An Adventurer’s Journal
Prologue
The land of Equestria is one of many wonders. From it’s sprawling verdant hills to it’s high mountain top cities. From the smallest blade of grass to the largest of moons and suns, Equestria is a place filled with experiences beyond comprehension.
However, only some of Equestria’s inhabitants get to have these experiences. There are most likely only a hoof-full of creatures to have seen this land in all it’s splendor, and even fewer to document them.
This is a story of one of those few. A story of a young pegasus finding his place in the large world of Equestria, and how this pony’s actions have played a role in influencing what is to come for the future generations of this land. Our story begins not in the future where this influence will take place, instead we shall look to the Equestria we know today, to the present day.
In a remote segment of the San Palomino Desert, where few ponies dare to trot, long ago, lays an old structure, lost to the current dwellers of Equestria. This place lay dormant for many years, until an unlikely pair set hoof in this derelict place.
At the entrance to this vast, cavernous relic stood two creatures. One was a pegasus stallion, a lightly tinted grey, almost white coated equine with two shades of light and darker blue hair in a messy style atop his head; and a similar look on his tail.
On said pegasus’ shoulder sat his companion for this journey, a small brown sparrow with a white tinted belly and a small puff of hair coming from it’s small head. The name of this small creature was Sparks, and he had been by his master’s side for as long as he could remember. His master’s name on the other hoof, is a fact for later.
The two made their way deep down into the structure, being wary of potential danger or possible traps of those who were here before them. The two winged creatures came across a large, dark hallway. Using his intuition the pegasus stallion grabbed an old, unlit torch off of a nearby wall and made haste in igniting it once more with a tinderbox from his pack.
Once that was taken care of, the winged equine rolled said torch on it’s side down the treacherous looking path. And as luck would have it, the torch both lit the way and revealed various holes on the wall of the expansive walkway.
“Arrow traps...or spikes...either one’s bad. Stay still on me, okay?” The emerald eyed pegasus instructed in a quiet and somewhat deep voice as Sparks nodded and nestled in the stallion’s shoulder. The master flapped his wings slowly to give himself a lift off of the ground.
The two of them hovered precariously over the floor, picking up the torch along the way. “Eyes peeled, tell me if you see anything...” The hovering stallion stated quietly as his hooves were mere inches from the floor.
A small chirp could be heard as Sparks pecked his master’s head to get his attention. Once that was taken care of the petite bird pointed down towards a small section of the floor. The pegasus lowered the torch down carefully to reveal a shimmer of a trip wire, “Well spotted, buddy. Knew it would have been something like this. I think we’re safe to walk the rest of the way.” He smiled as he nodded for the sparrow to get off his shoulder.
The avian companion did just that and fluttered down to land on a piece of stone just past the now redundant tripwire. When the weight of the small creature was added to that piece of stone however, it started almost sinking into the ground. And then shortly after a small clicking sound was heard.
Both companions looked at each other with wide eyes and blank expressions. They turned their heads back to where they had entered and the long hallway quickly sealed itself behind them with a pillar of stone coming down from the ceiling. And then another. And then another. Getting more and more towards them.
“Sneaky, old, dead...bastards. Time to go!” The pegasus stated with urgency as he grabbed his companion and started flapping his wings as fast as he could and as far away as he could from the collapsing hallway behind them. Both had their eyes front and center and spotted several spikes moving in and out of the walls they were heading past.
“Oh hey! It was spikes!” The speeding equine stated with disgust as he got low to the ground to avoid said spikes, still flying as fast as he could manage. The collapsing hallway however was getting faster, and faster, and closer, and closer. To the point where the falling pillars brushed air past the stallion’s tail.
This continued for a few more moments, though it felt like minutes for the fleeing pair as they could see an end to this long expanse. With one last ounce of stamina the white-ish pegasus bolted through the exit to the hallway just in time as the last pillar slammed heavily into the ground.
Sparks gave a small, squeaky sigh of relief and fell out his master’s hooves, nearly fainting as he plopped to the floor, “I am getting way too old for all of this crap.” The stallion sighed as he pulled a loose bit of his tail from underneath a previously collapsed pillar.
After the two had regained their senses however they lifted their heads to see a rather welcome sight. There was a bright light not far away from them, over a precarious stone walkway, on either side being a large, dark drop to Celestia knows where.
