The Equine Scrolls: SkyFiM

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 47: The Search Begins

“Sapphire!” Faniar exclaimed when we entered his study, “I haven’t seen you in weeks. I thought you dropped off the face of the earth.”

“Well, in a way, I did,” I told Whitetrot’s court wizard.

Thankfully, the beam from the Shivering Isles had taken us directly to the Northlands. Strangely enough, we’d appeared in a little-used wing of Dragonsreach. At least it hadn’t dropped us off in some place like Morrowhinny or in the Pegasari Dominion. In fact, it had dropped us off right where we needed to be. The only unicorn in Dragonsreach was my first choice on who to ask for advice about finding the Elements.

“Huh?” he asked, confused by my statement.

“Never mind,” I told him, “Long story short, we found a way to defeat Alduin, but it turned out to be a dud and he killed us, but Discord saved us, except then we had to escape the Shivering Isles.”

“I must admit, you’ve lost me,” he said.

“I’ll explain some other time,” I said, “The important thing is, now I know some way we can defeat Alduin for sure. Have you ever heard of the Elements of Harmony?”

“Sorry, can’t say that I have,” the unicorn replied.

I’d been afraid of that; luckily, I had a backup plan. I had found the Element I was now wearing around the neck of a Dragon Priest. Faniar had mentioned there were six Dragon Priests, and there were also six Elements. I figured it was more than likely not a coincidence.

“Well, in that case, do you know where we can find ruins ruled by the Dragon Priests?” I asked.

“Sorry,” Faniar said, pulling out his journal that listed all the ancient earth pony ruins, “I’m not really sure where any of them are except for the one you found. I can tell you probable sites, though.”

“It’s better than nothing,” I told him, trying to keep my spirits up, “What have you got for us?”

Our first destination was Skybound Summit. The ancient earth pony fortress was built into the southern face of the Crest of the World, only a short distance from the ruins of Hoofgen. Traveling down through Riverwood, we were there in no time. I stood outside the rearing stone entrance for a bit as I considered what would be awaiting us. Hopefully, a Dragon Priest and another Element of Harmony, but nothing was certain.

Taking a very deep breath, I entered the ruin. Inside was a natural cavern; apparently Skybound Summit’s entrance blocked up what had once been the mouth of a cave. A few tables were scattered around the cavern, at which sat several ponies wearing mismatched armor. I sincerely hoped they weren’t bandits.

“Lookee what we got ‘ere,” a rough-looking earth pony stallion with a greatsword slung across his back said as he noticed our entrance, “You lost?”

“Just passing through,” Mephalda said tensely.

I too hoped that they would just let us pass. The last thing I wanted was a fight with these ponies.

“Well, that’s a problem, ‘cause you’re not goin’ through,” the stallion said, “Not with any of yer gold at least.”

Well, that settled it. They were bandits all right. Reluctantly, I drew Calcion’s Cleaver and the bandit mirrored my actions, drawing his own weapon.

“Fine,” he spoke through the weapon in his mouth, “We’ll do things the hard way.”

Without warning, he brought his weapon down toward my shoulder. As I blocked with my ancient earth pony sword, the other bandits in the cavern got up and drew their own weapons. As the stallion I was facing brought his greatsword down toward my legs, he found it blocked by Steadfast’s warhammer, which knocked his weapon back. I seized the opportunity and shot flames into his face before slicing through his neck with my blade.

A unicorn mare came at me next, magic sparking across her horn. I ducked down and dodged as she sent a blast of lightning at me. The next time she did so, I blocked with Calcion’s Cleaver, which absorbed the energy and began to reflect it back. As she cut off the flow of magic, I brought my Changeling war axe down into her neck, severing her spine.

As I pulled it out, I was forced to duck down to avoid being hit by a bat-pony that swooped over me. As she passed overhead, I sent ice spikes at her, though most shattered against her armor. She engaged Mephalda in the air, my pegasus friend drawing her Blackwing blades to dismember the thestral.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another bandit swing a war axe toward me. I quickly spun around, hooking Calcion’s Cleaver under the blade. Lightning began to pulse between the weapons, but neither of us surrendered the block. While I kept the battleaxe stationary with my ancient earth pony sword, I whipped out my ebony blade and ran the bandit through, easily slicing through her armor.

