Chapter 4: Dream Come True
Resting under the moonlight on the soft forest ground was far better than the stinking cells of the bandit cave… infinitely better.
A few hours earlier, Apricot and I had traveled further into the forest looking for a place to rest. We eventually found a small area surrounded by great big boulders and a large, hollowed-out tree trunk. The makeshift little nest seemed like a palace chamber to me! After all that I had been through the last days, a skeever den would have looked inviting. In fact, a roast skeever was beginning to sound like an idea worth pursuing. Then my aching body made sure I remembered I was in no condition to chase after little critters to eat.
Thankfully Apricot was there and just as famished as I, so he set to gather any berries and edible plants he could from the foliage surrounding our new shelter. May Celestia bless the lives of every Wood-Unicorn and their skills with herb hunting and their knowledge of nature. The plants weren’t as good as a juicy piece of meat, but in the current circumstances they were as good as a king’s banquet. Furthermore, I did not know how my companion would react to an Argonian’s meat eating habits.
Fed and unbelievably tired, we let ourselves fall on the dry leaves and moss. My consciousness drifted and danced drunkenly around me for some time, yet deep sleep eluded me. I didn’t mind much, the scent of pine trees and damp soil was exquisite to me. The soft sounds of the night were soothing and the dim light of the moon helped put me at ease. My mind, blank and peaceful, slowly began turning dark. By the time I reacted, a horrid vision had crept to my mind’s eye.
It was the disfigured face of the first pony I had killed. A complete stranger, some bandit that had helped Sweetroll try to stop our escape… I had slammed a mace into his face and though I hadn’t seen the damage in my haste, my mind had found a fitting image of a grotesquely shattered head from the dark and unknown corners of my subconscious. My eyes were kept wide open after that.
It was quite easy to think of stories with great heroes severing heads and vanquishing foes in glorious and bloody battle, but they never mentioned the toll it all took on the heroes’ minds, or how gruesome and horrid battle truly was. As a younger colt I had been the first to jump in for play-fights and pretend adventures, but I had a childish vision of what battles were like. Even just a few days ago I still supposed that if the moment came I’d join the Imperial Army or the Brumare Watch and fight bad guys or serve as a spy or something. After what I had seen in battle, I was sure I would never get used to the bloodshed.
“Trouble finding sleep after your first kill?” Apricot’s voice whispered in the darkness.
I shifted a bit, embarrassed by what I considered lack of courage on my part. I nodded, turning to look at my friend. The Unicorn seemed happy, pleased even. I couldn’t help but frown at his expression; was he making fun of me?!
“Why are you smiling like that?!” I snapped.
“Ah, after seeing you battle in those caves, I was afraid I had helped set loose a fiend from the depths of Oblivion itself! It’s rather reassuring to see that I have befriended a pony who values life and finds little joy in the taking of it.”
I blinked, surprised by the answer. However my mind found it quite reasonable; I too should have been weary that my companion was not a blood-thirsty murderer. This point of view on my reaction to my first kill was comforting, for it meant I had a good heart… or at least I had some virtue left within me. And yet my heart was still troubled.
“What do you think happens to their souls? Or to whatever a Pony has that transcends the body? There is such a thing, right? We don’t just vanish, I hope.” I had read a bit about these topics in different cultures, but at the time I did not have the peace of mind to recall any of it.
“I guess it depends on what you believe in. Most Nord Ponies in Skyrim believe the souls of the virtuous reach the realm of Saddlegarde to forever feast and celebrate the great victories of ponykind. Others believe that we rest in the presence of the Divines, some more say that we become ancestral spirits to care for our descendants, and so on.” The Wood Unicorn waved his hoof around as he explained. “I for one believe we become one with nature once more and relish an incessant communion with the world and its balance until fate decides we should be reborn.”
An answer didn’t come from me for the longest time, I simply thought upon this. Did it really matter where we went? A lost life was a lost life no matter what became of the soul itself; knowing for certain its destiny did not condone killing its body. In any case, I was sure Pridetrotter was with Aura in whatever place or spiritual plane all the good ponies went to, he deserved at least that eternal peace.
