//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Executions and Myths // Story: The Equine Scrolls: SkyFiM // by FireOfTheNorth //------------------------------// Chapter I: Executions and Myths “As we commend your soul to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Equines upon you.” I awoke to a jolt in my hindquarters. Slowly I cracked open my eyes to find I could see . . . nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. Some light filtered in through the rough strip of cloth tied around my head as a blindfold. Apparently it hadn’t been tied on very well, as it fell off at the next jolt. I found myself sitting in the back of a rough wooden wagon with several other ponies. Like them, I had my hooves bound. But only with a strip of leather. How was that supposed to keep a unicorn bound? I tried to undo my bonds with my magic, only to find I couldn’t. I felt something wet and sticky soak through my mane. “You’re trapped just like us, little miss magic,” I heard a voice say from my right. I turned toward this new voice only to find myself nearly face to face with a tan-coated earth pony. He apparently had no concept of personal boundaries. “They put some of that magic-blocking gunk on your horn while you were out,” he said as I started to scoot away. His voice sounded strangely familiar, but he wasn’t nearly interesting enough to hold my attention at the moment. I was obviously a prisoner, but who were my captors? My heart sank as I saw the pony pulling the wagon was wearing Imperial Legion armor. But looking around, I saw we were most certainly not in Unicornica. Between the rough and tall trunks of pine trees, I could see snow-capped mountains rising in the distance. An elk lapping at a stream ran off as we approached. The realization hit me at the same time the wagon bounced once again. I was in Horizon. “Where are they taking us?” a lime green earth pony across from me asked nervously. “Hoofgen, by the looks of it,” the tan pony next to me said, pulling the other’s blindfold off. “Hoofgen?” the green one asked, “Why would they be taking us there? Splitten is much closer.” “Can’t have an Imperial execution in a town loyal to the Stormcloud cause, now can they?” the tan pony stated. Only one word stood out for me. Execution? “Wait, you!” the green pony said, staring with wide eyes at the deep blue earth pony with us both gagged and bound, “You’re Jarl Stormcloud! You’re the leader of the rebellion!” “And your rightful High King,” the tan pony said. “You,” the green pony said, looking at me, “They don’t want us. They want them. We shouldn’t be here. They can’t execute us!” “See, Hoofgen,” the tan pony said, tearing the green one’s attention away from me. I too looked forward as the gates to the tiny town swung open. “And there’s General Silver Cuirass,” the tan pony spat out with contempt, “The military governor.” A caramel coated unicorn wearing bright silver Imperial armor looked down on us as we passed through the gate. As we entered the town of Hoofgen, he trotted down the perimeter wall’s stairs. Hoofgen was little more than a ramshackle collection of homes within a protective wall. It appeared the only reason the town even existed was for the Imperial fortress the wagons pulled to a stop in front of. Banners bearing the bust of Emperor Brass Tax fluttered in the wind. “On your hooves prisoners,” an Imperial soldier said as he unlatched the back of the wagon, “File out in an orderly manner for recording.” “Imperials love their lists,” I heard the tan pony mumble under his breath as we stood. Unsteadily, I made my way out of the wagon and entered the line of ponies forming in front of two Imperial officers. “Name?” the stallion asked as he levitated a thick book and quill in front of him. “Spitz,” the green pony, who had ended up at the front of the line said, looking around frantically. “Home town?” the stallion continued, paging through his book. “Rearikstead.” “Cutie-mark?” “Gold coin.” “Mm-hm, here he is,” the officer said, “And it appears you have a long record of theft. What are the charges?” “Theft of the statue of Marea from the Splitten temple,” the mare officer said, reading from a scroll she pulled from her saddlebags. “Send him to the block,” the other officer said, making a check in his book. “B-but, this isn’t about me!” Spitz stuttered, getting nervous as a guard attempted to push him toward the execution block, “I’m not going to die because of some Stormclouds!” He took off running as fast as he could with his hooves bound. He didn’t make it far. He fell with an arrow through his neck before he