As Mystic threw the last bandit at the wall with a blast of magic, the fight was over. I searched the cavern, picking through the chests that were scattered around for gold, gems, and potions, and found a sizeable haul before we moved on.

Under an arch bearing a frightening Draconic inscription I couldn’t read, we passed deeper into Skybound Summit. Like in many of the ruins we’d entered, the walls were covered in murals, no doubt depicting the life of the pony who’d built the mighty fortress. I couldn’t make out much, except for the pony’s envy of pegasi and all flying creatures. Apparently this place had been an attempt to reach the heavens. Just how far the ancient earth pony had gotten to his goal, we had yet to see.

My thoughts returned to the now as a rustling came from within the walls. Bits of stone crumbled away as the Draugr pushed out of their tombs. I sent a blast of flame down the hall, torching a few before they had even truly emerged, and hopefully saving us some trouble later. Another I took down with a slash from Calcion’s Cleaver across the torso, and Steadfast, Mephalda, and Mystic all did their part in slaying the corpses before they were battle ready.

Some, however, escaped our purge and began to lurch toward us, antique weapons held in their mouths. My Changeling war axe met its ancient earth pony equivalent as I blocked the first Draugr’s strike. As I attempted to rip the weapon from the zombie’s mouth, I instead ended up ripping the blade off the weapon. The Draugr stared, dumbfounded, at the stick in its mouth as I ran it through with my ebony sword.

The Blade of Hoofingar met resistance as I swung it around at a Draugr with a warhammer. Pushing against the larger weapon, I forced it back until the Draugr was forced to release it. My Changeling weapon came in next, slicing through the zombie’s neck, causing ichor to spill from the wound and the walking corpse to fall to the ground.

My sword spun around in the narrow passageway to meet the sword of another Draugr. As I swung toward its neck, it managed to knock my blade away. Instead, I made for its forelegs, but it also managed to block. Projecting fire from my horn, I lit the Draugr’s head on fire, but it didn’t seem to care much, as it ventured a swing at my neck. Knocking the blade aside, I drew Calcion’s Cleaver. As the two ancient earth pony blades met, lightning began to travel from mine, electrocuting the Draugr. As it spasmed to the ground, I ran it through with the Blade of Hoofingar.

Mystic cleared the rest of the corridor with a blast of pure magic, and we proceeded on. The passageways through Skybound Summit twisted and turned, but undoubtedly led upward as we passed deeper into the ruin. A few more Draugr troubled us as we passed through, but nothing major happened until we emerged onto a banquet hall.

The room was packed with the living corpses, milling about among the tables as if they were at a party. The hall was massive, with soaring ceilings and exquisitely carved banquet tables. At one end of the room was a throne for the host, flanked by two doors, one of which we had entered through, and the other most likely led upward. Across from the throne there was no wall. Rather, the side of the mountain had been opened up to allow an unparalleled view of southern Horizon.

Our arrival had not gone unnoticed, however, and the Draugr turned toward us, growling. Many drew their swords and advanced toward the throne. Mystic began shooting ice out into the crowd, freezing any of them in place as they approached. It wasn’t enough, however, and soon a few began to make it up the stairs.

<<<FUS~RO~DAH!!!>>> I Shouted, knocking them back and buying us time.

Mephalda was already shooting arrows down into the crowd, but there were just so many of them. I tried to assist her, doing my part by shooting ice spikes down at the mass of undead ponies, but I didn’t seem to be making much of a dent. Focusing my magic, I summoned a flame atronach in the center of the crowd. The burning pony instantly jumped into action, torching the Draugr around it and drawing their attention away from us.

Still, the masses of undead continued to surge forward until we were forced to fight them. With both my swords drawn, I swung into the seething mass of rotting flesh, hoping my strikes were fatal. Of course, the Draugr fought back too.

Calcion’s Cleaver came to a stop as it met the blade of one of the zombies, who had begun to push us back. Pulling my sword out of the block, I swung it toward the Draugr’s forelegs, only managing to nick them as the zombie knocked my blade aside. Calcion’s Cleaver was once again blocked as I swung toward the Draugr’s head, but this time I used it to my advantage and forced my opponent’s sword to the ground. With my ebony sword, I separated its head from its shoulders.

