The Equine Scrolls: SkyFiM

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 50: Horizon's Founder

With the messy business with Shor’s Stone cleared up, I returned to Foalkreath to rejoin my friends. Shadowmere had promised to help us in our quest to find the Elements of Harmony, but that didn’t mean we had to sit around and do nothing. There were still five out there, after all, and the one I did possess was still little more than a useless trinket.

I may not have been able to satisfactorily display the Element it represented, but at least I could search for the others. Going from ruin to ruin hoping we’d find an Element was slow and inefficient, but it was the best plan we had at the moment. And if we were going to explore ancient earth pony ruins, there was only one pony to see.

“How did Four Stars Lookout work out?” Faniar asked as we entered his study.

“Not bad, but no Element,” Steadfast answered.

“That’s too bad,” Faniar said, “But I think I might have one for you. I have reason to believe there might be an Element in Ysgroomar’s tomb.”

“Ysgroomar?” Steadfast asked, “As in Ysgroomar, founder of both Horizon and the Companions?”

“That’s the one,” Faniar answered.

“Are you saying Ysgroomar was a Dragon Priest?” I asked.

“No, but his tomb was later used by another Draugr lord, perhaps even a Dragon Priest.”

“Well, it’s the best chance we’ve got,” I said, “I guess we’ll head to Ysgroomar’s Tomb. Thanks for all the help, Faniar.”

Ysgroomar’s Tomb was built on a small island off Horizon’s coast, just north of Windhorn. Luckily, we didn’t need a boat to reach it, as the sea north of Windhorn was already frozen over for the winter. Icy winds howled across the frozen sea as we trekked out to the lonely ruin, but we made it eventually, reaching the monument stones that marked Ysgroomar’s Tomb.

Snow coated the island, and it seemed completely untouched by pony hooves for years. The stone entryway had nearly vanished beneath the drifts, but we were able to dig it out. Pushing the heavy doors open, we ducked in out of the frigid weather.

Just within the ruin was a small cavern tucked just under the island’s stone. Braziers burned brightly with purple flame along the walls, illuminating the interior space. In the center of the room was statue worn down severely with age.

It was Ysgroomar, looking exactly as we’d seen him in Sovngarde. The hairy earth pony was posed in a heroic position, his battleaxe Wingrend in his mouth. The walls were decorated with murals beyond count depicting the former king’s many accomplishments.

Steadfast would have loved to stay there, admiring the room for the rest of the day, but we were on a mission. We left the entry cavern, passing the massive statue, and headed down into the tunnels built beneath the island. We passed through hallways of tombs where the Draugr slept soundly. None emerged until we entered a large cavern beneath the island.

Tombs burst open as we entered the room, and the zombies spilled out, their weapons already in their mouths. A blast of fire from Mystic roasted the one nearest to us. I drew Calcion’s Cleaver and the Blade of Hoofingar and advanced upon a Draugr with a battleaxe.

I swung Calcion’s Cleaver around, but the zombie blocked with its blade. My ebony sword too was knocked away as the battleaxe spun around. I brought my ancient earth pony blade around toward the Draugr’s forelegs, but it was able to block me. As I swung the Blade of Hoofingar around toward its neck, the sword was knocked down by the shaft of the battleaxe.

The blade still hit the Draugr anyway, slicing away the rotten flesh on its shoulder and foreleg. I twisted the blade at the last second before it hit the ground, and I was able to take off the zombie’s hoof. As it staggered, I managed to get a swing in with Calcion’s Cleaver on the other side of its neck. The zombie choked on its own ichor and fell to the floor.

As another Draugr with a battleaxe swung at me, Steadfast rushed in and blocked with his warhammer. I rushed down through the room, chopping off the head of another Draugr as Mephalda shot the archer down the hall that was annoying us with its arrows.

A Draugr wielding a sword stood atop a set of rickety stairs at the end of the cavern that led up to the second level. I shot fire at the zombie, lightning it aflame, but also lighting the bridge below it. That was the last thing I needed if I wanted to get deeper into the ruin.

<<FO~KRAH!!>> I Shouted, freezing the burning Draugr and the bridge beneath it.

