Chapter 3: Of Pride and Prison Bars
The darkness enveloped me, cradled me, hiding me away from memories and regrets. I felt at peace, as though suspended in time forever. The slight sensation of dizziness that spun around my head reminded me of the nights I spent drinking and talking blissfully with my brothers. A time now better off forgotten.
The void slowly drifted away, and pain crept to the back of my head. My senses were returning as I gradually recovered my consciousness. The first thing I noticed was the smell; a nauseating stench of death and filth with the damp, stale air of a closed space. My feathers stood up as cold finally registered in my brain and the rough sensation of stone brushed against my scales from under a bed of hay. I opened my eyes and lifted my head, too confused to discern anything of what I saw at first.
When my vision cleared, I was face-to-face with a rusty iron bar. With a muffled yelp I stumbled to my hooves and backed away against a stone wall. I was in an improvised cell within a cave of some kind. The iron bars I had been greeted by were the door of the cage that had been built against the cave wall. I looked down to the hay I had been laying on.
Bad idea, I tried my best to stop my stomach from churning at the sight of the rotting pile of grime and blood. The moment I held a hoof up to my mouth to stop from vomiting, I noticed I no longer had the utility horseshoe and rusty sword I had stolen from the Brumare barracks. The only thing left on me was the ragged leather armor, most likely considered junk even by the lowlifes that had imprisoned me.
“Hey everypony, the new one got up,” a scratchy voice echoed in the cavern.
I looked up, torchlight illuminating the area around my cell.
The chamber was roughly circular, with a low ceiling held by rock formations and stalagmites. The dark stone had been worked on to be inhabitable, and some of the weaker walls had been reinforced with wooden plaques. There were five other cages lining the walls, one to my left and four to my right, forming a half-circle around two tables and a pile of crates and sacks in the center of the room.
My eyes widened at the sight of the blood-bathed tables and the torture tools that lay on them. The details of cracks and slashes at both wood and stone remained as mementos of the ponies who had clawed at them with their bare hooves.
“Quite impressive, huh,” the voice continued.
It belonged to an old Khajiit pony, two cages right of me. His furry hide was dirty and some patches of it were missing. The pony’s cat-like features were barely recognizable between the scars of disease and possibly torture. His tail seemed to have been chewed on and its tip was completely missing. I noticed his cutie mark had been clawed off, possibly by the cat pony himself.
“It’s been a while since we last had an Argonian in our company,” another, younger voice reached me from the cell between mine and the Khajiit’s.
A unicorn stallion got up from his hay pile and greeted me with a grin. He brushed off the hay from his wheat-colored coat and shook his long, green mane and tail. His cutie mark was a basket filled to the brim with fruit. I would have thought he was a High-Unicorn if I hadn’t seen his eyes: The unmistakable black orbs of the Wood-Unicorn carried the same inherent kindness and natural amiability of dogs and other woodland critters, while glowing with the intelligence of a rational mind.
“Oh yes, oh yes! The last one was a mare. They used her good, and then, off to the necromancers,” the Khajiit wheezed in an eerily excited tone.
“I only got to talk to her a day before she was taken away. It has been four months since then,” the Unicorn sighed.
I looked at both of them with terror. Necromancers! I was on the verge of panic and tried to buck the door out of its hinges. The bars rattled and rust rained down on me with each impact. The others simply watched, waiting for my inner storm to fade away.
My desperate efforts bore no fruit. It was not until after a while that I calmed down.
“Where am I, and who brought me here?” I said, trembling, my mouth had gone dry.
“You are in a bandit hideout, somewhere in southern Skyrim. You were brought here by one of their ponies,” The unicorn explained.
“They call him Sweetroll. He’s not the brightest cub of the litter,” the Khajiit chimed in.
Great, I had been captured by an idiot with a cutesy nickname… if I needed any more humiliation that was it.
The younger pony cleared his throat, trying to cut-off any further interruption. “Yes, however the relevant thing about these bandits is that they seem to have arrangements with slavers and necromancers, providing merchandise and test subjects to each.”
“I’m guessing this is the cell chamber for the necromancer test subjects?” I said, knowing the answer but desperately hoping I was wrong.
Slavery still meant a possibility to escape, being opened up and my intestines used as skip ropes didn’t.
“Indeed, these bandits don’t really like Khajiit and Argonians…”
“Then, why are you here?” I sat down, my body finally accepting I wasn’t going anywhere for the time being.
