• Member Since 28th Aug, 2011
  • offline last seen 4 hours ago

Cold in Gardez


Stories about ponies are stories about people.

T

The legends told of their return.

For over a decade Equestria has been beset by the dragons. Every year more villages vanish in flames, and the lonely cities stand as our last redoubt. Winter has gripped the world, and our hope is fading.

But the legends tell of another, a light in the darkness. The Dragonborn, a mythic warrior reborn with the power of the Voice, the only one who can stand against the dragons.

But when she appeared, she was not what we were expecting...

Chapters (9)
Comments ( 400 )

Ah, t'is not often you come across a good crossover fic. 4.5/5 because I'm nitpicky. Small errors and the like.:scootangel:

Oooh, this is good.

Excellent work. Humor and action in all the right doses and a compelling storyline to boot. Looking forward to see how things unfold!

damn guy, you earned 5 stars from me :D how did you make your title picture, if i may ask?:twilightblush:

but there is one they fear in there tongue she ponakiin PONYBORN :flutterrage:FUS RO DAH

JAG

Hmm...I'm not familiar with Skyrim, and am generally not a big crossover fan. That said, I've read and enjoyed a lot of your other stories, and this sounds promising. So, two questions:

1. Is any prior knowledge of Skyrim required to understand this?

2. Slightly off-topic, but are you ever going to finish The First Light of Dawn? That story was entirely too awesome to just abandon.

104377

1. No knowledge of Skyrim needed! However certain stuff may be more meaningful if you are familiar with the game.

2. Yes, in fact I have part of the next chapter written. Other stuff just keeps getting ahead of it in the priority list.

haha oh my god I fucking love so much of this.

fuck the haters, this is the only goddamn fanfic I've ever actually liked.

Props to you man, take all my fucking stars. I swear to god.

JAG

104456

1. Cool. I'll go ahead and give this a try, then.

2. Also cool. Can't wait.

Gah! I'm jealous of how involving you make your story, and how smoothly you flow through your narrative without any excess fat.

Unrelated notes:

"She gave the door a tentative poke; it didn’t appear to be trapped."
-->Just affirms a life motto: when in doubt about something, poke it.

"a gentle blue light that washed away colors"
-->Makes me think of what happens when scuba diving. Different reason for the washed out effect, but really evokes an image for me at least.

'“It’s bigger than I expected,” she whispered.'
-->*snerk* I'm immature, I know, but it amuses me regardless.

JAG

Okay, so to review, this story is a crossover with a game I haven't played, and featuring an OC as the main character. Normally these are not the ingredients of a story that holds my attention. So the fact that it gets five stars and added to my Tracking list says a lot for it. Reasons:

- Dragon apocalypse. 'nuff said.
- Zombie ponies. Also 'nuff said.
- An OC hero that manages to be entertaining and good at her job without being an overpowered Mary Sue.
- Twilight being Twilight. Half naive librarian, half flank-kicking Sorceress Supreme, all Best Pony.
- Excellent quality of writing. The action sequences are particularly impressive; detailed enough to clearly visualize, yet still fast-paced and exciting. Very few writers can pull that off this well, in my experience.
- Probably a lot I'm forgetting.

Very good stuff. Post moar.

Gz to the feature on EQD :)

I admit, I half expected the Dovahneigh to be Fluttershy, but an original character works too.

I've gotta say, bloody well done that man! (or woman dont know where to check :D).
Anyway i love your writing style, i've paid good money for worse. So keep up the good work.

An author who realizes you don't have to change Dragonborn into something more pony? Looks promising.

Oh good, Fallout Equiestria finally releases me from its evil, addictive clutches, and now this. *grumble I have exams to study for you know mumble*

An OC who I actually find myself liking? Impossibu!

Ahem. Very nice crossover! There are quite a few Skyrim crossovers dotted about here and then, but this one and one other seem to be the only ones that EQD accepted, which makes it good in my book!

I have no former experience of Skyrim, but this seems like a really good story. I would track it if I had an account.
Okay, I know this is nitpickyingy, and it's probably too late to change, but the name of Sly bugs me. Most ponies have three-syllable names, or at least two.
However, this is the only thing wrong in a whole sea of good writing, so nevermind.

Tracking this so hard that it was just tracked and now is pregnant with a sequel XD

DAMN U PONIES U DRIVE ME SKYRIM

ye got featured son

now get to updatin

:fluttercry: i wish i could write like you

The main character is clearly Trixie, not an OC pony.

So is Sly the Nerevarine as well?

I see what you did there int he footnote. Not sure if it's a good or a bad thing, since it instantly sets my mind into Fo:E mode. And that, I might redundantly mention, won't be easy to beat.

A little quick opening too, IMO. Other than that, excellent so far.

Did anypiny else keep reading 'Curalmil' as 'Caramel'? because now I've got this image of Caramel, the warrior king haha

Now this is a nice crossover. Has all of the right part of both Skyrim and MLP in it. Well written too. 5 Stars. Tracked.

