3 - Have a drink on me
Skarin opened his eyes to find himself in a familiar place, one he was very fond of. Wooden walls and arches, rustic chairs and tables, a firepit in the middle of the large room. This place brought back so many memories.
"The Bannered Mare... " a sudden rush of adrenaline overtook him "Whiterun! " Skarin rushed towards the exit of the tavern. Celestia was puzzled by his sudden behavior but quickly surmized that this was a place familiar to Skarin. Perhaps his home?
"I wouldn't do that if I were you... " Sheogorath calmly staded behind him but Skarin didn't listen. He was home. At least, he thought he was until he opened the doors and was almost swept away by a powerful storm raging outside. Barely managing to hold on, Skarin took a glimpse through squinting eyes and saw nothing. Nothing as in no buildings, no trees, nothing. Just a vast emptyness of different colors swirling violently with the storm. It took all his strength to close the door shut which came as a surprise to him. He encountered storms before but non were this violent. Closing the doors, Skarin slid down and rested on the wooden floor at the entrance "What can I get you? " Sheogorath spoke behind the bar counter with a smile while wiping down a mug "Hungry, tired, or just plain thirsty? " Skarin glared at the Daedra who acted like nothing was out of the ordinary. Sparing a glace at Celestia, who summoned a barrier around her once he opened the doors, Skarin could swear he saw a vein popping. Deciding there was not much he can do, Skarin sighed and answered the mad Daedra.
"Thirsty. " rising to his feet he made his way to the bar and sat on one of the chairs, head propped up on his right arm.
"Nothing new there... " Sheogorath snorted, then looked at Celestia "Tea, my dear? " the princess lowered the barrier but kept a sharp eye on Discord... Or was it Sheogorath? What is she supposed to call him now? "With a nice slice of cake! Yes, yes, chocolate! " clapping his hands the Daedra continued "You two sit down, relax, have a little chat and I'll be right back! " and then he simply skipped away to the kitchen, leaving the two alone. Seeing that Celestia was still standing behind him, Skarin patted the chair next to him.
"Come, sit. " glancing towards the princess he ran a hand through his hair in exhaustion "There's not much we can do right now, trust me. He knows what's going on and we'll have to play this game of his to find out. "
"What is he hoping to accomplish with... Whatever this is? " Celestia asked, slowly nearing the free chair.
"Don't know and at this point I'm too tired to care. " pinching the bridge of his nose he sighed "Would you believe me this was not the strangest experience I had with him? " Celestia sat down, seemingly accepting that she was stuck here.
"This is certainly among my top three. " both shared a quick laugh before Skarin continued.
"I'm... Sorry for calling you a wench. " scratching his cheek sheepishly "Not because you're royalty but because it was rude of me to do so. "
"And I apologize for my guards calling you a hairless creature. " Celestia answered with a smile "It was a rough introduction to say the least. " they both shared a chuckle at the memory. To Celestia's surprise, Skarin extended a hand.
"Skarin, the last Dragonborn. Pleased to make your acquaitance. " Celestia, a little surprised by his casual offering, accepted the handshake.
"Celestia, Princess of Equestria. " exchanging smiles they withdrew their hands and an awkward silence followed. They could hear the mad god that brought them here humming a happy tune in from the kitchen. Couldn't he just snap his fingers and make the food appear? Meanwhile, Celestia was surveying her surroundings with interest, still not sure where they actually were. Deciding to end the silence she spoke "Where do you suppose we are exactly? The magic here doesn't feel like in Equestria . " humming a bit in thought, Skarin answered.
"The Shivering Isles would be my guess. "
"And where is that? " she asked, the location not familiar to her.
"That... is a complicated question. " Skarin looked around as well "It's his own realm within Oblivion. " Celestia still had no clue what that meant so he continued "Simply put, this is his home, so to say. An infinite plane that he controls completely, where he is most powerful, able to destroy us with a thought. Cozy, am I right? "
"You must be joking. " after Skarin remained silent Celestia's brows rose in surprise "Apparently you are not... " the thought of Discord having a realm which he controls completely sent a cold shiver down her spine.