My thoughts quieted after that conclusion, only coming back to show me an image of my brothers smiling. I had run, I had fought, and I had killed throughout the last few days and it felt like it had been weeks since I’d left Brumare. Now in this moment of peace and tranquility I was able to mourn the loss of my home and family, with the small consolation that they were likely still alive and well. I had no tears just then, the brutal reality I had faced so recently had hardened me against any sort of homesickness I could have felt for at least a few moments, yet my heart ached still. I tapped my hoof on my chest in an absent-minded rhythm; it somehow stopped sadness from being too strong to bear. I turned to my side so that Apricot couldn’t see when tears finally rolled down my face. I pondered once again the series of events that so quickly had turned my life upside-down, falling asleep amongst my regrets.
It must’ve been in the first minutes of dawn when I woke up suddenly, a falling sensation bringing me up to my hooves and driving all drowsiness away. I looked around, heavy mist blanketing the forest floor and making it impossible to see past a few feet in any direction. The only way of knowing there was anything under me was the soft cracking of dead leaves under my weight. Apricot was sound asleep, his figure a mere silhouette in the fog. I felt strange, almost panicked and my heart beat hard and fast, as though I were running despite my calm surroundings.
A petal then caught my attention as it lazily floated down from above. Its shape and color revealed it to be a Nightshade petal, a flower I had been familiar with as my stepmother loved those namesakes of hers. I simply stared at it, unable to understand why it had suddenly stopped right at the level of my snout, staying afloat as though held by an invisible thread. Was it caught in a spider web? Maybe it was floating between opposing winds? I blinked in surprise when the petal made a little loop in the air! It was alive, or something! It made another loop. I could almost swear it looked like it was beckoning me! I tried nudging it with my muzzle, but it darted off before I could touch it.
As any serious and respectable young adult I did what was dignified and correct… scrambling after the petal like a mad-horse! My hooves kicked up dirt and foliage as I galloped full speed after the unnatural little spot of lavender, my body finally joining my heart in its race. The forest seemed to disappear around me behind the grey curtain of fog and the blur of speed. The petal gave a tight turn to the left; I tripped, stumbled, and ended up crashing with a tree, I then grunted and shook off the crash, proceeding to press my pursuit. The thing made more sharp turns, weaving its way through the obstacles the forest threw at us. I couldn’t help but notice the petal always chose paths I would have little obstacles to follow, making it evident I was not chasing it as much as it was leading me somewhere.
Soon enough I perceived the grey fog had been steadily gaining an orange hue and the unmistakable smell of smoke filled my nostrils, which I instinctively wrinkled. The petal and I picked up the pace as distant screams rose. I shivered; was the petal leading me to whatever disaster was occurring? My answer came soon enough as the fog gave way to pure smoke and the forest became a ruined city. The petal had disappeared behind a ruined tower surrounded in flames. I fell flat on my rump panting and wincing from the sting of smoke in my dry mouth. I closed my eyes, cleaning the sweat from my brow, opening them to see that a Flame Atronach was now standing with its back to me, looking frantically around.
I froze in place; Flame Atronachs were not creatures to be messed with. I reached for my ice sword only to find that I had forgotten to bring my weapons in my haste to catch the nightshade petal. All I had now was hoof-to-hoof combat and my fire spells, the first I had always been rather lousy at and the second would only make the monster stronger. Well, as I’d always say: stealth is the better side of valor. I crouched down, anxiously searching my surroundings for a hiding place or a weapon, all to no avail. I was now close to the edge of the ring of flames that surrounded the area, the only building was the tower and I had no way of getting to it without being spotted by the fire-clad mare.
And then the Atronach turned to see me.
I stood up in surprise and confusion as the glowing features of the creature bore a deep and heart-breaking sadness. It didn’t seem surprised by my presence at all, looking at me in the eyes with that unbearable melancholy. The ground shook under my hooves and a deafening roar unlike anything I had heard before brought me to the ground clenching my reptilian ears.
I looked up to see an enormous black figure rise from behind the tower, spreading its wings out in a terrifying display of power and size. I had never seen one before, but I knew it was a Dragon. The colossal monster’s scales were thick and jagged, black as the night and yet retained a sheen I would only dream of having on my own hide. It’s fearsome red eyes were fixed on the Atronach and it roared once more before it reached down and swallowed the daedra whole!
