It was a sunny day over Whiterun, something that made the incessant chill around us all the more excrutiating. Rubbing my arms, I distracted myself with the sheer sights above and around our new home. Sitting high up in the kingdom's central Hold, the gated city gave us a wide view of Skyrim, including its sprawling tundra and snow-kissed mountain peaks. To the southeast, the Throat of the World devoured the visible horizon. It looked as though a whole entire continent floated above us, cushioned by clouds and obscured by high mists.
To our left and right, Nords of all walks of life strolled to and from various tasks. The marketplace bristled with chatter, punctuated by the occasional snide comment between Battle-Borns and Gray-Manes. At some point, a girl rambled on about... "mother" and "vegetables" or something. I hurried us along before Applejack got invested, and soon we were strolling leisurely past Breezehome and the Drunken Huntsman.
"Mmmmmmmmmm..." Applejack took a long, long, long breath. She eventually exhaled out a smile. Her blonde bangs fluttered in a brisk breeze. "Do ya know what I lurve about this whole Skyrim place?"
"What?" My teeth chattered as I squeezed my elbows. "I mean... besides the killer bears, bandit packs, wandering giants, xenophobic nationalists, sporadic daedra, and the constant threat of all-out civil war?"
"I just lurve the diversity of it all," she murmured. "Thangs ain't quite like this back in Equestria."
I raised an eyebrow. There was that "E"-word again. Best to let AJ carry her thought out...
"I mean, shoot, we have our own various types of ponies. Earth... pegasi... zebra... unicorn... crystal. But somehow it dun seem to stack up to the meltin' pot y'all got here in Tammy Roll."
"Tamriel. And what's so nifty about it?"
"Well, yer from miles and miles and miles away, right?"
"AJ..." I smirked, walking along. "You're getting dangerously close to breaking the ruuuuules..."
She blushed through her freckles. "Oh. Right. Pardon."
"It's all good. And... you're right, AJ. Hammerfell is... very f-far away." I cleared my throat. "But what exactly are you getting at?"
"Well, y'all Redguards come from a distant land. And yet yer here... and Saadia at the Bannered Mare. And then that Amren fella and his wife."
"I swear, if you try to match me up with him like all the others—"
"I'm just sayin' it's uncanny how many of y'all have come to Skyrim to live. Same with Belethor. He ain't Nord, am I right?"
"Nope."
"And then you've got yer elves at the bow-and-arrow shop." She pointed at the building in question as we passed it. "And, from the sound of thangs, there're lizard people and cat people and... and... are there dog people? Please say there are dog people! I'm missin' Winona mighty fierce."
"Winona?"
"Ehhhhh shucks..." She tilted the brow of her hat forward. "Reckon I'm ramblin' again. Y'see? This is why we should be off on adventures more often... kickin' in the teeth of bandits. It distracts me just right."
"All in due time. Right now, we've got a delivery to make."
"I wonder if this Bjorlam feller is a dog person..."
"Look, AJ, what does it matter?" I shrugged. "Not everyone in Skyrim is a Nord. And, quite frankly, I'm fine with that."
"Well, that's good to hear. Y'know I'm always worried for ya, darlin'." Her bright green eyes flicker up toward me. "Seems to me like ya tend to sweat a lot over fittin' in. From the look of thangs, it ain't all that crazy to be different in this here town."
"Yeah, well, from what I hear it's better than Windhelm."
"Huh?"
I sighed. "Never mind."
"Say, I've been wonderin'... if the Redguards look so different from Bretons and Nordfolk, then just where did they come from?"
"Yokuda."
"Beg yer pardon?"
"Yokuda. It's... it's a legend handed down by the Crowns and Forebears. The original Ra Gada people sailed in to invade Tamriel long after their home continent of Yokuda mysteriously sank into the ocean."
"Well that sounds..." Applejack's fuzzy orange nose scrunched. "...mighty ridiculous."
"Not as much as you'd think," I droned. "Nords sailed in from a place called Atmora... the elves came from Aldmeris... and please don't get me started on Akavir."
"Land's sakes..."
"If you ask me, it seems like the Divines all got bored and just... corralled all of humanity onto this one dumb rock to simplify things."
"Well, shucks..." Applejack blinked. "Do any folk actually come from Thumb Hill?"
"Tamriel. And... I dunno." I scratched the back of my neck. "The giants?"
"Whew-wee. Remind me to take a gander at some of Ms. Hulda's books. I've got a whole lot of catching up to do."
"You want my advice, AJ?" I bore a bittersweet smile as we approached the gates. "Just give it up. Live in the moment." I swallowed a lump down my throat. "Not in the past."
"Heh... if ya say so, darlin'."
"Hold!" A guard raised his gloved hand. His voice resonated from behind a bronze helmet. "Are you seeking to exit Whiterun's gates?"
"Only for a second," I said. "I have a delivery from the Bannered Mare to give to the carriage driver outside."
"Very well, Redguard." He took a look at my shoes. "Those are fine leather boots!"
"Uhm... thanks?"
"You know, I used to be an adventurer like you. But then..." Right at that moment, his gaze fell on the tiny horse at my side. A few seconds passed, and he tilted his helmet towards the battlements. "Heimdall! Open the gate!"
"Aye! Opening the gate!"
And the massive doors swung open with a windy gust.