The last thing I was expecting is to be bombarded with questions and by a lavender winged unicorn hybrid no less. I honestly didn't understand what the mare was saying though because of how fast she was propelling each question.
I raised my hand in front of me which somehow brought her out of the question frenzy before she blushed slightly in embrassment. "My apologizes, good knight, I have just never seen such a feat done before by an earth pony." Twilight said.
"No harm done, Princess. I was just simply doing my job," I replied ignoring the fact I wasn't exactly this 'earth pony' she spoke of. "But, if I may ask Princess, why was that assassin after you to begin with?"
The Princess seem to have a relapse as her eyes widen in realization. "How could I have forgotten about that! Give me a moment, good knight, I would like to speak to you after my speach is over. Guards?" Twilight said as all the Royal Guard members present stood at attention almost immediately.
"Could one of you please escort this knight to my castle. He is my savior and he will be treated as such." She said.
"Of course Princess Twilight!" The three guards said in unison.
With little else to do, we hustled to the Princess' Castle. I was expecting the castle to look similar to the Palace of Kings. Instead, however, the castle looked to be some sort of crystal tree thing.
Adding that on to the very strange list of things about Equestria. The guards escorting me didn't appear as hostile as some of the Imperials or Stormcloaks I have seen on my journey either. They were for the most part kind to me adding me in their conversations every so often.
It wasn't until a few hours later that that Princess returned to her castle pleased seeing us in the castle already.
"Sorry for the long wait, good knight."
"It's fine, Princess. I've waited for longer periods of time." I said nonchalantly.
"To answer your question from before, I'm not sure who that pony was, but if I had to guess, I would say that she was apart of the Dark Sisterhood." The Princess replied.
My heart almost skipped a beat by that name alone. That name strangely similar to the murder organization known in Skyrim named: the Dark Brotherhood. I needed more proof though.
"If they are that notorious than surely you were able to pinpoint and capture them." I said.
A nervous smile replaced her curious expression. "I'm afraid nopony is able to find the Dark Sisterhood's order of operations yet. It's been that way for a time now. I'm just glad I didn't end up dead today." Twilight said.
I said nothing to that notion. I don't even know why I stepped in to save the Princess. Many times have I wanted nobles and leaders die before me. I chose my own path to follow. Alduin can be dealt with after I gain the trust of the natives.
"I could offer my hand in tracking down the Dark Sisterhood, if that is alright with you." I offered.
Twilight seem to brighten up in her mood. "You would really do that for me? You don't even know me that well. Much less, you are not apart of the Royal Guard which makes you hired help."
"Princess, you're thinking outloud again." One of the guard behind me mentioned. The Princess blushed at how cold hearted that must have sounded to me.
"If I may, your highness, I think we should hire this stallion. He was most successful in defending against one of their members highly trained assassins. Having him on our side would prove to be most favorable." A different pony said.
I turned around to see a different Royal Guard member coming into the room. He wore brilliant white armor that had the symbol of the sun on his chest. He had no horn or wings so that made him a lesser threat in my current mind. However, his blue eyes spoke silently of the suspicion it held against me.
The stallion knew something that he wasn't telling the young princess. "Commander Bolt Shield, it's a surprise seeing you here." Twilight said.
Bolt Shield's gaze didn't fall on me long until he addressed the royalty in front of him. "I was told by Princess Celestia herself to reinforce nearby communities around Canterlot. The dragon attacks have started get worse across Equestria."
Twilight's mouth dropped in shock. "But, I thought they were improving between the dragons and us! We have done nothing to provoke the dragons to turn violent."
Not long after she replied a faint, but close familiar roar boomed in the distance through the crystal walls. All conversation died in our throats hearing the dreadful noise.
"Damn, they are coming faster than I thought," Commander Bolt Shield said before turning to me. "I know this is sudden, but could you assist us in battle?"
"Of course. Lead the way." I replied without a single doubt.
"Alright then. Soldiers, move to engage the dragons!" The commander yelled to the guards behind him.
We filed out of the castle quickly before heading outside. The sight we saw however, was intimidating to say the least. Three dragons circled the skies breathing their fiery breath down on the residence of Ponyvile. I could even see the bartender, Berry Punch, hiding away in a barrel to make herself as little as possible to the threats. Many of the resident's homes burned in the fires being created by the dragons.
I knew what I had to do then. I turned to the three Royal Guards and the Commander in front of me.
All the soldiers except the Commander seemed utterly terrified of the three dragons circling over head. The Commander however was struggling to find a solution to this problem.