even made it to the guards. “Next!” the stallion officer called, turning back to the line. “Name?” he asked as the tan pony in front of me stepped forward. “Bereloth,” he stated boldly. That was where I had heard his voice before. He was the pony last night who had been afraid to enter the Pale Pass. And that would mean the Jarl I had heard was Jarl Stormcloud, leader of Horizon’s rebellion. Spitz was right; this whole execution was about the Stormclouds. As I looked at all the ponies destined to be executed, I saw they were all wearing the rough armor of the earth pony homeland. They wouldn’t execute me along with them, would they? “He’s a confirmed Stormcloud soldier, all right, “the officer with the book said, “Send him to the block. Next!” That was me. Hesitantly, I stepped forward. “Name?” he called. “Sapphire,” I said nervously. This was really happening. “Home town?” “Kvatch.” “A fellow Imperial, huh?” he said, paging through his book, “Cutie-mark?” “None,” I admitted. The officer raised an eyebrow at that. I looked at my hooves in shame. The whole reason I’d left my home was now laid bare. I’d tried everything, but still my cutie-mark had refused to appear. I was nineteen years of age, and still my flank was blank. The town had given up on me becoming anypony of value. Even my own family had given up on me. There was nothing left for me in Kvatch. So I’d come to Horizon, and now I was going to die. “Only a few petty thefts on your record,” the officer said. Yes, in my desperation to receive my cutie-mark, I had even stooped to petty thievery. Turns out, I wasn’t too good at picking locks and pockets. “What are the charges, Winter?” he asked his companion. “Crossing the border into Horizon illegally,” she said, reading off another scroll. “Can we execute her for that?” she asked doubtfully. Maybe I had a chance at life after all. “May as well now that she’s here,” he replied, checking my name off in his book. “Sorry,” Winter said, “To the block.” “Jarl Stormcloud, as if we even need to check. No doubt that you’re guilty,” the stallion said, but I barely heard him as I shuffled toward the chopping block in a surreal state. “Jarl Stormcloud,” General Silver Cuirass said once all the prisoners had been gone through, “You have brought great death to this province. And today, we are going to put you down for it. Rue this day, you Stormclouds. For this is the day justice is done!” “What of this one?” he asked when he reached me, “Surely you are not also one of them? Legate, what is the meaning of this?” “She was caught at the ambush, crossing the border illegally,” Winter said, stepping forward, “Do you want me to release her, General?” “No,” he said, “What’s done is done. It would have been better for you, kinsman, if you had chosen some other night to brave the pass.” “Execute her before the block is stained with rebel blood,” he ordered as he walked off, his voice catching in his throat. None too gently, I was pushed forward and forced to lie with my neck on the chopping block. A muscular black pony in executioner’s attire trotted up to me, a freshly sharpened axe held in his magical grasp. I knew what would happen next. The axe would come swinging swiftly down and separate my head from my body. The first time I had seen an execution, I had been but a foal. My father had to travel to the Imperial City to order more flour for his bakery, and I had begged and begged to be allowed to come along. Finally, he caved and I was allowed to visit the Empire’s capital. Dumb luck scarred me for life, as we entered the city just as they were executing traitors in Talhooves Plaza. Or, what had once been Talhooves Plaza. The image of the execution haunted my dreams for months, and I never asked to visit the Imperial City again. Funny, is this what ponies talk about when they say their lives flashed before their eyes? “What was that?” the executioner asked, looking up at the sky worriedly. I had been so busy recalling my foalhood my mind had drifted away from the present. It snapped back as another peal of thunder, or whatever it was, shook the sky. “Probably more pegasi mischief,” General Cuirass said, “If they try something else so soon, they’re going to be in some serious trouble.” Sweat beaded on my forehead. I wondered, while the executioner was distracted, how far could I run before they shot me like Spitz? “Get on with the execution,” the General ordered. The executioner obediently raised his axe. But, before he could bring it down, a dark shape swung around the mountains. The banners flapped backwards as the great creature flapped its wings. The