“We found it...Haha we finally found it, Sparks!” The stallion grinned with great enthusiasm as he made his way towards this bright light. He hovered over the walkway instead of taking a more traditional approach and made his way towards this beacon. Before he reached his goal however, the light was obscured by a figure stepping in front of it.
The pegasus stopped in his arial tracks and merely hovered with a shocked expression as the dark figure extended a hoof, it squinted it’s almost reptilian eyes at the hovering equine and opened it’s mouth, “The book...now.”
“How the Tartarus did you get here before us?” The pegasus inquired with a confused expression.
“That is not important, what matters i-”
“I’d say it’s a little bit important, I mean did you just avoid that trap and stand here like an idiot all day and waited on us? How long have you even been her-”
“Silence!”
“I mean if you had that much time you could have just ran into us on the roa-”
“I said SILENCE! Give me the book, now! Hand over that Celestia damned journal this instant!” The figure growled menacingly, not liking the pegasus’ response.
“...Fine...” The blue haired stallion stated as he reached into his pack to pull out a rather thick book. He tossed it towards the figure who caught it in an aura of magic and levitated it towards itself.
Sparks dropped onto his master’s shoulder again and pecked his head once more. He pointed to small crack in the ceiling, where some sand and presumably natural light was seeping through.
“Finally, this time it will be me who...who...what is this?!” The figure demanded to know as he held up the book he was given in frustration.
“Daring Do, that’s what!” Grinned the pegasus as he reached into his pack and pulled out a much thicker book. This book was blue and had a golden spine and corners, and an emblem of a cloud impaled by a blade imprinted on it’s cover. “Enjoy it, it’s a good read, ya idiot!” The pegasus smirked and insulted.
He swooped behind the bewildered figure and quickly snatched whatever was making that bright light. He quickly made way for the crack Sparks had seen before but he was interrupted by a loud shaking of the surrounding area.
“Oh...sneaky...” The once grinning equine stated as he looked down to see an angry figure glaring up at him.
“You’re the idiot! This whole place is coming down! Give me that damn book!” The dark figure stated as it pounced up towards the pegasus. The two of them wrestled in midair as the structure they were in started to slowly crumble around them.
And now we come to the next part of our story, many years later. Our perspective now changes to follow, well, you. That’s right, you. You are a pegasus stallion, not the most impressive breed you sometimes consider but you get by all the same. There aren't many defining features on you other than the ones you have applied yourself, but you never felt yourself to be somepony that needed something to define themselves from the crowd.
You had left home after coming of age a few years ago. However sadly due to working odd jobs here and there and all over Equestria you have found that you've started to lose contact with your family back in Cloudsdale. Which include your mother, father and younger sister, Daisy.
You still think of them of course, it’s just that you have other things on your mind. At least that’s what you believe, which is fine in it’s own right. One of your oddjobs found you to show up in the southern areas of Las Pegasus, and thankfully gave you enough money to set yourself up there for a time.
You find the city to be accommodating. Like most of Equestria it has it’s rough patches, particularly in the slums where more criminal and conventional weaponry orientated activity occurs, but you know to keep your head down.
One day you are out job hunting through the densely packed streets and almost smoggy skies and come across an ad to join an archaeological dig just south of the city, in the San Palomino Desert. Seeing no better offer at the time, you accept and make your way there with a few other workers.
You sit on the carriage to the dig site, surrounded by strange, new ponies. You decide it would be best not to get to know these individuals, since likely, after today you’d never see them again. You overhear their conversations however as your journey begins.
“So you hear about this guy who contracted this whole thing? A friend of mine says he’s an utter whackjob. Completely off his rocker. Beats me how he’s able to afford something like this.” You hear from the back of the carriage as the ride ends and everypony departs to start on their duties.
You are greeted by a forepony, and from the looks of it, an experienced one. He gets you and everypony else to work like clockwork, hardly a single pony missing a beat in their digging efforts, you included.
You had worked for hours, and during your breaks you took a small bit of respite in admiring the machinery that was at work in this place. All of the exposed cogs and gears gave way to proper function, which you could appreciate. Either that or you were simply bored.
It had been a long and hard day at this job and you could just see the large hand on your watch ticking closer to that final hour mark. Around said time however, the forepony addressed the team as a whole.
