know each other here, which is something you don't get very often on Earth."

"Well Ponyville is a small town. There are places much larger than this, like Canterlot or Manehattan. Fillydelphia is just south of here, and Las Pegasus is towards the east, but a bit farther away."

"Most of Earth is large cities. It's rare to find some place like this, peaceful and quiet. There was this one place in the mountains I had stayed at a while ago that was kind of like this, and everyone seemed to get along great. No one was mugged or stabbed."

"No offense Drake, but Earth sounds like a very violent place to be at."

"It usually is," he responded. "For me at least."

They spent some time in silence before it was broken by Twilight. "So do you think this Talbot guy is going to do something evil?" she asked.

"Most likely. If you knew what he has done before, you would understand."

"Do you think we would be able to stop him?"

"Without that book, we wouldn't know where to start. Besides, he probably left town as soon as he got it. He could be long gone by..." Drake stopped, his voice catching in his throat as he locked eyes with Talbot.

They just stood there, staring at each other. In Talbot's hand, was Starswirl's journal. Neither one moved. They didn't breath. They just stood there, staring. Finally, Drake found the voice he had lost moments ago. "You have got to be kidding me."

Talbot closed the journal. He opened his suit jacket and tucked the journal away into one of the pockets. After several long moments, he backed away from Drake, spinning quickly and taking off down the street.

Drake took off after him. Ponies dodged out of their way as they ran. "This is getting old, Talbot!" he shouted ahead.

Talbot dodged into an alley, and as Drake turned the corner he saw him climbing up to the roof of the building. Drake leaped up after him, grabbing his ankle, trying to pull him down. Talbot growled slightly, lashing out with his other foot until it connected with Drake's jaw. Drake let go, and Talbot climbed up to the top, and he followed him closely.

He continued the chase, leaping from building to building in hopes of catching Talbot. Talbot kept a good distance in front of Drake without any signs of slowing.

A blue blur past him by, and when Drake looked over, a pegasus with a rainbow mane was in front of him, looking back and smirking. Confused, Drake watched as she flew past Talbot, who by that time looked just as confused. Talbot slowed to a stop, which Drake was unprepared for. He ran into Talbot, spinning himself around so he had began to fall backwards.

Talbot's hand grabbed Drake's, and they struggled, Drake trying not to fall backwards and Talbot trying to pull him up. It took a second for their brains to process what was going on, and once they did, they both looked at each other in surprise. Then Talbot's expression turned into one of disgust as he realized what he had tried to do, and he let go of Drake's hand. As Drake fell backwards, he saw Talbot disgustedly wipe his hand on his suit.

"What the hay?" Drake heard the voice as he hit the cart, which, luckily, had been full of hay. Still the impact had sent a wave of pain up his spine, in which he had let out a load groan. He looked around, seeing an angry orange pony staring at him, and Twilight running towards him.

"Did you get it?" Twilight questioned.

Drake let out a weak laugh, holding up Starswirl's journal. "I still got it."

Chapter 3: Going Underground

Drake hopped out of the cart, letting Twilight take the journal. She started frantically flipping through the pages until she stopped suddenly. “This wasn’t in here before,” she said, pulling out a small ring attached to a piece of string. Sir Francis Drake’s ring. Drake took the ring from her.

“I thought I’d never get it back,” he replied, hanging it around his neck. He heard someone clear their throat behind him, and when he turned around, he saw the same orange pony glaring at him. “Oh,” he said, scratching the back of neck nervously. “I’m sorry about the cart. I’ll pay for any damages I caused to it.”

“I hope you will,” she replied. She turned to look at Twilight. “Do you know this fellow?” she questioned.

Twilight nodded, not looking up from the journal. “That’s Drake. He’s… new to town.”

The orange pony inspected him closely. “Are you some type of rare, fancy dragon? Male, I assume, judging by your name. I’ve never seen your type around these parts of Equestria before. Do you come from up north, near Canterlot?”

“I’m not a dragon!” Drake replied irritably.

“Then what in the hay type of creature are you then?”

“A human. I come from a place called Earth. It’s a long, long ways away from here.”

“I would assume so. What kind of place is Earth? It ain’t no place I’ve ever heard of before."

"Uh... AJ?" A voice came from behind her, making the orange pony turn around. Drake hadn't noticed the red stallion standing there, and was surprised when he saw him. "We need to get this hay over to Fluttershy's house for the animals. She said she's completely out, and it's almost their feeding time."

Twilight appeared beside Drake. "I see you met Applejack. And this is her brother, Big Macintosh. They live at Sweet Apple Acres on the west side of town. I am sorry about being late helping you out. You could have had tons more hay over to her house if we had been there on time."

"It's fine Twilight," Applejack replied. "We can bring over another load later. We just need to get Fluttershy's animals fed for today. Then we could bring over the rest. We need to get going though. Come along Winona!"

The dog caught up with her, and Big Macintosh began to pull the cart. The sound that came from the back of the cart made Drake wince, pulling back and covering his ears. Big Macintosh turned back to see what the commotion was, although he was limited in movement by the harness. The back wheel and axel was cracked, most likely from the fall that Drake had. Applejack turned on him, her eyes blazing. "Look at what you gone and did!" She murmured under her breath. "Causing trouble with your fancy roof jumping."

"I'm sorry," Drake began. 'That was my fault. I can do something to help, if that helps in any way. Maybe I can... um... I can lift the cart where the wheel is broken so that you can take it over there."

