Uncharted: Starswirl's Secret

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."