On the verge of oblivion, one fearless warrior sets out to the Throat of the World to stop the World Eater from ending the world entirely. The brave hero ends up successfully banishing Alduin into another world at the cost of sending himself too.
A Crossover of Skyrim: The Elder Scrolls V & MLP
Coverart not mine
A great evil capable of mass destruction has made its way into Skyrim, and I'm the only one destined to stop this threat from turning the world into oblivion. However, when I used an elder scroll to try and destroy Alduin into oblivion it ended up back firing on me. The magic made us both vanish from our world entirely.
Now, I ended up in a relatively different world with talking humanoid ponies instead of Nords scattered across its lands. The elder scroll and Alduin currently missing. But I'll find him and defeat Alduin because..... I am Dragonborn.
Might contain suggestive themes: mention of sex and brief nudity.
I groan in pain finally able to wake myself up after blacking out temporarily. It feels....warmer than I remember. Now that I recall what happened, it doesn't add up.
I was at the Throat of the World and battling the embodiment of destruction himself in a dead lock. Just when he was weakened enough, I was going to use the elder scroll to weakened his destructive powers that he made through time. But, something went wrong.... All I remember next was the crafty smile of the dragon.
I get up and observe my surroundings to discover I was on a plain. The wind softly blew on the grass which cause a slight rustle amongst the grass itself. It was surprisingly peceaful. Beautiful in its own right.
But such things wasn't my main concern. What I need to find was Alduin and end that monstrosity once and for all.
I search across the plains for any civilization until I see in the distance I mountain, but the strange part of this mountain was that it had a castle like thing latching on the side of it. Such a structure made me wonder how it was even possible. I then head up to the base of the mountain and start climbing.
Climbing mountains was never easy for me even in Skyrim. Mainly because of the creatures that laid in wait within them, but for this mountain. There was not really any threats in sight which disappoint me greatly.
It wasn't long before I made it to the strange city it appears to be. Except there was one catch to everything. The 'people' of this city are bipedal ponies with hands. I have seen a lot of incredible things during my life, fighting dragons, see floating skeletons, fight in the afterlife, and so much more, but this just about tops it all. The ponies of the city looked at me strangely for my different build because unlike them I am a Nord.
Fortunately, the armor I wore conseals my true race, but this did not stop from one of the guards dressed in golden armor to approach me. "What are you doing here stranger. It's quite odd to see a pony like yourself dressed in such heavy armor."
So I decide to roll with the punches. "Well, you see, I came here because I'm from a different land to negotiate with your Jarl."
The guard stares in confusion at me, but a guard ran up to him terror in his expression. "Come quick! A dragon is attacking the city!"
The first guard was shock to hear that and follow him. I follow close behind. The roar of a dragon pierced the sky before a torrent of fires were breathed in to the city folk. Many screamed and ran in circles to get away from it. However, I noticed one difference about this dragon. It spoke not a single Shout. Was that even possible?
I didn't have too much time to think it over before unsheathing my current sword: Honed Ancient Nord Greatsword of Scorching. I dash at the beast shouting with all my might in a shout. "Joor Zah Frul!"
A burst of blue energy escape my lips as it directly contact with the dragon. It roared in surprise as it was then forced to land on the city streets. I charge with greater speed after it before it made eye contact with me for a brief second. I swipe my greatsword down slashing as much into it as possible in the process it burns the dragon directly in those said wounds.
It roars in agony before it turns its own head toward me to unleash a torrent of fire upon me. Fortunately, my armor has fire resistance enchantment on it, but I could still feel the burns it caused. I stepped back before charging my blade to slash deeply into the dragon. Its eyes widen before it finally broke out of my Shout's power.
"Ah, that actually hurt for a tiny pony like you." it cries out.
The way the dragon spoke was also foreign to me too. It seem to me that this dragon must be entirely different all together, but the beast still has the same weaknesses.
It took back into the skies, but this time its attention was all on me. It chase me down the streets trying to burn me alive. Yet, I still had one more trick and then he'll die for sure.
"Joor Zah Frul!" I shout again. It hit its target again before it plumates to the ground in confusion.
"What is this.... witchcraft!" it shout in rage.
His rage is cut short because I ease my greatsword letting out a war cry before I decapitate its head completely off the body. The body fell shortly limp. The ponies around me however look in a mixture of horror and shock.
Then the familiar sensation of the dragon's soul coming into my body over took me for a few moments before disappearing. All that was left of the dragon is the skeleton of the dragon.
"He...slained the dragon." one of the fancy dressed ponys state in horror and relief.
"Well of course, that's part of my job." I casually mention.
"I've never seen a dragonslayer before." Another one of the ponies said.
Not sooner had the pony said that the Royal Guard surrounds me pointing their weapons threatenly toward me. "Sir, you'll be coming with us for questioning." one of the guards said as calmly as possible.
Yet, I didn't have time for Jarl guards, so I did the best option I had. "Wuld Nan Kest!" I blur faster than sound pass the guards and into the horizon leaving a trail of a whirlwind in my path.
A Royal Guard member opens the door to the Canterlot Castle's throne room. The guard obviously scared out of his mind approach Celestia with unease. "P-Princess Celestia, the dragon was....slained." He reports.
Celestia gave a look of astonishment toward him. It's no secret how strong dragons are. They could easily scorch the lands down as they see fit while going toe to toe with the Royal Guard even with little numbers dragons have.
"The nobles saw the pony who did this. He's some sort of dragonslayer. He even absorbed the dragon's skin!"
Celestia inwardly cringe at the mental image of how that sound. But at the same time, she was curious at why this 'dragonslayer' was in Canterlot. "Send all guards available. I want the 'dragonslayer' brought back to me alive." she declared.
I had no idea what those guards were, but luckily I escaped them. Last thing I needed was to be thrown in whatever prison they had for me. But next time I might not be so fortunate.
That's why I plan on taking a rest for a while. I laid in the plains and had built a fire with a bed roll I had in my storage. The fire crackles with life while I just stare up at the stars above. And then I realized how much brighter and clearer they were in the sky then usual. For being sent to a land filled with dragons and talking horses it sure is a beautiful natural landscape.
I lightly yawned indicating that I was about to go to sleep. I got comfortable in my bed roll before I dozed off to sleep peacefully.
I woke up the next morning realizing that today was the first full day in this strange land. I decided to search for more civilization which I happened to find a dirt road. Now that I take another look at all that I see it really isn't too much different from my homeland: Skyrim. But then again I barely met the natives.
I eventually made it to a town. This town was quite the sight for me as it looked like the average style a Nord village would have. Wooden structures with somewhat bustling people- err. Ponies, I guess now.
Once again, the ponies looked at me in bafflement and fear in my presence. Good thing I didn't see those golden armor guards around, but to be on the safe side I decided to just go with it. I head into a bar and was met with new smells. One of which was a weird combo of apple cider and musk. I've been in worse. There was a mare singing in the front of the room with a lovely voice and a few more shady characters throughout the bar itself.
I sat in one of the lone seats facing the bartender. She was a light purple mare with a dark purple mane and tail. Her clothes covered her except her thighs which showed two tattoo pictures both with matching branches of grapes and strawberries on each thigh. Weird, not the weirdest I've seen in this strange world though.
"What do you want, stranger?" she asked.
"I'll take the strongest ale you have." I said.
She nods as she fetches the drink for me. At least the terms are still the same here. After a few minutes she returns back with my ale as I gave her the money I had to usually give. When I did she raised an eyebrow at the coin I had.
"What is this? This is not bits." She stated.
Well, now I know the currency is different here. This made things more complicated. I sighed as I pushed the ale back to her. I went to pick up the change before she grabbed my wrist.
"You're not from around here are you?"
"Possibly. What's that to you?" I asked.
"I asked because you look like a pony that could get a certain job done for me."
My interest peak because of my current situation. I needed these 'bits' in order to buy things properly if needed. "Go on."
"I've been having a problem with a certain group of ponies known as the Coltist. They keep on barging into my bar and taking the rum for themselves. Since there is no Royal Guard members here I had no way in protecting myself from these bastards. Can you take care of them for me?" She asked.
"I'd be glad to help. Where can I find them?" I said.
"In the east side of the Hymmer Mountains. If you don't know where that is then use this map." She said giving me a map with the label 'Equestria' on it.
"Thanks."
I then put the map in my armor before I head back out of the bar. My first quest here in this strange land named Equestria. I then open the map the bartender gave to me. Unfortunately, I couldn't read the damn thing covered in hieroglyphics in all, but I did get the pictures. So I followed the illustrations on the map until I got to a mountain range with a sign and trail pointing further up the mountain top. I had no idea what it said, but my guess is this is the place to be. I then scaled up the mountain trail. I didn't run into anything dangerous though. Just a few birds but nothing lethal. The path ended for me as I heard voices out in the distance. I got close to the sounds to find two ponies near a fire drinking this purple liquid from their wine bottles. My guess it was the bartender's stolen rum.
"Sooooo, wha is tha big catch *hic* you got this time...." The first pony said probably drunk out of his mind.
"That whore didn't know wha hit her. Although... Next time we should get serious." The second pony said.
I got annoyed by their conversation so I stood to their right as I prepare a shout. "Fus Ro Dah!"
And just like that a blue force of aura burst outwards to the two unexpecting ponies sending them flying off the ledge screaming to their deaths. I smiled slightly under my helmet before continuing to the camp fire and scavenging through their things. What I found didn't surprise me. A bunch of useless leather armor, some rusted swords and a ton of empty bottles of rum. This was not a organization. They were just two idiots wielding some weapons to take some rum for there drunken selves. I sighed heavily before preparing to go back then. I heard a dragon roar in the distance. My blood ran cold at the familiarity of it. I search for the owner of the shout but couldn't see anything pass the mountains. So I decided to head back to the town and collect my due payment.
"Oh thank you so much stranger for your kindness. Here is some bits as promised." the bartender said giving me a bag of coin or was it bits now?
Anyway, I take it and count it up adding it to my collection. "Forty-nine bits."
"Thank you miss. Now about the ale....."
"Since you did that quest for me I'll give you this first bottle of ale for free." She said with a smile.
Her generosity shocked me. Never in my life have I met such a trusting creature to a complete stranger. It made me wonder about this land's morale. Of course, I gladly accepted the ale and went on to drinking myself with the purple liquid. It was surprisingly very good in taste giving me the exact buzz I wanted. Now that was worth the headache.
I just worry about what Alduin was doing there in the Hymmer Mountains.
I woke up to the roaster crowing in the distance. I felt uncomfortable at the moment in my armor which means that I must have passed out at the bar. I remembered being with the bartender and having drinks then...
I looked around me seeing that I was definitely right. I checked my pockets to make sure nothing was out of place. A sigh escaped my mouth as I secured the last of my belongings. Everything was with me.
I look toward the bar stand seeing that the bartender seem to still be there. With a groan, I push myself up from the hard wood floor my armor making slight metal noises.
The bartender seem to notice me get up from my prone position, but she continued cleaning her drinks. One important question swam through my mind.
"How long was I out cold on the floor?"
"For about a solid three hours. Oh, and congratulations on winning the drinking challenge. Not many ponies make it to twelve mugs of Moonshine Waters." the bartender said.
I wasn't really surprised though from the feat. Back in Skyrim, twelve cups of ale was nothing compared to what the elves could hold. I've seen one collapse at the fifth cup of ale.
"Uh, thanks." I replied back.
The bartender looked to get a bit nervous my lack of conversation. "I realize that you must be a traveler wondering of you are still here." the bartender said.
"Yeah, in a way," I said sighing briefly before slumping in one of the stools at the bar stand. "And I'll need more of this new currency: Bits too."
"Hmm, then you'll need to work for it here." The bartender said.
I couldn't help but smile under my helmet. Work was usually enjoyable for me back in Skyrim. The feel for adventure and the adrenaline that came with it never got old to me. "I'm no stranger to work Ms...."
"You can call me Berry Punch. And you'll be the first hired help for my bar: The Whinning Pony." The bartender said to clarify.
