Alduin has returned. He has risen from Equestria where the Elder Scroll took him forward in time. The Mane 6 chase him to Skyrim where they are captured at the border. They soon learn that one of them is one known as Dragonborn.
When Alduin was defeated and sent forward in time by the Elder Scroll, he was sent to Equestria in the process. Now he has returned and has wreaked havoc on Ponyville before making his way to Skyrim. The Mane 6 pursue him to stop him from fulfilling his goal. When they arrive at the border, they are caught in an imperial ambush and taken to Helgen to be executed.
However, Alduin attacks and ends up aiding them in their escape. The Mane 6 shall make friends and enemies along the way. When they are forced to kill a dragon attacks the Western Watchtower in the Whiterun hold. One of the six will soon discover that they are the legendary dragonborn, meant to defeat the World-Eater.
It was a peaceful day in Ponyville. Ponies were going about their business as usual. The CMC were up to their normal antics, Rarity was finishing an order, Applejack was working the orchard, Pinkie Pie was having a party for... something, Fluttershy was constructing a new habitat with the help of Rainbow Dash, and the princess of friendship Twilight Sparkle was taking a break from her royal duties to read a good book.
It was probably the most perfect day in Ponyville. That was until he attacked. Flying above was a dragon, but not any normal dragon. This one didn't match the look of the dragons native to Equestria. No it was way different. Its front legs were replaced by its wings, scales as black as night, spikes sticking out its back, heading from its neck to its tail, two large horns that go out then curve in and finally curve back out, and red eyes that look like they could pierce straight through your soul.
No one in Equestria knew who this dragon was or where he came from, but they will soon find out. It dived down and once it was low enough, it didn't breath fire, it shouted fire, "YOL TOOR SHUL!" It burned an entire row of houses as it flew over.
It began to hover over the market place as ponies began to look at it in fear. "Mal joorre. Fen mah wah zey, Alduin, lein naak. YOL TOOR SHUL!" Ponies screamed as they ran while others perished under the dragon's fire breath shout. It flew from the market place and shouted again, which caused a meteor storm to start, destroying houses and crushing ponies who failed to move out of the way in time. "Hi key joriin fen mah wah zey."
The first of the Mane 6 to arrive to find the dragon attacking was Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends Applejack and Pinkie Pie. When they heard the screaming, they sprung into action. Twilight flew into the air and fired a spell at the dragon. It didn't even scratch its scales but got its attention. It flew over to her and hovered in front of her. "Why are you attacking dragon? More importantly, who are you?"
"Mey joor. I am Alduin. I am here to complete my dez, my destiny. You all shall-" he didn't finish when a blue blur hit him in the face, disorienting him but not for long.
He looked at the pegasus who had a cocky smirk and gestured with her hand the 'come and get me' gesture. Her smirk turned into a look of shock when Alduin shouted a different shout, "LIS SLEN NUS!" Dash was encased in ice and began to fall to the ground. Luckily, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were able to catch her in their arms before she hit the ground. Rarity arrived shortly and didn't need to say a word as she began to chisel away at the ice that covered Dash.
Twilight looked in shock at what happened and failed to notice Alduin prepare another shout, "YOL TOOR SHUL!" Twilight was shoved out of the way by Fluttershy just in time. They both landed on the ground near their friend just as Rainbow got back up, freezing cold. They all looked back up at Alduin as he spoke, "Wait something isn't right." He took in a whiff of air. "Fahvos dreh dii smell dovah sos?"
Just as he said this, Spike ran to Twilight and her friends. "Are you all alright?" They all nodded making him sigh in relief when he noticed the dragon hovering above them. "Fos los daar? Fahvos dreh hi lahney voth daar joorre? Hi dovah. Hin mul niin." Spike looked at him with confusion and fear. Alduin was even more surprised but quickly became disappointed. "You don't know are own language. You are a disgrace to our reyliik."
"You're going to pay for what you've done!" Dash yelled at Alduin.
She shrunk back when he began to laugh at them. "Joor meyye. You think that you stand a chance to viik zey. To defeat me. I shall consume your sille!" He turned his attention to Spike who was hugging Twilight's leg tightly in fear. "And you shall die for being a disgrace to the dov. FUS RO DAH!"