"Well..." Applejack began. "I guess that would help a lot. And it would make up for you destroying it in your guys' game of tag."

"It wasn't a game," Drake replied, grabbing the cart and lifting. Drake hadn't realized how heavy hay was. But now he struggled, grunting with the effort it was costing him. He turned to Big Macintosh. "I'm ready," he stated simply.

It was costing Drake a lot of effort, but they actually managed to make progress like that. Once they got down the street, the same rainbow mare joined them, spreading her wings in victory. "I beat you guys! You are slow racers. Another victory for the world's fastest pegasus."

“We weren’t racing,” Drake said between grunts.

She just rolled her eyes. “Says the one who came in last,” she commented. “Name’s Rainbow Dash. I’m the fastest flier Equestria will ever know. I’ve won the Best Young Flier Competition. And I’m going to win it again this year.”

“Rainbow,” Applejack interrupted. “Stop bragging. He doesn’t want to hear you go on about that stuff.”

“Whatever,” Rainbow Dash said. “So what are you anyway? Are you one of those dragons from the north?”

“I’m not a dragon,” Drake said loudly, practically shouting.

“Alright! Sheesh…”

They arrived at Fluttershy’s house. Drake set down his end of the wagon, wiping the sweat off of his face. The curtains of the cottage waved slightly, as though a breeze had moved it. A second later, Fluttershy appeared at the door. “Thank goodness you came,” she said, walking towards them. “The animals are starting to get fussy. If you would have come any later, it would have been a disaster.”

“It was nothing,” Applejack stated simply. “We would have been here sooner, but Mister Game O’ Tag over here decided to go ahead and fall on the wagon. Now we got a busted axel. I don’t know how we’re gonna pay for it.”

Drake rubbed the back of his neck nervously, but said nothing. Fluttershy looked confused, but thought nothing of it. “You can unload the hay in the back. I need to go prepare Angel’s food.” With that Fluttershy turned away from them and headed back inside.

Applejack turned back to him, nodding. Drake sighed, grabbing the end of the wagon and lifting it. They headed around back, stopping near the pens of the animals. Applejack grabbed some hay from the back and started to unload it, but Twilight stopped her. “I’ve got it,” she stated simply. Her horn began to glow, and she picked up the hay with ease, setting it down on the ground.

Drake stared at her in disbelief. “Why did I have to hold up the wagon if you could have just levitated it without a problem?” he questioned.

“I’m not the one who broke it. You kind of owed them for that.”

“Yeah,” he said, turning back to Applejack. He pulled out his wallet and began to hand her 50 dollars. “Would this be enough to cover the damages?” he asked.

“What in the hay is that?” Applejack asked, inspecting it closer.

“It’s... money,” Drake responded.

“”Looks like a bunch of worthless paper to me.”

“Well,” Drake stated, “its money where I come from.”

He tucked the money into his wallet, putting it back in his pocket. Applejack gave him a glare, turning to Twilight. “We got to get back to the farm now. Those apple trees won’t buck themselves. Thank you for the help.” She turned back to him. “You too, Mr. Drake,” she said respectively, but in a monotone fashion.

“But Applejack,” Twilight said. “How will you get the wagon back to the Sweet Apple Acres with the busted wheel?” They stared at each other for a few moments, and then both turned to look at Drake. He rolled his eyes, grabbing his end of it.

“Hey Twilight,” Drake said once they were back at the Library. “Can I take a look at that journal?”

“Sure,” Twilight replied, handing him the journal she had been looking at. He opened it up, flipping through the pages. He searched through it several times, but nothing stood out to him. No clues or hints. Nothing.

“That’s weird,” Drake stated aloud. He looked back up at the library, and noticed something he had not before. He looked back at the journal. “Twilight, come here for a second.” He watched as Twilight stood from her spot to look at the page. “Do these symbols seem to match up with the ones on the spaces between the bookshelves?” He questioned.

“Yeah...” she murmured, glancing back and forth between the symbols.

“Each one seems to be connected with a certain painting. Twilight, when you moved in, did you find any paintings lying around?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “They were scattered all over the place. I didn’t care much for them, so I put them down in the basement. They should still be there, unless Spike might have done something with them.” She looked over at her assistant, who shrugged and continued with his game.

Drake turned to look at which door might lead him there. “Do you mind if get them?” As he turned back towards her, he noticed the paintings levitating gently into the room. How did I notice her horn glowing? He thought to himself. She set them gently by his feet, and Drake kneeled down to look at them.

“Alright,” he said to Twilight. “Just match the paintings to their corresponding symbols. Maybe we can get somewhere with this.”

Twilight nodded, grabbing a painting and looking to the journal for its match. She hung it on the nail above on its column, covering the symbol. Drake grabbed one, looking down at the book before standing and walking over to a diamond, hanging the painting. They continued on like this for a while. After some time, all the paintings had been hung. They stepped back and waited. Nothing happened.

“Now what?” Twilight questioned.

Drake looked back down to the journal. “We must have made a mistake,” he answered. They went to each one, lifting the painting to double check. “Found it,” Drake said. He took it off the nail, bringing it to where another one was hanging. “This belongs here.” He took the original down and placed the new one, hooking the other to where the first had been hanging. Once again, they stepped back.

Drake narrowed his eyes. ‘Something’s wrong...”

There was a knock on the door. Twilight turned and opened it. Standing before them was Rarity. “Hello, Twilight,” she said. “I finished his clothes early, and today’s a slow day, so I decided to take a break and close shop while I delivered them to you.” She handed the clothes to Drake.