Climbing the stairs, careful not to slip, I knocked the zombie-sicle to the ground, causing it to shatter into a million icy bits. I suddenly ducked down the stairs as a fireball shot through the air right where my head had been. Peeking up onto the second level of the room, I could see a Draugr wielding a staff was now shooting another fireball down toward my friends.

Keeping low to the ground, I crept up the stairs before ducking behind a pillar just in time to avoid the blast of flame that followed me. Unfortunately, the pillar I was behind was made of wood, and old wood at that. With the Draugr’s next blast, it turned into a pillar of fire.

By that time, however, I was no longer there. I leapt at a zombie with a war axe standing nearby, slashing through its chest before moving on and ducking behind another of the pillars that held up the roof here. From there, I rolled across the floor until I was behind another pillar. Continuing this, I circled around the undead wizard until the ceiling began to groan above it. As the final pillar combusted, the stone came crashing down, burying the Draugr.

I was forced to draw back suddenly as the pike of another Draugr came down at me. Shooting flames at it, I pushed the zombie off the ledge that ringed the second floor, and sent it falling to its death. My friends joined me on the upper level now that it was safe, and Steadfast crushed another Draugr with a bow that had been shooting at me. I hadn’t even noticed in my attempt to kill the Draugr with the staff, but there were arrows stuck all over my armor. I pulled them out before moving on.

A Draugr with a sword in front of me suddenly combusted as Mystic’s magic hit it. Farther ahead, near the exit from this room, was a Draugr with a greatsword. As we approached, I shot ice spikes at it. Some stuck, but did little damage, and in the end it was a shot from Mephalda’s bow that killed it.

Stepping over the corpse, we passed into a narrow hallway where braziers hung from the ceiling to provide illumination. Everything was eerily quiet, the ruin shifting being the only noise that could be heard. Eventually the tunnel came to an end, opening onto a large room hollowed out from the stone lit by a gigantic brazier hanging from the vaulted ceiling.

In the center of the room was an elaborately carved sarcophagus. I allowed myself to relax and take a closer look when it didn’t burst open on approach. It appeared to be Ysgroomar’s coffin, untouched even by the Draugr. I gave Steadfast a moment as he marveled over the inscriptions on the coffin of the pony that had founded his order.

Looking around, I could see that this tomb had been built underwater. Through cracks in the ceiling, small trails of the sea above us dribbled down. Stains on the walls bore proof that this wasn’t just a recent occurrence. The ruin began to groan more as we waited, and the streams of water began to grow.

“Um, Steadfast,” I said, looking up nervously at the leaking ceiling, “I think we’d better get out of here.”

No sooner had I uttered my warning than chunks of the ceiling began to rain down and seawater came rushing in. We tried to rush toward the entrance, but the flow of icy water quickly washed us toward the other side of the room. My head knocked against the doorframe of another tunnel as we were flushed down it.

Soon the tunnel filled with water, and we were left holding our breaths as the current swept us along. As we did, we were sent through tunnels filled with Draugr, their bodies flowing along with the current too. I nearly screamed and gave up my precious air when one of the icy cold bodies brushed against my own.

At last the deluge came to a stop as the tunnel curved upwards. We all gasped for breath as air became available again, even if it was a bit musty. We crawled out of the water, damp, shivering, and miserable. Mystic cast a warmth spell on us to help dispel the cold and fight off illness, and soon we were feeling much better, albeit battered and bruised by the crazy ride we’d just experienced.

“Where are we?” Steadfast asked, looking down the passageway we were in.

“It appears to be a sub-ruin,” Mystic said, “Built beneath Ysgroomar’s Tomb at a later date. Faniar did say another ancient earth pony lord had moved in here; maybe this is their fortress.”

“I think Mystic’s right. I just hope it has another way out,” I said, looking back the way we had come.

We forged on through the new set of tunnels, which did seem not quite as old as the ones we’d been in before. In places, a strange symbol kept popping up, most likely the symbol of the pony who’d built this place. I had high hopes that it was also the symbol of a Dragon Priest.

Deeper we delved into the ruins, until the walls came alive around us. We hadn’t seen Draugr for a while and were caught off guard as they suddenly poured from their tombs in the walls. I swung my sword around, trying to keep them back, but my armor still took on a few new nicks and dents as the zombies beat their weapons against the Griffin covering.