I was completely fine with the arrangement. However, I couldn't help but notice how close some of the names were related to the walking horses. I mentally shrugged it off though blaming the hangover for making my train of thought too complicated so early in the morning.
"That's fine. I have nothing else going for me. Have another job for me then?" I asked her.
She paused in cleaning the beverages and mugs lost in thought momentarily before shaking her head. "Not right at the moment. I'll let you know when I have one for you again."
"Alright. I'll be taking a walk then." I said.
I was about to head out when Berry Punch called for me. I turned around to face her again. "A room will be prepared for you if you wish to stay here. I can tell you are new to Ponyvile." Berry Punch said.
My confusion and shock intensified by the unfamiliar pony related names, but I said nothing about it. "You would be right, Lady Punch. I come from a different land across the seas. I appreciate the hospitality you have shown toward me." I commited.
Berry Punch seemed mildly surprised at my choice of wording, but she seem to get its meaning well enough. "Think nothing of it. Ponyvile after all is the shining example for the Friendship of all of Equestria."
More questions formed in my mind, but I decided to save that for a later date. Preferably after I take my walk. "Of course. I'll be on my way then." I said heading out of the Whinning Pony.
When I first stepped out of the Whinning Pony I noticed the sun still shining and ponies still bustling around. It almost remind me of villages that I would pass by on a daily basis back in my homeland.
I started my walk around town occasionally getting glances toward me. None of the ponies seemed to mind the walking set of enclosed armor, so I never bothered them. Sniffing the air, I could smell a variety of different foods. My guess was they were equally homemade. I couldn't stop myself as I head straight for the market plaza in town.
My frown somewhat deepened behind my helmet seeing the foods for myself. Nevermind my stomach strangely grumbled in protest agreeing we shoild get something to snack on. I simply ignored my hunger pains moving along remembering I didn't have the gold on me.
It didn't take long before I saw a large gathering in the middle of the market plaza.
"Did you hear that the Princess will be giving a speech today?"
"Yeah! I heard Princess Twilight will be addressing the issue on the outbreak of dragons happening."
My mind stopped to process this information. So an outbreak of dragons running around and a Princess in this small town? "Excuse me miss, but how bad would the outbreak be exactly" I asked the conversing mares in front of him.
"Oh, from what I heard, it gotten bad. I heard it's been happening across the globe. Nopony knows the specifics though." The mare replied to me.
Before I could press it further however, the attention in the crowd swiftly switched to the winged unicorn on the platform in the middle of the plaza. "Greetings fellow townsponies. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle for thoughs new in town. And right now the town...."
I focus drifted off feeling my skin crawl in a strange way. I looked thrligh the crowd until Ispot what I was looking for. This pony wore black skin tight clothing with leather straps covering her chest and pants. She wore dark leather gloves with matching boots and cowl. The cowl also had a piece of black cloth covering her muzzle only revealing her sharp navy green eyes.
I almost didn't recognize the outfit instantly, but I could tell she not just hear to listen. The pony mobed up slowly closer and closer to the Princess making her way to the winged unicorn. I started to push my way toward the figure myself preparing my greatsword for later.
Then everyone noticed the cloaked figure as she pushed herself up on to the platform and dashed at Princess Twilight with incredible speed. The assassin then unsheathes a poisoned dagger.
With time not on my side I shout: "Tiid Klo Ul"
Time slowed almost to a bug crawl as I vault myself on to the stage platform. I dashed in front of Princess Twilight before time resumed its course. The shocked look the assassin showed of my sudden presence gave me enough time to draw my greatsword.
The assassin could only stare at me in anger as the Royal Guard was gaining ground to the platform. Something lit in her cowl beofre she disappeared before my eyes. Now it was my turn to be mildly shocked. It was almost like a wizard when he/she teleports.
I turn around sheathing my greatsword to face the Princess I protect from the assassin. The Princess briefly looked to be enthusiastic as she seemed to have literal sparkles in her eyes. "How were you able to slow time like that?!" The winged unicorn said her eyes somewhat distant, but hungry for knowledge. And that look alone let me know that I saved a crazy lavender mare in charge of a small town with possible magical powers.
The last thing I was expecting is to be bombarded with questions and by a lavender winged unicorn hybrid no less. I honestly didn't understand what the mare was saying though because of how fast she was propelling each question.
I raised my hand in front of me which somehow brought her out of the question frenzy before she blushed slightly in embrassment. "My apologizes, good knight, I have just never seen such a feat done before by an earth pony." Twilight said.
"No harm done, Princess. I was just simply doing my job," I replied ignoring the fact I wasn't exactly this 'earth pony' she spoke of. "But, if I may ask Princess, why was that assassin after you to begin with?"
The Princess seem to have a relapse as her eyes widen in realization. "How could I have forgotten about that! Give me a moment, good knight, I would like to speak to you after my speach is over. Guards?" Twilight said as all the Royal Guard members present stood at attention almost immediately.
"Could one of you please escort this knight to my castle. He is my savior and he will be treated as such." She said.
"Of course Princess Twilight!" The three guards said in unison.
With little else to do, we hustled to the Princess' Castle. I was expecting the castle to look similar to the Palace of Kings. Instead, however, the castle looked to be some sort of crystal tree thing.
Adding that on to the very strange list of things about Equestria. The guards escorting me didn't appear as hostile as some of the Imperials or Stormcloaks I have seen on my journey either. They were for the most part kind to me adding me in their conversations every so often.
It wasn't until a few hours later that that Princess returned to her castle pleased seeing us in the castle already.
"Sorry for the long wait, good knight."
"It's fine, Princess. I've waited for longer periods of time." I said nonchalantly.
"To answer your question from before, I'm not sure who that pony was, but if I had to guess, I would say that she was apart of the Dark Sisterhood." The Princess replied.
My heart almost skipped a beat by that name alone. That name strangely similar to the murder organization known in Skyrim named: the Dark Brotherhood. I needed more proof though.
"If they are that notorious than surely you were able to pinpoint and capture them." I said.
A nervous smile replaced her curious expression. "I'm afraid nopony is able to find the Dark Sisterhood's order of operations yet. It's been that way for a time now. I'm just glad I didn't end up dead today." Twilight said.
I said nothing to that notion. I don't even know why I stepped in to save the Princess. Many times have I wanted nobles and leaders die before me. I chose my own path to follow. Alduin can be dealt with after I gain the trust of the natives.
"I could offer my hand in tracking down the Dark Sisterhood, if that is alright with you." I offered.
Twilight seem to brighten up in her mood. "You would really do that for me? You don't even know me that well. Much less, you are not apart of the Royal Guard which makes you hired help."
"Princess, you're thinking outloud again." One of the guard behind me mentioned. The Princess blushed at how cold hearted that must have sounded to me.
"If I may, your highness, I think we should hire this stallion. He was most successful in defending against one of their members highly trained assassins. Having him on our side would prove to be most favorable." A different pony said.
I turned around to see a different Royal Guard member coming into the room. He wore brilliant white armor that had the symbol of the sun on his chest. He had no horn or wings so that made him a lesser threat in my current mind. However, his blue eyes spoke silently of the suspicion it held against me.
The stallion knew something that he wasn't telling the young princess. "Commander Bolt Shield, it's a surprise seeing you here." Twilight said.
Bolt Shield's gaze didn't fall on me long until he addressed the royalty in front of him. "I was told by Princess Celestia herself to reinforce nearby communities around Canterlot. The dragon attacks have started get worse across Equestria."
Twilight's mouth dropped in shock. "But, I thought they were improving between the dragons and us! We have done nothing to provoke the dragons to turn violent."
Not long after she replied a faint, but close familiar roar boomed in the distance through the crystal walls. All conversation died in our throats hearing the dreadful noise.
"Damn, they are coming faster than I thought," Commander Bolt Shield said before turning to me. "I know this is sudden, but could you assist us in battle?"
"Of course. Lead the way." I replied without a single doubt.
"Alright then. Soldiers, move to engage the dragons!" The commander yelled to the guards behind him.
We filed out of the castle quickly before heading outside. The sight we saw however, was intimidating to say the least. Three dragons circled the skies breathing their fiery breath down on the residence of Ponyvile. I could even see the bartender, Berry Punch, hiding away in a barrel to make herself as little as possible to the threats. Many of the resident's homes burned in the fires being created by the dragons.
I knew what I had to do then. I turned to the three Royal Guards and the Commander in front of me.
All the soldiers except the Commander seemed utterly terrified of the three dragons circling over head. The Commander however was struggling to find a solution to this problem.
"Faust help us all." The youngest of the three Royal Guards said almost like a prayer.
Fearless with my resolve I drew my Ancient Nord Greatsword. I targeted one of the dragons in my sight before resighting my choosen Thu'um:
"Strun Bah Qo!"
Almost immediately, the sky grew heavier; black clouds instantly darkening the sky leaving some of the winged ponies in Ponyvile to a gasp at the sky in shocked horror fleeing down to the ground. The sky roared to life striking anything remotely in the sky. Luckily, no pony was flying at the moment.
The dragons' surprise cause one to be struck down with three bolts of lightning forcing him to crash land on the surface below. The other two barely had time to help their comrade dodging lightning bolts themselves. I walk up to the fallen dragon, my grip on my weapon growing tighter.
I may have a dragon spirit inside me, but that doesn't mean I'll let the dragons do whatever they wanted. I raised my weapon high in the air staring into the dragon's eyes. A hint of fear could be seen in them. It tried to move away from me, but couldn't so it opened its maw to breathe fire point blank. I gave a war cry before embedding my sword into the dragon's head ignoring his torrent of roaring flames head on.
Its head fell limp shortly after, I felt the dragon's soul transfer into my body moments later before the storm my shout created finally cleared up.
I looked at the damage done to me only really seeing a few recover burn marks underneath my ebony armor platelets. It didn't stop the brief pain to sear into my skin. I pulled out a minor regeneration potion gulping down its contents quickly to recover from my injuries.
The two dragons still hovering in the air looked exhausted having to dodge the lightning from the sky. Their gazes turn to anger glaring at me and what I had done to their comrade. They roared dive bombing straight at me. I could hear the commander giving orders at the castle entrance, but they fell on my deaf ears.
The two dragons landed almost synchronized before releasing their fire at me. The two breaths of fire combined into a larger, hotter torrent. I had no time to dodge.
"Feim Zii Gron!"
My body became transparent as the fire harmlessly licked on to me. The growing sense of dread began to dawn on the two dragons as they realized their fates. Their fire ended seconds later just as the shout wore off. I gave another war cry before jumping on the right dragon's head. It thrashed around but not for long as I cleaved through its neck roughly commiting through it.
As the body fell I jumped into the air once more at the last dragon in front of me. My brutal display seemed to shrink any confidence it had left. The dragon backed away before my blade had a chance to cleave through its scales. I just rolled off the ground standing up right in front of the shoveling dragon.
Suddenly, a purple sphere aura surrounds the dragon before it shrinks itself on to the body of the dragon. The dragon cried out in pain before the beast fell to the ground unable to move. I turned to my right seeing Princess Twilight's horn was lit in a purple hue which confused me.
"There, that should make him unable to move or use fire for the time being." She seemed to be a bit exhausted too. Then I felt another dragon soul come into my body causing the ponies witnessing the event to stare in awe.
Once the transfer was over, the youngest of the three Royal Guards seem to snap out of her stupor the fastest. "That... Was... Awesome!" She said ecstatic over me being able to absorb dragon souls.
"Indeed, I discovered this power I had long ago," I said before bringing my attention back onto the dragon in front of me. "Where is the dragon known as the World-Eater, dovah?"
The dragon looked even more shocked and scared stuttering out. "H-He lives with us, I-in the dragonlands! P-please do not hurt me!" The dragon wailed in fright.
A frown marked my lips before a snarl formed on it. "You are supposed be Akatosh's children! Grow some backbone, worm!" I growled.
The dragon whimpered before I snapped myself out of my current state. I ignored the growing irritation and anger deep in my soul before turning back to the ponies behind me.
"My apologies, Princess, for the sudden outburst."
Concern was the only emotion visible to me. "No need to apologize, good knight."
