The Dovahkiin - An Equestrian Prophecy

by Rocky Runner

Rewards and Ruins

From the look he was giving me, he had all day. With my mind made up, I did the next best thing.

I grabbed the glass of water in my mouth, and proceeded to fling it, and its drugged contents, directly at him. He almost hadn't seen it coming, leaping out of the chair just in time to escape the projectile. In that time, I had already left my seat, to run straight into the "waiter."

The waiter used all the strength he could muster to stop me from getting past him. Unfortunately, I was an Earth Pony. I raised my forward left hoof and struck him upside the head, and he fell like a sack of potatoes.

I hadn't a moment to take a step forward before I found myself surrounded in a lavender colored aura. I barely even needed to turn around to know who was stopping me with magic.

"Aw come on! That's not fair!" I whined to Facade, who's only response was a malicious smile.

"Somepony, anypony, HELP ME!!!" I shrieked, flailing my legs about. Some of the other ponies in this place had to help. There were enough of them in here to-

I gasped. The other "diners" had hardly even noticed what was going on. Reason: they weren't real. Suddenly, they flickered twice, before they vanished completely. The tables they had been sitting at followed. And after that, the room lost its red color, and it became a greyish, cobwebbed room that looked like it hadn't seen activity in a while. This was never a restaurant...

"End of the line, Dirt Pony!" He snarled.

All hope seemed lost. This jerk had me in his magical grip, and my legs were too far out of reach of him. He stared at me with that same evil look in his eye, the same look that told me he figured he had won.

There's always something you can do. A phrase I had heard from my brother's show, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It repeated itself several times in my head, before finally I had an idea. Who knew a TV show would actually help me one day?

Facade had hardly blinked since he captured me in his aura. And I doubted he wouldn't be blinking for a little while. I had to hold back a grin as I schemed.

"You know, a drink sounds really nice about now." Which it did. But I wasn't planning on actually drinking anything he got me.

At this, he actually looked a little surprised, but he shrugged it off and levitated what remained of the drugged water over to me, and I had gotten the sip-sized amount of it left before he set it right back down, after which he looked at me again with that look in his eye. What he definitely wasn't prepared for was what I did next.

I spat out the sip of drugged water I had received, and the various droplets of it flew out towards him and, before he had a chance to realize what I had just done, it all landed in his right eye.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" He shrieked, losing focus and forgetting to maintain his hold on me.

I landed on the floor with a loud clop, and I didn't hesitate to run straight for the entrance. Even after I had gotten out the door, he was busy trying to get the water out of his eyes. It must have stung like hell. And I didn't care. I could only wonder how many innocent mares he might have already killed.

Well, it ended today.

I kept running, gaining looks from the random ponies on the street, and I thought I'd never find one. Or at least, that's what I thought before I ran, face first, into a Canterlot guard.

"Oomph!" We both said at the same time, me louder than he.

"You alright, miss?" He asked after recovering.

"No, not alright! Murderer! A few buildings that way! Almost killed me!" I said as frantically as possible. And it wasn't hard to do.

It was like all I had to do was point and say "Murderer". The guy didn't so much as blink before he bolted down the street, headed straight for where I had just been nearly murdered. I was content to sit there and catch my breath, as well as calm myself down. If this was just my first hour into being a city, I swear I'd never set foot - I mean hoof - in one ever again.

Moments later, a look down the street I had come from revealed my would-be-murderer and his accomplice being dragged out of the building by not one but three guards. Oh, perhaps I should mention that the building no longer looked like a restaurant? Instead, it appeared to be quite like a normal house... granted that it looked a little worn down, and had been the lair of my would-have-been-murderer.

While two of the guards made sure the two criminals wouldn't get away, the third, who looked like your generic white-coated Canterlot guard, approached me.

"You have done the city of Canterlot and her ponies a great service today. I thank you." He said.

"It was either me or him." I told him.

"A while ago, a quite attractive reward was offered to anypony who could help lead to his arrest. I'll take you to the Princess once she's returned from Pon-"

"She's already back." I interrupted.

"When was this?"

"Oh, not too long ago. Last I saw she was at the hospital making sure the Elements were alri-"

"How do you know this?"

"She teleported them, and me, back here after she arrived at... Ponyville..." I swallowed, recalling the memory. I just couldn't get past that terrible... would I ever get over it?

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry to hear you were from... ahem, regardless, we're lucky you put an end to that murderer. Ten thousand bits sure sounds like a fine reward, doesn't it?" He added (the last part there) with a smile.

"Ten thousand?" My jaw almost dropped. A bit is a freaking solid gold coin. A freaking gold coin. A gold coin. Gold. Gold equals mon- wait! Same thing here! But still, ten thousand pieces of gold, even as coins, is still a ton of money... wait, if the reward's that big... then...