“I might have overstepped some bounds with a slaver’s daughter,” the unicorn chuckled.
“Smooth.”
“And what are you called, Argonian?” the cat pony asked, making sure he wasn’t interrupting the unicorn again.
I was about to ask why it mattered, but then, why should I be on the defensive now? We were all facing a similar fate. After all, being mutilated and resurrected into an undead abomination would be much less horrible among friends I supposed.
“Khazur Marrak. Everything else about me doesn’t really matter,” I answered in a defeated tone.
“Ponies call me Bonetail. This one forgot his true name though.”
“This one?”
“It’s a way of referring to oneself I think. It’s a Khajiit thing,” the Wood-Unicorn explained, patiently. “I for one kept my old name. It is all I have left.”
I felt sympathy for the unicorn; I had nothing left either, other than the leather armor not even cave-dwelling bandits want.
“I’m Apricot Core.” He smiled contagiously.
“Ow!” I was about to smile back when a sting rose from my tail.
I turned back and stumbled as far away from whatever had caused the pain as I could. A Breton Pegasus looked up at me, a bunch of my tail feathers in his mouth.
His dirty sky-blue coat and tangled white mane were not a surprise in here, what did startle me out of my anger was the pegasus’ wings: They were void of all their feathers, scars making it clear they had been violently pulled out. The appendages were even deformed and twisted, the mark of unattended fractures visible through the thin skin that covered them.
The Breton scurried to a corner of his cell, where he put my feathers at the top of an impressive heap of others, most likely plucked from other prisoners. There were a large number of them that matched his color, and numerous others were pink. He hugged himself to the pile, shivering and making small nervous noises that seemed almost mouse-like.
“His name is Pridetrotter, not quite fitting nowadays,” Apricot explained, making no effort to hide the melancholy in his voice. “He’s been here longer than even Bonetail.”
I sat back down, looking at the strange stallion, and noticed a tattoo, just under his hammer and chisel cutie mark. The symbol of Luna shone with luminescent ink upon the pegasus’ skin.
“What’s his story?” I asked, not without a slight hint of aversion.
“If the bandits are to be believed, he and his wife, Aura Mist were worshippers of Luna disguised as merchants. They held secret meetings and celebrations for the Moon Goddess, and were deeply in love.” Apricot scratched at the floor with a hoof, looking down. “The Thalmor caught them in one of their gatherings and brought them to the bandits that run this place. Here, the criminals mocked them and ravaged her, forcing Pridetrotter to look how they did it. They tore their feathers from their wings as they raped her.”
As the unicorn spoke, my mind conjured images of the strange stallion’s story. A tear ran down my cheek as I stared into the mangled pegasus’ eyes, his own pain and sadness constant, all other emotions gone.
“When they had their fill, the necromancers mutilated Aura and dragged Pridetrotter into his cage. He fought and rebelled, finally managing to take as many of their feathers as he could. He never spoke again, and has been collecting feathers ever since. The bandits keep him here mostly for their amusement I suppose.”
I couldn’t speak, my words lost to sadness. Instead I approached the limit of my cage closest to Pridetrotter’s and lay down.
“I got into this whole mess for acknowledging Luna too,” I whispered to him.
He looked surprised for a moment and then seemed to smile slightly, nodding slowly. I felt connected to him through our beliefs, as though I had known him for a long time. His story had reached deep into my emotions, and my heart mourned for his wife whom I had never met.
“Alright you disgusting piles of filth!”
I jumped at the sudden voice that boomed into the chamber. Three large ponies entered a moment after. One of them I recognized as the stallion who had knocked me out, Sweetroll…
Ugh, I wasn’t going to stop kicking myself for being caught by a pony called like that.
They were lead by a brick-colored Redguard Pegasus in fur armor. He was wearing one of his kind’s distinctive turbans over his head. The third pony was a ridiculously muscular Orc stallion.
The lumbering green beast wore no armor, his muscles simply rippled under his skin and a rope that circled his waist. A mace, similar in shape and rust to Sweetroll’s hung from the improvised belt. A shiver ran down my spine as I caught a glimpse of the over-sized lower fangs that protruded from the sides of his mouth. They were more like tusks than fangs.
“We ‘ave a special event going down for our customers over at the pit,” the Redguard roared. “A very prestigious ‘ol buck brought ‘is pet chaurus to ‘ive ‘is friends a demostrotation ‘o its eating habits.”
