{DARING DO POV}

There it was. The Crystal Book…

The oldest existing piece of writing detailing the Before Times…

This could quite possibly be one of my greatest discoveries… EVER!

The amount of traps I had to get through to come here though…

I looked behind me to see rubble of the collapsed stone hallway sealing my only escape route…

It shone in the dim light of my torch, the leather bound front engraved with a completely bizarre and utterly incomprehensible set of runes. A language, and one much older than Ancient Ponish that's for sure…

I took a few careful steps towards the staircase leading to it, each step filling me with dread.

There is no way in Tartarus that it isn't protected by… Something…

I know Caballeron was hot on my trail, but thankfully I was protected here, so I could take my time.

At last I was face to face with it.

However, with my last step, I sinked a bit into the floor.

The entirety of the chamber shook with monumental force as I looked down to see a small pressure plate under my hoof.

“Buck…” I scrambled forwards, placing the book into my bag with urgency as parts of the ceiling began to fall down besides me.

A small sliver of sunlight befell the room for the first time in probably millennia.

My eyes shone and a smile graced my face as I fanned out my wings and shot up as fast as I could.

I could feel the stale air resist against my face as I got ever closer to my only hope of survival.

I felt a jolt of pain flood through my limps as I got pelted with rocks. Turning and spinning, I tried to manoeuvre myself to dodge the incoming strikes, but I was too slow.

Speeding up, I launched out into the open sky, but I misjudged the size of the hole as one of my wing clips with the ceiling.

My inertia was enough to send me soaring, but soon I was hurtling down towards the forest floor as incomprehensible speeds.

I hadn't even realised it, but the secret passage in the Castle of The Two Sisters had been so long that I ended up behind the mountain…

I didn't have the time to worry about that, as I mustered up all the force I could and fanned my wings out, pain coursing through each and every feather.

I crashed straight into the floor, landing awkwardly on my right wing as I heard a dull-

*CRACK*

A familiar feeling flooded throughout my right wing. I gritted my teeth and looked back.

“N-no blood…” This isn't the first time I've broken my wing during an expedition, and this is much better than the last time…

From the looks of it I hadn't broken anything, just a sprain…

A nasty one, but a sprain nonetheless.

The canopy had helped absolve me of any real permanent damage…

They seemed to be glued to my sides, and I didn't even attempt to open them up.

I remember seeing a river… If I remember, there's a small village a bit downstream from there…

Thankfully, I was let off with only a hurt wing, everything else seemed okay, apart from the scratches and small bruises…

{DAY 30}

I finished moving.

I didn't have all that much so it didn't take long, just a shit ton of pottery and iron sand.

Now I can relax, inside my… HOUSE!

Oh my fucking god.

I still can't get over the fact that I BUILT THIS.

FROM NOTHING.

I DID THIS!

Holy fuck I'm so fucking excited I don't even know why.

It's something people have been doing for millenia.

But I'm probably one of the few modern men to do it…

Well whatever, I'll just enjoy this dark room a bit more…

I should probably make a generator next, get myself some light.

I'll need some glass, copper, iron, a bit of luck and a whole lot of time…

But it should be doable.

I need to check the traps, but they'll probably be empty, like usual.

I open the door to the cabin and walk out, stretching a bit before heading off into the woods.

I've gotten pretty accustomed to walking through this place, and I haven't encountered a wolf in a stupid long time, so I doubt I'll come across one now.

Every trap was, as expected, empty.

I was halfway through them before I found something actually unexpected.

A strange looking creature, semi resembling a horse, though with humanoid facial features.

A pair of incredibly large disk-like eyes, locked onto me in what seems like rebellion.

With an absolutely filthy dirt and blood stained coat of a straw-like shade of yellow.

A mane comprised of numerous shades of grey, two ruby pink eyes and a torn up Indiana Jones like khaki shirt and off-white circle brim hat with a few holes up top. And most surprisingly a strange looking compass dyed into her fur…

”Who are you!”

She spoke.

Also it's a she.

She was hung up by the left back hoof(?) with all her parts exposed.

Honestly, if she was going to wear clothes, why the hell didn't she cover up the most important bits?

Though, what intrigued me the most was the bent out of shape wings folded at her side.

But what overshadowed my intrigue, was my absolute excitement.

An admittedly evil looking smile crept up my face as my own eyes began to sparkle.

Removing the axe from my waist, I escape the shadow of the canopy and swing it in a practised motion without any words.