This, of course, opened me up to attack from the side. Sheathing the Blade of Hoofingar, I sent flames at the Draugr closing in on the weak point. I shot the fire all around me, torching the Draugr, but more still came. Drawing my swords, I continued to fight, though I soon found the Draugr were closing in around me.

<<<FEIM~ZII~GRON!!!>>>

As the Draugr weapons closed in on me, I left my physical form, suddenly incapable of being harmed. As a ghost, I galloped out of the fray until I was standing upon the hall’s throne. I was surprised just how few Draugr really were left. Almost all of them were now on the upper level, choking the last of the fight out of us. Well, I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I shot lightning into the crowd of Draugr as I regained physical form. As they closed in on my perch, I swung my swords around, hacking through their unprotected heads. Still they pressed in, making it more and more difficult to keep them away. For some reason, they all seemed to be converging on me, and while my friends were attempting to clear them out, it wasn’t going to be fast enough to save me.

<SU!> I Shouted, and my weapons began to fly through the air.

My blades moved in a whirlwind, tearing apart the Draugr around me. I climbed down from the throne and advanced through the crowd, hacking through as many zombies as I could before the effects of the Shout wore off. As my blades began to return to a more normal speed, the number of Draugr in the room had decreased significantly.

Mystic’s magic tore the few in front of me apart before I could even reach them. I spun around just in time to block the blade of another zombie. Bringing my sword back, I swung in again, this time breaking the block and cutting the Draugr’s throat open. Another came at me, and I managed to block its swing before it was able to cut its sword across my back. While I was blocking, the Draugr fell dead, releasing its weapon as an arrow from Mephalda shot through its throat.

Looking around the banquet hall, I was astonished to see that no Draugr remained; we had actually done it. After taking a moment to rest from the taxing fight, we looted the mounds of bodies for scattered gold and potions. After we were satisfied we’d cleared everything out, we headed through the other door behind the hall’s throne.

Only a few rooms were through the door, off branching pathways, before a set of stairs began to zigzag upward deeper into the mountain. About midway up the stairs was a doorway that opened onto another set of rooms. As we attempted to pass, a Draugr with a war axe grasped in its teeth rushed out and tried to knock us off the stairs.

As my Changeling war axe met the Draugr’s weapon, Steadfast hit the zombie with his hammer, knocking it off the stairs instead. Scuffling came from within the passage, and another Draugr appeared this time with a bow mounted in a firing contraption. One of the arrows sailed past my ear, through the hole that Changeling had made.

Mephalda began to fire back, her arrows sticking in the other archer, one impaling her eye and throwing off her aim. Mystic charged in toward the Draugr, a ward deflecting the arrows. With a blast of ice, she froze the Draugr where it stood. Following her, I shattered the ice and impaled the undead pony beneath.

In the next room were two more of the zombies. One Mystic destroyed immediately with a blast of magic, and the other I swung at with Calcion’s Cleaver. My ancient earth pony sword met a mace, my blade striking the hilt. The Draugr pushed my blade aside, but I took advantage of the opportunity and swung it around into the zombie’s side.

This room was the end of the short passageway, apparently a guard outpost. The wall was solid stone but for a small window through which arrows could be shot down onto advancing ponies. The far wall also revealed that arrows could be shot down onto the stairway. We’d been extremely lucky not to have caught the attention of the Draugr until we reached a point where we could actually strike back.

The Draugr out of the way, we continued up the stairs. They continued up for quite some time until finally stopping at a magnificent set of stone doors. Surprisingly, they led out into the open air of Horizon. High above the ground (though not near as high as High Hoofgar) a piece of the mountain had been carved away, leaving a fairly level area upon which stood weathered monuments.

Near our exit was one that caught my eye. It was covered in Draconic runes, and one stood out as I approached it. I soon learned everything about maws and mouths in general. What this information would be useful for, I had no idea. All I knew was that it was Draconic knowledge, and the word for maw had been replaced in my mind by the Draconic form.

~JOT~

A cracking of stone from behind me grabbed my attention, and I turned to see that there was indeed a sarcophagus here for the fortress’s builder, though it had been built near the ledge, open to the elements. As the stone tumbled off, a Draugr lord crawled out, a long thin blade grasped in its mouth.