I paused while a group of Royal Guards placed some runes down to reinforce the barrier that Twilight placed around the dragon. Her magic slipped from the barrier once it was properly maintained with the odd runes.
The princess gave orders to take the dragon for further questioning. I felt odd though, feeling as if something was watching me in the background....
"So princess, where might the dragonlands be located?" I asked walking with her.
"Well, unfortunately, little is known about dragons and their homeland mainly because of how scary and strong their kind is. Though, my assistant Spike has built a relationship up with the current Dragonlord of the dragonlands. He is currently their ambassador with us ponies." She smiled.
"Since you are best fitting for the job, I will have you investigate the whereabouts, but first, tell me more about this 'World-Eater' you mentioned to the dragon."
I really didn't want nobody to know my reasoning for ending up in this new world, but I had little choice if I wanted to slay Alduin as quickly as I could.
"Alduin the World Eater is the first child of Akatosh to be created in Nirn. He is the main reason of why I am here. I decided to seal him away again in the flow of time, but for whatever reason, ended up here in Equestria."
"I see, what about this Nirn you speak of? What is it?"
"It's known as the mortal plane of existance. We all live in Nirn."
Twilight grew quiet unsure what to really say about that. Until her curiosity renewed itself.
"Hmm, interesting. What about this Akatosh you spoke of? From what I can tell, he seems to be the creator of dragons."
I timidly rubbed the back of my head not really too sure how to explain it in simple terms. "Well, I don't know too much about Akatosh. What I do know that he is one of the Nine Divines, or the Aedra. He helped create Nirn as a whole into existence."
Twilight's mouth dropped for the second time today. He means to tell her a god created this Alduin and the rest of the dragon race, and to top it off he created basically their reality. She was about to ask more questions until I butt into her train of thought.
"So when do I set off to the dragonlands?"
"Tommorrow. An escort will be assigned to you in the morning. I'll be dealing with the aftermath... again." The princess said with a soft groan.
I smirked, behind the helmet, amused by her reaction. "Either way, I'll be taking my leave."
"Oh, before you go!" Twilight called out to me. I turned around before she hand me a sack of, what looked like, fresh printed bits. "This is for all the hard work you put into saving Ponyvile. Think of it as part of your payment as the hired help."I nod greatful for the extra coin and stashed it away. We went our separate ways after that.
Walking around town, I unsheathed my greatsword once more. I noticed the small nicks in my sword indicating that I need to upgrade and repair my gear. I sigh setting my sights on a blacksmith.
I didn't realize how much I sticked out of the crowd until I moved around the small town. Virtually no one had armor, or efficient armor, to protect themselves with. No wonder they were unprepared for that dragon attack! Eventually, I found what I was looking for seeing the furace and its red hot coals radiate heat for itself. The smith, that looked to own the forge, was attending to some metal work on an anvil close by. She looked to be hard at work. Perhaps making a sword? I approached her waiting for her to finish.
The dark red mare wore the typical blacksmith apron and rubber gloves. She appear to have no horn or wings which seem a bit off to me, for some reason. She seem to have butt tatt- I mean, cutie mark of an anvil with a couple of forging hammers crossed over it. Her deep brown eyes completely absorbed in her work.
"Uh, hello miss. I'm looking to see if you got any steel ignots on you."
The hammer pounding stopped abruptly before she immediately looks up my way, eyes wide at my appearance. "Well, I would say that we are out of steel right at this moment.... What kind of armor are you wearing?"
"It's called Ebony armor. I made it myself." I stated with a hint of pride behind my work. It took me three full days to make just the breastplate to to specifically fit my built, and not to mention reinforcing the layers was a nightmare in itself. It was a sign of my growth in skill as a blacksmith/warrior.
".... Magnificent the craftsmanship put into the details and layering......" She replied almost breathlessly.
It didn't bother me too much since I wasn't hear for praise of my work. "When will the next shipment of steel come in, if I may ask?"
"Oh, right, in two weeks I'll be getting more supplies. I'll be able to hook you up with all the materials needed.... for a price of course."
"Alright. Thanks...."
The mare softly smiled. "Spark Forge. My friends call me Sparks."
"I'll be seeing you in two weeks then Miss Forge-," she made a frown which I corrected. "-Sparks."
"Of course! Have a nice day!" Spark Forge replied.
I wondered back around town before stopping at a bench in the Market part of town to think. I have around three-hundred bits from the bartender Berry Punch, and I have a thousand more bits, apparently, from the generous Princess. However, I still need my weapons to be repaired, but I have to wait a couple weeks before more materials are available. I sigh knowing an alternative weapon I had saved for a situation like this. Which leaves obtaining valuable materials and raising more money up for debate now.
I leaned back in the bench. Since the people of this town are walking horses initially, meat and pelts are probably out of the question, for now. "Perhaps lumber and berries would be needed." Good trade for extra coin. I get up and approach the woods behind the farm called Sweet Apple Acres. Stopping at the edge of the forest, I remember something important to bring with me, so I shuffle in my bag, I brought with me, to pull out my woodcutter's axe. I cleared my mind of any other distraction walking into the mouth of the forest treeline.
I wondered the forest for about four hours straight! I especially knew this since I walked around the same stump for about the fifth time! It's like the forest itself is laughing at my despair. I sat on a nearby log and sighed trying to figure out how to handle this.
I know that this forest was not exactly normal. The trees themselves looked to have an almost black bark with dark purple leaves absorbing any stray beam of light from the sun. It made it hard to see anything around me.
"Well, might as well start making some lumber. Six trees should be enough to make some quick coin."
I equip my Woodcutter's axe and examined the trees in front of me. To my surprise, most of them were surprisingly very healthy for unusual trees. I shrugged and began chopping into the closest tree.
*hack*....*hack*....*hack*
I checked my progress seeing that the tree itself barely had a cut in it's bark. I cursed pounding my axe harder into the tree, with more force. And it worked. One more final cut into the tree made it tumble down on the ground.
Once it actually hit the ground, everything around me turned absolutely silent. I froze looking around me to not hear even the insects chirp a tone, or the wind blow. Something was off about this forest, but I also needed something to get me some good amount of 'bits' for the trip ahead of me. I eventually paid no mind to the no noise.
I grabbed the fallen tree before dragging it into the small clearing that I recently found. I carefully was taking off unnecessary branches and shaving the ends of the logs with a carving machette, I usually keep the blade around for skinning. It didn't take long after that to finish three more logs practicing trial and error several times.
That's when I heard rapid foot steps approaching. I raised my machette in a threatening manner toward the area I heard it. Nothing sprung up. I sighed and was about to return back to work before I caught a glimpse of a being of sorts nearby. I focused in that direction more managing to make out a feminine body, just barely, as her body naturally camouflaged into the forest.
I put down the log and revealed my machette again this time deciding to walk around. Ten minutes of searching had no success in finding the culprit, so I head back toward the clearing. However, the four logs I was preparing were gone.
"Great. Just great. There goes my easy money." I growled in frustration.
"Leave now, pony, or face the wrath of the forest." A distinctly feminine voice proclaimed in a threatening manner.
I looked around me to see any sign of a being, however, there wasn't any ponies around me. "I don't know what made you angry with me, but I came to for just a few logs. Now, were are those logs you stole from me?"
I asked not really intimidated by this mysterious woman. A bright green ball suddenly appeared to my right. I rolled on the ground managing to avoid the spell. It singed itself into the dirt where I was originally.
"You dare challenge the great Nymph Tribe of Earth!? You shall die for your insolence, mortal!" She exclaimed.
I got up letting a sigh tumble out. I looked around to find anything to get a clue of where she was. Sadly I could seem to track her movements as a barrage of green magic spheres attack me. I manage to avoid the slow moving balls of energy before seeing a moving invisible silhouette of something. I dashed at the moving thing and using my machette to slash it.
The blade ricocheted off the invisible thing seeming to break its concentration. What was revealed shocked me to the core. It looked like a nude Nord woman with long rich dark brown hair! She got up unmistakable fury in her amber eyes. I backed up immediately to give myself some distance away from her.
"Your tainted eyes has saw too much! Now you WILL perish in the most painful way imaginable!-" Death by eternal stay on the Shivering Isles? "-EARTH CRUSH!" Oh. Not good.
She clapped letting green magical energy flow through her hands. The ground below me suddenly trembled. I scrambled out of the way just as a stone hand closed around the area I was originally in again. She screamed in rage at missing again. I began to sweat and slightly shiver instinctively hearing the bone chilling noise.
Her eyes glowed with magic as I stood up and charged at her. I thrusted my machette into her bare stomach. To my surprise, the machette's blade shattered on impact this time. My eyes widen behind my helmet while confident smirk spread across her lips. The stone hand appeared out of the slapping on the ground and pins me the hilt of my machette thrown out of my reach.
She laughed. "Did you think your blades and weapons of metal can hurt me, mortal? Our kind can not be defeated by blades made from nature itself! We are one with nature while you ponies are just parasites living on its back!" The sotne hand pressed me further into the ground trying to crush me under its pressure. Luckily, my Ebony armor was strong enough to not cave it. It was getting hard to breathe regardless of what armor I had on. I pulling my left hand raising it in the air to call upon the weapon I need.
Blue light pulse around my hand taking the woman by surprise before managing to summon a ghastly demonic sword. I ferociously stabs the stone hand breaking it apart like it was butter. The stone hand couldn't keep its form for long with the continued assault, so it crumbled into a pole of rocks. I pushed myself out of the rubble breathing heavily. I looked at the stunned woman before a feral growl escape my mouth.
"No one makes a fool out of me.... I don't care about your superiority complex, lady..... nor what you are packing. I just want my logs!" I dashed at her feeling my inner predator pushing my normal running speeds. I pounced on her managing to pin her down on the ground too. She struggled for a bit then ceased when I put my bound sword up to her neck. "Now that I have your undivided attention, where is the logs you stole from me?"
There was heavy comfliction in her eyes, but a little nudge from my spiritual sword sealed her answer. "Northwest! You'll find a creek there as well. Y-you can't miss it."
I disspell my blade getting off of the woman satisfied with her answer. "See? That wasn't so hard now was it? Oh, also, it's proper to have clothes on. Not everyone out there is like me." I replied back. For some reason, she blushed at my comment. But I didn't stay around to hear how she respond.
I eventually found the creek she mentioned and the logs soon after. Luckily, I made some homemade rope in my spare time, so I tied the logs together to carry them easier. By the time I was done, the sun began to set in the sky. Coincidently, it made the forest around me hard to see through. I sighed before collecting nearby twigs to make a smallish pile.
"Yol." A decent flame burst from my mouth on to the wood before me setting them on fire. With that done, I searched for a flat rock that I fumbled for in the darkness until I stumble upon an adequate rock. The rock in hand, I laid it nearby the fire before laying down myself. I rest my head on the the lonely rock.
My mind returned to the previous events that took place today. I realized how tired I truely was fighting off everything in my way. Oh, how I miss my home in Whiterun. I hope Balgruuf, Irileth, and Lydia are doing alright without me...
I woke from my slumber to be greeted with two things: a small pain in my back, and the smell of smoke in the air. I open my eyes a little groggy. It appeared to be light outside the rays of light actually warming me up. Something smelt awful though like a year of dirty sweaty socks was shoved in my armor.
Then the realization hit me. I must not have taken a nice shower. I glanced to the stream beside me seeing that it appeared to be deep enough to soak me to my waist. Carefully, I began taking my gear off. Once the piece was taken off I stepped into the refreshingly cold water. Because of my Nord blood, I barely felt anything, so I fully settled into the water. Before I went too far, I grabbed my helmet and sat in the middle of the stream. The water gently crashed against my back as I assembled a rocky chair of sorts on the river bed.
I then used my helmet to scoop up some water inside pouring it down my hair and face. The coolish water felt good to me. I took another look at the stream to stop and think how pure and crystal clear the water appeared to be. I also noticed how the edged inside rune was working making sure to dry up all water particles almost instantly. A soft smile appeared on my face remembering who taught me how to make runes.
"So you want to learn runes, huh? Well, this is unusual to here from the usual brute." Farengar Secret-Fire stated.