The talking, presumably sentient, horse creature flinched at the action, before there was a dull-

*THUD*

The limp body of the creature hit the floor…

Before she got up slowly, holding her head with her front hoof, her eyes spinning around out of sync in a cartoonish fashion, though it stops after she shakes her head a bit and resets herself.

I drop my axe on the floor and dash over, the critter flinches yet again, prepared for combat, only to be surprised when I hold her face with all 9 of my fingers.

My action seemed to be incredibly unexpected to her, and it was only when my thumb entered her jaw to open it and examine the insides of her mouth did she really do anything about it.

That anything was skittering backwards and fanning out her wings, only for her to wince in pain at the action and buckle forwards.

She caught herself and I take a breath to try and recentre my excited mind, before raising my hands up in surrender.

She continues to glare at me.

“Careful, you'll burn a hole through my skull if you stare any harder,” I say with a chuckle.

Frankly, I'm a bit scared. I don't know anything about this creature, just because it's sentient doesn't mean it's friendly or not dangerous.

Since it resembles a horse I'll assume it has about the same strength…

Horses were bred for the express purpose of carrying heavy loads, and are capable of exerting forces around 20% of their weight…

From what I remember, a big horse is around 170 cm and 1000 KG, so scaling it down…

This one is around my belly button, a bit bigger than the parasite wolf… Assuming what I inputted in the character creator was true, which why wouldn't it be, I'm 6 Foot 2 Inches tall.

Converting to centimetres… I’m 187.96 cm tall, round that to 188. My belly button is placed a bit above my waist, which is halfway up my body.

A conservative estimate would be this creature being a clean and round 94 cm tall.

Weight is a bit harder, but whatever.

1000 divided by 170 is…

This is a bit hard…

5.8823529412 KG per cm of height, I'll just have it as 5.88. Multiply by 94… 552.72 KG.

Round up to 553 KG and find 20% of it…

This creature can presumably output a force of around 110.6 Kilos…

And again, that's just a conservative estimate…

Yeah, better not get on her bad side.

“Hey hey hey, relax… I'm not gonna hurt you…” I tried to speak as softly as I could, but it was rather hard.

She didn't seem to buy it as she became a bit more defensive.

”Are you one of Ahuizotl’s minions?” She questioned, as I took a step back and she glanced down at the floor. I try to keep eye contact with her, but I become a bit curious, looking down with her to spot my axe beside my feet. I nudge it away a bit with my foot… The tension was so thick I could cut it with a knife, ”No, he only has Felines… did Caballeron send you?”

She seemed to relax a bit as I kicked away the axe even further.

“Who…? I promise no one sent me, I just live here…” She scoffed, rolling her eyes at my statement.

”As if I'd believe that! Nopony lives in the Everfree Forest apart from Timberwolves, Ursa Major’s and Cockatrice!” I just chuckled in response.

Everfree Forest? So that's the name of this place…

Timberwolves I'm guessing are the parasitic wolves, but Ursa Major I'm not sure…

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are both constellations, is it perhaps named after it? This is another world, I doubt they would have the same sky as Earth, so maybe it's a coincidence…

Considering that those constellations are meant to be bears, I would probably not want to find out… At the moment at least.

And lastly, the Cockatrice… in Roman myth it was a wyvern-like creature with the ability to turn things to stone with its gaze or breath… Though it was adapted within the 17th Century to be an unnatural hybrid birthed by both a chicken and toad, or serpent…

Not too much information…

Once is a coincidence, twice is suspicious and thrice is a certainty.

Once: Me and this creature both speak the same language despite being of different worlds.

Twice: The Ursa Major is related to Earth’s Sky.

Thrice: The Cockatrice from Roman Myth…

There is something fundamentally connecting the both of our worlds, I know this now.

Though again, this could just be a case of this being a game world…

I snap myself out of my thoughts and bring myself back to the present.

“Really? That would explain why I haven't found anybody else yet…” A drop of sweat runs down my brow, as the horse creature looks with even more suspicion at me, “I could bring you to my house…? Would that be enough to prove I simply just live here?”

She frowns, thinking for a moment before nodding her head silently.

“Great! Uh, can you bring my axe with me?” Better for her to have my only weapon to let her feel safer and more at ease.

”...Sure…” She speaks out sceptically, going over towards the hatchet, before pausing. She reluctantly brings her mouth up to the item and picks it up, placing it in her saddle bag.

So that's how they hold things…

Interesting

I keep my hands raised as I begin to navigate my way out towards the river.

The journey was silent.

Even after we reached the cabin, it was silent.

I turned my head to stare at her face, only to see a look of… Pity?