The 6 screamed as they were blown back by the force of the shout. Alduin landed and used the same shout to launch the 6 back further while Spike wasn't, because he was out of the way, before turning his attention to the baby dragon before him. "Prepare to die. FO KRAH DIIN!"
Twilight got up in time to see Spike get engulfed by Alduin's frost breath shout. "NOOOO!" When Alduin ended the shout, all there was left was a shivering baby dragon, curled up in a ball to keep warm. Alduin was about to use the same shout again when Spike disappeared by a flash of light. He looked up to see Twilight cradling Spike in her arms and begin to run away with her friends in tow.
"Dii fent du hin sille, nuz ni nid. Nii los tiid dii klov wah Keizaal ahrk fulfill dii dez." Alduin flew off the ground and began to fly away. His roars becoming distant as he flew by Canterlot, causing the populace look up at him in fear. Many screamed when he flew close to the ground and used his fire breath shout to kill some ponies before continuing onward.
Today went from perfect to being a dark day for everyone.
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After the citizens of Ponyville calmed down, as best they could, they began putting out the fires, assessing the damage, and gathering those who didn't survive the attack. Many had to be put in the hospital with more having to be outside the building. The town was in a state of misery.
That's what Pinkie saw when looking through a window in the castle. Her mane and tail were straight and dull. She knew there was no way to smile from this. Tears brimmed her eyes when she thought about it. Behind her was her friends. Twilight had Spike wrapped up in a blanket to help him keep warm. The same for Rainbow, who was still freezing cold. Rarity and Applejack were talking with one another about what happened. Fluttershy was shaking with fear from when she first saw the dragon. She remembered when her and Dash heard the commotion and arrived to see Alduin attacking. Dash continued onward while she stayed back in fear.
All she could do was watch when Dash kicked Alduin only to be frozen. When she saw the dragon get ready to kill Twilight, she knew she had to do something. She flew faster than she ever had before and managed to save her friend. Since then, she cowered in fear.
Twilight moved away from Spike and sat down next to Fluttershy and putting a comforting hand on the shaking pegasus' shoulder. It helped a little and Fluttershy looked at the alicorn gratefully. Everything was silently except for the conversation Applejack and Rarity were having. It wasn't long until Spike burped out a letter.
Twilight snatched it out of the air when it materialized and quickly broke the seal and read the letter. "What does it Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
Everyone gathered around Twilight to listen to what the letter says.
Dear My fellow Princess, Twilight Sparkle
A few hours ago, a dragon flew by Canterlot and rained fire on ponies before continuing on its path. When I looked toward Ponyville, I saw the smoke that rose from the town. So you must already know about the dragon I'm talking about in this letter.
I'd like you and your friends to meet me in Canterlot to talk on how to deal with this new threat. I hope to see you soon.
Sincerely, Princess Celestia
"Alright girls, let's get ready to go to Canterlot. Are you going to be fine here by yourself Spike?"
Spike gave Twilight a nod before huddling into his blanket more. The Mane 6 began to head to the train station when they were stopped by the residents asking questions. "Where did that dragon come from?" "What type of dragon was that?" "Why did it attack?"
Twilight tried to get the residents to be quiet, but to no avail. After a few minutes of Twilight trying, Rainbow had enough. She flew into the air and yelled, "QUIET!" Everyone shut up after that.
Twilight thanked Dash and began to address everyone, "I don't know where it came from nor what type of dragon it is, but I do know that me and my friends will deal with this new threat. Right now we're heading to Canterlot to speak with Celestia. So please let us through so we can do so."
Everyone whispered among each other but separated for the Mane 6. Once the 6 were on the train and heading to Canterlot, they began to make theories on where this dragon came from. Twilight believed it came from an undiscovered land, Rainbow thought it was a long forgotten enemy, and Pinkie thought it appeared out of thin air. Needless to say that all these theories were somewhat close to the origin of this dragon.
They finally made it to Canterlot and headed straight for the castle. When they arrived in Celestia's throne room, they found her talking with her sister. They stopped their discussion when they heard the Mane 6 come in.
"I'm so glad you all could make it," Celestia greeted. "I'm sure you all know of the dragon I spoke of in my letter."
"Yes princess. The dragon attacked Ponyville before it left. It killed quite a few ponies and sent more to the hospital," Twilight informed, feeling sorry for the innocent ponies of Ponyville. Shook her head to help her concentrate on the princess for now.