"What did he- no wait, I know the answer to that one- how many..." I didn't dare finish the rest of that question. That and I simply couldn't. No joke, I just physically could not get myself to finish that sentence.

"Three mares. All Earth Ponies that were visiting." He said, knowing my question.

I could easily say, right then, that more than anything I wished I had my hands for just a brief for moments... just enough time to strangle Facade to death. Maybe not even. I could just smash his skull open with my hooves. That would actually be more satisfyi-

The mental images that formed almost made me recoil. As much as I wanted to do that, something within me did not. I mean, what would smashed brains even look like? I know there'd be a ton of blood, but-

And then, once again, Celestia magically teleported into existence, this time almost literally right next to me.

"Gyah!" I jumped back, utterly surprised.

The guard, instead, saluted, and it seemed as though Celestia hadn't even noticed my presence at first.

"What seems to be the problem?" She asked him.

"Your majesty... we have arrested the serial killer." He said proudly.

"You have? Who is the one who arrested them?"

"If anypony deserves any praise right now, Princess, it's that fine mare standing behind you right now." The guard answered, pointing at me with a hoof.

Celestia turned around to face me, and almost immediately after seeing me, she had a "oh I remember you" moment.

"Wait a second, you're that pony who I accidentally teleported here from... Ponyville, aren't you?" She asked.

"Uh, yes..."

"Now, a question I should have asked you earlier... what is your name?"

"Daisy Heart." John. I'd have to tell somepony eventually. My appearance here was undoubtably because of some form of magic, and who better to have help with that than Celestia? ... Don't answer that. But anyways, for now, I would just have to deal with being Daisy Heart... as much as that irked me. A dragon is a big enough a problem for them, and I knew that it wouldn't help any if I added my problem to the mix.

"Daisy Heart... tell me, what happened?" Celestia asked.

So I took a few minutes to tell her about how I went looking for lunch and - you know what, you already know what happened, why should I summarize what happened? So I just told her what happened, and she listened the entire way through. It was almost... nice. I can't say people listened to me very much back home... or at least, not without butting in with their own point or story to tell. If I hadn't been telling her how I almost had been murdered, then yes, it would have been nice.

"I am glad that, despite all that has happened to you, you have made it out okay. I will give you the ten thousand bit reward, as well as an extra four thousand as condolence for... earlier." I wish people gave me that much money back home...

"But I have some... things to do before any money gets hoofed out. But, before I depart, is there anything I could arrange for you?" I had to fight back a greedy grin. This was gonna take a while.

---

"Is that all?" Celestia asked.

Me, I hadn't answered her for at least a minute, being too busy rolling around in the ultra-soft bed in a certain fancy room in Canterlot. I hadn't just bought a house with the Princess's money, no, but I did rent it... for now. Good God, these Canterlot ponies knew how to live... the commoners back home just couldn't afford even the bed I now laid upon.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so." I finally replied.

At this, she excused herself, and got as far as opening the room door before she addressed me once more. "Looks like you have company, Daisy Heart."

"Huh?" Was my response, and I rolled onto my stomach to see what she was talking about.

Surely enough, in the hallway was a long line of ponies... Canterlot ones, specifically. There was only one reason they'd be here; to thank me. They let Celestia walk out, and then they crowded into the room, each about as anxious to get a one-on-one with me as the one next to them.

I gulped.

---

So the next several hours proceeded like this. Ponies would come and thank me for ending their reason to fear walking the Canterlot streets. I refrained from reminding them that a dragon was on a loose and seemed to be on a rampage. I guess they thought they were safe on their mountain.

Every so often, a pony would come to not only thank me, but give me some minor personal possession as thanks... usually, those were the family members of Facade's victims. They generally lingered around longer, to show me pictures of their lost loved one and share stories about them. I made sure that I was alone with those families to prevent interruption. I didn't want to upset them.

By the time the majority of those wanting to thank me were gone, the sun was already going down, and now I was waiting in my room for room service. I made sure to specify to them that I didn't want the guy or gal delivering to look like a freaking butler. I was still a little on edge following Facade's attempted murder of me, I reasoned. They agreed.

Finally, there was a knock at the door.

"Mrs. Heart?" Came a female voice from the other side.

"Come on in." I called from the irresistibly comfy bed.

The door was enshrouded in a yellowish aura, and opened, revealing the pony who was delivering my meal. Like I requested, she looked just like a normal pony, save for the Canterlot hair-do and that she had a box of what must be my food levitating near her, enveloped in her aura. The mare herself had a lemon yellow coat and a candy red mane and tail, and her Cutie Mark was concealed since she faced me. "Room service!" She chimed, trotting over and setting the box on a nearby table.