"Drinks are ready! " sure enough, Discord, now back to his draconequus form, walked out the kitchen wearing an apron and carrying their drinks snd cake on a platter. Setting the platter down on the bar he handed Skarin his mead and Celestia her tea and cake "Enjoy! " Skarin looked into the bottle with a frown. Bringging it closer to his lips he whispered into the bottleneck.
"FOH..." the bottle instantly got covered in a thin layer of frost. Nodding in approval, Skarin took a large gulp of the bitter liquid before sighing in satisfaction "Black-Briar Mead. " he said inspecting the bottle "Say what you want about Maven, but the bitch knew her mead. "
"How did you do that? " Celestia asked, ignoring the b-word.
"Did what? " Skarin asked while taking another sip.
"That! " she pointed at the frosted bottle "What kind of magic is that? I didn't feel any magic with the spell being casted. "
"It's not magic. " Skarin set the bottle down " It's a Thu'um, a Shout. "
"Technically it's magic. " Discord said, a large wheel of cheese in his hands.
"Not traditional magic then. " Skarin growled in annoyance at Discord "It's the language of the dragons and I, as a Dragonborn, have the power to wield the Voice, as it were. " looking back at the bottle he continued "A full Shout consists of three words but you can use one or two for varying results. Over time I learned that some Shouts can be spoken quietly to reduce it's strength as well and it turned out to be a perfect way to cool my mead or start a campfire without burning down a forest. "
"How does one learn these Shouts? " Celestia asked, intrigued by the prospect of learning a new form of magic.
"Intense training and meditation but some can go through their entire lives and only ever learn one. As for me, all I have to do is kill a dragon and devour it's soul. " he said the last part like it was a normal occurence.
"Killing a creature and taking it's soul!?That's barbaric! " Celestia was appaled at this revelation and wondered just what she got herself into.
"It's not like I wanted to be a Dragonborn. Fate decided it so. "
"You could have chosen not to. " Celestia argued back.
"Yeah, tell that to Alduin and his bretheren tearing Tamriel apart. " he looked at Discord "Speaking of which, where am I and what is going on? " Discord was about to speak when Skarin interrupted " And if you say I'm in a tavern having drinks, I will melt your head. " Discord pouted.
"Party pooper... " he mumbled but continued nontheless "You, my dear Dovahkiir-" Skarin raised a brow"-are where you always were. " Skarin's fists slammed on the bar.
"I don't have time for jokes! Alduin is free and Skyrim is in- "
"Equestria. " Celestia corrected, finally taking a sip of her tea. It was good tea.
"What about it? " Skarin asked.
"You are in Equestria, therefore, Equestria is also in danger. "
"You moved us? " Skarin glared at Discord "What in Oblivion were you thinking? " Discord looked offended.
"I never think and I resent the accusation! " he huffed in disadain but continued "What I can say is that I didn't move you, and you are still in Skyrim. " both looked at him in confusion "Just a lot later. " dozens of clocks appeared around him with the dials going crazy "Millions of years later actually. "
"So you're saying... " realization slowly set in for Skarin.
"Welcome to the future my friend! " Discord appeared to be dipped in chrome "Enjoy your stay! "
"How is that possible? " Celestia asked, not really sure how to take this revelation.
"Oh simple really. " a chalkboard appeared and Discord began writing "You see, Skarin and his friends decided to trap Alduin for all time with a powerful spell, they managed to do it but were also turned to stone in the process. And abra kadovah, millenias later, here we are. " he looked at the two "Any questions? " Skarin asked one.
"How did, no offence- " he said to Celestia "-this happen? "Skarin gestured to her as a whole "She's a completely new species! And on top of that she runs a kingdom! " Discord chuckled and decided to explain.
"You see, after your spectacular failure to defeat Alduin in Sovngarde- " he leaned towards Skarin "-cost me quite a septim on that bet-" then leaned back "-and then managing to turn yourself to stone things got stale for a while. " he began drawing on the board again "Skyrim awaited their hero, The Empire tried to patch thungs up with the Thalmor, Khajiit were high on skooma and so on. Nothing special. " suddenly the lights in the tavern dimmed, a whole new atmosphere emerged "But then... " Discord took a deep breath " Total and utterly amazing chaos started spreading throughout Tamriel! All of Nirn! Wars, destruction, disseases, just... MWAH! " both Celestia and Skarin were disturbed by his gleeful mood "It lasted for centuries. The best centuries ever in my life actually! " the lights brightened up "But all good things must come to an end. And so after centuries there was practically nothing left. "
"What did you do, Discord? " Celestia's tone suggested a rising anger in her. The last thing she needed today is to find out that Discord created a new world for his amusement.