Celestia looked at Twilight in sympathy for their subjects. With a sigh, she began to explain what her and Luna were talking about before they arrived, "When the dragon flew by and burned a small group of ponies in the park, me and Luna managed to catch up with it to cast a tracking spell on it. The spell has weakened a lot since then, meaning the dragon has to be somewhere outside of Equestria. The direction it flew and the weakness of the spell means that it's even farther than Zebrica. What I want you and your friends to do is to find this dragon and stop it. I shall provide you all the means to travel. Can you all do this for us?"
The Mane 6 looked at each other with unease. They were leaving their homeland to go find a dragon that seems to be a threat. Even when it's outside of Equestria. Twilight and Rarity were having doubts about this but decided to go. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were willing to go already, but Dash more so because she wanted to make that dragon pay for imprisoning her in ice. Pinkie looked excited to go while Fluttershy didn't want to, but she didn't want to not be here and not support her friends, so with a reluctant sigh, she decided to go.
The princesses gave them all small smiles and sent them back to Ponyville to pack. Twilight gathered some books together about dragons and plants that they could encounter, Dash took two Daring Do books she has to read when she's bored, Applejack packed up some food and water, Pinkie, of course, packed party supplies, Fluttershy packed some medical equipment just in case someone got hurt, and Rarity..... overpacked again with fabrics, dresses, needles and thread, and fashion designs. Pretty much they were told to pack light and Rarity never listens.
Once they all gathered what they were going to bring, Applejack managing to get Rarity to bring only one suitcase though it is overpacked, they gathered at the area Celestia said she was going to send an airship to. She couldn't teleport them because of the distance and not knowing what this new is and couldn't risk teleporting them into danger unknowingly.
They saw the airship coming down to them. When it landed, the pilot opened the door for them. Once they had their stuff put away and have taken a seat, the pilot began to fly the airship in the direction the dragon flew off to.
The Mane 6 talked about what they could expect and discover on this adventure.
The trip on the airship started off with talking until later on when it quieted down. Twilight was reading a book to pass the time while Dash finally stopped complaining about being able to get to their destination faster by flying on her own. It was rather peaceful for a while.
That was peaceful until the pilot told them that they were arriving to an undiscovered landmass. Twilight was quick to start making notes on the landmass while the rest of the 6 pressed their hands and faces against the window to get a good look at it. They passed over the landmass and discovered that there were multiple regions. They went over a city in the center region and the citizens stopped what they were doing and watched the airship pass over with awe.
The citizens were humans and the girls awed at how they were real. Humans were believed to be a myth but here they are in all their glory... somewhat. The airship continued until it crossed over an ash covered land. The Mane 6 saw some dark skinned people on the ash cover ground and were amazed at how they didn't seem to mind the ash at all.
Finally the airship began to descend into a small forest clearing that borders the ashland. "Alright, this as far as I can take you. Sorry I couldn't go any further but the airship's main tank is almost empty and I'll have to use the reserve to get back. Anyway, I hope you 6 can stop this dragon," Pilot said while exiting his seat and opening the door for the Mane 6.
Once they had their bags and were off the airship, it took off and headed back in the direction of Equestria. When it was out of sight, Twilight pulled out the tracking orb Celestia gave her and to follow the direction it was showing. Eventually they ended up on a path with a bunch of blue clothed soldiers. One of them was dressed in a unique fur trimmed cloak. They all stared at each other for a few minutes in awkward silence. Then Pinkie was going to break the silence by singing a hello song but was interrupted when a bunch of differently dressed soldiers suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
They attacked the blue soldiers and killed some of them while tackling the man with the fur trimmed cloak and gagging him. Some of the blue soldiers were tied up alongside with the gagged man. The other soldiers turned their attention to the Mane 6 who all watched in shock but soon snapped out of it and tried to run, only to all be tackled by the attacking soldiers and knocking them out.
All Twilight could do before she blacked out was watch her friends go unconscious.
The first thing Twilight heard was the sound of hooves hitting the ground and wheels rolling across the stone path. Her vision slowly returned and she looked around. The cart she was in was cramped because two of her friends were sitting between her and the gagged man and between a blue soldier and some other person. The friends that were joining her were Fluttershy and Rarity. They were coming to as well.
The cart in front of them had the rest of their friends who were also waking up. The blonde haired soldier looked and saw that the three in his cart were awake. "Hey, how's all your heads?"
