Skyrim: The Pony Scrolls

by Ziggy05

You are... dragonshy...

Fluttershy trotted tiredly through the arch to Riverwood. It was cobblestone and lined with wooden supports. On her way there, she had come across the path of at least three cardinals, two blue jays, a variety of different hares and foxes and one deer as well as some very strange looking stones.

They had been tall, at least three meters and had a peculiar, pony-shaped engravement, below a hole in the rounded top. The first was of a shady looking earth pony, a large bag of bits slumped over his shoulder. The second was of a fully armored pegasi and the third and final monolith had been of a robed unicorn, casting what looked like a particularly powerful spell from her horn. Fluttershy had carelessly leant against the earth pony stone, which had glowed. Moments later, a brilliant beam of white light had shot up into the sky, making the daffodil pony to fall in fright.

She still didn't know what the stones had done.

Soon enough, she was inside the sleepy town of Riverwood. She had heard only vaguely of the small town from her bird friends who flew there occasionally from other provinces but she noted that it was a nice enough town. To her right was a small crystal flowing river. A small but sturdy wooden bridge crossed over it and attached to what she guessed was the mill was a wooden wheel, churning the water slowly. The houses were small but pleasant and the townsfolk were peaceful. Fluttershy supposed that they hadn't yet heard of the dragon attack on Hoofgen.

She headed up a wooden ramp and onto a platform.Seemingly immovable planks of logs were stacked up high next to a humongous gutter designed for their shape and size and in the distance, Fluttershy could see a mare. Nopony else was around, so she supposed that she was the stallion's sister. "Hello?" She called. "Are you the sister of- well... I don't know his name but hes a brown stallion, a pegasi to be exact."

The mare narrowed her eyes skeptically. "That sounds like him. Why?"

"There was a dragon attack on H-hoofgen..." Fluttershy murmured. "We escaped and he told me to go and look for you in Riverwood."

"O-oh my. Dragons?" The mare muttered. "I thought I heard something... over the mountain. Is he alright? Any idea where he is headed? Did anypony else make it out alive?"

Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. "Well um... Jarl Rainbow Dash. Maybe a few unicorns... other then that, I think we are the only two. He said I could go to you for help and I do need a place to stay... I mean, if its not any trouble of course..."

The mare nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, of course! Any friend of Black Mead is a friend of mine. You can stay at my house as thanks for keeping my brother safe. Heres the key- let yourself in and look around."

Fluttershy widened her eyes. "Really? Like that?" She murmured. "I-I don't want to put you in danger or anything... If I stay here the imperials might find me or the dragon might come back or... or something..."

The shook her off. "Don't worry about it. You saved my brothers life- I owe you much more then just a lodge to rest in."

Fluttershy smiled at her meekly, with genuine thanks. She took the key that the mare was holding out for her and thanked her briefly, tucking it into her coat pocket.

How could the mare be so resilient? Her family could get hurt if she let her stay here. She didn't even know if she was trustworthy or not and yet she had just.,... given her the key without any second thought. She was kind and Fluttershy knew that she owed the mare one. "Look, is there anything I can do to repay you? You've been so nice and... you don't even know me."

The mare smiled. "There is one thing I'd like you to do." She said. "Theres a dragon on the loose. We can't just let that go unannounced or it'll burn half of Skyrim before we stop it. I'd like you to deliver the news to Jarl Twilight in white run- hopefully she'll have a solution."

Fluttershy nodded. "I can do that." She said. "I'll go right away." She spoke quicker then she normally would, eager to prove that she was legitimately grateful for the mares hospitality. "Are you sure there's nothing else that you want me to do? I'll clean your house for you? How about I get you some fresh apples or chop some wood?"

The mare grinned. "Don't worry about it- we've got plenty of wood here, I assure you. Now go."

Fluttershy sighed and nodded, getting a hold of herself. "Alright," she said. She said goodbye to the mare and the crossed the bridge. Moments later, she broke into a canter, her pink mane sailing out behind her as she galloped towards the exit of Riverwood.

* * *

"Eek!" Fluttershy skidded to a stop in front of the two massive, sturdy wooden doors.

"Halt! Who goes there?" Two unicorns, both armored with gold slammed two metal spears in front of the pegasi's face.

"O-oh... I'm Fluttershy... I've got a m-message for the Jarl..." Her instincts were screaming at her to turn and run but she knew she had to do this for the mare back at Riverwood and possibly for all of Skyrim. Don't worry Fluttershy, she thought as her breathing became rapid and shallow. Its not as if your fighting a dragon, is it? You just need to deliver a message to the Jarl...