<<<FUS~RO~DAH!!!>>> I Shouted, hoping to end this fight before it started.

The Draugr lord went tumbling off the edge of the cliff, but reappeared a few seconds later, hovering in the air. Though it didn’t have the grace of a pegasus, it still managed to swoop down at us, blade whistling over our heads. Mephalda shot arrows at it as it wheeled around, one in its foreleg and another in its shoulder, but they barely slowed it down.

As it swooped down toward me again, I sent a blast of flame at it, and Mystic did the same as it passed her. As the zombie swooped toward Steadfast, he swung his hammer up into the air, connecting with the undead pony. It fell from the sky, and before it could get up he hit it again.

He was forced to jump back as it swung its blade at him and leapt to its hooves. I came at the Draugr, Calcion’s Cleaver held in my magical grip, and our blades met. The screech of metal on metal was deafening as the blades slid past each other, but eventually it was over. I managed to nick the Draugr’s cheek, but no more before I was pushed away.

I brought my sword back around at the Draugr’s neck, and it was blocked again. This time though, my opponent began to rise into the air. Eventually the zombie was directly above me, and began to press downward, forcing me into the ground. My blade began to slide back toward me until the Draugr was suddenly knocked out of the air by a magic blast from Mystic.

As the Draugr lord tried to rise, Mephalda shot an arrow into its eye. The zombie tossed its head as it lost sight, but didn’t give up on trying to kill us. As it jumped toward me, I drew out the Blade of Hoofingar. The Draugr was too smart to fall for that trap, however, and levitated over me.

<<FO~KRAH!!>> I Shouted, and ice began to creep over the Draugr’s body.

Unable to fly any more, it fell to the ground, frozen in place. With Calcion’s Cleaver, I jabbed toward its heart. However, with a tinkling of ice, the Draugr lord was able to break partially free and block my strike with its own blade. The blade was suddenly thrown from the Draugr’s grip as one of Mephalda’s arrows struck it. I finished my strike now, killing the powerful Draugr.

“Well, no element, no Dragon Priest,” Steadfast said, looking around the summit of the fortress.

“Perhaps not, but it wasn’t a complete bust,” I said, looking back at the Word Wall, “Come on, let’s get back to Whitetrot.”

Descending from Skybound Summit, we were on the path to Hoofgen when we met a few ponies. I prepared to draw my weapons as they approached, just in case they were bandits, but I relaxed when they made no moves to attack us. Still, they were heavily armed for something. My curiosity got the best of me, and I spoke up as we met.

“Where are you fellows headed?” I asked.

“Haven’t you heard?” an earth pony mare at the front of the group asked, “Jarl Sibli’s put out a bounty on the dragon that’s been terrorizing his hold.”

“A dragon?” I asked.

“You got that right,” a unicorn stallion said, “He’s intent on having it taken out before it attacks Foalkreath itself. He already lost Hoofgen; he can’t afford to lose his last remaining town. He’s offered to pay 1000 gold to whoever kills the dragon.”

“Where’s the dragon at?” Mephalda asked.

“Last we knew, it was roosting at Ancient’s Ascent,” a pegasus mare, the last member of the group, replied, “In fact, that’s where we’re heading now.”

“Say, you wouldn’t be interested in teaming up, would you?” the first pony asked, “I bet we could take it down even faster with a few extra blades.”

I couldn’t see any reason why not and, after consulting with my friends, I agreed to join with this band of ponies. They knew where Ancient’s Ascent was better than me, so they led the way along the path and into the southern mountains of Horizon. When Ancient’s Ascent came into sight in the distance, the dragon still appeared to be perched there, so we were in luck.

At the base of the mountain began a set of stone stairs that zigzagged up to the peak, upon which the dragon was. Those of us who were earthbound began to ascend the stairs, and the pegasi flew ahead toward where the dragon was roosting. It gave a roar as Mephalda began shooting arrows into it before the rest of us were even up the stairs.

When we reached the top of Ancient’s Ascent, the dragon had already taken off and was trying to flame both Mephalda, who was shooting arrows into its hide, and the other pegasus, who was slashing at it with a sword whenever she got the chance. I shot a few ice spikes up at the dragon before bringing it to the ground.