”...Just how long have you been living here…?” The question was expected, and my ears perked up at it, as I brought myself to one of the three tree stumps and sat myself down.

“Hehe…” I laughed to myself dryly. It's been a month…

A fucking month.

Now that I think about it, it doesn't sound all that long.

But honestly it was-

“-Way too fucking long,“ I groan out, rubbing between my eyes in a bit of exhaustion. Let alone the physical strain of making a home, the mental strain of being completely isolated, with no hope for escape, survival and anything else. In a body that isn't mine. In a world where I am quite literally the only human alive…

Her visage somehow turns to an even heightened form of pity.

I take a breath and restore some of my sanity, before turning to the creature.

“What about you Miss…” Oh, now that I think about it… “I haven't asked your name yet, have I? I'm Victor.”

”Daring Do” Her guard was now very much non-existent, ”I have some of my own circumstances…”

She took my axe out of her bag and placed it gently onto my lap, only she stayed there for a little longer than needed. She seemed a little out of it in all honesty…

She backed off after she snapped out of her small daze, a small bit of red on her face.

After a small awkward, though I admit to having no idea why, silence.

I was about to say something… Before my mind turns to her wings.

She was so beat up and bruised, yet she was still feeling pity for me…

A feeling I couldn't quite recognise welled up within me.

“Your wings…” I didn't finish, as I placed my axe in my waist and stretched myself out a bit. I moved over to my home, opening the door and getting something from one of my storage pots.

I felt Daring’s gaze wander to me as I emerged with a long sheet of woven retted vine threads.

”What about them?” I sighed, crouching down to her, holding out the rolled up makeshift bandage.

“It hurts, doesn't it? Use this to compress it and reduce the swelling” I then realise she's a horse, “Nevermind, it's easier if I do it.”

”I can do it myself…!” I think I got a grasp on her character now. The outfit, her name, the bruises… she's a rowdy explorer type, the kind that doesn't like relying on others, like a lone wolf of some kind.

“With what, your hooves?” It was my fault for getting her trapped, I don't know how long she'd been hanging there. It's only right for me to be kind, “Now which wing is it?”

Plus…

The kinder I am, the lower her guard, the more information I get and the faster I get to civilisation.

Is it manipulatory? Perhaps…

She seemed a little embarrassed, as she gestured to her right wing. She looks away and flinches as I raise the appendage slowly…

It's sprained pretty bad…

I begin to press around the wing gently, checking for her reactions. The origin of the pain from what I could tell was the base of the wing. An easy to treat area, so she's lucky with that.

I begin to wrap it with the bandage, not doing it that tight to still allow for blood circulation.

After I was done, her wing slowly collapsed back down to her side.

“All done. You should probably get it looked over by a professional though…” I advise her a bit, as she nods through the red.

I don't know why she's blushing so much…

”Well… Thank you, I'll be off now…” I deadpanned at her.

“Do you even know where you're going?” This bitch… is she just gonna let herself get mauled to death by Timberwolves?

Well, then again, she is theoretically pretty powerful… On the other hand she's also wounded.

”There's a small village downstream, I'll just ask for some help there…” Wait what.

My mind flashes towards the first thing I did when I awoke.

Okay not the first, more like the second, after a panic attack.

That being, going upstream.

If I had decided to go downstream instead…

I let out a sigh of aggravation at myself, before going back into my cabin and rummaging around.

I had exited with a wicker basket attached to my back filled up with a few essential items.

“Well, I'm coming with you,” I stretch out my arms a bit.

If there's a village, there's a more than 0% chance to find a library. If I find one, I can answer literally all of my questions, apart from some.

I can't let go of this opportunity.

I should take advantage of the month of progress I've made.

As well as examine their technological development.

Maybe I could also try and get a job…

The creature seemed a little surprised by my words but simply groaned in response.

”Do what you like,” She looks away from me and begins to walk her way down.

I follow behind.

Thankfully her tail was keeping me from gaining any more… good looks…

Now that I think of it, Males have a social disadvantage… What did it mean by that?

Also, why is she so… Undisturbed by me?

I'm a brand new race she's never seen before now. There should at least be a bit of confusion…

But then again, the race list in the character selection was so large, it wouldn't surprise me if people just don't bother to learn all of them.

“What are you by the way?” She keeps trotting forwards unhindered.

”What, Never seen a Pony before?” So that's what they're called…

*DING*

Haven't heard that in a while…

“Status. Nope, never,” I looked through my status, before whistling to myself a bit.