My eyes widened and I scrambled back in terror, the heat of the flames behind me stopping me from going back any further. The behemoth turned to look at me next, the Atronach’s dying flames seeping through its blade-like fangs. I froze under the dragon’s demonic gaze and cringed as its deep and powerfull voice boomed with a language I did not recognize.
“Yol toor shul.”
A sea of flames erupted from the monster’s jaws and covered me as a tidal wave from hell. I let out a scream of pain and death.
I woke up with a start, the fires from my nightmare still in my mind’s eye. I breathed heavily, thick sweat trickling down my body. It was morning, the sun shining through the trees of the forest through clear air. There was no fog, no smoke, and no floating petals, only calm and the soft forest floor.
“Must’ve been quite the nightmare,” Apricot said from his perch up in a tree, his bow at his side.
I looked up at him, my eyes still wide. One thing did remain from my dreams though: My heart still beat fast. “Apricot, follow me.” I said, and galloped off in the direction I had chased the nightshade petal in my dream.
“Woah, wait up, what’s the hurry?!” My friend jumped off from his branch and hurried up behind me, neighing in distress.
“I don’t know exactly.”
We raced through the forest, it all looked so different without the fog and yet each landmark and obstacle was there. We were more than half way through when Apricot sped up to reach my side.
“I know this area Khazur, we’re close to Haygen… Why are we here?” he inquired with a worried look.
I took a deep breath, if this Haygen place was a town, my fears had been realized. “The scent in the air, smoke, the kind that comes from burning houses,” I huffed, too shocked to say anything else.
Apricot sniffed the air as we hurried, eyes widening as the scent struck him as well.
We did not speak again until we reached a great stone gate, which was not quite as I remembered from my dream; the fire had long since burned out and remained only in patches scattered across the town Apricot had identified as Haygen. The stone structures were crumbled and many bore inexplicably enormous claw marks, houses and businesses were reduced to piles of smoking rubble. Here, there were no longer screams of terror… all that remained were cries of agony and despair. Ponies of all kinds galloped, limped, or crawled out of the main gate; many would likely die in a matter of minutes due to their wounds, many others would live forever crippled or scarred.
I felt a shiver run down my spine as my nightmare seemed to have been a vision of what had happened to this town. I frowned and turned to Apricot.
“We’re going in there and helping everypony we can, let’s split up.” I huffed and tapped the ground with my hoof. “When you can’t see any more survivors you get to the main gate, I’ll meet you there.”
“Right away chief!” Apricot said with a grin though his tone was serious.
He started for the disaster zone; I stopped him with a hoof before he got too far. Had he seriously just accepted orders from me? I mean I had sounded bossy but…
“Chief?” I asked, still panting from our mad run.
“Well of course, Khazur. You are the enigmatic one who knew exactly where to go, you fought valiantly yesterday, and quite frankly I despise being in a position of authority. So yes, Chief Khazur you are!” He smiled at me before lowering my hoof and heading off to do as I had instructed.
I looked at him go unable to react much more than just stare. It was an unexpected thing to suddenly be the chief of a band of two. Whatever our band was about I wasn’t exactly sure, in fact I’d expected Apricot to leave to attend to his own business after the bandit cave. Whatever the case may have been now was not the time to think about it, so I shook my head and galloped through the gates of Haygen and into hell itself.
There was panic within the walls; ponies looking for loved ones and finding them dead or dying, livestock stampeding into buildings and everypony needed help. How was I even going to start?! With a sudden shriek, a group of foals caught my attention as they frantically ran from panicked oxen. I dashed towards them, launching a stream of flames from my hoof to scare the animals into changing direction. One slipped past my spell and continued its mad chase, to which I cursed rather gallantly. The streets narrowed with flames and wood to the sides making it impossible for the little ones to dodge the raging bull.
“Don’t stop kids! I got this!” I yelled.
Carrying on with my sprint, I pushed through the burning and weakened wooden walls of a store all the way to the other side and into the narrow alley, the foals and ox heading towards me rapidly from my left. I turned to face them brandishing my ice sword in one hoof and my fire spell in another. It was always hard to stand on just my hind legs, but I managed to crouch down so I could rest my sword’s blade on my opposite forearm in readiness. From this point the bull seemed even larger and it sent a shiver down my spine.