With all of us fighting to free ourselves, the battle was over in minutes, Draugr lying around us chopped, crushed, burned, and shot. Fixing up our wounds, we continued on until we came to an iron door set into a sturdy stone frame. Very quickly, I pushed the door open, revealing a horde of Draugr on the other side.

<YOL!>

My fire breath torched the Draugr, reducing those in front to ashes immediately and lighting the others up to burn slowly. One even fell into a pool of oil on the floor, lighting up the room. I slammed the door shut as the fire began to billow through the open doorway. My mane got a bit singed in the process, but it wouldn’t be the first time. I just had to thank the Equines that fire always seemed to jump straight for my mane and not the more important bits of my body.

I cautiously opened the door once the clamor had died down. All the Draugr in the room were dead, littering the floor as burnt corpses. As I stepped into the room, I found not quite all of them were dead. My dragon breath had been effective in killing all the Draugr in the room, but an archer was entering from a door on the far side and shot an arrow at me as I stepped through the door.

I rolled across the ash-covered floor to avoid the arrow, ending up behind the still-warm corpse of a Draugr. Another arrow came flying toward me and stuck in the Draugr corpse as I leapt for cover elsewhere. As I peeked around a pillar, I saw an arrow from Mephalda’s bow shoot right through the archer’s head. It fell to the ground, the contraption that let it fire a bow propping it up in an odd position.

Pushing it to the side, I passed into the next hallway, where I came face to face with a Draugr right away. I brought Calcion’s Cleaver up just in time to block the swing at my head. With a kick of my forelegs, I knocked the Draugr back down the hall. A fireball from my horn followed it, lighting the zombie up.

It tumbled backwards into another of the undead ponies standing behind it. The second Draugr knocked the first aside with a staff and began to shoot lightning at me, brushing fire off itself in the process. I ducked low to the ground as the bolts of pure energy shot over me, dissipating over the surface of Mystic’s ward.

I crawled across the ground, and as the Draugr shot another blast of lightning at me, I countered with my own. The two magical blasts met in midair, and lightning arced everywhere, crackling over the walls. Pushing more magic through my horn, I forced the electrical disturbance where the bolts met away from me. Eventually it reached the staff itself and the tip exploded in a burst of magical energy.

Steadfast jumped over me as the Draugr suddenly became armed with nothing more than a stick. Still, it put that stick to good use, blocking Steadfast’s first swing. It wasn’t so lucky the second time, and its skull caved beneath my friend’s hammer.

The hall narrowed further on and began to slope back downwards. At the end of it were two large iron doors. Pushing them open revealed a large carved cavern dominated by a set of carvings dedicated to the dragons. On one of them was an inscription in Draconic that I eagerly trotted over to examine.

As I’d suspected, this wall held the knowledge of the dragons. The words burned as I learned animals as the dragons did, as small and insignificant creatures with weak minds. I also learned everything I possible could about every kind of animal until I thought my mind would burst. At last the flow of knowledge stopped, and I had a new word in my mind.

~RAAN~

A dull thudding came from the center of the room, where a sarcophagus not near as fancy as Ysgroomar’s sat. The top suddenly cracked off and an earth pony emerged, dressed in rotting gowns of state. A warhammer was gripped in its mouth, glowing red a bit around the edges as flames licked across the bludgeon. What was left of the zombie’s mane was thrown violently back, enhancing the animalistic look of the undead lord. Sadly, I didn’t see an Element hanging around the Draugr’s neck.

<YOL!>

My Shout lit the Draugr on fire, and it shrieked as the flames burned its flesh, but it didn’t die immediately as I’d hoped. Instead, the Draugr lord jumped down from its sarcophagus and swung its warhammer into my side. My armor buckled and flames licked across it as I was thrown across the room.

As I rose to my hooves, I began to rocket ice spikes across the room at the Draugr, tearing holes through its armor and clothing and ripping apart the flesh beneath. Mephalda began to shoot arrows into it, making sure they hit it at such an angle that they also tore away chunks of the Draugr’s rotten flesh.

Steadfast went warhammer to warhammer with the Draugr, locking their weapons into a block. A blast of flames from Mystic set the zombie on fire, but the flames did little more than annoy it and burn off the remaining hair it had. After knocking Steadfast away, it turned to Mystic for a moment and dropped its weapon.