Twilight answered the question for all of them, "A splitting headache from being knocked out but that's it."
"That's good at least. You and your friends got caught crossing the border, right into that Imperial ambush. Just like me and that thief over there," soldier said pointing to man on the other side of Fluttershy.
"Damn you Stormcloaks... Skyrim was fine until you came along! The Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I'd have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell," the man replied irritated and looks at Twilight and her friends. "You three, we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants."
"Were all brothers and sisters in binds now."
"Shut up back there," the soldier driving the cart said.
The thief looked to the gagged man and said, "What's wrong with him, huh?"
The blonde soldier, now known as a stormcloak, spoke angrily to the thief, "Watch your tongue! You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King."
The thief looked back at the man, now known as Ulfric, "Ulfric? Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion... if they've captured you... oh gods, where are they taking us?"
"I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits," the stormcloak answered.
"This can't be happening! This isn't happening!"
They all stayed silent, while the thief freaked out, as the carts kept going down the path. A few minutes later, they arrived at gate to a small town. The gates opened as the carts got closer and the stormcloak turned back to the thief and asked, "Hey, what village are you from horse-thief?"
"Why do you care?" the thief retorted.
"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home." The Stormcloak's words rang through the three mares' ears as they thought back to Equestria. Whatever was going to happen, they knew they could overcome it.
Their thoughts were interrupted when the thief spoke, "Rorikstead. I'm from Rorikstead." Thinking of his home seemed to calm him down but not for long.
As they entered the town, a long, black haired Imperial soldier spoke to a man on a horse who wore a set of unique looking armor that had a gold pattern going from bottom to top and ending with a symbol. He was seemed to be talking to a group of yellow skinned people. The middle one looked to have a black outline around her eyes and noticeable cheekbones. What the soldier said scare Twilight and her friends. "General Tullius sir! The headsman is waiting."
Tullius responded, "Good, let's get this over with."
The thief was freaking out when he heard about the headsman. "Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh! Divines, please help me!"
The Stormcloak looked at Tullius. "Look at him! General Tullius, the military general. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves, I bet they had something to do with this." The soldier then notices where they are and couldn't help but crack a small smile. "This is Helgen... I used to be sweet on a girl here. I wonder if Velod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in." The man stayed silent for a bit before speaking again, "Funny, when I was a boy Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe." He turned to them. "Where are you three from?"
Twilight answered, "Ponyville."
"Strange name but I won't judge. You and your friends being here is strange enough."
The wagons passed a house with a boy and his father watching. "Who are they, pa? Where are they going and what are those things in the wagons?"
The father looked at the ponies in the wagons but didn't say anything about it. He started usher his son inside. "You need to go inside, little cub."
The boy looked at his father puzzled. "Why? I want to watch the soldiers!"
"Inside the house, now."
"Yes pa..." the boy said sadly as he went inside his house with his father following him.
A more high ranking soldier walked up and ordered for the prisoners to be taken out of the carts.
Finally the carts came to a stop near a wall. The thief was confused and a bit fearful. "Why are we stopping?"
"What do you think? End of the line," the Stormcloak said as he stood up, the rest of them following suit. "We shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us." The girls gulped, knowing what he meant. They all prayed to Celestia that they would make it out.
They all stood, despite the lack of space, and proceeded to get off the cart. Fluttershy almost fell when she jumped down in fear. Twilight looked over at her other three friends as they were unloaded with the prisoners on their cart. As they were all getting off, the thief cried out, "No! Wait! We're not rebels!"
The Stormcloak growled at him. "Face your death with some courage, thief."
"You've got to tell them we weren't with you! This is a mistake!"
The Imperial captain looked over the prisoners before addressing them, "Step towards the block when we call you name, one at a time!"
The Stormcloak grumbled, "Empire loves their damned lists."
The soldier, that spoke to the general, started to call names, "Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm." Ulfric began to walk to the block while the blonde soldier said it has been an honor. The Imperial soldier continued. "Ralof of Riverwood." The blonde soldier walks up and takes his place next to fellow Stormcloak. "Lokir of Rorikstead."
The thief began to panick. "No! I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" He began to run off as the Imperial captain yelled at him to stop. The thief just kept running and said, "You're not going to kill me!" The captain yelled out to the archers who all took aim and fired at the thief. One of the archers managed to hit him and he went down.