“Okay lads, we’re doing a bit of delicate retrieval. The pony paying for this does not want any potential damage to any salvages we may find. So, the ponies on the diggers and ploughs, you can go home; your check’ll be in the mail. The rest of you, hoof and shovel digging only. Magic is permitted but be careful for Luna’s sake.” The hard-hatted pony stated as you sighed grudgingly and got to work.
Most ponies tended to dig around the same spot, but you, wanting to cover more ground, you spread out slightly. At first you hope to find nothing and possibly relax the rest of this day but, if only things could be so simple. You absentmindedly dig away and come across a segment of old rock, causing a rather annoying noise and vibration when your shovel makes contact. You kneel down and pry the rock from off the ground.
Lifting the stone with with a hearty breath you notice something underneath said rock; a faint glimmer, of what appears to be gold. Intrigued, you brush away at the dirt and sand around until you start to feel this object taking shape. It was thick and rectangular in nature, leading you to believe it could be some large, abandoned bar of precious ore. However, when you uncover this object from it’s buried state, you look upon it with confusion as it appears to be...
“...A book?” You utter to yourself. You run a hoof over the cover to dust off more excess ground, leading you to discover the glimmer of gold you saw was actually the corner of said book. You feel the flat of your hoof graze the center and notice an odd protrusion. You feel around a bit more to discover said protrusion was an emblem of sorts. An emblem made of a cloud impaled by a sword.
“This doesn’t look old...well, a little bit but not old enough to be out in a place like this.” You ponder as you continue to gaze and examine the book, almost mystified in it’s presence. You are quickly snapped out of it by a loud noise ringing behind you. You turn frantically, clutching the book next to you to find another work pony, staring at a lever next to a now operating digger.
“Heh, sorry. I must’ve...slipped or something...a-am I fired?” The clumsy stallion asked the group. You sigh and merely turn your attention back to the book. You wonder what could be in it, and also wonder if it’s your place to look. Curiosity is a powerful thing. You reach a hoof out, lift the cover slightly as some dust particles disperse.
You peek under said aged cover and spot one word, “Diary.” You state before closing the book shut quickly, “I can’t be reading somepony’s diary, Celestia knows I wouldn’t want somepony to do that to me...even if I had a diary.” You mumble as you decide to present it to the forepony.
You hover through the dig site to the trailer, clutching the book tightly and keeping it concealed. You tend to not want anypony trying to take credit for your potential find.
Upon reaching the office you approach a dimly lit desk, accompanied by a noticeable stench of cigar smoke. You try not to cough as you speak up, “Excuse me, sir. I found, this while I was out digging, it it worth anything?” You ask as you present the book.
“A book, huh? Let me see.” The forepony demands as he snatches the book from your grasp. A bit flustered but still attentive, you listen in to his analysis. “Hmm. Judging by the first few pages, this here’s a diary, kid. Though going by these dates on the entries they don’t seem to be too old. Look like 30 to 40 years ago.” He states as he continue flicking through the pages.
Upon reaching a fair amount of pages in however, the forepony seems to have trouble turning the page. You look with a raised eyebrow as it seems he can’t turn it at all, despite his best efforts, “The Tartarus? This damn thing glued together or something? I swear, kid, if this is some sort of prank...” The imposing pony threatens as you notice something.
Between the page he’s trying to lift and subsequent pages after, there seems to be a faint shimmer in between, almost like glitter. You go to bring it up but then are quickly cut off, “Nevermind. It’s worthless here anyway. Here, you take it, kid. Maybe get some use out of it, ehh find out who it belongs to. You can clock out now, your check’ll be in the mail.” The stinking of smoke stallion grumbles as he turns around in his chair.
Not wanting to make too big of a deal over a silly book, you nod and go to leave the dig site, still clutching the book closely to your side.
Upon getting back to the city, you wonder more and more about the content of this book, or diary apparently. You don’t consider yourself nosey but at the same time, having a book and not reading it almost seem criminal. You shrug off your minor temptation and continue home.
As you get close to your apartment complex you start to look around and engage in your surroundings more. You notice a familiar, tired face on the sidewalk. And an equally familiar cup in said face’s possession, “Hey, son. Spare a bit or two for an out of work old horse?” The pony asks you.
You turn your attention and sigh slightly, “Sorry, Mr. Greenhooves. Not today. But my next paycheck’s coming soon and I’ll make sure to get you something, okay?” You reply, never stopping in your brisk walk.