"Nopony can enter, what with the dragons about. You might as well just turn around and go back to where you came from, pegasi.." The guard to the right sneered.

Fluttershy squeaked and looked nervously at her hooves. "I have news from Hoofgen about the attack." Fluttershy muttered.

"Fine, but we'll be keeping an eye on you." The guard glanced at her wings suspiciously. The guards lowered their spears to let the pegasi through and she grunted in exertion as she pushed open the heavy gates. She walked cautiously forward, following the path to the palace and headed up a flight of stairs.

The sky was beginning to grow dark and cloudy and the moon was steadily reaching its zenith. The daffodil pony tryed her best to ignore the dirty looks she was receiving as she pushed open the palace doors and walked in. She was halted by a unicorn. "Whats your reason for this disruption?" The unicorn snarled.

Fluttershy squeaked in fear and backed away until she was trapped against the far right wall. "I have information for your Jarl about the dragon attack." She said softly.

The unicorn raised an eyebrow at her and lowered her hostile tone and weapon. "Ah, sorry. Follow me if that's the case. Twilight will want to speak with you personally."

Fluttershy followed the official looking unicorn towards a throne. The purple alicorn who sat there rose when she was approached and eyed Fluttershy curiously. "You saw this dragon with your own two eyes, correct?" She asked.

"Oh, yes," Fluttershy replied. "It was terrible! It burnt down the entire city. I wouldn't have made it out alive if it weren't for Black Mead." She remembered the name his sister had given her.

"What exactly happened there?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "I'd like all the details. Every last grain of information is of help." She magically levitated a pen and parchment over to her seat, blinking at the yellow pony expectantly.

"It attacked Hoofgen and then I saw it flying this way. Riverwood is in grave danger." Fluttershy murmumed.

"Oh my." Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. She scribbled something down on the scroll and rested it on the end table beside her. "What do you say about all this, White Parchment?" She turned to the colt next to her. "A dragon could easily break through our walls."

The mare who had interrogated Fluttershy earlier approached Twilight. "We must send troops at once," she said. "If that dragons lurking around, this pegasus is right- it is in grave danger."

Twilight Sparkle nodded. "I can't just let this dragon slaughter my subjects." She stared at the mare gravely. "Silver Blade, Send troops to Riverwood immediately." The mare, or Silver Blade nodded and left to gather a group of warriors. "I'd like you to be a part of the detachment." The words made Fluttershy freeze in terror.

"M-me?" Fluttershy tried to gasp, but the words caught in her throat.

"You've done Skyrim a service and I won't forget that. Here, take this steel armor. It'll help protect you."

"B-but..." Fluttershy began to shake. She stared at Twilight holding the armor out for her and then Fluttershy sighed. Oh what was she getting herself into? "Fine." She said. took the armor and replaced her own with it, forcing a grin as the heavy metal pushed her down further.

"Perfect," Jarl Twilight said oblviiously. "Go along and follow Silver Blade. I'm sure you'll be of help- after all, you survived Hoofgen. You have more experience with dragons then any of us."

Fluttershy sighed in relief. Thank goodness, they had the wrong pony. "Oh- no, no, no.. You see, I wouldn't have survived it weren't for Black Mead. I'm sure you'll want him and not me." Fluttershy stood tall, waiting for them to dismiss her.

"Nonsense." Fluttershy's heart sank. "I'm sure you'll do just fine. Go along, hurry up."

The yellow pony sighed. It had been worth a try. Feeling like one thousand drums were beating on the inside of her chest, she turned to see Silver Blade behind her. "Are you ready? Follow us to the watch tower. We'll gather there." Fluttershy nodded and tagged after Silver Blade who broke into a canter. Don't worry Fluttershy, the yellow mare thought to herself. Its just a dragon. Just a huge, scaly, fire breathing, flying capable, deadly dragon!

* * *

Crash!

"What are you doing? Get your flank out here, new comer!"

Fluttershy cowered beneath a pile of rubble as the dragon roasted at least five of her allies. Some had managed to climb to the top of the burning watchtower and were firing arrows at the beast however it was doing little.

They had gotten to the watchtower safely alright. There was just one complication- the dragon had still been there. "I don't want to die!" Fluttershy wailed.

Suddenly, the dragon landed and grabbed Fluttershy's shelter with its powerful jaws, crushing it easily. The pegasi whimpered and grabbed her weapon, slowly easing away as the dragon preparing to claw her to bits. The dragon raised a claw and then, Fluttershy charged wild eyed at the creature, screaming in terror. As she neared the reptile she shut her eyes, pointed the sword forward- and missed completely.

