Nighttime in Skyrim was anything far from peaceful, but Raika was somewhat glad that she and her friends had someplace safe to rest their weary legs for the night. It meant that they didn't have to camp out in the wild or have to worry about bandits coming to ransack their camp, both of which she was used to thanks to her service in the Stormcloak Army. Ralof and the others had taught her some valuable skills that would make it easier for her to survive in the wild, but there were times where she would preferred to stay indoors. It didn't matter if she slept indoors or outdoors, as she always kept her weapons close to her in case someone decided to try and rob her in the middle of the night. That night she allowed herself to finally relax and drift off into her dreams, hoping that they weren't as messed up as what her reality was slowly becoming.
Luna smiled to herself as everyone eventually drifted off to sleep, their dreams appearing to her in the dream world while she ate one of those sweetrolls she noticed Raika eating all the time. Raika's dream, she noted, was filled with she spending the evening with a group of her comrades, the Stormcloaks, and cheering on about their latest victory over the Imperial Legion. Lydia's dream was basically her spending the most of her time beating her Thane's enemies into the ground and burning the corpses, which made Luna raise an eyebrow in thought. Her sister's dreams were what she expected to find, Celestia either spending time teaching her student the finer points of magic or scouring the libraries of Equestria to look for her love. Then, as she watched the scene unfold, the searching turned to Celestia and Sombra spending the evening on top of some hill, drinking some wine and sharing a laugh.
Sombra's dream, on the other hoof, was completely shrouded by darkness, preventing even Luna from piercing the veil to see whatever he dreamed about. She would have to keep an eye on him over the next few days; she didn't want to lose her friend to the darkness in his heart a second time.
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When morning arrived Raika moaned and pulled herself out of the bed she had slept in, stretching her arms as she welcomed the new day with a yawn. She had the feeling that someone - or somepony if her theory was correct - had spied on her dreams while she was asleep and knew what she had dreamed about. Luna was the princess of the moon, and the moon meant that she ruled during the night, during which her subjects were asleep and she could watch over them. Regardless if she was right or not Raika didn't like the feeling that there was someone, be they former pony or not, who could spy on people's dreams.
When she emerged from the room she was greeted by a strange sight; Lydia and Delphine pouring over a map of Skyrim, Luna tearing apart a sweetroll, and Celestia and Sombra sharing the morning meal together.
"Ah, Dragonborn, your up," Delphine said, waving a hand at her in the fashion to call her over, "Your housecarl and I were discussing the best course of action in regards to getting all of us to Kynesgrove. I suggested that we walk there, but she keeps telling me that we should rent a carriage to get us to Windhelm and then walk the rest of the way."
"And I am right!" Lydia growled, defending her suggestion to the end, "If there is to be a dragon attack on Kynesgrove then we should get there sooner rather then later."
"But the Thalmor have spies everywhere," Delphine pointed out, pointing a finger at an area near Solitude, "I did not spend all these years making sure I was safe, just for some upstart to throw it all away without any concern for our safety. The moment the Thalmor discover that the Dragonborn has returned they'll make sure that she's out of the picture so they can conquer all of Skyrim."
"Look, we can deal with the Thalmor later," Raika moaned, not happy that she has to deal with an argument so soon after waking up, "Get us a carriage so we can get to Windhelm and deal with the dragon that you're claiming will be there. If we get there and a dragon doesn't show up then we'll take the Horn with us back to the Greybeards."
"Fine," Delphine sighed in defeat, "Your the Dragonborn, so I'll forgive the fact that you are unaware of the struggle between what remains of the Blades and the entirety of the Thalmor. However, you want a carriage, so we'll get a carriage. Just be ready to strike in case we get hassled by our enemies."
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Not even an hour later the group, having made the way to Whiterun before taking a break, were riding in a carriage and were well on their way to Windhelm. Thanks to Delphine joining them, now geared up in a suit of leather armor she had stashed away in case she ever needed it again, they were at the capacity the driver was willing to take at one time. Raika insisted that the former equestrians shared one side of the carriage, so she could keep one eye on Sombra in case any of his darkness started to seep out of him again. Delphine didn't seem to mind sitting near the edge of the carriage in the event of an attack, but she was still sour that she was breaking all her safety measures she had spent years putting in place.
During the ride Raika was tempted to tell Lydia to kick Delphine out of the carriage, but figured she'd keep her around to use as bait in case there really was a dragon to fight. She just prayed to Talos that the dragon that was supposed to be at Kynesgrove was the one that attacked Helgen, so she could end this nightmare before another town was destroyed.
"Looks like we've got company," the driver said, just as the carriage came to a halt.
