The Elder Scrolls: The Dragonborn of Equestria
Chapter 9
I enter the Dining Hall and see Luna sitting at her spot eating a salad. She spots me and Moonbeam and smiles.
"Good afternoon you two," she greets us and yawns. "I trust Armoured Honour is doing better now?" she asks and I nodded.
"Yeah, he left for the medical wing to check what damage is still left," I reply. A maid arrives, Moonbeam and I make our order of eggs, a mixed vegetable salad and a cider for me. A fruit salad with an orange juice for Moonbeam.
"So, what would you do for work? With your healing magic, you could work at the Ponyville hospital." Again sounds as fun as standing around doing nothing all day, sure, it would help increase my healing abilities, but it just sounds too boring.
"No thanks, sounds just as fun as being a royal guard, Though I have always wanted to try blacksmithing." I've dreamed of crafting my own sword and armour, like Eorlund Gray-Mane at the Skyforge, he was the one that made the steel armour I had.
"That would take you a few years to learn, the royal armourer took ten years to perfect his craft," she informs me, that put a damper on my enthusiasm.
"Probably, I've never been the patient type, I guess I could do guard duty at Ponyville. I remember reading in a book about animals and creatures, isn't there a forest near Ponyville that has all sorts of dangerous creatures living in it?" I ask. She hums in thought for a second.
"Yes there is, guard duty is an average paying job, but it would suit your talents more, are you still sure you can’t join the royal guards here at the castle?" she asks trying to persuade me.
"As I just said, I'm not the patient type, at least a patrol job will keep me moving and in shape. I used to be a gate guard around four years ago," I tell her. Still, I'd rather go exploring, delving into ruins and fighting bands of bandits.
"Well, if you change your mind, the position will be open to you," Luna says. I nodded and our food arrives.
Moonbeam and I quietly eat our meals as a guard walks in with a scroll in his magic.
"Princess, here's the damage report of Canterlot City and a casualty list," he says and hands over the list as Luna thanks him.
She looks the list over and grimaces at the list of casualties.
"What's the damage?" I ask.
"Not as bad as I thought it was. Still, it will take several weeks to repair the damage," she tells me as she's reading the damage report.
"So what provoked the changelings to attack?" I ask her.
"I'm not sure, I was only around for the last two years. I did not even know about them before my banishment. Tia would be the one to ask," she replies. I nodded, noting to ask Celestia about it later.
Luna finishes her lunch and starts heading to the door.
"I still have some matters to attend to. If you still want to see the armourer, he's located behind the barracks," she tells me. I thank her and she leaves.
We both eat our lunch in peace and finish our meals. After a maid takes our dishes, we get up and head to the door.
"Where are we going now?" Moonbeam asks.
"I'm heading to the armoury to discuss about my new armour and sword, you can wait in my room if you want," I tell her. She looks up at me.
"No, I'd rather stay with you," she says. I smile and we both walk down the halls. I exit the castle and head left to the Barracks, just outside the main gates I see a carriage and Cadence getting inside it. It pulls away and flies off into the distance.
I walk past the Barracks and spot a forge. Walking up to it, an old looking tan pony with a black mane and tail is at the anvil hammering away on some metal.
"Excuse me, are you the armourer?" I ask, a 'huh?' was his response as his head shoots up and looks behind himself.
"Yeah that's me, who's asking?" His voice sounds gruff, I notice a horn on his head and a hammer floating next to him.
"My name's Farengar, Luna said you'd be making me a new suit of armour and sword," I say. He looks at me from top to bottom.
"So you're the nord I've been told about, yes I've started work on the armour based on your old one," he tells me and points to a table with my old armour on it.
"Where did you get it? I thought it was thrown away," I ask him. I go over and look at the paper on the table.
The armour design on the sheet looks good and offers a lot of protection while not being constricting. The sword though looks strange, the hand guard looks like wings, there's a unicorn horn at the base of the blade and the counter weight looks like a horseshoe.
"The princess was able to get it before it was trashed. I must admit, whoever made it knew what they were doing, shame it wasn’t enchanted, could have been salvageable at least," he says. He walks next to me and looks at the paper as well.