I had no idea what a “chaurus” was, but I could guess it was some kind of animal, a flesh eating one… a pony eating one.
“Guess who’ll be doin’ the part o’ the prey?” The pegasus chuckled with twisted delight. “Sweetroll, bring the Argonian.”
“Will do!” the bandit lackey trotted merrily to my cell.
“Me?! Why do I have to become the prey of some monster!?” I shrieked in my mind. There had to be a way to keep myself alive, but there was nothing I could do without weapons in that damned cage!
Keys rattled as the Imperial retrieved them from a hook on a stalagmite, next to a torch. That’s when I had an idea, but I had to act quickly.
I held both my front hooves up and frowned, trying my best to concentrate. The pain in the back of my head peaked, but I finally managed to channel magic through my body and let flames flash out of my hooves furiously.
Sweetroll yelped and stumbled back, falling on his butt and dropping the keys. I hissed; they’d fallen too far for me to pick them up.
“Impressive, looks like this lizard is smart enough to use magic,” the bandit leader huffed, amused by his underling’s clumsiness. “No use takin’ ‘im out, he might actually kill our customer’s pet.”
I sighed in relief, thankful I had only let out a quick blast. If they knew my actual grasp on destruction magic was as pathetic as I knew it was, I wouldn’t have been as lucky.
The startled bandit got up and angrily rattled my cage with his hooves.
“You’ll get what you deserve soon enough, Argonian.” He seethed.
I snorted and lunged at him, feinting. Sweetroll backed away into the table, his threat now lost in sight of his fear of me, I smirked.
“Stop foolin’ and get Bonetail. Just don’t feed the lizard for a couple o’ days. That should get ‘im nice and weak.” The leader ordered.
The Khajiit prisoner growled and arched his back while the bandit opened his cell, but he was too weak to do anything more.
Searing emotional pain slithered into my chest as I saw my actions condemn another pony to save myself. “Wait! Take me in his stead!” The Redguard’s words now hurt as I realized they were probably true; I might have been strong enough to hold my own against the chaurus, maybe I could have devised some strategy and the bandits would just have to deal with an angry bastard and I’d live to die another day. But Bonetail didn’t stand a chance.
Yet, fear held me in place, unable to speak up, unable to save the pony in whose death I had just played a part. He flailed with his clawed hooves and tried to wriggle himself free, but Sweetroll had tied a rope to his neck and his strong jaws would not let go.
The three bandits left the chamber with one of my new friends in tow. I curled up in a corner and held my hooves to my ears, trying to block-out the distant screaming of Bonetail as he was eaten alive by Luna-knew-what monstrosity.
Apricot sighed and lay down on his dirty pile of hay, Pridetrotter cradled his feather collection, muttering and mumbling fast and loud, trying to drown the screeches of agony with his voice.
Time went by, yet I didn’t know how much. Bonetail’s wails died down eventually, and then it was a monotonous come-and go of bandits. Was too shaken by where I was and what had happened to pay attention to anything, I simply stared at the disgusting haystack beside me until I was too tired to stay awake.
Images of death and despair forged my nightmares that night.
A full day passed. If one thing, I hadn’t expected being in constant danger and trapped in a hideout of evil ponies to be so… boring. The most exciting moment of the day was when Sweetroll brought food. It was a disgusting stew of who-knows-what that Apricot and even Pridetrotter ate hesitantly. I had been denied food, just like the Redguard had ordered, though frankly I didn’t mind at all. Being a prisoner quite honestly sucked.
Nighttime finally came, and I looked to Pridetrotter’s tattoo, raising a prayer to Luna. Of course I revered the other Divines and all, but night was always special to me, maybe because of my race. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, already accustomed to that cave’s stench.
I was suddenly snapped out of my reverie by the sound of rasping against my cage’s bars. I opened my eyes and noticed Pridetrotter looking at me intently.
When he noticed I was looking back at him he twitched and shuffled excitedly. He uttered some muffled gibberish and pointed to his tattoos and to the ceiling. He was definitely trying to tell me something, but I just didn’t understand.
The pegasus scurried to his feathers and lifted some in his mouth. They were all mine and had been tied together with his hair into a compact little bunch. He tossed into my cell and I looked at it with not a little disgust.