“Hurry up behind me!”
The terrified little ponies picked up their pace as best they could and hurried past me, the deranged animal now almost upon me. I could feel its breath on my face, time slowing down to a crawl while my mind focused on my next movements. I sidestepped and rose, drawing an arch upwards with my blade and cutting deep into the beast’s shoulder and neck. The flesh froze from my weapon’s enchantment. Quickly I used my momentum to spin out of the way and sever one of the ox’s front legs. Fire burst from my hoof as my target stumbled past me in pain and confusion, putting it out of its misery as fast as I could. Looking back at it now it must have been a pretty darn good show of skill and general badassery.
The creature lay lifeless before me, its fur set aflame from my spell. It was a shame I had to kill it, but now the foals were safe. The four of them approached me with tears drawing lines on their soot-covered faces.
“Thank you Mr. Argonian,” the bravest of them squeaked while the others simply looked at me with a mix of fear and gratitude.
“Hey don’t mention it, now follow this alley to the gate, wait for a safe moment to cross and wait for help.” I tried smiling… without showing my teeth; my kind had rather intimidating mouths.
“What about our parents?!” another spoke up, all four looking at her and then at me as they shared her worry.
“I’ll try and find them but you all have to get out of here now.”
There was a loud cracking noise a few blocks away, and screams muffled by walls. I gave the foals a nod and hurried out of the alley and towards the screams. I came to a house with burning rubble blocking the entrance; part of the ceiling had collapsed and demolished the other exits. Once more the screams of survivors made their way out of the walls and my mind raced to find some way to go in and help them escape.
Right about then I wanted to just smash the wall with a mace or something, but this house was made mostly of stone and in its current state I feared it would cave in at any moment. I climbed what was left of the adjacent building in a hurry, trying to find a hole on the roof big enough to pass through without bringing more of it down. I found one that just barely sufficed.
“Hey, anyone alive in there?! Can you hear me?!” I called out.
A family of four Dark Unicorns hurried to the hole and tried their best to look at me. They were all different shades of blue and their red eyes showed only fear and despair. I knew the only reason they were alive was their natural resistance to fire, but even that wouldn’t keep them alive forever. I spotted a wooden pillar that had fallen from the building I was on, hanging over the house.
“Alright, stay calm; I’ll get to you soon!”
Swallowing my fear I carefully made my way to the pillar and hung from it from all my legs, worming my way to the tip. I took hold with my tail, which thankfully was a nice prehensile reptile tail. I stretched down till I could almost touch the edge of the hole in the roof.
“Climb!” I said, already tensing my muscles to allow the family to use me as a rope to reach the pillar. “One at a time, though, the pillar won’t take everypony’s weight!”
The parents hurried the youngest of their offspring up, the filly crying as she held my hooves and then continued up. She reached the pillar and whimpered, terrified at the hight she had reached.
“Atta girl, very good! Come on sweetie just a little further.” I cooed, trying my best to encourage the young pony.
The filly finally made it across the pillar to the relative safety of the other building. Next was a teenage colt, who had been arguing that his mother go first. It took all my willpower not to scream at them to just get on with it! At last he climbed up, going as fast as he could. I looked at him and nodded to his sister; he nodded in return and helped the filly down to solid ground.
The mother was much heavier than her children, and I heard the pillar creak as our combined weight strained it. I noticed both parents were exhausted; they had likely used most of their magic keeping the family safe all this time. This made her progress to safety slow and, dare I say, frustrating.
“Keep going miss, you’re almost safe!”
Finally it was the father’s turn. He held on to my hooves and pulled himself up with a groan, however the pillar had had enough and it snapped in half, plunging both of us into the doomed house. The filly gave a shriek as she watched us fall, next I knew my face hurt like hell and I was lying beside the unicorn I had been trying to save. I got up and helped him to his feet.
“What now?!” he asked in panic.
I looked around the flaming structure, finding a rubble-covered window we could charge through… maybe.
“We bust out of here, that’s what we do.” I locked hooves with him and we both nodded, galloping towards our only chance at escape.