"That's a design I came up with based on your old armour. The sword though was the Princesses design. The sword will be made using a rare metal called Moonsteel, a metal found only on the moon." My eyebrows rise as I think about the metal.
"Luna allowed me to use some for the swords blade, strongest and lightest metal known to ponykind. You're lucky, she only gives it to those who've done a great deed, and from what I've heard, you saved the Princesses and Canterlot, I'd say that counts," he says and goes back to hammering the metal on the anvil.
"Well the armour looks good, but I must admit, the sword looks a little strange," I say looking at the sword design for a bit longer.
"I agree, I've never had a design like that before. Only unicorns really use swords, earth ponies and pegasi prefer hammers or spears." He says. A hiss sounds out as he dips the metal plate into a water basin causing Moonbeam to 'Eep' from the sound.
"Do you know what kind of spells will be placed on the armour?" I ask him.
"Well, the armour will be enchanted to be lighter and more durable. The boots will also have an enchantment to allow you to jump higher. The gauntlets will allow you to lift heavy objects and the helmet will give you night vision similar to the night guards helmets," he says and puts the metal back into the burning forge.
"The greaves will allow you to run faster. The sword will be enchanted to stay sharp and never dull." He walks over to a lever and starts pulling it, causing the bellows to start pumping.
"How many enchantments can each piece hold?" I ask, since I want to add an enchantment on the sword myself.
"Hmm? Oh about two or three, depends on the strength of the enchantment," he tells me. He then moves back to the anvil and starts hammering again.
"I was hoping to add an enchantment of my own to the sword," I say. The only enchantment I know is a fire damage enchantment, but the book might have others I can learn.
"You'll have to ask the unicorns that will perform the spells. I just make the stuff, not buff it up." Another hiss as he dips it again.
"Oh okay, I'll be sure to ask em. Oh, until then, do you have any spare Greatswords I could use for now?" I ask. He looks at me and hums in thought for a second.
"I can't remember, been awhile since I last made one. Over there is the armoury, have a look in there for one," he says and turns back to his work. I walk over to the door he pointed at and open it.
The walls were lined with a few swords, mostly spears and pony armour. I look around, all the swords are the size of a shortsword, with some longswords as well.
In the back of the room hidden by some armour stands was a barrel, inside was a few longswords and spears, but in between them was an old Greatsword.
It looks old but still sharp, it will do for now. I also notice the hand guard looks like a horseshoe. I strap it to my back and head back out the door.
"Ah I remember that one, some fool of an earth pony thought he could swing that thing with his mouth. Ended up breaking half of his teeth," he tells me. I look at the grip and see teeth marks... along with faint blood stains.
I say goodbye to him and leave as the sound of hammering gets quieter.
Next, I went to the Magical Research Tower of the Castle. As I walk down the halls some of the unicorns stare at me with a raised brow or shocked expression.
"Excuse me, but what are you exactly?" I turn to see a light pink unicorn mare with a two toned green and blue mane and tail looking up at me with a curious look.
"I'm a nord, name's Farengar," I say and just give her a neutral expression.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Starshine. Never heard of a nord before, where in Equestria are you from?" she asks
"I'm not from Equestria," I reply, keeping my neutral expression on the mare. Her eyes widen as I said that.
"You're from outside of Equestria? What land do you come from then?"
"Skyrim," I say with a smirk, this is starting to amuse me.
"Skyrim? There's no such place, I've studied world maps before," she retorts with a look that says 'you're lying'.
"Maybe not on this world," I tell her. She looks at me for a few seconds as it sinks in.
"WHAT!" I cover my ears and wince, she's got a set of lungs on her. "You're from another world?" She just stares at me with her mouth agape.
"Yes, I'm from a world called Nirn, the continents of Tamriel." She just continues to stare at me.
"You alright?" I ask, she shakes her head and smiles at me.
"Yes, yes I'm fine. So you're from another world? What is it like?" she asks. For ten minutes I breifly explain what Tamriel is like.
"Fascinating!" she replies.