Then I noticed something strange, the feathers’ roots had been chewed and bent into a small hook-like shape. My eyes widened and I looked at Pridetrotter in shock. He had fashioned a lockpick out of my feathers!
Two other feathered lockpicks fell beside the first. I quickly stashed the two additional ones in my armor’s straps and held the other up with two hooves.
“This is amazing, Pride!” I exclaimed in a whisper. “But why did you wait all this time to make one? Why did you need my feathers?”
He held a bunch of pegasi feathers in his mouth and pushed them to the wall. The bent easily and fell to the ground twisted and useless. Argonian feathers were tougher than pegasi feathers! And it made sense too; we didn’t need lightweight feathers because we didn’t fly.
“If it weren’t weird and inappropriate,” and quite frankly disgusting, “I’d kiss you.”
Apricot turned to look at us drowsily and frowned. “You’ve been here a day and a half and you’re already shifting preferences, Khazur?”
I smiled at him and held up the feather lockpick. He squinted to get a better look, and then his eyes widened as did his smile.
“Pridetrotter… you are one beautiful stallion, did you know that?” The unicorn whispered excitedly.
“Time to put my unhealthy habits to good use,” I said, with a sly smirk.
I took the lockpick in my mouth and headed to my cell’s rusty gate. The feathers didn’t taste at all good, but I was going to get out! I would’ve eaten a full bowl of Sweetroll’s stew and rotting hay if it had helped us escape.
It was tricky, picking a lock with my bare hooves. I hissed angrily when the first lockpick snapped and quickly readied the next. A few turns and a click later, the iron creaked as I pushed through and out of my makeshift prison. I took a second to let the moment sink in and stretched.
I then quickly took the keys off the hook I had seen the bandits hang them from.
“Well isn’t this a rare opportunity.” I knew that voice, and how I hated t hear it.
Sweetroll was standing at the chamber’s entrance, two other lesser bandits stood at his sides with evil smiles. One of them had a steel sword that had taken numerous beatings but looked recently sharpened, the other two wielded rusty maces.
This was going to be fun…
The two unknown bandits charged at me, their weapons in their mouths. I held up a torture hook with my teeth and jumped out of the way of a mace. The sword whistled through the air blocked by my crude weapon. The force of the impact threw me against the table to my right, toppling it over.
“Khazur, focus!” Apricot yelled from his cell.
I frowned and managed to trip one of my assailants before getting up. I lifted his mace from the ground just in time to block another slash from the sword. Sweetroll screamed and lunged into the battle. I parried another sword strike and slammed the mace into its owner’s face. There was a sickening crunch and, just like that, I had taken the life of a pony for the first time.
The realization staggered me, and I felt the throbbing pain of a mace impact to my shoulder. I barely managed to block the steel sword with my mace again, and it slipped from my grasp, blood now dripping from my lips.
I managed to punch Sweetroll in the face with my hoof, but stumbled trying to evade the other bandit’s attacks. I fell on my back and saw the blade rear up for the kill. Then it just stayed there, held up by a lime-colored field of soft light.
“Get up!” Apricot screamed, his horn glowing with a similar light.
Unicorn levitation magic, where would ponykind be without you?
My sense of self-preservation took control of me and I leaped from the ground and slammed into the bandit, the sword clattered on the ground. I turned, bucking the criminal away. I took the sword in my maw and shifted once more to face the stallion I had just bucked.
The bandit had impaled himself into my sword in his eagerness to strike back. Two lives… three including Bonetail.
I pushed the corpse out of my newly acquired weapon and looked at the terrified Sweetroll. He had his hoof up, his mace precariously tied to his rustic utility horseshoe.
I was numb, blood from two other ponies smeared on my face. I looked at the Imperial like he was an animal, just one more beast standing in the way of me and survival. He must’ve seen my murderous gaze and tried to scurry off.
The clumsy bandit got his mace tangled in his hooves and tripped, the weapon slamming into his armpit and dislocating his right foreleg. He fell, sobbing and cradling his shoulder in pain. He tried to drag himself towards the exit, but was stopped by my sword through his back. He would not get up again.
As danger faded, my eyes widened and I fell to my haunches, the sword falling from my mouth. Blood, the blood of three ponies was now on my hooves… and on my face, and feathers, and body for that matter. I trembled, unable to avert my eyes from the corpse of the lowlife who had imprisoned me here.