"Thanks." I flashed a slight smile, then my gaze turned to my food.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" She asked in her British accent. Maybe they called it a "Canterlot" accent? Then again, did it really matter?

"No... unless my meal didn't come with drinks?"

"It did, ma'am."

"Then I require nothing more. For now."

She then told me to have a good day, and then turned around and left the room, shutting the door on her way out. Finally, now I could dig in without risk of being judged! I gripped the cover with my teeth and placed it aside, looking down at what was about to be my meal.

Let's just say that I love fancy food now.

---

I awoke the next morning with an irritated growl. I had made sure to not go to bed at around after midnight like I normally did, but even with those several hours of sleep I generally spent playing videogames at night, I still woke up feeling like shit. Didn't help my mood waking up as Daisy Heart again.

There were four problems I had with being her. Number one, Daisy Heart's a girl. Two, she's married. Three, no fingers. And finally, I had neither a horn or wings. I know that I established that fact a long time ago, but I always wanted to be able to be free from the ground, flying without aid of a gigantic metal object, or be able to use magic. The things I'd do with levitation...

With a sigh, I pushed my forelegs so that they were in a standing position while my rear remained seated (I made a few bodily turns during that sentence there; I hadn't fallen asleep on my stomach). I looked to my left side and followed the form of my body with my eyes, stopping at the Cutie Mark. Other than the mane, tail, and eyes, the Cutie Mark had to be the brightest item on... Daisy Heart's body. My journey down myself ended at my tail. Thankfully, my current body shaped blocked me from venturing any further. Some guys might just look in the mirror at that... forbidden area anyways, but not me. I didn't want in on any of that. I mean, that's not even really mine, per se. Wouldn't that... kind of be violating...

I managed to give my tail an irritated flick, a muscle that I had yet to fully master. I still found it hard to believe anything that had happened recently was real. Waltzing into Equestria was already unbelievable, entering it as an already existing pony made it even worse, and then throw in a Skyrim dragon? Did the universes suddenly decide to go 'fuck logic'? Probably.

I left the bed, taking a moment to stretch before walking over to a window. My room offered a fairly decent view of Canterlot... and by that I meant a good number of the neighboring buildings. The castle itself was harder to see. A breath of morning air later, and I was getting my day planned.

When Celestia had been leading me inside, I could have sworn I saw a pool. Floating carelessly in said pool sounded like something I needed... a massage sounded nice, too. Well, maybe if it were done with hands... but who knows? Maybe ponies were good at massaging with their hooves?

I turned and headed over to the closed room door, stopping just in front of it as my brain derped again. How do you open doors again? There isn't a freaking door knob or han...dle. Oh. I gave myself a facepa... a facehoof... only to regret it instantly after my face erupted in pain.

"Fuck!" I hissed, remembering that facepalming like I used to was a very bad idea.

After shaking the pain off, I pushed the door with a hoof, and was somewhat satisfied that it opened like I wanted it to. I'm fairly certain that had I been a unicorn and somehow learned to use magic, I'd not even need to expend energy moving a leg to push at all. I'd be the laziest being in Equestria, no doubt. Or... I'd be the next... what was it, Starswirl the Bearded? Yeah, sounds about right... yeah, that's it...

I left the room and nudged the door shut behind me. I turned down the hallway I had come and set my target: relaxation.

... Actually, breakfast first.

---

Princess Celestia gazed into the ruins, peering through the dark early morning light. At her sides were multiple of her ponies, a certain Duke Venture and Ruby Aurora to name a couple, and also present was Twilight Sparkle. It made her heart ache, seeing Twilight in as rough a condition as she was now, but she had insisted on coming with and seeing the ruins for herself. Her friends had decided to stay behind and try to comfort one another, as well as heal. Celestia couldn't wait until she got her hooves on the dragon that had murdered and harmed her ponies.

"It's practically an easy walk in," Duke said. "We hadn't any problems entering the first time."

Celestia nodded and started into the ruin, the three other ponies following behind her. Twilight normally would have been all over this place in excitement, but partly because of recent events, she chose not to. Celestia didn't blame her; they were here to see what Duke and his friends might have missed. Anything more they could learn from here was worth it if it involved bringing the dragon to justice.

Hardly a word was exchanged during the initial moments of their journey inside, but that changed when they approached the passcode door that had been opened on Duke's earlier expedition.

"The room of interest is up ahead. Here, we had to translate some early writings and organize it into a saying to open a door." Duke said.

"And what was the saying?" Twilight finally spoke.

"Er... I forgot exactly what it was, but it said something about 'no comfort'." Duke answered.

Celestia nodded, continuing her walk through the ruins. As ancient as she was, she wasn't familiar with this place... particularly, the architecture. It might have belonged to some long-dead civilization before ponies came to Equestria... but that couldn't be right, because the photos had shown carvings depicting a prophecy involving ponies... maybe it belonged to some secret cult that nopony had heard of? She supposed it didn't exactly matter who once owned it, and more so that it contained information regarding the dragon.

