Journal of a survivor
by Phoenix Kitten
Chapters
Journal entry 0
Thanks to the generosity of my host, I have been given another journal to document my travels through this strange land. I doubt anyone back home will believe me about this though, even with my fathers reputation preceding me. I'm not sure even I believe what I'm going to be writing about to be honest, it all just feels like the shock of everything over the last few days has finally caught up to me. But it is very real.
I hope anyone who reads this will pardon my atrocious writing for a few pages, I'm still getting used to not having hands and having to write everything with my mouth.
But to begin properly, my name is Lara Croft, a young archaeologist, and while exploring the lost island of Yamatai after the Endurance's shipwreck, I stumbled across a strangely OOP (Out of Place) shrine in an old cliffside tomb behind a wall loosened by the 'native' Solarii tribe's modifications.
It was a shrine to the Greek Pegasus, though the words inscribed on the walls were in a language unlike any I'd seen on my prior archaeological ventures, tame as they may have been compared to this one.
There was a set of instructive diagrams that were astonishingly easy to figure out, detailing the simple task of moving a jade statuette of Pegasus from a central pedestal to an altar next to what appeared to be an arched gateway propped against solid rock. It was at this point that a rather large group of Solarii, no doubt investigating the sound of the wall collapsing, came through, spotted me and opened fire with their rifles. Luckily I was able to take cover behind the altar before they did.
After a few seconds however, the gunfire stopped as the inscriptions on the gateway began to glow a soft white. I was rather stunned myself as what looked to be a portal opened in the archway. My current predicament wasn't lost on me however. In a moment of rash thought I grabbed the statuette from the altar,causing the inscriptions to flicker and stop glowing. My actions seemed to snap my aggressors from their daze as I was suddenly sprinting towards the portal under a hail of gunfire.
I did get hit a few times before I dove through, which was enough to let my rather heavy landing knock me out. When I came too my host had already found and carted me off to a nearby hospital, where I made my first contact with the denizens of this world.
Before I document that however, I'd like to ask anyone reading this to recall that in my first paragraph I made mention of my lack of hands and having to write with my mouth. That's because the portal seems to have a transmogrificative effect, altering anyone who passes through it into one of the three races of the dominant species of this world, which I have learned is called Equestria.
As I said, I made first contact with Equestria's denizens. Miniature Equines. They were quick to correct me, calling themselves 'ponies', which I thought was a bit odd until they each told me their height and age. These 'ponies' are in fact, only the size of a foal on the cusp of pubescence, and these 'ponies' are in their early-mid twenties.
Even more astoundning are the three races themselves. One is, of course, similar to the horses we know on Earth, they simply go by the name earthponies. It seems as though this is the race the portal decided to make me, hence my writing with my mouth.
As to the rest of my appearance, well my fur is a curious pale yellow, but other than that, my 'mane' is fairly indistinguishable from my hair in both colour and style, the same goes for my tail. I'm also told that my 'cutie mark' is an open book with a magnifying glass on one page and an ancient stone tablet on the other. I've also decided to adopt a more native name, so I told the doctors and nurses my name is Cross Reference.
The second of the three races have to do with the shrine, and I believe they are Yamatai's original inhabitants, the pegasi. This world appears tame, which is to say, the three races have this... communion of sorts with the environment. As far as I've been told, earthponies, like myself currently, have an innate connection with the land, giving increased muscle development and the ability to grow any type of flora anywhere, regardless of the conditions.
Pegasi have the ability to manipulate weather, creating storms, moving clouds about, controlling humidity, it really is quite a sight.
But the third of the races are the most incredible. Unicorns, practioners of magic. Not the slight of hand, misdirection trickery we all know as magic. The aura's around their horns can be focused to manipulate objects using gravity and levitation fields, or refined into beams and waves for a variety of uses, the most common I've seen from my stay in the hospital being a sort of... diagnosis beam for lack of a better term. The sort of things that would require massive machines and lots of time to complete in our world is a trivial matter for these ponies.