“That’s the first time you’ve ever killed a pony…” Apricot said with a low voice, the realization striking him as odd. “Look, Khazur, it is not nice to kill, and I cannot say you will ever get used to it, but you need to hold together.”
I looked at him, tears I did not understand the reason for now streaming down my face. I was unable to speak, unable to move, so I just stared at my friend with eyes wide in shock.
“The world is perilous, and there are ponies who value money, power, and even fun over the lives of others. You need to be able to defend yourself even if it means killing… or you will be the one to die.” His patience was running out, I could sense it in his voice. “Right now, a whole lot of vicious thugs and most likely necromancers are wondering what all this racket was about. You need to free Pridetrotter and me and get out of here, preferably together.”
I nodded slowly, and blinked. He was right; I couldn’t just stay here and contemplate what I had done. I was alive, and I had made it possible to save my new friends… I had done what was needed to save us.
Burying my emotions deep down, I hurried over to Pridetrotter’s cell. The keys fit perfectly and he was free. The Breton smiled and took a moment to tie his collection of feathers to his back. I let him pick up a mace while I opened Apricot’s cage. The unicorn jumped out and hugged me.
“Months in this wretched place and it takes just a day to make a true friend.” He said before letting go.
I smiled. “Take Sweetroll’s mace, we’ll most likely have to fight our way out of here.”
“Alright, but let us be quiet and sneaky while we can,” he suggested and trotted over to my last… victim, picking up the weapon with his magic.
I picked up the steel sword in my mouth and glanced at the… homemade horseshoe that had just cost my enemy his life. The image of my own sword lopping my leg off because of it was enough dissuasion.
We scurried out of the chamber and into the narrow tunnels outside. Were these bandits ponies or ants? I had no idea how anypony could live in a place like this. The path was lit with ceramic lanterns that hung from the ceiling, evidently old and uncared for, some had gone out and others hung precariously on one side, pouring oil on the ground below.
The three of us continued through the tunnels, crouching and making as less noise as possible. I stepped on one of the oil puddles and we all froze, listening for any signs that we were detected.
“Be careful not to drop any of the ones still working into those puddles,” Apricot whispered.
“Hey, I’m Equestria’s number one pyromaniac, I know what happens to oil lanterns that fall in oil puddles,” I mumbled. “It’s fun, actually.”
Pridetrotter was at the back of the group, carefully unhanging lanterns and blowing out the fire if they were lit. Darkness filled the cave behind us, any pursuer would have a hard time moving fast through it.
We reached an area of the tunnels that expanded somewhat into a stone corridor that oversaw a circular area below. The high walls and dirt that lined the floor of the chamber below resembled a miniature arena.
“The Pit”, I didn’t infer that because of the architecture, but for the Khajiit bones that lay on the blood-smeared floor. And then I saw the most hideous, terrifying insect I had ever laid eyes on.
I had heard of Skyrim’s giant Frostbite Spiders, but this was a whole other world of creepy. The monster’s body resembled that of a wolf-sized cockroach with stone-like plates on its back. Enormous pincers protruded from the side of its head, pony meat still dangling from them. Its eyes were small and completely white and its four crab-like legs arched up around it. As if the creature didn’t look murderous enough, a second pair of pincers adorned the tip of its tail.
“Don’t tell me. That’s a chaurus, right?”
Apricot nodded slowly with widened eyes; clearly the monster had caused a powerful impression on him as well. Pridetrotter shivered.
“Hey! There’re escapees over there!” a bandit screamed as he pointed at us with a hoof.
Well mammoth shit! Bandits started flooding into the corridor from all sides, and we could hear them approaching behind us. I stood up and charged into the first bandit, parrying his own sword and shoving him off the low rail that looked over The Pit. Screams and the revolting sound of ripping flesh erupted from the chaurus’ impromptu feast.
Apricot hurried through the stream of enemies to the first one he saw with a bow and rammed his face in with the mace. Pridetrotter fought to keep the others away from the unicorn as he retrieved the bow, quiver and armor.
I jumped into the fray with my sword, my flailing at least keeping them at bay. I was getting nowhere without a leveled head, so I calmed down, parried an attack and in a single motion slit my attacker’s throat.
I was starting to get the hang of this!
Arrows started flying from Apricot’s magically-wielded Bow. He still needed to use one of the bandit’s horseshoes to knock arrows, but that made him no less formidable. One, two, three bandits went down in as many seconds. Whatever bad luck brought me to these damned caverns had been set right with my luck at finding powerful allies.
