It would be many months before I learned just what had transpired that night, and it would be even longer than that before the true implications of what Discord had done came to light.
No one, and I say that in the sense of no inhabitant on Equus, could’ve predicted the chain of events that followed. The one exception would be Discord himself, but something tells me that he too was unaware of what he had done at the time.

As my eyes slowly got used to the bright room I now found myself in, I also came to realize that I was breathing easier than I had for a very long time. I carefully sat up, groaning at how stiff my muscles felt. After rolling my shoulders, which felt oddly heavy, I brought up a hand to rub out some of the stiffness in my neck. When the tension finally started to relent I let the hand drop, and with a strangled sound that would’ve been a satisfied sigh I froze. My hand was currently brushing against something of a very strange, but somewhat soft, texture. What even stranger was that I could feel my hand touching whatever I was feeling on my back.

I slowly turned my head around to observe whatever had happened to me, and had it not happened to me once before I would probably have freaked out. But there on my back was a pair of large blue grey wings. With an effort of will I tore my gaze away from the wings and to the rest of my body. First I took to slowly observing my hands and arms. Secondly followed my torso area and finally my legs. But the only conclusion I could draw was that this was my body, my body when had been at its peak. Not to mention that the small scars and other blemishes I had acquired over the years were present, further cementing the fact that the body was indeed mine.

But for some forsaken reason that I could not grasp I had wings. What was worse was the feeling of me having ghost wings had returned with a vengeance. Only now it wasn’t just a trick of the mind anymore was it? To make matters worse, all the clothing I was currently wearing was a pair of briefs. Not that I’d be able to wear a shirt again with these wings. I lamented. Not that it really mattered what I wore at the moment though as the temperature was rather comfortable in this room. It was neither hot nor was it cold, instead it seemed to hover at a steady pleasant temperature.

With a sigh I cracked my neck to get last kinks out of it before standing up. My first course of action should be to find out where I had ended up this time. Although I think it’s safe to rule out Equestria since I burned that bridge. I thought as I let my eyes wander across the room. From what I could gather the room was a large circle with a dome like ceiling, only the shape was far too perfect to have been constructed by anything but the most advanced technology. Yet the marble like walls gave no hint as to just what could have been used in their construction. What was even more baffling was the fact that I could not discern a light source anywhere, yet the room was basked in light that seemingly came from everywhere. The effect was the complete lack of a shadow on my part, which left me quite weirded out. In the center of the chamber, roughly sixty meters away from me, I could see what seemed to be a raised platform of sorts. A dais if you will.

Curios as to what might be over there I carefully approached the platform in the middle. Also seeing how there was nothing else of immediate interest on the walls that I could see, the center seemed to be the best choice for some answers. As I got closer I noticed that there was something lying on a low pedestal on top of the dais. That something turned out to be a long bladed spear, and from what I could tell this was a masterwork weapon. The blade was double edged and its silvery metal gleamed in the light, and the shaft seemed to be made out of the same silvery metal. Together they gave the spear a total length just shy of six feet as it was shorter than me but not by much. Where blade and shaft met a large unidentified orange gemstone sat, fastened by some kind of obsidian like material that had been cut in the shape of an eye. An eye in which the gemstone formed the iris. Whoever had made this weapon must have made a fortune selling it. I thought as I almost subconsciously reached for the spear.

Mere inches away from touching it I stopped myself. I had just come to realize just what might happen should I have gone and touched what was clearly the most expensive thing in this otherwise empty room. Well empty from what I had seen so far but that was beside the point. I had seen enough adventure movies and played enough RPG’s to know that this was probably trapped. So instead of mindlessly grabbing the spear I decided to check the rest of the chamber first.

I walked around the dais, intent on checking out the other side of the circular room but stopped as I found a dark brown, single strap duffel bag propped against the steps leading up to the dais. Perhaps I’m not alone in here after all. I contemplated before calling out.

“Hello!? Is anyone here!?” My voice croaked, but all that answered me was echoes.

Still not entirely convinced that I was alone I left the bag alone for the time being and decided to check the entire room for any sign of an exit. But after carefully walking the full circuit around the room I was no wiser as to how I would leave this place than when I first woke up. Is this limbo? An unbidden thought came to me. I had to admit that it certainly seemed like a plausible explanation for the situation I found myself in. My last memories before this was of my slowly suffocating in a hospital bed after all. So if I’m dead and I have wings does that mean I’m an angel? I questioned myself before giving an amused snort. I’m probably one of the least deserving of becoming an angel by being an atheist and all, but let’s roll with it for now. I thought with a small shake of my head.

“So if this is Limbo and there is no visible way out of this room there has to be something I have to do.” I rasped to myself as I walked back to the dais.

