Oghren kicked at the dirt as he sighed in boredom. The local tavern had kicked him out, a judgment that seemed a tad extreme to the dwarf. Whilst in a drunken haze, he had only smashed half their tables, chopped their bar in two, broken the nose of a stallion and marked his territory in one of the corners. He had thought the last one was rather funny, given the four-legged animal patrons who surrounded him. The many Ferelden bars he had been banned from were for far worse reasons, he couldn't fathom the true reason for gaining their ire.
Now, with nowhere to go and nothing to drink, the dwarf was at a loss. All he was able to do now was aimlessly wander about Ponyville, his attempt to find something, anything that would save him from the mind-numbing nothingness that was currently facing him.
Strangely enough, as if an unforeseeable force heard him in his hour of need, something did indeed make its way to the dwarven Warden.
As Oghren turned into a small alleyway, he stopped as his keen warrior sense, while not currently being diluted by alcohol, made him aware that he had been followed. Turning on his heel, the dwarf looked in the direction behind him and saw a unicorn with an aquamarine coat standing just a few feet away. A large grin parted the mare's lips wide, giving an easy glimpse at her white teeth.
While the dwarf looked at the pony questioningly, she began to step forward. Her movements were slow, like a wild cat stalking its prey. The large eyes she had were unblinking as her pupils never left the Grey Warden for a moment, almost appearing as lifeless as a doll's.
When the unicorn was only a few inches from the dwarf, her grin seen to grow even larger, her eyes sparkling with building joy that threatened to flood out like a broken dam. “H-hello, tiny human,” she greeted, her voice shaking slightly with excitement.
Oghren glared at the creature in front of him, a scowl forming on his face. “I'm no sodding human,” he said curtly. “I'm a dwarf, a mighty good specimen of one too.”
“Is that what they call a tiny human?” the mare asked, clearly not understanding him.
“No,” Oghren growled, actually feeling insulted to be compared to them. “Dwarves are ten times better than any human could ever be!”
Almost regretting his reply, the dwarven Grey Warden was surprised as the mare squealed in joy. “Really?” she gasped. “That's amazing!” Her eyes then began to look the dwarf up and down, making him feel like a dirty noble hunter being sized up. As she had gotten a fill of her sightseeing, the unicorn's gaze lingered longingly on the grubby hands that were at his sides, and she whispered, “You have really nice hands.”
Though having never expected to be given such a compliment, it didn't stop Oghren from gazing on his own appendages with interest. “Well, they've never done me wrong before,” he said, remembering the feeling of his fingers wrapped around his ax, clutching a bottles and mugs filled with his favorite ales, pressed gingerly around his favorite blade as he gave it a good polish.
As the dwarf began to smile happily at his good, hand oriented memories, the aquamarine unicorn began to look around hesitantly. With blushing cheeks, she inched herself closer toward the Grey Warden. “Um... c-can I ask you a favor?” she asked, her eyes filled with hope and need.
Then Oghren didn't refuse her outright, it was response enough for the mare to ask her favor. Practically leaning against the dwarf, the unicorn brought her muzzle to his ear and whispered in a hushed tone so only the dwarf would hear. As she spoke, Oghren's expression began to shift. It started off as startled confusion, having never expected such a thing from one of the colorful pony creatures. Then, as she made her request clear, the dwarf's lips twisted into a sleazy grin that he wore just as easily as his own armor, immediately knowing that he would indulge the mare with whatever she needed.
As the morning sun was already hovering above the land, Twilight began to stir from her slumber. Feeling the warm light on her face, she opened her eyes and was greeted with bright shine of daylight and the earthy aroma of the Everfree forest. Her drowsy mind beginning to work at full speed, the scholar's thoughts quickly turned to her last memory of the previous night.
Looking down on herself, Twilight was surprised as she only looked upon her own bare body. A soft chuckle caused her sights to dart toward the middle of the clearing, seeing the commander already on his feet, stretching his arms and back with moans of relief while his stiff joints popped and cracked. She then noticed the piece of attire that he was wearing, his shirt, in its rightful place over his chest.
“So you're up too, huh?” he murmured, bending his limbs several more times before he slung his sword over his back.
Twilight was simply lied there, looking off aimlessly as her mind began to race with questions. Thoughts on the previous night began to force her to bring up an important debate, the reality of that very night.
The more she thought about it, the more she questioned it. There was no way for her to truly know, the idea of asking was out of the question, for so many reasons that she didn't even want to bring up. Besides that, one detail continuously plagued her thoughts, forcing her to think on all that had been occurring in recent events. If it had been an illusion of her own mind, then why?
Unable to see the internal storm raging inside the unicorn's mind, the Warden held a pleasant look about him as he approached the mare. “You ready to get going?” he asked. “I'm sure everyone's getting a little worried about us.”
Twilight couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of her friends worrying about her, despite both of them being perfectly fine and in no danger whatsoever. She continued the smile as she eyed the commander and nodded. “Yeah, let's go,” she replied.
This time, there wasn't a tense moment or hint of unease as the human knelt down and scooped the mare up into his arms. As she adjusted herself, becoming as comfortable as she could be, Twilight gave a firm nod to the commander, who returned the gesture and set off into the forest.