I felt slightly insulted that he would assume I am a simple mindless idiot. I calmed my nerves before continuing. "Yes. I would like to specifically learn healing and rune magic."
He hummed to himself before nodding. "I'm not good at healing magic. You'll have to ask Danica Pure-spring for that lesson. She goes to the Temple of Kynareth if you are still interested in that magic. Rune however..... that can be arranged. For a price of course."
I sighed a little annoyed at sacrificing a few Septims for something so trivial, but if it paid off somehow then it could be worth his time. "Sure. What is the price?"
"A thousand two hundred Septims." He replied.
I tried to hold my shock at the ridiculous price, but decided to just do it already. I sighed again counting out exact change handing it to Farengar. "There, now teach me already. I don't have all day."
Farengar chuckled lightly to my dismay grabbing the money with a smile. "Good now lets begin basics right now. When some one first starts out they usually have a rune blow up more than once in their face before getting it right."
From the basics, it became one of the few lessons in magic I'll never forget.
I shivered involuntarily at the thought of remembering how powerful rune magic can be if used properly. I never regret learning that lesson, too much. I could not smell the stink on me after soaking in the stream, so I got out and put my armor back on one at a time.
One of the main reasons for keeping this blasted armor on was how over complicated it is to put back on. Otherwise, it is the best armor I have ever made to date. I caught a glimpse of a woman form looking around a tree staring intently at me from a far.
I shrugged it off before collecting my logs and weapons heading out of the forest. Strangely, the forest seem to listen to me and even guide me through the thickest parts of its woods. I didn't see why I couldn't follow the laid out path before me. Eventually, a opening to the exit of the forest emerged.
I went back into town to find that the markets seem to be open today, so I head to the closest stalls to start bargaining. Through all my journeys around Skyrim, I would say that knowing your way around how to milk every last Septim out of someone is crucial to know and master. Because you better believe they will be hard pressed to do the same. Surprisingly though, these ponies seem to be easier to bargain with then most races I have encountered.
Wasting two hours of negotiating earn me two thousand more bits to my growing pocket change. It was starting to get a bit heavy, so I decided to end the trading. I head up to Twilight's crystal tree castle before knocking on her door. Her assistant, Spike, answered to call. Seeing me made him smile and sigh in relief. "Twilight has been looking for you all morning. Where were you?"
"Out getting more money. I'm here now, so we should probably begin our journey on foot." Spike chuckled. "What's so funny?"
"Well, you see, since the Dragonlands is so far, Twilight had suggest teleporting to their to see what is going on." Spike replied.
Oh yeah. I forgot. Seriously advance mages could just teleport from place to place in an instant. I nod stepping inside and heading into the throne room. In there, Princess Twilight was doing something with her horn magic while the Royal Guard members were organizing a few documentations.
I cleared my throat catching Twilight's attention. Her eyes beamed in excitement. "Oh! You're here now. Good. We are running the last bit of paper work you will be carrying with you. The three Royal Guards from yesterday, during the dragon attack, stepped forward, all of them with stoic expressions.
"I'm guessing this is my escort team?" I asked.
Twilight nods as she hands me a baclpack filled with paper work. "Yes, I need you to find what is going on. You'll need to talk to Dragonlord Ember about the situation. The free paper is for you to collect as much information about Alduin and the other dragons as much as possible. Think you can handle it?"
Being a warrior at heart made me cringe at how casually she just asked to almost dissect these dragons..... with words. "Uhhhh, sure. I got the message." He quickly passed the notes to his guard escort which made them mumble in anger.
"Right, hold on a second." Twilight said before her horn lit up again.
Nothing seem to happen for a while until her horn grew brighter in an attempt to put more power into the spell. Nothing.
To everyone's confusion she ended the spell gasping like she lost her breath underwater. The nearby Royal Guards rushed to her aid, but she waved them off managing to keep her composure after a moment. "For some reason, good knight, the Dragonlands can't be penetrated with magic alone. Something is blocking the flow of magic around that area of land."
I sighed heavily enough for everyone to hear. Of course this wasn't going to be that easy. "Then we will have to walk to our destination. Let us start now. Gather any needed supplies for the treck ahead." The three Royal Guards agreed with me and we head into the market.
One long session to find meat, good strong ale, and snacking food (bread, close-to Sweet rolls) later, and we were on the road to the Dragonlands. Nothing much say about the road trip except a manage to learn the guards names over time.
The white unicorn mare of the group is named Short Spear. As the name suggests, she is good with any kind of spear she is given. She seems to always be on a short fuse with everyone which is why I don't tend to talk with her much. Luckily, she doesn't talk much in general. The gray pegasus stallion is the tallest of the group and level headed. His name is Longsword Burst. Not much could be said mostly because he is straight forward about everything. He uses a Greatsword like I have, so he is skilled in my field of expertise. And lastly is the real blue Earth pony of the group, Lion Heart. She likes to use two daggers and charge straight first into the fray. She's not a tactician, but she gets the job done with brute force. No questions asked.
After suffering for three days on the road, we caught a glimpse of volcanic activity up ahead. The guards confirmed that meant the dragonlands were approaching, so I prepared my limited knowledge of magic just in case.
"Um, not meaning to complain, but aren't there supposed to be thousands of raging destructive dragons roaming around?" Lion Heart asked getting impatient with waiting for a fight.
"From my limited knowledge, only a small percentage of the dragons living on Equis lives in the Dragonlands. It's mostly because the dragon race largely operates in solitude better rather than as a civilization." Longsword Burst said.
Lion Heart whinned in disappointment that made her deflate a bit. "That doesn't make them any less dangerous. The ones I fought in Ponyvile were not used to fighting against fighting small skilled warriors like me. They lacked practice like most dragons from my lands have. They are fierce warriors in their own right taking out thousands at a time." I commented.
The ponies seem to pale at my words realizing just how severely they underestimated the dragons' prowess. That seem to keep them quiet for a while. Then the distinct sound of a dragon's roar penetrate the air. This time, it was much more menacing. A warning. I growled in response scaring the nearby ponies with my sudden outburst.
"Looks like they finally noticed us."
"Fo krah DIIIIINNN"
I turned to the source of the noise just as a powerful Frost Breath came straight toward us. "Spread out!" I shouted. Short Sword reacted faster lighting her horn and making a large shield in front of the attack. The ice breath slammed against the barrier making Short Sword flinch under the sudden pressure. I past the shield running in the direction of the shout. A dragon was continuously using the thu'um. Strangely, this dragon was more colorful than what I remember. He also seem to have the shape of a nord rather than a dragon body shape. This made him more maneuverable than modt dragons, but he blindly kept shootong the thu'um at the ponies not noticing my advancement.
I let waves of electricity run through my right fingertips before forming a sphere out of the energy. I then released a torrent of electricity directly into the dragon's right wing. The dragon roared in unexpected pain falling soundly on the volcanic surface. I then summoned my bound sword running up to the behemoth. The dragon barely had anytime to react before I plunged the sword into its shoulder before pinning the dragon down with my foot.
The dragon writhed in agony. I leaned in and growl, menacing by its sheer ferocity. The dragon looked surprised at my outburst. "Tell me where your kind has hidden Alduin, worm. Your kind is not worthy of the thu'um you so carelessly wield that of a true Dovah's tounge." I said in a voice not my own, but I couldn't stop the words from flowing out.
The dragon trembled at my venomous tone. "H-He is not here. I-I don't know where he went! I-I was never told!" The drake try to explain.
Every word he uttered made my anger raise violently. The dragon took this chance to attack me using its free claw to skin me. However, my arm was faster, I dodged slicing the offending claw off its appendage. I pushed forward grabbing the dragon's neck using my combined nord and dragon spirit strength to squeeze it hard. The dragon struggled for air.
"I showed you a small taste of what I could do and yet you choose to suffer my wrath for a Dovah that you just met. Here is a more simpler question that you can answer. Where is Dragonlord Ember?" I asked.
The dragon seem to suddenly almost switch personalities; he smirk confidently at me as if the drake had won. "You think that you can get out of the Volcanic Catacombs alive with the former Dragonlord?! You are all foolish mortals who can nev-"
I squeezed harder making him go speechless. After a moment of thought I simply release my firm grip watching the drake cough up a storm. I waited until he gathered enough breath to speak again. "Oh, I know you won't speak to me willingly which is why I will strip that from you, for now."
Both the ponies and dragon were confused at my statement until I commanded. "Gol hah dov."
As soon as I said those words a bright orange burst of energy left my mouth and made contact with the drake. There was a brief silence as my bound sword was disspelled. The drake stood up before me bowing in front of everyone. "Your wish is my command, dovahkiin."
I could almost feel the ponies' mouths drop at this revelation of magic I displayed. I directed my attention to the dragon I have at my command. "Lead us to the Volcanic Catacombs and tell me all you know about your plans for Former Dragonlord Ember."
"As you wish, my lord." He replied solemnly rising from his bow before heading to the destination.
I glanced behind me to see the stunned looks of the pony guards. I rolled my eyes behind my helmet before gesturing to come. "Come quickly. We don't have all day to save Dragon Ember from these extremely loyal, weird dragons." They nod in agreement and follow behind me deeper into the Dragonlands.
Chapter 7: How to Save Your Dragon: Cavern Edition
Surprisingly, the young drake that I had brainwashed, with my voice, actually did know very little about Alduin and his whereabouts. However, he did lead us to the Volcanic Catacombs and even told us of the lava traps that were scattered among the cavern.
The ponies and I enter the catacombs Short Spear providing light with a simple illumination spell. It was quiet until Short Spear softly spoke. "Did you really had to use magic on him like that? We could have reasoned with him..."
I glanced back at Short Spear. "I wish it was that simple, but we simply don't have any time to waste. These weird dragons have a stubborn streak that is, at the moment, not tolerable."
"You keep on refering to the dragons as 'weird' while calling yourself a true 'Dovah'. You look like a normal pony to me, so what is so different about the dragons and you?" Lion Heart asked.
I paused thinking about similarities and differences between the two races of dragons. "From my homelands, we refer to the 'dragons' as dragons, like you ponies call it. But amongst another dragon, we are known as the Dovah: 'dragon' in their tounge. That beam of ice that the young drake used was called a thu'um, or a shout of sorts. It is a unique magic that only the Dovah can perfect to its full potential. The Dovah are special cases because they use their souls to project the magic they case into form. However, a mortal, like me, can use the souls of the Dovah to learn the thu'um almost instantly. Even amongst my birth race I am different from the norm. Very few can just extract and absorb dragon souls into their body. They call people with the ability to use the Dovah language, almost naturally, and take their souls: Dragonborn."
I heard Short Spear and Longsword repeat 'Dragonborn' to themselves. "I have never heard of anypony that can do that! Especially an Earth pony. Can you teach me?" Lion Heart gleefully asked.
I chuckled at her optimistic behavior. "To be Dragonborn is a birth trait as the name suggests. You have to have the soul of a dragon already inside of you." The ponies seem to be amazed at this fact while Lion Heart pout in disappointment.
"Okay, then what is so different with the dragons in the Dragonlands? Are they technically the same as the dragons from your lands?" Short Spear asked.
I shook my head. "No. They may have the soul of a dragon and can speak the Dovah language, but they don't have the same lifespans, or the same amount of power in their souls. Matter of fact, the Frost Breath the young drake dished out was a weaker version of what a true Dovah's could do. If I did the same thu'um on your shield the contact would have been enough to shatter it and freeze all three of you and the surroundings frozen solid. Also, a true Dovah's lifespan is eternal while I felt the hands of Akatosh work on that poor drake." It seemed that the ponies finally stopped questioning me after that reply.
The pathway we were on didn't have much of anything that would be volcanic in my opinion. Then again, I have never seen a volcano at all, but that doesn't mean I'm going to tell the ponies that. Then I saw something stained on the floor I stopped and leaned down to see what it could be. It was a dried stain of blood. I silently follow the blood trail while the ponies follow my lead.