"Anyone else feel like running?" the captain asked with a stern glare at the rest of the prisoners.
The soldier with the list looked at Twilight and her friends quizzically. "Wait... You three. Step forward." The three ponies did as they were told. "Who... What are you all?"
Fluttershy was shaking uncontrollably and Rarity tried to comfort as best she could, so Twilight answered, "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, the yellow pegasus is Fluttershy, and the white unicorn is Rarity." She looked to the rest of her friends who were waiting by the other prisoners and listed their names. "The rainbow maned pegasus is Rainbow Dash, the orange earth pony is Applejack, and the pink earth pony is Pinkie Pie. We're ponies and we came from Equestria in search of a dragon that attacked our home."
The Imperial soldier looked at her like she was crazy. "Dragons don't exist. Even if they did, there are no dragons here. Captain, what should we do? They're not on the list."
"Forget the list. They go straight to the block."
"But Captain."
"You heard me. Forget the list."
The soldier sighed. "By your orders, Captain." He turns to them. "I'm sorry. We'll try to take your remains back to where you came from. Follow the captain, prisoners."
Rarity nearly fainted as well as Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were shouting at the soldiers about how they can't do that, and Pinkie's hair went straight and dull, to the confusion of the soldiers. All Twilight could do was do as she was told. She was panicking and trying to think of a plan to escape.
As they were all doing this, Tullius walked up to Ulfric and talked to him. They didn't hear what he said but they did hear the distant roar. The Imperial soldier that had the list looked in the sky. "What was that?"
Tullius looked up at the sky as well but found nothing. "It's nothing. Carry on."
The captain responded, "Yes, General Tullius!" The captain looks at the priestess. "Give them their last rights."
The priestess standing next to the captain nodded and began to recite, "As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the 8 divines upon you-"
The priestess was interrupted by one of the Stormcloak prisoners. "For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with." He marched forward bravely and stood before the block.
The priestess hesitated for a bit than said, "As you wish."
The Stormcloak got on his knees. "Come on! I haven't got all morning!" The captain makes him kneel and the Stormcloak looks up at the headsman with a fierce glare. "My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?"
The headsman only response was lifting up his axe. It gleamed in the sunlight. The ponies closed their eyes to not watch what is about to happen. The axe came down. The ponies cringed when they heard the sickening crunch as the axe went through the Stormcloak's neck, separating his head from his body and into the basket that sat on the other side of the block.
This caused people to start yelling out. "You Imperial bastards!"
"Justice!"
"Death to the Stormcloaks!"
Ralof looked at the Stormcloak's headless body as it was pushed out of the way. "As fearless in death as he was in life."
"Next the purple one!"
Twilight paled when she heard that. Then the same roar from before was heard again except louder. The Imperial soldier from before looked up again. "There it is again... did you hear that?"
"I said. Next. Prisoner."
"To the block prisoner. Nice and easy." One of the soldiers said.
Twilight complied, not wanting to end up like the thief. She kneeled down onto the block and the headsman began to raise his axe. Then out of nowhere, a dragon flew into view and landed on the tower behind the headsman. The force of the landing knocking the headsman down. All Twilight had to do was look into those red eyes to know who was attacking.
Alduin shouted and meteors began to fall from the sky. Twilight stumbled when getting up from the block and spotted her friends and Ralof heading to a nearby watchtower. She ran into the tower as Ralof closed the door. He turned to Ulfric and asked, "Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing? Could the legends be true?"
"Legends don't burn down villages," Ulfric answered.
Alduin roared loudly.
"We need to move, now!" Ralof yelled. He led the Mane 6 up the tower and came to a dead end with a Stormcloak. The Stormcloak was about to say something, but Alduin broke down the wall and used the fire breath shout. The Stormcloak didn't survive. Ralof looked out the newly made hole and saw that the inn beside the tower is within jumping distance. "You six need to jump. You'll be able to get to the in from here. Don't worry about me. I'll find another way around."
Twilight nodded and turned to her friends to say, "Come on girls," and jumped through the hole and into the inn. Dash had to jump while carrying Fluttershy, who was too scared to jump. Once everyone had jumped into the inn, they made their way out of it and ran into the same Imperial soldier that had the list.
He noticed them and yelled, "Come on prisoners! You want to live, follow me!" They complied and followed him. They came across some people and the same kid from before. He ran away from the dragon as it landed and narrowly escaped being roasted alive. They then were behind a building near one of the walls of Helgen. Alduin landed on the left of the building and on the wall. He used his fire breath shout again before flying off again.