Pridetrotter had retrieved a couple of mechanical horseshoes, reliable ones, and was wielding a dagger on each, cutting down enemies as though he had never been imprisoned and famished. He kept the bandits at a safe distance after handing me another horseshoe, which I hastily strapped on and locked my sword in place.
Now I was really fighting! My blade whistled through the air, breaking an enemy’s wooden shield. I spun, tripping him with my tail and bringing my sword down through his chest. A female bandit jumped on me with a huge two-handed sword ready to crush me. I held my free hoof out in reflex and a blast of fire erupted from it. The bandit was distracted rather than hurt by it, but a moment later my weapon had pierced through her chin and out her forehead.
As we battled, I noticed Apricot was working his way to a tunnel that had moss and ferns growing around it. That was the way out of here! I fought harder, ignoring my exhausted muscles until finally all three of us were fighting off the horde of criminals together.
And then a blast of electricity blasted a chunk of wall just beside my head. I staggered back and shook my head, my ears ringing from the sudden burst. Five ponies in black cloaks had arrived, and around them the bodies of bandits we had fought hard to bring down were coming back to life. The undead ponies were enveloped in soft purple light, and their eyes glowed eerily. Necromancers had joined the battle… and were bringing back enemies while more kept coming from the tunnels.
Apricot barely dodged a powerful fireball, and had to pick up a dagger. The barrage of enemy arrows and magical projectiles made it impossible for him to use his bow. A fireball hit my left leg and an arrow grazed my right cheek. I knelt down growling, but shook of the burning pain and kept fighting.
The bandits and necromancers were now approaching slowly, forming a half circle around us.
“Looks like this is it, at least we didn’t make it easy for them,” I huffed, exhausted and defeated.
Apricot smiled worriedly at me and nodded. A shard of ice was impaled to his right shoulder, courtesy of a necromancer’s magic.
And then I smelled the sweet and penetrating scent of an oil lantern being lit. I turned to Pridetrotter, who was holding a lantern in his mouth as he glared at our assailants. That’s when I noticed the hall’s floor had been riddled with spilt oil. My pegasus friend had brought all the lanterns he had turned off with him, hidden under his feather stack! I looked at him and realization reached me. I shook my head slowly.
Apricot realized what was going on and pulled me back with his hooves.
“No, Pridetrotter!” I protested as the unicorn shoved me out through the damp tunnel and jumped in after me.
“AURAAAAAAAAA!”
Pridetrotter charged into our enemies, lanterns dangling behind him, and then a wave of heat and a deafening explosion blasted out. Apricot and I were flung through the tunnel and into the opposite wall, the vegetation closest to the previous chamber smoldering in the aftermath of my friend’s sacrifice. The pegasus who had made lockpicks with my feathers and ultimately gave us a chance to escape was now dead; He had given his life to save us, and in doing so avenged his wife.
I looked on into the burning tunnel, unable to speak, my mind utterly blank. Moonlight filtered through cracks in the cave roof and a soft night breeze blew into the crevasse, shifting the ferns that lay under me. Apricot put a hoof on my bruised shoulder; we both panted and trembled from exhaustion.
The unicorn reached into the bags of his bloodied fur armor and retrieved a pair of bottles, blackened with ashes and soot. I noticed the red liquid inside, and recognized them as potions of healing. He offered me one, and I took it, drinking its contents greedily. It was small, but I instantly felt my injuries start to close and heal. The wounds weren’t completely mended, but at least they became bearable.
My friend drank his own potion and threw the empty container away.
“Taking a respite from killing my band, you bastards?”
I winced as I recognized the Redguard Pegasus’ voice. This battle wasn’t quite done yet. I got up and readied my blade, my aggravation only worsening at the sight of the enormous Orc that stood beside the pegasus. I heard Apricot ready an arrow.
The leader took flight, brandishing a steel sword that glowed with eerie blue light; my friend shot arrows at him as he looked for an opening to strike us down. Meanwhile I jumped out of the way of the beastly lackey’s mace, which pulverized a chunk of cave wall. I grimaced, this was going to get nasty.
As if to answer my thoughts, the Orc bucked me as I tried to go around for an attack; I crashed into the wall behind me and gasped for air. Damn he was strong! Before I could get up, the Redguard swopped down for the kill. I managed to block his sword, but still he made a shallow cut into my back. I winced as the wound froze and stung deeper than the blade. It was a sword with a frost enchantment… great.