Strangely, there wasn't anything dangerous in our path either. Just a few stray lava traps like the mind controlled dragon said. Even as I followed the blood trail, no other traps were in sight. I didn't even see a single dragon wondering about the catacombs. That was both relieving and worrisome to know. The trail ended at a closed, out-of-place wooden door with a single torch a few feet beside the door.
I cast my bound sword spell and carefully open the door. My eyes widened at the sheer number of dragons inside the room. Fourteen anthropomorphic dragons in total were wondering in the room guarding a smaller light blue dragon sprawled out in the cage. I assumed the figure was a she judging by her tathered clothing and body shape.
I stepped inside, the ponies falling in line behind me, catching all the dragon's attention. There was a long pause that made the air thick with tension. That was until the biggest dragon into a fit of laughter saying:
"Oh, look, it's the pathetic 'pony calvary'!"
I scanned the rest of the dragons seeing they all looked tense and ready to fight. "I'm assuming Dragonlord Ember is inside the cage you set up in the middle of the room?"
The big dragon's laughter immediately stopped before walking slowly in front of me. The ground slightly trembled under his path. He glared down at me with a predatory smile, showing off his razor sharp teeth. The ponies began to get extremely nervous of his behavior, their herbivorous mindsets kicking in. I could tell Ember was nervous too.
"Look buddy- pal, you don't want to get into this mess. The Dragonlands are going through a political debate that doesn't involve you ponies. Now scram before I roast you in that nice armor and your friends alive." The giant drake replied making sure to put as much venom in his words as possible.
However, the Dovah in me wasn't intimidated by his display. It just made me feel like I was challanged by an Imperial into a drinking contest to see who wins. It would obviously be me! I size myself up flexing my fairly decent bulky body, only having to look slightly up, and meet his gaze. "You can have your fun in the politics your country brews yourself in, but I just have one rule," I punched the giant drake with my free fist so hard and fast he flew directly into the back wall forming an imprint inside of it. The dragons and even the ponies were shocked at my display of power. "No one ever makes a fool out of me. I may look like a pony, but you don't know the first thing about what I'm truely capable of, punk." I growled out.
The soldier dragons seemed to snap themselves out of their shock before charging at me with bare claws. I looked at the sheer numbers knowing I will need more weapons for this fight. I raised my free hand more blue magic flowing through my finger tips. It briefly flashed before revealing a ghastly demonic looking battleaxe of pure magic, similar in appearance to the bound sword. I clashed the blades together before allowing the dragons to get closer. I used my enhanced speed to swiftly decapitate the closest dragon in the field.
The ponies took this as their cue to charge in. They formed a sort of formation their position, around themselves, but I paid little more mind then that. A dragon came with its claws behind me which a respond with a swift diagonal block from the bound sword. The battleaxe effortlessly carved into three nearby drakes rendering them bleeding screeching pigs. I used the same same momentum to move backwords and angle my blade to the side allowing the dragon claws to slide off cutting into his finger tips. The foolish dragon roared in unexpected pain before being beheaded like the drake before him.
Luckily, the three nearby drakes seem to have bled to death, so I went to the next closest drake giving my war cry. I plunged the sword into the dragon's stomach before moveing to the side barely avoiding another dragon's claws. In response I hacked his left arm off. The two dragons hit the floor limped over.
A much louder war cry broke in the heat of battlefield revealing two giant drakes with armor this time. It looked to be steel plating and they seem to each wield steel maces. One of them happen to be the drake I punched in the wall. He looked angry beyond belief.
"Puny pony! You think you can prance in here and do whatever you want?! You will die now for your arrogance of challenging the mighty dragon race!" The behemoth said. Both giants ran toward me shaking the ground fiercely in harmonic sequence at me. I smiled behind the helmet knowing the perfect shout for this situation.
I inhaled quickly to get as much air as possible.
"FUS. RO. DAH!" Suddenly, a bright blue energy slammed into the giant and propelled them into the wall with such force they barely registered being hit by the shout. The remaining warrior dragons could not believe how easily he took down their strongest warrior and decide to flee the battlegrounds while they still could. The ponies ran after them hot on their trail.
I glanced at the cage with the beaten up Ember inside. I sighed before using my dragon and nord strength to ease the steel bars apart. Ember stared at my appearance in wonder. I disspelled my bound weapons and held out a hand. "Can you get up?"
"I.. I think- ah!" She attempt to stand up only to fall over. Fortunately, I caught her before she could hit the ground.
"It's fine. I'll have to carry you out of here then. We wasted enough time. Those two won't be dazed forever." I swiftly picked her up into a bridal cattle making the blue dragoness' face entirely red for some reason. Without further delay, they escape the room leaving two dazed dragon warriors to wallow in defeat.
Eventually, I caught up to the pony party remembering the path we used to get in the catacombs. Lion Heart had a sly smile at Ember, who tried to hide her blush as best as possible.
"You sly Diamond Dog, you. I didn't think you would actually be able to make the royal dragoness blush so red!" Lion Heart teased causing the dragoness to blush even harder.
I tried not to imagine what they were thinking I was doing. "Look, she is severely injured, and there is no way anyone would be able to walk in this state." I gave a hard stare through my helmet. The earth pony didn't seem to notice.
"Sure you did. That's what all stallions usually say." She replied.
I rolled my eyes before continuing my walk outside the ponies following close behind. I turned to Short Spear. "Do you know a teleportation spell?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yes, but with this many ponies in the spell it would only go about half the distance of treck we traveled on. I won't be able to do anything magic related for a day, or so, if I do teleport. But first, we'll need to get out of the abnormal anitmagic zone." She added.
I sighed. "Lead the way."
Alduin, the World Eater and Destroyer of Nirn, in his legendary dragon glory, stood on top of the ridges of a mountain he claimed a few weeks ago. Surprisingly, there was no one to challenge his rule in the environment around him. Not even the other..... strange dragons had even the fraction of power he possessed. But, there was a use for them that benefit his goal to total oblivion of Nirn...
A lone bipedal dragon approached the assembled rock throne. The dragoness involuntarily shakes in her hide at the terrifiying appearance the Dovah possessed. Regardless, she needed to inform her master of recent events. The dragoness heavily gulped steeling her courage. "I have news for you, Master Alduin."
This peaked his interest slightly seeing that there hasn't been much activity since he got here in this different dimension. "Do tell quickly. I have many matters to deal currently at hand, Dov." Alduin said.
She still looked as every bit as anxious, prehaps even more than before. Alduin rolled his eyes at her nervousness and growled. She 'eeped' before returning to reality. "A group of p-ponies have manage to free former Dragonlord Ember from the C-Catacombs. The group might be out of the Dragonlands by now." She replied.
Alduin felt the seeds of annoyance and frustration run through him. That Dovah was difficult to detain and control. Especially her father was certainly a worthy foe, but not for the Firstborn of the Dovah. The servant looked like she had more to say so he waited for her to continue.
"A-And in the group there was a pony that could wield similar powers to yours, master. It was almost like-" That's all she was able to get out before Alduin roared in rage. In his fit of anger, he opened his mouth and stole the dragoness' soul out of her body. The expression of horror froze to her face. Her body fell limp on the ground before him. The Dovah ignored the death of his servant to glare harshly at the lands down below him in thought.
"So, he manage to find me even in this world.... This changes everything. I'm going to enjoy ripping your soul to pieces, Dovahkiin. Nothing will prevent the pain of a lifetime up ahead for you." A crude smile edged its way across Alduin's muzzle. Now, how to get rid of the thorn in my side for good...
Short Spear manage to teleport us after getting out of range of the antimagic field that surround the Dragonlands. By the time we made it back to Ponyvile it was dark out and the last bits of light was sinking in the background. We head for the the Princess Twilight's tree crystal castle. The guard explained what happened while Ember went to recover in the bedroom.
I sat outside in town square enjoying the midnight breeze. It was completely silent which I didn't mind at all. I would often travel alone in Skyrim. Very rarely do I have Lydia fighting with me due to her going on 'buisness trips'. I've grown used to enjoying the peace the wild life offered. That was until nature came to me. Out of the thicket of the forest, creatures of all shapes and sizes made a beeline in my direction. In a panic, I dashed into an alleyway watching the animals follow behind me. I moved faster. How did I end up being chased!?
I turned a sharp corner seeing a bear block my place. His angry scowl told me his current mood. I dodged left avoiding his claws, continuing my full sprint. I ran until I was back at the edge of the forest. I pant heavily turning around to see the approaching crowd of angry animals. I sighed standing up to my full height calming my rapid heart rate.
I then took a deep breath shouting at the top of my lungs: "Kaan Drem Ov!" Almost immediately, the angry horde of animals slowed down to a stop just in front of me. Most of them seem to have calm down tremendously, thanks to my thu'um. I take a better look at the animals seeing peeved expressions on their faces like the anger was barely contained from the shout. "Now, why did you all chase and try to kill me?"
"They don't like creatures that threaten the existence of the Everfree. It's in their nature to protect their home." A familiar feminine voice said.
I whipped my head around trying to pinpoint the voice. The woman came out herself revealing to be the woman that attacked me during my lumber hunt. I tensed up, not sure if she planned to continue from where she left off. "I never got your name the last time we met. I was busy fending off an angry huntress."
She chuckled under her breath; clearly amused at my sense of humor. She waved her hand as the animals retreated back into the forest almost instantly. "Shivah, in the common tounge, that is my name. I'm one of the Nymphs from the Earth tribe." She proclaimed. The moonlight showed thatshe wore leaf garments to cover up her more private areas. "I saw you at the stream. You're not a pony, are you?"
I just stared at her calmly letting the insects make a tune tonight. "No. I'm a Nord from the lands of Skyrim in Tamriel." I said after a silence.
Her eyes widen in both shock and awe. "Wait, you're serious? You come from Mundas?" Shivah asked.
"Yes, but I'd rather not let the locals or any of the ponies know this. I have an ancient foe after me. The locals would be jeopardize with another dragon attack I'll guarantee they would never recover from." I explained.
The Nymph nod understanding my logic. "Do you know your enemy, any chance, by name?"
"They call him: Alduin the World Eater."
Shivah pondered the name. "Would this Alduin happen to be a poweful thu'um user?" She replied. I nod to her question. "Your dragon is up in the West Mountains. I had been sensing abnormal magicka coming off the center of the moutain range for weeks now."
I smirked to myself. Finally a lead at last! "Thanks for all the help, Shivah. I hope that we meet again. I know a place where there is some killer ale." I offered.
"Maybe after your destiny is forfilled. I wouldn't mind a little liquor contest. Just meet me in the clearing east of the forest when you finished your quest." She replied a sly smile spread across her face.
I grunt a confirmation and decide to make my way back to the population of the town. I glanced to my right at a lone bench on the street of the town. I shrugged and positioned myself on the wooden structure to lay in a more comfortable position. Once I found a nice form, I laid my head back;my reality returning to the dream world.
Something was touching me. I groaned before turning over. The feeling returned again this time directed toward my back. Irritated by the disturbance I stir myself awake rising from my sleeping position. I lazily gazed to my left seeing a pair of ponies. One of them was green unicorn. She had bluer green mane and tail with white stripes. The other normal pony looked to be a plain yellow, dark purple curly mane and tail with a large pink stripe in the middle. These two ponies were staring at me like they expected me to do something.
"Yes? Can I help you?" I asked a little awkwardly shifting out of my laying position. It didn't help my back any better.
"Sorry, but could you move off of the bench, please, uh... We kind of sit here usually in the mornings." The green unicorn replied.
I sighed. Of course, just how my life went to be, huh? "Sure. I just needed to rest for one night anyway." I got up allowing the pony couple to sit instead.
I fished into my pouch feeling the 'bits' jingle in my fingers. "Looks like a perfect day to restock and get some errons done."
And so I head over to the market area taking a detour to the smith. Spark Forge sat in the furnace beating some more metal on the avail. I cleared my throat which caught her attention. Her eyes seem to brighten at my appearance. "Oh, it's you again! How was your journey?" She asked.
I unsheathed my favorite greatsword placing it on the counter leaning over it slightly. "How about that metalwork that you promised several days ago. It would be nice to work the forge once more." I replied.