scaled lizard landed heavily atop the nearby fortress, knocking archers off in the process. “By Arkhay!” one of the Imperials shouted, “What is that thing!?” I recognized it. But I didn’t believe it. It was something I had only read about in legends. “Dragon!” General Cuirass yelled. Indeed, it appeared that it was a dragon. Opening its maw wide, it directed a blast of flame into the execution area. The executioner dropped his axe and ran away flaming. I heard the useless pings as arrows bounced off the dragon’s flesh. Flapping his wings and fanning the flames, it took off and swooped around toward the tower the rest of the archers were standing on. In the confusion, everypony seemed to have forgotten about me. I lay there, stunned for a minute, before crawling away from the block. The executioner’s axe was lying nearby, and I used it to cut my bonds. Rubbing feeling back into my chafed forelegs, I searched for some way out of here. All around me were the charred corpses of ponies. Some Imperial soldiers had formed up and were attempting an attack on the dragon. The Stormcloud prisoners were nowhere to be seen. “Hey!” I heard a voice yell at me. Searching for the source, I found Bereloth waving me over. He was standing in the doorway of somepony’s house. I galloped over as fast as I could. I really had no choice, any shelter was better than standing out in the open with a dragon attacking the town. And while I didn’t know Bereloth, at least he was kind enough to offer to share his shelter. It’s not like he could rob me, I had no possessions at the moment. As soon as I was within the house, he slammed the door shut. Now that I didn’t have a dragon breathing fire down my neck, I was able to take a look around. The ponies who’d lived here had set out a meal before leaving to watch the execution. How they intended to stomach down food after seeing something like that was beyond me. Not that I was complaining. I was famished and ate one of the apples right away. It was just a pity I wouldn’t be able to take any of it with me. A set of rough burlap saddlebags hit me in the face. Bereloth was tying on his own set he had found. As I tied mine on he began to stuff food in his, including a whole cheese wheel. Apparently earth ponies had a thing for cheese. “Sapphire, right?” he asked as I stuffed my own saddlebags. I nodded, not wanting to risk spraying him with pie by talking. “I’m Bereloth,” he introduced himself, “Ice Wolf in the Stormclouds.” “Where’s the Jarl?” I asked. “He made it out, I’m sure. He’ll be safe. And we should be plenty safe in here” No sooner had he spoken those words than the dragon’s tail came crashing through the thatched roof. Flames licked at the timbers as it circled back around. “Maybe not as safe as I hoped,” he said, smashing through the door. I followed him outside. Honestly, what else was I going to do? I had no weapon and this buck seemed to know what he was doing. Well, somewhat. The house we’d been in had collapsed by the time I caught up to him at the Imperial fortress. I waited nervously as he picked the lock. With an audible click, it unlocked and he pushed into the building. Honestly, seeing as he was a Stormcloud, I didn’t get why he’d just waltz into an Imperial fortress, but my world was so topsy-turvy right now it really didn’t matter. Once more we were inside and he slammed the door shut. The fortress was made of stone. Perfect, nonflammable stone. Unless the dragon decided to knock the building down, we would be safe in here. Well, relatively safe. Another dead Stormcloud soldier bore testament that the Imperials weren’t going to let just anypony use this place as shelter. While I was looking at the dead soldier, Bereloth passed a bottle of ale over to me. “I don’t drink,” I said simply. “Your loss,” he laughed, passing me a rag as well, “But that’s not what it’s for. Hopefully the alcohol can get that gunk off your horn.” I tried just wiping it off with the rag and experienced no success. Sheepishly, I dipped the rag in the bottle. After that the thick, black stuff came off just fine. This Bereloth seemed to know what he was talking about, at least. “One for me, one for you,” he said, tossing me a war axe complete with sheath he’d taken off the dead Stormcloud. I caught it with my magic and swung it around a little to get a feel for it. “Here,” he said, tossing me the armor that was on the dead soldier a moment ago. “Stormcloud armor?” I asked. “Fine,” he said, giving a shrug, “Go unprotected.” Grumbling, I pulled the dead pony’s armor on. Luckily she had died from a head wound, so none of her dried