The Orc’s mace hit my already aching right shoulder; I spun in place and hit the ground from the force of the blow. By some miracle my foreleg was still in place, but the Redguard was swooping down for another go, I wasn’t sure I would be able to stop him this time.
An arrow embedded itself into the bandit’s left eye, and he crashed into the wall behind me, dead. I looked, surprised, at Apricot, who was a few feet away with a smile of satisfaction. A deep roar brought the enormous and angry Orc in front of me back to my attention. His mace barely missed crushing my skull as I sidestepped and tried to retrieve the pegasus’ horseshoe and enchanted blade.
Arrow upon arrow hit the beastly pony’s back, but it had only my death on his mind. I was not going to get the sword out of the dead Redguard before he tore me to pieces! I held my own sword up, and chance made a beam of moonlight shine on its blade and into the bandit’s eyes. He growled, blinded for an instant.
I didn’t think, I didn’t hesitate; my body instinctively leapt forward and blood splattered on my hooves. My weapon was driven through the Orc’s chest all the way to the hilt. The stallion glared at me as blood dripped from his reeking mouth. Panic overtook me as the monstrous thing didn’t fall, and I frantically twisted the sword around as much as I could. Finally the oversized buck let out a gurgling cough and fell to the cave floor, lifeless.
I staggered back, and, for Luna-knew what time that night, I fell on my butt and stared at the corpse of the formidable bandit.
Apricot started laughing, nervously at first, and then full heartedly. I laughed as well while he joined me and I finally retrieved the pegasus’ enchanted sword.
When we eventually calmed down, I sheathed my weapons and, with Apricot beside me, trotted out of the cave and into the forest outside. The sounds of nature surrounded me as I took a deep breath of relief and freedom and closed my eyes to thank Luna, Celestia, and all the other Divines for keeping me alive.
*** *** ***
ADDENDUM 3
The following pages are an addendum of texts and depictions of creatures, places, ponies, and relevant objects from this tale.
Though not fundamental to the understanding of the events, you are free to read on and delve deeper into the world of The Alicorn Scrolls.
Concept Art
Khajiit:
Cat-like race of Elsneigh. They are quick and nimble and are capable of seeing even through the thickest of shadows.
Like the Argonians, there is deep racism towards Khajiit from other pony races. Many times they are not trusted, and are seldom let into cities and keeps.
Though many try to accept their situation and establish commerce wherever they go, others turn to thievery or other crimes.
Wood-Unicorns:
A race said to derive from an attempted mix of High-Unicorns and Earth-Ponies, their native land is the province of Valenwood.
Excellent archers and masters of practical spells, this race possesses an acute connection to wildlife and nature. Through this bond they are able to tame many beasts and understand herbs and their effects with ease.
Their bodies are somewhat smaller than the majority of other races.
Necromancers:
Wizards that concentrate their studies and spells on the realm of the undead and the reanimation of corpses.
Though Necromancy itself is not prohibited since the disintegration of the Canterlot University of Magic, many fear it to such an extent they openly attack any who practice it. This pushes the more rebellious of these wizards to live in the wilderness and master their art in secret.
Usually, the term Necromancer is used to name the rebellious wizards, rather than just any wizard who knows spells of the undead.
Sweetrolls:
A sweet, sugary traditional bread quite popular in all of Equestria.
Redguard Pegasi:
A strong race of pegasi from the desert province of Hoofingfell.
Redguards are the largest of the pegasi races and their coats and manes tend to have brown or red colorings. Their bodies are muscular and their skin is rough from generations of desert-dwelling.
Quite possibly the fiercest warriors of Equestria, Redguards defeated the Thalmor after gaining their independence, something the Equestrian Empire itself failed to do.
Orc Ponies:
Beastly, muscular ponies from colonies in Hoofingfell and High Buck.
They are the most physically strong of all pony races and are thus greatly feared in combat. Though their appearance drives many away, they do not receive as harsh a treatment as Argonians and Khajiit.
It is said that the more these ponies are injured and frustrated in battle, the more powerful they become.
Chaurus:
Huge, predatory insects that inhabit the deep, dark caves of Skyrim.
Capable of spewing poison and ripping a pony to shreds, these vicious creatures live in social groups, and some have been domesticated.
They are many times found in Falmer Dog camps and settlements as pets or livestock.