[Name: Darwin
Level: 10
Race: Human
Class: Scholar - Learning = EXP
Class Points: 1*

-Stats

Strength: 6 —> 25
Agility: 7 —> 14
Dexterity: 9 —> 27
Endurance: 11—> 29
Reflex: 7 —> 10
Intelligence: 16 —> 20
Comprehension: 17 —> 23
Magical Precision: N/A
Magical Power: N/A

Bonus Points: 1

-Skills

[UNIQUE - Genius: 200% Learning Speed + EXP Gain]

[UNIQUE - Unforgettable: What was once learned cannot be unlearned]

[Craftsmanship: Allows the user to speed up the creation of items and structures they have already made by 200%. All items you've previously made have a 100% success rate of being crafted]

[Observation: Gives you a short description of anything you want by using your own knowledge]

[Survivalism: 200% Crafting speed for items if you use tools you've made yourself]

[Danger Detection: Gives you a subtle instinctual warning whenever your life is threatened]

[Pragmatism: Removes all pain and emotions once a day for 1 minute, allowing you to think clearly without distractions]

[Mark Territory: Select a small area as your “Territory”. Animals with territorial instinct such as wolves, will avoid entering this area. You will always know where your territory is]

Skill Points: 1*]

It’s SO good to see some change after nearly a month of zero progress…

And something new as well!

I press the star next to the class point.

[Class Points

Gain one every 10 levels. Can be used to gain a new Subclass or to level up your current class. Leveling up your current class will reset your level and is the only way to level up your Unique Skills. Available Classes are chosen using the same system as skills. You can only have one Subclass activated at a time. You can change it once every hour with another Subclass. Every Subclass has its own level, after reaching level 10 in the Subclass you can spend a point to reset it's level and enhance it's class skills.

Available Classes: Survivalist, Lumberjack, Avenger, Programmer]

Avenger…? Lumberjack and Survivalist are expected, however Avenger?

When have I ever avenged-

A thought snapped into my head.

From the looks of the Programmer Subclass, it includes things from before I came to Equestria.

That would… Yeah that tracks.

I guess this Subclass is talking about David…

I got my get back, it's over. What happens on Earth, stays on Earth…

…

I'll just use the point on my Main Class.

[Scholar —> Scholar (Man)]

Man…?

Hmm…

Think… Man, Man, Man, Man, Man…

The Book of Changes…?

The Book of Changes, or Yijing, was an ancient Chinese Divination text that had a profound impact on Chinese Philosophy, Medicine, Science and Culture for over 3000 Years…

I read it a while back because a bunch of Mythology and novels I used to read linked back to it.

Within Yijing, it references the Hierarchy of the Universe being ordered into three levels. Human, or just Man, Earth and then Heaven.

That's the only thing I can think of that this would be referencing…

[Scholar (Man) - Learning = EXP]

Not much has changed…

Well, what about Unique Skills?

[UNIQUE - Genius: 300% Learning Speed. 200% EXP Gain]

Seems pretty straightforward…

EXP Gain didn't increase? I mean I get it, if it did I would get back to level 10 at an exponential rate.

[UNIQUE - Unforgettable: What was once learned cannot be Unlearned. Heightened Resistance to Mental Attacks]

I don't know how common Mental Attacks are, so it's impossible to discredit the usefulness of this development…

I'll add my bonus point to my lowest Stat… So reflex goes from 10 to 11.

Nice…

And lastly…

[Level: 1]

All my progress, gone in the blink of an eye…

My stats are still the same, so no real difference in all honesty.

I was walking absentmindedly, so I didn't even realise when I bumped straight into Daring’s behind.

I swiped away the screens and looked forwards to see what happened.

I don't know how long we were walking, but I barely felt tired… Must be the Endurance boost.

I didn't even get to use my skill point, but whatever, I've got time.

In front of me…

Was a village. It spanned a stupid large amount of terrain.

Each and every building unique yet still of the same type. It reminded me of a medieval village from the large yellow thatch roofs and white walls held up with wooden scaffolding.

I didn't even realise I had exited the forest, but I found the view… Beautiful

I looked down to see Daring in a new outfit. A sunhat, red cat-eye glasses and a purple cloak.

“What's with the outfit?” I question as she readjusts her hat down a bit, covering some of her eyes.

”I'm pretty famous… just don't want any extra company,” She shrugged off the comment and began trotting again.

It seems I made a good decision being kind to her… If I play my cards right, I may just gain a nice sponsor for my future endeavours.

She had already walked off a bit, and now I had to follow.

Author's Note

This always happens with this series. I start writing, think the chapter isn't long enough, write a bit more and then quickly realise it's nearly 4000 words and I should probably stop.