Finally the Mane 6 and the Imperial soldier made it to the keep and met up with Ralof. The Imperial became angry. "Ralof, you coward. How can you run from this?"
Ralof snorted and answered, "Because I'd rather live another day than by a dragon. We won't be able to kill it, so the only other option is to get out of here."
"Forget it. I hope that dragon kills you and every other Stormcloak here. Come on prisoners, follow me."
"If any of you actually want to live, I suggest that you all follow me." With all that said, Ralof and the soldier ran to different areas of the keep. Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack went with Ralof and Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie went with the soldier.
Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were breathing heavily as the Imperial soldier locked the door behind them. "Is everyone alright?" he asked.
The only reply he got was nods from them. "Well, it looks like we won't be going out there anytime soon. I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I was going to tell the captain that your friend was royalty but she didn't listen. My name is Hadvar. One of you check that chest over there. It might have some armor and a sword in it. As for the rest of you, look around for anything you can use, such as any other armor and weapons if there is any."
They nodded and started to look around. Rarity checked the chest he mentioned and found some Imperial armor and a iron sword. She looked back at Hadvar who was watching her and gave him a look that said 'do you mind?' He understood why she gave him that look and turned around.
Rarity changed into the armor and tied the sword sheathe to her side. She took the sword out of the chest and put it in the sheathe. When Rarity was about to close the chest, she noticed a key lying at the bottom. She picked it up to inspect it.
Hadvar had turned around when he heard the sound of a sword being sheathed and saw Rarity inspecting the key. "That's the keep key. I wouldn't be surprised if you found it in there. That is the warden's chest after all." He turned to look at the rest of them. Fluttershy is wearing only a helmet she found in one of the chest while Pinkie somehow found a lute. Hadvar questioned why but her answer confused him.
Her answer was, "Because that's what the author expects from me silly."
Rarity said not to question it and he didn't. Mainly because there was a dragon outside destroying the town outside. Once they found all that they found was useful, they carried on. The hallway they went down wasn't at all long and before they knew it, they were at a gate with a pull chain. On the other side was Twilight, Rainbow, and AJ. With them is Ralof and he just finished fighting an Imperial soldier. On the ground were two other soldiers, one of them being the captain from before.
Hadvar drew his sword, pulled the chain next to the gate and charged at Ralof. Rainbow noticed this and quickly got in front of Hadvar and tackled him to the ground. They tussled a bit before he got the upperhand. "This is what you get for going with the traitors," Hadvar said as he raised his fist, but only to be stopped by Ralof who kicked him off of Rainbow.
Hadvar and Ralof had their weapons ready to strike each other when Rarity and Twilight got between them. "What are you doing?!" they both exclaimed.
"Because killing each other won't solve anything with a dragon outside destroying everything," Twilight explained, annoyed.
Ralof and Hadvar looked at each other with a glare before sheathing their weapons but kept their hands on the hilts just in case the other tried something. They both looked at Twilight, waiting for her to speak.
When she was sure that they wouldn't try anything, she let out a sigh and said, "This is Ponyville all over again, but with more death and destruction." She took a moment to think. "Alright, we need to find a way out of here."
"Follow me. I've been in the keep a few times to know where to go. I believe I remember a cave system that's underneath the place. We usually have guards down there but I don't know if they're still down there," Hadvar said as he took the key Rarity found and unlocked the bar door on that was across from where they came in.
The group traveled down a staircase and came across a large hallway. To the left was a door. They were about to walk past the door when the ceiling caved in, nearly crushing them. "That was close!" Ralof exclaimed.
Hadvar pointed at the door and said, "Through here, this room should go around the rubble."
When they entered a group of Stormcloaks were in the room. They were talking while one of them was prying the top of a barrel open. Ralof said he would convince them to let them by. Luckily they let them all through, with some hesitation because of Hadvar, and gave them some potions from the barrel as well.
They continued down further and ran into a torture room. Inside, the torturer and his assistant were gathering some items together. They noticed the group and were about to draw their weapons on the Stormcloak when Hadvar stopped them and explained what was going on. While the torturer thought it was all absurd, he let them all pass anyway.