Drake took them from her. “Thanks,” he told her, setting them down on a nearby table. He turned back to her, and found her staring at the painting with a strange look on her face.

“Twilight,” she said to her. “I like what you’re trying to do with the place, but if you’re going to hang these up, please try to get them straight.” With the glow of her horn, she straightened out the painting she had been looking at.

They heard a loud sound behind them, and when they turned they saw the desk in the center of the room begin to move. They heard it begin to slide, although it stopped shortly. Drake moved over to it and gave it a shove. It moved a little more. He pushed at it more. It slid over to the side, revealing a ladder beneath it. He turned back. “Thanks Rarity,” he called to her before leaping over the edge and climbing down it.

“It was no problem,” she said back, but as he continued climbing, he heard her address Twilight. “What’s going on?”

Drake heard no more of his conversation, and leapt down as he reached the bottom. He looked back up. “I don’t know how you’re going to get down here. I’m not sure you can climb the ladder.” He saw a flash of light from above, which immediately came from behind him a second later. Twilight stood behind him, her horn glowing for a source of light. “You can teleport,” he said, although at this point, he was not surprised.

“We need to go this way,” he said, pointing towards the darkness before them. Twilight nodded at him, and they set off.

The hallway seemed to stretch on forever. They had been walking for a good fifteen before they arrived at a large cave. There were several small puddles around it, and water dripping from the ceiling. As Twilight looked around, he noticed the webs on the walls, and shuddered at the thought. Twilight noticed the movement. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

“I hate spiders,” he replied. He could see the questioning look in her eyes. “I’ll explain later,” he told her.

At the end of the room, were two statues of knights. In between them, was a coffin. Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise. “It’s Starswirl’s coffin,” she exclaimed. “He was buried in Ponyville. Why would he choose to be buried here? Why under the library?”

“After all that walking, I doubt we’re under the library anymore,” he told her, walking up towards it. She followed him, and stopped a few feet back.

“Why would he want to be buried in Ponyville?” Twilight mumbled to herself. “Why connect it to the library? And why would he keep it so well hidden. Something’s not right here. It was said that he was buried in Canterlot. Was this all a lie?”

Drake felt around the edges, lifting the top of it off. Twilight gasped. “What are you doing? Don’t defile Starswirl’s coffin like that! Do you know how much trouble we can get into if Princess Celestia was to find out?”

He looked down at it. “But you can’t defile an empty coffin.”

“What?” Twilight asked in disbelief. He moved out of the way as she stepped forward to investigate. “I don’t believe it. It’s empty. It’s empty. Someone must have been here before us. They must have moved the body. See, there are markings at the bottom.”

Drake looked confused, and moved forward to look at it again. Etched in the bottom was Enochian script. Drake felt around in his pockets, but remembered that his cipher disk was gone. “I know what this is,” he told her, “but I don’t have my cipher disk with me.”

Twilight rummaged through the saddle bag she was still carrying, pulling it out. “You mean this thing that I found inside the book?” she asked.

“Yes,” Drake answered, taking it from her.” He pulled the ring above his head, removing it from his neck. He placed it into the cipher disk, turning it to decode the wording. After several seconds, he finally got the first word. “Foggy,” he said aloud. Several more turns and h had the second word. “Bottom.” A few more and he had the whole message. “Bog. Foggy Bottom Bog?” he asked confused. “I don’t understand what his means. He looked back up to Twilight for clarification.

She looked up at him, and he could detect a slight uneasiness from her. “I know where that is,” she replied.

Chapter 4: Bogged Down

Drake followed an anxious Twilight through the swamp-filled area, internally wincing at the horrific smell that filled the air. He had been worried about the lavender mare since they had left the library, due to her odd behavior and lack of talking about statistics he did not need to know. As well as that, she had been moving quicker than usual, as if she wanted to be as far away from the bog as possible. She was gazing around at the surrounding area constantly, like she was expecting something to leap from behind a muck-covered tree and attack.

As soon as Drake noticed how far ahead she had moved, he quickened his pace to cover the distance between them. “Twilight,” he called to her, finally appearing at her side. “Why are you moving so fast? It’s only noon. We have all day to get this done. You’re acting like something’s going to leap out of the mud and attack us.”

“Am I? Twilight asked absent mindedly, not taking her eyes off of the route they traveled down. “I hadn’t even noticed. It’s just... this place brings back bad memories. I would appreciate it if we could get out of here as soon as possible.” At this, she let out a soft, nervous chuckle. “No need to be concerned. Everything should be fine.”

Drake gave her a disbelieving stare, one eyebrow raised at the comment Twilight made. “No offense to you,” he started. “But I would feel a lot more comfortable if you would just tell me the truth right now. Is there anything in this swamp that could... I don’t know... potentially kill us? These are some things that would be good to know before we continue.”

Twilight shook her head gently. “No, nothing you should be worried about. If I planned this right, we should be in and out of here in no time. We shouldn’t run into any trouble.”

Drake rolled his eyes. “If you’re certain we won’t be running into any trouble, than you should calm down. I’m pretty sure that we...” That’s when Drake looked ahead into the distance and his worst fear has been realized. “Twilight, get down!” he called to her as she continued to walk off. “Trouble!”

He dropped down behind a fallen tree quickly, and glanced over the top of it to look at Twilight. However, she didn’t seem to understand what he meant by trouble, and she was looking fearfully in the air.