The sting of pain coursed through my shoulder all the way to my lower back as we slammed the rubble hard and burst through it. I closed my eyes tight as splinters drove themselves deep into our skin, drawing out blood. A full story later found us on the street bellow, the impact forcing the air out of my lungs and the sticky sensation of blood soon coursed down my face. The Dark Unicorn let out a scream as one of his hooves bent sideways rather grotesquely.
I got up as fast as I could, my legs wavering and trying their best to adjust to the dizziness that had overtaken me. The family was now reunited, the mother and older colt helping the father up as the filly looked at all three with a mix of worry and happiness. We all nearly fell from the tremor the house caused as it gave way and collapsed behind them.
“We owe you our lives, Argonian,” the stallion panted, wincing while his wife plucked the splinters out of his shoulder with her mouth.
That must have been the first time in my life I had somepony refer to me by my race without it sounding derogatory... it felt good.
“Are days in Skyrim always this… eventful?” I asked, not entirely joking. “I’ve just had a very peculiar streak of disasters on my first days here.”
“I-I don’t think so. The stormcloaks and imperials fight quite far from most settlements; all we usually get are wolves and the occasional bear.” The stallion responded with a worried frown.
“What exactly happened here?” I looked around. At a glance, there seemed to not be any more ponies to save… then again I could have been too dizzy to see them.
“We don’t know,” the mare’s voice quivered, “we were all in the house when the screaming and the roaring happened! W-we didn’t dare go out and see what was happening. By the time we did, we were already trapped inside.”
The stallion nuzzled her before turning back to me. “I did manage to see out a window, but all I saw was-“ He interrupted himself his eyes growing wide. “Wispy Mist!”
“The what now?”
He tried to run off, but immediately fell as his injured hoof refused to hold his weight. “My eldest daughter! The Thalmor used the chaos to take her! S-she’s a stormcloak sympathizer!” he exclaimed. “Please, friend, you must save her! They’ll kill her!”
Oh my blood boiled, it boiled like it hadn’t boiled since Brumare. Not another pony forced out of her home and life by those freaks, not another one like me! Shaking what was left of my unsteadiness away I looked around once more, quickly making sure the town was practically deserted by now, with no lives left to be saved.
“APRICOT!” I called out, unable to hide the rage in my voice. “Sir, which way were the Thalmor headed?”
“They left that way, towards Riverwood.” He pointed weakly with his head.
My friend reached me shortly after. His coat stained with blood that was not his own. I nodded to the Dark Unicorn.
“Come on Apricot, we have a mare to save,” I said, my voice stern, “Guide the way to Riverwood.”
“You got it chief!” He saluted before hurrying ahead, I followed.
“Thank you so much, Argonian!” The mare called out. “By what name shall we remember you!?”
“Khazur!” I answered from afar, too focused on galloping forward to say anything else.
The flaming ruins of Haygen grew smaller as we rushed away through a rugged old road surrounded by trees and pockets of ice from melted snow. The cold air hurt in my throat, reminding me of home and further hardening my resolve to save this “Wispy Mist” girl. My hoofsteps kicked up more rocks and dirt, I was rather pissed off, hell, I wasn’t keen on killing but a Thalmor taking away yet another pony’s home and family… now that was an exception I’d enjoy making.
As we ran I explained the situation to Apricot in as few words as I could. I didn’t want to talk too much anyway with how dry my throat felt. My friend arched an eyebrow and nodded.
“We probably should have found some better armor before rushing out,” he commented.
I looked down at my pitiful leather armor’s chest and sighed with exasperation. “Yeah, we’ll just have to yank one off those Thalmor bastards.”
“Well said.”
We remained silent for a good quarter of an hour before the sound and smell of a river reached our ears under the sound of our hooves. The air was moist here, helping with my throat; another good thing coming our way was the sound of a carriage around a curve in the path where it bent to follow the river. It was a heavy prison-carriage from the sound of it, which meant they were surely our target and that it was likely they hadn’t heard us. Furthermore, the vehicle didn’t sound like it was moving fast at all, possibly thinking they were safe now.
They had another thing coming… a whole other deadly thing.