Judging from the way the doctors and the others sharing the same room as me speak however, there is a fourth race of which there is only two members, they are regarded as royalty and called alicorns, which I'd believed to be the name for the material a unicorns horn is made from, but in this world apparently refers to a winged unicorn or a horned pegasus.
The way the others talk it appears as though they are an exclusively female race and the role of the eldest in the world is akin to that of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi in Shinto myth or Apollo and Artemis in Greco-Roman myth in that she controls the sun and moon.
The younger of the two seems to fill the roles left by Okuninushi-no-mikoto from Shinto myth, Aphrodite in Greek myth and Venus in Roman myth, being called the 'Princess of Love and Harmony.'
I fully intend to do some more research during my stay here, especially seeing as my host lives in a library in the small town I appear to have come through the portal near. However that is of secondary importance to finding a way back to Yamatai to help the others and save my friend.
I will update this journal on a daily/weekly basis depending on events and discoveries. But I am hoping that this will little excursion will be one of rest and recuperation.
-Lara Croft.
A new home
I had just finished up the second page in my new journal, using my new hoof to close the tome and sliding the pencil into the small space between the spine and cover, when the doctor walked... trotted, sorry, trotted in, assailing me with a wide beam of yellow magic from his horn.
"Well miss Cross, your wounds seem fully healed and you have no internal injuries to speak of. You did have a few very minor infections near some of your wounds,but they've been dealt with. The pony who brought you in is waiting for you in the lobby."
I nodded,placing the journal on the bedside table for now as I carefully stretched, groaning softly as my legs twitched slightly. I flipped the sheets down toward the foot of the bed and carefully got off onto all fours. I suppose it should have felt weird, but I guess the portal affected my mind slightly as well, it felt natural, like I had been moving about like this my whole life. Anyway, the doctor brought in a pair of saddlebags and strapped them lightly around my waist with his magic. Imagine my surprise when I went to place my new journal in one side and found all my weapons, along with all the ammo I had been carrying, were shrunken and secured inside. I quickly placed the journal in the other side, which held my old journal from Yamatai and Sam's video camera, before pulling my handgun and holster from the left side satchel.
It took a bit of work, but I managed to convert the holster from a waist mounted one to a shoulder mount where I could quickly draw and holster the weapon with my mouth.
Thankfully all my guns were cleaned, at least on the outside, so I wasn't getting a mouthful of mud and blood every time I bit down on the grip.
To the doctors credit, he waited patiently while I did all this, it wasn't until I had affixed my bow and quiver that I looked at him and gave him a sheepish smile.
"I'm sorry, I'm just glad all my equipment made the journey with me."
"That's quite alright, we get patients who like to prepare themselves before leaving their room all the time." He smiled at me.
"Well in any case, I believe we've kept my rescuer waiting long enough. After you doctor." I gestured to the door.
"Rescuer?" He chuckled. "You make it sound like she saved you from a pack of timberwolves or a manticore. It looked to me like you'd just been lost in the wilderness for a few days."
I stumbled a bit at that. 'A few days...' I'd been on Yamatai for only a few days and had nearly been killed close to three dozen times. And despite the apparent tameness of the world it was still dangerous enough that injuries like mine were considered indicative of a few days in the wilderness. What kind of fauna were out there? I felt a small twinge of excitement and fear at the thought of finding out, maybe Sam's camera would have a use after all.
"Pardon doctor,but do you mind if I ask you a few questions about the area I'm in?"
"Not at all. Though I'm not sure what I could tell you that a Trottingham Scholar like yourself wouldn't already know. And please, my name is Well Wishes." He chuckled.
"My head is still a bit fuzzy I guess." I lied, I figured it would end up better in the long run if I played along and pretended I was a native of this world. "Would you mind telling me more about the local fauna in this area Dr. Wishes?"
