Elder Scrolls V 1/2 : Equestria

by Swordoath

Dragon Downing

After an hour of more of discussion and preparations, Twilight was readied for the short journey they had ahead of them. Primarily she had packed books and scrolls, which Dorian didn't mind. Scrolls were a powerful thing in the right hands. Or in this case, hooves. He had managed to get the Princesses to agree to giving him the materials for armor if they returned triumphant. He would've preferred to have it before, but the reports had caused him to conclude this was a rather small dragon, a lesser, average dragon. He'd have little trouble dispatching it. After all, he still had alteration to rely on for armor, albeit weaker than he was used to. And his wards would- well, okay, his wards wouldn't stop much. But still, he thought as they traveled out of the city and into the countryside, I am reasonably experienced enough to deal with this. A dragon is a dragon, and the tactics don't vary much. Fireball when possible, and take cover from the shouts.

His thoughts then rarely strayed from battle tactics for the rest of the journey. The two walked in silence, him because he was deep in thought, and her because of the growing feeling this was a suicide mission. Closer inspection of the upright being gave her little confidence, despite what she had seen in the throne room. A parlor trick wouldn't kill a dragon.

They approached the final crest before the valley where the dragon was reported to reside in. Dorian motioned for the alicorn to stop. He crouched down low, and crept up to the top of the hill. A smoldering crater took the place of what must've been a farmhouse and field, and a brown-scaled dragon lay sleeping on the ashes. It may have been four times Dorian's height in length, and had a wingspan of five, if he had to guess. He motioned Twilight forward. The Dragonborn summoned a glowing battleaxe to his open hands, and slowly, they crept up to the dragon. Dorian stopped not even a foot away, much to the Princess's displeasure.

"Prepare your wards, cast them when I swing." he mouthed.

Twilight readied a shielding spell. Dorian raised the ax, and swung across the dragon's jawline. He left a deep gash across it's upper neck and cheek. It roared in pain, and took flight immediately. The moment he had dealt his blood-drawing blow, Dorian had activated his stoneflesh armor and bolted for the ruined house, preparing fireballs for launching. It soared away, then spun around one-hundred and eighty degrees, and shouted a torrent of flames at him. The house shielded him from the majority of the flames, but caught fire again.

"You will die for this, joor!" The dragon yelled in a deep, gravelly tone.

He ran out and saw Twilight firing bolts of lightning out of her horn. Several, though not all, connected, scorching it's scales and making it roar in anger. Dorian launched twin fireballs, one searing a hole through the leathery membrane of it's wing while the other missed entirely. The dragon howled in pain, and began to fly away in an imbalanced manner.

"Oh, no you don't!" Dorian said He drew breath and shouted in a thunderous voice, "Joor Zah Frul!"

The dragon turned at the sound of Thu'um, and then came crashing to the ground, enveloped in a azure nimbus of light, sliding three hundred feet or so in the burned earth before coming to a halt. It raised it's head and shouted at Dorian again, who momentarily countered with a ward that broke in seconds under the raging inferno. His stoneflesh protected him from most of the heat, but he still yelled out in pain. Twilight, fearing the worst, put up a magic bubble around herself and where she believed him to be.

The flames stopped, and aside from a few scorched and burned patches of clothing and hair, he was mostly fine. The dragon turned and swung it's tail through the bubble, effectively popping it. Twilight, momentarily stunned, was clipped by the tail's spikes, and collapsed to the ground, bleeding from the side and wing, shuddering in pain. Dorian re-summoned his ax, and ran up to the dragon, preparing a final blow, when from the hill sailed a black arrow, which embedded itself in the dragon's eye. The scaly behemoth shouted out a gout of flames as it howled in pain, rising high onto it's hind legs, and collapsed with a thunderous thud, as it's blood dripped from it's eye. Dorian turned and looked for the source of the arrow, but saw no one on the ridge. He turned again to the dragon, which was beginning to deteriorate into a skeleton of it's former self.

With a jolt, he realized Twilight was still on the ground, her chest barely rising and falling with her breathing. He ran and skidded to a halt right next to her, on his knees. He charged his hands with the power of the 'Heal Other' spell, and released the spell with a relaxing of their tension. The purple alicorn was illuminated with the light of his magic, which soon faded to a dull glow, then nothing. Her wounds were all but invisible now, the only sign of them having existed being thin lines where no fur had grown. That would come later, if she were lucky. Her breathing resumed a more relaxed and slowed tempo, and Dorian rose back to his feet so he could absorb the full power of the dragon's soul.

But nothing came. No rush of memories not his, no massive power of the soul's consumption by his own. The dragon was indeed dead now, it's rotted corpse all that remained- but he had not absorbed any of it's soul. So where could it have gone? The Dragonborn wondered.

Twilight stirred, and slowly rose to her hooves, looking about. She saw Dorian standing before the skeletal remains of their adversary. "Is it... dead?"

"I believe so." He said, turning back to her.

"You took it's soul then? It won't come back?"

Dorian hesitated for an instant before answering. "Yes. I did."

"That's... amazing! I can't believe it's gone!" She said, wings flaring outward and hopping in place, before she cleared her throat and resumed an earthbound stance. "We need to report to the Princess immediately. She'll be so happy to have someone who can make them dead permanently!"

"I'd think so." Dorian grinned, Twilight beaming in response, unable to contain her jubilant feelings. "Come on then, let's be off."

The two started on their way back to Canterlot, just as the sun began to set in the west. Dorian noted for the first time that there was only one moon in the sky, as opposed to the skies of his. Thinking of this made him wish, only for a moment, he was back in Skyrim. But the thought vanished as soon as it came when he reminded himself why he was here. With the support of the Princesses, he'd have a chance to break into the Crystal empire and remove High Priest Sombra from power, and from him, learn where Alduin was. After that...

What would happen after that? He had no idea where the Elder Scroll was. How would he return home? What if he couldn't? He had a home back in Dawnstar. He'd had friends in the college, like Brelyna, clever girl. What of his steward, Gregor? Sure, he was gone for long period of time, but he always came back. What if he didn't?

Dorian banished the thoughts with a shake of his head. He'd find a way. He always has. But there were more pressing matters at hand. Such as the upcoming discussion with Princess Celestia. Gods, how he hated speaking with royals and jarls.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay, but here it is!

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[HB_DS2013]

Welcome... to the Equestria DLC.