Not losing a moment, we left the path, crouching down in the foliage on the roadside to hide our advance. Plants here were lusher and made much better hiding spots than back near the town. Because I had sneaked around my entire life and Apricot had worked with bandits, it was really not that much of an effort to reach our target without being noticed. The carriage came to view and with it, five Thalmor Unicorns in full guard raiment serving as escorts and a single large Nord pulled the vehicle with an impressive yolk. The heavy iron cage at the back of the carriage rattled with every bump and stone on the road, inside was a tired-looking Dark Unicorn mare. She must’ve been barely an adult; however I couldn’t make out much of her features through the cage.
I cursed under my breath; the Nord was almost as big as an Orc! His muscles rippled under his crimson coat sporting a big green apple cutie mark. The stallion’s amber mane was stuck to his broad neck with sweat… I must admit he was intimidating to say the least.
“Don’t be distracted by the nord, there’s a mage up near the front,” Apricot whispered, “He’s the real threat.”
I nodded and kept moving slowly ahead, we were now following the edge of the path, hidden and ready to strike. My heart was going nuts and I was pretty sure I’d die a young pony at this rate… yet I remained focused.
“You’ll have to take out the mage with an arrow before anything, I’ll charge in once you do. Then I’ll need you to cover me from here,” I explained my plan quietly.
“Got it, just give me the signal and I’ll punch a hole through his ear and out the other.”
I pointed to where the edge of the path rose and formed a small, steep ridge beside the road. “When we reach the top of that hill, shoot.”
We continued quietly stalking the convoy until we got to the aforementioned point. The soft creak of Apricot’s bow was all the warning they got, a split second later my friend’s deadly arrow whistled through the air and embedded itself in the mage’s skull with a sickening crack and a splatter of blood.
And for the third time in just two days, all hell broke loose.
I screamed at the top of my lungs and jumped down the ridge with both my swords unsheathed. The landing was ungraceful and sloppy, but both my weapons had pierced through another Thalmor and my weight alone finished the deal. Not that I was fat or anything but… whatever. I spun, already expecting attacks at my sides, but my swords were stubbornly stuck in my last kill. I wiggled and shook them to try and dislodge them to no avail.
“Can’t anything go right once in a while?!” I reared up with an angry growl, shielding myself from a sword blow with the corpse.
With three swords dug into it, the body was too heavy to swing around anymore, but this let me finally retrieve my weapons. Two arrows were now deep in my assailant’s flank and yet it pressed the attack. We had a rather quick sword-fight before the ice magic of my right-hand sword weakened him enough to bring down.
“Behind you!” I heard the voice of the mare warn me.
I turned, but my enemy’s blade was all but upon me already. Well mudcrab shit… I braced, shutting my eyes and pressing my lips, however all I got was a scare from a sudden loud slam and crunching sound. I opened my eyes to see the bulk of the Nord pony standing victorious over a brand new dead unicorn that had been about to kill me. I blinked in surprise.
“Wait, you’re on our side?” I still couldn’t believe we were this lucky for once.
“Eeyup,” was all he answered with a deep yet unexpectedly warm voice.
I managed to smile for a second before the crackling sound of electricity reached me and I let out a painful scream as the shock snaked through my body making me shake and convulse violently. An arrowshot and a big red Nord punch later, the shock spell-slinging Thalmor was dead and I was a very relieved and fuzzy-feathered Argonian, if twitchy and a tad bit in pain.
“Thank you so much! I thought I was going to be executed for sure!” the mare exclaimed, pressing her face against the bars.
“Don’t you fret milady, Khazur here was kind enough to come rescue you upon your father’s request.” Apricot said, smiling his damn handsome Wood Unicorn smile whilst sliding down the ridge.
“Well, not four days ago I got chased out of my own home by Thalmor, I wasn’t about to see it happen to someone else and not do anything,” I said nonchalantly, looting the corpses around us.
There was a small uncomfortable silence, had I said something wrong?
“N-not to sound ungrateful or anything but, why don’t you get me out of this cage before stealing from the dead?” Oh I was going to enjoy talking to this one…
“Alright let’s get one thing straight, my friend and I just risked our flanks for you and fought hard against these pieces of shit. We deserve to at least get something out of it… besides saving you, lass,” I tried keeping my voice steady and sound as polite as possible.
“Yeah, good deeds alone don’t fill stomachs! Or purses… or keep you safe from further harm…” Apricot added in.
“Eeyup.” Well, I liked this Nord guy, stallion of few words. He did only take a sword, though. As if he needed a weapon at all, I thought.