<<<JOOR~ZAH~FRUL!!!>>>

Racked with the terrible agony Dragonrend brought, the great lizard fell from the sky. Drawing Calcion’s Cleaver, I managed to get a swing in at its snout before it could recover. I quickly dodged to the side as a column of flame shot from the dragon’s maw, burning up what little grass grew this high.

I ran under the dragon’s wing, shooting flames up into it and burning a hole in the membrane. Narrowly dodging a swipe of its razor-sharp claws, I slid out from under the massive wings and around toward its tail.

<<FO~KRAH!!>> I Shouted, freezing a segment of the tail.

With a leap, I brought Calcion’s Cleaver down on the frozen appendage, shattering it and causing the tail to squirm away, writhing as the life drained from it. With a roar of pain and anger, the dragon spun around toward me. As it opened its mouth to shoot fire, I summoned a flame atronach inside, which began to burn the soft tissue of the dragon’s mouth.

Snapping its jaw shut, the dragon reduced my summoned companion to sparks. I jumped out of the way as a blast of dragon fire came at me. Running around to the other side of the dragon, I saw the mare who’d joined us was sinking her greatsword into the dragon’s shoulder joint. She jumped away as a claw came at her, but not quite fast enough.

The dragon’s talons closed around her tail, and she was lifted up off the ground, squirming and slashing at the dragon’s wrist. As the great lizard’s wounds became catastrophic, it dropped her. As she crashed to the ground, the dragon’s jaw closed around her, crushing her to pulp.

“Erias!” the unicorn stallion screamed, rushing in with magic burning at the end of his horn.

Jumping onto the dragon’s back, he began to shoot ice across it, the frozen crystals sinking through the wounds the others had inflicted. The dragon shuddered as the ice began to build up, sending shards of it flying in all directions. As the stallion jumped off, the dragon snatched at him with a claw. It missed, slamming down on the ground, where Steadfast crushed it, snapping and splintering bone with his Changeling warhammer.

<<<FUS~RO~DAH!!!>>> I Shouted at the dragon’s head, knocking it away as it attempted to snap up Steadfast.

Angrily, it turned toward me, jaws ready to close around my body. I held Calcion’s Cleaver ready, and jumped away at the last minute, cutting through the dragon’s jaw. Mystic came up from behind me, coating the inside of the dragon’s mouth with ice. Snapping its jaws together, it sent shards of the frozen water flying everywhere. I dodged a few as they flew over my head, burying themselves in the ground around me.

The pegasus who’d accompanied us landed on the dragon’s head and began slashing at one of its eyes with her sword. As she blinded the great lizard, it tossed its head around wildly, throwing her off. Her unicorn companion charged in as she rolled away, sending ice into the dragon’s face and freezing its other eye. Unable to see what it was doing, the dragon sent flame everywhere, one blast unfortunately catching the stallion. His body burst into a torch, combusting in seconds until nothing was left but a charred mess.

While the dragon still couldn’t see, I rushed in, dodging the flames. Holding Calcion’s Cleaver above my head, I sliced through the dragon’s scales, cutting its lower jaw in half. I continued my gallop, the sword still held out above me, as I ripped open the dragon’s throat. Choking on its own blood, the giant fell to the ground, and I barely managed to roll out from under in time.

Cleaning my blades, I waited for the dragon to combust. As it did, the entirety of its life joined my memories, with a focus on the dragon’s contemplations of maws, both on dragons like itself and on ponies. I saw how I could use my voice to rip away the weapon held in another pony’s grasp, and my understanding grew until I had to let it out.

<<ZUN~JOT!!>> I Shouted, and Steadfast’s warhammer suddenly flew from his mouth.

“Sorry about that,” I apologized to my earth pony friend.

A new Word of Power learned, and the dragon here dead, my task was completed for the day. All that was left now was to claim our reward in Foalkreath and return to Whitetrot. As we prepared to leave, my attention was caught on the pegasus standing nearby mourning her companions.

It occurred to me that it could easily have been my friends that had died in this fight. Adventuring was a dangerous business, and I intended to get out of it as soon as I could, before any more heartbreak came my way. I’d already seen them die once, and was determined to never let it happen again.