Sparks nod motioning for me to come in. I walked in and we quickly got to work. She new a lot about smithing in general. If it came to the craft itself, she would be the master, but she didn't quite understand the design I made my weapon in. So we spent half of the time talking about Nordian culture and the making of Nord swords. She seem to absorb it like a living sponge, and before I noticed she had a brand new greatsword repaired in no time. Of course, I had to redue the enchantments. She found it really cool when I carved the runes before her eyes.
Finally, we finished rejuvenating my sword completely. "Perfect." I commented examining the finer details of the greatsword. Everything was correctly in place now. Sparks wide smile grew hearing my compliment.
"That's good to hear. And now for the price," I turned around waiting for her price range. "Two-hundred bits."
I nod thinking it's a reasonable price since I did most of the work. "Alright, here it is Sparks." I hand her two-hundred of the bits in my pouch.
She smiled warmly. "Nice doing business with you. Maybe we can craft together again one day."
A small smile emerged from behind my helmet. "Sure thing. When I'm around again." I held my hand out until Sparks shook it firmly. We went our separate ways afterwards.
I eventually walked up to Twilight's castle noticing the lack of guards outside. I knock loudly enough on the crystal blue doors to hear my pounding echo wordlessly throughout the halls. It didn't take long for Spike the dragon to answer the call again. He looked shockingly more tired than he should have been this morning; judging by the bags under his eyes was any indication. He softly groaned rubbing his eyes to see me more clearly.
"You don't look so good, Spike. What kept you up so late?" I asked.
Spike just blankly stared at me letting a silent yawn escape his mouth which he covered using one claw. "Oh, you know how Twilight is... Once Twilight discovers something she stays up pretty late to get the job done. Since Owlicious disappeared a couple of weeks ago, I had to stay up with her just about all night." He said.
I nod understanding the feeling. "I see. What did she discover that deserved this kind of treatment?"
Spike sighed clearly wanting to sleep in longer rather than talk to me. "She said something about discovering the power of a soul? That what I heard at least. You can come in if you like. Just close the door behind you.... I'll be off to bed. I'm still a baby dragon after all." He declared before heading off to his soft bed sheets.
I did what he asked of me before heading into the libtary again to speak with Twilight. My guess seemed to be correct seeing her scan seven books simultaneously in her magic. Deep in thought searching for answers, she didnt seem to notice me walking in. I coughed just enough for it to echo across the room. Her train of thought tumbled dispelling the books in her magical grip.
I chuckled, to her dismay, watching her search through the books by hand. "Sorry about the disturbance, princess. I just so happen to come by when you were busy."
She didn't seem too distressed by my comment. "No. It's alright. I wasn't getting very far anyway. What brings you to my castle?"
"Do you remember what I said about Alduin, right?" I asked. She nod sensing my serious undertone about the subject. "I just got word from a friend of mine that the drake is located somewhere called the West Mountains. A mountain range around here."
Twilight's eyes widen in realization. "Of course. That mountain range is not far from the center of Equis. It would be the perfect place to stage any attack on all angles and different kingdoms."
"Which is why I need to get there as fast as possible." I said firmly.
"I appreciate your enthusiastic behavior, but this needs to be a group effort. If what Dragonlord Ember said is true, then Alduin will be well supplied with dragon troops. Some might have strange abilities similar to your own powers. Let me relay this new information to Commander Bolt Shield to make a effective plan of action. Until then you are to stand down and protect Ponyvile from incoming dragon attacks." She replied authority laced in her words.
"Of course, your majesty." I replied feeling my heart ache. I remembered the sad truth about this new war. It is all my fault. Alduin would never be able to find this world if I didn't use the elder scroll to place him back between the timestream. Maybe Azura was punishing me for my foolish act of pride. I was born and shaped to kill this ancient evil.
My fists tighten watching Twilight Sparkle go back to research mode. I exit shortly after heading for the Whinning Pony, my head held up high. I knew what to do now.
Alduin had taken a moment to take to the skies for a day. Feeling the air against his scales was refreshing, but it is not what he came outside his forming kingdom for. No, he was heading to a graveyard. A very ancient one at that. A servant flew beside him showing the ancient drake the ancient burial at a more practical viewpoint.
The burial was placed between two cliffs that a waterfall split the caving groind over time to make a ravine. Man-made stones jut out of the grass that entangled the rubble and the water tries to erode away, but it remained. Alduin smiled to himself diving toward the thousands of burials dotting across this specific landscape.
The servant seem to panic. "M-My Lord! We should wait for our soldiers to scout out the terrain to get a better understanding of what have-"
Alduin stopped mid-flap glancing back at his subordinate threateningly growling. "Do you doubt my wisdom, dovah aar?"
The servant had no clue what he said, but he could make out it was a threat, so he backpedalled. "Of course not, my Lord! I would never doubt your judgement. I just suggest that we should inspect the lands more thoroughly for anyone that might foolishly try to stop you."
Alduin didn't seem to be satisfied with his response, but seem to not want to push it further. "A good suggestion, but I came here with an important task in mind. It shouldn't take very long."
The servant stared back at the World Eater confused by his purpose at an ancient cemetery. The ancient dovah circled the graves before boldly shouting:
"Slen tiid val!"
Suddenly the tops to all of the grave stones, in the cemetery, burst into tiny rubble pieces simultaneously causing Alduin's servant to jump at the collective sound. There was a long silence that followed after, and the servant wondered exactly what his Lord had done to the graves. Then the true horror began.
The rubble was slowly tossed aside revealing claws and skeletons of dragons, long since dead, rise from the pits of their resting places. Thousands of walking dragon skeletons staring intently at one Dovah in the sky: Alduin. Almost like in a cheesy villain movie, the skeletons, one at a time, bowed to Alduin repeating his name like a god-worshipping disciples. The servant hovered there completely flabbergasted by this change in events. Never has this drake seen any dragon being able to preform actual magic, especially necromancy. One by one, the dovahs formed the rest of their body parts such as scales, eyes, and organs.
Once the process was complete, the thousands of reassembled, strong dovahs made Alduin smile in satisfaction. He knew earning their trust will take just a little adjusting. Unlike these other weaker dovahs, he had made into his personal zaams, these were the true dov. The weaker dragon's ancestors, from thousands of years ago, buried in the ground, waiting patiently.
"Greetings my fellow dovah. I heard your pleas from your thunderous thu'ums! The dov seek to take down those pesky prey animals and their feeble magic attempts. My brothers and sisters, I, the firstborn of the Dov, have come to take Equis under our reign!" The crowd of ancient dragons roared to life shaking the very foundation of the earth to its core. Alduin smiled at their spirit, but it dropped when he remembered a troublesome nuisance that needed to be dealt with. The World Eater raised his claw as the roar of the dov slowly died down to silence once more. "However, in order to succeed we need to kill one pony- no. One Nord male known as Dovahkiin. The Dovahkiin are still among us. And as long as they are they will continue to be a threat that needs to be dealt with swiftly. Only then will the dov prosper into a new era ruled by the dov! Bormahu, our father Akatosh, be own witness!"
The crowd of dragons roared again whole heartedly joining his cause. Alduin's toothy smile threaten to split his face completely. "Come my brothers and sisters, let us go to war once more!" Alduin finished. A huge gust of wind blew around signalling to any landwalker just how many dragons took to the skies. They flew higher into the sky seeming to test out their powers they haven't used in ages for the up coming battle. The World Eater looked to his servant again seeing his eyes glued to the just assembled army of angry drakes. Alduin growled. "Dovah aar."
The severant immediately turned to him with a worried and scared expession. "Y-Yes, my Lord?"
"Fly off to the lesser dov. I need them all ready for the front lines." The Firstborn replied sternly. The servant nodded rapidly before taking off back to Alduin's last-minute assembled castle-cave. "Since you are a half dovah, Dovahkiin, I'll give you a warrior's death. But don't expect any mercy from me either. Your demise will come this battle field." Alduin took to the skies with his follow Dovah as they head to their prey's capital.
I stormed into the Whinning Pony heading up to the front bar stand seeing Berry Punch cleaning a glass. She glanced back at me.
"Haven't seen you in a while, Savior of Ponyvile. What's the matter? More dragons?" Berry Punch asked half joking.
I scuffed at her antics before leaning over the bar stand. "Well, yes and no. I need to know some more information about your country."
She stopped cleaning the glasses in front of her placing them back in the correct spots, ready for service. Berry Punch then turned around toward me looking me in the eyes. "I suppose it's fair since you helped our small town so much. What do you need to know?"
"Is Princess Twilight the ruler of Equestria? From what I have seen, she doesn't appear to be the ruling body."
"Your assumptions would be correct. Equestria is originally a diarchy: Princess Celestia and Luna are the rulers of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle is merely a minor Princess since she only rules a town and a part of Canterlot."
Suddenly, a tremor shook the ground below us causing me to fall on my buttox. Berry manage to hold on to the countertop for a good while before the tremor slowly decreased in strength. I stood back up recoverimg from the sudden earthquake.
"That didn't sound good." I looked at Berry Punch looking just as perplexed as I am. We walk out of the Whinning Pony scanning the surroundings for any damage that might have caused the quake.
"Over there! Canterlot is burning!" A random pony shout a fair bit a ways. I looked to where the stallion was pointing to; dryly gulping at the forboding smoke coming out off the city. That can't be good.
"Good knight!" Twilight called out walking up to me.
"I'm already ready to go. Let's not waste any more time."
Twilight nods looking back at an out-of-breath Spike. "I need you to gather up the girls." He nods hurrying off to do his job. "Commander Bolt Shield and the Royal Guards will lead you into Canterlot. I'm counting on you until we get there."
I smiled behind my metal mask. "I'm confident I'll be able to hold off the invaders." I said.
Twilight ran off to establish order in Ponyvile. A moment later, I see Commander Bolt Shield with a familiar unit and a dozen more troops at the ready. I hastily walked up to him. "Ready?"
"Everyone's mobile, let's move out, Day Guard!" Bolt Shield proclaimed causing the guards to cheer.
"Wait!" A familiar dragon shouts in our direction. The guards stop their cheer seeing former Dragonlord Ember run up toward me. "I can fight too! The ponies and my kingdom are allies. This is my fight too."
I glanced at her through the helmet seeing her determination fill her lizard eyes. I sighed knowing stopping her would be pointless. "You can come assist me if you like. But I'll warn you. We're up against an unknown force that most likely has strong fighters in their ranks and will show no mercy in the mist of war. Are you prepared to possibly die?" I asked seeing the confliction in her eyes, "If not, you'll have to stay out of the fight until it settles down."
After a few moments before she made her decision. "I'm prepared to die for the alliance, if I have to."
I solemonly nod before signalling the Day Guard to march forward. Ember and I fell in line with the guards as we steadily scale the mountain to Canterlot.
Mayhem.
The nobles of Canterlot were not prepared to be facing an army of Equestrian dragons eating random ponies on the streets. The dragons used their breath to destroy the breath-taking architectures of great minds in Equestria.
"Level all of Canterlot, drakes! Leave no pony alive!" A commanding dragon shout above the chaos around him.
Suddenly, the sky brightened in a brilliant light blinding the legions of dragons. Roars of utter pain ripped through the skies worrying the dragon commander. Once the odd light vanished from the sight all half the legion of Equestrian dragons looked to have been burnt to empty shells of their own scales.
"W-What?!" The dragon commander exclaimed shocked at the sudden death toll of his army. He searched the Canterlot streets for any unicorn that mught have done the damage until his eyes settle on a white alicorn. His face paled significantly at the Princess' presence.
Celestia raised her golden sword letting the the sun's flames gather at the point into a sphere. It grew bigger and hotter in size. The commander dragon's eyes widen at her action.
"Frost Breaths, now!" He screamed. The remaining dragon legion actitated their shouts aiming at the Princess making the entire sky light up bright blue in color. Celestia grinned pausing the fire ball ten times bigger than a basket ball.
"Face the wrath of the sun." She hurled the sphere at the incoming frost breaths at the speed of sound. They collide, but the ball of fire didn't slow even the slightest against the frost breaths, instead, it seemed to gain more strength burning brighter at the commander. The commanding dragon hovered in the air, shaking in fear, having freedom the last thing in his mind.
