"How long is this potion going to last?"

As you inhale, you can see Zecora bracing herself for another barrage of questions.  "That was cool, but how long will it last?"  She looks at a clock in the room (somehow, you didn't notice it before - the time is, apparently, 16:22) and informs you in her poetic manner that it will last between 24 and 96 hours, depending on your body weight. Apparently, human physiology isn't widely known in this place. Not surprising, seeing as it's not the most inhabited area you've ever seen.

"Are the names "Celestia" and "Luna" passed down from generation to generation?"

In response to your next question, she simply shrugs, then walks off. You observe the room you're in. It has a relatively circular shape, with two door... Opening... Things. There are various tribal decorations on the walls, as well as some shelves with unknown substances stored in clay bottles. In the middle is a cauldron bubbling with some unknown substance.

Zecora returns with a book. She hands... Hoofs... Er... She conveys it to you through unknown means.

As you crack open the cover, you are immediately delighted to find that it is written in a language you can understand. To avoid having to write an entire book, let's just summarize.

You read about the Royal Pony Sisters. Apparently, they are "alicorns", a combination of all the types of pony. Wings, a horn, and incredible strength. You know, like the Incredible Hulk, just not green. Actually, scratch that. Turns out there's a shitload of equines around in various colors. There might just be a green alicorn out there. You are briefly reminded of Retarded Animal Babies and the name "pegascorn". You realize, somewhat embarrassed, that she was trying to tell you all this before you so rudely interrupted her.

Anyway, the important part you learn is that they're immortal manifestations of the sun and moon, similar to Helios and Artemis if you remember your Greek Mythos correctly. So it's probably not successive incarnations, but the same ones all the time. There's more knowledge in the book, but you decide that if you can learn things retroactively, you might as well put the book down after reading the important bits, and later on you get to read the rest in the past from the future. Because fuck physics, that's why.

(If Celestia and Luna are alive) "Would Celestia and Luna have the power to trap me in this forest, put some weird memories in my head that I can access by thinking certain words, and basically manipulate my body and mind in really weird ways?"

"Most certainly, undoubtedly, they could. The question at hoof is if they would."  You ponder these words for a moment, then point out something that's bugging you...

"Are you... Speciesist?"  Zecora is stunned. Most certainly petrified. Bamboozled! Bedazzled! Baffled! Where in the deepest pits of Niflheim did that come from?

"I can see you're confused. Allow me to explain. I've noticed your book using words such as "anypony" and "somepony". This is radically different from what I'm used to, "anyone" and "somebody". What I notice, however, is that your words are restricted to ponies. "Anyone" refers to any sentient being in general, and "somebody" would refer to a random entity with physical form, though not necessarily sentient. From this, I can only draw the conclusion that the genus "Equus" is one that discriminates against others. This is troubling. I would like to hear your side of this case."

Zecora stares at you. And stares. And stares. I think you broke her. Seriously, don't go rambling during periods of sleep deprivation. That way is madness. (Madness? This! Is! EVERFREE! *kick*)

You sit down and inspect your shaft... Not that one! The one you made for the spear. Don't kill my rating, you perv. It's not perfect, but it'll do. With just a sharp piece of rock, you figure it's gonna be pretty primitive either way. You carve out a slot on one end, and stick the rock in it. Then, you cut off a piece of rope and dismantle it to get thinner rope to work with. With that done, you tie it around the head of your spear. Hey, seriously! This fic is rated teen! Not mature!

[You have gained item: Primitive spear.]

With your spear finished, you go outside and throw your walking stick away, the spear can double as a staff and walking stick anyway. As the Walking Stick of Doom hits a tree, there's an explosion. Both the walking stick and the tree are now sawdust. That sure was a waste of a perfectly good incendiary device. Of course, you didn't know it was one. It does explain the "of Doom" bit. In retrospect, you should have expected that. Implements of Doom are of Doom for a reason.

Anyway, it's approaching sunset, and Zecora is still stunned. Wait, she's starting to wake up. She seems to act as if she never heard your rant, so you proceed with your Equestrian Inquisition.