"Well, Celestia my dear, for the first time in my life I did absolutely nothing. " this caught her by surprise.
"I find that hard to believe. " Skarin added.
"It's true! " Discord defended "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! " and he did just that to which Skarin facepalmed.
"I've known you a long time Discord. " Celestia glared at the mad prince "You really expect us to believe you didn't do anything crazy or chaotic when you had the whole world to yourself? "
"That's just it! By doing nothing I did the most chaotic thing ever! " he spread his arms wide " I let nature take it's course! " a fanfare with confetti made his revelation sound more grand but after a silence by Celestia and Skarin, only a cricket could be heard "Tough crowd... "
"A Kalpa... " Skarin said to himself.
"Exactly! " Discord clapped in agreement "Someone's gotta' do it! "
"What's a Kalpa? " Celestia asked Skarin.
"A new circle of life, a reset of the world, so to speak. " Skarin looked at the princess "Alduin is called The World Eater because his purpose was to eat a world that was nearing it's end and give life to a new one. But at some point in time he decided to rule over the world instead of fulfilling his duty. He was a tyrant to say the least but the Nords eventually rebelled and managed to defeat him. "
"Yet he still lives, as I've seen with my own eyes. " Celestia shuddered at the memory.
"Alduin is basically a god. " Skarin sighed "They couldn't kill him so they managed to send him forward in time, hoping the Last Dragonborn, me, will. "
"And you failed oh so spectacularly! How he threw you into that wall, ouch! " Discord laughed while Skarin gritted his teeth.
"Anyway, I failed so we had to think of something. Morganna, my friend and the smartest mage I know, came up with a spell that would turn Alduin into stone so he would stay trapped forever. " Skarin looked for his mead and gulped down the last of it "Guess that didn't work out either. "
"Two strikes! One more and you're out! " Discord said in a baseball uniform "Seriously though, we have a big problem on our hands. If Twilight Sparkplug hadn't found you we woulfn't be in this mess! "
"Why didn't you stop us? " Celestia fired back "You knew what it was she found and yet you did nothing but give us a vague warning! "
"It was a very good warning! " Discord shot back.
"And then you disappeared! " Celestia
"I wasn't about to let Fluttershy go with you! " Discord pointed a finger at her.
"So it's fine if anypony else gets hurt? " Celestia rose to her hooves, knocking the chair over.
"I'm not a big fan of yours anyway! " Discord stuck his tongue out.
"Why I ought to-"
"NAHLOT! " the tavern shook under the power of his Thu'um, the two stopping their argument in an instant "Pointing fingers will get us nowhere! " Skarin rose from his chair as well "Alduin is out there and we should focus on finding him! "
"And then what? " Discord asked with a raised brow "You're going to poke him with your sword and maybe he dies? "
"If you got a better idea, please, share. " Skarin answered with a glare.
"This is too much. " Celestia rubbed her temples in frustration "What am I going to tell my little ponies? "
"The truth. " both Discord and Celestia looked at Skarin "Try to ease them into it, no need for mass hysteria right away. " the princesses eye twitched.
"Ease them in? EASE THEM IN? " she was very angry right now "This is not a tax raise! We're talking about an ancient god that can destroy all life as we know it and you want me to ease them into it? "
"Oooh this is gonna' be good. " Discord said munching on popcorn.
"They need to be ready in case- "
"You fail again? " Celestia finished for him causing the Atmoran's blood to boil.
"Oooh snap! "
"My failure is what gave you life! "
"Your failure is what is putting my ponies in danger! "
"Listen here you boneheaded horse-"
"What did you call me? " Celestia's mane and tail were catching fire and Discord decided it was time to step in. In a judge uniform.