blood was on it. I left the helmet. It was designed with earth ponies in mind anyway. “Looks like this way’s the kitchens,” Bereloth said, looking around the corner, “Ready to go?” I nodded, hefting my war axe. Luckily, the kitchens were abandoned. The dining hall was not. Two Imperial soldiers were still inside. Apparently they hadn’t realized there was a dragon attack going on. Bereloth charged in screaming, or more like grunting through the axe held between his teeth and attacked one of the soldiers. I still held my war axe out, but I didn’t want to hurt these ponies. After all, these were Imperial soldiers! Every part of my life had taught me to respect and obey these ponies. Apparently the remaining soldier had no reservations about attacking me. Maybe it was my armor, or maybe he was just mad about me interrupting his game with his comrade. Pulling his sword from his sheath, he charged me. As his blade swung through the air, I brought my axe up to block. Metal rang against metal as the two blades collided. He swung again, and I blocked again. Twice more he swung at me, but I anticipated his moves and brought my axe up to block each time, albeit in the nick of time. As he swung at my hooves, I jumped up in the air, swinging my axe down at him. With a wet thump, I buried the blade in his forehead. His sword clattered to the ground as he toppled over, the life fading from his eyes. I had just killed another pony. And an Imperial soldier at that! I stopped for a minute to calm my breathing before pulling my axe out of his body. I made sure to wipe the blade off, before sheathing it. I wanted to have a look around, and maybe calm my nerves. I picked up the Imperial’s sword, as well as a potion of minor healing he had on him. Leaving the body behind, I took a look at the rest of the room. One certain thing in particular caught my eye. A large map of Horizon was laid out on a table at the edge of the room. All the major and minor towns were marked out, as well as the paths between them. I rolled it up and stowed it in my saddlebags with a quill and inkwell. I could use every bit of help I could get navigating this province. “We’d better get out of here,” Bereloth said as the building shook, causing dust to rain down from the ceiling, “Follow me.” I followed the tan earth pony down a flight of stairs, past sputtering torches, into a dimly lit room. Judging by the cages that ringed the room, this was the dungeon. And it was not empty. Four Imperial soldiers stood in the center of the room. “Why are we even down here?” one asked. “There’s a way out somewhere,” another said, “If we can just find it.” “You don’t have a clue where it is, do you?” a third chimed in. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Bereloth tapped me on the shoulder. “See if you can take one out,” he whispered to me, handing me a bow and quiver. I had never been very good at archery as a foal. Hence, the lack of an archery cutie-mark. “Can’t you?” I asked. “The bow’s not made for earth ponies,” he whispered back. It looked like it was up to me. I levitated the wooden bow in front of me and shakily fit an arrow to the string. Pulling it back, I lined up a shot on the closest soldier. My shot missed, the arrow sinking into his hindleg instead of his heart. Giving a yelp of pain, he swung around and attempted to pull it out. Quickly I fit another arrow to the string and let it fly. It once again missed, burying itself in the side of his head, not his heart, but I wasn’t going to complain. The other soldiers climbed over his body as I put away the bow and pulled out my war axe. As one slashed his sword at me, I threw my axe up to block, his blade ringing against the handle. He quickly pulled it away before I could disarm him and launched another strike, this time at my head. With a slash, I knocked the sword off its trajectory, causing sparks to fly as it hit the floor. Not even stopping his swing, he brought the sword up to slash at me again. I had no time to block, so I jumped back as agilely as I could. His sword nicked by armor, leaving a gash across the front, but it didn’t penetrate to flesh. His next swing I easily blocked with my axe, sending his sword shuddering. I blocked his next strike with the axe’s handle, which proved to be a mistake. He had anticipated it, and twisted his sword so that the blade caught under my axe’s. With a quick flip, he sent the axe flying out of my grasp. Now I was unarmed. Well, not completely. All unicorns were taught at least a few minor defensive spells in case of emergencies. I put one to good use, sending a flare of fire