Standing in front of their carriage were eleven bandits, most of them wearing the traditional leather armor that every bandit that Raika has run into had worn. Their leader this time was a female elf who held a bow in her left hand and an arrow in her right hand, though she was wearing a suit of steel armor that looked like it had seen several battles. The bandits carried a variety of weapons, ranging from bows and arrows to axes, maces, swords and shields, and even the larger two handed weapons. Raika let out a small whistle, these bandits were heavily armed and she wasn't going to walk away until she had every weapon they held.
"Stop right there," the bandit leader shouted, nocking her arrow as she spoke, "This is a robbery, so I want each of you to pile all of your gold, jewelry, magical trinkets, and weapons in the crates that my boys will be bringing to your carriage. Now I don't want any funny business, just give us what we want and we'll let you move on your way. But if you so much as raise your weapons against us we'll be sure to put whoever the offender is down as a lesson to all of you."
Just as the words left her mouth a bolt of lightning shot out of the trees and blasted the bandit closest to the leader square in the chest, knocking him off his feet and causing his still body to hit a tree.
"Whose out there?" the elf shouted, knowing that the attack had been caused by someone else and not the carriage riders, "Show yourself coward!"
Raika was expecting the mage, for that was the only type of person who used magic, to stay hidden and take out the remaining ten bandits before showing him or herself, but instead of remaining hidden the mage revealed herself. The young lady wore a light purple cloak that covered the clothes she was wearing and had a similar colored hat that she wore on her head. Her hair was colored light blue with a stream of an even lighter blue hanging around it, but her hair also revealed that she had a blue unicorn horn. Raika knew that, at that moment, they had found another equestrian and she seemed to be helping them out.
Then Raika noticed that several more images of the young lady revealed themselves, surrounding the group of bandits and ignoring the carriage completely.
"Mirror's Image," Celestia muttered, placing a hand on her chin as she watched, "I wonder..."
"You asked Trixie to come out," all eight of the mages said in unison, making it impossible to tell who was the real one and who was the fakes, "and so Trixie has come out. Trixie will say this once; either leave these fine people alone and flee with your lives or your fate shall be the same as your fallen friend. Be warned, once you make your decision there will be no going back."
"Damn you to Oblivion," the leader shouted, pulling back her bow string and firing at one of the mages, only to watch the arrow slip right through her, "Bandits, ATTACK!"
As the bandits broke rank all eight mages pulled their magic into their left hands, leaving their right hands free to block any attack with a long cylinder weapon with a crystal at the end. One of the mages was impaled by two of the bandit's swords, but just before the image turned to dust the magic slammed into the first's chest before leaping to the second one. Magic flew all around the circle, cutting into bandits as their weapons found their homes in the smoky forms of the mages that they were fighting. Eventually only the bandit leader remained, but not one of the mages was left standing and it made her raise an eyebrow as she scouted about for the real mage.
That was before a bolt of lightning shot out of the tree behind her and tore into her body, knocking her to the ground as the real mage finally revealed herself.
"Trixie told you to run," the mage said, putting the bandit leader out of her misery, "and you should have listened. Clear the bandits at Lost Knife Hideout, done and done."
"Hail fellow traveler," Raika said, jumping over the side of the carriage and walking up to the mage, "I thank you for the timely aid. If I might inquire, what will you do with all of their weapons?"
"Trixie has no need for their weapons," the mage replied, turning to face Raika and looked passed her to find two familiar faces staring at her, "Princess Luna! Princess Celestia! Trixie had no idea what either of you were in Skyrim, otherwise Trixie would have offered her service's to you sooner."
"Peace my dear," Celestia said, "Had either of us known you had left Equestria we would have come for you. Maybe you'd like to share how this turn of events came about one day, but unfortunately we are pressed for time."
"Then allow Trixie to aid you," the lady said, a spark appearing in her eyes, "Trixie has learned some interesting spells that may come in handy on your quest."
"I have only one condition for you joining us," Raika said, facing Trixie and staring into her eyes, "Please stop speaking in third person. Its going to drive me insane."
"Trixie will-I mean, I will try." Trixie replied, immediately catching her error, "Allow me to gather my stead and I'll catch up with you."
Raika nodded and went back to collecting the weapons that the bandits had carried, mentally counting every blade so she when she delivered them to Ulfric she could give him the number of each type she collected. Raika had no idea who this Trixie was supposed to be, but from what she had seen she could tell that Trixie was skilled in the art of magic like the others. She was honored to have another addition to her growing group, even though Trixie had sworn her services to Celestia. Her only concern was that she was going to be outmatched by every single former equestrian that they met.