"OK, OK, time-out! Both of you into your corners! " with s snap of his fingers both were back in their seats, a drink in hand "Let's all take a deep breath and relaxe. " Discord sat on the bar in monk clothing, sitting crosslegged "In... aaand out... in... aaand out... " they didn't pay much attention to him "Now shake hands and make up. " no luck "Look, I know tensions are high and let's agree we are all at fault. The best thing for now is to stay calm, clear our heads and cooperate. " Celestia and Skarin shared a glace at eachother "It's crazy that I have to be the voice of reason here. "
"It's insulting, actually. " Skarin scoffed at the notion.
"I'll say. " Discord adeed with a toothy grin "Now, I suggest we all go home and sleep on it. We'll be smarter in the morning. "
"I don't have a home anymore, remember? " Skarin looked at the daedra with a scowl.
"Oh I'm sure our dear friend Celestia could let you crash at her castle for the night. " he looked at the alicorn "You've got a spare room there somewhere, right? " Celestia didn't answer "Right? " Discored pushed his question and Celestia sighed in defeat.
"I suppose accomodations could be made. " she couldn't refuse someone who was in need of help, pony or not. His manners aside, she understood how he felt. Everything Skarin knew is gone, the world is completely different to how it was in his time. Looking at his scarred body and the fact he eats dragon souls, she assumed it was a much more violent world than hers. That brought up the question of how will he integrate into society. Her ponies knew little about war, violence and death. Skarin's appearance alone changed her world more than anything in the last thousand years, who knows what his old ways would do to her ponies. She made a mental note to keep a close eye on him.
"If it's bothering you, I can sleep in the forest just fine. " Skarin was actually perfectly content with the option. Peace, quiet and fresh air. Just like home...
"No, no, it's fine. " Celestia reassured him with a smile "As I said, you are my guest and will be treated as such. "
"Excellent! " Discord clapped his hands in approval "Oh, would you look at the time! " he said looking at a wristwatch "It's almost midnight! "
"WHAT? " Celestia screamed in horror.
"Did I forget to mention time flies in Oblivion? Silly me. " he laughed sheepishly " Well, time to go to bed! Toodles! " he snapped his fingers and they were gone.
Celestia and Skarin appeared back in the dungeon and sure enough, it was dark outside.
"I have to find my sister. She's probably tearing up Equestria to find me. " Celestia said and began walking to the dungeon exit.
"Sooo do I go back to my old room or am I getting an upgrade? " Skarin asked while pointing at his cell.
"Follow me please. " Celestia rubbed her temples and continued walk.
"At your command, Kulaas. " Skarin gave a short bow.
"What does that word mean? Is it another insult? " Celestia asked in annoyance.
"It means princess in the dragon language. "
"Oh... I apologize for assuming. " she did feel bad about the jab.
"It's fine. We're all under a lot of pressure and I'm not on my best behavior. New world and all that. " they stepped out into the castle halls "Woah... " the castle was nothing like he'd ever seen before. Tall stone walls, stained glass windows, polished and expensive looking furniture, luxurious carpets. As he followed Celestia through the halls and up more stairs, Skarin was amazed at how maintained the castle was. You could practically see your reflection in the stone floor. The Blue Palace couldn't hold a candle to this place. He also noticed the obvious lack of guards "You don't have guards inside the castle? "
"We do, but I imagine they are all looking for me outside. " she hummed in thought "Probably for the best, who knows how they would react when they see you. We've been gone for 5 hours if I'm not mistaken but it felt like twenty minutes at the most. Did you know about the flow of time? "
"I did. " then he quickly added "But it kinda slipped my mind. "
"Well, it was quite an eventful day after all. " she smiled at him, making Skarin smile as well. Finally she stopped in front of a door "This is one of our guest rooms. It should have everything you need inside. "
"Thanks, I appreciate it. " he smiled "But seriously, I can see you're not very... Thrilled, about me, so if this is making you uncomfortable I can sleep in the forest. "
"Absolutely not. " Celestia smiled in return "If I can help somepony in need I will not hesitate to do so. Even if they they are a soul eating brute. " she finished with a smirk. This got a small laugh out of Skarin.
"You're not so composed yourself, Kulaas. "
"Please, call me Celestia. " though she did find some strange feeling of power behind the word.
"Allright, Celestia. " the grin that spread on his lips made Celestia wince a little "What? " he asked confused.