into his face. He ran away, screaming and batting at the flames. In the time it took for him to put them out and down a healing potion, I had retrieved my axe. He stood at the ready, his sword held out in front of him in a block. Galloping toward him, I put all the force I had behind my attack and knocked his own sword against him. He staggered from the impact, which gave me enough time to swing my axe around and bury it in his neck. He gave a wet gurgle as he fell to the floor. Turning around, I saw Bereloth impaling his second soldier. He had taken out both of them while I had been busy, but had taken a minor wound in the process. Grunting, he tied a bandage over his bleeding foreleg. “Feel free to take a look around,” he said, walking unsteadily on his bandaged leg, “We shouldn’t be coming back here again.” I felt a little guilty as I swept some gold coins off a table into my saddlebags. It felt wrong to be taking money from an Imperial garrison, but they had no use for it. Not with the dragon outside killing them all. I added a few bandages and potions of healing and stamina to the coins I had swiped, as well as a thick book bound with a black cover. “Book of the Dragonborn” was outlined in silver on the front. I’ll admit it, I was a bit of a bookworm, and was obsessed with reading any book I could find. I had exhausted the entire selection in Kvatch, but I hadn’t seen this book yet. I would have to read it later, once I got out of here. “Ready to go?” Bereloth asked as he finished looting a chest. I nodded my head and pulled out my war axe. “You don’t talk much, do you?” he asked, laughing. “Not if I can help it,” I said. Laughing, he picked the lock on one of the prison cells and swung the door open. Once inside, he pushed down a portion of the stone wall that made up the back of the cell. A dark tunnel stretched off into the distance. Placing a torch in a mounting on his back, Bereloth led the way. I followed close behind the flickering light as he traveled deeper into the ground. The sound of our hooves striking rock echoed off the narrow walls of the tunnel. Sticky threads hung from the walls as we passed through the mountain. At last we came to a larger cave. Sickly sunlight spilled in through several holes in the ceiling. The sticky substance I had noticed earlier was most concentrated here, coating the walls and the floors. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was giant spider web. Suddenly an arachnid the size of a full-grown pony fell from the ceiling. It looks like it was spider’s web after all. I may have screamed before coming to my senses and pulling out my bow. Fitting an arrow to the string, I shot at the spider as it scuttled closer. I had three arrows stuck in it by the time it got too close for comfort. Giving a yell, Bereloth swung his axe into the spider’s head repeatedly. Giving a squeal, it collapsed to the ground. “You’ve never seen a Frostbite spider before?” he asked as he cleaned his blade. “No,” I shook my head, “The spiders in Unicornica are normal sized.” “This won’t be the last one you see if you intend to stay in Horizon much longer,” he laughed, sheathing his axe. I followed the buck as he led me through the cave. Finally, we stepped out into actual sunlight, squeezing through a crack in the rock. We emerged in a forest butting right up against the mountains. Through the leaves of the trees high above me I could see no sign of the dragon. “This is where we part ways,” Bereloth said, striding off into the forest. “Wait,” I said, speaking up, “Why did you want me to come along with you?” “Figured I could use an extra blade. Turns out I was right. You’re a good fighter Sapphire, even for a unicorn. If you’re ever in Riverwood, feel free to spend the night at the Riverwood Trader. Tell ‘em Bereloth sent you and you’ll be fine.” He gave a wink before galloping off into the wilderness. I looked out at the expansive realm that was Horizon. From my vantage point, I could see past the forest to the great plains and mountains of the earth pony homeland. Taking a deep breath of the crisp, cool air, I set out. Level Up Health: 110 Stamina: 100 Magicka: 100 New Perk: Dual-wielding [No Skill] -- You may now use your unicorn magic to cast two low-level spells at once, be it levitating two light weapons, firing two spells, or wielding one light weapon and one spell. Map added: Horizon -- You now know the locations of every major and minor town in the Horizon province and the roads connecting them New Quest: A Warning of What’s to Come -- Warn anypony who will listen about the dragon attack on Hoofgen.