You certainly make dragonfights more epic than they are in the game.
To me, it's harder to kill bears than it is to kill dragons -.-

Not bad at all. I personally would have preferred a less "in medias res" start, but otherwise it was excellent. I'll certainly enjoy reading the rest as is comes =D

I have to be curious on where the rest of the Mane 6 will be though.

111153
Almost every single one of my stories start in media res. It's probably crossed the line into a bad habit, but with web fiction you usually can't afford long setups before getting to the action. They also feel more fun to write.

As for the rest of the mane 6, I guess I can answer without causing too much of a spoiler. There are a few mentions, but we don't meet them as characters.

But then, this is just one of the tales of the dragonborn -- a sidequest, if you will, and if you've played Skyrim you know there are hundreds of sidequests. the others are out there waiting in the magical land of Equestria.

110894
Hah, you're right! An alternate-universe version of Trixie, at least. The main counter-argument is that the crescent in Trixie's cutie mark is supposed to be a swirl of magic instead of a moon, but that's a common mistake.

111166

Ah, I see. I usually prefer a less extreme in medias res myself, so I guess I can understand you.
You do it rather elegantly though, so I won't complain xD
Say, will we get to know how Sly figured out she was the Dragonborn? After all, that is some juicy info right there, which lorenerds like me love to munch on. xD

Ah, no Mane 6, 'cept Twi? Aww... Oh well, Twi is best pony anyway. xD

Also, I have to correct my view of this story; I viewed it as the mainquest with sidequests here and there, not just a single sidequest. That makes the whole "in medias res" thing vastly more justified and even expected. Not to mention required if you want to get anything done with it xD
And, that also makes the expected length of the story a fraction of the original prediction. I guess that's a good thing; I don't think I have time to read another Fo:E sized monsterfic. xD

However, with that new perspective in mind; will we see more of Sly's adventures?

111166
I thought you were just playing along with the Elder Scrolls tradition of having the PC start out as a prisoner in each game.

111182
This is looking to be around 45k words or so when done, so just under novel length. Of course, FO:E was ~600k, so it's a matter of perspective.

111192
Well, that's why I chose a prison for the starting point :) But yeah, it was mostly as an homage to the games, not meant to represent the literal start of Sly's adventures.

Twilight > Lydia

I'm glad you made an OC the dovahkiin/dragonborn, and made her a believable character. Flutterkiin is amusing, but making any of the mane 6 the dragonborn would eventually have her overshadow the others. Speaking of, will we be seeing the other 5 in this fic, or did they go down with ponyville, or is this a sort of alternate future?

Well judging by the style this is looking to be the next Fallout: Equestria and I mean that beyond just noticing the whole "Level up/perk stuff. The great thing about that, I'll actually be able to keep up with this one. Though I understand you plan to have this at 45k words. Which is great. Now for the actual fic.

I have to say Cold, I rather dig this alternate universe you've created here. You're doing well to flesh out the details when necessary and the whole story of the other kingdom is pretty cool. And the dragon battle was really awesome. I hope you can keep that level of choreography consistent.

And this is just my shipping side kicking in, but I really hope you unveil and go into detail about who's on the other end of those love letters Twilight has.

I await your next update with patience.

P.S. the line breaker emblems are a REALLY nice touch.

wow 111 people reading this at once :twilightoops:

this is awesome! i wonder if they will meet draugrs in the tomb......:unsuresweetie:

66 readers

must be an update
ugh you should've seen my face..

Her eyes closed, and a look of pure bliss replaced the annoyance on her face.
Sly gave her a moment. “Better than sex, isn’t it?” she said with a grin.

Most funniest thing I ever read in a MLP story. Ever.

Huh. Is it had that when I read that footnote the little drumroll played in my head?

Another fine gentleman and scholar writing pony fiction I see. Good work can't wait for more :)

First fan fiction i ve ever read and i loved it :heart:

This is not only an excellent pony fanfic, it's an EXCELLENT Skyrim fanfic. The treatment you give to the Dragons, to the Draugr, to the very magic that ties it all together (and not to mention the fantastic environments you conjure up with your wordsmithing) all left me wanting MAWR MAWR MAWR. :pinkiegasp:

I actually went in expecting this to be just an okay distraction, but it was so much more. And the main character is apparently... some form of a Skyrim-pony version of Trixie? :trixieshiftright: I gotta say, if that's true, then this is the best OC I've seen in a long, long time. And even if it's not true, then Sly is still probably one of the best OCs I've seen in a long, long time!

Seriously. Update this. I'm going to read and enjoy the living hell out of it. :rainbowkiss:

Damn right as I was about to go to sleep. Ah well it's not that important anyway I guess.

This is amazing. I don't often read crossovers, but I might give a few more a go if they're written as well as this.

Have my firstborn child.


This was an excellent chapter, although not sure about removing Twilight's hair.

Did Twilight just splatter Pony!Shelob across a cave in a fit of panic-driven arcanokinetic obliteration?

Whoa. :twilightoops:

Haha zgreat chapter I'm liking the character development and can't wait for when sly actually do overs and proves shes the dragonborn. Haha MFW sly really isn't the dragonborn and I cry. :fluttercry:

Login or register to comment