The mare huffed, slightly exasperated. “Fine, fine, just get the key and open this damn cage please.”
I nodded with a smirk and searched for the key amongst the dead. I also managed to get a nifty new leather armor from the carriage’s bags! It was very much like the one I already had on, but it actually looked like it could protect me… I slipped into it right away before continuing my search, which bore fruit quite soon.
I opened the cage, letting Wispy Mist jump out. She shook a bit and stretched, letting out a sigh of relief.
Alright so by now it’s pretty clear I’m a colt, and in fact the mess my life was in all started with a mare. Well damn me to oblivion I was still male, and my previous experience had done nothing in the ways of making me weary of the fair sex. While Wispy was no Cherrytip Winterfruit, she had a rather exotic and more down-to-earth flair. Her coat was a pale beau blue, making her wine mane and tail stand out, and her practically glowing red eyes did help with her simple yet outlandish allure. She styled her mane to a side and back, a braided lock hanging at the opposite side of her face, which had sickle-shaped red war paint over her left eye. Her tail had a similarly braided lock, and both were not too long or too short. Her cutie-mark was an herb in a mortar, so she must’ve been good at alchemy I figured.
I managed to check her out quickly, advantage of being my brothers’ step-brother. Sure, there was a bit of a sting from my conscience but hey, nature be nature and colts be colts.
“Nice to properly meet you Wispy Mist,” I greeted, not remembering I was annoyed at her a second ago. “This here is Apricot Core, and I am Khazur Marrak.”
Apricot bowed in an exaggerated way. “Humble adventurers and random do-gooders… or so it seems.”
She arched an eyebrow and smiled, amused. “Or so it seems?”
“Yeah, we don’t exactly know what we are yet,” I shrugged, “We kind of just started this… line of work.”
“You’re good at it, though.” She said looking around. “You got me convinced anyway.”
I turned to look at the big Nord Pony, holding a hoof out to him. “And you? What’s the name behind the muscle?”
“Big Macintosh,” it was a nice name; easy to remember. And it was spot-on too, especially the big part.
Another silence came by, which I broke with a clap of my hooves.
“Alright, let’s be off, I’m sure Wispy’s family misses her and we two should get on with out adventuring. Riverwood sound good, Apricot?” I smiled that stupid smile I had when I wasn’t exactly sure how to continue a conversation.
“It has a tavern, I’m in need of one, aye, sounds good,” He said with a wry smile. “Where would you be heading, Mac?”
“Riverwood too. Mah family lives there.” His thick accent kind of reminded me of sweetroll, only smarter and less annoying.
“Hey! I’m going with you guys!” Wispy said with a frown.
I looked at her and tried my best smile. “It’s all well with the gratitude and all that but really, Haygen’s a mess and your family is waiting for you.”
Wispy looked away. “I was leaving for Whitetrot tomorrow anyway… I-it’s not that I don’t want to see them but maybe all this happened for a reason... I-I mean it just feels like I was forced out of my comfort zone to grow up a-and going back to my family would just take things back... I’ll look for a courier in Riverwood and send them a letter… I’m sure they’ll be heading for Foalkreath with my uncles.”
“You sure? Knowing our luck we’ll only run into more fights, danger, and beasts along the way…” I looked at her worriedly. She seemed like a nice girl if preachy, and it had taken effort to save her.
“The Thalmor may have caught me by surprise, but I got destruction spells that can help you guys out, also healing spells. A-and I can brew potions! Come on, I’m as useful a pony as you’ll find!”
I crossed my front hooves and arched an eyebrow. “Can you do fire-spells?”
“Three different types and I’m really good at two of them.” She said with pride.
“Are you willing to teach them to me?”
“Sure, I can handle that!”
“…Alright then, but you better be careful.” I said turning to continue down the road.
Apricot and Wispy both cheered and shared a high-hoof. “Welcome to Khazur’s band, Wispy!”
Finding a better name for the group suddenly gained a very high priority in my to-do list. Then again the rest of my to-do list was only: get to Riverwood, eat, and sleep for now.