“Twilight,” He whispered loudly to get her attention. “Get over here!”

Twilight thankfully heard him and sprinted over to where he kneeled in the shallow water. She leapt easily over it and landed with a quiet splash next to him. Peeking over the side quickly, she seemed to finally notice the men in suits that stood in the ankle deep water not 40 feet away from them. She asked rather loudly, “Do you think they would be willing to help...”

She got cut off as Drake silenced her, listening carefully to the agents. “What was that?” he could hear one call loudly to himself, and as Drake turned to his left to look through gnarled and twisted roots, he could see one, who was lightly concealed in armor, walking towards them with his gun slightly raised. As he got closer, Drake prepared himself to leap up and attack. Hearing the soft sloshing of the water, he sprung.

It was easier than he expected to pull the man down to the other side. Twilight stared at him with wide eyes as he placed one hand on the agent’s mouth to muffle any screams, the crook of his left elbow crushing his windpipe to suffocate him. Dropping his gun, the man put up quite the struggle, although Drake had the upper hand of it all and wasn’t about to let him go.

However, Twilight was horrified at sight she was seeing, and practically shouted at him, “What are you doing?”

“Be quiet!” Drake whispered softly to her, although there was urgency in his voice. Glancing over their cover, he could tell some of them were confused by the noise, and after discussion, only one walked forward slowly, approaching them. At this point, the other agent had stopped struggling in his arms and now lay still. Drake gently set him down in the shallow water and grabbed the KAL-7 he had dropped into the water moments ago.

As Drake waited for him to come closer, he could hear the soft splashing as he moved. It was much quieter than the first time, as the man was lighter and leaner than the last one. And as he heard him approaching, he once more leapt from his cover and pulled the agent down with him, snapping his neck. However, the others had been watching that time, and they saw the whole thing. And now they shouted to each other and took cover behind other objects around, guns ready.

“Crap,” Drake mumbled to himself, loading the gun and bringing it close to his chest. Standing up quickly, he aimed at the agent closest to him, pulling the trigger. The bullets hit the target easily, and he ducked back down just in time as a few flew by his head, missing by an inch. As soon as it was clear, he got back up and fired a few more shots, taking out another guy.

When Drake saw that he had taken out all of the people near him, he leapt up over the trunk of the tree and raced to one of their parked jeeps, rolling once to avoid the bullets being fired. Blind firing quickly, he brought back towards him and reloaded it before aiming and hitting one more guy.

A flash of light was seen as he pressed his back against the car. Twilight now stood beside him, and she looked frantic. ‘What are you doing?” she practically yelled at him. “They’re humans like you. Maybe they could help us out.”

Drake shot out once more before retreating to his cover and saying to Twilight, “They do not want to help us.”

But Twilight wasn’t listening to him. Instead she walked out among the fighting, shouting at them. “Don’t shoot! I just want to talk! We need your help to find something.”

“Twilight!” Drake practically yelled, leaping for her. He shoved her out of the way into another piece of cover, managing to get there himself a second away from being shot. The bullets that were fired hit the water where Twilight stood just moments before. As he turned to make sure she was okay, he saw a look of horror upon her face, and he couldn’t help but yell, “I told you so.”

He continued how he was going for a short while; shooting, rolling, reloading the gun. Eventually they all lay dead in the mud filled water, their bodies floating the smallest bit above the ground. Their guns were strewn about everywhere, and Drake took all the ammo he could from them.

Picking up a Raffica, he turned back to Twilight, holding it out to her. “Alright, here’s what you have to do. Next time you see people that I am trying to shoot, I want you to try and shoot them as well.”

Twilight gave him a surprised look. “You mean... kill them?” Slowly, she grabbed the gun from Drake’s hand, levitating it in front of her face to inspect it closely.

“Yes,” Drake replied slowly, glancing down at her. “I know it goes against your morals, but those aren’t innocent people, and will kill you if you don’t kill them first.”

Twilight still seemed uncertain, but she placed it away from her face and followed Drake as he began to walk off. Drake was sure they couldn’t be that far off now if Talbot’s men were there, although he wasn’t sure how they had gotten there in the first place, especially in such great numbers. However, Twilight might know the answer.

“Hey Twilight,” he called back to her as he walked. “Is it possible for a unicorn to use their magical capabilities to open up some sort of portal to reach Earth?”

“I’ve heard about some ponies opening up portals to other places, but they need to be an extremely powerful unicorn. Starswirl the Bearded was the first to have ever done it.”

“Interesting,” mumbled Drake to himself. “Seems this Starswirl guy has done a lot with his life.” At this moment, he could see the outline of the cave ahead. “Watch out for more of Talbot’s men!” he warned Twilight.

As they entered it, everything grew darker as they continued, and Drake was hoping it would open up soon. His hopes came true as he saw light appearing slowly, which led to a large room filled with different symbols spread out everywhere. The light was shining down from a large, gaping hole in the ceiling. Across the room, a large, ancient door stood in their path. An old tree, aged quite well, sat growing through the somewhat crumbling walls. To the left, a small black car was parked off to the side. Talbot’s men had been in here.

Upon closer inspection, it was noted that the symbols in which they saw were small triggers which sunk down into the ground. Drake assumed that they needed weight on a certain one for something to happen. Pulling out the notebook, Drake began to flip through it until he found a sketch of the room with small X’s on it. And it all seemed to be leading to one particular symbol that they needed to press down. It was a circle that swirled in the middle. There were many of them.