A thick silence developed quickly between them both as the commander marched on, Ponyville in his sights. For the Grey Warden, he was simply preoccupied with getting them both home to safety, but Twilight's own stilled tongue was brought on by her own rampaging thoughts, questioning everything over and over again until her head was beginning to hurt. Just as it felt like she would explode into a torrent of questions and demanding answers, she was surprised as another voice spoke first.
“Twilight,” the commander said, his voice barely above a murmur.
“Yes?” the curious unicorn replied, eying the human questioningly.
Before he said another word, Twilight could feel the Warden's chest rise and fall as he heaved a sigh saying, “Have you ever felt as though you have failed those closest to you?”
Confusion was what showed itself in Twilight's expression, as plain for the commander to see as the trees that surrounded them. It was a strange question, one that the scholar had no real way of answering as abruptly as it was asked. However, the commander was not searching for an answer.
“I've found myself reliving my many past failures, especially since we've come to be in your world,” The commander continued. Twilight's features began to shift into a look of concern as she heard the melancholy tone in the human's voice. It sounded sad, filled with misery that she herself couldn't fully comprehend.
She knew of the gut wrenching thoughts that failing could bring, especially being the student of the princess. It was always a stressful time as she always wanted to succeed in everything she did, to never disappoint her teacher in any way. But, inevitably, failure was sometimes the only option she had. Despite it however, the princess of the sun never looked at her with anything but pride.
“Celestia says that a failure is just another way to learn,” Twilight responded, remembering her old lessons, the many she had that had nothing to do with magic. “They teach us how to better ourselves and to never repeat them.”
Rather than help the commander as Twilight had predicted, her words only seemed to cut a deep frown into his face. “But what if the price of failure is too high?” he asked.
When Twilight returned to her previous look of confusion as she stared at the Warden, it was clear that more elaboration was needed. “I'm surprised none of the others have told you already,” the commander responded. “Of how I became a Grey Warden.” The frown on his face receded as his expression became utterly flattened while he continued. “It was shortly after the Blight had first started, darkspawn were roaming the lands in small amounts and everyone was preparing their soldiers to fight them off. It was the same for my father as well, who had already sent a large group ahead to meet our king and the Grey Wardens to fight the main horde, my brother Fergus was apart of that group. The rest were awaiting the arrival of the soldiers of one Arl Howe, a friend of my father's who fought with him in the war against the neighboring country of Orlais.”
“Your people went to war against one another?” Twilight questioned, astonished at such an idea.
The commander shrugged and said, “Humans aren't ones to accept peace and love as easily as you ponies. But the war has long since ended. Though many veterans still hold old hatreds toward them. My father actually had several friends from across the border, one of many facts that made Howe look at him with a bitter hatred and jealousy.” Another sigh escaped him as he paused, the noise shuddering from his throat. “My father never even realized it until Howe's men attacked our home, slaying everyone there.”
A sharp gasp left Twilight as her eyes widened with shock and horror. Such a despicable act was nearly impossible for her to comprehend. “Wh-who would do such a thing? Why do such a thing?”
“He was jealous of my father's influence,” the commander replied flatly. “Howe figured with him dead, he could elevate his own power in the land.” The Warden-Commander didn't have it in him to tell her that his heinous plan had actually succeeded, if only for a short time. “So he attacked in the dead of night, with most of our guards away to fight the darkspawn. They spared no one, even slaughtering my brother's wife and child. Everyone I knew, the staff who tended to the keep, the guards who I had known all of my life, even my parents, they all died that night. I barely survived myself, but with the help of the visiting Grey Warden Commander, we had managed to escape, and I became a Grey Warden as a result.”
Almost afraid to ask, Twilight looked the commander in the eyes and said, “What happened to Howe?”
The Warden paused, looking as though he wasn't about to answer her at all. Closing his eyes, he took a steady breath and said, “For some time, all I could think about was finding the bastard. To make him pay for what he had done. But there was also the matter of the Blight that was bearing down on us, threatening to destroy Ferelden. So I was forced to continue on with Alistair to help stop it. Eventually... I started to think more on fighting the darkspawn than anything else, realizing the greater threat that they posed. But, our paths eventually crossed, and I killed him.”
Twilight was surprised at how he said those words, his tone sounding so cold. She almost expected to see mist forming from his breath. But the commander didn't notice her reaction, his own mind lost in old memories. “The saddest thing about it, was the fact that it wasn't even because of what he had done to my family. We were trying to save the current Queen at the time and he had simply... thrown himself in our way. It was then that I realized I had lost my drive for revenge against him long ago, that my duty as a Grey Warden had made me see what was more important.”
“Was it ever something you wanted?” Twilight asked. Through the short time she had come to know him, she never would have thought that the commander had an ounce of vengeance within him.
“Maybe not,” the Warden muttered in reply, unsure of it himself. “But it was after the Blight was over that I began to think on all that had happened. The people hailed me as their savior, they called me the 'Hero of Ferelden.'” His eyes narrowed with a bitter anger. “It wasn't long before I grew to hate that title. All it ever did was remind me of what had happened, how I was able to save Ferelden from the darkspawn, yet... I had failed to protect those closest to me.”