We walked along the path at a relaxed pace, which my brain took advantage of to start going through the events of the day. My dream had come true at least to a certain extent, but what had the petal meant or was it some kind of entity trying to communicate with me? Why had the vision included an Atronach? Though the biggest question, and by far the most disturbing, was if Haygen had truly been attacked by a dragon.
The afternoon sun shone through the trees, sparkling against the river’s surface. It was a beautiful scene, contrasting the horror and destruction I had witnessed that morning. My answers, it seemed, would have to wait until we got to Riverwood.
Level up to 2
Attribute strengthened: Stamina
Aquired Sneak perk: Stealth (1/5)- You are 20% harder to detect while sneaking.
*** *** ***
ADDENDUM
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
Skeevers:
Large, vicious rodents native to Skyrim. Considered pests and vermin, they carry diseases and some can even poison their victims. Aside from their tails being used for Alchemy, bandits and hunters hunt and eat them in times of scarcity, some even like it.
Oblivion:
The mysterious and dangerous realm of the daedric princes. It is comprised of several planes upon which a daedric prince rules. When used in common conversations, the word tends to refer to hellish planes such as that of Mehrunes Dagon. In a way, it is hell itself.
Saddlegarde:
The afterlife, as believed by Nord Ponies. It is a realm where spirits who proved their worth in battle when they were alive can rest and enjoy the eternal peace in a great Hall, celebrating a magnificent and never-ending banquet.
Nightshade:
A beautiful yet infamous flower with dark green leaves and lavender petals. It is mainly used in the brewing of potent poisons, the petals alone already rather dangerous. It is also known amongst the more adept alchemist that it may be used to brew potions that augment a pony’s destruction magic.
Dragons:
Ancient and powerful creatures thought to have been extinct for millennia. According to the History of Equestria, Dragons once dominated the world and held ponykind under a harsh, tyrannical rule. These creatures are believed to have been much smarter than ponies and were the first to wield the ancient power known only as “the Voice”. To this day, any who manage to learn this power must pronounce its spells in the language of Dragons, for it is through this dialect that it’s magic is channeled.
Haygen:
A small and peaceful town that once thrived as the only other “friendly” settlement in the Foalkreath hold. Thalmor had peace here as the Imperial Guard was in control of the settlement.
Dark Unicorns:
Exotic and mysterious unicorns native to the land of Marewind, also known as Dunmer. They are usually reserved and distrusting even amongst themselves, though some of the younger generations outside of their native land have adopted more foreign mindsets. Known for their strength, cunning, and prowess in combat both magical and physical, they are one of the more balanced and versatile of pony races. In Skyrim, they don’t suffer the same prejudice high-elves do, however their race is seldom let into higher places of society.
Their coats are mostly all different shades of blue and grey, not lively colored at all except for their manes and tails that can be red or white, though the more common color is black. Often said to be uncanny or creepy because of their red eyes. They have a natural resilience to fire and are many times referenced and represented by the element itself.
Riverwood:
A small rural village built on the eastern bank of White River in the Whitetrot hold. It is used as a stopping point by travelers on the road from Haygen to Whitetrot.
Mudcrab:
Large crustaceans native to most bodies of water across the Equestrian Empire. They are slow though adept at camouflaging themselves as rocks to catch prey by surprise. Their meat is considered a delicacy by some ponies.
Whitetrot:
Name for both the central hold in Skyrim and its capital city. The hold is mainly plains and tundra crisscrossed by rivers and creeks, ideal for farming. It also holds Skyrim’s highest peak: Throat of the World. The city is located at the very center of the hold and was erected as a high fortress. It is divided into two districts and the castle itself which is known as Dragonsreach, famous as the place where an ancient king imprisoned a dragon in the days of yore. Because of its centric location, it is a popular stop in many a trading route as well as an ideal commercial hub. Another notable feature of Whiterun is that it houses the center of operations of the mercenary and adventurer group known as “The Companions”.
Foalkreath:
A small hold that once belonged to the province of Cyrodiil. It’s only two notable settlements are Haygen and its capital, also named Falkreath. It is situated along the southern border and is comprised of mainly woodland. Its most prominent feature would be Lake Ilinalta, the largest in Skyrim. The city is more a farming community than anything else and is famous for its peace, quiet, and beauty. The most interesting point of interest of the city is its burial grounds, where the great kings of Skyrim are buried.