He placed a small rock on the first one, and he watched as it sunk down slightly under the weight. However, he noticed that the symbol didn’t match the one in the journal. Realizing his mistake, he quickly moved it over one where the real symbol was.

The next one was on the far right of the cavern. Glancing at the tree, Drake noticed that it seemed heavy, although not that stable towards the trunk. Taking out his Para 9, he fired a couple of bullets at it, which weakened it just enough for it to bend down, hanging by a few pieces. Drake kicked the trunk several times before it finally fell to the ground at his feet. Picking it up, he dropped it on the symbol.

A loud sound shook the cave, and Drake stumbled slightly before regaining his balance. Looking over at Twilight, he noticed she seemed shaken up, which he confirmed when Twilight said unstably, “We need to hurry up.”

“What was that?” Drake asked her suspiciously. It sounded like a loud roar, but had a screeching quality to it.

“It was nothing,” Twilight tried to defend.

“It sure didn’t sound like nothing.”

“Look,” Twilight said to him loudly. “It is nothing to be worried about. Let’s just hurry with whatever it is that we are doing so we can get the information needed.”

“Alright,” Drake said slowly, moving towards the symbol in the center of the room. “I’m going to need you to stand here. And don’t move off of it until something happens. Like a path opening up.”

Twilight nodded and stood on the symbol quietly, sinking down slightly from the weight. Drake went several feet away and stood on the other, and they waited. Nothing happened.

Drake opened the journal again, looking at the sketched map on the page. “Something’s not right,” he said to himself, his finger trailing across the page. He thought he had gotten all of them. However, he noticed one he hadn’t seen before, located over by the car.

It was about 6 feet away from the front tire of the small black car, which would make a great weight for it. Getting behind it, he pushed at it with the back of his shoulder. It was still in park, so it was harder to do than he though. But he made it there eventually. When he was done, he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve and moved back to his spot.

Rumbling came again, although this time, the door slid open slowly to reveal where they needed to go. “Come on,” Drake said to Twilight walking towards it and into a small tunnel.

Drake grabbed the fallen tree branch off the ground and snapped it in half so it wasn’t as large. “Sorry Rarity,” he said as he ripped off a piece of his sweater sleeve and wrapped it around the top. Taking a match out from his pocket, which he had now started carrying, he lit it and set fire to the sweater piece carefully as a torch.

Making his way through, he could hear the sound of Twilight’s hooves on the ground behind him, signaling she was following. Occasionally, the roaring would sound outside once more and Twilight would speed up in her nervousness.

At the end was a small room, where a stone coffin lay in the middle. It was much like the one beneath the library, and Drake was sure it would be empty as well. It was filthy and covered in dirt and dust from being down in the cave for so long, and just touching the top of it made his hands brown and caked in grim.

Lifting the top of it off, the sounds of stones scraping together, he realized he was right. There was nothing in it but a small Enochian script carved into the bottom. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out the cypher disk and ring. He gently placed the ring into the small spot, watching it reset.

“Does it automatically know the script is there?” Twilight asked from behind him, setting down the gun he had forgotten she was carrying.

“No. It’s just resetting the gears. Here Hold this.”

He handed Twilight the torch, her grabbing it with her magic. When it was finished, he started turning the top ring, writing down what it said in his own journal. “The path... to understanding... begins... where...” He stopped and glanced back into the coffin, dusting around the edge of the sentence. “That’s it? Where’s the rest of the message?”

Twilight went around on the other side to inspect, and Drake followed her. There was nothing that would give them any information. Everything was bare. He thought for a second about what he wrote and tore a page out of the back of his notebook. Writing down the information again, he slipped it into Starswirl’s journal.

“What are you doing?” Twilight questioned.

“Trust me,” Drake answered. “It’s necessary.

Another roar shook the cave, and Drake had to cover his ears during it. It was louder than the others he had heard, like it was furious and in pain. When it had stopped, Drake straightened himself again. But something seemed off. He could hear a rustling in the walls.

“Oh no.”

‘Is everything alright, Drake?” Twilight asked him.

“Twilight, it is my turn noticeably scared of something and not tell you what it is.” He grabbed the torch from her and looked up in horror as the spiders began streaming down the wall. “Run!”

Twilight looked back in horror before racing out of the cave, grabbing her gun as she went. Drake raced after her, swinging the flame behind him to drive them back. “Why does this always happen?”

Reaching down, he grabbed the grenade he had collected earlier off his belt. Pulling out the pin, he tossed it behind him into the swarm. As they raced away, it exploded behind them. Drake swung the flame one more time before they burst into the open cave.

“Close the door!” Drake shouted at Twilight, who quickly dropped her gun and slide the doors together once more. Afterwards she picked up the car and slammed it against the crack as a barrier.

Both of them sighed in relief, gasping for breath after their run. Drake leaned against the wall, leaning his head back on the clod stone. Twilight glanced up at him.

“Why did you throw that explosive?” She asked angrily, almost yelling at him.

“At this point I’m just trying to get rid of those things.”

“That is no excuse to defile Starswirl’s burial site like that!” Drake gave her a look of questioning, and she sighed. “I know there was no body there, but it’s still the same thing.”

“Alright. I’m sorry Twilight. I promise at the next site, I will try to be more careful and not throw grenades.”

Drake walked to the exit and into the darkness, appearing a moment later in the bright sun of outside. Twilight followed him angrily, eyes narrowed. As he was about to turn to say something to her, he spotted something in the distance. Talbot and his men.