More Imperials were in the way but allowed them to pass through after Hadvar explained everything. They continued until they across some frostbite spiders, which were quickly dispatched of, and a sleeping bear that they snuck past.
They finally reached the end of the cave and exited. Ralof looked up and quietly yelled, "Get down!" They all complied and not long after, the dragon flew over them and was gone after flying past a mountain with a ruin on it. "Okay, that was close. Come on, we should all head to Riverwood. It's not that far."
No one objected. They began to walk to Riverwood in silence.
The walk to Riverwood was silent. As the group of eight walked, they came across the guardian stones. Ralof and Hadvar explained to the six that they were three of the thirteen standing stones in all of Skyrim. The six each chose a stone. Twilight chose the mage stone, Pinkie and Applejack went for the warrior stone, and Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy went for the thief stone.
Ralof and Hadvar commented on their choices and they all continued onward. A group of wolves tried to attack them but Fluttershy managed to make them not do that and they left the group alone, much to the shock of the two soldiers.
A few minutes later, they were at Riverwood. "A dragon! I saw a dragon!" a old woman said to a man.
"What is it now mother?" the man said in an annoyed tone.
"I saw a dragon! It flew over the ruins."
"You're imagining things again."
The woman looked to her left and saw the 6 before looking back to the man pointing and saying, "Then how can I be imagining them?" The man turned to look and his jaw dropped. He stood in shock for a few seconds before closing his mouth and walking off, mumbling something to himself.
Hadvar gestured for some of them to follow him to his uncle's forge and Ralof taking the others to the saw mill where his sister worked.
(a few minutes later)
The Mane 6 were following the road to Whiterun after they met Ralof's sister and Hadvar's uncle. They were told to go to Whiterun to have the Jarl send guards to Riverwood. Before they left, they got some armor and weapons. Twilight wore leather armor and had a dagger strapped to her side, Applejack wore full iron armor without the helmet and carried a warhammer on her back, Rarity wore the same as Twilight (though with some complaint) and also had a dagger strapped to her side, Dash wore leather armor but had hide boots and cuffs to replace the leather gauntlets and boots and had both a sword and dagger, Fluttershy just sticked to her original clothes, and Pinkie Pie also kept her clothes but had the lute from before on her back.
The trek to Whiterun was uneventful. They passed an Imperial patrol that gave them strange looks and that was it. When they reached the gates, two guards were standing to sides of it. One of them noticed the group and walked up to them. "Stay where you are. No one is allowed in the city with these dragons about."
Twilight stepped up and said, "We were sent here to talk to the Jarl about having some guards sent to Riverwood."
"Riverwoods in danger too? You lot better hurry to Dragonsreach. It's the big building on the hill. Hard to miss." The guard returned to his spot by the gate and the 6 entered Whiterun.
The city wasn't much of a city, it was too small for that. The place looked nice though. Across the small stone bridge to the right was a forge and blacksmith shop, to the left, perched up on a small hill, was a building with a sign at the bottom of the hill that had a overfilled mug and said, "Drunken Huntsman," a path to the left of the Drunken Huntsman led to more buildings, a bit further down the path ahead of them was a house or two, and the path finally ended at the market place where some stalls and two stores were open, and an inn that had a sign with a horse reared back a bit with a man on its back carrying a banner that said "Bannered Mare."
The city seemed nice but they didn't have the time to admire it as they were here for a reason. Twilight looked up to her left and saw Dragonsreach just over the buildings and began to lead her friends to the keep.
The walk was short and they got a few strange looks from some of the citizens but they didn't say anything. They soon arrived at the keep and entered. They could hear the Jarl talking to someone but before they could go up and speak to him, a dark elf woman spotted them and drew her sword while walking up to them. "Stop right there. I don't know who or what you are but the Jarl isn't receiving visitors right now with all this talk of dragons," the dark elf said in a threatening tone.
Twilight stepped up. "We're here to warn the Jarl that Riverwood could be in trouble."
The dark elf looked surprised. "Then you need to speak to the Jarl right away." She sheathed her sword and walked to the Jarl with the Mane 6 trailing behind. She walked to the Jarl's side, leaned down next to his ear and whispered something to him before straightening up.
The Jarl looked at them with a stern look. If he was surprised to see them, he hid it well. "Irileth told me that you knew something about this dragon. Please tell me everything you know of it," the Jarl said in a kind yet stern voice.