“You can't blame yourself for that,” Twilight tried saying, but the commander merely shook his head.
“I still failed them,” the Warden said definitively. “Even now, I'm forced to face my failures. It's my fault we're even in your world, when I foolishly trusted a murderous mage. It all makes me wonder if I deserve the praise I receive as Ferelden's 'hero.'”
As she heard the Warden speak on his inner pains, all Twilight could do in response was frown at him in a scolding look of disappointment. “I remember before, back in the castle, you told me how one can't dwell on the bad things that happen in life, how you need to move on from them. Can you not move on from this?”
Surprise showed clearly on the Warden-Commander's face, having not expected for his own words to be thrown back at him in such a way. But, as he realized that what the mare was saying rang true, a weak smile parted his lips. “I suppose you're right,” he said, huffing in a mild amusement. “There really isn't anything I can ever do that will change what has already happened. All I can do now is, as you've said, learn from my mistakes. And if I ever find something that's worth protecting, I'll make sure nothing ever happens to it.”
The commander looked at Twilight and broadened his smile, as though silently thanking her for listening and offering such helpful words. It made Twilight smile herself, despite hearing of such terrible events, she was happy to be given the trust to hear them. Neither of them said a word after that, there being no need to as the Warden trekked onward, both himself and his happy burden feeling as though they didn't have a care in the world.
Such sentiment didn't last long however. In an act of defiance, a thunderous roar shattered through their silent joy, the earth underneath of them nearly shuddering as a result. There was no time to question or act before the creator of the sound made itself known. A row of trees was suddenly torn from the ground in a single motion, being sent through the air to crash into broken heaps of wood deeper in the forest. With a small clearing having just been made, the Warden's eyes widened in shock as they laid upon a creature unlike anything he had ever seen.
The creature held a similar appearance to a bear from his world, but with the few similarities it had to the beasts, it differed by a great many more details. With a massive fame of dark magenta, the bear's entire body was translucent, save for the sharp fangs that were within its maw and its beady, blazing green eyes. What looked like small stars twinkled within the bear's body, as though the silver lights had been plucked from the night sky and consumed by the beast. A dull light shined from a marking on its forehead, a large depiction of a six pointed star.
“What is that thing?” the commander gasped, having never expected such an awesome creature to dwell within such a land.
“It's an ursa minor!” Twilight answered, her own eyes as wide as they could be. The ursa was far from being the same one she had encountered before. The child she had faced was dwarfed in comparison, this one looking nearly twice the size. Before long, it would no longer be able to be referred to as a minor.
The ursa minor's eyes were locked onto the duo, its lips quivering as it gave a menacing growl. The ground around them shook as it stepped toward them, each massive paw striking the forest floor with a mighty pound. It looked furious, not at all like the innocently cranky beast that the unicorn had faced off against before. This one looked aimed to kill.
“What... what do we do?” Twilight murmured, with no idea or plan herself. When there was only a few feet separating them, the ursa minor raised up one clawed paw, preparing to bring it down on them.
Weighing his options, the commander's mind raced as he tried to see the best course of action. With such a large beast, it would be almost impossible to fight it within the cramped confines of the forest. Thoughts on a fight were made especially pointless as he knew Twilight's injury made it impossible. Just as the ursa swung it's paw down, the commander shouted, “We run!”
Jumping out of the way, the Warden-Commander just barely managed to dodge the ursa's swipe. A large crater was dug into the ground, with chunks of dirt, roots and rocks flying in all directions. The commander then started to run, holding onto Twilight as best as he could while weaving himself through the clustered trees around them.
The ursa roared in anger, charging after the two in a mighty pursuit. Once mighty trees were knocked over and trampled as the rampaging best tore through them, its burning gaze never letting go of the human and pony. With its massive size, it easily cleared the distance between them, already upon the commander within seconds.
Seeing the impending attack of the bear, Twilight's eyes were shut tight as she concentrated. A bright, magical glow formed around her horn, increasing in intensity by the second. Just as the ursa was ready to jump at the fleeing creatures, there was a brilliant flash of light around them. When the light was gone, so too were the Warden and unicorn. The ursa's speeding chase came to a stop as it looked around in furious confusion, trying to locate its missing prey.
When it seemed as though they were gone, another bright flash occurred a distance away, with the commander and Twilight appearing where it occurred.
The commander stumbled forward, feeling his insides churning from the sudden sensation of teleportation. Planting his feet firmly on the ground, he managed to steady himself and not collapse. Even Twilight looked disoriented, not used to casting the spell to work on more than one person. Sadly, she was only able to take them a mere fifteen feet away.
Hearing the telltale sounds of the ursa minor charging at them once again, the commander took off at a greater speed. Twilight did the best she could to help, concentrating as hard as she was able to, powering up her spell and teleporting them once again. After a second time, the commander was ready for it, not breaking his running stride as they reappeared several feet away from the pursuing beast.
They had to get out of the forest, hoping that the creature would eventually give up, or they would gain ample room for a fight.