"It's... " she struggled with the right phrasing "It's that wolfish grin. I find it very unsettling. " this statemen caused Skarin to go into a full on laugh leaving a very confused Celestia to stare at him, not knowing how much it reminded him of home.
"Next thing you'll tell me I smell like a wet dog. " he managed to say after calming down a little, a smile still present.
"Well, I didn't want to be rude, but you could use a bath. " it was true though, to Celestia he did smell like a wet dog. If she only knew...
"I promise to bathe in the morning. Right now I'm just too tired to care. "
"Then I won't be keeping you any longer. I will inform the castle guards and staff of your presence and also station one guard at your door should you need anything. " with a smile she bid him farewell "Goodnight, Skarin. "
"Goodnight, Celestia. " he responded with a curt nod and entered the room, closing the door behind him. By this point Celestia was exhausted, mentally and physically but she still needed to contact her sister.
"A small bit will do... " and so a tiny spark left her horn and in an instant a flash of light lit up the hall. Luna grabbed on to her sister with all the strength she had.
"TIA! We thought you gone! Did that creature hurt you? " taking a step back she looked at Celestia for any injuries "For if it did, we will bring down our wrath upon him! " Celestia couldn't help but smile at her sister.
"I am fine Luna, see? " a quick twirl proved there were no injuries "But we must talk, urgently. " her look became grim "And summon the guards and staff to the throne room, we need to inform them about our new guest. "
"Guest? Dost thou mean it's in there? " Luna pointed at the door behind Celestia.
"His name is Skarin, and yes, he is our guest. "
"We must speak with him at once! We demand answers! "
"Tomorrow, Luna. Let him rest, he has been through a lot. " Celestia led her sister away towards the throne room. On the way Luna noticed her sister appeared to be very tense and deep in thought.
"Tia, what is happening? " she has only seen her sister like this when war or some catastrophe was on the horizon.
"I will tell you everything I know after we speak to the staff. " Celestia stopped and looked at her little sister "And it's not good. "
"By your behavior, we feel as though we should fear it. " Luna added.
"And so much more... "
Welp, here we are, chapter 3. Hoped you liked it! Leave a comment!
The first three were kinda grim, number 4 will be 50/50, but starting with 5 a more lighter mood will be present.
Also, more questions will be answered in the next one soooo keep an eye out for chapter 4 - Dream of Mirrors!
See ya'! 
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Hey I feel like this could go somewhere. I like this
Hey so what kind of armor is he wearing is it dragon bone
9306169
Thanks for the vote of confidence!
Yes, it is dragon bone armor, though he wearin regular pants at the moment
. As for visualization, I see it as the Ebonsteel Dragonbone armor mod from the nexus. You can of course visualize as you like 
Interesting. We'll have to see where this goes.
I hope you don’t tone down Skarin’s attitude. I love these “I don’t give a shit” characters. Especially when dealing with uptight snobby ponies, Celestia’s overly loyal student, or arrogant useless guards.
9308418
No worries. The snobs will get what they deserve, Twilight will have to learn about boundaries and the guards will understand just how useless they are.
9308459
And don't forget the stubborn egotistical AJ/RD, and the snooty drama queen Rarity, I can imagine if they say or do anything, they'll end up eating their words faster then they can say "I TAKE IT BACK".
9308518
We'll see what happens once he actually meets them
When you notice the 'Romance' tag.
Never should have come here...
I kid, I kid. This actually looks pretty damn cool.
9311428
😂😂😂
I have some things up my sleeve to keep the cool factor going 😎
Hope I don't disappoint
9311429
I heard about you and your honeyed words!
Nah, heh, I'll be keeping an eye on this one.
9311454
Dem quotes though
Thanks!
8855770
Soooo did you get that free time?
8855681
Welllll two more chapters are out
No.4 is also on it's way
I look forward to more. Especially because I like Skarin pissing of Celestia with his "do what is necessary, no matter how you feel about it" versus her obtusely self-destructive self-righteousness. Basically, this story thanks to Alduin will put Celestia in a position where she will have to accept that Skarin's ways are correct.