"Well, I'm here to find out about your magic's enchantment spells," I tell her. Moonbeam has just been sitting behind my legs looking around.
"Enchantments? Well that's not my area of expertise, but I could escort you to the enchanting R and D chambers." I nodded and start following her down a set of corridors.
After what seemed like five minutes of walking, we come across a large set of reinforced doors.
"In here is where we develop new enchanting spells, sometimes when making a new spell... things tend to not go according to plan." As soon as she said that, a loud boom resonates through the hallway as the doors shake. Moonbeam 'eeps' and clings to my leg.
"Gah! *cough cough* By Celestia, can't any of you foals get anything right?" I hear someone shout from behind the doors. "And somepony open a window!" I can hear footsteps as the doors open, a dark red unicorn stallion with a white mane, tail and beard wearing a dark blue robe walks out coughing.
"I swear, they do this to annoy me at times," he says. He stops coughing and spots Starshine. "Oh hello, Starshine. What brings you to the R and D chambers?" Before she could reply he spots me.
"By Starswirls beard! What is that!?" he yells leaning his head back.
"Hello, Arcane Charm. This is Farengar. He's a nord from another world!" she explains with an excited tone.
"Another world? And why is he here?" He looks back at me and looks me over, his eyes fall on the sword on my back, "And why is he carrying a weapon in here?"
"My old sword got destroyed during the changeling invasion, this is a temporary sword given to me until my new one is made at the armoury," I tell him, he just looks unamused.
"Very well, now for what reason have you co..." He's cut off by a loud smashing sound, he turns around and sees a broken pot on the floor. "What's going on in there!" he demands.
A young looking stallion is smiling sheepishly while standing over the broken pot.
"I'm sorry sir, I was trying to see if the new enchantment for making glass and pottery unbreakable worked," the stallion replies. Looking at the mess on the floor, I would guess it did not.
"Well clean up your mess, I have something to attend to," Arcane Charm sternly says.
"As I was saying, what's your reason for coming here?" he asks me.
"I was hoping to enchant my new sword myself when it’s ready, but my method of enchanting is different from yours. Is it possible to combine our enchantments together?" I ask him. At the mention of a different kind of enchanting, his mood did a one-eighty and he smiles.
"A different method of enchanting? Pray tell, how does it work?" he asks still smiling.
"We use an enchanting table with symbols and runes engraved on it along with a focusing crystal. We place the object to enchant on the centre rune with soul gems on the outer runes." As I explain he looks very intrigued.
"Then we cast a spell that places an effect on the object. The soul energy in the gems flows into the object, giving it a limited amount of charge. Using another soul gem on the object will recharge it by a certain amount depending on the size of the soul in the gem," I finish explaining
"Interesting, very different from ours. We gather magical energies from within and around us and merge it with an object. While the energies merge with the object, we cast a spell to turn the energy into an effect," he tells me. Sounds like a much more effective method of making enchantments, no need for soul gems.
"But unless I can see your method in action, I'll be unable to tell if they're compatible with each other." I sigh. Oh well, it was worth asking at least.
"Thank you for taking time to talk to me about it, I'll get out of your hair and let you go back to what you were doing," I say to him. I was about to turn but remember the loud boom.
"Oh by the way, what was that loud boom we heard inside?" I ask. He stops mid turn and looks at me.
"Hmmm? Oh, it was just a new enchantment I've been developing. It will allow earth ponies and unicorns to fly on transparent wings for short periods of time," he tells me. Sounds like a good enchantment.
"Unfortunately, I just can't seem to get the right balance in the magical energies. So the result was what you heard. I'll have to see this enchanting table of yours sometime. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to work, farewell." He walks back into the room and closes the doors.
"Oh well, guess I'll head back to the castle then, come on, Moonbeam," I say. She smiles and follows along behind me.
"Alright, I also have some work to return to. It was a pleasure meeting you, Farengar. I'd like to hear more about your world later," Starshine says and holds her right hoof out.
"Don't know about that, I'll be heading to Ponyville soon." I tell her. I grasp her hoof and shake it lightly.