“Great,” Drake muttered as he watched Talbot approach him.

“Hello Drake,” Talbot said ‘politely’, his gun in his left hand. A small trickle of blood was running down from the side of his left eyebrow, as Drake noticed, which surprised him. Whatever Talbot had gotten into, it hadn’t ended well.

Drake slowly raised his hands until they were about eye level. He leaned over towards Twilight slightly. “Do you believe me now?” He whispered to her.

Talbot’s men came closer to them, their guns raised and pointed at the two. One held out his hand slowly, as if on a silent command.

“Now hand over your weapons,” Talbot told them, his gaze never leaving them to look around at anything.

Reluctantly, Drake took his pistol out of its holster and handed it to the agent, who backed away slightly after that. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Twilight slowly moving her gun away and hiding it in her tail so it wasn’t visible.

Talbot didn’t seem to notice. “Good,” he responded. “Now give me the journal.”

Drake reached into his back pocket slowly and pulled it out, holding it out for Talbot. Reaching forward, Talbot took the journal from him and tucked it into his jacket pocket. As he did so, Drake noticed the cut Talbot had on the palm of his hand, much like the one on his forehead.

“The cypher disk as well,” Talbot demanded, holding out his hand.

“I left it back at the library,” Drake lied.

“Now why do I doubt that?”

At that moment, the roar was back, although it was much louder than before. Talbot half turned around, gun now pointed at where the sound was heard from. At this moment, Drake could see the large cuts Talbot had on his left forearm through the rips in his suit sleeve. They seemed like they had stopped bleeding as badly as it would have, although small drops still leaked out every now and then.

Talbot turned back. “I believe that is our cue to leave.” He slowly backed away towards one of the cars parked. “So long, Drake.” Turning, he got in swiftly while the rest of his agents followed, and they drove off, spraying water as they went.

Twilight raced off as soon as the car had gone. “We have to go. Now!”

Drake raced after her, trying to catch up to her. “What is that thing?” he asked her as they went.

Before Twilight had time to answer, a large shape began to emerge from the deeper part of the swamp to their right. It had four heads, and as it came onto the shore, it was noticeable that it had no arms and a large tail behind it. The thing screeched at them loudly, showing its razor sharp teeth.

“Hydra!” Twilight shouted, stopping in her tracks as it blocked their path. She quickly turned around and began to run back in the other direction, Drake following close behind.

Drake tripped and fell one hand in the water. He felt something beneath him, and picking it up, he was glad to see AK-47. He got up and started running again, although he turned around to fire at the hydra. When he ran out of bullets, he reloaded quickly. Even after the second round it wasn’t showing any signs of pain, like its skin was immune to it.

“Drake, look out!” Twilight shouted at him. Drake turned ahead to look and almost ran off the edge of a cliff. He stopped short of it and turned back around to continue firing. Once out of bullets on the AK-47, he turned to look at Twilight, who had gotten used to her gun and was firing away at it. When the hydra realized he was no longer firing, it roared again and one head came down to him, snapping its jaws.

Drake leaned back to avoid it and fell backwards on his back. It snapped at him again and now he shoved at its head, grasping its teeth to avoid its gaping jaws. “Twilight! Help me!”

He was unprepared for the explosion on the hydra. It screeched in pain and stepped back, confused by the sudden pain. Drake could see a large mark on its frontal area near the necks where something had hit it.

A second explosion came a second later, and the hydra retreated into the mud to get away. Turning to look back at what it could have been, Drake was surprised at what he saw.

“Sully!” he cried happily, laughing slightly. “Man, is it good to see you.”

Sully removed the cigar from his mouth, holding it off to the side. “I really can’t leave you alone for a minute, now can I kid?”

Drake glanced over his shoulder quickly before looking back. “I had it under control until the hydra showed up.”

Twilight was holding the gun up towards Sully, eyes wide. “Is this one a friend?” She asked.

Drake looked over at her. “Yes. This is Sully. Don’t shoot him.”

“Is that purple unicorn trying to shoot me?” Sully called from the other side of the gorge.

Drake looked back up at him. “Yeah. She might be. I taught her well!” Glancing around, he added, “Now how are we supposed to get across?”

Sully held up another rocket, loading it into the gun. “Last one.”

He fired it, hitting a large tree on the other side where they stood. It creaked from the explosion before slowly tilting forward and making a bridge across where they could cross. Drake got up on it and walked across carefully. Twilight, however, was able to simply teleport across like she normally did.

When Drake was safely across, he looked up at Sully and hugged him quickly. “Crazy place, isn’t it?”

Sully took another puff of his cigar before answering. “You’re telling me? I met a mail carrier. She gave me a box of muffins and my Smith & Wesson back. I have no idea how she got it.”

“Beats me,” Drake replied before walking off. “Come on. Let’s go before it decides to show up again.”

“Hey kid,” Sully called as he picked up the gun and box that lay on the ground before following. “Want a muffin?”

Chapter 5: Second Sweep

The café wasn’t too crowded. The three of them sat around the low table, happily munching on the sandwich in front of them. Except for Drake, who was inspecting the dandelions in them closely. Just the thought of eating it was starting to ease his hunger so he wouldn’t have to.

“Hey kid,” Sully said, snapping Drake out of his thoughts. As he turned towards the old man, Sully continued. “Are you going to eat your dandelion sandwich?”

Drake looked over and gave him a look of surprise. “Can you eat it?”

Sully turned back to his plate and pointed at it, which was empty except for a small stem towards the bottom. “Kid, I’ve already eaten mine,” he said, chuckling slightly.