Perhaps it was as simple as selecting either the bag or the spear. I mused as I once more found myself beside the bag. Well picking the spear will most likely send me to hell if this is a trial of my greed or something like that. I reasoned before turning to the duffel bag. If there indeed was a choice here as I perceived it to be then this choice should be the safe one.
So without any further delay I sat down next to the seemingly normal bag and opened it. The first item I pulled out was a canteen, and judging by the weight and the sound it made it was filled with some sort of liquid. After thinking for a second I put it aside for the time being and continued to dig. The second item was a hooded grey cloak which seemed to be pretty warm, thirdly I pulled out two pairs of pants made of sturdy cloth. They were strangely reminiscent of cargo pants except they lacked pockets and a few other minor differences. A single white tank top followed before I uncovered the last item that was a pair of simple sandals made of wood, straw and cloth.

I shook the bag a few times to make sure it was indeed empty before turning my attention to the items now arranged in front of me. My initial thoughts that this had been some sort of test had been proven false by the lack of a reaction, but perhaps I could get a clue by studying the items. So I reached for the canteen with the thought that I might as well check what it contained before moving on to the clothing articles. I unscrewed the lid and took a careful whiff of the liquid, if it was something noxious I’d rather limit my exposure. When I smelt nothing of the sort I went on to my next test. While the liquid may not be directly poisonous it may be acidic or possibly basic, either way I would rather not come into contact with it until I was sure. To test this I carefully dipped a small part of the tank top’s hem into the canteen before pulling it back out to wait and observe.

When I nothing happened I decided to throw my last bit of caution in the wind for a quick taste. Luckily for me the liquid turned out to be water and that made my previous caution seem a bit silly in hindsight. But this entire scenario was new to me so I guess I had the right to be a bit paranoid. With my first examination complete I re-attached the lid before moving on to the clothes. But no matter how much I turned and carefully searched them I could find no clue as to where or how they had been made. They were after all of a quite simple make but were clearly designed to be sturdy. So with a final glance around the room I decided that I might as well wear them. I quickly found that while the pants and sandals had been easy to get on the tank top was another issue. Even if it theoretically should allow for my new wings to poke out at the sides it was pretty much a chore to get the wings through the garment. But with a bit of violence and quite a few select curses I eventually managed to get it on.

With my struggle to get dressed I had inadvertently come across the fact that these wings did not move as easy as the wings I had had as a pegasus. The muscle structure throughout the wings felt similar in some ways but most of it was rather alien. I had also taken note that the wings, although much larger than the ones I had as Stormcloud, were too small to realistically support flight. It remained to be seen if I would be able to fly with these wings though, especially since it looked like I would need to relearn how use these wings.
Not that any of that would matter if I couldn’t leave this place. I thought as I turned my gaze toward the dais. My last bet of finding a way out of here was that spear, hopefully it wasn’t just another death waiting to happen. Or can I die when I’m already dead?

I cracked my neck and started to stuff the cloak, the extra pair of pants and the canteen back into the bag. When I was done I swung it over my right shoulder and stepped up to the pedestal with the spear again. As I approached the pedestal I noticed something that had not seen before on the side of the marble like structure. A small plaque of what seemed to be the same obsidian like material was present on the pedestal. Perhaps I had been too enraptured by the spear itself to simply notice it before because the plaque gave a clear contrast to the otherwise almost white surfaces. But as I hunched down to read whatever could be written I was met with a blank surface.

Of course it’s blank, it would be to easy otherwise. I grumbled in my head. But as I started to rise one of my hands brushed past the plaque and almost immediately golden lines started to trace over the surface. I stared, almost hypnotized by how the lines slowly started to form words until two sentences could be read:

Oookay, so the first piece of information I got was the supposed name of this spear. The last part might be reference to this place.
I pondered as I felt my excitement rise. The spear itself is likely the key that allows you to leave. But I might be interpreting it wrong.
I argued with myself. After a few moments of back and forth with myself I decided that I may as well try to grab the spear. I wouldn’t get anywhere without exhausting all my obvious options anyway. So I reached for the spear but stopped my hand inches away from it again, feeling hesitant if I really should do this. Then I steeled my resolve and snatched the spear from the pedestal with my right hand.

For a second nothing happened and I started to breathe a sigh of relief when an incredibly sharp pain spike shot through my hand. With a pained yelp I tried to drop the spear only to find myself unable to as the pain traveled up my through my arm. My eyes were already watering from the intense pain, and when the pain reached my head I wasn’t sure if the world was warping around me or if my vision was simply swimming due to the fact I was about to lose consciousness. Seconds later my world suddenly became darkness, as my brain forcefully shut down to save itself from the psychological stress induced by the pain.