“Celestia bless ya, son!” The old stallion belts at you as you continue along your way.
Getting closer to your lodgings, you turn your attention to a bit of apparent rabble down the street. You spot a group of, what seem to be largely unicorns and pegasi, protesting outside a place where one would purchase various armaments to defend themselves. In more informal terms, a weapon’s shop.
“You monsters! You supply weapons that kill innocent ponies! And for what? A profit?!” You vaguely hear an angry unicorn mare exclaim.
“Your weapons feed into the mobs that are tearing this city apart!” You recall hearing from an irate pegasus. You stay a few more seconds due to your own curiosity, though keeping your voice in this nonexistent.
“Now listen, all of you! I’ve had it up to my ears with you mad ponies attacking my family’s business! I never asked for any of your flack when I signed up for this after my old pony left me this place! The only ponies tearing this city apart are you wings and horns and you being too stupid to embrace the future!” You spot an earth pony, presumably the shopkeeper, retort. The uproar continues despite the pony’s words.
“No matter where I go nowadays there’s always this, and always more every time.” You shrug as you make your way inside.
After traversing a few flights of stairs and a rather unpleasant smelling hallway you find yourself at your front door. After getting a key from under the doormat, you head inside.
Away from the noise of angry ponies and the smoggy skies you sigh heavily as you rub a hoof on the back of your neck, all the while having your eyes set on the diary. You consider your temporary forepony’s words, “Try and find who this belongs to?...Now how am I supposed to do that?” You ask yourself.
You head into your bedroom, but not before knocking a envelope on the way in with your hoof. You turn back around and pick said letter up. After heading in and flicking your room’s light switch you set the diary on a nearby desk and flop down into bed to absentmindedly read your mail.
“Dear big brother.” It begins, “Hope you’re doing well. Me, mom and dad are already on our way to Cloudsdale for that family reunion thing. They’re leaving me in Ponyville so we can meet up there. Sorry if we’re cutting into your ‘busy’ schedule but mom insists on showing off how much we’ve grown to all those ponies who are too old to see the clouds they’re standing on. See ya tomorrow, can’t wait to catch up. Love, Daisy.” The letter continues.
“Huh...I’m surprised...usually she works an insult or something in there....” Not convinced, you look into the envelope to pull out a small piece of paper with some writing, “P.S. You may want to bring some reading material, it’s a long trip.” You read aloud, seeing a small heart shape next to the message.
Almost immediately your eyes are drawn to the diary across the room. You find yourself not being able to take your eyes off of it as you put the mail to one side. Standing up, you pull a chair slowly over to the desk and sit down, staring blankly at the book.
“Well...it’s a diary you found in a dig site...I’m sure the pony who owns it won’t mind...” You say to yourself as you turn on a desk lamp and bring the diary under it’s bulb, “Besides...just...reading material...right?” You reassure yourself as you slowly put a hoof under the cover, propping it up lightly then moving it over and revealing the whole front page to you.
You scan over the words and read them aloud. “The diary of the adventures of Cloudreaver and Sparks.” You read, taking note that the words looked like a pony had written them, and not done by a machine. Apart from a few doodles of treasure, mountains and birds, the page is blank. Raising an eyebrow, you continue on, turning the page.
“This journal will document the adventures of the noble Cloudreaver and his faithful companion, Sparks the fearless sparrow. If you are reading this, then I encourage you to read further, as no doubt epic and legendary adventures shall be recorded in this journal. Signed, Cloudreaver and Sparks.” You read further.
“Epic and legendary adventures, huh? Well, this should be a good laugh.” You shrug as you begin to read onwards through the journal. “If not...then there should be something of interest in here.” You once again shrug.
“I mean, how much could one book even hold?” You question as you read onwards...
Author's Note
I hope you all have enjoyed this brief prologue of An Adventurer's Journal, I look forward to hearing you opinions and suggestions in the comments section below, and if you liked, don't forget to hit those favorite and follow button, always helps :)
I'm mostly testing the waters with a new idea and a new format to execute it so if you all want me to continue, let me know :D
*Cover art generously provided by Penby and I advise you all to check out his art, there's some very good stuff on there, especially for those of you who like a bit of Fallout: Equestria.
That's all for now, lads and or ladies. Hope you enjoyed reading, and Conor Colton, out!