"Well, for starters it attacked Ponyville back where we came from before tracking it here. I was about to be decapitated when it attacked Helgen," Twilight explained.
"I see. I'm sure that you didn't do anything to make the Imperials think that you should be killed, but I feel like there's more to that. Tell me anything else you know."
"When we escaped, we saw fly over the ruins that overlook Riverwood. The people there request your aid."
"Riverwood's in trouble? Irileth," the Jarl said.
"Yes Jarl Balgruuf?"
"Send a detachment of guards to Riverwood at once," Balgruuf commanded.
"Jarl if I may?" a Imperial to the Jarl's right asked.
"What is it Proventus?"
"The Jarl of Falkreath might find this as a-"
"I will not stand idly as a dragon burns my buildings and slaughters my people! Irileth, send that detachment," the Jarl commanded.
Irileth did as she was told and ran past the Mane 6 to carry out her orders while Proventus went up the stairs to the back right to the room. The Jarl thanked them gave them each 50 gold for what they done.
"You know, there is something else you all can help with. Come, let's go see Farengar, my court wizard," Balgruuf said as he stood up and led the Mane 6 to a room to the side of the main room.
Inside was a man in a cloak reading over a book and jotting down some notes. He then went over to a map he had set up with his notes and looked between it and his notes trying to find something. He didn't hear the Jarl and the Mane 6 enter until Balgruuf spoke up.
"Farengar, I some people that can assist you in your research."
The court wizard turned to look at the Jarl and nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise when he saw who all was behind him. He was quick to regain his composure set his notes aside to greet his strange new guests. "Hello. My name is Farengar Secret-Fire. I'm the court wizard to the Jarl and help deal with a magic related problems in the hold."
The Jarl left the Mane 6 to introduce themselves so he could get back to his duties.
Twilight began the introductions. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. This is Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy."
"It's nice to meet you all. Now the Jarl said you could help me. You see, I'm investigating something a friend of mine needs. There's something I lack, however, and that's in a ruin not far from here," Farengar explained. "I'd like for you all to go retrieve an item from there. But I'm pretty much sending you to a deadly for an item that may or may not be there."
Rainbow spoke up, "Just tell us where it is cause either way we're going."
"Straight to the point, I like that. What you're looking for is a object known as the Dragonstone. It resides in Bleak Falls Barrow that overlooks Riverwood. Hard to miss. Now before you go, it might be best to spend some of your gold to prepare for this endeavor. The necessities really, a place to rest if you need to, maybe some food and drink, weapons, armor, and maybe some potions if need be. And if any of you want to learn some magic, I could sell you some spell tomes but they're expensive."
The Mane 6 looked at each other before accepting this quest and heading back into the market. The first thing they did was check out the Bannered Mare. When they got inside, the woman at the bar greeted them as if they were normal people. The tanned woman that was tending to the patrons was not different than the woman.
Twilight and her friends piled their gold together and had Rarity by some cheap food and drink and rent them a room so they be well rested to go explore the ruin. The rest of them sat around the fire where a nord in full iron armor stared at them for a bit before continuing to drink his mead. Rarity came back with their meals, which consisted of some bread and nord mead, and they began to talk about Skyrim.
"This place is rather unique, wouldn't you say girls?" Twilight started.
"Not when you were about to have your head cut off," Dash grumbled.
"I'm sure the Imperial captain wasn't thinking straight. Probably thought that we were part of the Stormcloaks," Rarity said. "Though the clothing these people have could be better."
"Not everyone can afford fancy clothing. Most of Skyrim is just warriors, the damned Imperials, the true sons of Skyrim, and bandits. and the occasional mercenary," the nord next to them explained before receiving another drink from the tan women.
The ponies just stared at him for a few seconds before slowly returning to their conversation. "Whatever the case, we need to find this dragon and deal with it so we can go home," Applejack said as she took a sip of her mead.
They had to agree with Applejack. They want to go home but can't until this threat is dealt with. This dragon, Alduin, could return to Equestria and destroy everything in his path. They continued to chat for a bit after finishing their meals. Later they went to the room Rarity rented for a day to rest.
Back at the bar of the inn was a women, wearing leather armor and a hood, that overheard what the 6 were talking about and wondered if they are worth looking into. A dragon appearing in their land might be worth looking into should she choose to. She paid for her drink and left the inn to go Dragonsreach, to go speak to Farengar.