It wasn't long after passing the open door that the four entered the carved room (the walls leading to it were carved, but there nothing valuable was found). The Princess's horn ignited, and the entire room became lit.

"Damn, I wish my Illumination was that amazing." Ruby said, earning a smile from Celestia.

"Maybe one day." The Princess told her, before gazing around the room.

"Well this place is so much easier to see when lit this well! Maybe now I'll get the chance to find something I missed!" Duke said excitedly.

Nopony responded to him, instead scanning the room for anything that could have been overlooked last time. They didn't know what they were looking for. But thanks to the lighting, it didn't take long.

"Huh?" Twilight said in surprise, her right forehoof going down further into the ground than she expected.

The others didn't have so much as a chance to ask her what was wrong when a section of the wall nearest to Twilight started to move, grinding upwards and revealing a dark downward staircase filled with cobwebs.

"I always loved secret entrances." Remarked Duke, the first one to bound into the dark passage.

Twilight went on ahead after him while Ruby and Celestia exchanged glances, before joining the other two ponies. Celestia noted that this part of the ruins had degenerated faster than what they had been in previously. The walls were more cracked, the stairs were in disrepair, and she was certain she would have tripped if Twilight hadn't cast a light spell. Celestia could have done that, but Twilight had beaten her to it.

The stairs ended in an underground tunnel, which the four followed until entering a large room. The ceiling was incredibly high, and on the opposite side of the room were gigantic carved doors.

"Spread out, holler if you find anything." The Princess said, walking for the doors.

She largely ignored their replies as she approached the large doors. She eyed the carvings with much curiosity, not knowing what they depicted. It was near impossible to; erosion had gotten the best of this place. Scanning the area around her, she noted that there was no real method of opening the doors. No pressure plates, no buttons, levers... how did whoever built this place plan on getting in-

"Guys! Think I found something!" Ruby announced, and everypony walked over to her.

Ruby stated at some markings on the floor; markings obviously belonging to a bigger picture. Dirt covered everything else. The four made quick work to clear it off, of course, and were quite surprised as to what lay underneath.

"A flaming heart?" Ruby asked nopony in particular.

Duke and the two Princesses eyed the symbol, before things began to click to them.

"I believe it's a Cutie Mark!" Duke exclaimed.

"I swear I've seen it before..." Twilight said, deep in thought.

Celestia took a few moments to piece things together before coming to a surprising revelation. "Daisy Heart!"

"What?" The other three asked simultaneously.

"That's Daisy Heart's Cutie Mark." Celestia explained.

"... oh! I remember now! Yeah, that's Daisy Heart's..." Twilight suddenly recalled.

"I want to say it's something else but... what would it be, then? I mean, it's hard enough to believe the ancients would know of the existence of an individual who wouldn't exist until so much farther in time." Duke said.

"Unless she was supposed to be around closer to their time?" Twilight proposed.

"What would they even want with Mrs. Heart?" Duke asked.

The four speculated for a few minutes before Duke discovered why the Cutie Mark was even there.

"Girls... I think it's a blood seal." Was Duke's claim.

"A... a blood seal?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, a blood seal. I've seen these before. Not very common, but when I find them, it turns out it only accepts a certain blood type, or individual's blood. Assuming what we are concluding so far is true, then Daisy Heart's blood should activate it." Duke explained.

All looked at Celestia, whose gaze was on the blood seal. Going forth with this meant the spilling of blood, so of course the Princess had to have a say on the matter. It would be the blood of one of her own subjects, after all.

"How much?" Celestia's eyes turned to Duke.

"Well... most only require a mere drop..."

All eyes were on Celestia as she stared at the ground, her mind racing as she decided things unknown to the other ponies. And then, in a flash, the sun Princess was gone.

Comments

[ShadeBlitz]

I require more!

[Cosmic Flare]

Ok this is getting good, more plz.

[lllWarHawklll]

I'm surprised this doesn't have more views than it currently has. This story is easily among my top favorites, especially with how things are unraveling.

Can't wait to see what happens next!

[SithicKnight]

It took a while but you finally got the story into the air. Now start flying or you will crash. No pressure.

[Fresnor]

7124263 Why not? If you assume that the gender ratio is 1 stallion to 5 mares then if the change goes by genetics in any way then a male has a 2 in 3 chance of becoming a mare. Could be higher or lower depending on the actual ratio but the show does seem to show more females than males.

[TheKnight1010]

MOAR!!! I WANT MOAR!!’ GIMME MOAR!!!
Anyways, but please continue this. I want to see this story to its conclusion and possibly a sequel.