"FO KRAH DIIN!" A distant voice shouts before a solid beam of white mist shot at the flaming sphere. In one fluid second, the entire ball dissipates into nothing. Stunned silence piecered the air. The commanding sragon trying to regain his pride in vain of a near death experience.
Alduin, the World Eater appeared on the battlefield with his ancient doc army trailing behind him. Celestia saw where the commander stared at struggling to understand why two versions of dragons are attacking Canterlot.
The same draconic voice spoke again. "Don't hesitate! Push forward."
The Equestrian dragon renew their invasion plans on the streets of Canterlot below. Celestia's patience ran thin with this nonsense.
"ENOUGH!" Celestia's aura brust forth from her body creating a heat shockwave that shattered nearby windows that weren't already destroyed. "Who is responsible for this dragon invasion? Step forward."
Alduin saw Celestia's actions seeing that she must be the ruler of these lands, through power that she give off. The mighty drake flew into the street where the Sun Princess stood waiting. He land on the asphalt making indentions in the surface due to his massive body. Alduin stare at her intensely waiting to see what else she might say.
"You're the new leader of the dragons, yes?"
"Well, yes I am. I-"
"I propose that you leave this city and crawl to whichever hole you came from. Or, if you feel the need to continue your invasion, I'll make sure your ashes return to the Dragonlands."
Alduin was momentarily stunned by the interruption, not because her words surprised him, but because she had the nerve to interrupt the ancient dovah. He recovered quickly giving a piercing glare down on the Princess. She flinched at the sudden intensity.
"I believe you don't understand the situation your in right now, Princess. I'm not invading anything. I'm simply reclaiming what you stole from the ancient dov centuries ago. But there is one fact I'll comfirm-- FUS," Celestia barely had any time to react before a bluish energy hit her. Celestia flew through the air several feet before her butt cushioned her fall. "You will have to die first, kulaas do krein."
The World Eater then spread wings releasing a powerful roar; signalling the legions of dragons to continue their attack. He took off into the air while Celestia quickly charges up another sun sphere.
Alduin wasted not time dive bombing straight at the Sun Princess using his weight to crush the pavement below him. Celestia dodged losing focus on the spell. A bright light engulfed her form briefly revealing golden plate armor on her body.
The dragon released a frost breath which Celestia barely avoided. She whiched to defensive spells letting her sun flames engulf her armor. She charged toward the dragon swinging her blade in one fluid motion managing to hit Alduin's scaly body. The sword didn't pierce deeply, but it still cause Alduin in roar in pain. He angrily flicked his tail at Celestia sending her crashing into a nearby building. He continued toward the building and picked her up in his jaws, biting down hard.
Luckily, the armor was string enough with heavy enchantments that it wouldn't allow itself to pierce but that didn't prevent the metal from bending inward. Celestia gasped in pain not being able to breathe. She try anything she could to pry the beast's jaws ope but to no avail. Alduin smirked at her struggle, but it was short lived getting swiftly punched in the right eye hard by her random, flailing attacks.
He let her go in his pain clutching in his right eye. "You dare play dirty during the middle of battle?! For that you shall die slowly as a ice statue, forever!" Alduin breathed in concentrating on his thoughts, channeling his shout. He could start to feel the Frozen North elements gather inside and circulate throughout his body. The World Eater then focuses the increasing frost power through his mouth. The air suddenly turned incredibly frigid causing a few bystanders to uncontrollably shiver from the instant shift in temperature.
Celestia struggled to take off her armor for faster maneuverability, but the metal seem to freeze solid together due to the weather change. She tried standing only to realize the ground beneath her froze all her limps to the ground. Her eyes widen in increasing fear.
Alduin's reptilian eyes seem to puerce the cold and peer into her soul with demonic malice. "Liz Slen Nus!"
All the color drained from Celestia's face seeing the incoming beam of bright blue energy. A thousand thoughts crossed her mind, but one specifically stood out. She remembered the day she cast Discord into stone. The princess imagined the draconequus must have shrugged off the imprisonment, like it was nothing to him, biding his time before the seal broke a thousand years later. But every now and then, his facade would fade showing her the unmarked years he must have gone mentally staying in one place for so long. She was so young back then she didn't realize the trauma she must have caused on the godly creature. But then again, she always wondered what being a statue must have felt like, or to be in that same state for eons without end.
Her fear lessened when she realized what fate had just offered her. It was punishment for damning all the innocence she must have stepped on to achieve peace in her country. She fell to the ground on her knees seeing it inch closer. All emotion seem to drain from her replaced with a strange calmness at the sheer irony Alduin planned to do to her. Celestia knew there would be no one around strong enough to save her. Discord didn't like her enough to save her. Luna was busy dealing with the dragon army by coordinating the Royal Guard. And Twilight was also busy calming Ponyvile. Even if Cadence and Shining Armor were here in Canterlot, the dragon's strange new power would make Shining's shields pointless. She count the seconds taking a deep breath looking straight into the shout with content in her eyes. She was ready to--
"FEIM ZII GRON!"
A massive man in armor stood in front of the Sun Princess intercepting the ice shout just before it could hit her. An ice cloud covered the area for a few seconds before it decide to settle revealing Celestia and the newcomer unharmed. The man wore Ebony armor that seemed to absorb the very light around it. You couldn't see his eyes, but you could tell, even without it, that this stranger was not happy to meet the ancient dragon.
Alduin's anger immediately vanished seeing the newcomer for the first time. He manage to recollect himself before retreating back in the sky. "Behold my brethren, the dovahkiin has arrived! Slaughter him where he stands!"
The ancient dovah immediately noticed the greatsword wielder. Five of the dragons rush at him simultaneously in a draconic frenzy. The dragon slayer cracked his knuckles drawing his greatsword. He didn't even realize Celestia was still laying on the ground.
"Fus ro dah!" A blue mist slammed into the dovah in front of him sending it flying into a nearby building. He then twisted his wrist and violently slashed the incoming dovah's throat behind him. He swiftly rolled out of the way effortlessly avoiding two claw attacks raking the earth. He roared a battle cry plunging the greatsword into the third dovah's chest.
The dovah thrashed wildly, but the dragonslayer held onto his weapon tightly manufesting his bound battleaxe and used the given momentum to hack in straight into the fourth dragon's skull. A few seconds later, that battleaxe vanished leaving the corpse behind.
Once the dovah quit moving he quickly retrieves his greatsword, and sideways glance at the last dovah seeing his brethren fall under minutes made the drake realize the strength this dovahkiin possessed. So the dovah flew away as fast as he could. Alduin was pissed and frightened at how easily his nemesis defeated five of the mighty dov at once.
The dragonslayer looked up at the hovering ancient drake pointing his blood drenched greatsword at the Alduin. "Face your death with grace, World Eater, because, this time, I'm not going to just seal you away. I'm going to slaughter you into another corpse." The Ebony wearer growled.
Alduin seem to be imagining things seeing piercing red eyes shine through the holes in the Ebony Armor. A brief silence swept through the battlefield before the mighty dragon roared in laughter. Once he manage to control himself, he focused back on his nemesis again. "Floating through the dragonbreak must have scrambled that tiny mortal brain of yours. I never cower to a foe! STRUN BAH QO!"
Immediately, the clouds darkened and gathered around the Dragonborn. Lightning bolts then literally rained from the sky. Fortunately, he was quick enough to get by with as little damage as possible done to him. Although a couple strikes bearly nicked him. It seem to be an even stalemate until one random bolt flew at Celestia being abnormally bigger than the rest of the lightning bolts previously.
Seeing the incoming death, the dragonborn placed himself in between the bolt, and her, not thinking of the consequences. This final bolt hit him in the back of his chest sending white hot pain throughout his body. He grunt and spasmed in pain before collapsing in front of her. The sun princess stared in mute horror at the horrible fate the stranger suffered.
Silence reigned for a moment before the dragon burst out in laughter once more. "What a foolish Dovah! Did he really though that he could withstand that much voltage?"
To everyone's surprise, the warrior in the ebony armor manage to shakingly get up. He chuckled. "Just enough to activate the cursed armor.... May the Hunt and Shadows guide me...."
He started spasming in intense pain, but it wasn't due to the lightning at all. In fact, the armor itself seem to be changing in shape. The blood that it was covered in began to be absorbed in the breastplate spreading throughout the body. The stored electrical currents made the armor more elastic to work with in the process. It went from shiny black to a deep red color. The black gauntlets shift into razor sharp dark red claws. The helmet morphed into a head of a dead looking mini dragon skull with pitch black soulless eyes staring into its enemies soul. The chest plate grew a bit thicker and sturdier than the other version with only several glowing red veins being the only real difference to the armor plating. The boots had then morphed into mock claws as well, but they looked more for ground stability then actual use for war.
The princess, even Alduin, stood shell shocked at this transformation. "Impossible, what have you done!"
The Daedric armored dragonborn slowly walked up to his opponent, unnerving Alduin slightly. "Create something new. Giving permission into melting down Savior's Hide, the Ebony Mail, the Nightingale armor and the base armor, Ebony armor. I have manage to create a suit of armor that does not require daedra blood to make the most toughest armor a smith could ever make: Daedric armor," The dragonborn leveled a single finger at Alduin. "This entire armor's purpose is to kill you forever, Alduin. It didn't activate before due to not enough blood around when I visited Sovngarde. But now, this armor will prove to you why you should never mess with Mundas and the Daedrics that live outside of it!"
The Nord flexed his leg muscles before charging at the dovah. Alduin rolled his eyes getting over his initial fear. "If you can ever catch me, that is." He flew around the Dragonborn in a taunting manner flowing down several fire breaths down below the ground.
But this armor made him different than before the change. He was faster, more resilient to Alduin's shouts, and seem to actually grow stronger with every hit that was inflicted on him. The dragonborn unsheathed a hidden dagger while the World Eater was stuck in his thoughts throwing it violently into his left wing. The mighty dovah fell down to earth making the ground quake beneath his weight. Alduin quickly pulled the blade out of his wing briefly examing the item it wasn't a dagger at all. It was an ebony sword. He carelessly tossed the item aside briefly insulted that such a weak object shouldn't have brought him down so easily. The tossed mangled blade spoke the World Eater's words to be true.
The dragonborn readied his greatsword for the final blow. "Joor zah frul!" A deep saphire blue washed over Alduin's body making him feel incredibly weaker than usual. He remembered this same feeling on two separate occasions. The first time was how he originally was imprisoned in the timeline of all events to float through it for eternity. The second time was when the same dovahkiin used it just before he used the Elderscroll the send him here! Dragonrend. The man aimed to decapitate the World Eater from his head. Everything seem to fall in order, but Alduin was too stubborn and furious to even care. "Fus ro dah!"
The single shout sent the hero flying into the sun princess both stopping after a few more feet. The ancient drake then spoke in a shout that was unfamiliar to the pair. A moment later something blocked out the sun in the sky. The same creature dived straight directly at them. They looked up just in time to see the biggest dragon they have ever seen it opened its maw and swallow the two whole simultaneously. The world they knew fell into darkness when they fell into a giant holelike abyss.
I didn't know when I hit the bottom, but I felt myself hitting something hard yet soft. The impact hurt me slightly, but other than that, I was fine. I pushed myself up, but all I could see was pitch black darkness. Besides that, I felt myself being in some sort of water. Judging by the shallow water I was standing in, I must be in a swamp. But that wouldn't explain the total darkness.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" Silence greeted me. I listened harder.
Confused and in a panic, I went to try and feel anything but water, however, I didn't seem to feel anything that was different. Having no other options, I trudged through the water in one direction and continued my pace. "I hope I can get out of here. This place feels off."
I suddenly remembered that I could create light, so I raised my hand imagining a ball of light to appear. The light blind me in the darkness temporarily, but my vision returned a moment later. To my shock and disgust, I ended up in the belly of a beast, literally. The stomach seem to be large enough to appear as a pink underground lake. I glanced at my hands worried about my armor status. Fortunately, the curse had been suppressed back, for now. A stray thought made me think of a certain alabaster princess.