<<<FUS~RO~DAH!!!>>> it Shouted, throwing her off her hooves and sending her rolling across the floor.

Steadfast was back by this point, and managed to cave in the armor over the Draugr’s back before it retrieved its own weapon. Still, Steadfast’s strike had managed to cripple it, leaving its hindlegs paralyzed. I ran up behind it while it was engaged with my earth pony friend.

<<FO~KRAH!!>>

The Draugr’s back half froze to the ground, and ice crept through the holes in the zombie’s flesh Mephalda and I had opened up. Snarling, the Draugr knocked Steadfast aside and tried to crush my head with a swing of its hammer. I ducked, and the weapon’s end went flying over my head, just barely nicking my helmet.

Calcion’s Cleaver sang with joy as I brought it around toward the Draugr’s neck. The rotten flesh broke apart easily as my blade entered, cutting through skin, muscle, tendon, and bone. The sword went all the way through, separating the Draugr’s head from its body. I gagged and backed off as the overwhelming stench of long-rotten blood reached my nostrils.

Cleaning my blades, I searched for a way out of here. Thankfully, there was a door tucked in the back of a side room that led to stairs leading up. Following them took us to a small room with a ladder built into the wall. Climbing it allowed me to reach the ceiling, where I was able to push a circular piece of stone up and out. Poking my head through, my eyes met those of a very confused bat-pony.

“Where did you come from?” he asked with a prominent Bracken-swamp accent, offering a hoof to help me out.

“Um, an ancient earth pony ruin,” I said, looking around once he’d helped me up.

I could see that somehow I was now standing on the solid portion of the Windhorn docks. The ancient city reared up behind me, and before me were several ships frozen in the harbor for the winter. The bat-pony helped up Steadfast as well, and then Mystic. Mephalda needed no help to flap out of the hole.

“Thanks for the help,” I told him as he resealed the hole in the docks.

“I have seen you here before,” he replied, “The earth ponies look down upon us, but you do not, I think. In Unicornica, we are looked down upon by unicorns, in fact everywhere we are looked down on. But here, we are both outsiders. Maybe you can understand our plight. Jarl Stormcloud respects you. He will listen if you speak to him.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said sincerely, “But like you said, I’m an outsider too, I don’t know how much he’ll listen even if I do talk to him.”

“I understand,” the bat-pony said, “Besides, you have much bigger problem.”

He held out a hoof and pointed behind me. As I turned around to see what he was pointing at, a shadow fell over the land. Above us flapped a dragon, gliding to the south. As it passed over Windhorn, it gave a roar of challenge. But, it didn’t stop and attack the town, it just kept flying south.

“Where do you think it’s headed?” Mystic asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, “Let’s find out.”

As we traveled down the south path from Windhorn, I began to get worried just where exactly the dragon was headed. Judging by its path, it was after Riverwood. Both Hoofgen and Karthpasture had been wiped out now, and I wouldn’t put it past Alduin to have the dragons wipe all the towns out first.

Then again, it could just as easily been headed for Whitetrot, or Foalkreath, or the Crest of the World for that matter. The only reason I was really worried so much about Riverwood was that I knew ponies there. Calciar and Eruthar had been good to me during the short times I’d visited them, and I didn’t want to return to the tiny town only to find their burnt corpses, not to mention Cloverdust’s.

I felt a bit of relief when I heard the dragon rampaging far from any of the towns I was worried about. That relief was short-lived, however, when I realized exactly where we were. Up ahead, the dragon flapped above the trees, but just a short distance away was a tiny farmhouse, now with a broken roof, with a small flaming field of what had once been alchemy ingredients.

“Serendipity!” I called as I galloped up to the farm.

The turquoise unicorn was nowhere to be seen. I really hoped the dragon hadn’t gotten her. That mare had had enough hardship. I breathed a sigh of relief, if only for a moment, when I saw a blast of magic shoot out of the trees near where the dragon hovered. The great lizard coated the forest in flames a moment afterward.

<<<JOOR~ZAH~FRUL!!!>>> I Shouted, knocking the dragon from the sky.

It crashed through the burning remains of the trees as I galloped toward it. The area it had cleared was still aflame in some places, and I dodged the scattered fires on my way. As I entered, I could see Serendipity on the other side of the clearing, shooting bolts of lightning at the dragon before retreating into the trees.