"Faust help us all." The youngest of the three Royal Guards said almost like a prayer.
Fearless with my resolve I drew my Ancient Nord Greatsword. I targeted one of the dragons in my sight before resighting my choosen Thu'um:
"Strun Bah Qo!"
Almost immediately, the sky grew heavier; black clouds instantly darkening the sky leaving some of the winged ponies in Ponyvile to a gasp at the sky in shocked horror fleeing down to the ground. The sky roared to life striking anything remotely in the sky. Luckily, no pony was flying at the moment.
The dragons' surprise cause one to be struck down with three bolts of lightning forcing him to crash land on the surface below. The other two barely had time to help their comrade dodging lightning bolts themselves. I walk up to the fallen dragon, my grip on my weapon growing tighter.
I may have a dragon spirit inside me, but that doesn't mean I'll let the dragons do whatever they wanted. I raised my weapon high in the air staring into the dragon's eyes. A hint of fear could be seen in them. It tried to move away from me, but couldn't so it opened its maw to breathe fire point blank. I gave a war cry before embedding my sword into the dragon's head ignoring his torrent of roaring flames head on.
Its head fell limp shortly after, I felt the dragon's soul transfer into my body moments later before the storm my shout created finally cleared up.
I looked at the damage done to me only really seeing a few recover burn marks underneath my ebony armor platelets. It didn't stop the brief pain to sear into my skin. I pulled out a minor regeneration potion gulping down its contents quickly to recover from my injuries.
The two dragons still hovering in the air looked exhausted having to dodge the lightning from the sky. Their gazes turn to anger glaring at me and what I had done to their comrade. They roared dive bombing straight at me. I could hear the commander giving orders at the castle entrance, but they fell on my deaf ears.
The two dragons landed almost synchronized before releasing their fire at me. The two breaths of fire combined into a larger, hotter torrent. I had no time to dodge.
"Feim Zii Gron!"
My body became transparent as the fire harmlessly licked on to me. The growing sense of dread began to dawn on the two dragons as they realized their fates. Their fire ended seconds later just as the shout wore off. I gave another war cry before jumping on the right dragon's head. It thrashed around but not for long as I cleaved through its neck roughly commiting through it.
As the body fell I jumped into the air once more at the last dragon in front of me. My brutal display seemed to shrink any confidence it had left. The dragon backed away before my blade had a chance to cleave through its scales. I just rolled off the ground standing up right in front of the shoveling dragon.
Suddenly, a purple sphere aura surrounds the dragon before it shrinks itself on to the body of the dragon. The dragon cried out in pain before the beast fell to the ground unable to move. I turned to my right seeing Princess Twilight's horn was lit in a purple hue which confused me.
"There, that should make him unable to move or use fire for the time being." She seemed to be a bit exhausted too. Then I felt another dragon soul come into my body causing the ponies witnessing the event to stare in awe.
Once the transfer was over, the youngest of the three Royal Guards seem to snap out of her stupor the fastest. "That... Was... Awesome!" She said ecstatic over me being able to absorb dragon souls.
"Indeed, I discovered this power I had long ago," I said before bringing my attention back onto the dragon in front of me. "Where is the dragon known as the World-Eater, dovah?"
The dragon looked even more shocked and scared stuttering out. "H-He lives with us, I-in the dragonlands! P-please do not hurt me!" The dragon wailed in fright.
A frown marked my lips before a snarl formed on it. "You are supposed be Akatosh's children! Grow some backbone, worm!" I growled.
The dragon whimpered before I snapped myself out of my current state. I ignored the growing irritation and anger deep in my soul before turning back to the ponies behind me.
"My apologies, Princess, for the sudden outburst."
Concern was the only emotion visible to me. "No need to apologize, good knight."
I paused while a group of Royal Guards placed some runes down to reinforce the barrier that Twilight placed around the dragon. Her magic slipped from the barrier once it was properly maintained with the odd runes.
The princess gave orders to take the dragon for further questioning. I felt odd though, feeling as if something was watching me in the background....
"So princess, where might the dragonlands be located?" I asked walking with her.
"Well, unfortunately, little is known about dragons and their homeland mainly because of how scary and strong their kind is. Though, my assistant Spike has built a relationship up with the current Dragonlord of the dragonlands. He is currently their ambassador with us ponies." She smiled.
"Since you are best fitting for the job, I will have you investigate the whereabouts, but first, tell me more about this 'World-Eater' you mentioned to the dragon."