The first thing I noticed when I started to come to again was the light breeze. Perhaps it was even the cause for me regaining consciousness, I will probably never know. Next though came the smell of dry soil and the sense of my cheek being pressed against the rough ground. I opened my eyes and was met with a mix of blurry brown and grey. With a groan I pushed off the ground so that I came up to my hands and knees, before slowly standing up. After using a hand to rub my eyes in an attempt to clear my vision I made a second attempt to survey my new surroundings.

It was immediately clear that I had left the dome like room behind for now I found myself in what seemed to be a badland of sorts. The mix of grey rock formations, sun dried soil and the occasional green bush or patch of grass stretched on for miles in all directions. The constant slow breeze caused the bushes and grass to sway lightly, which gave the otherwise uninhabitable terrain an almost serene feel. A particularly strong gust caused a rustle through my wings and a dust cloud to swirl up only to almost lazily disappear in the distance. The sun burned up ahead in the sky, but I could not tell whether it was heading for a sunrise or sunset.

The important thing though was that I had gotten out from the first challenge, but what awaited was a trip through this seemingly endless badland. It led me to wonder whether I truly was in Limbo or if this was something more akin to “the Divine comedy.” Was I to wander the through the hells to finally reach heaven just like Dante had? The thought was not a welcome one. Deciding to take stock of what had actually come with me to this location I pulled the bag off my shoulder and sat down.

As I started to open the bag I caught a glimpse of something red on my right wrist, turning it so that I could see properly revealed a red silhouette like image of the spear etched into my skin. Confused I looked around quickly and found the spear nowhere to be found. Curious as to what would happen I touched the tattoo like image and nothing happened. I don’t know what I was expecting. I thought with a sigh. Absentmindedly I traced the image from bottom to top with a finger as I reached for the bag once more. The air suddenly shimmered and warped as the spear materialized in my right hand before disappearing just as quickly when I dropped it with a surprised yelp. Is this what the second line meant by cutting reality? I questioned bewildered as my heart rate started to settle down from the surprise.

My gaze eventually settled back on my wrist where the spear symbol still sat innocently, hiding whatever magic had been used to bind the spear to me. Had it been the act of tracing the image from top to bottom that served as the trigger for this phenomena? I pondered as I started to duplicate what I had done just seconds before. Again the air warped and the spear materialized in my right hand, only this time I was prepared and did not drop it. The unknown metal felt cool against my hand, and it gleamed as it caught the light of the sun. It was a beautiful weapon, I would not deny that, but I somewhat lamented the fact that it wasn’t a bō staff.

That would have been something I could have used without needing to practice. This spear however was balanced very differently from the staff I had experience in wielding. Not that the spear was poorly balanced though, quite the opposite really. It was clearly a weapon designed for combat and not a show piece. But even so using it properly would take time. Especially if I wanted to adapt any bō techniques when learning how to wield this spear. That is if I’ll ever need to. I still don’t know exactly where I am. I thought before letting go of the spear, causing it to once again disappear into the ether, void or wherever it went. My attention went back to the duffel bag next, as there was one precious commodity in there that had suddenly become very important. Not to mention that I was curious now if there had been any additions to the bag seeing how the spear was now connected to me somehow.

Rummaging through the few items that were in the bag did not take long, and it looked like every piece of clothing and gear I had acquired were present. That being said there were nothing else in the bag except what I had already put back in it earlier. But the most important thing was that the canteen of water was still there. Since it was unlikely that I’d be able to reliably find drinkable water in this region the water would prove to invaluable. I weighed the canteen in my hand, trying to approximate how much water it could contain. Ultimately I decided that it probably held at least one liter, but not more than one and a half liters. I would have to ration it carefully if I want to maximize my chances of surviving. But unless I find something edible I may collapse from hunger before I run out of water. I pondered before stuffing the canteen back into the bag.

With my available gear sorted I stood up again and slung the bag over my right shoulder once more. After throwing a glance at the sun I saw that it had traveled further down on the sky which of course gave me a sense of direction at least. Well I’m just going to assume that the sun is setting in the west, then that would be north. I contemplated as I turned to face what I hoped was indeed north. I guess heading north would be rather detrimental to my chances given the kind of clothing I have so south it is I guess. I continued to ponder as I turned around on the spot. Not that any particular direction seemed to matter this point as the same rocky terrain met my eyes no matter where I looked. Well if things end up going south I can just blame it on this one decision. I thought with a half wince and half chuckle at the terrible pun. And so I set out in the direction of my choosing hoping that it would not prove to be disastrous.