"Not at all." He smiled as we continued down a flight of stairs. "I already mentioned Timberwolves and Manticores, but we are close to a bog that is a nesting ground for a Hydra in spring, and the gates of Tartarus are within two hundred kilometers of the town outskirts so on the odd occasion a Windigo escapes we'll have Cerberus bounding through town after it. The mountains nearby are a favored rest stop for Dragon's on their migration back to their homeland and there is a dragon exile living in a cave near the western edge of the Everfree forest."
My mind reeled at how casually he discussed some of these creatures. Hydra's, Manticores, Cerberus and Dragons? All these creatures are myths back home. Yet here they are as real as the sun and moon. It really drove home an old saying I've been told before. "Every myth and legend has a grain of truth to it." I spoke aloud.
"Very true." Dr. Wishes responded. "The only legend we've yet to find proof for are the Elements of Harmony used to banish the mad alicorn, Nightmare Moon, to the moon."
"The Mare in the Moon?" I asked instinctively. I'd heard the legends of the Man in the moon in several tongues, it seemed natural that this world would have a similar legend.
Dr. Wishes nodded, his short, white mane bobbing against his red fur. "Exactly. I'm surprised you knew of it honestly. It's a mostly forgotten myth by now."
I smiled sheepishly. "Well I know of it, there are texts that allude to it, but I've yet to find one that actually tells the whole story behind it."
"Why don't you tell me what you know then and I'll fill in the blanks as best I can." He offered.
I looked about in a panic. An actress I was not. Still an idea struck me. "Well it was a long time ago when I heard of it, I can scarcely remember the books I read that told the pieces."
Dr. Wishes nodded understandingly and cleared his throat. "My version might not be the same, but oral retelling tends to do that. Let's see..." He tilted his head in thought, no doubt digging up the fable from his memory. "Long long ago, in the magical land of Equestria there lived three princesses..."
Mini journal entry #1: The fable.
The three princesses used their incredible power to bring order and harmony to the land. The eldest did this by raising the Sun at dawn, bringing forth the warmth and life giving rays it carried with it. The middle brought out the moon at eve, receding the tides to provide ample farmland for the ponies and a shroud for them to keep protected from predators. The youngest spread the joys of music and the strength of bonds to keep their subjects happy and at ease.
The three princesses kept vigil of the land, keeping their subjects safe and happy, and such things were for many millennia... but as time went by the middle princess became jealous and resentful of her peers. Her night and deeds went unseen, slept through by the princesses subjects, overshadowed by the eldest's day,which their subjects relished and played in, and ignored in favor of the many wondrous songs that the youngest would sing to strengthen the bonds of the towns she visited.
Seething with rage and envy, the middle princess would eventually eclipse the sun with her moon one day, plunging the lands into darkness. She appeared, transformed into an avatar of darkness and horror, declaring that until both she and her night were paid there proper dues she would lock the world in an eternal lullaby of endless night.
The eldest and youngest pleaded with her to reconsider, begging her to end the eclipse as their subjects grew uneasy and unwell.
With a heavy sigh the eldest knew that she and the youngest would have to engage their treacherous other in combat. But before the fight could begin, the wicked mare struck, sealing the youngest in crystal and banishing her to the frozen north for eight hundred years.
With her victory seemingly absolute, the now wicked mare declared herself queen of Equestria, announcing that all would bow before the power of Nightmare Moon. Until the eldest blindsided her, wielding the Elements of Harmony and banishing her fellow princess to be nothing more than a marking on the moon's surface, scattering her power to the star at the same time.
The eldest then exerted her dominance over the moon and sun both, moving them to their appropriate positions. Thus the Summer solstice became a day of celebration, for it was the day that princess triumphed over her wicked other.
Though many who were close to the conflict reported hearing a maniacal scream followed by a menacing promise as the fallen princess was banished.
"Wallow in thine victory while thou can, for I can promise thee this, though I may be trapped within mine own dominion, so too shalt mine dominion aid in my escape. Thou shalt have a millenia to reflect upon thy actions before mine stars shall free me and I shalt reap my revenge if thou hast not already succumbed to thine guilt."