After collecting the weapons and gold Raika returned to the carriage and the driver got underway again, carefully avoiding the smoking corpses that Trixie had left behind. Luna and Celestia smiled at each other, silently sharing a look that told Raika that they both knew the young mage they had bumped into. The others remained silent, though by the look on Delphine's face it was clear that they could not afford to be stopped like that again and it made Raika consider dropping her again. As the carriage moved past another empty fortress a horse rode up next to them, but they stayed their hands as they realized that it was only Trixie.
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"Ah Kynesgrove," Delphine said, stretching her legs after riding in a carriage for the last few hours, "We're here at last."
All Kynesgrove was was a simple inn that seemed out of place, though to the left of the inn were several tents that contained workers that worked somewhere near the inn. The moment the group arrived the carriage driver bid them farewell and rode off into the distance, clearly spooked by something that was near them. The workers they noticed ran right past them, some of them looking like they were scared for their lives and that you shouldn't be there anymore. All that told Raika was that Delphine had been correct, a dragon was nearby and it was freaking out everyone in the nearby areas.
"No no no," a women said, running up to them with fear in her eyes, "there's a dragon attacking the barrow. Run while you still can!"
"Wait," Raika said, grabbing the women by the arm before she slipped away, "What color were the dragon's scales?"
"They were black," the women shouted, tearing her arm out of Raika's grasp before running away, "they were as black as the night itself."
Raika's eyes widened at the mention of black scales, her mind flashing back to when she was about to be executed in Helgen and a dragon, whose scales had been black, attacked. This was the dragon she had been chasing the moment she agreed to tell Jarl Bulgruuf about the attack on Helgen and started this crazy quest. Now she had it where she wanted it, so she could end its violent rampage and bring some peace back to Skyrim before beating the tar out of the Imperial Legion. She drew her weapon and charged up the hill, her eyes scanning for the dragon that was responsible for all her current headaches and finding nothing.
That was before she noticed the burial mound on the ground, the vile energy flowing out of it and into the sky, and a dragon who ignored their arrival. A dragon, she noted, whose scales were black.
"Sahlokniir!" the dragon roared, the mound's energy pulsing in response, "Ziil gro dovah ulse! Slen Tiid Vo!"
The moment those last three words left the black dragon's mouth the mound erupted, throwing ground and stone into the air as the skeletal form of a dragon dragged itself out of the mound. To Raika's horror the dragon's body began to reconstruct itself, the flesh and scales returning to it until the entire dragon stood there in all its glory. The newly reborn dragon looked up at the second dragon and spoke in its ancient tongue, to which the black one quickly replied and caused the reborn dragon to look at the group. Before Raika could tell the black dragon to stop so she could kill it it flew away, disappearing into the clouds and leaving with another problem.
Before the dragon could roar at Raika two fireballs hit it square in the face, causing it to turn and find Trixie prepared to fight it with her magic at the ready.
"Come at me you beast," Trixie shouted, lightning flickering across her hands, "I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, am ready for you."
The dragon roared and moved to swallow her whole, but Trixie smiled and leapt onto its head, moving towards his back before it could shake her off. Delphine shouted some ancient Blades war cry, pulled out her bow, and placed an arrow square in the dragon's side, further distracting it from Trixie. The dragon swung one of its wings and Luna simply backed up, letting the wing pass her by before sending a chill at the dragon's right side. Celestia, knowing her sister's plan ahead of time, moved to the dragon's left side and released a stream of fire at his side to counter the effects of her sister's magic.
Raika, seeing how annoyed the dragon was becoming, gripped her weapon tight and swung at the beast, leaving a light gash in its chest as it got into the air. It allowed the beast to get away from the sister's magic and limited them to attacking with either spells or arrows, but it had no intentions of forgetting that Trixie was holding onto it. Sombra, sensing that the dragon might do something drastic to remove Trixie, moved behind Raika and shadowstepped up to the sky, driving his weapon into the dragon's back the moment he appeared. Before the dragon plummeted out of the sky and hit the ground Sombra grabbed Trixie and pulled them into the shadows, appearing on the ground behind Raika.
"Want to put an end to him Dragonborn?" Delphine shouted, loosing another arrow at the beast, "We don't have all day before he leaves to find easier prey."
Raika looked at Sombra and he pulled the two of them into the shadows, leaving Trixie behind as they reappeared on the dragon's back and felt him shift in the air. Raika groaned, pulled herself up onto her feet, charged up the dragon's back until she was at his head, and drove her weapon right into his skull. As the dragon fell from sky Sombra grabbed Raika's leg and moved them once more, appearing behind Trixie in time to watch the dragon hit the ground hard. The assembled group waited until the dragon's thrashing ended before drawing closer, but once Raika was close enough the body returned to the skeletal form it had been earlier and its soul collided with her body.
"And that," Raika said, collecting her weapon before facing Delphine, "is why I am the Dragonborn."