I covered what felt like a good amount of ground on what remained of the first day, but as the sun started to dip behind the horizon to my right I decided to break for the night. Since I had no way of telling direction except with the help of the sun this was my safest option, lest I’d risk walking in circles. The climate during the day had not been cold per say but it hadn’t been particularly warm, so I opted to grab the cloak from the duffel bag. It would help ward off the cold that would undoubtedly be brought by night. I hadn’t seen any wildlife throughout the day and was morbidly curious to see if I’d find any type of sustenance out here.

As the sky eventually turned purple and started to darken further when the last rays of sunlight escaped behind the rocky landscape I swept myself in the cloak and went to lie down. The duffel bag became a rough pillow and soon I found that sleep was just a few breaths away.

When I next awoke the sun had already started its ascent into the morning sky and I stretched my stiff body with a large yawn. I took care to stretch my wings as well and contemplated whether I should try to fly. But in the end I opted against it, the risk of just burning what precious energy I had was too great. As if to respond my stomach growled, serving as a painful reminder that I had already gone one day without eating. I forced myself to ignore it as I took a few careful sips from the canteen. I had consumed almost a third of the water already and that was for perhaps half a days’ worth of travel. This was becoming a quite serious issue already it seemed. With that in mind I gathered up of my few belongings and set out again, doing my best to keep a steady pace and to keep my mind off food.

It was around midday when I had the first break in the monotonous rock formations and slowly dying patches of grass. Some sort of bird of prey called out from above, its shrill shriek drawing my attention as it circled above. I let myself observe it for a few seconds before continuing my journey, thinking that it was positive to see that there was life out here. The rest of the day passed without any other interruptions and soon I found myself looking at the setting sun again as I contemplated if I should push on for a few more minutes or make camp for the night. In the end making camp had won out and I repeated the procedure from the previous night. First though I shook the canteen, lamenting the fact that barely a third of its contents remained. However if I consumed it all tomorrow it would make little difference as I had already become slightly lightheaded today due to the lack of food combined with physical exertion.

Knowing that the risk of me not having the strength to continue on after tomorrow was met with mixed feelings. First I still didn’t know where I was and secondly I still wasn’t sure if I was actually dead already. Hunger was definitely a thing but then again in Norse mythology the heroes of Valhalla still had to eat. I could probably spend hours if not days trying to come up with theories relating to my situation but none of them would do me any good in the end. With that I sat down, my back against a large boulder like rock, and tried to fall asleep to my growling stomach.

I awoke at dawn of the third day and was instantly greeted by the gnawing sensation of my empty stomach. Going any further than today without food would probably be impossible if I didn’t find anything edible. Without bothering to stretch I gathered my things and started to walk as quickly as my body allowed. I felt slightly dizzy but covering as much ground as possible today was paramount. Every rock formation I passed could potentially hold a saving grace so every step I was able to take counted.

I did my best to try and keep a positive outlook despite the situation and towards the afternoon I spotted what I thought to be trees in the distance. Spurred on by the thought of perhaps finally getting a lucky break I changed my heading, and after what could not have been more than an hour of walking I stumbled onto a broad dirt road going straight through the badlands. My choice of direction did not change however as the road seemed to go towards the trees in the distance. With stumbling steps I started down road, trying my best to ignore how my head was spinning due to the lack of energy I had been feeling the past few hours.

The sun was already in low in the sky when I finally started to see a clear outline of the forested area up ahead, and I thought I could see smoke coming from what I hoped was a chimney. That being said, my vision had been going between focused and unfocused for the past hour now but with possible salvation within reach I stubbornly pushed on. And as the sun finally started to set I stumbled into the shade of the large trees. Up ahead I thought I saw a large building by the side of the road, but in the dying light coupled with my lightheaded state I could have been mistaken.

So I stumbled on, my eyes trained on the ground, otherwise I was sure that I would trip and fall. It wasn’t until I heard a voice call out that I tried to raise my head. However the action had been too sudden for my weakened body and In my already dizzy state the resulting headrush was the final straw that caused me to collapse on the road. Too exhausted for any coherent thoughts I passed out before whoever had called out was able to reach me.

Author's Notes:

First off let me start by saying thank you to everyone who have commented, up voted and favorited the story, it keeps me invested to continue writing.

Next on the agenda, is me lamenting the fact that I will do some cliche things in this story that I'm not entirely comfortable with. Mainly because I don't like them as story telling tools, however I need them for setting up future events, so try and bare with me. What cliche things are you talking about you ask? Well take Cloud's "death" in the beginning for example I hated myself a bit for writing that, but again I needed it to be set up this way for future chapters.

Well until next time have a good one!

PS. Next chapters working title is: The Rusty Feather inn.