Like the eating a soul thing. She makes no attempt to learn the circumstances of it, she just calls it barbaric and would probably have attacked and imprisoned him over it in any other circumstance. Well, attacked him and gotten her ass kicked, actually, but that is beside the point. If she asked, she would learn that really the dov are just fragments of Akatosh and so really it isn't so much "eating a soul" as it is a small piece of a greater whole joining another piece. Technically, the dragons and dragonborn are not even separate entities, just pieces of Akatosh that think they are unique beings and behave independently.
The Thu'um is the language of creation, of the universe itself. It is essentially used to command reality.
Oh, I'm sorry, who was it that released Alduin again? Right.
So, Celestia is saying it would be better for her ponies to have never existed. Fascinating. Also, it is Celestia's stupidity that is putting her ponies in danger. She was the one who thought ignoring the warnings of a being infinitely more powerful than her whom she knew had a personal interest in preventing harm to a specific pony was a good idea. Hint: It was a horrible idea.
9313797
There will be conflict for sure. Skarin comes from a time of blood and steel while Celestia's is more sunshine and rainbows. But like Discord/Sheogorath said, they will need to learn to cooperate if they wish to live to tell the tale. Both believe their ways are the correct ones so a middle ground must be found.
Also, thanks for putting this story in your favorites! I hope I keep you interested for the long run!
9313892
Yes, but keep in mind Celestia has at least a thousand years of experience. Likely mostly peaceful, but she also has before that and the more recent crazy stuff with Twilight and co. Basically, at this point, she doesn't have an excuse for not at least thinking a teensy bit before acting or for jumping to conclusions that she knows could harm her subjects. Neither does Luna, as she is a princess and so should have her priorities straight.
I guess I'm more bothered by them not being called out on it or suffering consequences than for acting the way they do in the first place. But, the story is only three chapters in and I'm sure Alduin will be more than happy to help with that.
When Skarin meets Twi, he should definitely bitch slap her upside the head. Seems only fair as this whole mess is her fault.
9315864
Not if her brother has anything to say about it. Besides, Twilight freed him from the spell as well and that requires answers.
*ominous music*
Answers that only raise more questions...
DUN-DUN-DUNNN!
Come to think of it, Sheogorath was once the Daedric Prince of Order but was cursed by the other Daedra to go insane, only allowed to be himself for one single day at the end of each Era. Would the curse have been lifted by the elements, or would the curse have weakened over time?
9602528
Honestly, I try not go too deep into ES lore because it could complicate matters immensly and then I'd go insane while trying to dig myself out.
I'm trying to make the story simple and easy to read and follow for everyone, including myself. I've read many ES fanfics where writers went so deep with the lore I just couldn't follow anymore and stopped reading what was a good story in the beginning.
I know many will call me out on some things concerning ES lore, especially when I start taking some freedoms with it, but that's just how I envisioned the story to go, and most importantly, to enjoy myself when writing it.
9602562 ES lore is very complicated. Most of the advanced tech can be attributed to the Dwemer. On a side note, while I'm not surprised at Discord being Sheo's future form, I'm surprised that Tamriel is pretty much Equestria in the future. Now that I think about it, Equestria would fill out what would be Cyrodiil while the Crystal Empire is pretty much Skyrim and Atmora in all but name, regarding geography. Also realized that the Dragonlands reminds me of Morrowind.
9612548
The battle took place in Sky Haven Temple, which is in Skyrim but the ToH is deep in the Everfree so your actually brilliant observation, which I curse myself for thinking of sooner, doesn't add up here. Then again, millions of years later and many cataclysmic and land shifting events reformed the land to it's new geographical layout. Sky Haven is pretty south on the map so maybeeee... We'll see
if Equestria is the land of the "elden scrolls" then where did the second moon go? the passage of time does not explain such a radical change in the celestial background.
11420389
Skarin: Where'd the other moon go?
Discord: I got bored one day, turned it into cheese and ate it.
Skarin: O_O
Problem solved
11420389
As Discord said. A kalpa. The world ended, and was reborn. Things radically changed. Hell it’s very likely Peryite is currently filling the role Akatosh did before. Order and tasks. Heck maybe even uncle Sheo ended up as Discord cause he became part of a new aedric pantheon.
Thinking on it, a world where the dominant species gets a label of what they can do best and therefore fill a role in society does sound like something the taskmaster would do if he’s being more subtle. Doesn’t hurt that ponykind seems to want to conform to this process