I really didn't want nobody to know my reasoning for ending up in this new world, but I had little choice if I wanted to slay Alduin as quickly as I could.
"Alduin the World Eater is the first child of Akatosh to be created in Nirn. He is the main reason of why I am here. I decided to seal him away again in the flow of time, but for whatever reason, ended up here in Equestria."
"I see, what about this Nirn you speak of? What is it?"
"It's known as the mortal plane of existance. We all live in Nirn."
Twilight grew quiet unsure what to really say about that. Until her curiosity renewed itself.
"Hmm, interesting. What about this Akatosh you spoke of? From what I can tell, he seems to be the creator of dragons."
I timidly rubbed the back of my head not really too sure how to explain it in simple terms. "Well, I don't know too much about Akatosh. What I do know that he is one of the Nine Divines, or the Aedra. He helped create Nirn as a whole into existence."
Twilight's mouth dropped for the second time today. He means to tell her a god created this Alduin and the rest of the dragon race, and to top it off he created basically their reality. She was about to ask more questions until I butt into her train of thought.
"So when do I set off to the dragonlands?"
"Tommorrow. An escort will be assigned to you in the morning. I'll be dealing with the aftermath... again." The princess said with a soft groan.
I smirked, behind the helmet, amused by her reaction. "Either way, I'll be taking my leave."
"Oh, before you go!" Twilight called out to me. I turned around before she hand me a sack of, what looked like, fresh printed bits. "This is for all the hard work you put into saving Ponyvile. Think of it as part of your payment as the hired help."I nod greatful for the extra coin and stashed it away. We went our separate ways after that.
Walking around town, I unsheathed my greatsword once more. I noticed the small nicks in my sword indicating that I need to upgrade and repair my gear. I sigh setting my sights on a blacksmith.
I didn't realize how much I sticked out of the crowd until I moved around the small town. Virtually no one had armor, or efficient armor, to protect themselves with. No wonder they were unprepared for that dragon attack! Eventually, I found what I was looking for seeing the furace and its red hot coals radiate heat for itself. The smith, that looked to own the forge, was attending to some metal work on an anvil close by. She looked to be hard at work. Perhaps making a sword? I approached her waiting for her to finish.
The dark red mare wore the typical blacksmith apron and rubber gloves. She appear to have no horn or wings which seem a bit off to me, for some reason. She seem to have butt tatt- I mean, cutie mark of an anvil with a couple of forging hammers crossed over it. Her deep brown eyes completely absorbed in her work.
"Uh, hello miss. I'm looking to see if you got any steel ignots on you."
The hammer pounding stopped abruptly before she immediately looks up my way, eyes wide at my appearance. "Well, I would say that we are out of steel right at this moment.... What kind of armor are you wearing?"
"It's called Ebony armor. I made it myself." I stated with a hint of pride behind my work. It took me three full days to make just the breastplate to to specifically fit my built, and not to mention reinforcing the layers was a nightmare in itself. It was a sign of my growth in skill as a blacksmith/warrior.
".... Magnificent the craftsmanship put into the details and layering......" She replied almost breathlessly.
It didn't bother me too much since I wasn't hear for praise of my work. "When will the next shipment of steel come in, if I may ask?"
"Oh, right, in two weeks I'll be getting more supplies. I'll be able to hook you up with all the materials needed.... for a price of course."
"Alright. Thanks...."
The mare softly smiled. "Spark Forge. My friends call me Sparks."
"I'll be seeing you in two weeks then Miss Forge-," she made a frown which I corrected. "-Sparks."
"Of course! Have a nice day!" Spark Forge replied.
I wondered back around town before stopping at a bench in the Market part of town to think. I have around three-hundred bits from the bartender Berry Punch, and I have a thousand more bits, apparently, from the generous Princess. However, I still need my weapons to be repaired, but I have to wait a couple weeks before more materials are available. I sigh knowing an alternative weapon I had saved for a situation like this. Which leaves obtaining valuable materials and raising more money up for debate now.
I leaned back in the bench. Since the people of this town are walking horses initially, meat and pelts are probably out of the question, for now. "Perhaps lumber and berries would be needed." Good trade for extra coin. I get up and approach the woods behind the farm called Sweet Apple Acres. Stopping at the edge of the forest, I remember something important to bring with me, so I shuffle in my bag, I brought with me, to pull out my woodcutter's axe. I cleared my mind of any other distraction walking into the mouth of the forest treeline.