Drake turned back to his own plate and picked up the sandwich gently. Bringing it up to his mouth, he took a slow bite. It was revolting to him, due to the fact that it was nothing more than garden weeds.

“Hey Twilight,” a voice called from Drake’s right. Applejack was approaching them, followed by a stallion Drake did not know, who had been pulling a cart behind him happily. “I saw you hear and I wanted to let you know that Braeburn was in town for a few days. He’ll be staying at the farm if you want to visit.”

“Hello Braeburn!” Twilight told him cheerfully. “It’s good to see you here in Ponyville.”

Before he could respond, Sully interrupted them. “Um.. one of your wheels doesn’t match the others.” He pointed to a wheel that had obviously been replaced.

“We’re well aware of that,” Applejack replied rather harshly, glaring at Drake. “Aren’t we, Mr. Drake?”

Drake gave a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh... yeah. Sorry about that. How much do I owe you for the new wheel?”

“Six bits,” Applejack replied tartly before turning back to Twilight. “Well... we should be going. There’s a lot to do on the farm with cider season approaching, and you know how quickly we run out of it.”

Twilight said her good bye just as Sully stood up and patted Drake’s shoulder, starting to walk away. “You keep eating. I’m going to head over to Cat Supplies and Fine Smokables to pick me up some more cigars.” As he walked away, Drake could hear him mumbling something about the shop names.

Drake looked over at Twilight with a glance before taking another bite. After swallowing, he said slowly, “So you knew that hydra was going to attack us? Is that why you wanted to keep your pistol from Talbot?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s why. I had a feeling it would come to good use of that thing decided to show up again, which it did. And I didn’t want to give it up before I could inspect it more. I can’t wait to give that research paper to the Princess!”

Drake took another bite. “Who is the Princess?” he asked her curiously. “And why would you need to send her a research paper? Most royalty wouldn’t even know your name if you live in a small town like this.”

“I was actually born in Canterlot where Princess Celestia lives,” she explained eagerly, pointing a hoof at the city above. “I’m one of her students. She brought me to Ponyville so I could learn the ways of friendship.” She lowered her voice. “Before I came here, I mostly stayed to myself. The only person I would call my friend before was my brother. But that’s the past!”

“YOU!” A voice screamed from across the street. A furious Rarity was running towards them, eyes narrowed in rage. She came straight for Drake. “I make you clothes and this is how you repay me?” She yelled, pointing to the rip he now had in his sleeve from where he tore it. “Do you know how much time I spent working on those? I bet you that other human was more grateful for what I did and wouldn’t rip it to shreds like that.”

Drake glanced down at the sleeve in confusion just as Sully was walking back, a cigar in his mouth. “What’s all the yelling about?” He asked, taking it out. “She’s acting like you killed her sister or something.”

Drake held up his torn sleeve, to which Sully replied, “That’s it?”

“That’s it?” Rarity shouted, turning on Sully. “You sit down as well. I need to yell at you too.” Sully put his hands in the air to show defeat and sat next to Drake. “I put work into that clothing and you treat it like it’s nothing. That other human must have been grateful for what I gave him, while you treat it like dirt!”

“Wait,” Drake replied, looking over at Rarity. “Talbot went by your store?”

“I don’t know who he was. I found him wandering into Ponyville with a tattered suit on. And he was missing the jacket on it. I don’t know what he had gotten into, but it was terrible. I fixed him a new suit. It was just pure black and plain, which was disappointing.”

“Well I’m sure you’ll be glad to know that he didn’t care about it either. The left forearm of it was torn and covered in blood, as well as the water and mud he had gotten on it too.” If Drake was going down, he was taking Talbot with him.

“What?” Rarity shouted. “Oh, when I find him I’ll...” She walked off, mumbling under her breath about him.

After they had finished their lunch, Twilight decided she wanted to take Sully on a tour of Ponyville, much like she had with Drake. He was fascinated by everything they had established, although Drake knew he mostly cared about the interesting items they paired together in stores. However, he was still enjoying the rest of it, and they were meeting some friendly locals as well.

Drake lightly waved hello to Big Macintosh as they passed him. Big Macintosh nodded a little and gave a small greeting before continuing his conversation with a small magenta mare that he had been stalking to before. Drake leaned over towards Sully a bit. “That’s Big Macintosh,” he explained. “He runs a farm with his family. I can’t tell you who the other one is though.”

“That’s Cheerilee,” Twilight said casually, turning to face the two. “She’s a teacher over at the Ponyville schoolhouse. Her and Big Mac are real close friends after that... oh wait, you don’t know about that. Never mind. It’s not important.” At that, she turned around again and began the tour one more.

“And finally, the library.” Twilight glanced over her shoulder to look at Sully. “This is where my assistant, Spike, and I live. Drake has been staying her as well, considering Ponyville doesn’t have a hotel for you to stay in. You are welcome to stay here as well, Mr. Sully.”

Sully said his thanks, and the group entered the library. Spike was nowhere to be seen.

“Probably off sleeping at another one of his hideouts,” Twilight muttered.

Drake didn’t say anything in response, instead walking over to the painting they had tilted earlier as to close the entrance. As soon as it was moved back into place, the middle table moved once more to reveal the path.

Twilight went down first, her horn shining to light the way down. Sully followed her down slowly, gazing at her horn in surprise. Drake gazed around at the walls, watching for anything to pop out at them they might have missed.