"Would they do this?"

"I can not tell the will of immortals, but they have a reason for building such portals. The way back home is a two-way street, win the challenge and immortals meet."  You're a bit confused - she's volunteering more information than you're asking. Perhaps she's still in shock? Better keep asking before she snaps out of it.

"Have they done it before?"

"You are not the first to knock on my door, others like you have passed by before. One tried to kill me, on his corpse you stand,"  You look down and indeed, it looks like the floorboards have been moved recently. You didn't notice that before - must have rolled too low on your perception check,  "Another charged out and left his items unmanned."  (She grumbles about feeding manticores with perfectly good tools.)

"Am I just the latest in a long line of people doing the exact same quest?"

"Eeeyup."  Straight to the point, eh?

"How many of them won?"

She gives it some thought, then nods to herself.  "Not all have passed through here, the knowledge isn't mine to bear."

Then it's time for a test. I'll put down the vodka, walk about twenty feet away from it, and see if noob protection attempts to stop me. If it doesn't, I know it's intent-based. If it does, I try it with a clump of dirt and a random twig. If at least one of those results in my being able to walk away, I'll repeat the test with my entire inventory. ((You can just tell me the results of that one.))

Take time to throw each of your items in the fire. If you're stopped by the Idiot Protection, that item is probably useful. If not, well, it's already burning. (Logic according to Salinvanth.) Test with every item you posses.

You intended to do this test earlier, but you know you won't be able to test it later, so you try it now with slightly adjusted methods. You decide against burning potentially useful yet non-essential items.

You have:

* Backpack (open) containing:

* Refillable butane lighter

* Butane for refilling lighter (unlimited)

* Pouch of tobacco (48g)

* Pack of cigarette papers (48 papers)

* Bottle of vodka (490ml)

* Coil of rope (19.5m)

* Hatchet

* Swiss Army Knife

* MRE packs (3 days’ worth)

* Bottle of water (1l)

* First-aid kit (closed)

* Sewing kit (closed)

* Thermos filled with water (0.5l

Refreshing your memory on your inventory, you proceed with the tests. You leave your lighter on the ground outside and try to walk away from it. Nothing happens. You take it back and try the same with the butane, tobacco, papers, vodka, and rope before you get a response. As you try to walk away from the rope, you instead pick it up. If you hadn't been doing your best to notice such a difference, you wouldn't have realized anything happened.

Now that you have a semi-reliable method of testing the importance of your items, you continue. After having tested this with the hatchet, the knife, the food, both water containers, the first-aid kit, and the sewing kit, you adjust your inventory with mental notes.

You have:

* Backpack (open) containing:

* Refillable butane lighter (non-essential)

* Butane for refilling lighter (unlimited, non-essential)

* Pouch of tobacco (48g, non-essential)

* Pack of cigarette papers (48 papers, non-essential)

* Bottle of vodka (490ml, non-essential)

* Coil of rope (19.5m, essential)

* Hatchet (essential)

* Swiss Army Knife (essential)

* MRE packs (3 days’ worth, non-essential)

* Bottle of water (1l, essential)

* First-aid kit (closed, essential)

* Sewing kit (closed, non-essential)

* Thermos filled with water (0.5l, essential)

Although you had originally planned to leave at this point, Zecora offers to let you stay the night. It would probably be better to stay in a place you know is safe, seeing as noob protection runs out tomorrow morning, but you starting during the night and finding a safe place to sleep would also be an option. You have at least two options, guaranteed safety now and potential progress later or guaranteed progress now and potential safety later.

Knock Zecora unconscious with Doomstick. Grab everything you can and run.

You decide against attacking the zebra, seeing as someone tried that and died. Besides, you threw away the doomstick, remember?

You are wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt, sturdy shoes, and a black leather jacket with many pockets. On your back is the backpack you found with you when you woke up. Your current weapon is a primitive spear. You are not tired. You are not hungry. You are not thirsty. You have (2) unspent skill point(s).