I drew Calcion’s Cleaver, but was forced to duck down to the ground as the dragon sent flames shooting over me. As I crawled on my belly through the ash, I sent ice spikes at the dragon’s face, even hitting it in the eye with one. As it drew back in pain, I charged forward.

Calcion’s Cleaver slashed at the dragon’s hide, ripping apart the scaly flesh. As I galloped alongside the beast, I drew my sword along, ripping a long gash in the dragon’s side. It snatched at me with a claw, bending my griffin armor out of shape. Thankfully, the talons themselves didn’t rip through, and I was only scratched up by the points of metal that had formed inside my protective clothing. I swung Calcion’s Cleaver around into the dragon’s palm, and it released me.

As soon as I hit the ground, I took off, heading toward the dragon’s wings. Instead, the wings came for me, throwing me off the ground and sending me tumbling. As the dragon attempted to snatch me up in its jaws, an arrow from Mephalda hit its injured eye, causing it to rear up in pain.

<KRII!> I Shouted, causing the dragon to be gripped by pain as I marked it for death.

I leapt forward, slashing my ancient earth pony sword across its nose as Steadfast swung his hammer into its cheek. The dragon roared, and though in agony, managed to grab me in its mouth and throw me away. I rolled across the forest floor until I hit a tree.

Back at the dragon, Mystic was roasting its wings while Steadfast tried to get another hit on its head. It was too fast for him, however, and knocked him aside. Craning its neck around, it sent a blast of dragon fire at Mystic. Her ward crackled and popped as the flames licked over it, but it held up.

I rose to my hooves and cast a healing spell to repair the wounds the dragon had inflicted on me when it’d bitten me. I also downed a potion of fire resistance before charging toward the great lizard. It let off on blasting Mystic as it saw me coming and focused its breath on me. As the flames licked around me, I prepared the required thoughts in my mind.

<STRUN!>

Clouds began to billow overhead without the direction of pegasi. Soon the sun was blocked out by their bulk, and lightning began to shoot between them. Snow began to fall around us as the clouds let loose their moisture. Lightning bolts began to arc down, focused on the dragon.

The beast began to cower back as nature’s fury was released on it. Bolts of lightning sought out the cracks in its scaly armor we had opened, scorching the soft flesh beneath. The dragon roared in pain and sent flames flying everywhere. As erratic as they were, they were easy to dodge as I charged in toward the beast.

With a slash of my ancient earth pony sword, I cut through the underside of the dragon’s neck, causing hot, acidic blood to spill out. Lightning bolts continued to rain down on the dragon’s back as I climbed up its leg. Carefully dodging the bolts of natural energy, I made my way up its back, slashing away as I did so.

Then, suddenly, the lightning stopped and the clouds began to migrate away again. The dragon gave a shudder as I crawled across its back, slashing away. I was forced to grab hold of the spikes lining its back as it bucked around, trying to throw me off.

Eventually it succeeded, and I went flying over its head. For a moment I was in freefall, before crashing back down to the hard ground. Looking up, I could see the dragon looming over me. As it opened its mouth to blast me with fire, two magical blasts hit it simultaneously. The raw energy tore apart its face, ripping scales, flesh, and bones to fragments.

As the now-headless dragon collapsed to the ground, I looked for the source of the magical blasts. On one side was Mystic, and on the other was Serendipity, blowing the smoke off her horn, which was still glowing slightly from the massive amount of energy that had just pulsed through it.

“Come to save me again?” she asked, giving a laugh as she approached.

“Actually, this time you saved me,” I said, rising to my hooves and sizing her up.

The turquoise unicorn looked much better than the last time I’d seen her. The wounds inflicted on her by the mine-workers had healed completely, and her tail was even beginning to grow back. But it had been a while since I’d last seen her, nearly two whole months.

The burning of the dragon behind me distracted me from thinking about Serendipity any more at the moment. In a great blast of multi-colored flame, I took in all of the dragon’s memories, with a special focus on animals. I now knew how to use the word I’d learned down in Ysgroomar’s tomb, and how to command the allegiance of animals with it.

<RAAN!> I Shouted, though nothing spectacular happened, as all the wildlife had fled when the dragon appeared.

“You have the Voice?” Serendipity asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“We have a lot to catch up on,” I told her.