Nothing stood out on the way down, and when they reached the coffin once more, Drake was utterly confused. “What the hell could we have missed down here?” He said aloud, moving around the chamber walls, feeling for any mechanisms.

“I’m assuming you already got this?” Sully questioned from the backside of the coffin, gazing at something on the side. Drake tilted his head slightly, clearly having remembered the script being written inside. Upon moving next to the older man, Drake noticed a faint etching of Enochian writing.

“How did we miss that?” He asked, making a small amount of room next to him for Twilight as she came to investigate. Pulling out the cypher disk, he placed the ring in its slot, watching it reset itself.

He glanced up at the script every now and then, decoding the message slowly. “Las...” He started, turning the ring once more. “Pegasus. Las Pegasus. I’m assuming this is another place here?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Yeah. It started as a famous town for movie stars, but as it grew, they added casinos to it. Now its half old buildings and famous ponies, half casinos and hotels. Ponies like to go there for vacation.”

Sully pulled the cigar he had been smoking from his mouth. “Sounds like my kind of city. I wouldn’t mind hitting a few poker tables while we are there. Might earn us some money.”

“Sully,” Drake began, “You can’t gamble for two reasons. One, we are there on business, and that is what we must focus on. Secondly, you remember what happened in Hong Kong. We can’t have that happening again.”

“What happened in Hong Kong?” Twilight asked skeptically.

“Long story,” Drake muttered vaguely. “It involves the Triads. I don’t think you want to hear it.”

“Nor do I want to tell it,” Sully told, a rather annoyed look on his face from the memory.

Together, the three of them made their way back to the surface level of the library, Sully trailing back slightly. Drake glanced around at the paintings, waiting for Sully to come up so he could move it and close the entrance.

Drake heard the library door open, and in a panic, tilted back the painting. Sully shouted something at them as it closed on him, and when Drake turned around, he saw a small purple pegasus hovering midair, a stack of books hanging out of a bag that was draped across her back.

“Oh, hello!” Twilight said cheerfully as the filly landed on the ground gently. She pulled three books from the bag, gripping it tightly with her teeth, and placed them onto the table.

“Hello. I came to return the books I checked out. I won’t be in Ponyville much longer, and if I don’t give them back now, you’ll never get them back.”

“You’re from out of town?” Twilight asked gently. “Are you here for the Filly Flier Competition?”

“Yes!” The purple pegasus said excitedly, lifting off of the ground and doing a small loop in the air. “I’m the best flier around Equestria! Well... I will be. I’m not exactly perfect right now.”

“You are just a filly,” Twilight encouraged. “You’ll be better as you age. Wait a second... you’re missing a book.”

She tilted her head to the side, a look of confusion replacing the excitement on her face. “I am? But I only checked out three. I know that for sure. I haven’t misplaced any.”

“But Lightning Shot checked out four books. Your name is written four times. You are missing... never mind.” She looked rather angry now, eyes narrowed at the paper. “You’re right. Nothing’s wrong.”

Lightning Shot smiled again and made her way to the door, waving to them. “Alright! Goodbye!” As she opened the door, her eyes locked onto something, and a large grin appeared on her face as she flew off. “Hey...” The rest of her sentence was inaudible do to the distance she was at away from the library.

A large pounding caught Drake’s attention, and he turned to look over at the middle table that was now rattling slightly.

“Hey kid!” Sully shouted from where he had been trapped. “Can you let me out now? It’s starting to get kind of creepy down here.”

Drake moved the painting, watching the entrance slid open once more. Sully burst from the passage at a great speed for his age, looking slightly rattled at having been in there for so long.

Drake closed it for the last time and looked back at Twilight. “What was with the book? You looked angry.”

Twilight levitated the paper in front of his face, scowling slightly. “Looks like your friend Talbot thought he would be clever and sign the book out as someone else. I should have noticed that the signature looks different from the others.”

“At least Spike remembered who checked it out. Otherwise he might have gotten away with it. In fact, we probably wouldn’t even be doing all off this if he had gotten away with it.”

Twilight sighed and climbed the stairs, reappearing a moment later with her saddle bag. “alright. I think we should get going now. If we’re lucky, we can get a last minute train ticket to Las Pegasus.”

Drake nodded slightly , and the three of them exited the library. “Sounds like a-“

“Sully!” A voice shouted from above, slowly growing closer. A cockeyed gray pegasus mare landed in front of the group a moment later, Her one good eye fixed on Sully.

“Derpy!” He said rather happily, facing the strange mare. “How have you been?” He turned to Drake, a smile on his face. “This is Derpy. She’s the only person I’ve met that is more armed than you.”

“Is she the one who gave you the rocket launcher?” Drake questioned.

“Yeah. And the muffins.”

“How were the muffins?” Derpy asked excitedly, obviously wanting to get his opinion. “I got them from Sugarcube Corner that day. I thought you might like them.”

“They were great. What were they, blueberry?”

Derpy nodded once. “Half blueberry, half ponyberry.”

“Wait...” Sully looked confused now, and was staring at the mare with a surprised expression. “What’s ponyberry?”

“I’m sorry Derpy,” Twilight interrupted, gazing at the two humans to her left. “But we really need to be going. If we don’t we might not make the train. And then we’ll be wasting a day.”

“Oh. Alright,” Derpy soared into the sky rather clumsily, waving down at them. “It was nice to meet you. Bye Sully!”

Sully waved goodbye then turned to Twilight, “What the hell is ponyberry?”¬