"Oh, well if you're ever back in Canterlot you can find me here." She smiles and walks off.
After that we went to the medical wing to see how Celestia was doing.
"Hello can I help you?" says a light blue mare sitting behind a counter.
"Erm yes, is Celestia awake yet?" I ask. She nodded and calls a nurse to the desk.
"Can you take... erm. What's your name sir?" She asks.
"Farengar." I reply.
"Ah, can you escort Mr Farengar to the Princess's room?" The nurse smiles and asks me to follow her.
Moonbeam and I follow her down a hall and enter Celestia's room. She is still on her side with some really soothing music playing.
"Hello, Celestia, feeling better?" I ask her. She lifts her head and smiles at me.
"Much better, I should have enough magic back to return to my duties at the end of the day,” she replies.
"That's good to hear. Luna seems to be having a hard time, she's starting to get tired as well," I tell her. She sighs as she places her head back on the pillow.
"I know, day court is very tiring, but she won't have to do it for much longer. If you can, please tell her that I'll be there in a few more hours," she asks me. I nodded with a smile and sit on a chair next to her.
"And who is this little one?" Celestia asks in a tone a mother would use. Moonbeam is hiding behind my chair with half of her head poking out from behind.
"Her name's Moonbeam, she lost her folks during the attack. Luna suggested that I adopt her, so that's just what I'll do." Celestia looks sad for just a second but her smile returns.
"That is very unfortunate, but I'm sure you'll do just fine. Have you decided on what you'll do from now on?" she asks me.
"Well the plan is to go to Ponyville and buy a house there. I might get a job as a guard there or something. After we've settled, I'll start learning more magic from that book," I tell her.
"That's good, but before you leave, I'd like to copy the healing spells from it first," she says and I nodded. "Also have you seen the designs for your new armour and sword?"
"Yes, the armour looks good, but what's with the sword design? The armourer told me it was yours and Luna's idea."
"Ah yes, we thought it would show our gratitude for your help during our time of need, it was also Luna's idea to allow the use of Moonsteel for its blade." I remember what the armourer told me about it.
"Yeah, I was told what it is. I'm honoured you've allowed it to be used for the sword," I say. The door opens to reveal a purple unicorn.
"Princess Celestia! Are you feeling better now?" Twilight asks with concern.
"Very much so, just a few more hours and I'll be back on my hooves." Twilight smiles and nuzzles Celestia.
"Hello, Farengar. How have you been?" Twilight asks, turning her attention to me.
"Good, I've seen what my new armour and sword will look like. Now all that's left is when I go to Ponyville on this 'train' Luna mentioned," I reply. She smiles and places a hoof on my knee.
"I'm heading back in a few hours, you can travel with me. The others have already gone back to Ponyville." Sounds like a good idea, they'll be able to show me around.
"Sure, I'll just go tell Luna about it and get my stuff ready." She nodded and turns back to Celestia
"Oh yeah, Celestia. What provoked the assault on Canterlot?" I ask. She sighs and closes her eyes.
"Their Queen used to be a student of mine, but she wanted more power and used a forbidden spell that takes the magic from others. It backfired and turned her into what she was, but instead of taking magic, she takes the love out of her victims," Celestia tells me. Celestia takes a deep breath and continues.
"I managed to exile her to the badlands where for over a eight-hundred years she's been exiled, I'm guessing she raised enough power and soldiers to get her revenge." She smiles sadly and looks at me. "She would have succeeded if you weren't there. On behalf of myself and all of Equestria, thank you." She bows her head to me.
"Erm, you're welcome. If something else comes up, I'd be happy to lend my assistance," I tell her. I get up to leave and head to the door, but Twilight wraps her forelegs around my waist from behind.
"Thank you for saving us," she whispers. I smile and ruffle her mane.
"No problem," I reply and she lets me go. Moonbeam and I head out the door, I hear muffled talking after the door closes.
"Come on Moonbeam let’s go see Luna," I tell her. As we leave the medical wing, I look through an open door and see Blueblood laying on a bed glaring at me. I just smirk at him and head out the door.