I searched in the sick greenish water having little other choice but to feel for her in the water. The water went up to my knees, but luckily it seems the dragon's stomach hasn't began processing us. I finally manage to spot Celestia five feet away from me half emerged in the green water. I pulled her from the water carrying her in a bridle style. The water itself seem to have been slowly eating her flesh exposing her muscles and left over skin. I used my free hand to start the flow of healing magic into her wounds.
Once the wounds healed, Celestia seemed to regain her consciousness. She stared blankly in the edged darkness around us before seeing me carry her. She squirmed realizing I was carrying her.
"Don't move. This water is a form of stomach acid." I said sternly.
She paused in her struggle staring bewildered at me. "Stomach acid?"
I nod my head. "Yes. We are in the belly of the giant dragon that swallowed us." A tremor nearly knocked me off balance, but I managed to stay upright.
Celestia pushed out of my grip before flapping her wings in a hover motion beside me. "Then we need to get out of here quickly."
That was one thing we could both agree on. I scanned the belly for anything that could be useful. My eyes soon fell upon a fairly large dark bruise to my left. I hummed to myself. "How hot are your flames, Sun Princess?"
She looked to me again, perplexed. "As hot as the sun can be. Why is that important?"
"Okay. I've got a plan in mind."
Alduin proudly hovered among the wreckage his dragons dealt across the mountain city. Millions of stallions and mares being stained before his eyes. Yes, quite a few of his soldiers died, mostly the weaker Equi dragons, but nithing he couldn't replace easily. The World Eater glanced at the monstrous earth dragon. The dragon was so big he was almost triple the size of the city itself. It was a feat in itself that the Canterlot hadn't collapsed yet due to weight alone. The beast simply stood in place waiting for his orders.
"I believe we've played around for long enough. Time to show these ponies who is on top of the food chain. Dranix Mayhem."
The beast of a dragon bellowed a mighty roar sending vibrations throughout the Canter mountain range. The pony inhabitants froze stiff at the intimidation tactic. A certain blue alicorn eyed the enormous dovah carefully.
Alduin bared his teeth to the ponies below. "Pony residence of Canterlot! I would like to introduce your final doom: Dovah Colossus. Make peace with your gods while you still have the chance."
Princess Luna glared at the World Eater hacking away as many dragons her blades can cut down. Slowly making her way to Alduin. The colossus dragon moved into a battle stance arching his back at the mountain top. A bright orange sphere of fire gathering in his maw. The Moon Princess had just enough time to quickly raise a magical shield around herself before bracing for impact. A huge, powerful torrent of flames lit the enitre street in a sea of flames and death. Even fellow dragons, mostly the Equestrian Dragons, were somehow being burned alive with her soldiers.
Alduin smiled at the destruction his pet creating effortless chaos in the city. The Dovah Colossus frantically tore down any nearby building using them to smash nearby soldiers with ease. Luna charge enough rage-fueled moonlight before unleashing a gigabeam of pure energy into the exposed belly of the giant beast. The beam itself barely left a scratch on his belly, but the Dovah Colossus lost his balance for a few seconds. This gave Luna the chance to take off into the air.
She sped up toward the Colossus at mach-speeds that could rival Rainbow Dash in a fifteen mile sprint race to the finish. Luna reared her scyph preparing the final blow, but the World Eater parried the charged attack in a instant.
"Fus-ro-dah!"
A blue energy lightly touched her body before she was hurled violently into the body of the mountain of the other side of Canterlot, the air knocked clean out of her. Her armor waned, cracked in several places at the moment. Fortunately, the armor manage to take care of most of the impact.
Alduin bellowed out a long drawn out laugh from his belly, eyeing the Moon Princess like she was a joke. "Where is the fighting spirit you ponies had earlier? This other princess of yours can't be all your kingdom has to offer. And you better come up with something quickly! I'm not sure if your precious sun princess and 'dragon hunter' would be able to survive digestion much longer."
A nearby guard glared at the dovah. "The Elements of Harmony will stop you!"
This revelation just made the dovah chuckle. "Really? Six ponies with six gems can stop me with pathetic harmony magic? Let me demonstrate your impending doom, to all your kind, and how feeble your magic truly is. VEN GAAR NOS!"
The clear blue sky turned as black as night. A powerful vortex formed in the blink of an eye before swiftly turning into a tornado. It tore through the streets of Canterlot growing more and more powerful the longer it stayed alive. Parts of buildings and the castle itself were broken, even completely torn apart to dust in its winds. Many of the equestrian soldiers were being swallowed and torn apart just by the sole twister. Some pegasi tried to tame the raging winds, but ended up caught in the fray themselves. No pony knew just how truly terrifying nature was until now.
It didn't last forever due to a powerful beam of moonlight pushing the twister back with brute strength. The tornado viciously fought back making Luna wince at the pressure in her skull, but the wind pressure only slowed her down temporarily. Eventually, the twister ceased existing with the growing hole in its body. Luna pant heavily being brought down to one knee still battered and bruised.
"This futile battle proves how weak your magic is against true forces of nature. You refused to surrender, and now you will receive your cleansing from this earth. Do it, Dovah Colossus."
The Colossus arched his head into the air charging up another ball of fire steadily growing brighter and hotter. It slowly grew bigger with the words it mumbled.
YOL....
Waves of intense heat radiate off the sphere warping the usually cool air around the mountain top. Storm clouds brewed in waiting over head. The ponies who didn't immediately die from the battle were being pushed back into their homes by the intense heat. Even some of the minion dragons began to retreat back giving the mighty Colossus room to roar.
TOOR.......
The ponies, including Luna, began to panic trying to escape the Colossus heatwave of death. Alduin could feel victory at hand.
SHU-
A different torrent of golden flames burst forth from his stomach making the Dovah Colossus lose focus. The beam of fire breath shot into the sky penetrating all forms of substance in an instant of the beam's touch. The ponies watched in a collective awe and fear at the Colossus' show of power. The World Eater, however was furious.
"You were supposed to kill them with the beam, not shoot it in the air!"
His words fell deaf to the Colossus' ears. The giant dovah's eyes rolled into the back of its skull before falling firmly on its back with a mighty thud. The impact shook the cliff ridge close to its limits, but it managed to still cling to the cliff side.
Everycreature present simply gap in disbelief. Did the Colossus really died; killed by his own flames no less. That's when two figures stepped out of the hole in its gut.
I held my head up out of the scorched hole in the dragon's abdomen. I reached the top of the hole pushing myself out of it while the Sun Princess swiftly flew out. But I didn't care at her arrival. I was beyond pissed and at my limit of dealing with Alduin. I brandished my greatsword silently glaring through my helmet.
Alduin stared at me evenly, studying my next move. I could feel the dragon soul inside of me burn in my body. "When you leave Nirn, let Akatosh burn your soul for eternity. For you deserve a far worse death," I could feel my skin crawl and boil like my mortal skin was being melted off the muscle in my body. Fosused rage and tampered judgment radiate off my body in waves. "Mul qah diiv."
Alduin's eyes widen to pinpricks at my soul transformation. I was the same, but different than my previous cursed armor form. My senses were sharpened, my perception of time slowed to a mimimum crawl, my armor and body felt weightless, two light dragon wings burst from my back feeling like they were apart of me, and my teeth and hands felt longer, stronger and sharper. I continued to stare at Alduin for a few more seconds before taking a burst of flight. I roared in his face raking my hand/claws across his face.
The World Eater roared in pain reeling back using his left wing to beat me away. I manage to steady myself back on the ground staring at his pain expression. That only fueled his anger. "Curse your existence, dovahkiin!" Alduin roared out before fire breathing at the me.
I rolled out of the way sprinting to the right, then jump in the air before slashing my greatsword down at him. He dodged my attack using his tail to swipe me at my right. I sprawled out on the ground hearing Alduin furiously stomping at me. A bright yellow beam caught Alduin in the face momentarily stunning his approach. I looked to my left seeing Celestia had cast the spell. She nod my way.
I smirked feeling my greatsword was just as happy. I rebound back at Alduin, charging at full force. I embedded the greatsword watching the powerful fire enchantment do its work. Alduin screamed in agony which was actually a relief for me. It was finally over.
"Tiid klo ul..." Everything around me turned black and white. Everything seemed even slower now. Alduin grinned down at me like he won. "Don't think you have won yet, Dovahkiin. Your tale will now come to a close just as mine will be reborn. I will admit, you did admirably well compared to your ancestors, but my vessel is immortal compared to your mortal soul." I could barely move in the shout he cast, but I could tell this spelled doom for me. Alduin put the last of his remaining energy into his final shout. "FUS. RO," Time immediately resumed course, but it was already too late. "DAH!"
I lost my grip on my weapon before flying helplessly backwards with tremendous force. I felt the powerful g-forces that threw me back with so much speed it broke my dragon aspect shout instantaneously, sending my vision fading into absolute black.
Celestia, Luna, and the ponies in Canterlot couldn't believe what they saw. It all went perfectly. The dragon slayer plunged his greatsword into the chest through the leader of the dragon uprising. They were saved by the mysterious warrior of justice. They didn't know exactly what happened, but the next instance resulted in a thunderous 'DAH'. And the dragon slayer being nowhere to be found.
It was almost like he vanished from existence entirely. Celestia covered her mouth in mute horror just like some of the townponies. Alduin smiled in a victorious triumph falling on his scaly back. He could feel his flesh crumble away in dark red embers. "Now everything is," He took a final breath of fresh air on the stone street."As it should be."
A moment later, nothing of the dovah remained on the street except the dragon slayer's ancient greatsword, uselessly lying on the ground. No shouts of triumph ringed in the air for their savior was not here to celebrate with them.
Luna placed a hand on Celestia's shoulder understanding her sister's feelings. Celestia shrugged off her hand, recovering from the shock. She approached the dragon slayer's unusual greatsword. The sun princess knew exactly what to do.
Ember was currently beating up an enemy dragon to a bloody pulp. She needed to prove herself capable to his eyes. She originally was going to let the ponies work out this mess that Alduin started. After all, she and the left over on her side had absolutely no reason to fight except for oweing Spike a favor. But then the dragon slayer showed up. He changed her view of the world around them. It wasn't really 'love' per se, but it was a warm sensation of feeling for the stallion. Something she didn't felt for anyone else before. Somewhere in the chaos, a thunderous 'dah' echoed off the southern edge of Canterlot. Every Dovah paused at the noise confusing Ember and the Royal guards.
An enemy dragon from the same southern side flew furiously pass them."Every drake, retreat! The firstborn has been defeated!"
Just like a wave of water the enemy forces began to fly away in swarms. Ember just stared at the dragons in baffled awe. It must have been the dragon slayer's doing. She thought.
The former Dragonlord took off into the skies heading toward the source of the noise. She eventually landed in the street clearing. Markings and scars in the city were evident. A clear tall tale sign of heavy battle and fighting. Except, evidence of the dovah leader and the dragon slayer were nowhere to be found. Her joy turn to worry.
"Where is the dragon slayer?" Ember frantically looks around before spotting the nearby pony crowd, and Celestia in the center of the street holding something. The Dragonlord walked up to Celestia not entirely sure why everycreature was so sad, "Is he sleeping somewhere? I need to speak with him about something."
The sun princess turned to her, her heart filled with sorrow. She displayed the beaten and slightly bent greatsword the dragon slayer would carry all the time. The dragoness' eyes widen in realization. They killed each other.
She hesitantly took the greatsword feeling the weight of the blade. Celestia proceed to get up hugging her firmly. "I'm so sorry. It happened before anyone could do anything. The dragoness' heart dropped into her stomach, dread filling her every pour. She felt something wet grace her eyes before she roared, almost angrily, to the heavens.
~Fin~
The sadness eventually passed giving way to understanding and the triumph of that day. Celestia, in his memory, made a holiday dedicated to the dragon slayer's vicious and noble battle against Alduin known as The Dragon Dance Festival. The sadness for the fallen hero soon passed like water under a bridge; for the ancient evil was slained making room for peace to reign across the lands of Equestria once more.