She threw herself out of the way of a stream of fire, screeching at the top of her lungs as the flame gained hot on her hooves. "I. HATE. DRAGONS!" She wailed.

Suddenly, her hooves buckled and she fell flat on the ground next to a dead guard. In a split second action, Fluttershy grabbed a steel shield from the corpse and held it over her, shutting her eyes tight as the dragons firey breath lingered where she was, turning the shield red with the intense heat before passing by.

The pegasi exhaled with how close she had come to death and shot up, diving for more shelter. "Here! Take this!" A guard cried. Fluttershy caught the guard's bow and quiver in her hooves and shakily clipped a steel arrow onto the string. The dragon had lost interest in her now and was busy trying to burn the guards atop the watchtower. Fluttershy knew that she had until the dragon realized where she was to act.

She cried out softly as her hooves slipped and the first arrow clattered to the ground. She took a second from the quiver and managed to clip it. The dragon looked rather worn... Fluttershy supposed a well placed shot would be enough to end it. Somehow she managed to stop her hooves from shaking and aim it at the dragons neck. She hesitated for a second, making sure she had the right coordination and then... she fired.

Hit.

Well, it wasn't exactly a bullseye. In fact, it was no where near the dragons neck. It had landed in a burnt cabbage at the back of a smoldering cart. The yellow pony blushed and chuckled nervously and then she clipped a third arrow on and fired it quickly. This time it hit the dragon's back.

Fed up, the reptile let out a roar and turned to face Fluttershy. It knocked her shelter into chips of stone with only one swipe of its strong tail. Fluttershy squealed and hugged her blade tight. Then, as the dragon lowered its neck to get ready for a fatal blast, the terrifed pegasi drove the sword handle deep into its neck, breathing rapidly and eyes wild.

Then, the dragon hit the ground, dead.

Fluttershy stared at her sword in shock. It was truly handle deep- she wasn't getting it out without help, there was no doubt about that. Then she begun to realise her accomplishment. She had done this. She had killed the dragon, pretty much single hoofed when everypony thought that would be of no help.

She should have died.

Everypony was now beginning to gather around the dragon. "How...?" One said. Fluttershy had no answer. Her accomplishment was... shocking, to say the least.

And it wasn't even over.

Suddenly, the dragons skin begun to flake, turning into what seemed like bright, red hot embers. Before long, the entire dragon was immersed in flame and something began to flow from it- some kind of raw power that felt like strands of fire itself were being sucked out by something or absorbed. Absorbed by...

Fluttershy.

The energy was being sucked directly into Fluttershy.

The guards watched on in amazement as the energy begun to die down. To their shock, all that was left behind was a massive skeleton, picked clean and a few patches of scale lying on the grass around it.

"S-she absorbed that dragons soul..."

"I can't believe it... Your... dragonshy..."

"What? I don't even know what just happened." Fluttershy said timidly. For a few seconds there, she had felt pure power flowing through her veins- and now she was just confused. "I absorbed the dragons soul?"

"It is said that back when there were still dragons in Skyrim, or what we used to call 'Equestria', there was a pony named Dragon Bane. He was dragonshy as well and had the ability to slay dragons and absorb their souls and there fore their powers. This ensured that the dragons never came back to life." One of the guards explained. "Thats what you did, isn't it? Absorbed its power?"

"I... I don't know what happened." Fluttershy shook her head in wonder.

"Then try to shout. According to the old filly's tale, only the dragonshy could shout without any training."

"Shout?" Fluttershy recalled the ball of pure energy the dragon back at Hoofgen had been able to create. "O-okay." This was silly, she thought. She felt very silly. She took a deep breath, none the less. "Fus ro YAY!" She yelled. Her voice was full of such power, it pushed the guards back. Fluttershy paused, flabbergasted. Has she just done that? She stared at the guard's expressions and lowered her head. "Oh... was I too loud? I'm sorry..."

"Sorry? You've just proven a legend!" The guard said. "First the dragons return and now the return of the dragonshy? What does it mean?"

"Well... I've always been able to talk to animals. I guess it makes sense that I can speak the dragons lanuage." Fluttershy shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"Don't act so casual about it. We must inform the Jarl right away."

Fluttershy followed after the guards, astonished at everything that had just happened.

Comments

[kittycats9]

Good... Could have been done better. Felt a bit stilted. But still, it worked okay.