After his lovely meal that casually hopped passed and a quick nap in one of the trees along the small path he set out once more with no clear goal within his mind. After his encounter with the equines and the knowledge that they can and will use magic intrigued him. Surely has seen many Khajiit and Argonian's use magic of sorts but the this was something entirely new. All the while his mind was trying to find logic in the fact that those Equines could conjure powerful magic's, he failed to notice that he was approaching a rather shaky looking bridge that was nearly falling apart.
While he kept on walking still lost within his thoughts he only noticed the bridge when he set a single plated boot on the wood which easily broke in two pulling the Nord from his thoughts as he stumbles for a moment but moved his weight behind him, causing him to fall on his back. "By my own beard!" He yelped as he felt the hilt of his greatsword poke his neck.
"That was to close." He mumbled and walks closer to the edge looking down the cliff. Sure enough he noticed the bottom of the cliff but it would have killed him easily if he were to fall from such a height with his armor still on.
He blinked a few times as he tries to think of a way to get across. He noticed that while the wood is rotten to its core the ropes on the other hand are still quite durable. "Right, if I just crawl along the ropes I might get across." He told himself as the day was turning into night, clearly not wanting to stay out in the middle of the forest he did his best to make it across. He started with slowly getting a grip on the ropes as he pulled himself across as careful as possible. "What I'd give to have dragon wings instead of blood...." He thought out loud as he was slowly approaching the other side, and with a swift motion he launches himself high enough to take hold of the edge of the cliff and with a burst of strength he hauls himself up as he lands on the ground with a metallic thud.
"That took... *pant* at least ten life.... *pant* times from my immortal soul." He grunted as he lifts himself off the ground, dusting off some dirt that found its way onto his armor. "I'm too old for this."
Once he caught his breath he ventured forwards along the path way as he soon stood eye to eye with old stone ruins. "Huh, never noticed this here." He wondered as he looked down and saw a wooden draw bridge it looked way more stable than the bridge behind him. With his curiosity peaked he entered the ruins, but kept a close eye on his surroundings. In Skyrim, many ruins were either trapped or filled with undead, spiders or necromancers who would gladly slice, dice and puncture a dragonborn.
He continued forth as he entered a large courtroom with in the back standing two decent sized thrones. One held the sigil of the sun and was partly destroyed, while the other holding the sigil of the moon was almost undamaged. Many thoughts went through his mind as he took in the destruction of the place. 'Even Nords would not ruin their buildings to such a state.' He thought as he walked towards one of the walls, gently pulling his gauntlet across its surface he noticed the battle scars on it. It became clear that a massive battle had taken place here within this very room, and the use of magic was also clearly visible. Many scorch marks litter the walls and floor along with deep gashes. Wanting to see more of the castle he left the courtroom for now and ventured deeper into the unknown ruins.
Back at the castle, Shining Armor finally gathered his squad and was ready to be deployed to Ponyville to keep an eye out of the escaped intruder of the castle. With him was his trusted short sword which was kept in a black hilt on his side. He inspected his armor once more to make sure it was tightly secure with no chance of coming loose.
"First-Lieutenant Radiant Glory reporting for duty sir!" Called out a feminine voice from behind Shining. He turned his head to look at the pony behind him and spotted his first-lieutenant Radiant Glory. She was the second in command of the White company which were Shining Armor's personal Knights. "The others have been prepared and are ready for deployment sir!" She said.
Shining saluted her. "At ease First-Lieutenant." He said as she physically relaxed. "Splendid, I have the chariots prepped in about five minutes. Gather the rest of the company and bring them here for a briefing." He ordered as Radiant Glory saluted him.
"Yes sir!" She replied and trotted off to get the rest of the company. It took her a good three minutes to gather everypony for the briefing as all six lined up before Shining Armor and saluted in union.
"Entire White company present sir, ready for briefing!" Glory said as the entire company added their "Yes sir!".
Shining scans the row of knights and looked at them with a proud look on his muzzle. "Alright listen up everypony!" He called out, "As you may have known the intruder of this morning has evaded capture which brought shame to us as a unit! The creature escaped by breaking one of the memory windows within the main ballroom and into the lake beneath the city!" All the ponies were listening carefully to his words. "Now, our princess Celestia fears for the safety of the ponies in Ponyville since this creature holds powerful magic and is armed to the teeth! Now it comes to us to go to Ponyville and secure the area and capture the creature should it come to us! But a word of warning to all of you, should you see the creature do not, and I can't stress this enough. Do. Not! Engage it alone! Am I clear!"
The entire company burst out with their "Yes sir!" once again as Shining nods in approval.
"Alright everypony, the chariots are ready for departure. A quick head count before we get on with it!" He yelled as he looks at each other ponies in the line. "Bronze Shield?" He called out, to which a rather large dark brown earth pony stallion answered with a "Sir!". Bronze Shield sees himself as the tank of the company, he is not slim or agile, but his strong build and large bones he can take quite the beating.
"Swift Lance!" He called next, as a white coated pegasus mare answered. "Sir!". She was the scout so to say of the company, along with her best friend Light Hoof they are the eyes and ears of Armor should he be out of their range.
"Radiant Glory!" He called out as the unicorn mare answered in kind. "Here sir!". Radiant is a unicorn much like Armor, only she is more focused on the offensive side of the magic school. Her control over fire based magic is quite remarkable, which is why she was chosen to be his second in command.
"Light Hoof!" Was the next name on his list as a pale white earth pony stallion answered in reply. "Sir!". Light Hoof is the other member of the scouting party within the company. He does his name proud has it is hard to heard him coming as he moves around lightly and nimble which makes his a slippery bugger at times.
"Black Hoof!" He called as a coal black earth pony stallion replied. "Sir!". Black Hoof is, as you may have guessed is the brother to Light Hoof but got the fathers side of the family, for he finds his passion at the forge and the anvil. So he was chosen as the Smith of the Company, he does maintenance to the armor and weapons.
"Last, Mystic Wind!" He called out as the last pony in the line, a forest green unicorn mare replied to his call. "Present sir!". Mystic is the medic of the company, her studies to the anatomy of ponies has given her a great understanding of treating wounds and other injuries, along with a great understanding of poisons and possible infections.
"Good!" Shining exclaimed as he makes his way towards one of the chariots. "Now that you know the situation we are in, it is time to prove our metal by capturing the creature! Now get your flanks into gear, we're leaving within the minute!" The company saluted and hauled their flanks into the chariots which were pulled by a pair Royal Guard pegasi. Once they were all onboard the chariot took to the air towards the village of Ponyville.